Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Harris to Reveal VP Pick on Tuesday; Trump Invited to Black Journalists Convention; Hamas Political Chief Killed in Iran. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired July 31, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: In New York. Well, now his attorney is saying that this should all be barred by the statute of limitations, and let me tell you why.

Back in 2003 there was a new law that was passed by Congress. It's called the Protect Act. And what this does is it essentially eliminates the statute of limitations for sex crimes involving minors.

Well, now R. Kelly's attorney is saying that since this conduct of - that R. Kelly committed happened in the '90s, that was before 2003 when the Protect Act was passed. So, she is saying that you should not be able to charge and convict someone if this was before 2003.

Now, I reached out to R. Kelly's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean. Here's what she tells me, Kate. She says, quote, "laws are generally applied prospectively. The 2003 amendment that expanded the statute of limitations was not intended to apply to Mr. Kelly's alleged conduct from the 1990. Statues should be strictly construed and prosecutors should not be permitted to ignore the intent of Congress, even when the defendant is R. Kelly." So you're seeing there that she's saying because he is a celebrity and because this is a high-profile case that he should be treated like everyone else.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Elizabeth, thank you so much for tracking that for us. Appreciate it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the assassination of the top political leader of Hamas inside Iran, raising fears this morning of the possibility of an all-out war in the Middle East.

The new timeline on when Vice President Harris will pick a running mate. Does her travel schedule give us a big clue on who that pick will be?

And then, keeping the tri in triathlon. The Paris Olympics avoids a major sports calamity.

I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan. Sara Sidner is in Chicago this morning. And this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. BOLDUAN: The already supercharged sprint to selecting a running mate for Kamala Harris is picking up more speed. The Harris campaign says they will announce the VP by Tuesday. That is when the vice president and her running mate will kick off a tour of battleground states starting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Then they move - will move on to Detroit, Michigan. Also on the calendar, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia.

Harris was in Atlanta, Georgia, last night where she spoke at a high- energy rally during which she leveled a new challenge to Donald Trump to face her on a debate stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But he won't debate. But he and his running mate sure seem to have a lot to say about me.

And, by the way, don't you find some of their stuff to just to be plain weird?

I do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage.

Because as the saying goes, if you got something to say, say it to my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN Priscilla Alvarez at the White House for us.

And, Priscilla, what's happening behind the scenes? How close is Kamala Harris to picking a running mate?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, they're certainly working on a very tight timeline. And what this looks like behind the scenes is a lot of research and poring over documents. The vice president has notebooks with information on each of the contenders that she has been reviewing. There have been preliminary and informal conversations. And she's also asked her advisers who would be the best governing partner if she were to win in November.

Now, some of the people on that list include Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, as well as others like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Now, we are told that no formal interviews have been conducted yet, but that is also expected this week. Of course, they are on track to reveal who will be her running mate by Tuesday. That is when they will - there will be a rally in Philadelphia kicking off a travel blitz for the vice president and her running mate. That includes Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada. Notably, Kate, all of those states, minus North Carolina, were ones that President Biden narrowly won in 2020. So, the campaign is trying to keep all of those in play by sending her and her running mate next week.

BOLDUAN: And, Priscilla, the Trump campaign is out with its first real big ad buy to - attacking Kamala Harris. The focus of that, immigration. How is she pushing back on this?

ALVAREZ: Republicans and the former president have wanted to label her the border czar, going back to her task, leading diplomatic efforts in Central America. She was never charged with overseeing border security, but in this case it doesn't matter and in the Republican's arguments against her.

But notably the vice president is taking the attack as well and going on the offensive on an issue that up until this point the administration had really distanced itself from.

[09:05:09]

Take a listen to what she said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I went after transnational gangs, drug cartels and human traffickers that came into our country illegally. I prosecuted them, in case after case, and I won. Donald Trump - Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been talking a big game about securing our border, but he does not want the walk, or as my friend Quavo (ph) would say, he does now walk it like he talks it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, the vice president also taking that argument in a campaign ad - campaign video that was released yesterday. Clearly willing to go toe to toe with former President Donald Trump on one of his key issues, immigration.

BOLDUAN: It will continue to be a key issue and border security throughout this now sprint of an election between those two.

Priscilla, thank you so much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention is underway in Chicago. And Donald Trump will be there answering questions from reporters there, which is creating some controversy. We've got our person on the ground there. Our very own Sara Sidner at the convention with the latest. And this is becoming something of a thing, Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: It is. There's controversy being whipped up here in the windy city because of what has happened here. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were both actually invited to this before Biden dropped out of the race. But it was only Donald Trump who accepted to come in person. Kamala Harris, according to NABJ, could not schedule this. She had to tight of a scheduling and wasn't able to do it virtually either. They are still trying to work that out.

The controversy, of course, surrounding the fact that Kamala Harris, if she were to become president, would be the first black American female president of the United States. And her not being here instead of Donald Trump, who has had a lot to say about black Americans, and this particular city, and the way he has treated, for example, black reporters, has been somewhat of a controversy here.

But this is something that NABJ does every single time it has its conference. They always invite the presumptive nominees for president to come and speak. They've been doing so since 1976.

And I wanted to let you hear from the president of NABJ, who talked about the controversy. This has caused some of the, for example, a board member to leave the organization saying that she will no longer be on the board partly because of this, and a few other issues.

But here's what he had to say about the controversy as to letting Donald Trump speak when they do not have the other presumptive nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN LEMON, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS: It is our jobs as journalists to have those uncomfortable conversations so that the people who count on us to inform them get the information from the source.

And I hope, as a journalism organization, National Association of Black Journalists, we take that portion seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: His point is, look, this could be the president, the 47th president of the United States. And it deserves some time for the journalists here to be able to question him.

There will be several journalists on the panel asking him questions from several different organizations.

But there is a concern already because Donald Trump has already started to try to use this as he is trying to garner more black votes at some of the black population has voted for Donald Trump more than in the past. And here's a little bit of what he put out. He said, "President Trump accomplished more for black Americans than any other president in recent history." That is, of course, disputable. He talks about, for example, unemployment when it comes to black Americans. And during his administration it was true that unemployment was lowered for black Americans than it was previously.

But the Biden administration has seen an even lower number of unemployment for black Americans. So, there will be a lot of fact checking that is expected on the stage live as it happens. It will be published on NABJ's website and elsewhere.

I do want to let you know, there will also be a protest that is planned here. We're not sure how large. But there is going to be a protest outside of the hotel where Donald Trump will be speaking to journalists.

John. BERMAN: Sara Sinder, we miss you so much, but seeing you in the big screen like that -

SIDNER: Miss you.

BERMAN: Almost being able to reach out and touch you, it makes it - it takes the sting out.

SIDNER: Hey.

BERMAN: Thank you very much. Great work.

Kate.

SIDNER: My heart (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: It takes out the sting just a bit. Just a bit.

Just joining us right now to talk about this is former senior advisor for Kamala Harris' Senate campaign, and former campaign manager when she was running for attorney general of California, Brian Brokaw, and Stuart Stevens, former Republican political consultant, who was a presidential campaign strategies for George W. Bush, Mitt Romney. He's also the author of "The Conspiracy to End America: Five Ways My Old Party is Driving our Democracy to Autocracy."

[09:10:01]

Guys, thanks for being here.

Brian, let me start with you.

What do you think of - Sara was laying out this kind of big moment that's going to happen at NABJ today with Trump sitting for this panel discussion and taking questions. What do you think this move is about by Trump and also about the controversy around it?

BRIAN BROKAW, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER FOR KAMALA HARRIS' SENATE CAMPAIGN: Well, I think the narrative around this race, the conventional wisdom has been totally flipped on its head over the last three weeks. And that's because Kamala Harris is somebody who confounds her opponents. And Donald Trump doesn't know exactly how to go after her. I just read that he's been calling her a communist. I mean there come - I don't know if they think she's too liberal or she's too conservative as a prosecutor, but the thing is, she keeps her opponents on her toes. So, it will be interesting to see how he attacks her in front of the National Association of Black Journalists. I have no doubt he will, you know, try to rewrite history about his record over the past four years when he was president with the African American community, but it's not going to fly. And she's totally flipped this race on its head.

BOLDUAN: Stuart, I was going to ask you because maybe - some of this may be Trump trying to redefine himself on some level with - with going there today. But the real race is it seems to define Kamala Harris and what her campaign this time is about. I mean what did you see in that rally in Georgia yesterday on that front, and the effort by Trump and other Republicans that we have already heard time and again working hard to define her as extreme, working hard to define her as a San Francisco liberal.

STUART STEVENS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, I this just isn't going to work. Something seems to be happening here that doesn't happen very often in our American politics. I think it happened with Obama. For a lot of people it happened with Reagan. And that is, this presidential race is becoming not just about who you are supporting, but about who you as a voter are. This is self-definitional. And what kind of country do you want to live in? The contrast is so stark between future and past, between an America that was dominated by white political figures, Trump's coalition is 85 percent white in a country that's 60, 59 percent non-white, and becoming less so every day.

And it's - I think his about questions that people are asking that go beyond policy questions, that go to, what sort of future will America have? And, you know, one of my favorite politicians used to say, bet on the future, it's going to happen anyway. And I think that's where the Harris campaign is headed. And I think it's going to work for them very well.

BOLDUAN: So interesting.

Brian, I want to play something that Donald Trump said about Kamala Harris in an interview this week, suggesting that she would not be able to stand up to world leaders, and then kind of dangling it out there on the why. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think they'll walk all over her. She'll be so easy for them. She'll be like a play toy. They look at her and they say, we can't believe we got so lucky. They're going to walk all over her. And I don't want to say as to why, but a lot of people understand it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: You ran her campaign when she was running to be attorney - ran, one, to be attorney general of California. What do you say to that?

BROKAW: I mean, I think he should ask Bill Barr or Jeff Sessions or anybody who was on the receiving end of a Kamala Harris grilling whether she walked all over them. I think we saw literally those guys quaking in their boots as she was sitting up there in the Senate.

So - you know, but she's also somebody who I think he forgets was a career prosecutor, somebody who put away some of the toughest, most violent criminals when she was both a line prosecutor and also the elected DA and attorney general taking on transnational gangs. So - and, by the way, she's spent the last four years representing the Biden administration on the world stage. She's been in Munich. She's been meeting with world leaders. You know, I think anybody who underestimates her is doing themselves a disservice. And she thrives on being an underdog.

So, I think he does so - he - he underestimates her at his own peril.

BOLDUAN: What - Stuart, is that hitting at her for being a woman? Like, he - he - it - this is the thing we know Donald Trump does, right, dangling it out there and saying, I don't need to say it because you get it. But, you know, and, obviously Laura Ingraham didn't follow up with what exactly do you mean? Why would - why would she. But is that what this is?

STEVENS: Yes. This is what it - this - this is -

BOLDUAN: And - and - and why? But why? Like, women vote.

STEVENS: Because - I - I - I can tell you exactly what, because Donald Trump doesn't respect women. He has particularly women who are African American non-white. He has - cannot deal with a world in which these women have power. And unless they repeal the 19th Amendment, which isn't looking really good here, he is going to lose in historic numbers with women voters.

[09:15:06]

And I think a lot of men are offended by this. They don't want to see their wives treated that way, their moms, their sisters, their daughters. It's extraordinarily disrespectful. And it's sort of like a hand reaching out from some, you know, 1950s crips of get in your place. Like an episode of "Mad Men" or something. And that's just not the country that America is and it certainly isn't the country that majority of Americans want to live in, were proud about the fact that women have stronger roles across the board.

So, I think this is - it's a - it's a terrible political mistake, but it's an inevitable political mistake because Donald Trump can't change.

BOLDUAN: Let's see what happens next, boys. Thanks for coming in. Appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight, feels - fears of a full out war in the Middle East. Hamas is threatening retaliation after accusing Israel of killing its top political leader.

And then after days of postponed events due to E. Coli and water quality concerns, Olympic triathletes finally dove into the River Seine.

And can memes help elect Vice President Kamala Harris president? Some gen z activists think so.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:05]

BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, an assassination and now new fallout and fears of a broader potential war in the Middle East. The top political leader of Hamas killed while in Iran, in Iran's capital no less. And both Iran and Hamas, an Iran proxy, this morning are vowing retaliation against Israel, which they accuse of being behind the killing. Israel has not claimed responsibility.

But minutes ago, Iran's U.N. mission in New York just warned of Iran's, quote/unquote, "special operations" in response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyah in a statement that has just been released, saying, I'll read in part, this statement is just coming in, so I'll read it with you together. "The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations, harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator."

CNN's Alex Marquardt joins us now. He's got more on this.

So, we now have this new statement from Iran's mission in New York. What more are you hearing this hour?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, it is that response, however vague the Iranians described it, that is causing real concern, that is going to cause real concern here in Washington. What does it mean for the rest of the region and what does it mean for Americans in the region? We're in uncharted territory. Very dangerous territory.

What I'm hearing from a variety of sources this morning, Kate, is that the U.S. did not get a heads up. The U.S. had no role in this. The U.S. certainly not coming forward saying that Israel was behind this assassination. And that is something that we've heard from Secretary Blinken. He's the only senior U.S. official so far to talk about what happened. He said he didn't want to speculate, but that the U.S. had no role and they had no awareness. He's traveling out in Asia. We would expect to get more reaction throughout the course of the day.

Sometimes the U.S. is given a heads-up, like they were yesterday when Israel went after that top Hezbollah leader in Lebanon. But we are really in an extraordinary moment, Kate, where Israel has now carried out strikes against Lebanon, against Iran, against the Hamas leader, all in the past 24 hours, which could have major implications. We saw back in April Iran attack Israel with more than 300 drones and missiles after an Israeli strike on - on a - on an Iranian embassy complex in Damascus. This is arguably much more sensitive.

So, there is a real concern now that this war could really spiral out of control, go well beyond Gaza.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: You mentioned Israel publicly taking responsibility for the hit against the Hezbollah leader in Beirut, taking him out. What new reporting do you have on that?

MARQUARDT: Well, Fuad Shukr is the name of the top Hezbollah military commander who was killed by Israel yesterday. That's according to the IDF. It was a precision strike in southern Beirut. There was relatively minor damage done to the surrounding area. But his - he was taken out by the Israelis in response to that strike over the weekend in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights that left some 12 druze children dead. Israel, of course, treats that territory like their own. They said there were going to respond. And so yesterday we saw that precision strike, which Israel says did take out Fuad Shukr.

He, incidentally, had a bounty on his head from the U.S. Some $5 million. He had played a significant role in the 1983 marine barracks bombing in Beirut that killed some 241 U.S. Marine. So, this was also someone who the U.S. wanted.

So yesterday, after this strike happened, we were speculating about whether that would be the end of the Israeli response to the Hezbollah strike over the weekend. But now we see Israel significantly stepping up their operations against adversaries. This killing, if it was indeed Israel, in Tehran of the top Hamas political leader could have very severe consequences.

[09:25:06]

One of the most immediate and most direct could be on these ceasefire talks where Ismail Haniyeh was the guy at the table doing the negotiating. So, at the very least, these talks are on pause, but they could, of course, now be completely scuttled.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Alex, thank you so much. Great reporting, as always. Much more to come.

Ahead for us, Vice President Kamala Harris is narrowing in on her pick to be her running mate. The governor who pulled himself out of consideration joins us next.

And a redemption tour, eight years in the making. The USA women's gymnastics team powering back to Olympic gold.

We'll be back

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:00]