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100 Days Remain In Historic, Fast-Moving, Unpredictable Election; IDF Carries Out Multiple Strikes in Lebanon; Interview With Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ); Harris Pledged To Earn The Vote Of Young People; Trump, Republicans Seize On False Claims To Attack Harris; Mexican President Demands Transparency Over Arrests Of Drug Kingpins. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 28, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:22]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And we begin this hour with just 100 days until the election, and we've arrived here after but one of the most consequential weeks ever witnessed in American politics. President Joe Biden exiting the race in favor of his Vice President Kamala Harris. And in those seven days Harris has moved to quickly consolidate support from the Democratic Party, raised record amounts of money and signed up an enormous amount of volunteers.

Most notably, she has effectively the erased former president Donald Trump's lead in the polls. And a new ABC-Ipsos poll on favorability, Kamala Harris has gone up in the last week while the former president has slipped.

Let's go now to Jeff Zeleny, who is in one of the top battleground states, Michigan.

It is at the center of the race, Jeff, as it often is, and a lot of people are looking to Michigan as a key deciding state in this race.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, Michigan, as you know, is always the center of presidential battlegrounds. It literally is in the center of that blue wall of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But as a very new race settles in, the question is, is Michigan and is the blue wall still the only path to victory? And the answer to that, at least at this 100-day mark, is likely not.

The Harris campaign believes that the whole new dynamics in the race have changed the battlegrounds as well. The Trump campaign also is looking at other states. We saw the former president campaigning in Minnesota just yesterday. Now we have seen state polls that show Harris is leading in Minnesota and things are about a draw here in Michigan. But the question is, as this race settles in, will the battlegrounds shift a little bit?

Looking at some of these new polls, it is so interesting to see the new dynamic. Harris is certainly not leading, but she has essentially re-frame this race so now she is within striking distance far more so than President Biden was.

And Jessica, it's just remarkable talking to voters here on the ground how much changes in a week. Literally Harris signs have replaced Biden signs in front yards. As volunteers are out door-knocking they are finding themselves still talking about President Biden, but now advocating for Vice President Harris.

On the Trump side of this, they are trying to define Vice President Harris, racing to define her. So in this coming week, we are going to see that really step forward in earnest. Both sides are now aggressively advertising on television. So it is an entirely different race. The question is, will these battlegrounds still remain the same?

And Jessica, hanging over all of this, of course, is Vice President Harris' selection of a running mate. That is one of her first big presidential style decision she will be making. We know she's considering one senator. That's Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, his wife Gabby Giffords was here in Michigan today campaigning. She'll be here tomorrow as well. And then all of those governors from Tim Walz in Minnesota to Josh Shapiro in Pennsylvania, to Roy Cooper in North Carolina, to Andy Beshear in Kentucky.

These governors who Vice President Harris has relationships with are all on the list. Of course, the choice is hers so I'm told in the next coming days she is likely to begin perhaps having one-on-one conversations with these potential candidates. But we know she will make a choice by August 7th. So that is the next point of this race here. But J.D. Vance has been trying to gain his footing.

It's remarkable this period of what often as a sleepy summer, they say campaigns don't start until Labor Day. This campaign, 100 days out, is starting with a bit of a different beginning -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes. Starting all over again essentially. It has certainly been --

ZELENY: All over again. Right.

DEAN: One to watch and experience. All right. Jeff Zeleny in Michigan for us. Thank you so much.

Joining us now, Howard Dean, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 and former governor of Vermont.

Governor, thanks so much for being here. We also want to note, of course, you served as the chair of the DNC. So you are well-versed in what is taking places as they're rushing to get ready for that convention coming up in just a few weeks.

We've seen in the last seven days, Vice President Harris raised record amounts of money, $200 million. A lot of it from first-time donors. And her team says two thirds of that actually coming from first-time donors. 170,000 new volunteers signing up. What do you make of this momentum and more importantly, for the Harris campaign, is it sustainable? Can they convert that into votes especially in these battleground states?

HOWARD DEAN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I expect it's very sustainable. In fact, I believe her numbers will get better in the next few weeks so I think she'll go into post-Labor Day campaign with a small lead.

[18:05:06]

And here's why. Number one, we need young people to vote, and we need African-Americans to vote. Now they both have reason to do that. Number two, abortion is an open wound for the Republican Party when Trump appointed three of his cronies to the bench in the Supreme Court and they took away women's rights to make their own mind of about what's -- their own health. That is -- you cannot underestimate the enthusiasm among women for somebody who really understands their situation and what the Republicans have done to them.

So this is a whole new game, even among the 100,000 or so people in the Midwest who voted to abstain because of what they thought was Biden's unfair treatment of Palestinians, even they are now looking for a way to come back because Kamala Harris is in a slight -- has a slightly different position on what Netanyahu has done in Gaza.

DEAN: And as we launch into this campaign, which I was just saying with my colleague Jeff Zeleny, as kind of started all over again with the dynamics taking shape before our very eyes. Of course, the race is on for Harris to define herself to voters and also for the Trump campaign to define her to voters. One of the things they've really zeroed in on it as you're well aware of, is some of her previous comments on issues with them saying she's too liberal.

I have kind of some clips of that. Let's listen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS "60 MINUTES": You're considered the most liberal United States senator.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I -- somebody said that. It actually was Mike Pence on the debate stage.

MEGAN MCCAIN, CO-HOST, ABC'S "THE VIEW": Are you for defunding the police?

HARRIS: How are you defining defund the police? We need to re-imagine how we are achieving public safety in America.

Listen, I think there's no question that we've got to critically re- examine ICE and its role, and the way that it is being administered and the work it is doing. And we need to probably, you think about starting from scratch.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: Governor, are these previous positions, are they a liability now?

H. DEAN: I don't think so. She doesn't want to defund the police and she says that immigration is a big problem, but we need to have a different approach. In fact, we would have had a different approach, but the Republicans voted down a bill because Trump thought it would make Trump look bad and make Biden look good. So I think she's in the clear on all these issues and I expect that these are going to help her, not hurt her.

DEAN: How do you think she can best assuage any voter out there that thinks that she is too liberal for them? What do you think is the best way? Is it through messaging?

H. DEAN: Well, what does that mean? Voters who just think or against people who are liberal are going to vote for Trump no matter what.

DEAN: Well, what about like an independent voter?

H. DEAN: Well, if it's a genuinely independent voter, we now have a candidate who is 59 years old, 20 years younger than Trump, who I also think has some pretty significant dementia issues, and she's a refreshing -- a breath of fresh air to independent voters, truly independent voters. All this stuff about being too liberal appeals to their base. Well, that doesn't help them because their base is going to vote for them anyway.

I think independent voters tend to look carefully at what people are saying and that's one of the reasons the VP is important.

DEAN: And the former president, obviously on the attack here, he's called her a, quote, "bomb." He's made fun of the way she laughs. Here's how she's been responding to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I have noticed Donald Trump has been resorting to some wild lies about my record and some of what he and his running mate are saying, well, it's just plain weird.

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: I mean, that's the box you put that in, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And we've kind of seen this messaging come out about just calling it plain weird like we just heard the vice president say. What do you think about that approach in terms of fighting back against these attacks from the right and from the former president?

H. DEAN: Well, they are weird, first of all. I mean, who talks like that? Would you really want a president that's going to say this kind of wild, crazy stuff, and lie 76 times in 10 minutes? We're having a younger person who has three and a half years of experience in the Oval Office as vice president lead our ticket now, who truly represents America as it looks, not as the right-wing would like it to look, and who does not share the views of the right-wing of the Republican Party, which is that Kamala was chosen simply because of her race.

I mean, look, this is a racist party, the Republican Party. It is a party that is -- their principal platform is based on hate and anger, and Kamala Harris is a great candidate to just make that on its face look ridiculous. Nobody wants to be divided anymore, except the far- right. They'll get their division and I will predict Kamala Harris is going to win with 53 percent of the vote.

[18:10:07]

DEAN: And so here we are, 100 days out. We know that they pulled in this record amount of money, $200 million in a week. You have run your own presidential campaign. You've been the head of the DNC. How do you think they best put that money to use now?

H. DEAN: I think they're doing exactly the right thing. Focus on the states that are the most important, the battleground states. But I think your broadcast in the beginning talks about additional states that were also going to become battleground states. One of those is North Carolina. And that's very important. Arizona already is one. Nevada we know about. So everybody is talking about the Midwest.

I think we also need -- there are some other states that are gettable and I think Kamala Harris is in a great position to get them. Georgia is another one. Nobody has talked about Georgia much. But the fact is Trump lost Georgia four years ago because of his disgraceful treatment of women. And those women haven't gone away. They are still living in Georgia, in the Atlanta suburbs.

DEAN: And so now she has this big decision to make about a running mate who is going to be the person that runs with her as her VP. What would you like to see in her choice? Who do you think could help and be the most additive for her?

H. DEAN: I am not going to choose. I mean, that's her job to choose, not my job to choose. I even heard suggestions like Josh Green in Hawaii because he's a doctor. So there's going to be lots of good people who are being mentioned and I think they're all great and I'm certainly not going to stick my nose on her choice of vice president.

DEAN: Is there any kind of quality you think would be additive?

H. DEAN: No. There is a quality, but I'm not equipped to say what exactly the quality is, what the quality is, is having a good rapport with the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris. That is the personal chemistry. All these people are incredibly well- qualified. So the question is, who has the best internal personal chemistry with the president. You need not just a working relationship, you need a genuine friendship which Obama had with Biden and Biden had with Harris.

And that's what -- Gore and Clinton certainly had it. So it's not so much about geography, it's about in what these people who you just put up on the screen are all well-qualified to be vice president. A lot of them are governors who of course I have a bias towards governors because they're are executive mindset. But they'll all be fine and, you know, she's going to take whoever thinks she thinks is the best president to serve if something happens to her.

DEAN: All right. Howard Dean, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

H. DEAN: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Still ahead, Lebanon's foreign minister is warning of a regional war if Israel invades the country to fight Hezbollah as Israel vows to make the terror group, quote, "pay the price" for a deadly attack on children in the Golan Heights.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:17:46]

DEAN: A series of Israeli airstrikes inside Lebanon has the whole region on edge following yesterday's deadly rocket attack in the Golan Heights. Israel is blaming the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah for that strike. They base their operations out of southern Lebanon and the fear right now is that the exchanges of fire may not stop here, risking a wider and bloodier war.

Jeremy Diamond is in the Golan Heights with the latest.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, as soon as the Israeli prime minister returned from Washington to Israel, he went into one meeting after the next to deliberate on how Israel should respond to what they say was a Hezbollah rocket attack on this community of Majdal Shams. The Israeli prime minister getting a security briefing as soon as he landed and then meeting with his security cabinet to deliberate on next steps.

That meeting ended with that cabinet giving the prime minister and the defense minister the authority to strike back at a time and place of their choosing. It's not clear exactly how quickly that response will come, but the Israeli prime minister and other Israeli officials have made very clear that this attack will not go unanswered. And part of that, of course, has to do with the terrible toll that this attack has taken.

You can see right behind me the crater where this rocket actually struck as children were playing soccer in this field. 12 children were killed in this attack. Several dozen more injured as a result of it, and this is a small community, a small Syrian Druze community in these Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. And everybody knows everyone here and everybody has been impacted by this attack.

You can see behind me that teenagers have gathered in groups to simply sit in silence and mourn and mark this moment and try and comfort each other in this time of enormous loss. Earlier today, thousands of people came to this town square in order to see all of the caskets process, in a funeral procession all the way to the cemetery. Cries, wails understandable in this moment of enormous sadness.

This is a community that has been enormously impacted by this and whose soul really in many ways has been shattered -- Jessica.

[18:20:05]

DEAN: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much.

And joining us now, Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.

Congressman, thanks so much for being here on this Sunday. We appreciate it.

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Yes. I first want to ask just your reaction to this attack on the Golan Heights and what we've seen from Israel in response so far.

GOTTHEIMER: I mean, yet another heinous attack by an Iranian proxy, right? I mean, 12 children, teenagers killed on a soccer field. Just barbaric. Yet another -- the deadliest attack on Israel since October 7th. So it's yet again, I mean, we've seen 5,000 attacks now from Hezbollah into Israel since October 8th. So this is just an -- these are just ongoing attacks. This one particularly heinous.

And so, Jessica, I think what this shows us is Iran and its continued attack on our allies, but also on democracy in the United States, as one of the foreign ministers recently said from Hezbollah, said Israel is merely a tool. The main war, the real war, is with America.

DEAN: And I think that's important context that you bring up, that Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel at the northern border for months now, that this has been ongoing. It has been a deep concern, especially from U.S. officials that this particular region could escalate, that that conflict could escalate.

What do you think is the appropriate U.S. response to the current escalation?

GOTTHEIMER: I think the United States as it did today is to continue to work very closely with Israel and deciding what's the appropriate response here. So we'll leave it to them to work that through. But the bottom line is when there's an attack on a nation, an attack on Israel, yet again with of course the loss of 12 and 40, I think more than 40 wounded, you realize that it does merit a response. So we'll leave it to them to work together on that response.

But, Jessica, the bigger point here is whether you're talking about the Houthis and their attack on Israel, but also on the United States, on our service members, other Iranian-backed proxies in Iraq and Syria continuing to attack the United States and our service members around the world, what you see here is terror, you know, at its worst. And that's really what Hamas and Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad and others, and the Houthis, that's what this is about. It's an attack not just on Israel, but an attack on democracy. DEAN: Last night, I spoke with the former Israeli prime minister

Naftali Bennett. He told us the following. I'll play this clip with respect to Lebanon's responsibility for Hezbollah. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAFTALI BENNETT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We are not going to tweezer our way through and look for Hezbollah amid Lebanon. Hezbollah is part of the government. Hezbollah is part of Lebanon. And what Lebanon needs to do tonight is move all of Hezbollah away from the border all the way up to the River of Litani and stop everything they're doing. That is the only way they can prevent an all-out war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And so, Congressman, what is your response to that? Again, kind of helping people understand that Hezbollah operates within Lebanon. There's also a Lebanese government.

GOTTHEIMER: Right, and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, right on the border of Israel, after the attack of October 7th, Israelis pulled back from the border after the attack started from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. More than 80,000 have been displaced. They haven't been able to go home since October 7th. Right? They've left their homes in the northern part of Israel, right on the border of Lebanon because of the attacks coming in from Hezbollah.

And people want to go home, right? And many of them want to go home. School is starting in a few weeks for the students there in Israel. They haven't -- they've been displaced and so that's a big issue in Israel right now. How do we get them home? And Hezbollah has not pulled back from that border and we see just the attacks going. As I mentioned, there's been 5,000 of them yesterday being one of -- being the deadliest.

But the bottom line is this has been going on nearly every day. Rockets being fired from Lebanon, from Hezbollah, into Israel.

DEAN: And I want to turn to politics just quickly before we let you go because we are 100 days out now from this election. And it has been quite a week. We know that Vice President Harris is --

GOTTHEIMER: That's an understatement.

DEAN: It's an understatement, yes, I know, we've all lived through it together. I think everybody can appreciate it has been history in the making and we watched it unfold. But she's expected to pick a running mate in the coming days by August 7th, not that far from now. Who do you think could best help her campaign?

[18:25:01]

GOTTHEIMER: Well, there are plenty of great candidates out there, including, by the way, we've got some in Jersey. We got a great senator, Cory Booker. We got a governor, Phil Murphy, we got a lot of people here in Jersey. I'm in favor of Jersey. It would be great, but there's plenty of candidates around the country that I think would do a phenomenal job.

And the bottom line is, Jessica, the excitement is real. Everywhere I go right now, people are thrilled and, you know, grateful to President Biden for his service and all his accomplishments. And of course excited about the future with the vice president. So a lot, a lot of energy on the ground here right now.

DEAN: And that energy is bearing out in polling. We're seeing these record fundraising numbers, volunteers signing up, and yet just the fact remains, this is, as it stands today, a really hard race. A really tough race for both sides. And Kamala Harris has said she's the underdog here. It's going to be hard for her to beat the former president as all the data stands now. So what do you think? How do you think they kind of balance that out in setting expectations, but also keeping that momentum?

GOTTHEIMER: I think you've seen it's very close. It's going to be a fight. And certainly I think every day is going to be a fight with 100 days, right? So there's going to be a lot of back-and-forth. People laying out their positions, what the future for our country is to them. There's clearly a difference and so we'll see that, you know, this is about extremism versus common sense. And I think Kamala Harris and common sense will prevail.

And listen, we've got a lot of races in the House around the country that are close as well and that's a big deal and paying a lot of close attention to that to make sure that we win the House of Representatives and that Hakeem Jeffries will be Speaker Jeffries. So there's going to be a lot of excitement, political excitement back and forth over the next 100 days and clear differences in the issues, whether you're talking about reproductive freedom or affordability issues. And there's so much on the ballot, you know, in November.

DEAN: What -- is there a particular issue your constituents are really zeroed in on?

GOTTHEIMER: Today I was talking to people about affordable child care and housing. I spoke to you about of course reproductive freedom and choice and, you know, and of course talking about what was going on in the Middle East. So there's plenty on the ballot coming up. And I think -- but there are clear differences and I think that's what you'll see, whether we're talking about the environment or reproductive freedom.

There's definitely choices out there and how we want to -- and all about opportunity for people and families and investing in children and then living up to our values. And so they're definitely differences. And I think that's what will be very clear in November and the choices out there for people, right, and I think now there's a huge amount of excitement and focus.

So, Jessica, it's going to be a ton of back and forth between now and then, and believe me, 100 days. There's plenty -- you can get out there in 100 days. I feel very good about where we're headed. And so I guess I'd say to everyone buckle up. It's going to be quite a ride.

DEAN: Yes. How many lifetimes so we live in the next hundred days. We will see.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer. thanks so much.

GOTTHEIMER: There's going to be a lot, Jessica. I'll tell you. Like a lot of lifetimes between now and then, right? Take care.

DEAN: This is true. All right. Thank you.

Ahead, the roles Gen Zs poised to play in November and how Vice President Harris is looking to leverage that crucial voting group.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:32:59]

DEAN: Kamala Harris is re-energizing the political race. Her campaign seeing a stunning jump in first-time donors this week, including from a key voting bloc.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: In this election, we know young voters will be key and we know your vote cannot be taken for granted. It must be earned and that is exactly what we will do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Harris addressing a coalition of youth-led progressive groups that have endorsed her for the White House, and joining us now is communications director of Voters of Tomorrow, Marianna Pecora.

Marianna, great to have you. Thanks so much for being with us on Sunday. It is so interesting to see how Vice President Harris has really pretty organically connected with young voters, especially if you look at TikTok and what's going on online. Why do you think that she's connecting with them this way?

MARIANNA PECORA, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, VOTERS OF TOMORROW: I'm so sorry about that.

DEAN: There you are.

PECORA: You know, I think vice president -- thank you so much. I think Vice President Harris has a great record when it comes to the issues that young voters care about, whether it be abortion access, whether it be leading the office of gun violence prevention at the White House, being the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act which delivered the most historic climate investments in history.

Vice President Harris has delivered on the issues that young people care about and they know that she is going to continue fighting for us and to continue helping us build the future that we want to see. DEAN: And she's -- for lack of -- I mean, I know we've talked about

Brat summer and everything, but she's like, she's cool and I think it's interesting to these voters, to so many of these young voters. And it's interesting to see how Republicans have tried to weaponize some things about her like the coconut tree speech or, you know, other -- her laugh, that sort of thing. Only to have a large group of young people really applaud her and embrace that.

[18:35:02]

Why do you think that is?

PECORA: You know, I think young people want to see some authenticity from their elected officials. Young people know that even in the hardest of time, sometimes the thing that gets us through a challenging moment, moments where our rights are being taken away from us, is a little bit of humor and joy. And I think they appreciate the fact that Vice President Harris can still be a successful and serious policy maker, while also having a little bit of fun on the stage and being authentic, cracking a joke, telling a little story every once in a while, that they can relate to.

DEAN: Yes. And if anyone is watching, maybe hasn't been on TikTok, maybe lives a nice quiet offline life, she's been everywhere and people have made all kinds of videos. And it has been pretty much organic, Marianna, and then we've seen the campaign kind of pick it up from there. Do you think they've been able to maximize this online support from the younger voters?

PECORA: Well, I think that embrace of the idea of Brat summer is something that is really important to recognize. By embracing this idea, the campaign is recognizing that the young people are really powerful in this election. And that speaking in our language, embracing the culture that we're having our conversations in is a way that they can make themselves more relatable to us.

And they can reach more young people that might not have been paying attention to this election yet before. Maybe they were going to tune in five weeks before the election or three weeks before the election, or two days before election day, but just because that's happening right now, that means they're tuning in sooner.

We're also seeing that we're getting more and more people signing up to join or start chapters of Voters of Tomorrow because of this. That online energy is turning into on-the-ground action. So we're expanding our capacity to organize and turn out young voters through November. And we're also seeing dollars come in the door.

And right now that's really exciting because the more dollars we bring in now, the more dollars we can give those organizers to have the tools they need to do that organizing work, and the more conversations and the more young voters we can turn out that we might not have been able to afford before.

DEAN: And to that end, I hear what you're saying about some voters that thought, well, all kind of clue in a few weeks before and maybe didn't have any enthusiasm about voting for anybody. Do you think that they were disconnected from President Biden? And if so, what do you attribute that to?

PECORA: I think that young people have seen a really difficult couple of years when it comes to politics. I was 13 when Donald Trump was elected. This is the first presidential election that I'm eligible to vote in. It has historically in my lifetime not been fun to listen to the news and politics between four years of Donald Trump, the pandemic, almost losing our democracy on January 6th.

There's a whole lot of stuff that young people have dealt with that's really heavy and difficult. And I think that having some joy and levity in this moment is making politics something that they want to engage in for the first time in a long time.

DEAN: This is the question I'm asking everyone today because it's the question everyone is asking me about. Who's the VP going to be, who should it be. Is there a candidate that you think this particular bloc of voters would like to see more than another or is it a quality that they're looking for?

PECORA: You know, I think Vice President Harris has a really strong track record of delivering on the issues that young people care about. And I think she's going look for a candidate for her vice presidential pick, who is going to deliver on those same issues, too. I don't know exactly who that is, but I know that she's going to pick somebody who speaks to the issues that young people care about and who can also help us win in November.

DEAN: All right. Marianna Pecora, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

PECORA: Thank you so much for having me back.

DEAN: Former President Trump and his allies pulling out all the stops when it comes to criticizing Vice President Harris, her career, her personal life, and they're not letting facts get in the way.

We make sure you know what's fact, what's fiction. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:43:46]

DEAN: Vice President Kamala Harris' rapid ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket has made her the subject of a number of attacks. Many of them false.

CNN's Tom Foreman has a fact-check for us.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jessica. It certainly looks like on the Republican side of this election right now there is an all- hands-on-deck call to do anything they can to slow down the rise of this opponent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: I say, bring it on. Bring it on.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Amid cheers from fans and jeers from foes, Vice President Kamala Harris is being pelted by Republican claims about her life and career. Many unfounded. At his first rally since Harris became the presumptive nominee, former president Donald Trump tore into what he said are her views on social security.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's talking about lifting the retirement age.

FOREMAN: On when abortion should be legal.

TRUMP: Even after birth, the execution of a baby.

FOREMAN: And on his own legal cases, which he long blamed on President Joe Biden.

TRUMP: That was all headed up by her.

FOREMAN: All three of those cases about his opponent are patently false. But never mind.

[18:45:01]

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: By the way, on this show, our vetting has only begun.

FOREMAN: While some right-wing media stars are erupting over the new Democratic challenger, others are accusing Harris with no evidence of building her career primarily on race and gender. Some on the right in the past rebooted Trump's birther claims against former President Barack Obama by falsely saying Harris, who was born in California to immigrant parents, is not a U.S. citizen.

Now they say switching Biden to Harris on ballots this fall is illegal. Listen to Trump's running mate.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This was fundamentally illegitimate.

FOREMAN: And Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): It would be wrong and I think unlawful in accordance to some of these states' rules for a handful of people to go in a backroom and switch it out because they don't like the candidate any longer.

FOREMAN: But that's false, too. CNN contacted every state and aside from two which did not reply, they all said there are no obstacles to putting Harris on the ballot. And on it goes.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Kamala can't have my gun. She can't have my gasoline engine. And she sure as hell can't have my steaks and cheeseburgers. FOREMAN: Suggestions that Harris wants to outright ban guns, gasoline

cars and red meat, that she couldn't pass the bar exam and is totally against Jewish people. All of those are false.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (on-camera): Without a doubt, Harris has talked about gun control and about alternative fuels, and about everyone eating better in this country. Republicans undeniably have a lot of issues that they could engage her on. But right now it seems they're just throwing everything at her to see what might stick whether it's true or not -- Jessica.

DEAN: Tom Foreman, with the fact-check, thanks so much.

Mexico's president says he still has a lot of questions about the capture of two Mexican cartel kingpins on U.S. soil without his knowledge. Ahead, why a lawyer for one of the men insists his client was kidnapped.

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[18:51:40]

DEAN: Tonight new details in the stunning capture of the alleged co- founder of a notorious Mexican drug cartel. The attorney for the drug kingpin known as El Mayo says his client was, quote, "forcibly kidnapped" by Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of El Chapo who was also arrested by U.S. authorities Thursday.

CNN's Rafael Romo is joining us now with new reporting on all of this.

Rafael, it is a wild story. What more are you learning?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jessica. We had heard a different versions about how two alleged Mexican drug lords were arrested in U.S. soil and wanted to learn more to get to the bottom of the case. The attorney for Ismael El Mayo Zambada, the alleged co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel says his client neither surrendered nor negotiated any terms with the U.S. government, but was instead kidnapped.

I spoke earlier on the phone with Frank Perez, Zambada's attorney. He told me his 76-year-old client was kidnapped by Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, the other co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel. Joaquin Guzman Lopez forcibly kidnapped my client. He was ambushed he said, thrown to the ground and handcuffed by six men in military uniforms and Joaquin. His legs were tied and a black bag was placed over his head, Perez said in a statement sent to CNN.

He was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and taken to a landing strip. There, he was forced onto a plane, his legs tied to the seat by Joaquin, and brought to the U.S. against his will. The only people on the plane were the pilot, Joaquin and my client, Perez added. U.S. law enforcement officials had previously told CNN, Jessica, that

Joaquin Guzman Lopez had duped Zambada and orchestrated their arrests by making him believed they were flying to northern Mexico to look at real estate. Instead, the official said, their small private plane landed north of the border near El Paso, Texas, where U.S. authorities were waiting on the tarmac.

A former DEA agent, Mike Vigil, told CNN that Zambada managed to elude law enforcement for decades.

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MIKE VIGIL, FORMER DEA AGENT: And they have a very solid infrastructure. They have a very strong leadership bench. They currently operate in six of the seven continents in the world. Definitely the most structured and the most powerful cartel in the world.

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ROMO: CNN learned Saturday that whatever action the U.S. might have taken to arrest Zambada and Guzman Lopez prompted a furious behind- the-scenes reaction from the Mexican government. The U.S. official familiar with the operation said Mexican officials are demanding senior U.S. law enforcement explain exactly what transpired in their own country. Meanwhile, Guzman Lopez is expected to appear in federal court Tuesday in Chicago. His attorney told CNN they declined further comment -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Rafael Romo, with the latest reporting on that. Thank you very much.

The American people only have 100 days left to decide who should sit in the Oval Office for the next four years, and just this week, huge changes in how Americans view both candidates. We're digging into brand new numbers.

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That's ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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DEAN: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York, and we begin this hour with just 100 days until the election.

And a presidential race that's been completely upended since President Biden exited the race just one week ago. In just the past week, Vice President Kamala Harris cemented her support in the Democratic Party, raised millions of dollars and signed up army of volunteers in key swing states.