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Any Moment: Harris, Walz Rally In Key Swing State Wisconsin; Harris, Walz & Vance Hold Competing Campaign Events In Wisconsin; Walz Speaks At Campaign Event In Key Swing State Wisconsin; AP: Possible Terror Plot Foiled Ahead Of Taylor Swift Austria Concerts. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired August 07, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:35]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Any moment now, Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, will be speaking at their joint rally in the key swing state of Wisconsin. Those are live pictures we're looking at there on the right side of your screen. They're hoping to keep riding the momentum after Harris introduced Walz to an energized crowd in Philadelphia yesterday.

This is their second stop of their five-state battleground blitz. Later tonight they're heading to Michigan.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I want to bring in CNN National Politics Correspondent, Eva McKend who is at the rally in Eau Claire.

So clearly a lot of people there, a lot of this excitement it seems. Eva, what message do we expect to hear from them today?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Omar, I just want to begin by talking about this crowd, because it is quite remarkable, given how quickly this ticket came together. There were some early folks saying that you know Minnesota is not a swing state so was this really the correct decision for Vice President Harris to make? Was she already leaning on a constituency she had?

But what the folks here are telling me is that they see him really as a representative of the Midwest at large. And so, so many college students for instance going to school here, voting here, more importantly here in Wisconsin, some of them are from Minnesota. I don't want to speak when the Vice President or her running mate gets on stage so I'm going to wrap this up quickly.

But I will tell you that they are - their core argument will be focused on protecting fundamental freedoms, reproductive rights. They will make a case against former President Donald Trump arguing that they are not like us.

The Governor will be able to make that argument that he is like these folks in the crowd and that in Minnesota he worked hard to pass progressive policies, and that that can be replicated on a national level. That it's not so much the policies, it's the messenger.

So Omar, just lots and lots of energy and enthusiasm in this crowd. Unbelievable, given this brand new ticket. Back to you.

JIMENEZ: And we're continuing to monitor those live pictures. Eva McKend, thank you so much.

As we await the Vice President and her announced running mate, Minnesota governor, Tim Walz. We've also been following Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance on the trail.

So I guess the question is right now where is former President Trump? CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for us in West Palm Beach, Florida.

So Kristen, I guess the choices or the split screen that we're looking at is we're looking at a vice presidential candidate in a swing state against a presidential candidate with her vice president on the other side. Where is the former president? What is he choosing to do instead?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Okay. So a couple things just to break down here, we obviously are in a different point of the campaign because the Harris campaign was so rushed. The fact that you're seeing this unveiling now with Harris and Walz isn't that surprising. It's also not surprising you wouldn't see Donald Trump and JD Vance out there.

JD Vance might be on his own because they've already had their rollout. That was weeks ago. But that doesn't change the fact that we're not seeing Donald Trump at all. I mean, one of the things that I've talked to the campaign about is why is he not out there on the campaign trail, whether it's with JD Vance or not, why is he not hitting these various battleground states.

And they point to a number of things. One, they say that he has done a ton of interviews. They point to the fact that he sat down with Adin Ross, which - who is an influencer, a streaming influencer. The fact that he did Fox News today. He has an Elon Musk interview on Monday.

They also say that his travel schedule is going to ramp up. So we are keeping an eye on that, asking every day when the next kind of events that we see are. But there is no mistaking the fact that the last time we saw Donald Trump was Saturday in Georgia. It is a critical battleground state. And the next time we're going to see him is this Friday. It's almost a full week in Montana, which is arguably not at all a battleground state. He's having a rally at 10 PM Eastern Time on Friday. So the big question is why is he not also out there hitting those battleground states.

The other thing I've heard from some advisors is, well, he's been doing that now for two years. He has been running for president for two years. But we are in a critical stretch and we are also in a very different race now. He is no longer running against President Joe Biden.

[15:05:01] I've talked to people outside of the campaign. These are allies who are watching and who want Donald Trump to win. And they have the questions as to what is happening next: Is he going to be on the campaign trail? When are they going to see them again? Is he doing enough to engage with voters?

And right now, we just don't know the answers to that. Of course, the campaign, again, we are reaching out to them every day to see if there is a strategy behind this, what they are doing in these critical states. JD Vance is on the campaign trail. But this is in comparison to Harris and Walz, who are hitting every battleground state right now. So this is quite, as you said, Omar, the split screen.

KEILAR: And former President Trump has signaled he's open to debating Vice President Harris on a network other than Fox, Kristen, what's he saying now?

HOLMES: Brianna, Donald Trump is exactly where he wants to be on the debates. Just a reminder of what happened with President Joe Biden is that he felt that he had been boxed into a corner because he had said over and over again, I will debate anytime, anywhere. The second Joe Biden laid out the guidelines, they - the campaign and Donald Trump - felt pressure to go along with them, which they should have, because that's exactly what Donald Trump said.

But now, because he said he wouldn't do that ABC debate, because he said there was a different person at the top of the candidate, he is now in control of the narrative again. And he's able to say that he's the one that wants to make the decisions around when he's going debate and where. Here's what he said on Fox News this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll be debating her I guess, in the pretty near future. It's going to be announced fairly soon, but we'll be debating her.

I'm all for Fox. I'd like to see it on Fox. I think Fox would do a really good job. But two people have to agree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So clearly indicating there that the campaign had been in touch with other people about another potential debate. It didn't have to necessarily be Fox. But again, this is Donald Trump trying to take control of the narrative, trying to say it is his decision when that debate ultimately happens and if it does happen.

KEILAR: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much.

And for more on all of this, we're joined now by pollster and communications strategist, Frank Luntz.

Frank, the latest CNN poll of polls is showing a close general election, no clear leader between Harris and Trump. Do you think that this newly complete Democratic ticket is going to reveal something new here?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER & COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST: Yes, it does, because the momentum is clearly behind the - Vice President Harris. You see it in the crowd. You see it in the commentary. You get a feel for it across the country. I'm doing focus groups every - I don't know, four or five days, and I see it in the sessions that we've been doing, that it's remarkable that in two weeks time, the entire race has shifted.

And I'll remind viewers that it's not the national numbers that really matter. It's only those seven key swing states in the West, Nevada and Arizona; in the South, North Carolina and Georgia; and in the industrial Midwest, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Those are the only states that matter. And in every one of those states, Harris has either closed the gap, ended the gap or in some of those states, the Midwestern states, Harris even has a 1- or 2 percent lead.

You can see it. You can feel it. It doesn't mean that this election is over. There's still more than 90 days to go. And most importantly, Donald Trump still has a lead over Biden and Harris in terms of his performance in his administration versus their performance. Trump needs to come out, talk about issues, clearly, most importantly, inflation, immigration.

But the more that he stays back, the more that he's not part of the message, part of the daily discussions, and the more that Harris takes the limelight, such as the town hall that you're about to show, the rally you're about to show, the stronger she's going to continue to get.

KEILAR: Frank, when - if you can give us a sense, because you are doing these focus groups in these key places, can you give us a sense of some of the moments or some of the comments that are standing out to you that you're hearing from people?

LUNTZ: Yes, that she's different. They're excited about her, that she offers a break from a 77-year-old and an 80-year-old. That's number one.

Number two is the fact that they thought that Joe Biden was too old and they had an issue about voting for him. And the key, because I'm talking to people who have switched, who are not voting for Biden, but are voting for her, younger women, younger African Americans in particular, women in general, seeing her the same kind of excitement that they saw in Barack Obama in 2008. That story led this broadcast, and it is true in focus groups as well.

There is an energy and excitement that had not existed in the Democratic campaign that Donald Trump had among Republican voters at the time of the assassination attempts and during the convention.

[15:09:59]

But the focus has changed and I want to remind you that this is before the convention. She's going to have another bounce when she gets four days of unchallenged coverage. So you could see her having a 3- or 4 percent lead coming out of the Democratic convention, and that's significant.

KEILAR: It's really interesting. So let's look at some of the progressive policies that Walz has championed. And maybe you can also speak to how much you think he's just going to matter in general. A poll taken by The Washington Post in 2022 found a majority of people support law prohibiting discrimination against trans people, so how do you think that will come into play with a Walz pick, specifically in places where it matters?

LUNTZ: If he starts talking about that and the Trump-Vance campaign is talking about inflation, and it's really affordability, and they're talking about immigration, and it's really a sense of safety and security, that beats transgender. Only 1 percent of Americans prioritize transgender issues, 30 percent prioritize inflation, 28 percent prioritize immigration.

So if her campaign gets off the rails, focusing on issues that most Americans simply don't care about, that would be a mistake on their part. And it's funny you raise this, because it's exactly precisely what this election will be about.

If Trump focuses on those issues and stops getting drawn into the negativity that he seems so easily aligned with, then it's his election to lose. In Harris' case, she wants to draw a clear and precise contrast, her attributes versus Trump's attributes. In that situation, she's the stronger candidate.

KEILAR: Vance - we've heard JD Vance talking a lot about family values, the importance of families, of having children, and that that is a sign that you're invested in the future of the country. On the flip side, in his state, Walz expanded paid family leave and benefits like lunches - school lunches for kids.

A political poll from 2022 found a majority of Americans think the type of legislation about paid family leave, for instance, makes a difference in helping families grow. How do you think this is going to impact how voters perceive these candidates, depending on how the campaigns use this policy line?

LUNTZ: Once again, you've hit the nail on the head. If it's described as pro-family, helping families make ends meet, we have 24 percent of Americans who are paycheck-to-paycheck voters where their families struggle at the end of a week or end of a month to pay their bills. If this is about making their day-to-day lives easier, that's a policy that will be endorsed by everyone.

If it becomes policies that are only focused on certain families in certain communities, and if it's spoken out of anger or resentment, that policy will fail. The issue with Vance is that they're dredging up something he said that he probably should not have said in 2021 about women who don't have children. Don't be insulting. Don't be mean.

And in fact, if I only had three words to the Trump-Vance campaign, don't be mean. And if I had three words to the Harris-Walz campaign, I would say talk about issues.

KEILAR: I love that. I love your words of advice. Frank Luntz, thank you so much.

Let's listen in as this rally gets underway with Gov. Tim Walz starting there in Eau Claire.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Wow. Hello, Eau Claire.

Isn't it good to have a candidate who can pronounce the name correctly, so.

Wow. Les (ph), thank you. Thank you for the introduction. More importantly, thank you for articulating what we know it means to live out here in the Midwest, care for your neighbors, kindness.

I want to acknowledge a few people today. Somebody who I have to tell you might be the kindest human being I have ever met, your governor, Tony Evers.

A dear friend of mine who I had a chance to serve within the House of Representatives, an incredible senator, Tammy Baldwin.

The people's lawyer, your Attorney General, Josh Kaul.

[15:15:00]

And someone who knows education is the foundation of everything, State Superintendent Jill Underly.

All the state and local officials are here, but I want to say that putting a personal privilege on this, I got a bunch of my family down here in the front, so.

A couple of them are Badgers too, by the way, so.

And a real special thank you to everybody here. Looking out across here - look, you're busy people. You got things to do. It's a summer day. You had to walk two miles. I had nothing to do with that, by the way, nothing, so - but you came here for one beautiful, simple reason, you love this country and this democracy.

I couldn't be prouder to be on this ticket to help make Kamala Harris the next president of the United States.

You know it. Vice President Harris is on the side of the American people. She took on predators, fraudsters, transnational gang members. She stood up against powerful corporate interests and she never hesitated, not once, to reach across the aisle if it improved people's lives.

Being a Midwesterner, too, I know a little something about commitment to people. I was born in a small town in Nebraska where community meant everything. My mom and dad taught me to show generosity to my neighbors and work for a common good.

At 17, I joined the Army National Guard.

For 24 years, I proudly wore the uniform of this nation.

And that service, just as it did for my dad, a Korean War veteran, and millions of others, I got the GI Bill and it gave me a shot at a college education.

My dad was a teacher. My siblings were all teachers.

And three of them married teachers.

It's noble work. I had the privilege of teaching public school social studies and coaching football for 20 years. And for all you Packers and Badgers fans, yes, we did win a state championship, so it's what we do.

But it was my students who encouraged me to run for office. I never thought that much about it, but they saw in me what I was hoping to instill in them. This idea of a commitment to a better world, a common good, a belief that one single person can actually make a difference.

I lived in a red district, but my neighbors were kind enough and graced me with the opportunity to go to the United States House of Representatives for 12 years to represent them.

I learned how to compromise without compromising my values.

And as governor of the great state of Minnesota, I brought all that experience.

Okay. Okay. Are there Minnesotans in the house today?

Bringing that experience to tackling the challenges that we're facing in our state. We don't shy away from challenges, but I'll tell you what, Donald Trump, he sees the world differently than we see it. He has no understanding of service, because he's too busy servicing himself.

Again and again and again, again and again and again, this guy weakens our country to strengthen his own hands. He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division amongst the people and that's to say nothing of the job he did as president.

KEILAR: All right. You're listening to Gov. Tim Walz in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as he is taking on Trump.

[15:20:03]

We are awaiting Vice President Kamala Harris, who is going to begin her remarks here shortly after him.

We will take a quick break and be right back with that.

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[15:24:34] KEILAR: We do have some breaking news, a possible terror plot has been foiled ahead of some Taylor Swift concerts in Austria, according to multiple news outlets, including the Associated Press.

JIMENEZ: Yes, as we understand, two people now under arrest. We want to bring in CNN Senior National Security Analyst, Juliette Kayyem.

So Juliette, what do we know here? But also more broadly, can you just talk about how much of a target places like this can be in situations like this and how difficult it may be to defend against threats like these?

[15:25:05]

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So let's start with the beginning. So Austria has a terrorism ISIS threat. We - there was a major attack in 2020, sort of the most recent. So it's not like this is unique to Austria. They've had radicalization issues.

What we do know now is there's, at least, the main suspect is a 19- year-old Austrian citizen. He was stopped south of the capitol where the - from where the concert is going to be. He was apparently in what we call preparatory - sorry, preparatory mode which is essentially he was putting things together to try to do an attack.

Now, we don't know the nature of whether the chemicals or explosives would have worked. We don't know how sophisticated he was. But it was enough to cause this arrest and to have this alert. He apparently has an accomplice and was radicalized relatively recently online. So we are likely to find in the days ahead he is someone who was online, decides that this is a high-profile event - they don't get higher profile than Taylor Swift - and tried to get in, but that his access, his capabilities and the explosives that he had are still unknown.

I don't need to tell anyone about these concerts. We certainly know with Ariana Grande in the London attack in Manchester, they are events that are appealing to terrorists because it's youthful, it's fun, it's the very opposite of what a terror attack should be and it's high profile. And - but the - we are told that the stadium is secure. Obviously, Taylor Swift has plenty of security.

And if I were there and lucky enough to have tickets, I would go at this stage. They are definitely going to be paying attention.

KEILAR: Yes. That is some good advice. I do want to note, Juliet, that an official for Austria's interior ministry said the 19-year-old had pledged an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State, but also that the Austrian citizen is believed to have become radicalized on the Internet. So, in Austria.

KAYYEM: Yes. That's exactly right. So ISIS - I mean, look, what you have is a competition amongst - and so I'm talking about foreign terrorists or Muslim terrorists, Islamic group terrorists - a competition for attention. So any high-profile event is going to add more attention. As ISIS depleted in terms of its geographic capabilities and ownership, we saw a move to online and less about recruitment, because there's really nowhere for people to go, right?

Remember, years ago, people are traveling to Syria, but more do something in your - where you reside. And the quick radicalization is very common. Mostly, you know, he - that he's 19 years old is not surprising to me. Young men, we'll get a sense of what his background is, his isolation, what his affiliated groups were, go online, get radicalized relatively quickly, and think that they can perform or act out a terrorist attack like this without getting caught.

The truth is, is that, you know, these groups are being watched. The websites are being watched. Austria has a sophisticated law enforcement capacity, is nervous about radicalization on its own. But this idea of a - of someone, you know, younger than 30, a male, getting online and getting radicalized, we know that story. This is one of the big challenges of social media right now, is the ability to radicalize people who are looking for an identity.

And again, what we don't know is what his true capabilities were. We're going to find out from the police.

JIMENEZ: Well, it starts with an arrest. And fortunately, I mean, again ...

KAYYEM: Yes.

JIMENEZ: ... we don't know what the full extent of this was. But based on what was here ...

KAYYEM: Yes.

JIMENEZ: ... fortunate that the arrest came in when it did.

Juliette Kayyem, really appreciate the perspective.

As we've also been mentioning, we're waiting for Vice President Kamala Harris to take the stage in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We're going to bring you her remarks live when she takes the stage.

Obviously, that's Tim Walz.

Stay with us.

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