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Harris Allies Question Trump's Pledge To Eliminate IVF Costs; Trump Team Tries To Clarify After He Suggests He Might Support Florida Measure Expanding Abortion Rights; Trump: Florida's Six-Week Abortion Ban Is "Too Short"; Harris Says She Would Name A Republican To Her Cabinet If Elected. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 30, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:02:27]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Today, allies of Vice President Kamala Harris are responding after former President Trump proposed a plan to have the government or insurance companies pay for all costs of IVF treatments. On a conference call with reporters, Democratic senator, Elizabeth Warren, called Trump's plan just smoke and mirrors. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Making vague promises about insurance coverage does not stop a single extremist judge or state legislature from banning IVF. Making vague promises about insurance coverage does not stop a single one of the 131 Republicans in Congress from advancing their fetal personhood bill that would ban IVF.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is with us now on this story.

Priscilla, how much concern is there within the Harris campaign that this could undercut her appeal as she polls much better on abortion rights?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Democrats have been banking on this issue since the start of this presidential election, and her campaign still feels pretty confident that they can use it against former President Donald Trump, simply because the argument goes back to why we're in this place to begin with. And as she did at her rally just yesterday, talking about the fact that the justices are - or the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and that was in part because of who former President Donald Trump added to the Supreme Court.

So just with that argument alone, they feel like they have a good leg to stand on. I'll also note that this has been such a galvanizing issue for Democrats, that Vice President Kamala Harris went on a reproductive rights tour at the beginning of this year. She was not the presidential Democratic candidate. She was the Vice President, and President Biden was the candidate, but they put her out there. She was the voice on this issue.

I was one of her first stops when she took this tour. And it was also a moment where she coined the Trump abortion ban point. And so we're seeing that come together now. Of course, she has a bigger group of people and surrogates who are really going to lean hard on this issue, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

But also next week, they are going to launch another bus tour, a reproductive rights bus tour with Sen. Klobuchar, as well as the campaign manager. And they're going to start it off in Florida, an important state, another state where this issue is on the ballot. They have at least 50 stops that they're going to be going to around the country with surrogates, elected officials, celebrities, among others.

[15:05:04]

So that alone should tell you that they feel pretty good that voters can see, as Warren has said, the smoke and mirrors of Trump and will be going to vote for the Vice President on this very issue. Certainly, it's not easy and the Vice President still has a lot of states she has to head to and a lot of other people she has to convince. Next week, she'll be going to Pennsylvania. She's going to be there with President Biden, notable, the first time they'll be together now that she is the Democratic presidential candidate and she will also be going to Michigan.

So another opportunity for her to also talk about the economy, which has been central to her interview last night with CNN's Dana Bash and something we're going to hear more about next week. Take a listen to how she previewed that yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm telling you, this is one of my singular priorities, is to invest and grow our small businesses. So what I'm going to be rolling out next week is basically a tax credit for startups, for small businesses who are starting now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: So what she was saying there is that next week she wants to roll out a plan for tax credits for small business startups. So she's starting to give us a little bit of a preview of where her policies are going to be on what she calls the opportunity economy. Certainly a lot more to be fleshed out here, but certainly her focus at this time is the economy, while the surrogates and other parts of the apparatus are going to be pushing their reproductive rights to big, big issues for them going into November.

KEILAR: All right. Priscilla, thank you so much for that. We appreciate it. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Former President Donald Trump's campaign is trying to clarify comments that he made in which he suggested that he would vote to overturn Florida's strict Republican-led six-week abortion ban. Listen to exactly what the former president said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think the six-week is too short. It has to be more time and so that's - and I've told them that I want more weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you'll vote in favor of the amendment?

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 will campaign just a couple of hours from now.

So, Jason, his campaign now singing a different tune.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's one way of putting it. I mean, if you look at from the campaign's perspective, they're saying that the former president's position is simply that he does not agree with this six-week ban, where you seem to - there seems to be some confusion in this gray areas that Trump did not specify what sort of timing he does agree with. Also did not specify whether or not he is supportive of this ballot initiative in Florida. Would he support overturning it? How would he vote on that? It wasn't clear on that either and so it left this gray area.

His press secretary tried to clean some of that up, releasing a statement saying, in part, President Trump has not yet said now how he will vote on the ballot initiative in Florida. He simply reiterated that he believes six weeks is too short. But earlier today, this morning, our own John Berman tried to get some more specifics with his running mate. I want you to listen to part of that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JD VANCE (R, VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE): 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, again, still some gray area there. And when it comes to reproductive rights and the messaging from the campaign, another issue that's created some gray area as well. And you touched on it there (INAUDIBLE) Boris, that it has to do with the president's proposal that if reelected, IVF treatments for couples would be covered either by the government or would be covered by insurance companies. Big question there, one of the big questions there is how would this be funded, you know, where's this money going to come from? Trying to get more specifics on that from the campaign as well. All of this, as you may well know, is an effort to reach out to perhaps some of those people who have left the party and turned away from the former president with the feeling that the GOP is not sensitive to those who respect reproductive rights.

And when you're in a state like Pennsylvania, any of the sweet, sweet states where it is simply too close to call, you've got to try to get as many votes as possible. But in doing so, you're going to have to get specific. We're still waiting for some of those specifics, Boris?

KEILAR: All right. Jason Carroll, thank you for that. Let's discuss more with Bakari Sellers, CNN Political Commentator and former Democratic South Carolina representative, and Marc Lotter. He was the special assistant to President Trump and the director of strategic communications for the Trump 2020 campaign.

[15:10:06]

Marc, there is some confusion over what Trump's position is on specifically the abortion referendum in Florida that would overturn the state's six-week ban and protect it in the Constitution. It would move it to the point of fetal viability, which is considerably past six weeks. Trump says he's going to be voting, that we need more than six weeks.

You have conservative abortion groups very upset about this. They took that to mean that he is voting for the referendum. His campaign, though, says he hasn't taken a position on it. What do you think of his comments?

MARC LOTTER, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I think he's been very clear in recent months, even before - while during the primary, that he thought six weeks was a little too restrictive. And he definitely opposes abortion up to the moment of birth. And so that's why he wanted it in the states, so the states and the voters of those states could decide where is the right place to draw the line. If six weeks is too restrictive, 40 weeks is too loose, then where is that timeline?

And I think he was reiterating that yesterday. As it relates to the ballot initiative, I think he's going to look into that more. And as JD told CNN this morning, that he'll make that announcement on where he lands on that later down the road.

SANCHEZ: Bakari, Trump also proposed making the government or insurance companies through a mandate pay for the costs of IVF treatments. Obviously, Vice President Harris is launching this reproductive rights bus tour in Florida next week. How do you think her campaign should frame its message, not only on that issue of IVF, but in light of Trump's other comments on reproductive rights?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, Trump's position is clear as mud, that's first, on abortion. I mean, we - it's amazing that Kamala Harris gets dealt these cards, that somehow she's a flip- flopper on an issue because she may evolve over time. When Donald Trump, who was a Democrat, who donated to Kamala Harris, who donated to Democrats, who's actually have - who was pro-choice, who comes out here now and puts three justices on the Supreme Court that overturn Roe v. Wade, I mean, he's absolutely everywhere across the map, and the people that get lost in that are the women of this country. That's first.

Second, there's not much for Kamala Harris' campaign to do. We're very clear. The campaign's very clear about who she is and what she stands for on this issue of reproductive rights, reproductive justice and reproductive freedom. That's not something that the Trump campaign can actually say.

Let me give you two examples. One, all of a sudden out of the blue, he's going to pay for IVF treatments, right? He's going to make sure they get covered. He doesn't talk about how he's going to pay for it. And then the chief messenger that he trots out there is JD Vance? JD Vance, who had an opportunity to vote for this bill when he was in the United States Senate, and only two Republicans, Murkowski and Collins, if I'm correct, actually cast votes in favor of that piece of legislation when JD Vance did not.

And so they don't have - they are stumbling all over themselves on this particular issue, much as they've been doing since Kamala Harris got in the race.

KEILAR: Marc, what do you say to that?

LOTTER: I think, look, as we're moving forward, I think, you know, the president's been very clear. He supports IVF and he wants to see that made both as a mandate or as a opportunity for the government to fund that, whether it's through insurance or otherwise. That's a very clear position. And it also takes away this false line of attack that Democrats have been leveling, that he is somehow against IVF. And so it's a matter of ...

KEILAR: But, Marc, address what Bakari's saying, he's talking about the cost, which, for instance, Republicans had issue with. They took issue with in the Senate bill. He's right, there were only two Republicans, Collins and Murkowski, who voted for it.

Other Republicans took issue with what would be the cost, because as you're aware, and it's a pretty conservative cost, $40,000 on average for IVF. They wanted the CBO to score that just to make a point of how much the cost would be.

Can you speak a little bit to that, because it's not just about what Donald Trump may say he wants. It's about what is actually possible to promise within the confines of the party.

LOTTER: Well, I'm sure once we get a cost to it, we can actually figure out a way to cut the waste in government and find that money, because it is talking about supporting families, which is something that Donald Trump, JD Vance have been talking about for a while. And, you know, obviously, I think it's kind of hilarious that, you know, we're kind of giving Kamala Harris a free pass for having no policies on her website, but then when he, when Donald Trump comes out with something, we demand to see a CBO score.

That time will come, and I'm sure the campaign will put more thought and more information behind that. He announced it yesterday, and we've got some time to work that out and then get with members of the House and Senate to get this through once he gets in office.

[15:15:03]

KEILAR: Just to be clear, the CBO score was on the bill in the Senate. I just want to be clear ...

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: ... what they were asking for.

SANCHEZ: Bakari, I'm curious to get your response to what Marc said about Harris not having a policy page on her website. It's a refrain that we've heard repeatedly from Republicans. How do you respond?

SELLERS: Yes. I mean, if I was being petty and fickle, I would be like, Google is free. But since we're on national TV, I'll talk about the fact that she doesn't want to raise taxes over individuals who make more than $400,000. She talks about expanding the child tax credit. She talks about making sure that individuals have a tax credit for the $25,000 down payment on their first home. She actually talks about a tax credit for those individuals that are building those homes or building 3 million new homes because she understands that we have a housing crisis in this country.

And so there is a long list of policies that she talks about day in and day out on the campaign trail that she talked about last night with Dana Bash that she will continue to talk about, and she will continue to roll out new policies and plans. The irony in this whole thing is that there was a drumbeat for Joe Biden to get out of the race.

And when Joe Biden got out of the race, the Republican Party, even some of their more seasoned veterans, act as if Kamala Harris is - they have a fundamental inability to deal with her as a candidate. And so they resort to things like she doesn't have policy points on her website when it's very clear what her policies are. She just rolled out a housing plan last week.

I mean, those type of attacks fall flat and what happens is they throw spaghetti against the wall.

LOTTER: (INAUDIBLE) of The Washington Post.

SELLERS: That's what - I mean, we - but the unique part about that is nobody really cares because The Washington Post editorial board, The Wall Street Journal editorial board, those are three, four, five voters. Kamala Harris is actually in Savannah. She's actually in Nevada. She's talking to the voters that will determine this race. If you continue to try to make sure that an editorial board or some journalist here or there or on your side, you may miss the American public. And so I'd vote on the strategy of encouraging those individuals to come out and vote for you versus trying to woo an editorial board. But again, that's the only talking point you have.

KEILAR: Marc, I got to let you respond to that and then we're going to wrap it up.

LOTTER: Well, look, I'm happy to have an argument on policy. People can't afford gas and groceries because of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. They can't afford mortgages because of the inflation caused by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Things were more affordable. The border was more secure. The world and their communities were safer under Donald Trump. We'll win that policy argument every day.

KEILAR: All right, gentlemen, we'll leave it there. Bakari, Marc, thank you so much.

SELLERS: Good to see you. Thank you.

KEILAR: And ahead, Vice President Harris says that she'd be open to putting a Republican on her cabinet, while JD Vance says a Trump White House could do the same with a Dem. In her cabinet?

SANCHEZ: Either or.

KEILAR: It's so tricky, I know.

Plus, Israel agrees to pause fighting. Let me rewind on that, Israel agreeing to pause fighting in Gaza so that children can be vaccinated for polio. This is a very serious situation that people are dealing with in Gaza. When and how that will happen.

SANCHEZ: Plus, a star NHL player and his brother killed on the eve of their sister's wedding, who police have now charged in their deaths. Those stories and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:22:56]

KEILAR: In CNN's exclusive sit-down interview with Kamala Harris, she made a move to go across the aisle, telling our Dana Bash that she would put a Republican in her cabinet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I think it's really important. I have spent my career inviting diversity of opinion. I think it's important to have people at the table when some of the most important decisions are being made that have different views, different experiences. And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my cabinet who was a Republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Joining us now is CNN Political Commentator, Mark Esper, who was defense secretary during the Trump administration. He currently serves either on the board or is a strategic advisor for a handful of aerospace and defense-related companies.

I wonder what you think about this move that she's talking about, who you think might be a good candidate for a Harris cabinet and what the role would be for them.

MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, good afternoon, Brianna. First of all, look, I think it's a great idea. I think it signals a willingness to reach across the aisle to try and eventually heal the country over what's going to be a very contentious and very close election. So I applaud her for doing that. I agree at the reasons why. And I frankly hope that former President Trump will commit to doing the same. I think it will go a long way to healing the wounds of what's - beyond what happens this election cycle.

And I frankly hope it will become a norm in the future for any administration to invite members of the other party into that cabinet.

KEILAR: Names? Any names on your mind?

ESPER: Oh, I'm not sure I'm going to offer up names. I don't know whether that would help or hurt them. But look, I think you should look at various departments. And in all these cases, there has to be an alignment between the person and the principal, the president-elect at that point in time, to make sure that, you know, they have a good understanding of what each other wants from it.

[15:25:01]

And that together, can that move really serve best the American people. Because at the end of the day, it's about the country. It's not about the party or the president, for that matter, but it can, that team, move the country forward.

KEILAR: So I want to ask you, you mentioned about Trump should commit to something similar. JD Vance said that he and Donald Trump would do the same with the Democrat. I wonder if you think what they consider that to be as something that hits the mark. He's talking about, you know, that the Trump campaign has welcomed the support of Tulsi Gabbard, who is a former Democratic Congresswoman who did run for the nomination for president under the Democratic ticket.

They also point to RFK Jr., calling him Democratic royalty. He's now an Independent. Do those hit the mark for you?

ESPER: Well, I didn't see what he said, but what I'm referring to is actually inviting a member of the opposite party to serve in the cabinet, which is not unprecedented, by the way. You know, George W. Bush did it. Bill Clinton did it. He had Bill Cohen as his secretary of defense. Obama did it. He had Bob Gates as his secretary of defense.

So it's not unprecedented, but it should be a cabinet level member. And again, I think it should become the norm going forward, because I think, again, the country is really divided right now. And they need to see that Republicans and Democrats are willing to work across the aisle for the four years that a president is in office and serve the interests of the American people and rise above this nasty partisanship that has beset our country these last few years.

KEILAR: For Republicans who maybe don't want to vote for Donald Trump but have a hard time voting for a Democrat, do you think that Harris' interview made any inroads with them?

ESPER: Yes, I think that makes a difference. You know, I've said all along some of the things that I'm looking for in any candidate, I've said this going back a year before the primaries is I'm looking for character. I'm looking for a person that puts country first. And I often say it needs to be somebody that can unify the country. And I think this is a way that you unify the country. You bring it together.

And hopefully, actually, you change the political culture, the dynamic out there so that, again, working together with the opposite side, the other party, isn't seen as something shameful or something that you shouldn't do, but it's actually the way that you make government work and you make it work for the American people and for our nation.

KEILAR: I want to see what you think about a particular answer from Gov. Tim Walz. Dana asked him about the 2018 video in which he's seen saying that he held a weapon of war. He took a weapon of war into war, which obviously he did not do. He's not been to a combat zone. And also about his representation of his rank. Let's listen to his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And the idea that you said that you were in war.

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.

BASH: 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's not always correct. But again, if it's not this, it's an attack on my children for showing love for me, or it's an attack on my dog. I'm not going to do that, and the one thing I'll never do is I'll never demean another member's service in any way. I never have and I never will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What did you think of his answer?

ESPER: I always strive for more clarity than less. Yes, I think he misspoke. He acknowledged that. And - but on the other hand, look, 24 years of service in uniform is very impressive. You have to honor and respect that and so, look, I think that works for now.

KEILAR: What do you think right now of so many service members having their service picked apart?

ESPER: Yes, I don't like it at all. Look, I think anybody wears the cloth of this nation. And Brianna, it's less than 1 percent of the American population. So anybody that serves, I think, automatically is in the top category for me. I think they deserve our respect, our admiration. If they misspeak, they should acknowledge it, take responsibility and move on. But I don't think we should be attacking people's military service records, whether it was in combat, out of combat, Guard, Reserve or active duty, I served in all three components. I served in combat as well. But we shouldn't pick it apart.

The fact that they served to me means a whole lot. And then again, beyond that, if they mistake this or mistake that, they should acknowledge it - the mistake - and do better in the future. I think on these things, it's really important to be clear. And, but again, when you serve your country, to me, that's a whole new level.

KEILAR: Secretary Esper, thank you so much for taking the time with us today. We appreciate it.

ESPER: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: And ahead, two people an ocean away now being blamed for hundreds of swatting incidents that targeted lawmakers, federal judges, even President Biden.

[15:30:06]

We'll have the story coming up.

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