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Harris Set to Campaign With Biden; Protests Erupt in Israel. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 02, 2024 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:01:08]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Fury in Israel, mass protests, strikes and intense pressure on the prime minister to secure a cease-fire deal after six Hamas hostages are found dead. Netanyahu is speaking out here in just moments.

And a show of force, President Biden returning to the campaign trail for the first time in a supporting role, selling Vice President Kamala Harris' candidacy, the two appearing together in a rare critical battleground state where Biden might be more popular than Harris.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Plus: travel turmoil. Thousands of hotel workers walk off the job in major cities across America. What the union is demanding.

These major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Today, Vice President Kamala Harris and top campaign surrogates are hitting the trail. They are targeting working-class voters in crucial blue wall swing states.

And any moment, we expect to see the vice president taking the stage to speak at a Labor Day event in Detroit appearing alongside members and leaders of some of the largest unions in the country.

Hours later, she will be joined by President Joe Biden at a local union hall in Pittsburgh. And this will mark their first joint campaign appearance since Harris took over the top of the ticket.

Seeing a national politics correspondent Eva McKend is in Detroit for us.

So, Eva, what are the Harris campaign's goals today as they are holding these events with union members?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, she is here to enforce her support for labor.

She will argue that the Biden/Harris administration has been the most pro-labor administration in American history. And while Republicans have made gains with rank-and-file members really through cultural appeals, she will argue that it is Democrats and, by extension, her that support the most pro-union policies like the PRO Act that would extend legal protections for employees.

Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, who is running for Senate, she was just up on stage. And she told these union workers, listen, don't be bamboozled. Republicans might be trying to court your vote, but Democrats are the ones that actually support pro-union policies.

Now, this just illustrates, Brianna, that Democrats can't afford to leave any coalition on the table. They are leaning on every conceivable voter in this battleground state. President Biden only won Michigan in 2020 by about 154,000 votes.

So, bottom line, the message today from the vice president to this audience -- and the signs read as such -- is that she is union strong -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right Eva McKend live for us from Detroit.

Let's bring in now CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak.

Kevin, what is the president's role going to be in this push to Election Day?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, it's a new role for President Biden. He's no longer the candidate.

What he's doing is acting as something of a validator in chief for his vice president, who he is trying to push across the finish line in November. And what we will see him doing today is appear at a Labor Day event at a union hall in Pittsburgh. And you really can't think of a more Joe Biden type event than Labor Day in Pittsburgh.

It's a place that he spent many Labor Days over the last several years. And it is all part of this strategy that his advisers have been sketching out over the last couple of weeks of how he is going to spend the remainder of his term.

And what you're seeing him do today kind of exemplifies it, really focusing on those so-called blue wall states, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, really working to appeal to blue-collar workers who he still holds some political capital with. And he will, aside from being in Pennsylvania today, also be in Michigan and Wisconsin later this week.

[13:05:05]

Now, he is entering this week with a slight uptick in his approval rating, actually since he withdrew from the race. And certainly his advisers and Kamala Harris' campaign advisers want to capitalize on that, want to put him out in front of the voters that he does well with in this campaign.

For Kamala Harris, I think, it's something of a balancing act. She is running on a new path forward. But, of course, she also wants to show loyalty to President Biden and demonstrate her adherence to the policies that he enacted in office. So it will be an interesting balancing act to watch them as they hit the campaign trail for the first time today.

Now, over the weekend, the Harris campaign did get some good news. A new poll showed them leading slightly against Donald Trump among likely voters. But you do hear them very much guarding against any overconfidence in Democrats, the campaign chair, Jen O'Malley Dillon, saying in a memo: "Make no mistake we head into the final stretch of this race as the clear underdogs. Donald Trump has a motivated base of support with more support and higher favorability than he has at any point since 2020."

So, certainly looking to guard against complacency as they enter this final stretch.

KEILAR: All right, we will be watching today. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much -- Pamela.

BROWN: Well, today, former President Donald Trump is not on the trail, but a key legal battle is just days away.

That's a court hearing in his federal election subversion case, the first since the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity. And it comes as the former president claimed in a recent interview that he had -- quote -- "every right to interfere with the 2020 election." Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's so crazy that my poll numbers go up. Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election, where you have every right to do it? You get indicted and your poll numbers go up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining me now is seeing a national correspondent Kristen Holmes and CNN legal analyst Carrie Cordero.

Kristen, straight to you, because you have been following President Trump for quite some time now -- and former president, I should say. That seemed pretty clear, the former president admitting to interfering with the election.

I mean, he had said something similar before many times over, but there's a key word missing.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.

And that word is accused or alleged, right? He constantly says the same exact thing, which is they are accusing me of interfering with the election, which I would have had every right to do to question that election, because there were some inconsistencies in his mind. He says that anyone has the right to question that.

Obviously, in that clip, he was lacking the word accused there, just said that he was indicted for interfering with the election, which he had every right to do.

Now, in terms of what this means legally for Donald Trump, I will let Carrie answer that, but what this means politically is that his team just doesn't want to deal with this. They have already pointed to the fact that he has said this before. We know that on Thursday of last week, they held a big legal call with all their surrogates, trying to brief them on how exactly to stay on message.

It was led by some of his lawyers, by Boris Epshteyn, his legal adviser. They are trying to get ahead of all these legal issues. It doesn't help when Donald Trump comes out and says something like that in an interview.

BROWN: So what does this mean legally?

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, with respect to his public statements, I think his -- what he says in public in a news interview really isn't particularly relevant to what is transpiring in the legal channel.

What's going to matter in the actual case now that the special counsel has brought the superseding indictment that accords with the Supreme Court's ruling on immunity. What's going to matter is what evidence the court now allows to get into this case.

The special counsel has made a decision about where it thinks, where the Justice Department thinks the lines should be drawn in terms of what evidence should come in and should come out. But it's going to go back to the district court. And then depending on how where the politics comes in really is in terms of whether or not this case gets to go forward, depending on who wins the election.

BROWN: So, just to follow up, so the prosecutors, you don't think, would use what he said as a potential admission of guilt?

(CROSSTALK)

CORDERO: I don't think that they're going to focus so much on the things that he says now in this time that are relevant to things that are the actual activities.

So what matters is things that he did, actions that he took at the time of the actual conduct, which is surrounding the 2020 election. I don't -- my own view is that they're not going to give a lot of credence to things that he says publicly because he says things all over the -- in terms of the full spectrum.

Some things he says publicly are true. Some things are not true. Many things are not true or blur the lines of truth.

BROWN: So, of course, his advisers, as you noted, they want him to focus on the economy, immigration. He continues to talk about the 2020 election.

Of course, there is this superseding indictment. And it's interesting to me, though, as he focuses on the past, he's also setting the stage for the upcoming election, Kristen, talking about how it's going to be rigged if he loses. It's the same old playbook.

[13:10:08]

HOLMES: Yes. And one of the things that we have heard this time around that we didn't hear before was this idea of -- quote, unquote -- "too big to rig," which is Donald Trump's way of trying to get people out to vote by saying they're going to try everything that they can, them being Democrats.

But what we need to do is all show up to vote, because if we show up to vote, then it will be so big that they can't rig the election.

Well, that was really what we saw during the Biden -- when he was running against Biden at the top of the ticket. Now it's kind of turned back into this idea that Democrats are going to try and steal the election, because there's no way that they could possibly win unless they're trying to do some dirty tricks, which is something that we heard back in 2020.

Now, we will see what happens as we move forward. We obviously have been at a time where Donald Trump has had a very hard time finding footing against Kamala Harris. None of his lines seem to be landing the way that he wants them to, which might be why he's talking about what was going to happen in 2024 at that election.

That might -- he might -- why he might be insinuating that things could be unfair, because he feels unsure in his own footing at the election. So we will see what happens moving forward. But, of course, this is something we have heard from Donald Trump time and time again since 2020, again, when he was running against Biden and now against Kamala Harris.

BROWN: But it's interesting too, within the context of his legal future and how much it depends on him winning this election, right?

HOLMES: Right.

BROWN: Because if he doesn't win, there's a very good chance, I mean, he could go to trial, right? It's very unlikely anything would happen before the election that front.

CORDERO: Yes, nothing's going to happen as far as a trial before this election. And if he does not win this election, then, presumably, a Harris administration would allow the Justice Department and the special counsel to continue this case.

And then I think we have months, if not years, of potentially protracted litigation in this case, because each time the court considers whether or not certain evidence accords with the Supreme Court's decision, then the former president's team would presumably appeal.

And so we could see this case drag out for a very, very long time. Where I do think it could potentially have actually a practical and positive from the perspective of democracy impact on the current election is the fact that this case could serve as a deterrent to individuals out in the states who in the past and part of this case were wrapped up in false electors and engaging in signing documents that have been brought into this case.

Individuals out in the states might think differently about behaving and taking actions in the same way in 2024 as they did in 2020.

BROWN: That's a really smart point.

All right, Carrie Cordero, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much.

And coming up: outrage in Israel after six Hamas hostages are killed. Protesters are filling the streets, ramping up the pressure on Netanyahu to cut a hostage deal. And so is President Biden. He says the prime minister isn't doing enough to secure an agreement. Netanyahu is set to speak in just moments. Of course, we are following it.

Plus: Thousands of hotel workers just walked up the job on a very busy travel weekend.

You are watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:33]

BROWN: We're following breaking news out of Israel, where any moment now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to speak amid nationwide outrage over the deaths of six hostages killed in Gaza, mass protests and a general labor strike putting enormous pressure on Netanyahu to finally get a hostage deal done after 11 months of agony for these families.

And at the White House, President Biden and Vice President Harris just wrapped up a critical meeting with the U.S. negotiators team, the president saying today that -- when asked about Netanyahu's efforts about -- thus far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Mr. President, do you think it's time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue? Do you think he's doing enough?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, that sums it up.

Today, mourners gathered for the funeral of slain American Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The 23-year-old was among those expected to be released in a cease-fire deal, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now live from Tel Aviv.

So what are we expecting to hear from Netanyahu, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, over the last 36 hours Israel has been filled with grief, anger and despair.

But amid all of that, there has also been a sense of hope that perhaps the deaths of these six hostages executed by Hamas -- by their Hamas captors, according to the Israeli military, that perhaps their deaths could bring about a change in the Israeli government, a change that could potentially lead to a hostage and cease-fire deal.

But what we have heard over the course of the last day has been a lot of doubling down from the Israeli prime minister. Privately, we're told that he continues to insist that the Israeli military must retain control of that Philadelphi Corridor, that crucial strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border, that that would be a condition for a hostage deal, despite the fact that Hamas insists on Israeli troops removing themselves from that very same stretch of land.

And so, as we prepare to hear from the Israeli prime minister, it seems more likely that he will be talking about a way to inflict pain upon Hamas, rather than a way to get to an agreement with Hamas. And that's because one Israeli official is telling us that the Israeli prime minister intends to -- quote -- "hurt Hamas in a way that Israel hasn't done before."

And so, certainly, for the tens of thousands of people who are gathering here today and who gathered here last night, that may -- there may be a sense of disappointment with that, because, yes, people obviously blame Hamas for kidnapping these individuals, for killing them, as Israel brought their bodies back over the weekend.

[13:20:16]

But they had also hoped that -- they also believed that the Israeli prime minister has not done enough to secure a hostage deal, that he is prioritizing his own personal political ambitions, remaining in power, keeping his government in power, over the fate of those hostages.

And so we are continuing to see Israelis here coming out into the streets, demanding that their government does more to bring those hostages home, and bring them home alive, and not in body bags, as we saw over the weekends -- Pam.

BROWN: All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you for bringing us the latest there -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Let's talk more now about these developments with Rob D'Amico. He is the former deputy operations chief for the FBI hostage rescue team.

Rob, just first, your reaction to this horrific news that these six hostages were killed, according to Israel, just a short while before Israeli troops were able to reach them?

ROB D'AMICO, FORMER FBI HOSTAGE RESCUE TEAM MEMBER: Yes, it's one of those things that I saw coming.

As things get more desperate in the negotiations and they start looking at rescue attempts, I always thought that Hamas was going to kill before they allowed the Israelis to get and rescue them.

One, it's a P.R. thing that the Israelis are doing. Well, two, it's their negotiating chip. And I really think right now they're using the information war better than Israel is, because they see the pressure on Netanyahu to do something.

Here, Hamas murdered six people and people are now protesting against Netanyahu. So the information war, they have an advantage. They have been winning it since October 7.

KEILAR: The father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the Israeli-American among the six, said at his son's funeral that he hoped his death would be the fuel that will bring home the remaining 101 hostages.

Do you see that happening?

D'AMICO: I see it's getting to a point, it's coming up to that critical point. Netanyahu obviously has something larger that he's looking at with the negotiations. There's something in there, and if it's a plot of land that he refuses to pull Israeli troops out of, I think there's a national security reason, and I think he doesn't want to do that.

But, then again, the pressure is building up so much, then his future political ambitions may go away because he just isn't able to get voted back in. So I think for him it's coming up to, which is more important? Do you take the short term? Do you give into it and then figure out a way to make that secure and get the hostages home and deal with all the other things after that?

Or do you keep holding out for that one? And I think that's probably what Biden was looking at. What truly is his holding point and how can he use his leverage to get Israel to equate to that and say, OK, let's figure out later, let's get the hostages home?

It's one of those -- this is the most public negotiations for hostages the world's ever seen. So it's very, very dynamic in how each is using the power of the press to get the word across.

KEILAR: What do you think this is going to do to future Israeli attempts? As you said, they have had some success when it comes to some hostage rescues. And we have even seen videos of where these successful rescues have happened.

I should mention that Benjamin Netanyahu has just come out. Are we going to go ahead and take that live? Are we going to listen in?

Rob, hold on. We're going to listen to this for just a moment.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): In the midst of an existential war against the evil axis of Iran, the first conditions for victory in this existential war is us being united.

We have to be united as one person against a cruel enemy who wants to eliminate all of us without any exceptions, right and left, religious and secular people, Jews and non-Jews. We found out, we discovered it not only on the 7th of October, but throughout the war, but even more so in the horrible massacre, in the execution of six of our hostages, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Sasha Lobanov, Almog Sarusi, and Ori Danino.

May God avenge their -- over the last 24 hours, I have been on the phone with a few of the families of the hostages. And while we were talking, I looked at the pictures of these holy spirits, and my heart and the heart of the nation broke.

[13:25:28]

You can see the light emitted from their faces. You hear about their life stories, and this light is shut. This innocence is gone by the cruel hand of monsters.

I told the families, and I repeat and say this evening, I'm asking for your forgiveness that we didn't manage to bring them back alive. We were very close, but we couldn't make it. And I repeat, tonight, Israel is not going to ignore this massacre. The Hamas will pay a price for this, a very heavy price for this.

In the war against the evil axis in this specific war against Hamas and up in the north as well, we have set four goals, to eliminate Hamas, to bring all of our hostages back, to secure that Gaza's not going to be a threat over Israel, and to return safely our residents in the north.

Three out of those goals, they go through one place, the Philadelphi Corridor. This is Hamas' lifeline, and I want to take a few minutes to understand what the significance, the meaning of the Philadelphi Corridor is.

What is the meaning for the security of Israel? Why is it important to make sure that the 7th of October is not going to repeat itself, as the Hamas promised that it would do?

I want to show you what we had throughout the years until we went out of Gaza. You can see the Gaza Strip. The distance from Tel Aviv or Be'er Sheva is not great, but we had an international border from the sea to Eilat. That was the international border of the state of Israel.

When you look at it zoomed in, you can see that all these borders are ours, Ashkelon, Sderot, the kibbutzim Kerem Shalom, and, at the bottom, the Philadelphi Corridor. They're all under our control.

What happened when we left Gaza, what happened that the borders are stealing our hands. But once we left, and we left the Philadelphi Corridor, Philadelphi Corridor is the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. And once we left it, there's no barrier there against the importation of arms and weapons and means for digging tunnels, all with the support of Iran.

All these things entered Gaza, and Gaza turned into a great threat over the state of Israel, because there was no barrier in the Philadelphi Corridor. That's what happened.

And now I'm being asked, if it was so bad, why didn't he take it over? Why didn't he take it back? And the answer is that we have always tried. We have always tried immediately after we left Gaza in 2005. It continued even after that.