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Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) On Harris And Trump Polling In Tight Races In Key States; Nine Now Dead From Listeria Outbreak Tied To Deli Meat; FBI Releases Photos Of Trump Shooter's Gun, Backpack, Explosives. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 29, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:30]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just a few hours before Vice President Kamala Harris and Tim Walz sit down with CNN's Dana Bash for their first interview.

So, new polling from Fox overnight shows that voters in key swing states see her, by a very tiny margin, as the candidate most likely to bring change or move the country forward.

With us now is Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut.

Senator Murphy, how do you explain now in these key states -- we're talking about Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, and North Carolina -- see a sitting vice president as the change candidate?

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, first, because she's a transformational candidate. This would be the first woman president at a time when women's health care is under assault all over this country. One of the changes that people want is a reversal of Donald Trump's ability for states to ban access to reproductive freedom.

Second, people see Donald Trump as an agent of the billionaire and corporate class. They know what he did when he was in power -- four years and the only major domestic achievement was a giant tax cut for his Mar-a-Lago friends.

People see that Joe Biden has started to take power away from corporations, to break up the big monopolies, to support unions and workers' right to bargain, and they want more of that. They want workers to have more power. They want corporations to have less power.

And they see Kamala Harris not only as a transformational candidate on issues like reproductive freedom but also willing to continue to carry out a lot of the policies that are going to put money and power back into the hands of regular people. They think Donald Trump is just going to be more of the same. More help for people who don't need any more help.

BERMAN: I want to change the subject here. What's your position, Senator, on fracking?

MURPHY: I think increasingly, we can do fracking in a safe way. It depends on the -- on the site. It depends on the process. But, you know, I think anybody who sort of has paid attention to the technological developments over the past several years understands that there are places that this can be done safely.

And listen, I think you have to have a strategy in this country where you continue to develop our natural resources while putting renewable energy on -- while supersizing our investment in renewable energy.

What Donald Trump doesn't want you to know is that under the Biden- Harris administration we have had record domestic oil and gas production. We are producing more fossil fuels in this country today than we were under Donald Trump.

Now, it's also --

BERMAN: The reason --

MURPHY: -- true that we are making massive new investments in wind and solar, but it's proof that you can do both.

BERMAN: The reason I was asking is because Vice President Harris was against fracking when she ran for president in 2019. Now her campaign says she supports fracking.

She, of course, is doing this interview with CNN just in a few hours. How much do you think she needs to explain her change on this issue, her change on Medicare for All, her change on some border issues?

MURPHY: Yeah. I mean, do -- does America really want candidates who never ever change their position on anything and never look at new evidence and come to a different conclusion?

I'm telling you that part of the reason that I am more open to fracking today is because the technology has changed because we can do it in a way that protects groundwater and protects the safety of local residents. I look at new information and occasionally I change my position.

Now, Vice President Harris can explain for herself why she thinks differently about this topic. But I think it would be insane to punish anybody in political life for not being open to new information.

BERMAN: Um, overnight and all day yesterday, Donald Trump was posting on Truth Social. He was posting or re-posting slogans that are popular with QAnon. He was posting pictures of the president, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, and Vice President Harris in jumpsuits. And he was posting or re-posting some gross, sexist, misogynist jokes and content.

[07:35:05]

What's your view on how the Harris campaign should address this type of thing from Donald Trump? MURPHY: Yeah. I guess they'll have to make that decision for themselves.

But here's the thing. You can't even say what the content was, right? I can't even say what it was that Donald Trump posted about Kamala Harris.

And by the way, I don't think it was a joke. I mean, I actually think that what they are alleging -- that any powerful women in this country use sex as a means to succeed. That women could not -- could not on their own merits succeed professionally in politics -- it is so disgusting. But it is actually what they believe. I don't think it's a joke.

I think Donald Trump thinks that there's no way that a woman could succeed -- could be successful, could rise to a power -- to a position of power in this country without using sex. And that is so far out of the mainstream that we shouldn't be shy to talk about it.

The second thing that you reference he posted was -- again, I don't think it was a joke. I don't think it was just re-posting a meme. It's a QAnon idea that everybody who works for Joe Biden who has implemented Democratic policies will be arrested and locked up when the transition happens.

And there are a lot of people in the Republican movement -- inside the MAGA movement who believe that should happen. Who believe that Democrats should be arrested and locked up once Donald Trump is president.

So you are talking about some unbelievably absurd, extreme, and dangerous views. The idea that women cannot succeed on their own merit. The idea that if you are a Democrat, you should be put in prison when Donald Trump is elected. It's unbelievable that this is where we is -- this is where we are today.

And to the extent that people think this is a joke, I don't think it is. And so, I don't give campaign advice publicly to Kamala Harris, but I think everybody needs to treat what Donald Trump is posting very, very seriously.

BERMAN: You just said you don't give campaign advice. We appreciate you're always willing to come on speak with us on a fairly regular basis.

We are excited that Vice President and Gov. Walz are speaking to CNN today.

How much more do you think they should in terms of interviews and press conferences in the remaining 60-plus days?

MURPHY: Oh, I mean, I think the Harris campaign has been incredibly accessible to the public.

Where's Donald Trump? I mean, Donald Trump isn't campaigning. He's just playing golf every day. He's not showing that he wants this job. He's not showing that he's willing to engage with voters.

What I see is the Harris-Walz campaign out there every single day hustling -- showing America that it wants to lead. That it wants to continue to transfer power from the elites back to regular people. That it wants to give regular folks a chance -- an opportunity in this country.

And Donald Trump just sitting back on his smartphone tweeting super dangerous and super misogynist content while he does nothing to show that he wants this job.

So I think what the Harris campaign is doing right now is just hustling -- going out there and talking to regular people, holding rallies, being engaged with the press is exactly what they should keep doing.

BERMAN: Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut. We appreciate your time. Thanks so much for coming on -- Rahel.

MURPHY: Thank you.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: And this morning, nine people have now died from what the CDC is calling the largest listeria outbreak in more than a decade. It's tied to a recall of Boar's Head deli meats, which health officials warn may still be sitting in a lot of people's refrigerators.

Let's bring in CNN's Jacqueline Howard with us now. So, Jacqueline, how big has this outbreak gotten?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yeah, Rahel. Well, like you said, this is the largest listeria outbreak since 2011 and so far, 57 people have gotten sick. All of them were hospitalized. This is across 18 states. And sadly, nine people have died. Those deaths have been reported in New Jersey, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico, New York, Illinois, and South Carolina.

And Rahel, when you think about it, these are just cases that we know about. There could be many people out there who may have gotten sick, but they never saw their doctor. They recovered on their own. So this outbreak potentially could be much larger than we realize.

And the recalled products to look out for -- these are deli meats with the established number 12612 inside the USDA mark of inspection. Many of the people who have gotten sick reported eating Boar's Head ready- to-eat liverwurst products. They reported eating turkey deli meat.

And think about it, Rahel. We're in the back-to-school season, so many people may have these deli meats for their kid's school lunches, for instance. So now is the time to really take a close look and make sure that some of the products in your own refrigerator are not part of this recall.

[07:40:05]

SOLOMON: Yeah, absolutely. And Jacqueline, you make the point that perhaps some people may not

have even known, so this could be larger than we even realize.

HOWARD: Exactly.

SOLOMON: So then what should people -- what symptoms should people be looking out for?

HOWARD: Yeah. Listeria is a bacterial illness, and the symptoms include fever, muscle aches. In some cases people may experience stiff neck or seizures.

So that's why it's really important, again, to check the products that you have at home. If you do have a recalled product throw it out because refrigeration does not kill the listeria bacteria. And, of course, you might want to use this time clean out your frig and disinfect your countertops. Just do your due diligence, Rahel.

SOLOMON: OK, a little end-of-summer cleaning.

Jacqueline Howard --

HOWARD: Exactly.

SOLOMON: -- live for us in Atlanta. Jacqueline, thank you -- John.

BERMAN: All right. What could be better than the best baseball player on Earth, Shohei Ohtani? A dog and a bobblehead.

CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, John, we've seen some great first pitches over the years, but I'm not sure there's been one better than Shohei Ohtani's dog Decoy last night.

So Ohtani bringing Decoy to the ballpark because it was their bobblehead night. And check out the massive lines to get in to secure that bobblehead. All the fans trying to make sure they were one of the first 40,000 into those gates at Dodger Stadium.

Now, come gametime it was Decoy's turn to shine. He brought the ball from the mound to Ohtani behind the plate for the first pitch, and then he gave him a high five. That's just one good dog right there.

Then Ohtani -- he put on a show. He hit his 42nd home run of the season in the first inning, then he would steal two bases to get him to 42 steals for the season. Ohtani is looking to become the first player ever to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in a season.

The Dodgers beat the Orioles in that one 6-4.

And in Chicago, meanwhile, we may have had the catch of the year. The White Sox were down one, two on, bottom of the ninth. Andrew Vaughn gets ahold of this one, but the Rangers' Travis Jankowski, who just came on as a defensive replacement, skies over the wall to rob the walk-off home run. And just take another. Jankowski reaching well into that White Sox bullpen to grab that one.

And the brutal season for the White Sox just continues. They lose their 113rd game. Four-3 the final there.

And elsewhere, another night, another record for Caitlin Clark. Indiana's star rookie draining a step-back three early in the first. That was her 86th this season, the most by a rookie in WNBA history.

Clark ended up having a rough shooting night though, making just three of her 12 three-point attempts, but she got this clutch bucket with a minute-27 to go to put the Fever up for good. They beat the Sun 84-80.

And check this out. After the game, Clark getting a pic with Simone Biles and Gabby Thomas who were at the game. Lots of greatness in that pic.

Biles is gearing up for her Gold Over America tour, which starts in about two weeks.

The Paralympics, meanwhile, kicking off in Paris yesterday with the opening ceremonies. An exciting day for the roughly 4,400 athletes from around the world that will be competing. John, Team USA has 225 athletes at the Games there in Paris. The competitions getting underway earlier this morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Thanks, Andy. I will pick it up from here.

And still ahead, why a ruling from the Supreme Court is putting President Biden's student loan relief plan in limbo.

And a country concert grinds to a halt. Why singer Scotty McCreery stopped mid-song, all caught on camera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTTY MCCREERY, SINGER: Police, security --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get him out! (Bleep).

MCCREERY: Is she OK? Get the heck outta here. On God's green Earth, at a Scotty McCreery show? What are you doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:48:10]

BERMAN: So new this morning, the FBI released photos of the gun used in the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, along with photos of the shooter's backpack and explosive. They also revealed some of his online searches, including, "Where will Trump speak from at Butler Farm Show?"

CNN senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz is with us now. What else are we learning this morning, Katelyn?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, John, the FBI is still trying to get a better understanding of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the person who tried to assassinate Donald Trump and fired off shots at that rally in Butler, but one of the things that they have now is a better understanding of his mindset leading up to that campaign event for Donald Trump. But they haven't figured out a motive yet.

What was revealed yesterday by the FBI is that Crooks was doing internet searches in the week or so before the Butler event. And he had started researching campaign events not just of Donald Trump but also of Joe Biden, and then became fixated more on the Butler event, searching for things like where will Trump speak from at the Butler Farm Show, as you mentioned. Butler Farm Show podium ballistic calculator. Whether Butler -- even searching the name of the company that owned buildings that he ultimately climbed that day to get off some of those shots.

Here's a little bit more from the special agent in charge of the FBI's field office in Pittsburgh. His name is Kevin Rojek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN ROJEK, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI PITTSBURGH OFFICE: We saw a sustained, detailed effort to plan an attack on some event, meaning he looked at any number of events or targets. And then when this event was announced he became hyper-focused on that specific event and looked at it as a target of opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:50:00]

POLANTZ: So the FBI is very forthcoming about what they're learning about Crooks day by day as they continue investigating. They are also releasing new photos of the gun, the backpack, and explosives that the shooter had in his car at the rally.

Yet so much still here that the FBI hasn't been able to figure out. There is no motive that they have identified. There are no co- conspirators that they have seen. There's no indication, they say, that there was any direction or involvement of any foreign entity.

They also are seeing a mixture of political ideologies of this man -- internet searches or other things from both the left and the right politically. And also, they're trying to dispel conspiracies. The FBI saying yesterday there was no second shooter -- John.

BERMAN: Still so many questions. Katelyn Polantz, thank you very much -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right, John. It has been a very busy week for special counsel Jack Smith and this morning it's not letting up. Monday, Smith sought to revive the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. The very next day he filed a revised indictment in his other case against Trump, the election interference case, to try to keep that alive as well.

Now, Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing that case -- she wants to hear from Trump's legal team and the special counsel by tomorrow on a timeline going forward.

Let's bring in CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor Elie Honig, who is here.

So, Elie, tomorrow is the deadline.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL AND STATE PROSECUTOR, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Yes.

SOLOMON: What exactly are we watching for here?

HONIG: So this is where the real fight begins, Rahel. Now, earlier this week, what Jack Smith did is he took his original indictment -- and we're talking about the D.C. case -- the January 6 case -- and he paired it down. He tries to conform it with the Supreme Court's immunity ruling. So he took out some of the allegations. But that's not the end of the story.

Now the parties have to tell the judge -- well, how do we go through the new indictment and figure out what's an official act and therefore immune and out of the case, and what's an official act and therefore in the case? Trump's going to say the whole thing is an official act. You should throw out the whole indictment. And Jack Smith is going to say all that's left in the indictment, that's all fair game.

So now Judge Chutkan has to go through the difficult process of sorting through and saying what's in and what's out.

SOLOMON: And so one, will she have the last say, and then how does she go about weighing both sides here?

HONIG: So let me take those in opposite order. Here's how she's going to go about it. She has two options.

One, she can do it based on the brief. She can say to each side OK, you each have to submit a detailed brief. You tell me what parts of the case you think are or are not immune and why, and then she can decide just on the papers. And that would be a fairly bland process. There wouldn't be anything sensational happening, but judges tend to do things that way.

Option B that Judge Chutkan has is she could hold a hearing. It could be a sort of mini trial. She could say OK, prosecution, we want to have a fight about Mike Pence's testimony. Let's hear from Mike Pence as to what he would testify to. That, of course, would be a very big deal, especially if it happened before the election.

As to the other part of the question, will Judge Chutkan have the final say? No, she will not because the Supreme Court, in its immunity decision, said whatever Judge Chutkan decides about what's in and out, Trump gets to appeal that before trial, meaning it will go to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and then maybe right back to where it all began in the Supreme Court.

SOLOMON: Which is his right and --

HONIG: Yeah.

SOLOMON: -- he likely will if this doesn't necessarily go the way --

HONIG: For sure.

SOLOMON: -- that his team wants.

Let's talk about the other case -- the hush money case --

HONIG: Yeah.

SOLOMON: -- which was sort of barreling toward a sentencing date. Is that likely going to hold just in a few weeks from now --

HONIG: Yeah.

SOLOMON: -- and what's happening there?

HONIG: So might have missed this because this played out last week while we were all rightly focused on the Democratic National Convention. We've all had -- I've certainly had September 18 circled in red ink on my calendar -- Trump's sentencing date. That might not happen though and here is why.

Trump made a motion to throw out that hush money conviction based on the same immunity case. He said some of the evidence the prosecutors used against me had to do with my time in the White House. That should not have been used against me. Therefore, Judge Merchan, throw out the conviction. That is pending. He has not decided yet.

But Trump has said if you reject that -- if you keep the conviction in place I get to appeal before sentencing. And what happened last week is --

SOLOMON: Appeal the conviction.

HONIG: Appeal the conviction before you sentence me. And the D.A. last week put in a filing saying we're fine either way, Judge.

So it's up to the judge. He may well decide that I'm going to let Trump appeal before sentencing, which would mean the sentencing would be way past the election -- or option B for Judge Merchan is he could say no, I'm going to keep sentencing on for September 18. But that date now is very much in question as to whether we actually will see a sentence. SOLOMON: And if it's option A --

HONIG: Yeah.

SOLOMON: -- that effectively means that case basically goes back to square one.

HONIG: Yeah. Well, if Judge Merchan throws the conviction out, then we're back to square zero. The other option --

SOLOMON: Not even one.

HONIG: Right, not even one.

SOLOMON: OK.

HONIG: We're beyond one.

SOLOMON: OK.

HONIG: The other option though is Judge Merchan says no, the conviction can stand. I don't find that you are immune for anything. And I'm either going to sentence you or I'm going to let you appeal this before sentencing.

So either way, Trump has a couple of ways here to avoid being sentenced. And you can bet he probably doesn't want to be sentenced before the election, although maybe he does. I don't know. He has a way of using these court appearances to his political and electoral advantage.

SOLOMON: Wow, fascinating --

HONIG: Yeah.

SOLOMON: -- Elie.

HONIG: A lot of moving parts.

[07:55:00]

SOLOMON: Yeah.

Good to see you.

HONIG: All right, thanks, Rahel.

SOLOMON: John.

BERMAN: All right.

The Supreme Court has turned down a request from the Biden administration to put a student loan repayment plan back in play after the legal challenge brought on by Republican-led states. Eight million borrowers are currently enrolled. The Supreme Court signaled that it wants legal proceedings to play out in the lower courts before stepping in.

The president and CEO of Visit Florida, the state's tourism marketing corporation, is defending its decision to remove the LGBTQ travel section from its website, saying the content of the site must align with the state laws. Equity Florida and LGBTQ rights groups said changes to the website are another example of how Florida is making the community feel unwelcome in the state.

A search of LGBTQ on the Visit Florida website now returns to only three results. Before, it showed many more friendly cities, businesses, and restaurants.

Country singer and "AMERICAN IDOL" alum Scott McCreery making headlines after stopping his own concert to call out someone in the crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCREERY: Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey -- right here, right here. That's a lady you just hit, sir. Absolutely not. Who just hit the lady?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: McCreery was at the Colorado State Fair when he said he saw the incident and then called for security to get involved. In a statement to KKTV, the county fair said they provided crowd control, and this is under investigation -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right, John.

Well, former President Donald Trump could be in for a huge financial windfall in the coming days if he can manage to cash in on his multibillion-dollar social media fortune, but it may not be so easy to get ahold of that money. The restrictions that prevent him from selling or borrowing against his stakes in Truth Social owner Trump Media are set to expire, but they aren't the only thing that could keep him from selling shares.

Let's bring in CNN's Matt Egan who joins us now. So walk us through some of the obstacles here, Matt.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Rahel, there are a lot of obstacles. Look, I've been covering this Trump Media story for years and it has been so fascinating on so many different levels.

One of the big ironies here is that Trump has been sitting on this Truth Social multibillion-dollar fortune that could help him meet some of his cash requirements. But he hasn't been able to touch it, right, because like deals -- other deals like this there are all these lockup restrictions, right, that prevent insiders from selling right away.

Now, those restrictions are set to lift in the next few weeks. If the stock price stays above $12.00, it will lift as soon as September 20. If not, it will still lift by September 25. And at that point, Trump can really do whatever he wants in theory, right? He could sell this to pay legal bills. He could fund his presidential

campaign. He could, I don't know, buy a sports team -- whatever he wants.

Of course, practically, as you know, Rahel, it's always hard for major, major shareholders to quickly dump their stock, and it's even harder in this case, right? I mean, how would that look? Trump is not just the dominant shareholder. He is the most popular user on the only product, Truth Social.

SOLOMON: He's essentially the face.

EGAN: He is the face. I mean, the ticker symbol is DJT, right?

That's why NYU Professor Michael Ohlrogge told me that it would be all but impossible for Trump to liquidate his whole stake or even just a third of it without completely tanking the stock price. It would create a crisis of confidence.

SOLOMON: Yeah.

EGAN: And look, the stock price is already tanking. It fell another four percent yesterday, briefing dropping below $20.00 a share for the first time since this deal closed --

SOLOMON: Wow.

EGAN: -- in the spring. And it's now down 70 percent from late March. That's the sell-off that has accelerated as Vice President Harris has gained in the polls --

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

EGAN: -- as this lockup restriction lifting looms, and also as these concerns about whether or not this company if dramatically overvalued --

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

EGAN: -- continue.

And now his stake in the company -- it was worth $6 billion in May. It's now down to $2.3 billion. Still a lot of money but a lot less than it was.

One last point here is even though it's going to be hard for Trump to sell a major part of his stake here, there is another way he could tap this fortune. He could borrow against the value of those shares if, of course, he can find someone -- a bank or a wealthy individual, or some other entity to lend to him.

SOLOMON: Yeah, that's a big if.

Let me ask one share -- one company that has a very different type of story is INVIDIA. Those shares are up, I want to say, 120 percent over the last 12 months. They just reported earnings. Walk us through this. EGAN: Yeah, Rahel. The bar was set incredibly high here, right? This

is a stock up 3,000 percent in five years.

SOLOMON: Wow.

EGAN: The stock is down after reporting results about three percent premarket but not down dramatically. Look, it was always going to be almost impossible to meet these expectations.

But by all accounts, INVIDIA is still growing at warp speed. Revenue more than doubled over the past year to a record $30 billion. Profits almost tripled, right? I mean, that is insane growth.

When you zoom out --

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

EGAN: -- and put those profits into context, this is incredible growth.