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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Bolton: Trump Picking J.D. Vance An "Historical Mistake"; Vance Claims "Childless Cat Ladies" Comments Were "Sarcasm" Despite History Of Pushing Similar Policies; Trump Attacks Harris On Previous "Defund The Police" Position. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired July 26, 2024 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: --are you carrying a Gatorade?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I am. I'm carrying a Gatorade. I didn't want to collapse. I will note, I was wearing these brown cobble shoes, during that run, though same exact shoes that I wear here. You can see them right down there.
COOPER: Yes. And the same socks, I think.
ENTEN: And the same socks, right there.
COOPER: Right. Wow.
ENTEN: I'm not exactly a Nike shoe-wearer. I'll put it that way.
COOPER: All right. Harry Enten, thank you very much.
ENTEN: Thank you for allowing me to have fun with you.
COOPER: Yes. Yes.
ENTEN: And with America as well. You put yourself on the line.
COOPER: I appreciate that, Harry. Have a good weekend.
The news continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Straight from THE SOURCE tonight.
Donald Trump battling for attention, testing out new attack lines, against his new opponent, at an event, right now, as we speak, live in Florida. As brand-new swing state polling confirms that Trump's lead is shrinking, and the race really couldn't be any closer tonight.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
Tonight, Donald Trump is seeking to take back the news cycle, following the week, where his new 2024 challenger has really been dominating the headlines.
Trump is in a rare position, at least for him, of fighting to reclaim the spotlight, but also to recalibrate his attacks on Vice President Harris. Just one week after he was basking in the attention of the Republican convention, under the impression that the presidential race was really his to win.
Trump is speaking at a conservative summit, in Florida, tonight. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She was a bum, three weeks ago. She was a bum. A failed vice president, and a failed administration.
So, now we have a new candidate to defeat, the most incompetent, unpopular and far-left vice president in American history.
And by the way, there are numerous ways of saying her name. They were explaining to me, you can say Kamala, you can say Kamala. I said, don't worry about it. Doesn't matter what I say. I couldn't care less.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: As Kamala Harris has enjoyed wall-to-wall coverage, Trump has been workshopping new lines of attack against her, as he sees any lead that he had, against President Biden, starting to evaporate.
That is, according to new national polls include one from CNN -- including one from CNN, another from The Wall Street Journal that came out this week. But more importantly, we're also seeing that happen in the swing states.
Look at this new Fox News poll that came out tonight. It looks at the Midwest states that are going to decide this 2024 race. And it shows Trump and the Vice President essentially tied, locked in margin-of- error races, in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, with no clear leader, and they're all in the margin of error.
As Harris has been moving the needle, Trump is announcing tonight that he will return to the scene, of his attempted assassination, Butler, Pennsylvania, for what he says will be a big and beautiful rally.
And that comes as tonight, where he was speaking in Florida, he just announced he's no longer wearing any kind of bandage on his ear, says that he's done doing so.
And that comes as we heard from the FBI, tonight, in the most direct statement that the FBI has put out yet, saying that yes, Donald Trump was hit by a bullet, or at least the fragments of one, on that day.
I want to bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes, who is live in West Palm Beach, Florida, tonight, inside that event, where Trump is currently on stage, speaking.
And Kristen, obviously we've been watching Trump try to really center one line of attack, against Harris, or at least one that he believes is effective. What have you heard from him, on stage, tonight? KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kaitlan, I mean, it's really been a race, for the last week, to define Kamala Harris, between Harris herself and Donald Trump.
Donald Trump has really struggled to come up with, as you said, one line of attack. But I will tell you, what I am seeing, tonight, versus what I saw in North Carolina, earlier in the week, on Wednesday, is very different.
He is clearly honing a message here. Now, unlike any Donald Trump's speech that is completely off topic, while still being on topic. But in between his riffs and rants, I can hear the actual messaging that it was absent on Wednesday, in North Carolina, talking specifically about policies that Kamala Harris backed, while she was in the Senate, while she was in California, painting her as not just saying radical liberal, pointing to some of her policies.
We know that one of the things that Donald Trump is going to continue to do is to try and link her to the Biden administration's policies, particularly the ones that he -- just weren't that popular, when it comes to crime, immigration, inflation. Donald Trump has essentially said that Kamala Harris is the mastermind behind that.
But it is clear that they are trying here to hone that messaging, to come up with lines that will land, when it comes to Kamala Harris.
As they are trying to get out there with the messaging, about her, they again, see the same thing that we have all seen in the polling, that while she has the name identification, people still don't know a lot about her. So, they are trying to land these attacks, and insults, to try and be the people, who are educating them about Kamala Harris, instead of leaving that to her.
[21:05:00]
And Kaitlan, I do just want to mention one thing. Because we are obviously in a very Trump-friendly room, right now, it is part of Turning Point. But he did get boos, when he started talking about abortion, from the section of the crowd, when he said that he supports those exceptions, for incest and rape and health of the mother. It was the first time the room actually had a negative response, to anything that he said.
COLLINS: Did he have any discernible reaction, when they were booing his views on abortion?
HOLMES: Absolutely nothing. But he did pivot his conversation, this is obviously a line we've heard before, into how you have to win elections, how you can believe what your heart wants to believe, then you can move forward with what you want to believe. But you have to win elections. Clearly, trying to indicate that was part of why he was saying all he was saying on abortion.
COLLINS: Yes, one of the toughest issues he has, where Harris is actually up on him. We'll continue to monitor that.
Kristen Holmes, if he says any -- makes any news, please keep us updated, on that.
While we continue to monitor that event, where Trump is still speaking, in West Palm Beach, Florida. Our inside source that we're starting off with tonight has seen firsthand, how much Donald Trump wants, and needs, to be in the center of every news cycle.
Trump's former National Security Adviser, Ambassador John Bolton is here.
And Ambassador Bolton, just first off, what you're hearing from Donald Trump, tonight, as he is really trying to land a line of attack on Harris. Obviously, she's only been his challenger for a matter of days now. What do you make of how he's handled that so far?
AMB. JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, I think the rhetoric he's using is classic Trump. It's bitter and very personal, very insulting.
I don't think it's so much the policy aspect, although I think that has to be part of it. Look, she's a California liberal. What else do you need to know?
But for Trump, it's all about the person. And the vitriol that you see, I think, is for the next 100 days, going to rise to the surface. That, to me, plays in Harris' favor, because I do think that a lot of people, who haven't made up their minds yet, or at least considering who to vote for, are tired of Trump.
He hasn't really won an election since 2016. If you look at how his approach has done for the Republican Party, lost control of the House in 2018, lost the election in 2020. No Republican wave in 2022. His approach may work for him. It doesn't work for others. And it may not work for him this time. I think people are really tired of it.
COLLINS: Yes. Even though on stage, I was just listening to him, a few moments ago, he's still claiming he did win the 2020 election, which obviously he didn't.
But Ambassador Bolton, just given you worked with him, you saw how he talked about people. One thing that I've heard from Trump-world people is concern that the attacks will go from what Kristen was just talking about, policies, to more of the personal, in the sense of her gender, or her race.
And I wonder if you think that is somewhere, that in the next 100 days or so, we could see him go to?
BOLTON: Well, he can't stay away from it. He doesn't understand philosophy. He doesn't understand policy. He can read sentences and paragraphs his advisers put in front of him. But inevitably, he moves away from it into the personal attack. That's what it's about for him. And it's about who the dominant personality in the campaign is going to be.
I really think Biden prevailed in 2020, because people just wanted quiet. They wanted what they thought was a safe pair of hands. And a large part of Biden's vulnerability, until he withdrew, was that he had moved to the left, and didn't provide a safe pair of hands, and didn't turn the rhetoric down.
I don't think Trump's capable of anything else. And they can talk about strategy, in the Trump campaign, all they want. The real Trump will come through. That's Harris' opportunity. Just say things like, unite the country, and tone down the rhetoric.
Most people aren't in the Washington beltway. They don't care about politics. They just wish people would solve problems and leave them alone. Donald Trump never leaves you alone.
COLLINS: How much do you think he's been thrown off by getting a new challenger? When, a week ago, he thought he had Biden. They thought it was going to be a cakewalk. I mean, people were using words like landslide kind of election. What do you think that that looks like inside the campaign, tonight?
BOLTON: Yes, I mean, I think there's been a complete reversal of the moods, inside the two parties.
I think, after the Republican convention, which was very well-done, I do think there would have been a convention bounce even in a closely- divided electorate. I think the choice of J.D. Vance will prove to be a historical mistake. It doesn't add a single thing that Trump doesn't already get.
And I don't think they were ready for Biden (ph). They can say they'd been considering the options. But they didn't really imagine it. They thought they had Biden as the -- as the opponent.
[21:10:00]
The opposite is really happening in the Harris campaign. The Democratic Party has gone from despondency, to being swept up in the rapture, in six days. And they need to calm down.
COLLINS: Well I want to pick up on what you said about J.D. Vance.
But on the strategy, for a moment, Vivek Ramaswamy urged Republicans, earlier, on Twitter, saying "Stop calling on Biden to step down," because it would only make Harris look good, because then she'd be running as an incumbent, essentially.
He said, "Stop attacking" her "for locking up too many people" as a prosecutor. He says that benefits her as the law-and-order candidate.
And he said that they need to point out the -- or he said -- was pointing out the legit -- logical problem, and saying that she's part of this cover-up of Biden's age, but also that she staged a coup.
And I just wonder, given we are hearing some of those simultaneous arguments, from some, in your party, if you also see it that way, that they're kind of trying to have it both ways, in how they're figuring out how to go after her.
BOLTON: Well, I hadn't seen those comments by Vivek Ramaswamy, before. But I have to say, I agree with all of them.
You don't advance the cause, by going after a target that's no longer on the range. It's may make Trump feel good. It may make his supporters feel good. Biden is a side issue now. We should worry about what he may do, in his lame-duck period. But he's not the opponent anymore. And it may make people feel good to attack him. It doesn't advance the Trump campaign's objective.
And this is one of the things I think that most disturbs Trump, is that really talking about Joe Biden stealing the 2020 election is very much yesterday. And it's a lot harder to pin it on Kamala Harris. And that was always one of the central elements of Trump's rally speeches.
COLLINS: Yes.
And on the VP pick, you just said you believed that picking J.D. Vance will end up being a historical mistake. Obviously, you two have very different views on foreign policy. He's very much in the isolationist camp. But why do you think it'll be a mistake?
BOLTON: Look, Vance barely won the Senate race, in Ohio. He performed way behind Governor Mike DeWine's reelection victory. He doesn't add anything, really, outside of the Trump orbit already.
It was a pick that surprised me, frankly. Because I do think that Trump was indicating he wanted J.D. Vance to be the heir apparent, something I didn't think Trump would do for a long time.
But now that he's got his heir apparent, how does that benefit him with the people, who are going to vote for him already? Not at all. How does it benefit him for the people who might consider him? Not very much.
He does have the youth factor. But ironically, that underlines Trump's age. And I do think that's going to -- now that Biden is out of the race, that's going to be a real subject of conversation.
COLLINS: Well, he's also getting a lot of blowback on comments that he made before talking about the government being run by childless cat ladies, and really going after people, essentially arguing that people, who don't have children, don't have as vested of an interest in the government.
Anthony Scaramucci was here, last night. He predicted Trump could end up dumping Vance, as his running mate. Do you see that? Is that a possibility at all, in your view?
BOLTON: I think -- I think that's very unlikely. I mean, I think he's stuck with him now.
And I think these comments by Vance are really the 2024 counterpart of Hillary Clinton's famous statement, in the 2016 election, where she called Trump's supporters, deplorables.
I mean, if politicians can't learn. It's one thing to attack your opponent. It's another thing to attack your opponent's supporters. And that's just not a way to win friends and influence people.
I don't think Vance learned the lesson that Hillary Clinton, unfortunately for herself, learned in 2016. That's going to hurt Trump as you get closer to the election.
COLLINS: That's about as damning of a comment that you could hear from a Republican, that something that someone said is equal to what Hillary Clinton said in 2016, about the basket of deplorables.
Ambassador John Bolton, thank you.
BOLTON: Glad to be with you.
COLLINS: And we're digging more into those comments that the Ambassador just referenced there.
J.D. Vance is defending what he said, saying that he was being sarcastic, when he was talking about childless cat ladies. But also doubling down, saying the substance of what he said was true. We'll let you listen to it yourself.
Plus, reaction to CNN's KFILE, after they unearthed resurfaced comments that Vice President Harris made in 2020, in support of the Defund the Police movement.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:18:56]
COLLINS: A11 days into his role, as Donald Trump's official running mate, Ohio senator, J.D. Vance, has found himself cleaning up comments that he made about childless cat ladies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're effectively run in this country, via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies, who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made. And so, they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.
And it's just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC. The entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we've turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The backlash, from those 2021 remarks, has consumed the Trump campaign, this week, pulling the spotlight further, from the candidate himself, and more on to Vance, often not in the way that Trump likes.
While Vance's aunt, and his sister, and the campaign spokesperson came out and defended him in recent days, Vance himself had initially been quiet on the matter, until today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment. I've got nothing against cats. I've got nothing against dogs. I've got one dog at home, and I love him, Megyn.
[21:20:00]
But look, this is not -- people are focusing so much on the sarcasm, and not on the substance of what I actually said. And the substance of what I said, Megyn, I'm sorry, it's true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I should note. When we replayed the clip, from 2021, on this show earlier, this week, when we were interviewing Pete Buttigieg, the focus was on the substance, of what Vance had said, not even just the snarky cat lady part.
But as Senator Vance said, he is just joking the substance of that statement that parents should have more power, regarding the way the government is run than people without kids should.
That is a pretty regular feature of his short time, running for elected office. It began when his Senate campaign was still polling in the single digits actually.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: When you go to the polls, in this country, as a parent, you should have more power, you should have more of an ability to speak your voice in our democratic republic than people who don't have kids.
Doesn't this mean that non-parents don't have as much of a voice as parents? Doesn't this mean that parents get a bigger say in how our democracy functions? Yes, absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: When you hear the Senator now say that all of this is just his words being taken out of context. We'll give you the context.
Here's what he said, right before he was explaining what he now is describing as a thought experiment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: I'm going to get in trouble for this. This isn't being recorded, is it? Or broadcast live? That's OK.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)
VANCE: That's all right. I'm going to get in trouble for this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, Vance has backed up those words, those sentiments, with real policy proposals, talking about arguing that you should pay more in taxes, if you don't have children.
Today, Senator Vance tried to spin this plan, as making the workplace more accommodating for moms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: What a weird society that we've set up, where moms who want to work, the thought that a lot of them are having is I can't have more babies, because it's going to be bad for my career. How about we make the workplace more accommodating to working moms, and working dads, so that we can promote a real culture of life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That probably sounds nice to a lot of parents who are working. But I should note that J.D. Vance made no mention of assisting or helping working moms, in that interview that he did with Tucker Carlson, or during the half-hour-long policy speech that we just showed you.
My political sources, on this, tonight, are:
CNN Political Commentator, and former Hillary Clinton campaign adviser, Karen Finney.
Former New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio.
Former Trump campaign adviser, Jason Osborne.
And former Republican congressman, Adam Kinzinger.
Congressman, I want to start with you. Because we do often hear from lawmakers that they are being taken out of context, when anything they've said is getting some backlash. What's your response to that?
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, it's not taken out of context. You put the context there.
There's something about, I guess, when J.D. Vance is putting on his eyeliner, in the morning, he's thinking about how can I offend the most people, I possibly can? Probably never expected to be vice president.
And it's insane what he's doing. What are you saying and -- you know, look, he goes on Tucker Carlson. And he's like, what can I say that's outrageous that's going to get Tucker to laugh and shake his head, which Tucker shook his head in agreement. What can I say that can be more outrageous that will make me sound like, I'm some hardcore MAGA politician? And this is what you get. This is the same J.D. Vance that hated Donald Trump, just five years ago, by the way.
But you look at like even today, Katie Britt, Alabama senator, tweeted something about how Kamala Harris should condemn the opening ceremony of the Olympics, in France.
It's just this constant stoking of outrage and anger, that is the currency in MAGA, today. And that's what you see with J.D. Vance.
COLLINS: Well, and Jason Osborne, I mean, it's one thing, when you're saying something on Fox News. It's 2021. He's running for the Senate. But I mean, that is the reality of when you are then later the vice- presidential nominee for a major party.
And I think a lot of people have said, why didn't this come up, when they were -- when they were vetting these candidates that knowing, especially with Trump's concern about women voters, this election, knowing what could potentially come down the pike?
JASON OSBORNE, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Right. And well, I mean, first off, let me just say, I mean, if we're sitting here talking about disparaging comments, then the first thing that Adam does is sit there and talk about eyeliner on J.D. Vance. I mean, this is not helping the dialog, as we're moving forward.
I'm not going to sit here and defend what J.D. Vance said. I do think, though, that during that time period, keep in mind, in 2021, was the heat of the election in Virginia versus Glenn Youngkin. And the whole issue of parents not being involved in discussions about raising their kids and in the school system.
I do think there is a -- there is some truth to what J.D. Vance is saying, which is that if we're going to talk about making decisions, regarding kids, in the education system, that parents should have a seat at the table. That's not to say that folks--
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: But that's not the argument that he was making. I listened to it.
[21:25:00]
OSBORNE: But no and I -- I'm hearing clips of it, just like you played here. But I'm remembering back during that time period, that there was that element there.
Again, I'm not defending how he termed it. I'd like to take him at his word that there was some sarcasm, in that statement. And it's not helpful in the dialog that we're moving forward.
But it is the reality of this -- of the dynamic we're dealing with, that Donald Trump continues to talk like this. And J.D. Vance is certainly not immune to that. And I don't think Kamala Harris is going to be immune from it either.
COLLINS: Karen Finney.
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.
COLLINS: I mean, I listened to the whole policy speech today, the original one that we were playing there.
He was making the argument that people, who have children, are more invested in choices that the government makes than people who don't have children, saying that if children have votes, then parents should control those votes. It was much more than just saying, hey, parents should be able to speak up, at an education school board meeting.
FINNEY: Of course. And as the woman on your panel, let me just say that as a woman, who has a dog, I don't have children, of course, I care about kids. And of course, I care about our future. And of course, I have a stake in our future. I mean, it's just absurd what he said.
I think what the Congressman said is absolutely right. It was more about clickbait, than it was any sort of serious thought or policy.
Because if you were serious about, as he tried to explain away, how do we make it easier for working moms? Great. Joe Biden has a great plan on childcare, I'd love to show you. How about equal pay for women? I mean, there's a lot of things that we could be doing, that we're not doing, if we were having a serious conversate -- policy conversation, about how do we make the world better for our kids?
And I agree, politically, this is an example of, you know, remember, the Trump campaign was sort of bragging about like, oh, they don't do real vetting. He just talks to people, and kind of goes with his gut.
OK, Donald Trump, you went with the best advice you thought you were getting. Now you're having to clean up his mess.
COLLINS: Mr. Mayor, what do you make of, of what you're watching play out, this week?
BILL DE BLASIO, (D) FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: First of all, it was not sarcastic. You look at him, he's deadly serious.
Second of all, what he said, I'm pretty certain, was unconstitutional. I don't remember that section in the Constitution--
FINNEY: Yes.
DE BLASIO: --where they differentiate how many votes you get if you have kids or not.
He's making a huge mistake, morally and politically. Remember, this election will be about moderate suburban voters, a lot of them are going to be really, really turned off, by that kind of language, that kind of denigration.
And then, he went on in the interview to say, the gall, to say Democrats are anti-family.
Now, as someone who I'm very proud we did Pre-K for All in New York City, a very pro-family measure. Our Democratic Party stands for childcare tax credit, for raising minimum wage, so women and families can do better. We stand for early childhood education. We stand for so many things that are pro-family.
And again, there's a truism. Republicans talk about family values. And Democrats actually value family. So, I think J.D. Vance has just dug himself a huge hole. But it's actually what he believes. And he isn't--
COLLINS: Well--
DE BLASIO: He's going to be caught in this absolute contradiction. What has he done to help working families? Not a lot.
COLLINS: Well, and I should note that in the CNN debate, one month ago, which is hard to believe, neither candidate, which obviously one of -- only one of them is still in the race, but neither candidate could articulate an answer on child care.
But Congressman, let me start -- let me ask you about this new poll, because this is fascinating. It's a new Fox News poll, showing these swing states. And in three states that matter, probably the most going into November, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, Donald Trump and Vice President Harris are locked in a, within the margin of error, in this race.
I wonder if you are in either of those campaigns, how you're looking at these numbers tonight?
KINZINGER: Yes, I mean, it's, look, it's certainly been a sea change. I knew that when you got a new candidate, and frankly, no matter which side you would have gotten a new candidate, that candidate is going to get a lot of energy, because there are a lot of people dreading a Biden-Trump rematch.
And so, I think what you're seeing, obviously, she's closing the gap. She's generated a lot of enthusiasm. The question is, does that sustain? Can she sustain that for three months? At some point, do you hit a bit of a wall, and now it's just kind of the day-to-day grind of the campaign?
And I think both campaigns are thinking, look, this is just going to be a really close election. I mean, this really is going to come down to short of a something major happening. And this is going to come down to Election Night, with everybody having predictions, but nobody knowing how this is going to go.
So, the bottom line is it's raising money. It's getting out there and talking about issues, which I don't think Donald Trump is actually very capable of. He's even stood in a rally, yesterday, and said, they told me to be nice. I decided, I'm not going to be nice anymore. So that whole thing lasted about a week. And--
COLLINS: Yes. Jason?
KINZINGER: And -- yes, go ahead.
[21:30:00]
COLLINS: Well I just -- Jason, I just -- your final thoughts on that. As you're looking at these numbers, is it something where he needs to start coming out, and only talking about immigration, and the economy? Or, I mean, what does this look like for the next 100 days?
OSBORNE: Look, I mean, I believe that no matter who was in the race, whether it was Biden, or Harris, or anybody else, that the Democrats had put up that it was going to be neck-and-neck.
I mean, this election is going to come down to those 5 to 10 percent of voters that swing each election. And the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, I think, are going to decide who the next President of the United States is.
And there's no question I think Trump is, he'll continue to throw red meat to the crowd. That invigorates his base and gets them out to vote.
Now, whether or not Kamala Harris and her campaign are able to do the same thing remains to be seen. I think we're starting to see a lot of, you know, to the previous point, on the vetting side of things, a lot of comments that she's made, over the years, that are going to come back and hurt her more than any comments that J.D. Vance has made.
COLLINS: We'll see. One thing we do know is we have a real race underway, actually, after months of it being pretty, pretty stagnant.
Thank you all for being here.
And speaking of what Jason just said, up next, we're going to hear from a longtime friend, and ally, of the Vice President's, who's going to join us. She's running for a Senate seat in Maryland. And there's a question, of course, what does the platform look like for Harris as a candidate? What does that mean for other Democrats running?
We're going to have that conversation, after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:35:57]
COLLINS: Donald Trump on the attack, tonight, against Vice President Kamala Harris, after comments of hers resurfaced, where she praised aspects of the Defund the Police movement, back in 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Defund the Police. The issue behind it is that we need to reimagine how we are creating safety. And when you have many cities that have one-third of their entire city budget, focused on policing, we know that is not the smart way, and the best way, or the right way, to achieve safety.
This whole movement is about rightly saying we need to take a look at these budgets, and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities.
For too long, the status quo thinking has been, you get more safety by putting more cops on the street. Well, that's wrong. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Those comments coming, just weeks after the murder of George Floyd by police officers. A few months later, Harris was tapped to be Joe Biden's VP pick, and started to mirror his position on the matter. He never supported the Defund the Police movement.
The Biden campaign quickly tried to clarify that she not only opposed it but that she actually supported more police funding.
Fast forward from then, to what's happening tonight. Donald Trump, just a few moments ago, in Florida, seizing on this issue, at his rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She was an original defunder. She was a defunder of the police. She said, let's defund the police. She was the first one to start it. But now, of course, she's so -- she's tough, she did not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: My source tonight is a longtime friend, and ally of Kamala Harris'.
Angela Alsobrooks is the Democratic nominee in the marquee race for Maryland's open Senate seat, and also an Executive of Prince George's County.
And so, it's great to have you here.
Just given, you do know Vice President Harris well, you met 14 years ago. You hear Trump going on the attack on that issue tonight. Where does the Vice President stand, on this issue today, in this current political environment?
ANGELA ALSOBROOKS, (D) MARYLAND SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, you know what? I think the Vice President's position on this is very clear.
She's a former prosecutor. She has spent a good portion of her life, defending and protecting our communities, both as a district attorney, as an attorney general. She does not need to be lectured on any level by former President Trump.
She's the person, who has put murderers, taken murderers out of our communities, protected women against rapists. I mean, she's a person who does not need any instruction, from Donald Trump, about the ways to keep our communities safe. It's what she spent her life doing.
COLLINS: Well, I wonder what you make of what we hear from Trump, tonight, saying that she was one of the front-runners of the Defund the Police movement. I mean, there's certainly a lot of comments that CNN looked into, tonight, where she is certainly supportive of it. And you just heard her there, saying hiring more police officers is not the way to go. But then, what we other -- we hear from other Republicans, who say that she was locking people up, and she was going after the parents of school children who were chronically truant. I mean, it seems like there's attacks that she was too soft on crime, but also that she was too tough as a prosecutor.
ALSOBROOKS: Well you know what? I mean, I think, luckily, we have a record. We don't have to listen to Donald Trump, who's not a credible leader. What we can do instead is to look at Vice President Harris' record. And that is a record of standing up and standing by our communities.
Again, she didn't just talk about it. She got in the courtroom. She defended our families against violent predators. And so, her record speaks for itself. We don't have to quarrel with him, and his words. In this moment, we can simply look at her record, and look at her actions.
COLLINS: I have heard, from a lot of people, in Trump-world, though, that they will look at her record, and what she said in 2020, when she was running, in the Democratic primary, whether was being a co-sponsor for Medicare for All, or being asked about abolishing ICE, saying that people needed -- that the U.S. needed to start from scratch.
I mean, how does she square the positions that she held, when she was running in 2020, with what she's done in the last four years, as Vice President, with President Biden at the top of the agenda, obviously. What does -- how did she articulate that on the campaign trail? Because I think a lot of people are curious, for where she personally stands, on some of these issues.
ALSOBROOKS: Well, you know what? I'll let the Vice President speak for herself, in discussing her record.
[21:40:00]
What I can tell you is that I know that she wants that for all of our families, exactly what we want, is to -- is she believes that every single person, in our country, deserves to have access to quality and affordable health care. And she believes that the system should work for all of us.
And I know that she supported through -- she and President Biden did an excellent job, through the Inflation Reduction Act, to make sure that health care was more affordable, to cap insulin at $35 for seniors, to work to make sure that Medicare could negotiate directly, with the big pharmaceutical companies, to cap the out-of-pocket cost of prescription drug medications.
These are the kinds of changes that are needed. And it's what I'm hearing from people all across our state. And I know that it's true all across the country, is that people, at their kitchen tables, want to be able to afford the cost of health care. When you are sick, or someone you love is sick, you want access to health care. And this is -- and this is true here and everywhere across the country. COLLINS: Your challenger in this race is Larry Hogan, obviously was the Governor of Maryland. He's well-known to our audience. He's the Republican. He doesn't want Donald Trump's endorsement, and has made clear he did not seek it, and doesn't plan to campaign with him. How do you view it?
Now that Harris is at the top of the ticket, do you want her to come to your state and campaign with you? Would that be helpful?
ALSOBROOKS: Well, Vice President Harris did endorse me, in June, right after my primary. I am really grateful to have her support and her endorsement.
I know that you said that Larry Hogan didn't want Trump's endorsement. But he certainly wanted Mitch McConnell's support. In fact, Larry Hogan said he would never run for Senate, said he had no interest whatsoever, in being a senator, until Mitch McConnell came back to him, and encouraged him to come into the race, because he believed that this was the best way, for the Republican Party, to gain a majority in the Senate.
Nobody knows better than Vice President Harris, the value of having a majority in the Senate that whoever has the majority controls the agenda. And it is true that Larry Hogan is attached to a majority that is led by Donald Trump.
And the views of that party are in opposite of the views of the average Marylander, who want to see freedom and privacy, who want -- who believe in choice, and who believe in gun safety and sensible gun legislation, to eradicate gun violence, who believe in voting rights, and who believe in an economic future that all of our families can enjoy.
And so, that is where I am. I'm very proud to have Vice President Harris' support. And I am fighting to make sure we can maintain the majority, in the Senate. It's going to be most important for Marylanders, and for our country.
COLLINS: Yes. Are you going to debate Larry Hogan? Because he said that he's agreed to two debates. Has kind of seemed to argue that your campaign has not committed to a specific debate. Should we expect to see the two of you on the debate stage?
ALSOBROOKS: Oh, absolutely. I'm going to -- I'm looking forward to debating Larry Hogan, looking forward to talking about the future, and looking forward to talking about how we fight for freedom in this country.
That is what this election is all about. It's about building the kind of country that we desire for our children, and the two opposite visions that we have of how this should happen.
The Democratic Party's vision of inclusion and one that builds a future for all of us, one that fights for our freedoms, and fights for economic opportunity. Or one of the Republican Party, who wants to defund Social Security, and want to take away benefits through Medicaid. And so, it's a different vision.
COLLINS: Yes, of course, Social Security. Trump has clarified that he does not want to as that has put certainly an attack line on him.
County Executive, Angela Alsobrooks, great to have you here tonight. Thank you for joining.
ALSOBROOKS: Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.
COLLINS: Coming up, the directive is think outside the box, as Black Voters Matters encouraging Vice President Harris to get Democrats out of their comfort zones, and take a second look at vice presidential candidates. We've got a list of them, who may not be -- who are not straight White men.
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[21:48:23]
COLLINS: By all accounts, it has been a successful if not quite the whirlwind rollout, for Vice President Harris, this week. But now, she needs to roll out her own vice-presidential pick.
Sources tell CNN tonight that Harris is looking to name her running mate by August 7th. That's less than two weeks from where we stand right now.
And many of the reported contenders have been taking to the airwaves to make their case. Not by campaigning for the pick directly. But instead, they've been rolling out their own attack lines, on Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, trying to catch the eye of not only the Harris headquarters, but also a former attorney general, Eric Holder, who's running point, on vetting that list of candidates, many of the ones that you see right there.
I'm joined, tonight, by Bloomberg correspondent, and host of Bloomberg's daily podcast, "The Big Take" by David Gura.
And it's great to have you.
I mean, we've heard all these names floating around. But I think it's also, there is a top tier that is kind of taking shape. What stands out to you about who's on that.
DAVID GURA, CORRESPONDENT, BLOOMBERG: So, certainly Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania is at the top of that list. He's a governor, who has managed to carry a state that is coveted by Democrats and Republicans alike. That's crucial. He's also had a time in the spotlight, of course, when that bridge collapsed.
COLLINS: And his favorables are crazy.
GURA: They are crazy.
COLLINS: 61-32 in the Fox News poll, tonight.
GURA: Incredibly hard to ignore.
On the other side of the country, you've got the senator from a border state, whose life dovetails with two important issues, both border issues and gun violence. By the way, he was a fighter pilot, and an astronaut as well.
It just strikes me that we were talking, last time I was on, just about the bench here, the diversity of candidates in the Democratic Party. We've kind of seen that in stark relief over the course of this last week.
And so, if the campaign wants to go with like a proven fundraiser, there's Tim Walz in Minnesota, who's done that, of course, the Democratic governors. You've got J.B. Pritzker in Illinois, who has a vast sum of money of his own. Southern governors as well.
[21:50:00]
So, there's a bevy of choices here. I think, obviously, the complicating factor is just how compressed the timeframe here is. I don't envy them having to like go through all of this in such a quick fashion.
COLLINS: Yes. And there's always those top names that you're thinking of. We saw this with Donald Trump's pick as well. But there's also like another tier.
I mean, we talked to Pete Buttigieg, on the show, this week. And afterward, when he was on, and he was seen by Democrats as effectively prosecuting the case against J.D. Vance. I heard from Democratic sources, who were saying, why is he not higher up on the list, kind of advocating for people that maybe they haven't heard as much about, in this process.
GURA: There is that second tier, as you say, kind of jockeying for the job, in rooms like this one, in many cases, very effectively.
He's one. Gina Raimondo is somebody like, I cover Wall Street and Washington, that intersection, it's hard to find an executive, who doesn't like her or admire her. She's one. Wes Moore, of course, in Maryland as well.
I think the question is sort of, what does the campaign do? Like the last thing that they want to do is kind of stall the momentum that they've had here, over these last few days. It's so odd to say that, you know?
So, I think that they want to proceed cautiously. I've thought a lot about the fact that she's been through this, Kamala Harris has been through this on the other side. So, she's been through not only the interviews and the vetting. She has been in the job as well. I think that gives her kind of a particular insight into this, and to return (ph) shape of things.
COLLINS: Because he just went through it.
GURA: Absolutely.
COLLINS: Four years ago. I mean, I don't -- we haven't really seen where a vice president so directly has been involved, while they're still the VP, and picking who could be the next VP.
GURA: I come from North Carolina. Roy Cooper, the Democratic governor, there, is somebody whose career I followed very closely. And growing up, we heard a lot about how it's a purple state, I think it's kind of like trending more maroon, or magenta, like Obama won in 2008. But it's gone Republican since.
Could he make a difference? Could he play a kind of role that we saw Joe Biden play with Obama in 2008, as somebody who's a bit older, has operated more as a centrist, and might have kind of that appeal in the south and beyond?
COLLINS: Even though he was saying this week that it's Cooper (ph), not Cooper, which I thought was--
GURA: Forgive me.
COLLINS: --is so Southern. Of course, everyone's been mispronouncing his name, the whole time.
GURA: These are North Carolina pronunciation, yes.
COLLINS: But also, what we were hearing from the Black Voters Matters is also, maybe don't just look at straight White guys as your options.
GURA: Yes, I mean, Cedric Richmond's name has been floated, of course, the former Congressman from Louisiana, the 2nd District, Louisiana, former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, which has been so important, both in Joe Biden's race and now this one. And a trusted adviser to Joe Biden. He's been in the White House. We know Kamala Harris threw that.
I think, again, there is a wealth and a diversity of candidates for this, like a dozen of them. Very curious how it all plays out.
COLLINS: Yes, I can't wait to see.
David Gura, great to have you, here tonight. Thank you.
And if you were caught off guard, last Sunday, when President Biden tweeted that he was dropping out of the race. You are not the only one. Just wait until you hear, where the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff was, and with no phone on him, I should note.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGLAS EMHOFF, SECOND GENTLEMAN OF THE UNITED STATES: So, I finally call, and she was, 'Where the [pause] were you?'
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [21:57:37]
COLLINS: If you think President Biden suddenly dropping out of the 2024 race, on Sunday, caught you off guard. Imagine how the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, who of course is married to Vice President Kamala Harris felt, when he walked out of his SoulCycle class with no phone on him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMHOFF: So I get out of the class -- and I don't have my phone. The phone is in the car. And I'm just sitting having coffee with my friends. And you know, back and forth, a couple of people said hi.
And all of a sudden, my friend's partner gives me his phone and said, 'I think you need to see this.'
I said what it's a letter from the president, is that real?
And I looked at it and I said, 'I got to go.'
So I ran, ran. It was -- the car was a block or so away. Secret Service running behind me. Got into the car. Pulled out my phone. And my phone was literally like self-immolated. It was, you could feel the smoke coming out of that phone. And of course, it was a series of messages: 'Call Kamala,' 'Call Kamala.' And I got them from the kids. And everyone in the family was like, 'Where are you? Call Kamala.'
So, I finally call, and she was, 'Where the [pause] were you?'
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Pro tip. Always keep your phone on you, if your spouse is first in line to the presidency. We'll make sure Doug Emhoff doesn't let his phone out of his sight ever again.
Before we go tonight, we do have a programming note for you. Because tomorrow, there's a new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" that is going to air, right here on CNN, where my colleague, Sara Sidner, is going to take a look at America's history of political violence, and also the motivations that have been behind it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Kennedy was involved in a shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last report was hit twice in the head, once in the hip.
TIMOTHY NAFTALI, AMERICAN HISTORIAN: Losing King and Robert Kennedy in the same season was bad enough. But it reminded Americans of JFK's assassination, less than five years before.
[22:00:00]
PATRICK JOSEPH KENNEDY, FORMER UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: I was just a baby when my Uncle Bobby was killed. But I just know what a loss it was, not only for their children, my cousins, but a loss for everybody that knew them, and knew how much they wanted to change the world. They had so much promise, and so much inspiration and hope as part of their whole message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Hard to think of a more timely episode. Don't miss it. It's all-new. "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER." It airs, tomorrow night, at 08:00 Eastern and Pacific, only here on CNN.
Thank you so much for joining us, on this very busy week, and sticking with us. Hope you have a great weekend.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts right now.
