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Trump Hints at Debate With Harris, Announces Press Conference at 2:00 P.M.; Tornadoes Touch Down in North Carolina in Wake of Tropical Storm Debby; Police Say, Taylor Swift Terror Plot Suspect Arrested at Concert Venue. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 08, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the Harris-Walz campaign battleground blitz has a new ad targeting key voters that they've lost ground with, Latino voters, while Donald Trump has just announced a news conference this afternoon while hinting at a possible debate.

Plus, tornadoes rip across North Carolina as Tropical Storm Debby tears a path through the southeast and it's still on the move. Who is next in its path?

Plus, a terror plot against Taylor Swift concerts overseas thwarted, how the United States raised the alarm and what we know now about the alleged mastermind.

I'm Sarah Sidner with Kate Bolduan, John Berman out today. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: All righty. New this morning, the debate surrounding a potential debate is picking up, or maybe it's settled. Donald Trump on social media posting that he will, quote, expose Kamala Harris during, quote, the debate. And that it will be quote, easier than Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. But, again, he called it a, quote, the debate. So, it means, it makes it feel a lot more likely this morning that we are headed towards a, quote, debate. Let's see.

Harris, for her part, will have ample opportunity to respond, as she is soon going to be taking the stage in Michigan once again before taking the campaign out west on another battleground blitz. All of this as there's brand new polling, CNN poll of polls coming out finding that there is still no clear leader right now, Trump and Kamala Harris each holding 49 percent support in a head-to-head matchup.

CNN's Arlette Saenz traveling with the vice president's campaign today. Okay, Arlette, so there is a debate, we think. What are you hearing?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the Harris campaign has yet to directly respond to this latest message from former President Donald Trump, but Harris team has been pretty consistent that she plans on appearing on September 10th at a debate hosted by ABC News. The campaign has long argued that it is Trump who has been moving the goalposts about these debates after initially committing to a debate against Joe Biden on September 10th with ABC News. So, we'll see how this debate about the debate plays out over the course of the coming days.

But Vice President Harris is back on the campaign trail today with her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. They're here in the battleground state of Michigan before traveling to Arizona later tonight. The two will be out west to really introduce their Democratic ticket to voters and some of the key groups that they are trying to sway our Latino voters.

This morning, the Harris campaign is out with a new ad trying to introduce in court Latino voters. And it comes at a time when polling has shown that Harris has actually seen an improvement among Latino voters compared to President Joe Biden. She currently has about 57 percent support from Latino voters.

But I want to play for you a bit of the message that the campaign has for Latino voters today as they're preparing to head out west.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you're raised by an immigrant mother, you learn what's possible with determination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And determination is how Kamala Harris --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- went from working in McDonald's to --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- prosecutor --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- state attorney general --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- U.S. senator and our vice president in only one generation.

[09:05:01]

And with that same determination --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- she always defended us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: The campaign is hoping that biography might play with Latino voters in critical battleground states, like Arizona and Nevada. But for Harris and Walz, the focus here today will be on courting union support here in the critical battleground state of Michigan. Both Harris and Walz will be speaking to rank and file members of the UAW at a union hall a bit later this afternoon. I'm told there's about, expected to be about 100 rank and file members in attendance.

It comes at a time when Harris has earned the endorsement of UAW leadership. But she still could have some work to do when it comes to the actual rank and file members within these unions. You've seen former President Donald Trump try to make a play for those types of voters heading into this election. Those voters will be key here in a state like Michigan, which has a large auto industry and relies heavily on union support.

So, Harris' focus today is trying to take her message directly to those rank and file members as she's looking to gain more support heading into November's election.

BOLDUAN: Arlette, thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. To continue this conversation, with me now is Democratic Senator Alex Padilla of California. Thank you so much for coming in and coming in early this morning from there on the West Coast.

We've seen this new ad. It is going to run in English and in Spanish targeting Latino voters who, of course, are not a monolith. Why do you think Donald Trump has been able to try and grow support from Latino voters?

SEN. ALEX PADILLA (D-CA): Well, I think I'm not surprised that Donald Trump has tried to grow support amongst Latino voters. I just don't think he's actually done it. It was a narrative that we heard in the 2020 election, and it did not materialize. It was a narrative that we heard in 2022, and it did not materialize. And so here we are in 2024, tons of enthusiasm in the Latino community, particularly young Latinos about the Harris-Walz ticket.

Sara, it's important to understand that there's projected to be 17.5 million Latinos voting this November's election. That's a growing number, a significant number, many in key states like Nevada, like Arizona. One in four are young people, voting potentially for the first time. So, it's a significant part of the electorate, not just today, but into the future, and there's enthusiasm around Harris and Walz.

SIDNER: How much do you think this fight over immigration, this fight over the migrant crisis that was on the border is going to play into this and how do you expect Kamala Harris to try to defend herself? Because there have been lots of attacks on her -- about the work that she was supposed to have done on the border.

PADILLA: Right. No, look, as you said earlier, the Latino community is not a monolith. There's a variety of opinions and positions here. But, yes, border security and immigration in general is a concern to many people.

Here's what we know. Numbers of people coming to the southern border, even those seeking asylum, are way down in recent months since a change of policy in the Biden White House. Kamala Harris was part of trying to address those root causes of the number of people coming to the United States. And the numbers are down, lower to where they were at the end of the Trump administration. Those are facts. That's real data.

Here's what I know about Kamala Harris. Not only is she thoughtful in terms of a balanced approach, yes, we need to be smart about enforcement, we have to address root causes, but we can't forget about DREAMERs, farm workers, other long-term residents of the United States that have been here for years and years, contributing to the success and the strength of our country.

Now, contrast that with the chaos and the fear that Trump has promised. He has said mass deportations beginning on day one. That would strike fear in communities across the country and do damage to our economy. So, the choice is very clear and I think the Latino community, everybody, frankly, is going to respond accordingly with our vote in November.

SIDNER: I want you to respond to a stunt by J.D. Vance, who tried to confront Kamala Harris on the tarmac in Wisconsin after her plane landed for a rally there last night. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I figured I'd come by and wanted to take a good look at the plane. Hopefully, it's going to be my plane in a few months. But I also thought you guys might get lonely because the vice president doesn't answer questions from reporters and hasn't for 17 days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: This is one of the lines, she has not done an interview. She has not done a press conference in the past 17 or so days. Donald Trump is now doing a press conference at 2:00. It is a new type of trolling. He is becoming a bit of a stuntman here for Donald Trump. But does he have a point that the public has not seen her do a press conference or sit down interview yet?

[09:10:04]

PADILLA: Look, Sara, it's trolling. It's a stunt. It's desperation, if you ask me. They can't run on a record, they can't run on a vision for the future, they can't run on hope, optimism for the American people. So, this is what they're left with.

Vice President Harris has not just done interview after interview over the years. She's been doing the job of vice president for more than three and a half years. You know, tremendous chapter in her career after having been a district attorney in San Francisco, after having been attorney general for the State of California, after having served in the United States Senate longer than J.D. Vance has even been in office, all right. So, let's be clear as to where the experience and the maturity lies, and she'll continue to do more interviews.

You've got to cut her a little bit of slack for the last three and a half weeks, an unprecedented way to become the nominee for the Democratic Party. She's assembled a delegate to become the presumptive nominee. She has quickly vetted and selected a tremendous running mate in Governor Walz. We're preparing for the Democratic Convention in Chicago, and she's stumping. She's doing the day job and stumping in all the critical battleground states. So, we'll get to the media interviews soon enough.

SIDNER: But when you look at these numbers -- can we pop those numbers back up on the screen showing Harris as opposed to Biden, as opposed to Trump, when it comes to, you know, her support among Latino voters? Does this surprise you? Look at those numbers. 57 percent seem to like Harris over Trump. It was inverted almost with Biden and Trump.

PADILLA: Look, I have been blessed to know and work with Vice President Harris for more than 20 years. So, do the numbers surprise me? Absolutely not, because those of us that know her, those of us that have worked with her, know that she's been there for us on all the key issues. And we're going to be with her this November.

She's been supportive of the Latino community in terms of educational opportunity. She's been supportive of the Latino community in terms of economic opportunity. And so the coalition building required to be successful in a diverse state like California is now manifesting itself to this national strategy, national outreach plan indicative again of today's ad, not just in English and in Spanish on television airwaves, but digital strategies, grassroots investments and organizers, building on the historic investments that the Biden-Harris campaign made earlier this year.

So, there's a lot of excitement, a lot of momentum and a lot of work get to do for the next 88 days. But you heard it here first. The Latino community is going to come through big for the Harris-Walz ticket.

SIDNER: Yes, just 88 days. Wow. Senator Alex Padilla, thank you so much for getting up at o'dark 30 (ph) for us to come and discuss this.

BOLDUAN: A middle school torn apart by a tornado that ripped through North Carolina overnight. This is part of a second landfall from Tropical Storm Debby. We're tracking the storm and where it's headed and the threat today.

Plus, CNN has learned one of the teen suspects arrested in a plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert had just gotten a job inside the stadium. We're live in Vienna, Austria, with new reporting and reaction.

And we're also watching Dow Futures right now as the roller coaster that is this week continues just minutes until opening bell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

BOLDUAN: Right now, a search and rescue operation is underway in North Carolina, a rescue crew digging through a collapsed home this morning in Wilson County, looking for a man who's missing. This is all after a tornado ripped through the area overnight.

The tornado was sparked by Tropical Storm Debby as a storm made a second landfall. The storm also damaged a school, church and several other homes. It's still early on. Of course, they still need to assess how extensive the damage was in North Carolina. And this thing ain't done yet.

CNN's Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking the storm for us. She's joining us now. What are you learning about the damage so far in North Carolina? We know, obviously, it made landfall in South Carolina. And where is this headed next?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. Well, one key thing to note is that this wasn't the only tornado. We actually know three tornado reports just in North Carolina alone. Here is a secondary one. You can see that tornado off in the distance there. Now, this was right there on the county line between Pender and Sampson County in North Carolina. And the potential for more tornadoes exists yet again today. You can see this tornado watch valid for portions of North Carolina, but also Virginia. It goes until 1:00 P.M. Eastern local time there.

We've had off and on tornado warnings throughout the day. We've got two of them right here just to the north and west of the town of Greenville, North Carolina, as more of those bands continue to spread inland, but also northward too.

Now with that said, we still have a lot of these areas that are getting heavy rain, places like Raleigh, even the city like Charlotte, North Carolina, also getting heavy rain. And that's really going to be the more widespread concern is the potential for flooding.

All of these red counties highlighted here, those are flash flood warnings. This one down here, that was at one point a flash flood emergency. They had up to eight inches of rainfall in just a few short hours. More of that rain is going to come down. That's why we still have the potential for flooding not only today but tomorrow. It just shifts farther into the northeast as we head into Friday.

[09:20:02]

BOLDUAN: Definitely still the remnants of it all still need to be tracking. Allison, thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, sources telling CNN this morning the U.S. provided warnings to Austrian authorities about potential ISIS terror threats at Taylor Swift concerts. Now, three highly anticipated Swift shows have been canceled.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in Vienna for us. Salma, you just reported some really fascinating information that one of the suspects had a job already inside one of the stadiums that may have been attacked. What are authorities saying about how this was all thwarted and how big this attack may have been?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Shocking new details, Sara, in what the authorities are calling a wind ranging and serious terror plot to strike the building right behind me here. It is the stadium where Taylor Swift was, of course, set to hold three different concerts. The head of the country's security services says one of the suspects, a 17-year-old, was radicalized, was arrested outside the stadium, he had been able to get a job working for one of the vendors that services these this stadium right here, and he only obtained that job just a few days prior to his arrest.

Sara, I think what is also super concerning to authorities right now is the age of these suspects, 19-year-old, 17-year-old, a 15-year-old also being questioned. Take a listen to how the head of the security services put it to me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OMAR HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER, AUSTRIAN DIRECTOR OF SECURITY SERVICES: It's very worrying. We can see that in Austria we have very young guys that are radicalized due to the fact that they are using the online propaganda that is brought out from ISIS and also ISKB. And we could see that they have a very high radicalization and that they are also motivated to do attacks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Authorities now say that they believe this was going to be a multipronged attack, Sara, that they would have potentially used a vehicle to run over Swifties standing outside this concert hall. Thousands of fans were expected just to be outside the concert hall, and after using a vehicle that they would potentially detonate an explosive device of some kind.

As you can imagine, the investigation is still very much underway, but the city is already occupied by Swifties, and I want to introduce you to one of them. This is 11-year-old Macy. I know you're here with your mom, Christine.

This was a big deal to go to this concert. It was your first concert of your life. How are you feeling now?

MACY, 11-YEAR-OLD TAYLOR SWIFT FAN: I'm feeling really devastated and heartbroken because I had just moved here, and this was my reward for moving here. So --

ABDELAZIZ: That's a big deal, and that's really tough. Can I change the tone and ask you about your outfit here, because this is amazing.

MACY: Thank you.

ABDELAZIZ: Tell me all about it.

MACY: So, yesterday, we decided to go merchandise shopping so we could go -- so we have our Taylor Swift stuff. And I know that at the concert, you're supposed to wear lots of sparkles and I found all my sparkly stuff and we went to Claire's and everything.

ABDELAZIZ: You look absolutely great Macy. And Macy will be among many Swifties who are just here in central Vienna, trying to find events, trying to plan events, trying to create what they call safe spaces to still celebrate and come together, Sara.

SIDNER: Safe spaces for Swifties. We see that this morning they were singing her songs outside of the venue, a very big juxtaposition from what you're hearing from authorities on this thwarted terror attack. They are trying to take it in stride.

Salma Abdelaziz, thank you to you and your team this morning there in Vienna, Austria, for us.

All right, Republicans are now going after the service record of Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz.

And we are just minutes away from another roller coaster ride on Wall Street. We'll check on what to expect after the opening bell and the jobs report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

BOLDUAN: Very soon, the Harris-Walz ticket will take their battleground blitz out west. Before that, they have one more stop in Michigan, and this is after Kamala Harris last night not only took to the stage but also took on some pro-Palestinian protesters trying to step on her message, heckling her over the administration's position on the war in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: 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)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is CNN Political Commentator Paul Begala and former Press Adviser to then-House Speaker John Boehner Maura Gillespie. Good to see you guys.

Paul, the war remained a lingering issue for Joe Biden, of course, when he was at the top of the ticket. What is this going to mean for the Harris-Walz campaign now?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Not much. I'm sorry. It's a big myth that -- it's a terrible crisis in Gaza and my heart breaks. It really does. But, politically, you had like 13 percent in Michigan who voted protest against Joe Biden. By the way, when Barack Obama ran, he had 11 percent in Michigan vote protest against him, and there wasn't any problems in those under war in Gaza at the time.

[09:30:03]

So, it's actually kind of overblown. And I think the grace and strength that Kamala Harris showed with those.