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Flash Floods Hit Connecticut and New York; Mike Lyons is Interviewed about Ukraine's Push into Kursk; Kamala Harris Putting Together Policy; Rachel Palermo is Interviewed about Harris; Iowa Republicans Change Vote for Trump. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired August 19, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:22]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Search efforts are underway this morning after a weather event described as a once in a 200-year storm. At least one person is missing. New York and Connecticut getting absolutely slammed by torrential rain. Up to ten inches soaked parts of Connecticut just over a period of hours, causing a flash flood emergency. Crews worked through the day and night, continuing with water rescues. Connecticut's governor says that they evacuated at least 100 people in the midst of all of this.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking this for us. He's back here now.

Derek, this rain, it came down hard and fast.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and it's proving to be quite difficult for the streams, the rivers, the roadways, and you saw some of those - very heroic videos of the rescues that are underway or were underway yesterday. Look how this is stressing some of the dams in Connecticut as well. Some of them kind of overtopping some of their dams there.

Now, look at this, rainfall totals have just approached that ten-inch mark. So that's a significant amount of rain in a short period of time. Now, the good news is, the hardest hit areas over western Connecticut are currently dry. But we do believe that things are going to change into this evening. The first initial round of storms that moved through yesterday, moving off the eastern seaboard. They produced a significant amount of rain.

I want to draw your attention to northern sections of Long Island and into western Connecticut. That's where some of these rain - rainfall rates were quite impressive. And that's where we saw some of the highest rainfall totals. That's why we have our flood warnings still ongoing across that area. The others have been allowed to expire. But I do believe that this could start to - at least the activity could start to rekindle later this afternoon and evening, just about dinner time, the rush hour back home from work as another round of showers and storms develops this afternoon. The weather prediction center has this area under a slight risk of excessive rainfall that could lead to flash flooding.

And, by the way, this whole story of flooding across the northeast, very consistent in a warming world. We've seen the increase and frequency and severity of these heavy rain events since our world continues to warm.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Right. The once in a 200-year storm is now, you know -

VAN DAM: The new normal.

BOLDUAN: Once a year is what we're - yes, exactly, is the new normal.

VAN DAM: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Derek, thank you so much.

VAN DAM: All right.

BOLDUAN: We're also tracking this. President Zelenskyy of Ukraine says Ukraine's foothold into Russia is getting stronger as Ukrainian troops are now reinforcing their positions in Russia's Kursk region. Zelenskyy also stating clearly really for the first time since - what the mission of this incursion is there, saying that they want to create a buffer zone against attacks by Russian forces across the border.

Zelenskyy also says Kyiv now controls about 621 square miles of Russian territory. But as the surprise incursion now becomes a two- week old operational success, what is next?

Joining me right now is retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons.

It's great to see you. Thank you for coming in.

MAJOR MIKE LYONS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Good morning, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Zelenskyy, he - it was kind of assumed what the goal was as it became less of a surprise incursion, but stating for the first time of what the mission is here, to create a buffer zone. You think this - this incursion into Russia, where they are now, is a real key turning point in this war. Why?

LYONS: It is. It's a strategic turning point. That mission, he said there is tactical, the creating a buffer zone. They're dropping bridges to make sure Russian troops can't get to those Ukraine forces that they are, which are the professionals. They sent the best troops in for this mission because they have to protect them now at this point.

But from a strategic perspective, the pivot is (ph) court asymmetric warfare. The fact that they're going in and out, attack infrastructure. They're no longer going to look for attacks against the Russian military. They're now going to go after civilian complexes and things like that. So, everything's changed from the Ukraine's military perspective. And that - that's what's really different.

[08:35:05]

Again, that - the buffer zone is just protecting those forces there.

BOLDUAN: The - you mentioned the two bridges that were taken out over the weekend, it's to cut off the supply lines for the Russians. What is the real impact of it, do you think?

LYONS: Well, it keeps Russian forces from potentially massing to come against those Ukraine forces. They have to hold that land now.

This has gone beyond a Doolittle Raid -

BOLDUAN: Right.

LYONS: That World War II raid that went against Japan. They are now - they - they're going to hold that land as long as they can because they're going to use it as a negotiating ploy once they can get to some kind of peace agreement here. Russia still has that tremendous amount of property in the southern part of Ukraine. About 20 percent of the total landmass. But what the Ukraine military does is pivot and go to a place where Russia is not. Classic Sun Tzu, you know, go where the enemy's not.

So - so, I think that everything has changed. And I think that there's going to be more political pressure on Putin to do something eventually when he comes out of hiding, whatever he's doing. But his responses are also very limited.

BOLDUAN: Let's - let me ask you about that because it - I've been kind of fascinated on how he has responded now two weeks in. I mean it's the largest attack on Russian territory since World War II. And he's headed out of Russia to go on just a visit to another nation.

What do you think of his response, or more specifically his lack of response? Some have described it as him hiding from the crisis.

LYONS: Yes, I think the Ukraine military calculated that this was what would happen if they were going to be successful. It was all in their risk analysis of doing this mission in the beginning because it was very risky, no question about it.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

LYONS: This could have failed miserably. And he's doing exactly what they're thinking now and he's not going to respond with major strikes. He can't carpet bomb his own territory. He can't carpet bomb inside of Russia to go after these Ukraine forces. So, he's looking for someone else to solve the problem, which - which we've seen him do in the past, which - and we see doesn't really happen. So, Ukraine has the advantage right now and they're going to keep that momentum going for as long as possible.

BOLDUAN: And it's no small thing, the morale boost you talk about a lot, and what this momentum means as this stalemate has dragged on, this war has dragged on and when - what it's meant, and the pain that is has brought to Ukraine, that it's - this is no small thing, just - just in that in and of itself.

It's good to see you. Thanks for coming in.

LYONS: Yes. Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning we have new reporting on how Vice President Harris is making major campaign decisions. How we are told her instincts have guided her messaging.

CNN talks to Republican voters who have been searching for an alternative to Donald Trump. Why they say they are going to now vote for him anyway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would describe myself as being resigned, I suppose, to voting for Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm comfortable with Trump. I - we had four years of Trump. We know what Trump is. I'm not voting for him to be my valentine. I'm not voting for him to be my best friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[08:42:53]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are just hours away from the first speeches here in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention. And we are getting some new insight this morning into how the four- week-old Harris presidential campaign is making its biggest decisions.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Isaac Dovere joins us here in the windy city, in flesh, in the person.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Here I am.

SIDNER: Inside this enormous place that's going to be rocking tonight and the next four days.

So, you've been reporting a lot on how Kamala Harris has been putting together what she has - sort of her policy and what she's going to say out on the trail. What is different that you're seeing now from her?

DOVERE: Well, look, everybody remembers how much trouble she had speaking about a lot of things over the course of her early years as vice president. There was a concerted effort to clean that up, to get her more into shape, do a lot of events, a lot of interviews, and slowly build up - what they thought they were doing was building her up to a 2028 run and making connections for that. Obviously, things changed a month ago and they have been very quickly scrapping together things.

But what's interesting here is that we don't have the usual poll tested, message tested campaign from a president, or presidential candidate. We have someone who was putting together lines for a debate prep that was going to be the running mate debate, that has now been quickly transformed into a stump speech. To the point that a week ago there was finally a call between Harris' top advisers and the campaign pollsters, who had been the Biden campaign pollsters. And what I heard is that the message that the pollster said is, I'm not sure you should be saying we won't go back. And I'm not sure you should be saying weird so much. It's too negative. Won't go back is like backward looking, not about the future. And Harris' aides and Harris herself said, hey, we are hearing what they're chanting at the arenas. We're going to go with that. And that's the way that they're approaching this campaign.

SIDNER: And it seems to have worked when you look at the polling at this point in time.

DOVERE: Yes, look, this is so far a campaign that is mostly about vibes and feeling. But for the Kamala Harris perspective, for the Democrats' perspective, that's working just fine.

[08:45:05]

BERMAN: Seventy-nine - the question is, is 79 days a really long time or a really short time?

DOVERE: I know.

BERMAN: We're about to learn. We're about to learn.

Isaac, thanks so much for being with us.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Let's ask that question. Joining us right now is Rachel Palermo, former deputy communications director and associate counsel to Vice President Kamala Harris.

So, how about that question that John - John poses, when you're looking - when we're looking at, is 79 days a lot of days or a little - a little amount of days?

RACHEL PALERMO, FORMER DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR AND ASSOCIATE COUNSEL TO VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS: It's - it's a little amount of days. I think the election, it's - it's close. It's coming up. And that's why she's hitting the trail. She's going to backgrounds - battleground states across the country. Everywhere she goes she's had between 10,000 and 15,000 people. And here we're going to have tens of thousands of people here at the convention this week to hear her speech on Thursday night. And so, it feels like it's coming up quick and she's taking nothing for granted.

BOLDUAN: So then also comes the lineup of headline speakers. And some - one - and the headliner tonight is President Biden. And I'm curious about his impact tonight. There's a lot of reporting about where he'll focus, on his legacy, on passing the torch. He'll argue that Harris is the natural successor to his record. He'll frame his work in office as a foundation for her to build on. What - what is the risk? Where is the risk there, Rachel, in tying her to closely to his record, to even include the parts that had swing voters looking elsewhere?

PALERMO: I think his voice is going to be really important here tonight. The reality is that President Biden made a really difficult decision a few weeks ago when he decided to not run for re-election. And his endorsement of the vice president means the world. He's been working hand in hand with her as partners for the last three-and-a- half years on the most challenging issues facing our country and our world. And from everyone that I've spoken to, they're really excited to hear from him tonight.

And when we think about when he launched the campaign, he talked about this battle for the soul of our nation. And right now the way that we're thinking about it is democracy is on the line and he's going to lay out exactly how that is. He's going to talk about how there's a lot that we have to fight for. And he's going to lay out that contrast between Donald Trump and between Vice President Harris. And he's one of the people who knows that she can handle the task the best.

BOLDUAN: So, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, they are trying to counter program this week. They're kicking off a - kind of a tour of battleground states. They're kicking off where they will be today is first in Pennsylvania. And one thing we know that he is definitely the president is leaning in - the former president is definitely leaning into still is the personal attacks against Kamala Harris.

Let me play how he framed it just on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Have you heard her laugh? That is the laugh of a crazy person.

So, as soon as she laughs, the election's over.

I'm a better looking person then Kamala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It's part of his counterprogramming. He's made clear that this is who Donald Trump was and is and how he's going to run his campaign. But what do you - what do you do with that as - what - being on the other side of it?

PALERMO: Every time that Donald Trump opens his mouth, like those clips that you just played, it shows that he's unfit to be president. And people and his advisers keep telling him to stay on message, but he can't. He's a bully. And that's why he's resorting to these types of attacks. He's trying to see what sticks, but nothing is landing.

And so I know that he's, of course, going to try to distract from the convention this week. But the reality is that the momentum is so strong right now, Democrats are so excited, the party has never felt more unified. And so, we'll see what insults he tries to say this week when everyone else is saying he should focus on policy. But I know that all eyes are going to be on Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz this week.

BOLDUAN: They are - the polling shows that they're coming into this convention with momentum for sure. One poll, though, saying that - which -- also showing that, you know, they're - she and Trump are even - or tied - are now even across battleground states.

But there's also this. A lot of voters want to know more and think they need to know more about Kamala Harris. A third in the CBS poll, one-third, saying that they don't yet know what she stands for. When does that start becoming a problem, if it is not already?

PALERMO: Well, Vice President Harris has been at the top of this ticket for the last month. And she's done an incredible job getting her message across. Probably the best that she could have possibly done over the last month, which - how much travel she's done, how she's brought her message directly to these states. And she really has carved this powerful message about fighting for the future, moving forward and not back, and fighting for opportunities and freedoms. And -

BOLDUAN: Yes, but knowing how she wants to do that, that's what they clearly want to know.

PALERMO: And I think as people continue to watch her remarks, as they continue to hear from her, they're going - the message is going to get through. And it's only been a month that people have been hearing from her at the top of the ticket, really carving this message. And so as we get closer, I think these airwaves will get to more and more households, people will continue to hear.

BOLDUAN: And some of those detail and some of that how to and what she stands for, that clearly is mission number one for this convention this week.

[08:50:06]

So, we'll see.

Rachel, it's good to see you. Thank you so much for your time.

PALERMO: Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: Thank you, Kate.

The star power expected to be turned up here at the DNC. Why some delegates are holding out hope to see a Taylor Swift or perhaps Beyonce.

And catastrophic flooding in Europe where cars are getting swept away in muddy rivers. We'll have those stories and more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Well, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been crisscrossing the battleground states. John King went back to the deeply red state of Iowa as part of his all over the map series.

[08:55:02]

He wanted to see why Republican voters who he met there last year, who were once very critical of Donald Trump, are now comfortable supporting him, and what they make of a reinvigorated Democratic ticket.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Shanen Ebersole cherishes her Maverick streak, not afraid to wander a bit from the herd.

KING: There a little head but going on.

SHANEN EBERSOLE, IOWA VOTER: Like little boys wrestling.

KING: Yes.

EBERSOLE: That's their version of it.

KING (voice over): But now it's time to line up and bring things home.

EBERSOLE: I think it's an easy Trump choice because we have to put the American people first. I think that the policies that have been put in place in the Harris Biden administration, they hurt this. They hurt our land and they hurt the people in middle America the most.

KING (voice over): Ebersole supported Nikki Haley in the Iowa caucuses. A rare voice of Republican descent in conservative Ringgold County. She then gave some thought to voting third party because she cringes sometimes at Trump's combative tone. But her family and her farm come first, and Ebersole sees backing Trump as the best path to reverse Democratic trade and climate policies she says punished family farmers and fill supermarkets with foreign beef.

EBERSOLE: I can tell you that that cow right there is better at carbon sequestration than anything else on the face of the earth. And when she does it, she turns it into the most nutritious meat that we could ever offer. When cattle are raised the right way, they help the earth. They don't hurt the earth.

KING: And Washington doesn't understand that.

EBERSOLE: They don't at all. They don't live here. You know -

KING: They don't ask.

EBERSOLE: They don't. KING (voice over): If you want to see a 2024 race up close in Iowa,

the state fair is your best shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're making cheeseburgers.

KING (voice over): There are debates over food here and games. But the presidential campaigns are nowhere to be found. Their time and money is for the swing states. That's because Trump is strong here. And not just in rural farm country.

This is Cedar Falls in eastern Iowa. Midwest Solar is busy, in part because of Biden administration clean energy tax credits. But owner Chris Mudd is as loyal a Trump voter as they come.

CHRIS MUDD, IOWA VOTER: I think if all I was selling was government incentives, I don't think business will be very good. I - but that's not what we're selling. We're selling the power to help people save money.

KING (voice over): Mudd sees Trump as off his game a bit since the switch to Harris atop the Democratic ticket.

MUDD: I think he spends too much time bashing and complaining. You know, I don't know, I think he'll catch his stride, and I think that he will get back on his horse. And I think that he will say what needs to be said.

KING (voice over): Mudd thinks the media is too easy on Harris. And, like Trump, he sees no way Harris wins an honest election.

MUDD: I just don't believe it's possible, John. I really - I really don't. Yes, I would think that. I would think many like me would think that same thing. If Kamala Harris gets 81 million votes, something - something really went haywire.

KING (voice over): Betsy Sarcone see such talk as a waste of time.

BETSY SARCONE, IOWA VOTER: I don't buy the stolen election. If she wins, she wins. I'm not - I'm not getting on that bandwagon.

KING (voice over): But that Sarcone plans to vote for Trump is a big change. She backed Haley in the caucuses. And when we first met a year ago, Sarcone said she would vote for Biden if 2024 ended up as a 2020 rematch. But grocery prices are still high, she says, and her real estate business is slow.

SARCONE: I would describe myself as being resigned I suppose to voting for Donald Trump. Again, I just - I can't vote for the status quo. And I was absolutely better off during Donald Trump's presidency than I am today.

KING: Right. I say Kamala Harris, you say?

SARCONE: I'd say far left. I'd say woke. I'd say sidestepping. I'd say not truthful. KING (voice over): Sioux City is to the west, where Iowa meets Nebraska and South Dakota. Attorney Priscilla Forsyth is happy to vote for Trump a third time, even though she too began the campaign hoping for someone new.

PRISCILLA FORSYTH, IOWA VOTER: Cheers.

I started with Ramaswamy.

KING: Right. Right. Started with Ramaswamy.

FORSYTH: Then I went to Nikki Haley.

KING (voice over): Now, back to Trump.

FORSYTH: But I see Kamala and I see Walz as being so far left that it concerns me. I'm comfortable with Trump. I - we had four years of Trump. We know what Trump is. I'm not voting for him to be my valentine. I'm not voting for him to be my best friend.

KING (voice over): Forsyth isn't worried about Iowa, but the past few weeks do have her worried Harris might win the White House. In lawyer lingo, she says Trump, at the moment, is presenting the wrong case, focusing on his grievances instead of her record.

FORSYTH: I think he can win on the issues. She doesn't seem to want to own anything. You know, she doesn't own the border. She doesn't own anything. I think right now he's off balance. Now, will he get back on track?

[09:00:00]

KING (voice over): A loyal Explorers fans and a loyal Republican in a solid red county and state. But at the moment, she thinks her candidate is struggling, just like