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Kamala Harris Returns to Campaigning after Presidential Debate with Donald Trump; Alberto Gonzales, Former U.S. Attorney General Under George W. Bush, Endorses Kamala Harris for President; AG Garland to Speak Against Making DOJ a "Political Weapon"; World's First Commercial Spacewalk Just Wrapped; Boeing Pilot to CBS: "I Knew Something was Catastrophically Wrong". Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 12, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

MAYOR AFTAB PUREVAL, (D) CINCINNATI: Lift up people who are struggling and are supposed to honor Aiden's memory. And instead of leading, instead of being a support, they're using this tragic death to further divide and anger and scare people. You know, Aiden's dad is exactly the kind of person that I grew up with. My family, my mom, a Tibetan refugee, my dad, an Indian immigrant, move to the Dayton area in a community near Springfield. And the only reason that I'm now mayor of my town just an hour north, Cincinnati, is because of people like him who welcomed my family into the community in and around Springfield and lifted this up. That is the kind of people we are in southwest Ohio, and we reject any attempt to try and divide us and increase the hate in our country.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I have not yet seen a response from the Trump campaign to what Mr. Clark is has said this week, but we will continue to look for that and ask for that. Mayor Aftab Pureval of Cincinnati, thank you.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The Harris campaign trolling Trump on Twitter. They have new ads, a new tour, and more speaking engagements, trying to build off of a post-debate high, while Trump also hits the trail again, continuing to say he is the real debate winner.

And history made miles above earth. The first ever commercial spacewalk is wrapping up, and you'll hear their first dispatch outside the Polaris Dawn capsule in just moments.

And at least 30 people have been hurt after a truck crashed into an Elks Lodge in Arizona, what happened there.

We'll discuss it all. I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: So back at it. Vice President Kamala Harris returning to the campaign trail as her campaign says it is moving into a new phase, what they are calling a more aggressive phase. Tim Walz will join Harris to kick off another tour of battleground

states. This one they are calling the new way forward tour. And with that, the campaign is expected to launch a slew of new TV and digital ads leaning into debate moments from this week. The first one released just yesterday.

CNN's Isaac Dovere has more reporting on all of this and kind of -- what does a more aggressive phase look like? Compared to -- what were they doing, decidedly being less aggressive before? I mean, what -- talk me through this.

ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, we have that weak in August of the Democratic convention and all the good feelings Democrats had then. Then Harris was pretty quiet over the week following. She did that interview with Dana Bash, obviously, but that was the main thing that they did. A little bit of campaigning, then she was in debate prep locked up in a hotel in Pittsburgh, getting ready for that debate. That was on Tuesday night.

Now, it's actually back to the campaign trail. We don't know whether there's going to be a second presidential debate. The Harris campaign says they want one. Donald Trump has been sort of all over the place on whether he would agree to it, saying it seems like no at this point. But that means that the Harris campaign has to actually get out there and do the work on the campaign trail, trying to convince voters that even though there's still getting to know her, even though they may have felt good about the debate or are still feeling good about the Democratic convention, they're still winning over voters state by state, county by county, looking for what they continue to project will be a very tight margin in almost every one of these battleground states.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely, Isaac, your great reporting as always. And no time like the present. Early voting is happening very, very soon in a very big way this month in many states. It's good to see you. Thank you. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking this morning, an endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris from the Republican attorney general under President George W. Bush. Alberto Gonzales, writes, "I can't sit quietly as Donald Trump, perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation, eyes a return to the White House."

And former attorney general Alberto Gonzales joins me now. He's also the Dean of the Belmont University College of Law. Judge Gonzalez, thank you so much for being with us. Why?

ALBERTO GONZALES, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: John I've watched his campaign closely, as many other Republicans. And by the way, there are a host of Republicans, and Republican lawyers in particular, who are concerned about the possibility of balance Trump becoming president again because of his lack of, as we see it, lack of support, lack of willingness to abide by the rule of law. And for lawyers, that is extremely important. And I think Kamala Harris has demonstrated fidelity to the rule of law

obviously, there a lot of unknown questions about her. Those questions are being answered.

[08:05:04]

For me, I thought her performance during the convention was good. I thought her debate performance was outstanding, quite frankly. And the final thing that I would just say is even after the election, whoever wins, we're still going to have a divided country, right? There'll be 70 million, 80 million people that may disagree with the views of the new president.

And I think about who is most willing to work to unite our country. And in making that calculation, for me, it's fairly easy. I view Kamala Harris is somewhat, based on her rhetoric and her history, as someone most likely to be dedicated to try to unite America. I don't see that, that discipline, that willingness in Donald Trump. And for those reasons and many others this is why I think it's important to come out publicly and say that that I think that Kamala Harris is a better choice in this particular election.

BERMAN: So it is interesting, because there are other Republicans who will say, you know what, I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump, but I'm also not going to vote for Kamala Harris, or I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump I'm not going to tell you who I'm voting for or I'll write someone else in. You're doing something different here. Why do you think that's significant?

GONZALES: Well, you'll have to tell me whether or not it's significant and others will have to determine whether it's significant. I do believe, based upon all the reporting, this is going to be an extremely close race. And so every vote for Kamala Harris makes it more likely that Donald Trump will not be elected. And so I think -- I think, really, if people have concerns about a Trump presidency, it seems to me that the best course of action is to try to prevent it from happening, which of course means that you will need to go out and vote, get your friends, your family, to be supportive of Kamala Harris's campaign.

Listen, obviously, one bad debate does not mean you cannot be a great president, and one good debate doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be a great president. But nonetheless, looking at the history of both individuals, my calculation is, is that she is the right choice at this particular time. And I'm happy to be supportive of her.

BERMAN: You know what people are going to say. I know the "Politico" piece, and you wrote that in "Politico", it came out just like an hour-and-a-half ago, so I don't know how much time for reaction there's been. But I guarantee you if it hasn't happened yet, it will happen, where people are going to say Alberto Gonzalez, RINO, Republican in name only.

(LAUGHTER)

GONZALES: I can't help it. I stopped a long time ago, John, in worrying about what people may think. I'd like to have them think about, though, what is best for this country? For the lawyers, I would say, who is best suited to preserve the rule of law based upon their rhetoric and based upon their history? The rule of law is what allows us as Americans to enjoy our freedoms. And so if we lose the rule of law, then we lose our freedoms. And so for me that's vitally important.

And whether or not people think that I'm a Republican or whatever, I do have some experience in terms of decision-making in the Oval Office. And I know what's important, at least from my perspective, in terms of the integrity, the discipline, the courage of the president of the United States. And I just happen to believe that Kamala Harris is the right person for the job at this time.

BERMAN: I mean, I've covered you since the late 90s when you were an official, Republican official in Texas, and the White House counsel, and attorney general, again, someone who has been a Republican for a long, long time. What advice would you give the Harris campaign in appealing to Republicans around the country?

GONZALES: Well, it's not my -- you know, I don't think that I'm the right person to give me advice with respect to campaigns. I think just simply outreach, continue the message of unity and continue a positive message. I think that's extremely powerful.

Going back to another Democratic president, one of the things I really admired about Barack Obama, even though I didn't agree with all of his policies, the fact that he talked in such a hopeful way about the future of our country. I think Americans respond automatically to a hopeful, positive message. And this, this talk about the United States being in decline, becoming a third world country, that we're a disgrace, we're an embarrassment, to me, that's the embarrassment, that kind of rhetoric. We are the greatest country on the face of the earth. We are lucky to be in America. We are lucky to be Americans. And I think that our leader should have that same kind of attitudes, should talk in that same kind of language.

And so I think one of the best things that the Harris campaign can do is to continue to talk about unity, continue to talk about a positive message, and that we are not going to go back to a negative message. I think that is probably a very effective message.

[08:10:07]

BERMAN: Judge Alberto Gonzalez, I appreciate talking to you. This is not a conversation I thought I'd be having 20 years ago. Thanks so much for your time this morning. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, new this morning, the current attorney general, Merrick Garland, going on the offense, vowing the Department of Justice won't be used as a political weapon after Donald Trump's recent comments accusing it of such.

And floating in the vacuum of space, the historic spacewalk on the SpaceX Polaris mission.

Also, an adorable west view, a penguin who wandered away from her zoo zookeepers and was found, oh my goodness, 28 miles away.

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[08:15:22]

SIDNER: New this morning, Attorney General Merrick Garland has something to say after Trump accused the Justice Department of being used as a political weapon.

Donald Trump is also threatening to use it as a political weapon himself against his political enemies if he is elected president.

CNN justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider has the details from Washington.

What are you hearing that this statement and speech is going to be all about from there?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to be a little bit later this morning, Sara, and you know, it's interesting because the attorney general, he's spoken out before against these threats and attacks that DOJ officials and especially FBI agents have faced in recent years.

But the speech he will give later this morning, we've seen the excerpts. It's especially forceful and while he doesn't directly refer to Donald Trump by name, it really does seem to be slamming Trump and his allies' efforts to slander the Justice Department and this speech will push back against all of those efforts to make it appear that DOJ is being used as a political weapon.

So, the attorney general will be at the Justice Department. He'll be addressing all of his employees. Excerpts from his speech were released and he's going to say this. He's going to say: It is dangerous to target and intimidate individual employees of this department simply for doing their jobs.

He will go on to say, and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law.

That of course is the center piece of the attorney general whenever he talks, he talks about the rule of law.

And you know, Trump and his allies, they have repeatedly and falsely claimed that the DOJ has been weaponized against the former president. They've publicly discussed those plans to dismantle DOJ and the FBI and they've also threatened to prosecute their own political enemies.

So Attorney General Garland will stress this morning, the DOJ operates in really an impartial manner that he strives in particular every day to protect the independence of the department from political interference.

So Sara, this speech is notable because we've seen the attorney general before respond to attacks against his employees, mostly in testimony to Congress, at various times in response to questions from the press.

But this is a specific speech and very forceful, focused on these efforts to slam -- he is going to slam these efforts to turn DOJ into a political weapon and it's a very forceful speech that's really just focused on this, something we really haven't seen him do before.

So it's going to be very poignant, especially for the employees he's addressing who have sustained these threats and attacks -- Sara.

SIDNER: And I know you will be watching as will we. Jessica Schneider. Thank you so much for your reporting this morning -- John.

BERMAN: All right, extra security for a peaceful transition.

The Secret Service confirms Congress will get the full weight of the federal government behind the security for this year's January 6th.

And the pilot who's Alaska Airlines flight lost a door in mid-air, talks about what happened for the first time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY WIPRUD, ALASKA AIRLINES FIRST OFFICER: I didn't know that there was a hole in the airplane until we landed.

We just need to depressurize and try to maintain 10,000. And we need to return back to Portland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[08:22:48]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED ISAACMAN, AMERICAN ENTREPRENEUR AND PILOT: Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, Earth sure looks like a perfect world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Kind of the first ever dispatch from the first ever commercial spacewalk. That happened just a short time ago, Commander Jared Isaacman, tech-billionaire, he just said what a view from space.

With us now CNN's Kristin Fisher on this historic mission, they're now back inside.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Their back inside, John, and this spacewalk is now complete. I mean SpaceX, the entire Polaris Dawn crew, they have to be incredibly happy and relieved quite frankly because the riskiest parts of their mission are now behind them.

You know, it started with flying farther into space than any humans since the Apollo program, flying through the radiation belt, they did that. But the riskiest part of this mission was very early this morning.

As you can see there, when Jared Isaacman, the commander of the mission and then mission specialist and SpaceX employee, Sarah Gillis, followed him shortly behind.

They were outside of the Dragon spacecraft for about 20 minutes. The whole EVA or the whole spacewalk lasted about two hours.

And John, the reason this is so significant is because it's the first time nonprofessional, nongovernment astronauts have ever ventured out into the vacuum of space and done a spacewalk.

It's also the first time that SpaceX has ever designed, built, manufactured these brand-new spacesuits. The first American made space suits, new ones in 40 years, John.

So the fact that those spacesuits performed beautifully today protected those astronauts, and the fact that the Dragon spacecraft also held up in the vacuum of space. It's not just the astronauts and their spacesuits that have to be kept save from the vacuum, it is all the hardware and technical components inside the spacecraft as well.

So, everything performed very well. Now, they are back safely inside, and just look at those views, John.

I remember when SpaceX and Polaris Dawn first announced this mission and it seemed wildly ambitious, borderline, aggressive. Even Jared Isaacman and some of the crew members had talked about -- they weren't sure they could fit all of this stuff into one mission.

[08:25:14]

Now, SpaceX and the Polaris Dawn team have done it and they will be heading back to Earth this weekend -- John.

BERMAN: Yes. Between now and then, anything left for them to accomplish while they're up there?

FISHER: There is a surprise that they are going to be sharing with the world a little bit later. I can't say what that surprise is just yet. But it's going to be I think something fun that folks will want to watch.

They're also going to continue to conduct these scientific experiments. And one of the things they're doing is they're testing -- they're putting a contact lens in their eye that makes you look kind of like a robot. They call it the cyborg experiment.

And what they're doing is they're testing how the pressure in your eye holds up in weightlessness, in microgravity because a lot of astronauts that go to space, their vision deteriorates over time and you know, pilots, astronauts, you need good vision when you're in space. So that's just one of the many experiments that they're doing while they're up there.

They're also raising funds for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. And then of course, doing the world's first commercial spacewalk, which just completed.

BERMAN: So we're waiting to find out what that big surprise is. I know I am rooting for mime because we haven't had enough space mime in our lives.

All right, Kristin Fisher, thank you very much for that.

SIDNER: I love surprises. Now, I need to know what the surprise is.

BERMAN: It is mime, I think.

SIDNER: It is not mime. Good grief.

All right, John Berman. Lets' see, the Alaska Airlines' co-pilot on the January flight that had that door blow out, is sharing what it is like on that flight at that time. She talked to CBS News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WIPRUD: ... whole four, five empty seats and injuries.

KRIS VAN CLEAVE, CBS NEWS SENIOR TRANSPORTATION AND NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And are you thinking when they said empty seats that you've lost people?

WIPRUD: Yes, and I remember it not taking very long for us to confirm we had 177 souls onboard.

VAN CLEAVE: That had to be an emotional roller coaster.

WIPRUD: Yes. I was so thankful. I was in shock, disbelief -- everybody was there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: What a harrowing situation she found herself in. The First Officer, Emily Wiprud told CBS as you heard there, that those empty seats really frightened her.

She thought that perhaps some of those passengers have died. Fortunately, no one died. She said that there were some things, however, that were sucked out of the plane, including her headset and some airplane parts.

The NTSB's preliminary report indicated that there were four key bolts missing when the Boeing MAX 9 aircraft left the factory. Boeing says it is cooperating fully with the investigation -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: While we've seen that and everything turned out okay.

SIDNER: I know.

BOLDUAN: Her reactions there really shows how scary it was for a seasoned pilot, like how tragic it could have been.

SIDNER: She feels responsible for everyone. So, thank God.

BOLDUAN: I think it's really amazing.

Coming up for us still, surveillance video caught the wild moment that a truck slammed into a building, injuring 30 people.

And tracking the Taylor Swift effect. Is there a measure of her impact on the election.

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