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Polls Show Biden Losing Ground; Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) is Interviewed about Biden; Navarro Released from Prison. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 17, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: In states that Trump is expected to win. If Trump wins those states by three or four points, yes, you can still elect a Democratic senator. There might be enough split ticket voters in those states. But if Donald Trump is winning by 10, 15 points in some of these red states, that makes it very hard for somebody like Senator Jon Tester of Montana, or Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio to get across that finish line.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, "Punchbowl," S.E., this morning was -- had quotes from, you know, exuberant Republican saying the D plus three districts, we've already got those.

ANDERSON: Yes.

BERMAN: We're going after the D plus ten, D plus 11 districts right now.

ANDERSON: Yes.

BERMAN: So, if this is all true, and polls are a snapshot of time, if it's true today, what, if anything, do you see the Democrats doing to right the ship?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's the question. And it doesn't seem like they're willing to do much. I know that Democrats are frustrated. And the day after the debate I reached out to several House Democrats. They're all up, right? They're all up this year. And I asked, off the record, does he need to step down? They all, to a person, just said yes. Yes. Because of those down ballot races that they're all worried about. They're worried about their own survival.

They're also worried about the health of the party. And I don't know if you guys saw John King the other night, but he's talking about a path to 330 for Donald Trump. That is an overwhelming mandate. If Donald Trump gets to 330, Democrats don't get to say he eked it out but we won the Electoral College. You know, this is a referendum on Joe Biden.

So, the Democrats were begging Joe Biden to do the right thing and step down, are worried about all of it. And they're right to be.

BERMAN: I'm sensitive to that fact that I'm talking to two people who aren't exactly card carrying members and never have been of the Democratic Party.

CUPP: Correct.

BERMAN: But the party apparatus itself now, there's all this movement to do the roll call, though part of it has to do with Ohio. Quickly, to put it all to bed, Lloyd Doggett just put out a release. Lloyd Doggett was the first member of Congress -- sitting member of Congress who came out and said, don't do this.

ANDERSON: Yes.

BERMAN: Don't do this. Biden step aside.

What do you think of the party's strife, Kristen?

ANDERSON: Well, there's no no-risk strategy for Democrats right now.

BERMAN: No.

ANDERSON: If you stick with Joe Biden, you might know what you're getting, but there's still a risk that his health could further deteriorate. And you know that you are in a bad position with him as your candidate. But if you switch gears now to someone like Kamala Harris, she has more upsides in that I think voters think she could definitely serve for another four years, but she may have other unknown downsides that are not yet priced into polling. To say nothing of what happens to the Democratic Party if they don't go with Kamala Harris and they throw things open at a convention and go on some search for someone new. There is no low-risk strategy for Democrats that's right now.

CUPP: But the -- not but, and the efforts to sort of control this look like chicanery. And it started during the primaries --

BERMAN: Yes.

CUPP: When they really didn't allow an open primary for Joe Biden. Protecting him like that I think did him very few favors. And now trying to sort of, I don't want to use the r-word, rig, but trying to sort of jigger it so that he gets in before there's more talk of getting him out. It just looks bad. It looks undemocratic. And it looks like they're ignoring the will of the people, including their own voters.

BERMAN: Curtis Wilkie, we both grew up in Boston --

CUPP: Yes.

BERMAN: Curtis Wilkie was just the greatest "Boston Globe" political reporter of all time when we were growing up.

CUPP: Yes.

BERMAN: He just wrote an article down in Mississippi, where he's retired to. He said, "Biden should never have sought a second term. Biden may be remembered as a selfish man, weakened by age, who clung to his office too long."

And I think this comes from a reporter who was more or less sensitive to Biden over the years. Pretty scathing there.

CUPP: Yes.

BERMAN: On the numbers, if I'm reading this Blue Labs right, Harris does better than Biden against Trump but worse than other Democrats.

From a polling perspective, how much of a problem does Kamala Harris pose as a potential nominee?

ANDERSON: So, right now Republicans are quite happy to run against Joe Biden. They are in many cases trying to link Biden to Harris. You actually heard this was a big message from Nikki Haley throughout the primary and she's continued to emphasize it. A vote for Biden is actually a vote for Harris. So, in some ways, I think there's not as much of a change if you go from a Biden to a Harris, it's if they go from Biden to someone else. That could cause even more internal strife within the Democratic Party, but could have a lot of additional upsides with someone who might be more popular and vibrant and could lead the Democratic Party into the future than people think Joe Biden is.

BERMAN: Some summer we're having.

Kristen, S.E., great to see you both here. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, great conversation. Wished I could have been a part of it. You were right (ph).

BERMAN: I know someone you can talk to.

SIDNER: Thanks, John. That grudge holding --

BERMAN: That's right.

SIDNER: I feel it right here.

All right, coming up, new Democratic internal polling shows President Biden, as you saw, losing ground in more than a dozen key states. What his campaign plans to do about it now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:39:17]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: As day three of the Republican Convention gets underway here in Milwaukee, President Biden is starting off his day in Las Vegas, where he is going to be speaking to Latino leaders. And he spoke at the NAACP convention yesterday and sat down for a new interview that just released in part, a new interview with BET.

Let me play this for you. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you notice, whether it's young blacks or young whites or young Hispanics or young Asian Americans, they've never focused until after Labor Day. I mean the idea they're focused intently on election right now is -- is -- is not there. And by the way, if you take a look at the presidents who have won at this stage of the game, the last seven or eight presidents, five of them were losing at this time by significant margins.

[09:40:07]

The point is, we're just getting down to game time now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: "Just getting down to game time now."

Joining me right now is the Democratic governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz. He's a surrogate for the Biden campaign, also co-chair of the Democratic National Convention Rules Committee.

Governor, it's great to so you. Thanks for coming in.

I want to ask you about what we just heard from President Biden in that new interview saying that he does not think that, at least when it comes to young voters, they're paying attention yet. Fifty million people tuned in to watch the CNN debate, millions more on streaming. And voting -- people are going to start voting in September. It's hard to argue that people aren't paying attention yet, Governor.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): Well, more well. I -- I -- that -- I thought you were leading me into that. I'm a football coach too.

Look, the work is yet to be done on this. And I think there's a long ways to go. We know that whether it was 2020 or 2022, we were going to beat on this.

What will start to happen is though, now we get to make the contrast. A lot of talk about President Biden. Lot of talk about that. I'm here to listen to folks that last night was about bend the knee and groveling. Today is about bending to Putin on foreign policy.

So, look when the American public really do start paying attention, and it is an adage that holds true, I've been through this myself a dozen times, they start listening after Labor Day. The kids go back to school. What matters -- what matters on the economic front. And on that case, President Biden has delivered all across the board. So, we'll start to make that contrast.

BOLDUAN: And, Governor, I was just handed this. It's new reporting coming out from "Politico." They've obtained a letter that says it's author by you and the other convention rules committee co-chair, that you plan to move forward with the virtual roll call to nominate Joe Biden. This stirred up a lot of I -- I'll call it controversy. A lot of discussion and debate when this started being reported out. Are you planning to move up that date to as early as next week?

WALZ: No. No. Look, the issue here was, is folks in Ohio did something that had never happened before. The Republicans decided to make ballot access difficult. Our convention is after we have to have someone on there. We have our nominee. We voted. We need to formalize that process. And we're meeting Friday to set the rules for the convention. And there's no vote coming before August 1st.

But the fact is, whether it's Ohio, Washington state on August 20th, other states following right behind that, we have to have this done with signatures in the hands of folks in those states. And Ohio, by putting partisan politics ahead of just basic democracy, just sped that up a little bit. But there's nothing out of the ordinary here. Nothing's happened before. Bishop Daughtry, myself and the rules committee will make sure the convention runs as it's supposed to.

BOLDUAN: Some -- but some Democrats do not think there is more going on here. That you're essentially trying to stop the bleeding and to speed up and fast-track the nomination. I mean Huffman out of California called it dumb that you'll be doing that, that Biden would lose today if the election was today and things need to happen before you can nominate. One House Democrat told CNN about this whole thing, "the disbelief that we expedite the nomination is as widespread as the recognition the DNC is leading Democrats into a house fire with water bottles."

Are -- is the goal to fast-track the nomination?

WALZ: Oh, no. And I don't think it behooves us to fall into conspiracy theories. The Republicans have cornered the market on that.

Look, this is the process that we've done. There is nothing going to happen on Friday other than to start to set the rules. Again, if our convention would have been held last month, then no one would be talking about this, but we have to get the work done. So, no, I -- I don't think that that's helpful. I think the letter is very clear. The process is clear.

We, unlike the Republicans, have a process. And voters across this country went to primaries. They elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The electors are going to -- those delegates are going to go. And all is they need to do is cast their vote.

We need to get it done before we keep our candidates off the ballot. It's as simple as that.

But look, we're going to find out tonight. We're going to hear a little bit about JD Vance. The only reason JD Vance is getting nominated, the last guy almost got killed. And so, I think once we start putting the focus back where it truly belongs, folks trying to take away reproductive freedoms. JD Vance said the biggest threat to our economy is Social Security. That's a damn lie. And it's one that impacts millions and millions of Americans. So, we'll start exposing some of those, and I think you'll start to see folks come back. What really matters to them. BOLDUAN: Yes, we definitely heard on -- in terms of VP candidates, we

definitely heard from the convention stage here at the Republican convention. A lot of focus on Kamala Harris last night in -- in speeches. So, it's a -- the VPs are going to be taking center stage more than maybe we've -- we've been used to in the past.

[09:45:01]

There is some data -- some more data coming out I wanted to ask you about because Minnesota is part of it. This polling lab.

WALZ: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's Democratic funded Blue Labs has some data that we've gotten, that people have seen, that says Biden is lose -- showing Biden losing ground in 14 states, including Minnesota. Also losing ground in five states that he flipped to win in 2020. We have a graphic of it up. Then you have, in the past two weeks, I was looking at this, two of the political rating analysts, it would be Cook Political and Larry Sabato, they downgraded Biden's chances of winning in Minnesota from likely D to leaning D.

What's going on, Governor?

WALZ: Yes, it's always close. We're always close. Donald Trump should win. He tells us he won in '16 and '20 according to him.

Look, we've elected Democratic presidential -- voted for Democratic presidential candidates since 1972. We continue to win statewide. Take our message out there. But look, it's going to be close. We have to do the work. We have to get unified. We get our convention in August, start to unify around him, start to make the work.

But I -- I never take these things for granted. And I think if you've been in this business, I've been behind in polling in these and I am -- I am the governor of Minnesota because Minnesotans come out and vote because they care about things like health care. They care about things like reproductive rights. They care about their neighbors. These folks see the most vulnerable as scapegoats. That's all they've done this week. We see them as our neighbors.

And so, when Minnesotans get around to it, we'll make sure we remain an island of decency and we'll vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and make sure that we're part of that blue wall.

BOLDUAN: Do not count Governor Walz as concerned quite yet, but never taking anything for granted. That I -- that is loud and clear.

Union support. It's been very important to you. It's very important to the Democratic Party. It's very important to Joe Biden. Sean O'Bbrien of the Teamsters, he spoke at the Republican Convention. The first time he says the Teamsters have ever spoken at a Republican -- at a Republican Convention. He has said in an interview with CNN that he has not yet received an invitation to speak at the Democratic Convention, though he had expressed that he wants to.

Do you think the Teamsters, and Sean O'Brien, should be given a speaking slot at the DNC?

WALZ: Well, I haven't received my invitation either.

Look, I'm a union member. Been my whole life. We've never seen a more pro-union president than -- than Joe Biden. And I would also say that Sean O'Brien knows, the Teamsters pension fund is now solvent because of Joe Biden. So, Sean O'Brien, that's -- that's fine. He can go and speak. Like I said, we're a big party. He is one out of the millions of union members who know Joe Biden's there to protect their -- their collective bargaining rights to really, truly protect workplace democracy, to stand with workers on workers safety, on pensions, on health care. So, you know, that -- that's one guy. And -- and good for him. But I can tell you, certainly my union and thousands of others will be in Chicago to support the most pro-union, pro-worker, pro- middle-class president that we've seen in our lifetime. And that's Joe Biden.

BOLDUAN: Governor Tim Walz, always good to see you and to have you on. Thank you so much.

WALZ: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right, today, JD Vance will make his first speech as the Republican vice presidential nominee. How will he introduce himself to a national audience?

And Peter Navarro is now a free man, just released from prison. New reporting on his first stop post lock up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:56]

SIDNER: This morning, former Trump aide Peter Navarro was just released from prison after completing his four months sentence for defying a subpoena from the January 6th congressional committee. He is expected to head straight there from prison camp to the RNC.

CNN's senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz has the very latest.

Katelyn, he's leaving Miami, heading to Milwaukee. Are you expecting him to take the stage?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Sara, we do expect Peter Navarro to take this day to speak publicly about what he sees his role to be in the Trump world. So, he is a former Trump White House adviser. He was a trade advisor at the end of the administration. And then he also was trying to, or putting himself in the conversation around Donald Trump trying to take the election that he lost in 2020 whenever the House, when Congress, went to him and asked for records and testimony, he just didn't respond. He didn't provide them anything. And so he was convicted by a jury. He went through the court system.

And he has now done his time. He served four months in prison for defying Congress, being held in contempt.

Peter Navarro has always argued that he should have been protected from this congressional investigation around January 6th because of the role he had in the White House.

Here's a little bit more of what he said just before he entered prison in March.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER NAVARRO, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER UNDER PRESIDENT TRUMP: This is not about me. One of the big stories is about what is really an unprecedented assault on the constitutional separation of powers and the doctrine of executive privilege as a critical tool dating back to George Washington, effective presidential decision-making.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So, those lofty ideas from Peter Navarro about the separation of powers and protection around the presidency, that's likely what we are going to be hearing more of when he is expected to take the stage in Milwaukee tonight at the GOP convention.

[09:55:12]

But it's just not what the Justice Department, the courts, and a jury of his peers found. They found that he was in violation. And he has become one of several people around former President Donald Trump who have served time in prison. The other one, for the same type of crime, Steve Bannon, currently in jail.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Katelyn Polantz. Appreciate it.

BERMAN: It will be interesting to see if Peter Navarro does speak, what the tone of those words are because his defiance and the conspiracies at odds with the message that the Republicans say they are trying to send right now.

SIDNER: One of unity. Yes. But that's broken down a little bit already.

BERMAN: It has. It has.

SIDNER: Yes.

BERMAN: All right, it will be one of the things -- one of the things to watch today in addition to President Biden out on the stump and the disunity within the Democratic Party.

Watching it all. Thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" is up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)