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Trump Team Tries to Stop Harris-Walz Momentum With New Lines of Attack; Taylor Swift Shows Canceled After Alleged ISIS Terror Threat; Investors Eye Unemployment Report After Wednesday's Market Drop. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 08, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Team Trump trying tear down Harris' running maid, calling into question his military service conjuring up memories of the swift boat strategy. 20 years later, will that same strategy work?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Thwarted a terror plot to attack Taylor Swift concerts. Three of her blockbuster shows canceled. New details this morning about the suspects in that case.

And a missing five-year-old boy pulled out of the water in an incredible rescue caught on camera. We'll show you all of that and more.

I'm Sara Sider with Kate Bolduan. John Berman is out. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: Do you remember the talk of toning it down and pushing for unity? Me neither. Donald Trump's running mate going full attack mode on Harris running mate, Tim Walz, with the new state of the 2024 race looking a bit like a throwback right now. They already attacked Kamala Harris racial identity and now Republicans are reviving old claims, going after the Minnesota governor's military records.

And then there's this going on behind the scenes, The Washington Post reporting from multiple sources, quote, Trump has grown increasingly upset about Harris' surging poll numbers and media coverage since replacing Biden on the ticket, complaining relentlessly and asking friends about how his campaign is performing. It's unfair, he says. I beat him and now I have to beat her, too.

Harris and Walz striking a different tone so far on the trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They're trying to steal the joy from this country. They try and steal the joy. Our next president brings the joy. She emanates the joy.

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: In this fight, we are joyful warriors. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It is now a sprint to the finish. CNN's Alayna Treene starting us off this morning. Alayna, what new insight do you have on what Donald Trump is saying behind the scenes and also new reporting on the new strategy from Team Trump?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, okay, look, I want to focus on some of the remarks that J.D. Vance made yesterday, and they really kind of emphasize how this race and this election has really entered a new phase of nasty and ugly attacks.

Yesterday, J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's running mate, while in Michigan, tried to accuse Tim Walz, Harris' running mate, the Minnesota governor, of ducking military service and abandoning his unit before they were deployed to Iraq. I want you to just take a quick listen to what he said and then I'm going to break it down for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When the United States Marine Corps, when the United States of America asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it. I did what they asked me to do, and I did it honorably, and I'm very proud of that service. When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Kate, first of all, I've never served in the military. I just want to make that clear. But these two men are both military veterans. I think that's the first thing we need to keep in mind, that there's no question that they have both served and served honorably.

Now, Walz, for his part, was in the National Guard for 24 years. Vance was in the Marine Corps. And I'm going to walk you through, though, where this line of attack is coming from, because this is really what Vance has been kind of leaning into.

So, like I said, Walz was in the Army National Guard for 24 years. The question is about when he left. So, in 2005, he had filed paperwork to be a congressional candidate. And also, I will say he made one deployment while he was in the National Guard to Italy in an effort to support the operations of plans to go to Iraq. But in 2005, he filed that paperwork.

In March 2005, the Guard announced a possible deployment within two years to Iraq. In May, he retired from the Guard after serving 24 years. And then in July of 2005 is when the unit received the order to deploy.

Now, we have not heard Walz like directly respond to these lines of attack just yet. He has responded to these in the past when people have questioned him and his timing of leaving the service. He had said that he did it because he wanted to run for Congress.

[07:05:00]

He was worried about the Hatch Act, which, of course, prevents federal employees from engaging in political activity. But this is really the timeline that Vance and the Trump campaign is zeroing in on.

I want to talk to you now about Vance's military record. So he spent four years in the Marine Corps. He served as a combat correspondent. He was deployed to Iraq and served in combat for about six months. He says he did not -- or, excuse me, he says he did not experience combat, but he was in Iraq supporting those efforts for six months. And then he left service in September 2007 as a corporal.

Now, all of this aside, Kate, I think I just want to put a finer point on what's happening here, which is that, again, this election has raced a very ugly phase, and what Vance is trying to do, and part of what he's been told to do by the Trump campaign, is to kind of throw sand in the eyes of the opponents, muddy up this race, and have people question their character, and whether or not they are the right people to be serving this country, and that's exactly what he set out to do with these comments yesterday in Michigan.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it's great context you're putting it all in. Alayna, thank you as always for your reporting. She says it perfectly. It's very clearly entered a new phase in this sprint to the finish now with that.

SIDNER: nasty might be the word just going after each other. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out, somebody who has not been in combat, accusing someone else of not being in combat. I don't know how this is all going to fall out, but we will see when Walz responds.

The Harris-Walz Battleground Blitz is looking to keep their momentum going in Michigan today, with one more stop in the Mitten State before heading out west. Harris last night shutting down protesters during a rally, as they shouted what appeared to be a pro-Palestinian message. Here is that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: He intends to surrender our fight against the climate crisis, and he intends to end the Affordable Care Act. You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that, otherwise I'm speaking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: And she went on speaking.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is traveling with the vice president. Arlette, obviously some contention there. Is this something that Harris has been preparing for because this has happened in past rallies with Joe Biden?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara. These types of protests have really popped up throughout the presidential campaign, but it does take on a different dynamic at this point, as Vice President Kamala Harris is appearing at the top of the Democratic ticket.

Now, Harris responded in a much more forceful way to these protests than President Joe Biden had handled during the campaign. We are also learning that behind the scenes backstage, the vice president also met with two leaders of the uncommitted movement. That is an effort that really tried to show their displeasure for the Biden administration's handling of the conflict in Gaza during the Democratic primaries, especially here in a state like Michigan.

It all comes as Harris is really now navigating a very complex dynamic when it relates to the war between Israel and Hamas on both a diplomatic level and the political level, especially in a state like Michigan here. There are significant populations in the state representing Arab-American and Muslim communities that could be important heading into Harris' coalition-building heading into the November election.

Now, Harris was here really to rally supporters. She talked at that rally about how she understands that the road to the White House runs through the battleground state of Michigan. And she also had to deal with another impromptu moment, when there were chants about locking former President Donald Trump up.

This is the spin that Harris had to put on that moment last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Hold on. You know what? Here, hold on, here's the thing. The courts are going to handle that. We're going to beat them in November.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, Harris is continuing her campaign here in the Detroit area again today. She will actually be meeting with members at a UAW union hall. There are expected to be about 100 rank and file members with the UAW, which endorsed Harris just last week.

It's important to note that Harris has earned the support of the union's leadership and many unions' leadership. But the focus now is also on trying to hold on to that support among rank and file members, especially in a state like Michigan, where the auto industry is key.

SIDNER: All right. Arlette Saenz, thank you, live there from Detroit, where there will be a rally today, Kamala Harris and Walz on the trail. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Much more ahead for us, including this, which is breaking overnight, a string of tornadoes ripping across North Carolina as Tropical Storm Debby makes its second landfall.

And terror threats at Taylor Swift concerts. Three shows cancelled after a 19-year-old with links to ISIS is arrested and accused of planning an attack.

[07:10:06] And they knew they were going to die before the implosion. That is what family members of the doomed Titan sub crew are alleging now in a new lawsuit, a $50 million wrongful death suit.

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BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, three Taylor Swift concerts canceled after Austrian police say they uncovered and foiled a terror plot to attack her Heiress Tour stops in Vienna.

[07:15:07]

Authorities have now questioned three suspects who are in their teens. Police say we're radicalized by ISIS.

CNN's Nick Payton Walsh is tracking all of this horse, and there have been a lot of new details coming in about how they how this was uncovered, what they found in when they were then searching locations connected to these teens. What's the very latest, Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, I mean, it's a startling amount of detail here, essentially about two, possibly three teenagers involved in a plot to make at home explosives, they had the detonators, potentially get themselves either in or out of the periphery of the concert, using a police flashing blue light probably on their vehicle to facilitate their access or departure, and then kill possibly hundreds of people with these explosive devices.

Now, the 19-year-old was arrested about an hour's drive south from Vienna. He's said to be an Austrian citizen with North Macedonian descent. He appears to have been radicalized online. And then there's a second arrest of a 17-year-old who is said to have recently broken up with his girlfriend and possibly also worked at one of the facility companies supplying the venue where these three Taylor Swift concerts were supposed to happen. He was in communication, it seems, with this 19-year-old and also arrested. And then there was a 15-year-old, whose role in this is slightly less clear. It's unclear if he was aware of the plot or somehow involved in it, but also arrested, also an Austrian citizen, suggestions possibly of Turkish ancestry in there as well. Important because this all plays into the raging debate in Europe by immigration and its connection to extremism, which we're seeing play out in many European countries.

But the plot here is startling. They found 21,000 euros of counterfeit money in the home of this 19-year-old. They say that he, in fact, pledged allegiance to ISIS online in the previous three weeks or so. The suggestion too from Austrian authorities is they were made aware of this from a foreign intelligence agency, a foreign ally tipping them off. I have to say that sounds a bit like the United States, whose surveillance capabilities on the encrypted messaging chats, which Austrian officials said were kind of the issue here in terms of allowing these three to communicate. It's something which it seems that the U.S. is more able to look into.

But a quite staggering plot in terms of its complexity, in terms of the fact that this 19-year-old appears to have gathered the chemicals, the detonators possibly other weaponry and devices, too, to make these bombs, and the suggestion being that they intended to bring these devices to the periphery of the concert. Remember, some of these European concerts may have tens of thousands of people inside the venues, but also tens of thousands outside kind of getting a free concert and listening in. That may be where these devices were, in fact, going to be deployed.

So, startling details here, a plot intercepted, but one that seems significantly advanced, and above all, using only teenagers at this point. Some suggestions that may have been in contact with other individuals, but unclear at this stage. Remarkable development, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Remarkable, and as you're pointing out, a lot of detail already coming up, but much, much more to learn. Nick, great to see you. Thank you.

Still have for us markets around the world in the red this morning. So, are things really stabilizing since this week's major plunge? We'll take a look at that.

And an incredible rescue, a deputy jumping into action when he spots a missing five-year-old in a pond.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: Today's unemployment report comes out in a little more than an hour. Will the numbers help to stabilize or shake up the markets? Yesterday, we saw a late day stock market drop, and we've been on pretty much a global rollercoaster ride since Monday.

CNN's Julia Chatterly is joining us now with more on this. There are always predictions. Yesterday, you predicted this. You were skeptical when the markets rebounded so quickly and went so high compared to what happened on Monday. What is going on?

JULIA CHATTERLY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we don't have John here to make comments about my swings. We don't like swings here and it's exactly what we're seeing. Actually, this is what how the Futures are looking at this moment. And, actually, I'm more comfortable with that because we're not seeing these big moves. So, it's a little bit mixed. We'll see how it opens.

Take a look at Asia, because we're sort of having and seeing a follow through from what we saw in the Asia session, which is weakness again, but no wild swings. It's weaker. It's not wild. And this is important. They're following us now. We're not following them. So, it looks bad, but it's good news really for us.

Flip through to the session yesterday, as you mentioned, and I can show you the chart. Yes, we were super high at the beginning. We were skeptical. We sold off into the late close, selling pressure there, another sign of nervousness. If you see that in the last 30 minutes, people don't want to hold onto stocks. That's telling you something. A couple of big drivers, tech stocks, once again. You've got to get comfortable with NVidia, the big chip maker. If this isn't gaining ground, it's a problem for the entire session. We were up. We were down. This is the darling of A.I. If it's losing ground, it's creating instability.

The other big thing, the government yesterday was a problem, the bond market. Every week, it borrows billions of dollars to make Social Security payments, pension payments. Yesterday, it went to market and said, look, I'll give you this interest rate to borrow your money. The market said we want more money.

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It all worked out fine in the end. Stock markets hate it, and that actually was what caused the sort of shakedown in markets. Ordinarily, I wouldn't talk to you about this, but I don't want to blame fears about economic growth. This was something else. It's important. Good data will help us, hopefully today, and that's what we're looking at.

SIDNER: Now I wanted you to jump on that because the data we need to see.

CHATTERLY: Let's watch that in an hour's time.

SIDNER: Julia Chatterley, it's always a pleasure. Thank you so much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, 45 years and counting, that is how long a school nurse has been taking care of students in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. KAIT reporting that Anna Lou Shaw started her job back in 1979 and since then has had an impact now on generations of kids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just like the atmosphere here and the kids. I could have gone anywhere else now. I didn't get rich here, but that's not everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Take it from her. She's not just taking care of students and their ailments. Over the years, she has become known for her play with the guitar and her pranks. Teachers saying that they have learned over the years to watch out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA LIGHT, WALNUT RIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER: Ms. Shaw is quite the prankster. She does like to play a lot of practical jokes and honestly I cannot speak on camera to the crudeness of some of those jokes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That's what I'm talking about Ms. Shaw. Here's the kicker, 45 years later, Anna Lou Shaw isn't done yet. Though her school and community are honoring her service and clearly her pranks, she says that she's already ready to head back for another school year, another one at the very least.

Coming up still for us, President Biden says he is, quote, not confident at all that Donald Trump will accept defeat if he loses in November. Biden's first interview since leaving the presidential race, we have more on that.

And Debby is back, the tropical storm making landfall for a second time, sparking a string of tornadoes across North Carolina. And we're getting a new look at the damage.

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