Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Riding RNC Wave; Sarah Matthews is Interviewed about the Trump Campaign. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 19, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:32:45]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, two presidents and their campaigns in two very different spots.

Donald Trump officially accepting the Republican nomination, closing out the RNC, leaving Milwaukee, projecting confidence, and projecting party unity for sure.

President Biden, meanwhile, is becoming increasingly isolated. Isolated, for one, for a medical reason for a couple of days because he got Covid, but also increasingly isolated politically. More Democrats, publicly and privately, telling him that they think he no longer can defeat Donald Trump. And the turmoil really splintering Biden's party around him.

Joining us right now, Tim Hogan, Democratic consultant, former spokesperson for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, and former Trump State Department official, Matt Mowers.

It's great to see you guys.

MATT MOWERS, FORMER TRUMP STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: Great to see you too.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much.

Let's play a game. I played it in the 7:00 hour. Let's see if we can top it.

Tim, finish this sentence, if last night's speech did one thing to help the Republicans, help Donald Trump, it was.

TIM HOGAN, DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN CONSULTANT: That he could maybe stay on message for 15 minutes.

BOLDUAN: It was 30.

HOGAN: It was - it was - it was a little while. I mean he - he spoke for a very long time. Convention, the diehards, were falling asleep. And I think the speech was a layup. And he missed a little bit. And I think there was an expectation that we were going to have lowered temperature, but we really just got lowered volume from him. We still heard the hits, crazy Nancy Pelosi, Democrats destroying the country, immigrants invading the country, everything against him is a witch hunt. So, the expectation that there would be some reset in this speech, I think, is gone now.

BOLDUAN: They half reset. If there's a half reset. I'm just kidding.

HOGAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: OK, so, Matt, you get to finish this sentence. If last night did one thing to hurt the Trump campaign, it was.

MOWERS: I think it's just some of the coverage after the fact. And then, honestly, the fact that the longer speech just drew it out so late. How many voters truly saw some of the substance of it?

And if you look at, you know, especially the second half of his speech, that's where he's really getting to the vision and the issues. You know, when folks are saying, you know, what are the issues that matter to me, that was on the second half of this speech. It was later. So, I'd say, you know, some folks may have missed out on that.

But look, we're all going to focus on the first half an hour, right? The riveting 30 minutes of him -

BOLDUAN: It's true. It -

MOWERS: I mean I can't imagine - by the way, if anyone, God forbid, ever gets shot, you have a right to speak for as long as you want five days later publicly. I think that's like built into a right. And so, you know, just hopefully the fact that voters really saw I think a human side of him in a lot of ways.

[09:35:03]

He seemed personally affected by what happened on Saturday.

BOLDUAN: Do you - do - Democrats have to acknowledge that too. I mean you could - Democrats can conspirathize (ph) all over - all they want for real or for show in terms of the - the more humbled, somber - what we saw in that first 30 minutes.

MOWERS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: But the - you can make of it what you want, but you cannot deny the fact that it was different, those first 30 minutes. That was a more vulnerable Donald Trump than we have seen since he walked down that staircase in 2015.

HOGAN: Yes, it was. And he gave a speech at the beginning and it was different, but I think the outcome of the convention and the coverage going forward is different than the 30 minutes that he spoke at the convention. I mean we still saw folks waving around signs, you know, mass deportations now. We still saw accusations that Democrats cheated and that's the only way that they could win elections. And apologizing for January 6th. So, I really don't think it changes that much. And I will say too, this Republican theme of unity, very interesting. This place was unified, right? But all conventions mostly are unified. You get people on the floor cheering.

BOLDUAN: Don't be too - don't be too soon to -

HOGAN: But I will say, you didn't see Mike Pence. Where was Mike Pence?

BOLDUAN: Or -

HOGAN: Where was Mitt Romney? Where was George W. Bush?

BOLDUAN: President Bush.

HOGAN: Where was Paul Ryan? It's those folks. And then it's also his former staff.

BOLDUAN: It's a different Republican Party now.

HOGAN: Where was McMaster? Where was Mattis? Where was Esper? All of these people are not part of this Republican Party. So, we did see a new Republican Party here, but I think it's shrinking.

MOWERS: But, I'd have to say it's growing. And I've been at every convention since - Republican Convention since 2004, with the exception of 2020 when it was canceled for Covid. And this was the most diverse lineup of speakers, both by, you know, racially diverse, you know, you had the first openly gay cabinet member ever in American history speak in Ric Grenell (ph). It really was a very different party.

I was saying the other night, I don't think there was as many face tattoos in the Mitt Romney convention in 2012. It was clearly broadening a different image for the Republican Party here, reaching out to folks.

In fact, we had Hulk Hogan speaking last night. I mean we were reaching out to different demographics that have not looked at the Republican Party before.

BOLDUAN: That's the -

MOWERS: That's the convention that happened to this (ph).

BOLDUAN: That, I think, is the key, is, do you get - is with the Hulk Hogans, with the Amber Roses, do you effectively reach out to those voters who are not paying attention and don't really give a hoot about politics for so many cycles.

Let's turn to the Democrats please.

HOGAN: OK.

BOLDUAN: What do you think - what do you think is the deciding factor in what is being contemplated publicly and privately about Joe Biden. And as - what does it feel like as a campaign staffer to be - to be living through this?

HOGAN: Yes. I mean it's - it's difficult. There's - there's no question about that. And I think we see every day the Biden campaign has to come out and sort of re-issue the same statement, which is, he's in, he's running, he's not dropping out, he's the nominee. We saw it this morning as well.

But one thing that I've reflected on is, the conversation that we're having, although it is grueling and it's been a very tough three weeks and it's very tough for staff, is also a sign of a healthy, functioning party. We are not a party that has sacred cows. We are not a party that is based on a cult of personality. We're a party that cares about winning and improving people's lives. And wherever this conversation goes, that has been the impetus for the conversation that we're having. And I would say, that is the one functional political party that we have right now. You have another one that's got someone who's been convicted of 34 felonies and they're not having that conversation at all.

BOLDUAN: Defining functional these days I think is a - is a graded scale - is a weighted scale. We'll see.

HOGAN: We'll see in Chicago what functional really looks like.

BOLDUAN: We will - we're - we've got a lot to see, OK. We've got a lot to see before Chicago, so you just hold on.

MOWERS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you guys. Thank you for being here.

HOGAN: Thanks so much.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you so much.

Here is a quote, "have patience." The new strategy by airports to appease angry passengers as thousands are stranded due to huge a tech outage. They're telling angry people, well, as we all know, telling angry people to calm down usually works great.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Bad idea. Never say that to me, John.

BERMAN: Yes.

SIDNER: Never.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:17]

SIDNER: Donald Trump and JD Vance, as you might imagine, now gearing up to head out on the campaign trail for the first time as a team this weekend. Their first stop, Grand Rapids, Michigan. A very important state, as you know. But what will their message be considering what we heard last night, which was a very two-toned message, if you will.

We're joined now by Sarah Matthews, former Trump White House deputy press secretary.

Sarah, post the RNC, what will this message be? Will it be what we heard from Donald Trump at the beginning of his speech, where he stayed on message with the prompter, or the darker part of his speech, which he did for the next, I don't know, 90 - less than 90 minutes?

SARAH MATTHEWS, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: I think that what last night showed us is that while Trump did, at the very beginning of his speech, go for that unity message, he can't help himself. And he's going to always slip back into his old ways and revert back to his old messaging. And so I do think that once they get back out on the trail, him in his vice presidential pick, JD Vance, I do think that he's going to fall back into that same dark rhetoric where he's talking about Democrats destroying the country, that he's the actual one saving democracy, and it's all going to be doom and gloom and he's going to be talking about his grievances rather than the problems facing the American people.

And that is what the latter half of his speech last night showed. And so, while you can kind of contain him for a little bit and maybe in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on his life he is reflecting a bit as we saw in the beginning of that speech, I do think that it showed us also that not much has changed when it comes to Donald Trump.

BERMAN: Sarah, you've been in the business for a minute. I'm curious if you've thought of what it would be like to change candidates midstream. To be the deputy press secretary for a candidate one day and then have that candidate not be running anymore, but possibly still be working on the campaign. What would that be like?

MATTHEWS: I certainly do not envy the position that the Democratic Party is facing. Look, that would be a challenge, needless to say.

Obviously, if President Biden does decide to step aside, the most natural pick then would be, I think, to fall into his vice president, Kamala Harris. You could retain the team and it would be rocky, but a little bit of a more smooth transition. They're probably all familiar with what the message would be. I think that the message is all going to stay the same in terms - in terms of running against Donald Trump. So, that is the one benefit of, if you do change the ticket.

But say there's a contested convention and it's a totally different candidate who's not currently on the ticket, then they might want to bring in their own people.

[09:45:05]

And so with three-and-a-half months to go, that would be definitely a challenge, especially when you're running against a candidate like Donald Trump, who, you know, running presidential campaigns is already extremely hard. Running against Donald Trump is an extremely daunting reality. It's very difficult to run against someone who is a pathological liar. And so, no matter what happens with the Democratic Party, whether they maintain Biden or switch candidates, it's going to be an uphill battle.

SIDNER: Yes, a challenge to say the very, very least.

I do want to ask you though, are Republicans looking at this and sort of hoping that Joe Biden stays in because another candidate may have a bigger chance. The polling is showing that Biden has lost ground in some of those battleground states, even during the RNC. Should they be worried about a change?

MATTHEWS: There's no doubt that the Trump campaign wants to run against Joe Biden. They've modeled all of their data around running against him. And he is the weakest candidate in the Democratic Party that they could go up against. And they know that their candidate also has weaknesses.

And so, if I were a Democrat, though, watching Trump's speech last night, I think that the inevitability that he was going to win in a landslide kind of faded away a bit. I think that it showed us that he is beatable. And so, if I'm a Democrat, then I'm thinking, hey, why aren't we nominating someone who's younger, more energetic, who could run circles around that rambling old man.

But, obviously, it seems like President Biden is digging his heels in. And so, if he stays in the race, and it is going to be much more difficult for Democrats to defeat him. And look, I think that the biggest tell is, like I said, the Trump campaign wants to run a campaign against Joe Biden, and that's for a reason.

SIDNER: Sarah Matthews, thank you so much for coming on this morning with us.

John.

MATTHEWS: Thank you.

BERMAN: So, according to an internal memo obtained by CNN just moments ago, the U.S. Justice Department has been affected by the global tech outage. They say the issue is significant. And there's currently no estimate when it will be resolved.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:36]

SIDNER: Former President Donald Trump is the latest victim of political violence. An assassination attempt. American history, though, has been violent. Assassination attempts have been part of American politics for about as long as the country has existed. Four U.S. presidents have been killed while in office, and countless others have been violently attacked or nearly killed.

This week on "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER," I examine the history and motivations behind those attacks. Heartfelt conversations with members of President John F. Kennedy's family, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s family, and President Ronald Reagan's daughter, who sat down with me and talked about what her gut reaction was to President Trump's attempted assassination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTI DAVIS, DAUGHTER OF PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: I mean one of the things that I was struck by in the footage that we've all seen a million times now, the shooting on Saturday, obviously it was the fear that he was going to die, it was the not knowing. I mean it's - you know, it's a strange experience in that there is such an apparatus around the president and, you know, their security. There's the - there's - there's this apparatus around them, but yet something like this happens and they're just flesh and blood. They're a human being. And - and life can end in a second with - with a single bullet.

So, there's that. There's the humanness of it. But then there is still that apparatus. I mean, I didn't know any more that day, that long day, than everybody else did. I was sitting in front of the television. I couldn't get through to my mother in the hospital. I tried. And I - I didn't know anything. I didn't know if he was going to live or not.

My most lasting memory was the - the shift of mood in this country. And the people who - who came up to me, who I'm sure were not all supporters of my father, where politics was set aside and they were simply coming to me with compassion, and with humanity, and with the awareness that I had almost lost my father. And I wish that we were back in that place again. I don't think we quite are.

SIDNER: What was your gut reaction when you saw that yet another assassin tried to take out, in this case a former president, after what you've been through.

DAVIS: Well, I mean, I did think of his - about his family. And, you know, no - no matter what one thinks of Donald Trump and - and all of them, I mean, again, it's - it's a human being, you know? And other human beings were shot who were attending that rally. So, you know, it brought back all of that. But it did bring back also my - my memory of - of the shift and that sort of suspension of - of politics in the - in the country.

But, you know, 1981 was very different than now. First of all, we didn't have social media. So, I'm not naive. I know that there were people who really didn't care if my father was shot. But I wasn't aware of them because without social media you have - you can stay in the bubble of your own experience.

With some of the attendees after Donald Trump was taken off the stage, turning around to the media and giving them the finger, and you could read their lips and the words that were coming out went right along with that middle finger. I thought, really?

[09:55:02]

Like, this is your response? Someone just died in the stands behind you, two other people are critically wounded, the candidate who you have come to listen to, who you obviously support was just taken out with blood in the side of his head, and that's your reaction?

SIDNER: What do you think is wrong with us? What's happened?

DAVIS: What I think is - well, what I think is that we are awash in anger. And, you know, I don't think anger springs out of nothing. I think that anger comes out of fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: An all new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY WITH ANDERSON COOPER" airs Sunday night at 10:00 Eastern and Pacific right here only on CNN.

BERMAN: Look, that is such an important discussion and a lot will be determined on how the candidates, specifically Donald Trump -

SIDNER: Speaks.

BERMAN: Speaks.

SIDNER: Absolutely.

BERMAN: Now going forward as he takes the campaign trial.

Obviously, there's a lot going on, on the other side as well.

SIDNER: Yes.

BERMAN: Just tons of developments this morning in the future of President Biden and his campaign. His campaign manager has been talking and says the campaign is still going on, although you heard Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms say to me, you know, until President Biden decides otherwise, which is a strange way to phrase it.

Obviously, stick with CNN for all the breaking news. "CNN NEWSROOM" up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)