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Stage Set for Tonight's High-Stakes Debate Between Biden and Trump; Potential Republican Vice Presidential Candidates Helping Donald Trump Prepare for Debate with Joe Biden; Awaiting Key Rulings on Trump Immunity, Abortion, January 6 Charges; Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 27, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

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ELIZABETH LUND, BOEING SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF QUALITY: I'm extremely confident. I am extremely confident that the actions that we took have ensured that every airplane leaving this factory is safe. I feel very confident that it will not happen again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Here is the other big development this morning. The NTSB is sanctioning Boeing, essentially saying it spoke out of turn by giving us all of this new information. The NTSB says it controls the release of information here, but there has been a lot of pressure on Boeing to be more transparent. That is existing exactly what I did here from lawmakers all the way down to us in the media.

It does deserve a little bit of credit that it came out and gave us all of this new information. This is a really unprecedented look here, John, at what Boeing has been doing to try and make big corrections after that quality control escape is what they call it here at Boeing.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Great to have you there, Pete, pushing for answers. Pete Muntean, thank you very much.

A new hour of our special indoor coverage at the historic CNN debate starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is debate day in America, friends. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner here in Atlanta for our special coverage of CNN's presidential debate. President Biden, Donald Trump, they will make history tonight when they meet face-to-face for the first time since they last debated in 2022. To say a lot has happened since then is about as obvious as it can get. And just as obvious is both campaigns knowing and saying just how high the stakes are tonight.

BERMAN: CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny is with us now. And jeff, we were talking here. Honestly, there are no superlatives too great to the describe the stakes here, no superlatives that are too much to describe the unprecedented nature of what's happening tonight.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kate. You're right. I mean, both men have wanted to debate and tonight they will get their chance for the earliest debate in presidential history. The reason for that is both of these candidates are eager to shake up the race. There was a question not so long ago if there would even be a debate. Of course, Donald Trump decided not to debate in the Republican primary season, and Joe Biden didn't have a competitive primary.

So here we are, June 27, the first debate between his two men, potentially the only debate, even though they have agreed to one in September. But as for tonight, they are coming here to Atlanta to battleground Georgia. This is a key battlegrounds state. So that is one thing, of course, both campaigns are looking for.

But both sides are trying to sort of set the course for the rest of the campaign. One difference from four years ago tonight is about President Biden's record on the economy, on inflation, on immigration, on his worldview. Of course, President Biden is trying to make this a referendum on the Trump administration, trying to remind voters, in the words of one senior adviser, what he did and what he would do going forward.

Both men had been preparing in their own ways. President Biden at Camp David for the last week or so. He'll be flying down to Atlanta this afternoon. Former President Donald Trump has been in Florida at Mar-a- Lago doing more debate prep than he has been letting on, also will be heading here early this evening for the showdown right here on CNN Studio in Atlanta.

BERMAN: And Jeff, what are the campaigns saying, or what are you hearing from the inside, that they really do want to try to get out to, other than when, obviously, what they want to try to get out of tonight?

ZELENY: Well, look, let's start with President Biden. First and foremost, he wants to make the case to Democrats and people who voted for him last time that this race is on. He is the candidate. He is facing Donald Trump, so they should pay attention to this race. That may sound obvious, but one of the challenges of his approval ratings and things are people who actually voted for him before and maybe inclined to do so simply have not rally to his side. So President Biden wants to use the debate tonight to try and shake voters, if you will, and try and get them to pay attention to him, but also make the case that he is a strong leader, that he has the stamina and fitness to serve a second term and be reelected.

So he's going to deflect in turn back to President Trump. But again, it's his record that is at center stage. That is the biggest difference of all from four years ago.

BERMAN: And Jeff, as hot what is this contest is, the presidential contest, kind of under the surface, or maybe not even really under the surface at all, there's this very overt contest right now --

BOLDUAN: Very.

BERMAN: -- to be Donald Trump's running mate, kind of final auditions, if you will.

ZELENY: Without a doubt. It's a casting call, if you will. And it's going to take place, actually, right behind me here in the spin room on the campus of Georgia Tech University. That is where all of the leading contender to be Donald Trump's running mate are going to be, at the request of the Trump campaign. You will have North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

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You will have Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, and others serving his surrogates for the Trump campaign, but also as his chief defenders. And we know Donald Trump watches television. We know he records it, watches it later, watches it live. So he has been watching to see how all of these potential running mates have been in defending him.

So they will all be on hand here. The question is, when will this announcement come? He said he will make it at least by Milwaukee. That's the Republican convention, in just a couple weeks. But there are signs it could come even sooner. John and Kate?

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Jeff. You're probably, like, 10 steps maybe from where we are right now.

BERMAN: Very close. Very close.

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BOLDUAN: All right, let's go now inside the debate hall where Sara is standing by. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: I am here in the room where it happens. We are going to be seeing this historic debate here between a former president and a current president, something the country and the world has never seen before from here.

So I'm going to bring in our big hitter today. He has seen more debates than we can count, political director David Chalian here with me. OK, so let's start with performance style. What is it that voters will be watching for tonight?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think this is the first thing everyone is going to be watching out of the gate, which is just how are these two candidates presenting themselves? Is this the Donald Trump that shows up that looks more like the first debate in 2020, or that second debate where he was a bit more moderated in tone and temperature in 2020?

For Joe Biden, is this a Joe Biden that we see that sometimes trails off his thoughts or maybe a little low energy? Or is this the Joe Biden who showed up at the state of the union and got a lot of positive reviews from Democrats. They were excited to see a more energetic President Bidens.

So I think just how they initially present out of the gate is going to dominate a lot of that initial perception of the debate.

SIDNER: It'll give people a feeling of who they are, that first impression can be a big one.

All right, what is it that the candidates are going to be focusing on when it comes to issues? What will Donald Trump be looking at, and what will Biden be going after?

CHALIAN: So I am looking to see how often they turn the conversation, no matter what Jake and Dana present to them, into an issue of strength for them. So for former President Trump, the issue of the economy, inflation, the issue of immigration, these are two huge issues on top of mind for voters. And all the polling shows here that they're huge advantage issues for Donald Trump.

For Joe Biden, I think the cleanest sort of win issue for him in all the polling coming into the debate is abortion rights. That seems to be the issue where he has the greatest advantage over Donald Trump of all these. So I'm curious to see how often he tries to steer the conversation back to abortion rights or freedom to choose and that kind of rhetoric.

SIDNER: We saw some of the polling that said 19 percent of folks that are going to be watching this are still undecided, partly because a lot of people don't like their choices. So what did they have to do to try to get some of those voters to come over to their side?

CHALIAN: Yes. I think up to 25 percent in a lot of polling say I don't like either one of these guys. There's no doubt about that, and I think that has contributed to a lack of engagement from the electorate broadly and enthusiasm about this race. And I think one of the reasons the Biden campaign was eager to debate Donald Trump earlier than ever for a general election was to sort of wake up the country and say, hey, this election is happening. I know these may not were ideal choices, but these are the choices, and focus in on it.

I think they both have an opportunity tonight, and I'm curious to see how they can get to reshape their narrative. They are well-known figures. You have a former president and a president. There's nobody who doesn't already have sort of a locked in opinion of these people, but can they reshape their own narrative, especially with the persuadable universe of voters in those six or seven battleground states. That's how you should watch the debate tonight, putting yourself in some couch in suburban Detroit and thinking about a voter who is not yet sold and how their answers hit that kind of person.

SIDNER: There is a lot of talk, we just heard from Smerconish, about the mics being muted. I think people forget that in the NBC debate, that second debate, the mics were muted initially in their first answers, but then they were left open after that. How is this going to change the game? CHALIAN: Right, so you are correct to note this time, though, the

mics are going to be on for the designated speaker.

SIDNER: Only.

CHALIAN: Only. And his opponent, who is not the designated speaker at the time, will have their mic off at that time. And so what I think the goal is here is for the American people to be able to hear clearly from each of these candidates as they are presenting their very different visions for America and not having so much crosstalk than the voter at home can't actually distill and hear what's going on.

SIDNER: We will see who that benefits because sometimes, without a crowd and with the mics muted, it changes it for them as well, of course.

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CNN political director David Chalian, who has seen debate after debate after debate, I know you're going to have eagle eyes on this one as well the rest of the country. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. John and Kate?

BERMAN: First of all, A, David Chalian, Mark Person, the entire political team has done an amazing job setting up this debate. B, I don't think people fully appreciate how unusual is it to see them right there on the debate stage just 13 hours before. We talk about the unprecedented nature of this. This is a CNN debate. So we're on the stage. Normally, you're nowhere near the stage this close to a debate.

BOLDUAN: For lots of good reasons. One, security has to be very tight around all of these things. But it's also just seeing the podiums there. It's just very exciting, unfiltered access, hearing from the candidates is going to be very important. And it's all going to be happening very soon.

BERMAN: And again, that was like cinema verite, but for good reason. Very, very unusual.

A major Supreme Court decision released by accident, new details on the leaked draft opinion and what it could mean for abortion access.

Breaking overnight, an armored vehicle slamming into a government palace in an attempted coup. This morning, the leader of the movement vowing to restore democracy.

Also this morning, a shocking admission by a Republican governor in a battleground state, one that I may or may not be sitting in right now. Why he says he voted for nobody in the presidential primary.

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BERMAN: So, we are just hours from history. You are on camera with me. BOLDUAN: Yes, hello, sir.

BERMAN: We are hours from history right now.

BOLDUAN: It happens once in a while. It is happening, Sara.

BERMAN: The current president of the United States, Joe Biden will debate the former president of the United States, Donald Trump like three doors down from where we are sitting in Atlanta at 9:00 PM tonight.

So in that room, besides the current and former president, not going to be a lot of people. The people working the cameras, the stage crew, and our moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.

One person who knows this type of moment very well, former ABC News anchor, the first female African American presidential debate moderator, Carole Simpson.

Carole, it is always great to see you.

You know, 12.5 hours before the debate, what is it like to be the moderator at this moment in the minutes before?

CAROLE SIMPSON, FORMER ABC NEWS ANCHOR, THE FIRST FEMALE AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE MODERATOR: You know, I've been feeling the jitters all day.

You are frightened. I was scared. All of these people are looking at you and judging you. It is not just about the candidates, the moderators feel all the pressure, too, of being able to do the job expected of them, and that is to get questions answered and to make sure they are full answers.

BERMAN: You know, it is interesting because --

SIMPSON: You are really busy.

BERMAN: Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.

SIMPSON: Go ahead.

BERMAN: It is interesting because obviously, you know, when you're the moderator, it is the second, third, fourth day, you don't want to be the story. It is not that you want to disappear completely, but you've always said you don't disappear. It is not like you're anonymous. People know and have come up to you and talked to you about this moment.

SIMPSON: Exactly. I was surprised how many people watched and that they knew me. I had been kind -- I was an anchor on the weekends, but I was no big news star.

But suddenly, I became hot. I was really hot. And I was traveling overseas the summer after the debate, and I went to all kinds of places and people recognized me. In Morocco, there were three women with the black fedoras completely hidden and they were in a corner and giggling, and a man came over and told me, they saw you on the debate in United States. And it was like these three little women that you'd think never go anywhere or see anything actually recognized me. Istanbul, China, England -- everywhere I went, people had watched that debate.

So who cannot negate the global impact that something like this has?

BERMAN: First of all, to me, you're a giant star when I was a desk assistant at ABC News. You were a big time network anchor. Let me just stipulate that.

Carole, the difference, huge difference between the debate you moderated 1992. That was a town hall debate. That room was filled with people. This is just a television stage with almost no one there.

What do you think the difference is going to be in terms of the feel?

SIMPSON: I think it is going to feel a lot different -- differently. My debate had the 200 people that were asking the questions in the town hall format, they had their friends and relatives and staffs of the candidates were all in there and I had three candidates. I had George HW Bush and Ross Perot and Governor Clinton.

So all of them had brought their friends and neighbors to watch the debate, so it was filled. The auditorium was filled.

But we had told them not to react, not to clap, not to do -- and as I say, those years ago, almost 30 years ago, people listened to what the rules were and abided by them.

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Today, who knows? Who knows what is going to happen?

But I think for Biden and for Trump, it should be good by focusing their attention on the questions and what they are supposed to say and do and they won't have the distraction of the crowds and people moving about and so on.

BERMAN: It was a great joy this morning to re-watch some of that debate in 1992. You were wonderful.

Great to see you this morning. Carole Simpson, thanks so much.

SIMPSON: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: So coming out for us, an astonishing protocol breach. The Supreme Court of the United States, admitting it briefly and mistakenly posted online a document related to a huge pending abortion case. Much more on that.

And people in Iran are headed to the polls to vote today on who will be the next president there. Who will replace President Raisi who was killed in that stunning helicopter crash.

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SIDNER: All right, this morning, all eyes on the Supreme Court and the debate stage, yet again, as we await more key decisions to come out within hours.

It has already been quite a tumultuous and unusual week and the Supreme Court acknowledging now that it inadvertently and briefly posted a document online yesterday concerning Idaho's near-total abortion ban. The ruling could officially come out as soon as today.

We are also still waiting on another very high-profile decision on Donald Trump's claim of presidential immunity and obstruction charges against January 6 rioters.

Kim Wehle is the author of "Pardon Power: How the System Works and Why." She is also a former assistant US attorney and a professor of Law at the University of Baltimore.

Kim Wehle, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Can you talk to us first about how unusual it is that something like this got posted online that appeared to be a decision or a draft decision?

KIM WEHLE, AUTHOR, "PARDON POWER: HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS AND WHY": Well, we've seen it once before, of course in the infamous leak of the Dobbs decision. This is a massive breach of protocol and really embarrassing for the Supreme Court and I think it raises a bigger issue as to whether these leaks have some rationale behind them other than just error because I am sure the people that work in the clerk's office at the Supreme Court are consummate professionals.

So this is -- this is odd for sure, Sara.

SIDNER: If this document that the court is admitting it accidentally posted online actually turns out to be what the ruling actually is, what will this ruling mean for abortion access in the case in Idaho?

WEHLE: Well, the ruling which I took a look at is almost like a double "oops." That is, the first "oops" is it was posted. The second "oops" is basically the court says we shouldn't have granted certiorari. We never should have taken this case because now that we've heard the oral argument, we think there are too many factual disputes around whether there really is a clash between federal law and state law.

Just so people understand, Congress passed a statute a while ago that makes it -- requires emergency rooms to treat anyone if they are about at death's door or at risk of some kind of serious bodily injury. You can't be turned away because you don't have insurance or you're low- income.

Idaho is saying that applies except if you're pregnant, that we are not going to give women the kind of care they needed that includes terminating a pregnancy, notwithstanding federal law.

So Justice Jackson, in her concurring opinion said, wait, we should just keep this case because it is really obvious under the Supremacy Clause, federal law is in charge, but what this means now that they are sort of just pulling the rug out from underneath this, that question is still going to percolate and some states might try to have their abortion laws override federal law until the court decides to take this very issue at some point in the future.

So it is good to some degree, I guess for women in Idaho, but it doesn't resolve this manufactured conflict when really, Congress' word, I think should stand across the country when it comes to emergency medical care.

SIDNER: And as you mentioned on its merits, we may see this come up again depending on whether or not another state potentially or another group decides to bring it forward if indeed, that document that was accidentally put out online really gives us the real idea what the ruling is going to be.

All right, I want to move to Trump's immunity claim. How would a decision today change things, potentially at tonight's debate?

WEHLE: Well, I think it would be -- all expectations are that the court will create immunity. There is no criminal immunity in this moment anywhere in the law. It is not in the Constitution.

So this is a conservative court that is reaching out to basically amend the constitution, rewarding Donald Trump for January 6.

So I think it would embolden Donald Trump moving forward, knowing that first of all, the Jack Smith indictment, four counts relating to January 6 might be chipped away at. I doubt it will be completely rendered illegal, but it will be narrowed; and number two, I think he will know that if he gets a second term, his Project 2025, the horrors of really tyranny that his team is outlining will be -- he will be emboldened to follow through on that plan.

And I think it is very dangerous for the American public, and I would say people need to watch even more carefully in making a decision between these two candidates because it is not just between two policy platforms, it is between two different kinds of government, one that is democracy by the people, whether you like Joe Biden or not, that is how we have been for the last 230-plus years, or top down something other than democracy, what Donald Trump is promising, which is it is my way or the highway.

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