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Trump Promises Government Funding of IVF Treatments; Trump Comments Cause Confusion Over Abortion Stance. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 30, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:18]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: In her first big interview as the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris defends her record and tries to define what a Harris administration would look like as her campaign looks to once again put reproductive rights front and center.

And abortion also front and center for former President Trump. He is issuing a new proposal on in vitro fertilization and addressing Florida's ballot measure that would overturn a six-week abortion ban in the state and enshrine abortion up to well past 20 weeks in the state constitution, his remarks on both topics prompting confusion and cleanup.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus, some good news for your wallet, the Fed's favorite inflation gauge coming in with some welcome numbers. Economists describing this as a bright green light to cut interest rates.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Today, all the news coming out of Vice President Kamala Harris' exclusive interview with CNN, where she answered questions on a range of major issues, including her day one plans as president and her shift in stances on key topics like fracking and border security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My values have not changed. I believe it is very important that we take seriously what we must do to guard against what is a clear crisis in terms of the climate.

We can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking. We have laws that have to be followed and enforced that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequences.

I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is, my values have not changed. My value around what we need to do to secure our border, that value has not changed. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: In Pennsylvania, former President Trump is back on the trail today, while his campaign attempts to explain comments that he just made about making government or insurance companies pay for IVF treatments and how he will vote on a ballot measure to overturn Florida's six-week abortion ban.

Let's start with CNN national politics correspondent Eva McKend, who is covering the Harris campaign.

How's the campaign feeling first after this interview?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, they seem to be celebrating this.

They believe that she came across as serious and substantive. One of her major tasks was to sort of explain her evolution these key policy issues, whether it be on immigration and the climate. And they seem to be pleased with how she did this, because she said that ultimately she wasn't abandoning her values.

It seems like she more was saying that she no longer agreed with some of the mechanisms to achieve some of those policy aspirations that she previously advocated for.

KEILAR: And Dana also pressed Governor Walz on claims that he's made in the past, including about his rank in the military and carrying weapons into war, which he did not. How did he respond to that?

MCKEND: Similar to how the campaign responded to this by essentially saying that he misspoke on the matter. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): I'm incredibly proud. I have done 24 years of wearing the uniform of this country. Equally proud of my service in a public school classroom, whether it's Congress or the governor.

My record speaks for itself, but I think people are coming to get to know me. I speak like they do.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: The idea that you said that you were in war, did you misspeak as the campaign has said?

WALZ: Yes, I said -- we were talking about -- in this case, this was after a school shooting, the ideas of carrying these weapons of war. And my wife, the English teacher, told me my grammar is not always correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now, Brianna, ultimately, they have robbed conservatives of a talking point. They have long said that she was not comfortable sitting for an interview, answering tough questions. They can no longer make that argument. The campaign announcing today that they're launching a reproductive

rights justice tour with a bus tour, where key surrogates will deploy on 50 stops throughout the country, primarily in battleground states, so confident in this message that they're beginning this tour in Florida.

KEILAR: All right, very interesting.

Eva McKend, thank you so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Former President Donald Trump's campaign is trying to clean up those comments he made in which he suggested that he would vote to overturn Florida's controversial six-week abortion ban.

Listen to exactly what the former president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think the six week is too short, has to be more time. And so that's -- and I have told them that I want more weeks.

QUESTION: So you will vote in favor of the amendment?

[13:05:01]

TRUMP: I'm voting that -- I am going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll is in Pennsylvania, where Trump is campaigning later today.

Jason, his campaign now says he didn't actually mean what we all heard him say.

(LAUGHTER)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me put it to you to this way.

The Trump campaign says the former president's position is clear. They say that what he's saying here is that he simply does not support the six-week ban, that he needs or would want to see more than six weeks, more time.

But, Boris, what he didn't do is specify what sort of timing he would agree with. He also did not say whether or not he supports that ballot initiative in Florida to overturn the ban. So, that's why there seems to be so much confusion and why so many of us are now looking for more clarity.

Now, his press secretary said this in his statement just this afternoon: "President Trump has not yet said how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida. He simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short."

Well, that still leaves a bit of ambiguity there. And so earlier today, our own John Berman tried to get more clarity from his running mate. Here's how that went.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president is simply saying he doesn't like six weeks. He obviously has said he doesn't like late-term abortion. And I think he will make an announcement on what he actually wants to do on the Florida law in particular.

But, again, President Trump's been extremely consistent that he's going to make this decision as a citizen of Florida. But he wants the national government that he intends to lead to be focused on national issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So we will be looking for that announcement from President Trump at a certain point, if he can give us more clarity on where he stands on that issue.

But we did get another headline, as you know, Boris, when it comes to reproductive rights. Trump says that if he were to be reelected, under his administration, the IVF treatment would be covered by the government, and, if not by the government, it would be mandated that insurance companies cover the full cost.

Again, some ambiguity there in terms of how something like that is going to be paid for. Tried to get some more specifics from that from J.D. Vance. Didn't get specifics on who or how that type of thing would be paid for, so still waiting for that as well.

But all of this is an attempt to reach out to those voters who have turned away from the party, who have turned away from the GOP, who have turned away from Trump under the belief that this is not a party that supports those who support reproductive rights.

So we have seen this attempt to move somewhat to the center, to reach out to those voters. As you know, a place like Pennsylvania and many of these swing states, where it's simply too close to call, every vote counts -- Boris.

KEILAR: All right, Jason Carroll, thank you so much.

Let's talk about this now with our political experts.

We're joined by Jamal Simmons. He was the communications director for Vice President Harris and deputy assistant to President Biden, and we're also joined by Republican strategist Lauren Tomlinson.

Lauren, there is some confusion. I just want to go over some of the details of this again on Trump's position when it comes to the referendum in Florida that would overturn what is the state's six-week ban on abortion. He said -- quote -- "I'm going to be voting that we need more than six weeks."

His campaign is sort of -- is playing cleanup. And they're saying he actually hasn't taken a position on how he will vote. How do you see this?

LAUREN TOMLINSON, GOP STRATEGIST: I see this as he was speaking in a personal capacity, because he's mentioned multiple times that he supports much more of a broader 15-week ban.

But his campaign is having to do cleanup because he doesn't want to go and influence other voters' opinion on this. The campaign has said multiple times that they view abortion as a state issue. They want the individual state cultures to dictate how long the abortion bans are, if there are any abortion bans.

And so they don't want to influence, I think, the legislature or the voters themselves because President Trump is taking a strong position and endorsing something.

SANCHEZ: How much do you think this cleanup may also have to do with groups that favor abortion restrictions coming out and saying that this position is untenable?

We actually have a tweet from the SBA pro-life America president posting on X -- quote -- "Voting for Florida Amendment 4 is a vote for China and Harris' no-limits abortion policy, abortion of late-term healthy babies. Trump, this would leave no contrast."

Do you think there's worry that some of the abortion restrictionists might abandon him or not show up on Election Day over this?

TOMLINSON: No, because -- I say this because they kind of had this fight a little bit with the GOP platform that was passed at the convention.

[13:10:07]

Trump inserted himself to make sure that there was a national ban language removed from the GOP platform this year. And so abortion activists definitely had strong feelings about that, but they largely went along with Trump's position that this shouldn't be a federal issue, this should be a state issue, and it should be removed from the GOP platform.

So I see this as consistent of that. The anti-abortion pro-life wing of the Republican Party will continue to remain very strong in their opinion of a full ban. However, there's other voices in the Republican Party that I think that Trump is acknowledging here that he doesn't also want to isolate.

KEILAR: Jamal, Trump is certainly trying to undercut a strength of Kamala Harris', which is how she pulls on abortion. Is there any concern that he could be successful, even in just a marginal way, on that with this?

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I imagine there's some concern out there that he could be successful if people choose to ignore everything about the Trump era that we have all lived through, which is that Donald Trump will say anything at any moment to pass an interview or to get through a moment, but then he will do something completely opposite

And you just can't trust what it is that may come out of his mouth. So I think Lauren said a minute ago maybe he supports this personally. But the presidency is a unique position in our culture. It's both a party leader, it's the head of the government, it's the kind of ceremonial head of the nation.

And so if the president of the United States says that he's going to do something, we all think that means what it is the president says. That's just not true with Donald Trump. So I imagine there will be people on his right who are more concerned about this than the people on the left.

The truth is, Donald Trump is the reason why we're in this predicament. He's the one that appointed the judges that got rid of Roe v. Wade, and Kamala Harris has said that she will do everything she can to restore Roe v. Wade.

SANCHEZ: Jamal, I believe we have some sound from vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance. Let's listen. Actually, we don't have that sound.

But, Jamal, speaking of this dynamic of elected officials changing positions on things, Vice President Kamala Harris was asked by our colleague Dana Bash about her changing views on fracking and questions about her views of migrants that cross the border illegally.

I'm wondering how you think she handled those questions.

SIMMONS: You know, it's always interesting when you kind of go up the -- up through the food chain of politics, when your positions do differ from where they were.

The reality is, all of us change in some way from when we first get a job to when we had it for a long time. The president -- the vice president said last night that one thing she's seen is that we can have a robust green economy and not ban fracking.

So that's something that she learned over the course of time while she was in the White House. And I think that she's kind of owned up to that.

So I don't know, though, that there are a lot of voters outside of maybe a few of them in Pennsylvania who will make their choice about president of the United States because the vice president has had a position for five years now -- she's had it for four years, she's had it since 2020 -- that she's had a position for four years and now we're asking her questions about when I think she's really the face of change in an election where people really are tired of the Trump era.

And, as she said last night, they want to turn the page to something new. KEILAR: This could come down to a few voters in Pennsylvania. That's

the truth of it, right? I mean, that could really be the linchpin here. How do you see this?

TOMLINSON: I see this as sure she's saying that she's not going to ban fracking now, but I think it points to -- it gives the opportunity to continue to point to her Senate record, which she's not talking a lot about, and also her time running for president in 2019, when, again, she had these stronger positions.

She keeps referring back to a lot of the policy positions that she had as a prosecutor and the things that she was fighting for then. But the reality is, she had a long time in government before then and we didn't see a lot of her during the Biden/Harris administration. We saw a lot of Biden and Biden's policies, but we didn't see a lot of Harris.

And so I think that's why people are confused when she does this. And to add to that point, the Biden administration has paused LNG exports. And so, even though you might say that she won't ban fracking, all of these things, they still have a very strong, they say pro-climate agenda, anti-oil and gas agenda that I think that voters in Pennsylvania are going to be paying attention to.

SANCHEZ: Despite that agenda, the United States is pumping more natural gas and petroleum than ever before.

I do believe we have good news, Jamal. We have that J.D. Vance sound bite that I tossed through that didn't materialize earlier. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: I think, if you look at Donald Trump's full campaign appearances and, yes, his social media appearances, what you see is two things, a guy with an agenda to lower prices and bring back American prosperity and a political candidate who isn't stodgy, who likes to have some fun and likes to tell some jokes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:15:03]

SANCHEZ: So, the context, Jamal, was this was a conversation he was having this morning on CNN. He was asked about tweets or, rather, TRUTH Social -- social media posts...

KEILAR: Posts, yes.

SANCHEZ: ... that the former president amplified that related to QAnon, that had some derogatory remarks in them as well.

What do you make of this view from J.D. Vance that Trump was just having fun and that voters care more about the economy and other issues than a joke on social media?

SIMMONS: Yes, I think a lot of us who care about democracy would not find it fun to vote about -- talk about QAnon or joke about QAnon.

I think a lot of us who care about women would not find it funny to joke about misogyny in the way that the president did in his tweets. I just think there's a -- what they think is funny is just not funny. It's -- I think at one point we called it weird. At some point, it may also be harmful.

And here we are at a point where -- I think, again, the vice president said it last night. People are ready to turn the page from the era of worrying about Donald Trump tweets and what that means for the rest of us who want to get on with our lives.

KEILAR: I wonder what you think, Lauren. I think that the post that had the sexual content grabbed a lot of people.

But I actually think the QAnon one might be the most concerning. And I wonder what you think about it, because we had this -- we had a journalist who's written a new book on how QAnon has destroyed so many families. It's really stunning. I'm sure that we have all -- we have all seen the stories.

I think we can agree QAnon's a conspiracy theory. And the point that she made when she came on our program was that but this whole thing, this sort of Q thing, had been kind of silent. And then you have someone like Trump, of all people, amplifying it. It generates this thing that is actually so fracturing to many American families.

What do you think about that?

TOMLINSON: Yes, I think it's -- this is the peril of politicians communicating in the social media age when it's very common for the average person to go and retweet something that they think is funny.

But if you're a president or a presidential candidate or any other politician, you have to be careful about your sourcing. And it's hard to tell sometimes where the sourcing is coming from. I think they obviously knew that it was where that -- the QAnon conspiracy was coming from. But they obviously don't have the checks and balances in place in the campaign to stop some of these tweets from going through.

And I think that's something that they need to implement, because whether or not they think it's just funny or you know what J.D. Vance was saying, they have to take responsibility for the fact that they're elevating these types of divisive content.

SANCHEZ: Lauren, Jamal, always great to get your perspective. Thanks so much for sharing this Friday afternoon with us.

(CROSSTALK)

SIMMONS: It's not just that the campaign has to take responsibility. It's the president of the United States. And we vote for him to have judgment. And he's somebody who doesn't really have very good judgment.

SANCHEZ: We will have to leave the conversation there. I promise, Lauren, we will pick it up next time. You will have a

chance to respond. Thanks so much for being with us.

Still to come: As Trump promises to make insurance or the government pay for costly IVF treatments, the question is, where's the money going to come from?

Meantime, the former president is hoping to move his hush money case to federal court after Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies. We will explain why.

KEILAR: And later: We are just hours away from the Labor Day holiday weekend. Try to get out the door maybe to get a head-start? Or maybe you could be facing even longer lines, bigger traffic jams?

We will talk about it. You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:22:58]

KEILAR: Former President Trump's new proposal on in vitro fertilization is demanding a closer look. He is promising that, if he's reelected, he would make government or health insurance pay for not just some, but all costs for IVF.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Under the Trump administration, your government will pay for or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for all costs associated with IVF treatment, fertilization for women, IVF treatment.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Joining me now is Barbara Collura, the president and CEO of resolve, the national infertility association.

Barbara, I wonder what your reaction was when you heard Trump make this promise about all IVF coverage.

BARBARA COLLURA, PRESIDENT AND CEO, RESOLVE: THE NATIONAL INFERTILITY ASSOCIATION: Well, thank you for having me on.

And at RESOLVE.org, we have actually been fighting for insurance coverage for decades. This is the number one barrier for people to build their family is lack of adequate insurance coverage. Those out- of-pocket costs are out of reach for most people.

And so, look, we applaud any candidate, any policymaker who wants to help our community. We actually know 85 percent of Americans support this kind of coverage, but we have been waiting decades to see comprehensive coverage and we want to see it now. KEILAR: I do want to ask you about some of the costs, because he's

talking about all IVF costs. And when you do see coverage, as you're aware for infertility, there's sometimes a cost-sharing that we see.

But according to the Department of Health and Human Services, a single cycle of IVF runs between $15,000 and $20,000 on average. About two- and-a-half cycles on average are needed for a successful treatment. That, of course, is going to mean some people need six, some people need one.

The average cost of conception then via IVF can easily exceed $40,000, up to twice that, depending on medication costs, according to estimates. What other costs need to be considered when you're talking about all costs, like storage of unused embryos? How much is that normally costing?

[13:25:20]

COLLURA: Well, first of all, let me just answer the question about how much. You have got the diagnosis. This involves male, female, healthy uterus. So you need to have the right diagnostic tests to determine if you even need IVF, because not everybody needs IVF. So you need to look at that.

When you think about storage of embryos, that could be anywhere from about $500 to $1,000 a year. And people might want to store their embryos for a few years. So there's diagnostic. There's the right medical treatment. Some might be treated with surgical treatment or medication. Again, not everyone's going to need IVF.

But we know that many employers are voluntarily adding this coverage. And they believe it's good policy to have this coverage for their employees. RESOLVE.org, we have been fighting for this for years. And we know it is not going to break the bank on coverage.

KEILAR: So, let me ask you, because "The National Review" says that if this had been in Obamacare, it would have scuttled the entire bill not for Republicans, but even for moderate Democrats.

And we should note that this coverage was actually included in a bill to protect IVF that was opposed by all Republicans in the Senate, except for two, here recently. "The National Review" also says that this would mean insurance premiums go up for everyone.

Do you think that is the case? I mean, it seems there is big agreement that this is such a large cost for people to shoulder on their own. That is certainly true.But would you see insurance premiums going up more broadly even for people who don't need IVF to pay for people who do?

COLLURA: You know, there's a lot of data already, because we have a few states like Massachusetts and Maryland and Illinois, that have had insurance mandates for IVF for over 30 years.

So, Brianna, we have a lot of data. We can look at what that has done to premiums. It is pennies per month in terms of an increase. This is data that RESOLVE and our organization has looked at and supported. And we have a lot of cost studies that state governments have actually had to do on IVF. So the data is there.

I appreciate the comment about Obamacare. That was quite a few years ago. We have a lot of new data since then. And again, this is about building families. This is about people, like you said, who are facing those out-of-pocket costs. Why aren't they getting access to a medical treatment that they need?

KEILAR: Barbara, thank you so much for being with us. This is obviously a topic that is so important to people. They're so stressed out when they're going through the process of infertility. And, certainly, the financial burden is one that adds to that.

Barbara Collura, we appreciate your time.

COLLURA: Thank you.

KEILAR: So we are following a tragic story out of New Jersey, pro hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother killed on the eve of their sister's wedding.

We will have details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)