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Tonight: Harris To Formally Accept Presidential Nomination; Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) Discusses Trump Touring Southern Border In Counter-Programing & Getting Latino Votes; DNC Denies "Uncommitted National Movement" A Speaking Slot; Fake Political Endorsements Flood Social Media. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired August 22, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But I also think serving in the White House at the highest level of government should be moderating force for anyone.

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: I left the White House as a staffer far more moderate than I went in. And I think for her to say, yes, for her to can't say --

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Having been born at it.

GRIFFIN: -- for all Americans, I've moderated on some of these issues and here's where I am now.

I also think she -- when you're the vice president of the United States, you have a boss, right? You have somebody that you have to report to. And, you know, you learn a lot from that person, too. They spent a lot of time together.

And so I think you're right. I think some of her policies that she might have gone in there with made have changed.

URBAN: Well, that's great. But I'd love to hear her come out and say --

(CROSSTALK)

URBAN: I'd like to here say, like I am now -- this is my this is my journey from queen of the Green New Deal to pro-fracking. I'd just like her to describe it.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: I'm sure she's going to frame it exactly -

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Thank you, guys, so much. Really appreciate the conversation.

And next, while Democrats rally here in Chicago, the Trump campaign is continuing its counter-programming blitz through key states.

Former President Donald Trump is in Arizona. J.D. Vance is in Georgia. And their message to voters? We'll talk about that right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:19]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Happening today, former President Donald Trump is visiting the border in Arizona where he is set to speak just moments from now.

On the right-hand side of your screen, you are seeing his vice- presidential nominee, J.D. Vance, also making a campaign stop to counter-program the DNC.

Front and center today, for Trump though, is the key issue of immigration.

We want to discuss with Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida. He's a member of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees. He's also a former mayor of Miami-Dade County.

Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.

Trump obviously expected to attack Vice President Kamala Harris on her immigration record. Democrats, conversely, they've gone after Trump for his role in tanking that bipartisan Senate bill over political reasons.

The numbers show that border crossings are down significantly. I see you laughing. Border crossings are down significantly in recent months. She does seem to be performing better in polling than Joe Biden was on this issue.

Do you think, as an issue, it -- it may be losing its effect as a line of attack?

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): No, absolutely not. And it should not be because this is really cynical politics at its best.

The Biden-Harris administration has been able to control the border since day one. They chose not to. That's why we have 10 million immigrants, at least, illegal immigrants here in the United States, because of the Harris-Biden administration.

And so, look, she's in favor open borders. And so what will happen now, they'll control the border like we told them they could by policy, that they didn't need all these resources they we're asking for.

They just needed to change their policy and restore some of those Trump-era policies that worked so well, which they're doing now. But as soon as -- if she becomes the president, believe me, those policies are going to go away. And we're going to see this over and over again.

I don't believe anything that she says because I look at -- look, I look at people and what they've done in the past. That's the best indicator of what you're going to do in the future. And we've had over 10 million immigrants crossed the border, you know,

during Biden-Harris. And if Harris becomes the president, which she will not be, we can expect another 10 million during -- during her first term.

SANCHEZ: I believe that figure is encounters as opposed to actual entries. You're talking about people that CBP has encountered. Many of those --

GIMENEZ: Right.

SANCHEZ: -- people have been sent back.

You talked about the resources that the Biden administration had been asking for in that bipartisan Senate bill. I spoke with representatives for Customs and Border Protection. They we're actually asking for those additional resources.

And some of the policies that you noted that we're installed during the Trump administration because of the coronavirus pandemic, Title 42, specifically, those had been debated in court and it wasn't clear that they we're going to be able to withstand for a long period after the pandemic receded.

GIMENEZ: Yes. But you don't -- you forget one big one, which is Remain in Mexico. And so when people -- and here's -- here's what happened.

When you have a policy that says, when you're asking for asylum and then you have to wait in Mexico, Remain in Mexico, awaiting your asylum hearing, 90 percent of the people are rejected by the asylum courts.

And so 90 percent of the people would not be able to enter the United States. So the word going back home was, hey, don't even try to get into the United States because 90 percent of you are not going to make it.

When Biden change that, and now you're able to enter into the United States, is when you saw this flood. And by the way, the 10 million doesn't even count the two million got-aways that we know are in the nation right now. They got away.

And so, look, it's been a disaster. It will continue to be a disaster. Kamala Harris has been in charge of this for a long, long time. And she's done basically nothing about it until, hey, it became a political issue.

And now they found -- they found the light. Oh god, we got to do something about it. But it's very cynical. And it's actually almost a slap in the face of the American people.

They could have -- none of this should happen. None of this should have happened. And they allowed it to happen for three-and-a-half years.

And believe me, if they're elected, they remain in power, it will continue right after the election.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, I do want to ask you about Latino voters. She seems to be performing far better than President Biden was among what will be a key demographic in this election.

I believe we have a poll of voters in Arizona where Trump is today, Nevada, where he's going to be tomorrow, Georgia and North Carolina. She -- so I don't think that was the poll that I was referencing, but we do have it. I promise.

She seems to be --

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: -- double digits -- there it is -- 14 points above where Donald Trump was. Do you believe that this renewed energy with a new candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket --

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: -- erode some of the progress?

[13:40:00]

Can hear me, Congressman?

GIMENEZ: No, you cut off for a second.

(CROSSTALK)

GIMENEZ: -- the question.

SANCHEZ: The poll is really just to set up to say that Kamala Harris is doing better than President Biden was among what will be a key demographic in the election.

I'm wondering if you think that having her at the top of the ticket erodes some of the progress that the former president had been making among Latinos.

GIMENEZ: For who? I don't know if you're going to get a sugar high and all that until people actually get to figure out who Kamala Harris really is. And so she hasn't come in front of anybody, hasn't answered any questions.

Now, flip-flopping back and forth as to some of the positions she took in 19 -- in 2019 about open-border, getting rid of ICE, all that kind of stuff, which is a far-left progressive agenda, which she really is a far-left progressive.

So when people actually find out what she's all about, I think President Trump is going to get some of those Latino voters back.

But look, 40 percent of the Latino vote is still a very good number for President Trump. But he's going to do far better once Latinos find out who Kamala Harris really is. SANCHEZ: Congressman Carlos Jimenez, I apologize for the technical

issues. I wish we had more time, but I look forward to catching up again soon.

GIMENEZ: Yes, me too.

SANCHEZ: Thanks.

Still ahead. The Democratic conventions enthusiasm, maybe tempered by protests over President Biden's Middle East policy. Members of the "Uncommitted" movement are having a sit-in outside the convention and demanding a Palestinian-American be allowed to speak from the main stage.

We're actually going to speak to the movements founder from the protest site in just a few minutes. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:45:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON POLIN, FATHER OF HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN, HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: In an inflamed Middle East, we know the one thing that can most immediately release pressure and bring calm to the entire region, a deal that brings this diverse group of 109 hostages home and ends the suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: That was a plea from the parents of 23-year-old hostage, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who is an Israeli-American being held hostage by Hamas.

Hersh lost part of his left arm when terrorists threw a grenade into the bunker that he was hiding in with a number of other people on October 7th, and then they abducted him. That was a somber moment at this convention.

And the night coincided also with news that Democratic officials would not be giving a speaking slot to the pro-Palestinian "Uncommitted" movement. A sit-in is now underway outside of the United Center.

The co-founder of the "Uncommitted" national movement of, Abbas Alawieh, is joining me now from the protest.

Abbas, what did you think of this moment that you saw at the convention last night?

ABBAS ALAWIEH, "UNCOMMITTED" DNC DELEGATE & CO-FOUNDER (via telephone): Thank you so much, Brianna, for having me.

I am seated outside the United Center right now. But we're having a very emotional last 24 hours. I was in the arena when we heard from the Israeli-American parents of Hersh, the hostage that is being held -- that is being held in Gaza right now.

I was deeply moved. I heard them say that every -- every -- and every one of us, every human, there's a universe. And in the Muslim tradition we have, if you harm a single person, if you -- if you harm a single person, it says you've harmed all of humanity.

That's precisely because I am in touch with the humanity of every single person. That me and uncommitted voters around the country and a deep majority of Democrats support Palestinians human rights.

As well as support updating the Gaza policy to ensure that our government does not continue on its current destructive tracks of sending more and more weapons to the Israeli military that are being -- that are being used to kill over 16,000 children or 40,000 civilians.

It's immoral. It's against the law. It's deeply illegal, both in U.S. law and international law. We're urging the policy -- we're urging the party to take a different approach.

KEILAR: Abbas, you got the official no. Tell us about learning that news and if you were told why.

ALAWIEH: So I'm one of 30 uncommitted delegates here at the convention. We've been pushing for an arms embargo and a ceasefire. We came here as 30. We've grown to 300. Harris and uncommitted delegates, we are pushing for both of those things.

And one of one of our secondary asks was for a Palestinian-American to speak from the stage. We knew that this was a reasonable ask, especially because the Democratic -- the Democratic platform includes specific language that says Israeli-Americans and Palestinian- Americans are viewed equally, are valued equally in our party.

Since that's true, we also wanted to hear from a Palestinian-American. Our party would be lucky to hear from Palestinian-Americans. Palestinian-Americans are honorable people who we're lucky to learn from.

We're leaders in our Democratic Party. And so the party would be very lucky to hear from Palestinian-American.

We were very surprised, we were very shocked that there would be an attempt to silence Palestinian-American voices. There should be room to discuss a sentiment that is widely supported among Democratic voters, among most people in our country that Palestinian human rights are essential, are essential to our party.

We know that there isn't room for that discussion in the Republican Party, but there is room in the Democratic Party because most voters support Palestinian human rights. Most Democratic voters support human right -- human rights. Most Democratic voters support a stop to the unconditional flow of weapons to Netanyahu's murderous regime.

That's why we need policy changes immediately. And that's why we're urging Vice President Harris, President Biden, and the DNC to reconsider and have a Palestinian-American speaking from the stage. We would be lucky to hear from a Palestinian-Americans.

My phone is on. I'm waiting for a call to hear whether they will reconsider.

[13:49:59]

KEILAR: Abbas, you're very clear what you want from Israel. You are clear what you want from the Biden-Harris administration. Right now, negotiations are going on, on a ceasefire-hostage deal. They are faltering. What do you want Hamas to do in these negotiations?

ALAWIEH: I'm American. I pay -- I pay tax dollars to this country. I understand that our country, thankfully, does not send weapons to Hamas.

I do understand that our country, unfortunately, sends weapons to the Israeli military. And the Israeli military is using those weapons to kill civilians en mass, to kill babies en mass.

And so what I want this -- for my government to play a productive role. I want my government, when saying that we want a ceasefire, to be clear about how we achieve a ceasefire. You want a ceasefire, you stop sending fire. You want -- you want the bombing to stop, you stop sending bombs.

So I'm urging President Biden, President Biden, please stop sending bombs that are killing babies. It's urgent. It's urgent.

KEILAR: Abbas Alawieh, thank you so much for being with us. We do appreciate it.

We'll continue to follow this story. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:39]

KEILAR: Maybe you've seen it in your feed. Researchers say social media is being flooded with fake political endorsements, many created by artificial intelligence.

And this is one of the latest fakes. It was actually shared by former President Trump suggesting, wrongly, that he had been endorsed by Taylor Swift.

CNN's Hadas Gold is with us now.

I mean, I think, Hadas, you'd have to be hiding under a rock to think that Taylor Swift might actually endorse Donald Trump, but there might be some other ones that could definitely fool people.

And I wonder how they can know whether what they're looking at is real or not?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, other ones from all sides of the political spectrum here. Brianna, it's getting so scary how good artificial intelligence is getting at mimicking what could be real images, even real videos.

But there is a new misinformation database that is trying to help. And it is run by the News Literacy Project. We got -- CNN got an exclusive look before it launched today.

It's a nonpartisan group that launched this searchable misinformation database. And it chronicles more than 450 instances of election- related misinformation. A lot of them, AI generated.

Actually, one in 10 of them are fake endorsements, especially celebrity endorsements.

So this is a good database that you can use if you see something in your feed that looks a little weird, especially if it leans into your biases.

So go check it out. See if it's in any way real. The Web site is misinfodashboard.newsletter. org.

Now let's look at some examples just to see how real these things can look. Let's pull up one. This is celebrity Ryan Reynolds. It shows him wearing a shirt that's a play on the title that says, "Kamala removes nasty orange states." It's sort of a cheeky T-shirt.

You might see somebody like Ryan Reynolds wearing this type of shirt. But according to this misinformation database that draws from trusted fact-checkers, this is a fake image.

Now I want to pull up again that one that that former President Donald Trump himself posted to his Truth Social platform. This is actually four images. It shows what seems to be a lot of Swifties, which, as we know, very powerful force, the Swifties, saying "Swifties for Trump."

What looks to be a fake poster, a poster of "Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump."

Now what's interesting about this one is, according to this dashboard at the New Literacy Project, three of those images are fabricated, made by AI.

And if you zoom in on them, if you know something about AI, you might be able to tell that things are a look a little bit off. But one of them is real. The one in that top, right, that young blonde woman wearing a "Swifties for Trump" shirt. She's also in that lower right- hand one that is actually a real photo.

And that goes to show you how tough this can be. Because artificial -- artificially generated images can be matched up with real images or real images can have artificially generated images superimposed sort of Photoshopped on top of them.

This can make it really difficult. And that's why it's so important, if you see something in your feed that doesn't feel right, it seems too good to good to be true, especially if it leans into your own preconceived biases, check it out, go to a trusted source.

Or go to this source from the News Literacy Project. Again, that Web site is misinfodashboard.newslit.org -- Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Hadas, thank you so much for that. We appreciate it.

And the convention all comes down to this. Kamala Harris speaking to the American people, explaining why she should be their choice for president. We're going to discuss her challenge. We're going to talk about how she makes that argument after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)