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Trump Dismisses Impact Abortion Rights Will Have on Election; Iraqi Teen Detained in Investigating of Taylor Swift Concert Plot; Pressure Builds as White House Urges Ceasefire, Hostage Deal. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 09, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Attacks and insults and a continued obsession with crowd size. It was a greatest hits, a classic of Donald Trump during a press conference yesterday. Within those barbs and jabs, he was also asking about policy, including reproductive rights, abortion access. Trump's take, dismissing abortion rights as an important issue this election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think that abortion has become much less of an issue. It's a very small -- I think it's actually going to be a very small issue. What I've done is I've done what every Democrat and every Republican wanted to have done, and we brought that issue back to the states, and now the states are voting on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The Harris campaign was quick to respond, highlighting and hitting at Trump for suggesting he would be also open to revoking access to abortion pills.

Joining me right now, CNN Political Commentators Bakari Sellers and Alyssa Farah Griffin. Good to see you guys. I get the double whammy of having you both here. Thank you. Happy Friday.

Okay, Alyssa, abortion was already an animating, motivating issue amongst Democratic voters, we know that, and others. What do you see in Donald Trump's answer here?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, this was an absolute dumpster fire of a press conference, just to be clear. But I think it's the, if you say it, it may be so. He knows it's a huge issue. Donald Trump's actually been ahead of most Republicans in realizing what a major vulnerability it is for Republicans. And while abortion doesn't generally rank as the top three issues to voters, it's one of the highest intensity issues, especially with women and with swing voters, the very voters that he needs to win this election, to dismiss it is such a poor strategy, but I think honestly, the only strategy there is saying like, oh, it's not a big deal and hoping that resonates --

BOLDUAN: Actually, I was thinking the same. My sense was, Bakari, that this was like Donald Trump trying to manifest, like a strange version of like, if you build it, they will come.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But he also can't shake it because Donald Trump is the person who has to claim credit for the three justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. That is a part of his legacy. And that also endears him to the far right. That is the reason that evangelicals flock to him. That's the reason that people put up with a lot of the nonsense that he does.

But for many Americans, many women throughout this country, the other thing Donald Trump does is he really narrows the scope and people just -- when he says it, he just limits it to the procedure. But most times, Democrats and women throughout the country look at reproductive rights as a whole. For example, my wife and I, we went through IUI, IVF to have our twins. I mean, it's an entire mantra or entire plethora of rights that Donald Trump wants to take away.

And so I think that when you look at it that broadly, it doesn't matter what he says. People know what's at stake in this election, and people know what he's trying to take away.

BOLDUAN: You make a good point when you talk about the justices he put in place that overturned Roe v. Wade. He also said that everyone in the country wanted Roe v. Wade overturned. No matter how many times you say it, people know how they felt about it. That is completely inaccurate.

SELLERS: And Alyssa was correct, because of the fact that this is a very, very high intensity issue. And it depends on where you go, it can be a one, two, three-type issue right behind the economy, et cetera. But this is going to be an issue that turns out voters that matter, particularly in those excerpts and suburbs of places like Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia.

BOLDUAN: But, Bakari, even if he misunderstood the question on Mifepristone and abortion access, because someone doesn't --

SELLERS: He doesn't know what Mifepristone is.

GRIFFIN: I would be confident he does not.

SELLERS: He doesn't, and like the funniest --

GRIFFIN: I don't think he understood the question, so he didn't have an answer, and, that yes, it was.

BOLDUAN: But that statement, the misunderstanding, the lack of understanding the barely competent of that question, if you will, that's a big problem. It's a real issue right now.

SELLERS: That's also why a lot of men, in particular, the Chuck Grassley's, the Donald Trump's, the Mike Johnson's, need to get out of the business of women in this country. Like women should have the freedom to make these decisions themselves. Because if Donald Trump doesn't even know what he's talking about. Why does he believe he has the audacity to make these decisions for either one of you all?

[07:35:01]

GRIFFIN: Well, and Vice President Harris has kind of honed this message around freedom, which is something that Republicans and conservatives in my day, I'm a Romney-Ryan Republican, we used to run in. But it's really hard to make that case when you're rolling back abortion rights, you're talking about, you know, even leaning into controlling IVF and things like that. So, I think they're trying to flip that narrative on the head and I think that it's effective. I think it resonates (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: It seems that they have more message discipline, where it seemed that going into the Republican convention and coming out, Donald Trump's campaign had real discipline. I mean, I was at the convention and really saw kind of the messages they were hitting on. And since then, it's very - since Kamala Harris has gotten into it, it's something very, very different.

I want -- changing focus for a sec.

SELLERS: Oh, we get to leave abortion at 7:30 this morning.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Now, let's go to Crowd size. Gut-check me on this, because, for me, this was kind of the embodiment of where we have landed with the point in the election that we're in right now, which is like we are back at crowd size. I want to play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN SPICER, TRUMP WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall.

This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So, that's Sean Spicer. Hi, Sean. That was from way back when in 2016. Back to where -- where we are today, though, is Donald Trump saying the following. I've spoken to bigger crowds. Nobody's spoken to crowds bigger than me. If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, it was a great speech. And you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people. If not, we had more.

You worked in the administration when the obsession in the Sean Spicer occurred. The obsession with crowd size kind of became so famous. I know from conversations over the years with swing voters, any voters, all voters, that this kind of obsession on this thing had become exhausting by the time you got to -- especially 2020. What do you see in this?

GRIFFIN: It is exhausting. Listen, Donald Trump's triggered because he's actually running against a candidate for once who is the celebrity candidate, the one that like pop culture is falling. That's that was him against Hillary Clinton in 2016. He was sort of this outsider, you know, hosting SNL. Now, there's someone else who's got Obama level momentum and is pulling huge crowds and he doesn't know how to attack her.

I'm absolutely stunned by this. The message at the RNC was basically he's weak. I'm strong. He's old. I'm a fighter. They can't land a message against Kamala Harris. It's frankly not that hard, say she's Joe Biden, but more liberal. If you don't like Biden policies, don't vote for her. But instead he's going -- he's flailing. I mean, talking about crowd sizes is just an absolute example that he's spiraling. His advisers don't have control over his message, and he doesn't know what he wants to say.

BOLDUAN: And comparing it to Martin Luther King crowds. And also -- but let's flip it. What is the lesson, do you think, that you hope Kamala Harris and team take from this?

SELLERS: He's diminished. And I think that if you look at a picture or a message from Donald Trump in 2016 versus the message that you saw yesterday, you see somebody who's 78 years old. And we all have grandparents who age in front of us, or parents who age in front of our eyes, and some of the things just don't click like they used to. This is not the Donald Trump of eight years ago. Not only that, but his material is getting old and stale.

I mean, keep going back to -- Dr. King's like why am I in this, right? I'm just up here chilling with Jesus, and you up here, like let me relax.

BOLDUAN: It's not a laughing -- I'm not -- there's no politics in this. That was funny.

SELLERS: I was just like, but, you know, why am I in this? And I think a lot of people are like, why are you going down this path again, you know? And Jason Miller, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles have done the best they can do with what they've got.

BOLDUAN: They did set up a great operation.

SELLERS: He needs to do -- if I was the strategist for Donald Trump, you go out there for 10, 15 minutes, 20 minutes at max, you hit a few things and you get out of there. These like little deviations he takes in the crowd size and everything else, that stick is so old. But I do think that voters are realizing that is the oldest person in the history of this country to run for president of the United States. You're looking at a very diminished man.

BOLDUAN: And no matter what the actual is, the political strategy in saying that now works in Democrats' favor.

SELLERS: I like using that talking point, actually. BOLDUAN: It is one that you were happy to use, whereas you were otherwise. You were like, shut them all.

It's good to see you guys. Thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Another teenager detained in the investigation of the alleged plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert there. An 18-year- old Iraqi national was detained by police in what they say was a thwarted, multi-pronged attack. The accused ringleader is a 19-year- old ISIS sympathizer that authorities say was radicalized online. And now we're learning what the suspects plan to use to attack concertgoers.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is in the crowd with a bunch of Swifties there who are still out there. They've been singing. They've been trying to have a lot of fun despite the fact that there are some really serious new details as to how this was going to be carried out and the weapons they plan to use.

[07:40:07]

Tell us what you know this morning.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara. So, the investigation is very much underway. The Interior Ministry giving an update this morning that yet another person, yet another teenager, was arrested, this time an 18-year-old Iraqi national. He was also radicalized, according to authorities, and had recently pledged allegiance to ISIS, was within the same circles, authorities say, as this 19-year-old alleged mastermind behind these attacks. We'll also remember that one of those that was being held for questioning was a 15-year-old. He has been released, authorities still unraveling this plot.

But meanwhile, on the streets of Vienna, yes, the concerts are canceled, but the Swifties have taken the celebrations here, and I really want to show you the atmosphere, Sara. They've written in chalk all over this floor here. I think the thing that really stood out to me was, we are fearless, all in yellow. And they've gathered in this alleyway, and they've been doing so for the last couple of days. And you might hear them spontaneously burst into song.

Let me just walk you into the crowds, because I want you to see some of the outfits. I'm going to tap shoulders here with one of these Swifty fans. May I show you? Okay, no worries. And what you're going to see them doing is exchanging bracelets, Sara, because that's what the Swifties do, with that one simple phrase, can I switch bracelets with you? Can I exchange bracelets with you? Suddenly, strangers become friends. I'm going to film over here if we can just walk right in. Can I show you guys just changing bracelets here?

Tell me why this is so important to keep exchanging these bracelets, to keep singing through the streets? Why is this so important?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because we don't want to let them win. Like you can take the concerts, you can try to like make us afraid, but you can't take away Swifty joy, and that's what I love about this fandom so much, that we always come together, we always come out on top because we like Taylor Swift and that's what connects us. Yes, and we won't let another safe space be taken from us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a lyric that reminds me of this they can't take what's ours, this love is ours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I think that pretty much sums it up.

ABDELAZIZ: That's absolutely beautiful. It's so amazing to see this community atmosphere. You really have people of all ages coming together, Sara, and they say they will keep going. They are undeterred.

SIDNER: The juxtaposition is incredible and to hear them talking about love at a time when there was this alleged dangerous plot happening in the background was remarkable.

Thank you so much for sharing that with us this morning, Salma Abdelaziz from Vienna. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, a teacher, a classroom and a bear. What could go wrong? What this teacher did to get rid of one very unwelcome new student.

Also, childhood vaccinations dropped during the pandemic. We talked a lot about that. A new report, though, shows just how important those shots are. The staggering number of illnesses vaccinations have prevented and lives they've saved.

But, first, pediatric nurse Patrice Sanders. For years, she devoted her life to taking care of sick babies and children, and then she fell ill herself suffering a stroke. Yet even in her final days, she went beyond the call.

CNN's Veronica Miracle has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Betsy Tapia is no stranger to hospitals. She's been in and out of them for years, battling a kidney disorder.

BETSY TAPIA, ORGAN DONATION RECIPIENT: It becomes a lot. It's stressful. There's times that after dialysis, you get really sick, tired.

MIRACLE: The disease has made life for the 38-year-old grandmother and mother, at times, painfully unbearable. So, when she got a call from Sutter Health California Pacific Medical Center two months ago, she was stunned.

For four years, Betsy has been on the organ donor list. Each day while waiting for an organ transplant, 17 people die.

When you got the call, a kidney is available, you must have been in shock.

TAPIA: Yes, I was very in shock and then thinking of, you know, the family of the pain that they are going through because they just lost a loved one.

MIRACLE: About 150 miles away in Central California at Valley Children's Hospital, Veteran Nurse Ray Ayala knows the delicate nature of life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you're okay.

MIRACLE: So, when Patrice was working, she would work in rooms like this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh yes, definitely.

MIRACLE: She worked with babies like A.J.?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes. Oh, she'd come and talk to him and tell him she was going to take care of him.

MIRACLE: Ayala is talking about fellow nurses Patrice Sanders.

How is this hospital now that she's not in these hallways anymore?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, there's an empty hole. You know, I walk where she used to sit and I just think of her. I just picture her there and that big smile that she would give you, the smile that you just made her day.

MIRACLE: A couple of months ago, Patrice was working a shift in the pediatric intensive care unit when she suddenly got sick. Her sister said Patrice suffered a stroke and needed emergency brain surgery.

PAIGE SANDERS, SISTER OF ORGAN DONOR: The neurointensivist called our family in and said she's going to have many disabilities.

[07:45:01]

She may never walk again. She may never breathe on her own. And we as a family knew that that was not Patrice's wish.

MIRACLE: Patrice's final act of heroism, organ donation. For four days, Patrice remained hospitalized as the donor network found recipients.

SANDERS: Now, amazingly, about three days into that, she was able to communicate with us by blinking her eyes and wiggling her toes. And so we asked her. If she understood what was happening, blink, yes, I understand. You've had a stroke. We're honoring your wishes of becoming an organ donor. Are you comfortable with that? Blink, yes. We really felt like she was a part of the decision at the very end.

MIRACLE: And after her final moments on this Earth, inside a hospital, Patrice's colleagues were there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our beloved Patrice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There must have been 100 people that showed up and were squeezing her hand on the way down and just showing their affection for her as she was rolled down the hallway.

MIRACLE: Just a few hours away, in another part of California, Patrice's gift of life lives on through Betsy. For her, a kidney means a life off of dialysis, a life full of travel with her kids and grandkids, away from hospitals and machines.

TAPIA: My life has changed tremendously. Yes, not just my life, but also, you know, my family's life because they lived the journey right along with me.

MIRACLE: A message received by the ones Patrice loved so much.

SANDERS: Go and experience things. Do it in honor of Patrice because that is exactly how she lived her life.

MIRACLE: Veronica Miracle, CNN, Central California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[07:50:00]

BOLDUAN: As fears of a broader, wider war increase, pressure is mounting on Israel and Hamas to get back to the negotiations to secure the release of hostages and also secure a ceasefire. Overnight, a new joint statement from the United States, Qatar and Egypt that says, quote, there is no further time to waste. And CNN has learned Israel has agreed to send a delegation to negotiate. Where does that leave everyone?

CNN's Alex Marquardt has new reporting on this. He joins us now. Alex, could we finally see a deal?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, finally, really is the tone of this statement. These three countries signed by the leaders of these three countries in this statement saying that it is finally time to get this ceasefire across the finish line, end the suffering in Gaza, end the suffering for the hostages and their families. So, what they're proposing is another meeting next week, either in the Qatari capital, Doha, or the Egyptian capital of Cairo, to hammer out the final details.

This is part of that statement that was signed by President Biden and the two other leaders. It is time to bring immediate relief to both the long suffering people of Gaza as well as the long suffering hostages and their families.

The leaders go on to talk about putting forward a final bridging proposal, if needed, to essentially close the gaps. And there, I think, you see a bit of the frustration with the proposals and the counter proposals between Hamas and Israel that haven't gotten the ceasefire across the finish line.

So, we could see this meeting happen next week. It is not a done deal. Israel, as you say, has agreed to go. Hamas has not yet, but there's a good chance that this happens. If it does happen, the CIA director, Bill Burns, would represent the United States alongside the Qatari prime minister and the Egyptian head of intelligence.

Now, we have heard in the past few weeks U.S. officials saying that they believe that a deal is close. But, Kate, there's no question that these negotiations took a major hit when one of the lead negotiators, the head of the Hamas political wing, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed last week in the Iranian capital, in an operation that was widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.

So, there are significant gaps that they need to work out. A senior administration official saying yesterday it's not like the mediators that are going to get into a room and sign this deal next Thursday, but they do believe that they can close those gaps and it is vitally important to do so now, they say, ten months after this war started against this backdrop of a region that is on the precipice of blowing up, as we wait for Hezbollah and Iran to potentially carry out strikes against Israel. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Exactly. It's that backdrop that just adds this urgency to what is already an urgent situation. Alex, thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Joining me now to discuss all of this is the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks.

Look, since more -- we just heard this from Alex Marquardt. Since the more moderate leader of Hamas, who was outside of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated in Iran, and the parties on our left to negotiate with the more hardliner, Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7th attack, I mean, what are the chances that this can be brought together in a ceasefire now after all of this with Iran promising retaliatory attacks or Hezbollah as well?

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): Well, you're correct. I think that we were closer before the assassination because, where we need to be is negotiating and have a ceasefire.

[07:55:04]

Now, I feel a little bit better this morning because I know the dialogue and conversation is taking place and that Qatar and Egypt and Jordan all participating in it. And that puts some additional pressure on Israel now agreeing that they're sending some representative to have this conversation.

But I hope that we don't get to a tit-for-tat, where now the agreement changes, each side changes, because we do need to deescalate. No one needs at this point in time for the Middle East to explode. It will help no one. So, I'm hopeful that all sides are hearing this and we are able to get a ceasefire, hostages returned to Israel, and then we can utilize the others in the region to start talking about how we can move forward with reference to a two-state solution and, again, with Saudi Arabia, for example, which is really important for them normalizing relationship with Israel.

SIDNER: You were very tough on Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, when he came to speak to Congress back in June. And here's a little bit of what you said. You said, look, you remain determined to make certain that Israel can defend itself from Iranian aggression. However, you were concerned about this, that the prime minister, as you put it, refuses to implement President Biden's widely accepted proposal, this was back in June, that would lead to a ceasefire, bringing the hostages home and allow for a new surge of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. The prime minister did not outline a realistic plan to post-war Gaza, which you fear meant that he intends to bend towards the extreme right voices of his coalition.

Now, that Israel has agreed to these new talks after all that has happened, what is your message to Hamas? Do you have that same sort of tough stance on them?

MEEKS: Oh, absolutely. It was always a tough stance on them. They are a terrorist organization. They're not someone that, you know, you play with. We know they started this on October the 7th. So, there's no way that they get out of this. They are. They're not an equivalent to Israel. They are a terrorist organization that initiated this, and I believe they initiated it because we were starting to move to have other countries in the gulf recognize Israel's right to exist.

And when you look at Hamas along with Iran, the one thing that they have in common, because, you know, it's Sunni and Shia, and generally they have nothing in common, the only thing they have in common is they do not believe Israel has the right to exist and they would love to attack and wipe them off the map.

SIDNER: All right. I want to talk to you now about what's happening here in this country in this political season. The state of the race right now, there was a wild press conference, by any stretch of the imagination, by former President Donald Trump, where he continues to attack Kamala Harris for many different things, but this in particular, we keep hearing these words, that she's not smart.

Here's what he said, I want you to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's not doing any news conference. You know why she's not doing it? Because she can't do a news conference, she doesn't know how to do a news conference. She's not smart enough to do a news conference. And I'm sorry, we need smart people to lead this country because our country's never been in this danger before, both economically and from an outside -- from an outside perspective, Russia doesn't respect us anymore. China doesn't respect us anymore. North Korea, Kim Jong-un, liked me a lot, he doesn't like this group, we are in great danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SIDNER: What is your response to that? He goes all over the place. But what's your response to some of the things he said about Kamala and then the other things?

MEEKS: I'm really getting concerned about this guy. He was incoherent, nonsensical. He was an individual who sounded like he had a low I.Q. He sounded like he does not playing with a full deck. He sounds like he don't -- I don't think he understood what he was saying, because if he did, he wouldn't have said it.

So, it's getting really nervous just listening to him and what he's talking about, because I don't think he does when he goes back and talk to his individuals in his campaign, they are going crazy because he is going crazy and they're driving him nuts. He can't finish a sentence.

There is something that is wrong with him. You know, I don't know. Maybe it's he is incomprehensible. Maybe he is losing a lot because, you know, he is the oldest person to run for president of the United States. He's not all there anymore.

SIDNER: This was the accusation against another candidate, Biden, and now he is out of the race, Kamala Harris taking over. We will see what happens. Thank you so much for your comments and coming in this morning for us, Congressman Gregory Meeks. I appreciate your time.

MEEKS: Thank you for having me.

SIDNER: Kate?

BOLDUAN: This morning, a new report from the CDC shows just how important routine childhood vaccinations are. The new data showing that the shots have prevented more than 500 million illnesses and prevented a million deaths in the United States since 1994, some of the very same vaccinations that dropped during the pandemic.

[08:00:11]

CNN's Jacqueline Howard has much more on this. She's joining us now. So, Jacqueline, what more are you learning?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, Kate. Well, this report from the CDC looked at nine common childhood vaccinations, and they specifically looked among children born between 1994 and 2023. And that's where they found that these routine childhood vaccinations, like the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or like the polio virus vaccine, these will have prevented, like you said, more than 500 million illnesses, about 32 million hospitalizations and more than 1 million deaths. This is all within a child's lifetime.

And the researchers even took their analysis further to say, with these prevented hospitalizations, illnesses and deaths, that would have resulted in a direct cost savings of about $540 billion in medical costs and even more than $2 trillion in indirect savings, like societal impacts, like if a parent has to stay home from work to take care of a sick child. So, the researchers say, this shows the benefits of routine vaccinations. And right now we're heading back to school, this is a good reminder for parents to make sure their children are up-to-date on their routine vaccinations.

BOLDUAN: Yes, very interesting data. Good to see you, Jacqueline. Thank you so much for that.

HOWARD: You too.

BOLDUAN: A new hour of CNN News Central starts now.