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Erin Burnett Outfront
Harris Embraced By Fired-Up Crowed In First Presidential Rally; Vance: Buyer's Remorse?; Harris's Secret Weapon. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired July 23, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:46]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Harris wasting no time attacking Trump head on, as the crowd in her first rally since Biden dropped went wild for the Vice President. Governor J.B. Pritzker, who was on Harris's VP list, is my guest tonight.
Plus, new reporting from KFILE on exactly what J.D. Vance once said about a woman who accused Trump of sexual misconduct. This as Trump faces questions about whether Vance was the best choice.
And are young voters Harris's secret weapon? We're going to talk to one TikTok influencer whose videos are getting millions of views. Do those views mean votes?
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the gloves are off, the campaign is on. Kamala Harris hitting the campaign trail, wasting no time going after Donald Trump. In her first rally since securing enough delegates to clinch the nomination in the battleground state of Wisconsin, they were reported 3,000 voters waiting to greet the vice president.
There was so much interest, in fact, in attending this rally that Harris's campaign said they had to find a larger venue at the last moment. And that crowd was energized, they were fired up. They clearly are enthusiastic and excited about the first Black and Asian woman who is now headed towards the top of the Democratic ticket.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In this campaign, I promise you, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week.
I took on perpetrators of all kinds -- predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type.
We each have the power to answer that question, and in the next 105 days, then we have work to do. We have doors to knock on. We have phone calls to make. We have voters to register and we have an election to win.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, you can hear how that crowd responded.
And then listen to this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!
CROWD: We're not going back! We're not going back! We're not going back!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But with just 15 weeks until the election, Harris is now trying to define herself and to do it really quickly before Republicans do it for her.
Today, former President Trump repeatedly going after Harris.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's the same as Biden, but much more radical. She's a radical left person and this country, doesn't want a radical left person to destroy it. She's far more radical than he is. He wants open borders. She wants things that nobody wants.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, as for President Biden, he is now back at the White House for the first time since he dropped out of the race. And of course, since he had COVID when he was on the campaign trail in Las Vegas last week. Just think about this, what has happened in such a few short days.
Tonight, preparing to address the nation and tomorrow's primetime Oval Office speech about his decision to abandon his campaign for reelection.
MJ Lee is OUTFRONT live outside the White House to begin our coverage tonight.
And, MJ, what do you expect to hear from Biden and also, you know, what -- what is his feeling watching the Harris campaign just on day one, you hear that energy and that roar in the room, as he watches that?
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin, what we are learning tonight is that the president has begun working on his Oval Office address that he delivered tomorrow, started working on it while he was isolating in Rehoboth, a speech that is no doubt going to be one of the most consequential of his decades-long political career so far.
And sources say that he will use the speech to elaborate on his decision to drop out of the 2024 race. Of course, we did see that letter from the president on Sunday, but we really haven't gotten the full explanation of how he got to that clearly painful decision.
[19:05:01]
We are also learning that he will use the speech to lay out his agenda for the remaining six months or so that he has left in office, though, in terms of how specific he will be, we don't know yet, including how he envisions using potentially his executive power with the time that he has left. But the president is now, Erin, a lame duck president, and there's no question that in the coming weeks, he is going to be turning his attention to the idea of his legacy and what that legacy of the one-term presidency is going to look like.
But as one source was telling me, he dropped out just two days ago. It is too early and those discussions have not started yet in earnest. But we have seen as you were saying, just such a remarkable change in the 2024 campaign. Just overnight, you know, you and I were in that speech in Racine, Wisconsin, just out of Milwaukee when you interviewed him that day and that was just, Erin, two-and-a-half months ago. And you'll remember he did get a warm reception from the crowd, but it was nothing like that raucous reaction that we just heard Vice President Kamala Harris getting in Milwaukee earlier this afternoon.
And we have done so much reporting over the past few weeks on how much Democrats watching the president's public appearances had been worried. There was a holding your breath kind of experience watching his public speeches and watching Kamala Harris on the campaign trail, it is very, very clear that she is a very different presidential candidate than the president, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. MJ, thank you very much.
And, MJ pointing out just the difference that the size of that crowd, the roar. I mean, that is something that we have not yet seen on the Democratic side in this election season until right now.
Joining me now is Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois. He has endorsed Kamala Harris for president.
Also, of course, Governor, you had been mentioned as a possible top VP pick. So I really appreciate your time in joining me.
And I mentioned that enthusiasm, that roar that we heard governor for Vice President Harris at that event today. We haven't heard it so far on the Democratic side, this election until now when the vice president was in that room. Trump's top campaign pollster predicted today but Harris will get a bump in the polls. But he called it a, quote, honeymoon.
Do you think that the bump, if there is one, it appears there will be one, but let's see, we don't have the polls yet, do you worry that it could be a honeymoon?
GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): The excitement is palpable. I've talked to a hundreds of people over the last couple of days. People are ready to go. I mean, they really wanted to have this opportunity to be excited about the ticket. This is the big opportunity.
And remember, young people, people of color, who people had concerned current about whether they would turn out people are showing up, they're excited. You heard that crowd in -- not very far from here, in Wisconsin, chanting for her, and that's what's happening.
It's not a temporary thing. There's an enthusiasm in the Democratic Party because remember, our issues are the issues of the American people, fighting for American families fighting for our working families across the United States, making sure that were standing up for the freedoms of people have come to expect like a woman's right to choose.
Kamala Harris is going to prosecute the case against Donald Trump better than anybody I know.
BURNETT: So, Governor, when it comes to her record and obviously, we've already seen this, primary line of attack from Trump and the Republicans right now is the border.
And I want to ask you about this because you support her. But, of course, back in October, you called the border situation untenable, undocumented immigrants are being sent to your state. It took eight months more, eight months after you call the situation untenable for President Biden to issue his executive order.
Obviously, the vice president had been charged with being a point person on the border issue for the Biden administration. How is this not going to be a major liability for her?
PRITZKER: We've got to remember that Joe Biden, who was -- is known for bringing bipartisanship to Washington actually put forward a border security bill. And what happened, it was Donald Trump that blew it up.
Even though Republicans in Democrats wanted it to happen, Donald Trump told Republicans beg off, don't vote for it, and he destroyed the opportunity to fix the problem as, by the way, he did when he was president, he did nothing.
BURNETT: Yeah.
PRITZKER: We need comprehensive immigration reform. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden both have been in favor of that. I'm in favor of that. It's what Democrats stand for, Republicans don't.
BURNETT: I do want to follow with you on that as I did with the attorney general in New York yesterday. Obviously, the Republicans were responsible for that bill failing that. That's true. But yet, it still took months for President Biden to issue that executive order. Do you hope that Vice President Harris would have done something
differently? I mean, it's one thing to say, well, we didn't get a bill. Its another to just continue to allow an untenable situation to continue, which is what this administration did.
PRITZKER: Look, the bill would have been the immediate solution. There's no doubt, but it takes a lot -- you know, it isn't just about issuing executive orders.
[19:10:02]
You've got to go negotiate with the leaders of Mexico. They were in the middle of an election. You've got to negotiate with the leaders of South American, Central American countries.
We've got to make sure that we're managing this well. Remember, under Donald Trump, do you remember the people that were lining up to come to the border that were trying to get into the United States. He did nothing for U.S. relations with Central and South America. And that really was the beginning of the cause of the problem at the border.
So, I'm very excited about the idea that Kamala Harris is going to lead us going forward. We have so much to accomplish in this country. Republicans have been standing in the way. Donald Trump wants to blow up all the progress that's been made. Think about how we've rescued the economy as Democrats across the country. Donald Trump wants to change that --
BURNETT: Governor --
PRITZKER: -- and go back to a world where frankly he's sending jobs overseas. That's what Donald Trump stands for.
BURNETT: So, Governor, let me ask you though, because you heard the president today the former president say that Kamala Harris is a liberal. It makes -- it makes Joe Biden look less so, right? That she's the radical liberal. And that is an attack were also hearing from the Republican side.
Let me just play a few people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): She is even farther left than Joe Biden. I didn't think they could pick anybody any worse, but they did.
SEN. STEVE DAINES (R-MT): Joe Biden was the kid that grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Irish Catholic kid. Kamala Harris is from San Francisco. She's a San Francisco liberal, a San Francisco radical.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: When Harris was in the Senate, Governor, in 2019, GovTrack, which tracks bills in Congress, nonpartisan group, ranked her as the most liberal compared to all senators, the most liberal compared to all senators. Is that a good thing? PRITZKER: Did you hear them talk about any issues in those quotes that
you just played? None.
They frankly are just throwing invectives, throwing names. You know, the vice presidential candidate for the Republicans is insulting women who own cats, has a weird view of America, honestly, and they're just -- they love to throw names. That's what Donald Trump did.
Look at the quote that he put out there. You know, frankly, just saying, oh, she's too liberal, she's too liberal. How about let's talk about a woman's right to choose? Is that too liberal to stand up for a woman's reproductive if freedom and her healthcare? No.
And also book bans, Republicans across the United States have tried to take books out of libraries. They want to end people's ability to access whatever they want to read and it's Democrats who are standing up for freedom. And I believe that Kamala Harris is somebody who is going to prosecute the case against Donald Trump, who is a convicted felon already. But there are a whole bunch of cases yet to come.
BURNETT: I know you love your job and you've made that loud and clear, governor. But you are a possible VP pick and that is very clear. So let me just put the question to you this way. If you were asked to be on the ticket with Harris, would you say yes?
PRITZKER: Look, I'm going to work my heart out for this ticket. I really believe in the values that Democrats are putting forward.
You know, obviously, you'd have to consider it if you're asked, but I have said and I really believe that the people of Illinois elected me. There's an awful lot that I can get done here in the state of Illinois and over the next a hundred days, make sure that we're making the case for Kamala Harris and winning in November. It's vital because Donald Trump will be dangerous for America.
BURNETT: All right. Governor Pritzker, I appreciate your time. Thanks so much, sir.
PRITZKER: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. And now, two top veterans of the Biden-Harris administration, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is now a senior advisor for the Harris campaign, and a former mayor of Atlanta, and Kate Bedingfield, former White House communications director.
So both of you know, the president and the vice president have worked with them and campaigned for them there. If you -- you just heard the Republicans trying to define Vice President Harris as too liberal and the statistic that I gave to the governor there, right? She was, quote, the most liberal compared to all senators, according to GovTrack in 2019 in terms of her voting record.
So, Mayor, what does this mean for her vice presidential pick? Does this really put the pressure for a moderate or centrist Democrat or no? KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS, SENIOR ADVISOR, HARRIS CAMPAIGN: Well, we know
that the pick for -- is completely up to Vice President Harris in traditionally, we think about balancing out a ticket, but it's going to be her pick.
All of the names that we've heard floated are certainly great, well- qualified candidates, and certainly, much better candidates than J.D. Vance. What we know from the Trump campaign is that they have doubled down on this MAGA right-wing rhetoric, and that's not been healthy for our country.
And I can just tell you the excitement that I'm seeing regarding Vice President Harris being in our nominee really has exceeded my expectations and so many other people. We knew that a change would be difficult at this point in the campaign, but I'm so excited about what we're seeing. I'm so glad to be a part of this team.
[19:15:01]
BURNETT: So, Kate, you know, interviews with Senator Harris at the time, Senator Harris, she was seen to be the leading contender to be Joe Biden's VP, right? Is that whole process went through. And at one point, when I interviewed her, I asked her what -- you know, what Biden should be looking at for a running mate. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I'm not going to tell Joe Biden what to do. I want him to pick the running mate that that is best equipped to help him win because more than anything, Joe Biden has got to win, we cannot suffer another four years of Donald Trump in the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And, obviously, now, she's at the same situation, trying to prevent Trump from returning to the White House, Kate, for four more years. So I guess in a sense, you could watch that, it's Groundhog Day. But I know from your perspective, Kate, you do have two Democrats that stand out to you as what you think could be the best choices who?
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think, first, I would say I think everybody who has been floated would be a good choice. I think for electoral reasons, there are a few.
I think Mark Kelly from Arizona, I think, has obviously an incredibly impressive biography. Of course, Arizona is a state that Biden won in 2020 and could potentially be part of a path to victory for Vice President Harris.
You know, obviously, the experience that his wife suffered through, the gun violence that she suffered through, and the work that she has done since, and that he has done alongside her on gun violence, I think is a really compelling story for Democratic voters and for moderates, you know, Republican voters who want to see your guns on the street and see less crime, less gun crime in their communities. So I think he has really powerful story. I also really like Governor Walz from Minnesota. I think, you know,
he's a terrific communicator, you know, again, represents a blue sometimes purple states. So if you're thinking purely about the electoral politics here, I think both of them our particularly compelling. But I will say every person who's been put forward on this list would be a great governing partner for Vice President Harris.
And, you know, there's a lot of X's and O's. People kind of worked through what is kind of the war game, what's the theory of who can help the most? And, of course, that's a -- that is a piece of the calculation. Of course, it is.
But it's also really important that the person has rapport with Vice President Harris, that they get along, that they have a trusting relationship. That is a huge part of being a successful vice presidential candidate and then vice president.
BURNETT: I remember when they filmed then-Senator Harris getting the call from Joe Biden back in the day, Mayor Bottoms, right? And I think am I -- am I crazy? But I remember she was in basically black workout gear with her hat on when she gets the call, and the whole point was to show that she's a casual, normal person and then she gets this call.
You know, then they didn't know each other, right? Now, they say that they now have had a very positive working relationship. She brought it up today, again, on the campaign trail. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: It has truly been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve as vice president to our President Joe Biden. Joe's legacy of accomplishment over his entire career. And over the past 2-1/2 years is unmatched in modern history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Mayor, do you expect to see him on the campaign trail for her campaigning with her as much as he would have really for himself because he was not going to be on the campaign trail anywhere near as often as she will be.
BOTTOMS: You know, I can't speak to what the president schedule will be, but I can only imagine that he will continue to be her biggest cheerleaders, as Kate can attest to during our time in the White House, it was very clear that this is the Biden-Harris administration. Every single win has been celebrated by the president and the vice president and she's been such a strong partner and leader of all of the work that's come out of this administration over the past 3-1/2 years.
So the president had planned on having a very robust campaign schedule. So I can only anticipate that he's going to continue to go out there and do everything he can to make sure that Vice President Harris is successful.
BURNETT: All right. Mayor Bottoms, thank you very much. Kate, thank you.
And next, we're going to hear from a key group of voters whose pick in November could actually determine the entire election. So what do they think of Kamala Harris replacing Joe Biden?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I also think that she hasn't done enough publicly to work against some of those negative narratives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, former President Trump on whether he regrets choosing J.D. Vance as his running mate now that Joe Biden's out of the race.
And for the first time video of the authorities handcuffing NFL legend Terrell Davis on a United Airlines flight.
[19:20:00]
You remember Davis on the show saying that this all happened because he asked for a cup of ice.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, the process is still open, those are the exact words from the Democratic Senator Jon Tester, who is in an incredibly tough reelection fight. He's also one of the few Democrats who has yet to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for president. He didn't elaborate, but he's insisting tonight it's not a done deal.
Of course, that's a must-win Senate seat. Let's just be clear. Must win for the Democrats.
It comes as prominent Democratic donor Joe Ravitch warns that his party deserves to lose (AUDIO GAP) quickly.
[19:25:01]
Ravitch writes in "The Economist" and (AUDIO GAP) is talking to voters in Pennsylvania, the must-win swing state, to see what they think in our "Voters OutFront" series.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The past few days have felt like whiplash to Pennsylvania voter Becky Eckburg.
How have you been feeling about this election so far?
BECKY ECKBURG, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT VOTER: Little anxious, excited now though.
FREEMAN: Excited because she feels Vice President Kamala Harris has jump-started Democrats in the presidential race. ECKBURG: I think she has more of a chance to win and then I do just
like her mentality, her mindset, and that she is a woman, and, yes, she stands for what I stand for.
LINDSAY TROYER, PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRAT VOTER: I think I'm feeling a little bit more hopeful than I have in a while.
FREEMAN: Lindsay Troyer is a progressive who is thrilled for the new Harris hype among Democrats, but worries Republican talking points are sticking.
TROYER: She has been villainized really well. I think the messaging, negative messaging against her has been that she hasnt done enough publicly to work against some of those negative narratives. I think there are some things that were really valid concerns or maybe criticisms of her even from the beginning. I think they're valid.
Pennsylvania is one of the crucial battleground states that could determine the election in November. Joe Biden won the commonwealth in 2020 by about 80,000 votes, flipping a state former president Trump won in 2016.
GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Are you excited about the news?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am excited. I'm very excited. I'm ready to get out there.
FREEMAN: Popular Governor Josh Shapiro, a potential Harris running mate, this week, working to boost enthusiasm and vouch for the brand new candidate.
SHAPIRO: And there's real excitement and energy and listen, to be able to pick the prosecutor against a guy with 34 felonies, I like that matchup. I feel pretty good about that.
FREEMAN: But Pennsylvania Republicans, we spoke with Tuesday, were not deterred.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm glad that Biden stepped down. I think it was elder abuse putting him up there and shaming him like that.
FREEMAN: Betty Doughty (ph) voted for Trump in 2020, and plans to do so again in November.
Are you concerned that Harris is a stronger candidate against Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
FREEMAN: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to be on kind but I don't think she's got it.
FREEMAN: Ron Butker (ph) feels the race is a toss-up, but still thinks Trump can win.
Are you concerned that Harris is a better opponent than Biden?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No. I don't think she is the better. If Biden had his faculties vis-a-vis his opponent, then now Harris, but I think she's just younger.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREEMAN (on camera): Now, Erin, I'll note in the past hour or so, we actually got a press release from the Harris campaign, specifically here in Pennsylvania saying that it has seen a record surge and engagement and volunteer sign-ups in that 24 hours between when President Biden dropped out and then President Harris took over the campaign and stepped up the campaign, pointing to this as a clear example of building enthusiasm for their new nominee -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Danny, thank you very much.
So I want to go straight to the Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez, who greeted Vice President Harris when she arrived in Milwaukee, and was with her at that raucous rally today in Wisconsin.
So, Lieutenant Governor, I appreciate your time and I just want to give you a chance to respond to what we just heard from Danny's reporting, Democratic voters. They, of course, in Pennsylvania talking about how the negative messaging against Harris, maybe working and that she hasn't done enough to prove that she's up for the job.
The question for you is, does she have enough time? To make her case?
LT. GOV. SARA RODRIGUEZ (D-WI): I absolutely think she does. And if we can look at the rally that we just had in Wisconsin, that is making her case. We had over 3,000 people at that rally. And that was a last- minute thing to get all of those supporters together. I had people texting me saying how can I get in and we had pretty reached capacity and so this is that grassroots excitement, that grassroots energy, and it was palpable in that room.
Three thousand people, that's the most from the Biden-Harris campaign.
BURNETT: It's the most -- I mean, certainly more than we ever saw as it in Biden.
I mean, let me just play a brief clip of -- just to give everyone a sense, Lieutenant Governor of how she was received by the crowd in that room where you were today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: We who believe in reproductive freedom --
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: -- will stop Donald Trump's extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:30:09]
BURNETT: Now, Lieutenant Governor, that's the enthusiasm in that room. You know, I was in Milwaukee or nearby in Racine to interview President Biden just about two months ago and he had had it -- you know, before we did an interview. He had a brief, you know, sort of a campaign event with the group of union workers. Obviously, it wasn't like this, right? As you just said, this is the largest crowd that has come out for the Democrats this entire election season.
You have seen Biden crowds. You have seen Harris crowd. How different was the energy today?
RODRIGUEZ: The energy was so different. It was so exciting. We know we're going to have to work. We know that the road to the White House goes through Wisconsin. And so we're not -- we're not going to sit back and not roll up our sleeves and do the work to make sure that we have the next president, Kamala Harris.
But, yeah, the excitement was there, the energy was palpable. You can hear from the crowd how much they liked her. And I would also say that they actually brought in over 100 million in just a little over 24 hours.
BURNETT: Yeah.
RODRIGUEZ: And 60 -- a little over 60 percent of that were first time donors. If you're talking about how new people are getting energized, how this has been a change the race, that's the statistic you need to look at, but there are actually people who did not donate before, who are now very, very excited to donate to the Harris campaign.
BURNETT: I want to play something that J.D. Vance, obviously, Trump's VP candidate. He said back in 2021, that's getting some renewed attention now, and actually the Illinois governor just brought it up when he mentioned childless cat lady. So, let me play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're effectively run in this (AUDIO GAP) via corporate oligarchs by a bunch of childless (AUDIO GAP) at their own lives and the choices that they made and so, they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too, and it's just a basic fact. You look, Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, Harris is the step mother of two children.
But what's your response?
RODRIGUEZ: These are incredibly accomplished people and Pete Buttigieg does have two children, so I'm not sure what he's talking about.
BURNETT: I think he had after he said that.
RODRIGUEZ: So, number one, he's wrong.
BURNETT: Yeah.
RODRIGUEZ: Okay.
So number one, he's wrong, right? Number two, these are accomplished, amazing women and Vice President Harris is the most accomplished person for this job. She's been doing this. They've had the most successful administration in decades.
They've gotten so much (AUDIO GAP) had been seen and have been seeing record breaking unemployment. The most people working. That is from the Biden-Harris administration. That's the economy that we're talking about. That's what we want to keep continuing for the next four years, an economy that works for everyone.
We still got work to do. We do. But you know what? This is the trajectory that we're on. We want to keep going in that direction.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Lieutenant Governor, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
And next, Trump's VP --
RODRIGUEZ: Thanks so much for having me.
BURNETT: -- J.D. Vance, who, of course, we were just talking about, singing a much different tune when it comes to Trump's accusers than he used to. Our KFILE has uncovered video, video of J.D. Vance of what he once said about Trump's accurse.
Plus, he was (AUDIO GAP) is young. And talked about young voters and was trying to energize them for Biden. Tens of millions of views for those. Are his followers with him in backing Harris? He's my guest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:37:43]
BURNETT: Tonight, Trump telling reporters he doesn't regret choosing J.D. Vance as his running mate, now that Harris is now at the top of the Democratic ticket.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do the same pick. He's doing really well. He's -- he's really caught on.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: It comes as our KFILE uncovers Vance's own words supporting a woman who accused Trump of sexual misconduct.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: At a fundamental level, this is sort of a he said/she said, right? And at the end of the day, do you believe Donald Trump, who always tells the truth? Just kidding. Or do you believe that woman on that tape?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski is OUTFRONT now.
I mean, Andrew, this is this is front and center topic for Trump when you talk about the Stormy Daniels case, the 34 convictions, E. Jean Carroll, the entire pantheon of issues that have come up on this.
What more did you find on this from J.D. Vance?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yeah. And look, we already knew that J.D. Vance was a Donald Trump hater in 2016, but this really takes it to a whole, another level, repeatedly saying, implying that he thought Donald Trump was a sexual or repeated sexual predator. I think it's important to remember the context of what is happening, right?
It was just after that "Access Hollywood" tape came out. It was after all of these women came out following that tape, accusing Trump of sexual assault, and that's when Vance take a look right here of what he wrote on Twitter during that time, he wrote what a percent of the American population has tagging him at real Donald Trump sexually assaulted, and that really isn't all of it.
He also liked to tweets, implying that Trump committed sexual assault, including one that said, quote, Trump was a thug real estate baron who commit serial sexual assault. And he also liked this other tweet in 2016 where he said, I wish there was a second vice presidential debate just to see Mike Pence deny Trump saying that he grabbed pussy.
And this is all very ironic, right? Because now Vance is the one who has to defend those very comments from Trump as the VP pick.
So that was then. This is -- this is a now. And take a listen after you heard that first clip to how Vance's defending Trump.
[19:40:01]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: I think fundamentally the lawsuit is about something that happened 25 years ago. It's a he said/she said situation, and I trust my friend and the guy that I've known and gotten to know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, obviously, you know, it's just he's saying, well, I got to know him better. So, now, I don't think he did those things. KACZYNSKI: And he used the same language there, too. He's like it's a he said/she said, but now I believe Donald Trump.
BURNETT: And I believe the he.
All right. Now, you also found a flip flop on another major issue which is obviously now at the center of this entire race would have been anyway, but it certainly is the way the Vice President Harris is putting it. That is, of course, abortion and Vance had a very different view on that not long ago.
KACZYNSKI: That's right. And an abortion has become such a huge losing issue for Republicans every time that abortion has been on the ballot over the last couple of years, Republicans have lost. And now Vance is taking Donald Trump's line, which is that it's a state issue. The issue has been returned to the states is not a federal issue.
But that's not what he was saying a couple of years ago. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
VANCE: I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally.
Let's say Roe versus Wade is overruled. Ohio -- Ohio bans abortion in 2022 -- let's say 2024. And then, you know, every day, George Soros sends a 747 to Columbus to load up disproportionately Black woman to get them to go have abortions in California. And, of course, the left will celebrate this as a victory for diversity. That's kind of creepy.
If that happens, do you need some federal response to prevent it from happening? Because it's really creepy.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KACZYNSKI: And I think what's interesting about that clip as he says, the reason he wants a national abortion ban is because he doesn't think women should be allowed to travel between states for abortion.
So, obviously, it's not a state issue and how he was saying it then. That was obviously before the Dobbs decision changed the whole calculus for the politics around and abortion for Republicans. But that is probably the strongest anti-abortion language that we've seen from him.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. Andrew Kaczynski with FILE.
So, Harry Enten joins me now to go beyond the numbers.
And, Harry, I mean, this is the thing. You know, Trump -- Trump, of course, is going to say what Trump is going to say. He doesn't have a choice. Whatever he really thinks he's got to stick by, stand what this man now.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Sure.
But, Danny Freeman, asked voters when he was just on Pennsylvania, at what they think of J.D. Vance. And here's what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREEMAN: What do you think about Vance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He wrote "Hillbilly Elegy" and I'm a kind of a redneck. So I kind of like him.
FREEMAN: Do you think now knowing that Kamala Harris is going to be likely the Democratic nominee, do you think J.D Vance makes the most sense?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You mean the one with Trump?
FREEMAN: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a little late now.
FREEMAN: How do you feel about Trump's VP pick J.D. Vance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's kind of like a little loud and obnoxious. Yes. He needs settled down a little bit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUIRNETT: All right. You've been looking at the numbers.
ENTEN: Yeah.
BURNETT: And Kristen Soltis-Anderson, pollster, told me recently, you know, you need a day or two to see things settle, but you often can see things pretty quickly. What do you see right now?
ENTEN: Frankly, I don't really understand the pick and apparently neither the American voters, because we take a look at the net favorable rating for a J.D. Vance. That's favorable minus unfavorable. It's a negative net territory. Look at that, negative six points.
I will tell you, Erin, I've gone all the way back since 1980. He is the first guy after immediately following a convention of VP pick, who actually had a net negative favorable rating that is underwater, the average since 2000 is plus 19 points.
J.D. Vance making history in the completely wrong way.
BURNETT: I mean, it's amazing, plus 19. And I know people thought VPs don't usually matter, but they're usually --
ENTEN: Usually they're popular. Usually they're popular. And in this case, he's dragging Trump down.
BURNETT: All right. And then there's also Ohio which I -- you know, have been around long enough to have been there on an election night. And the reason I was there because the person who ends Ohio wins the White House.
ENTEN: Right.
BURNETT: Ohio is red state now.
ENTEN: Yeah.
BURNETT: So what does the J.D. Vance pick do for Trump? Obviously, he is senator from Ohio.
ENTEN: There's this whole idea. Oh, J.D. Vance is going to help out in Ohio perhaps help out in those Rust Belt, those Great Lake battleground states.
But if you look at Ohio, if you look -- yeah, J.D. Vance won in 2022, but he only won by six points. That's worse than Donald Trump did in 2020. It's far worse than Mike DeWine did in 2022. He was the worst performing Republican candidate in 2022 up and down the ballot in the state of Ohio, he had nothing there.
BURNETT: All right. So Trump does very well with white working class voters.
ENTEN: Yeah.
BURNETT: That's one of his superpowers. So what does Vance add?
ENTEN: Yeah. What does Vance add? Look, he won white working class voters, he won white voters without a college degree in the state of Ohio, but pretty much every Republican winds white working class voters. And if you look again, the moment margin that Vance put up was the weakest performance of any major Republican.
[19:45:02]
It's worse than Trump did in Ohio, it's worse than Mike DeWine did in Ohio.
The J.D. Vance pick makes no sense from a statistical polling perspective, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, and we're going to watch all these polls start to come in the next days.
And next, though, we do have some breaking news because Hillary Clinton tonight has just broken her silence about the Vice President Kamala Harris. You'll hear what she says next.
Plus, never before seen video of police handcuffing NFL legend Terrell Davis who told me that it all happened because he asked for a cup of ice.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, Hillary Clinton just now speaking out for the first time about Kamala Harris's candidacy, writing in "The New York Times" and I, quote: She represents a fresh start for American politics. She could offer a hopeful, unifying vision. She has a talented, experienced and ready to be president. And I know she can defeat Donald Trump.
[19:50:00]
Those are the words of Hillary Clinton coming just hours after Harris fire up the large crowd, about 3,000 people at her first campaign rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: We're not going back! We're not going back! We're not going back! We're not going back! We're not going back! We're not going back!
HARRIS: I tell you why we're not going back, because ours is a fight for the future.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Harry Sisson is OUTFRONT. He's a 21-year-old TikToker who was one of President Biden's most vocal supporters online. His videos got as many as 15 million views. He now supports Kamala Harris.
But, Harry, you know, you and I met, you were talking about Biden. I want to get to that because you supported him and you believed in him all the way through. But the clips from Harris's first campaign rally, that was just a few hours, are flooding TikTok.
So what are you seeing and what are you hearing from people that different from what you heard before?
HARRY SISSON, DEMOCRATIC TIKTOK INFLUENCER; NYU STUDENT: Yeah, you know, Erin, it just feels like this energy has been injected into the Democratic Party. There's like an excitement that I haven't really felt since 2020. I think people are really lining up behind Kamala Harris. She's more in line with younger generations. She has policy that younger generation support and people are really feeling her candidacy and like you just mentioned, the rally, the crowd there was in insane, enthusiastic, excited. And we're kind of just seeing that also in person, but also online as well.
BURNETT: So, your friends who were like who are you, you're out here doing politics, that's awful. What's wrong with you? What are they saying now?
SISSON: Yeah. So I've had people haven't spoken to in a long time in just friends. I also speak to were not interested in politics, reaching out to me saying, how do I get involved? How do I help Vice President Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump? And for me, it's just shocking. I just haven't seen anything like this.
BURNETT: Wow, you're interested in what I do.
SISSON: Right. BURNETT: OPK. TikTok or the videos with the brat. Obviously, we're hearing that. Coconut tree clip that we were talking about, but everyone scene now. These are moments that Republicans thought were bad. They were playing them to say, look at how awful she is.
And yet on social media, it appears to be doing the opposite. Is that's what you're seeing?
SISSON: Yeah. That's exactly right. I think this shows a broader trend in politics that the Republicans are completely out of touch with young people. They take these clips of Kamala Harris like laughing are having fun and they're like, look at her, she can't be president and everybody else in Gen Z is like she seems kind of funny. She seems like somebody I'd want to hang out with. And you're seeing that on TikTok right now with all of these viral videos.
BURNETT: So let me just ask you about Biden, because when we spoke, you came on last time, you talked about President Biden, you believed in him and you told me, Harry, never once have I ever been concerned about the president's age. Now that was before the debate. I understand that, but I just want people to understand as a 21-year- old, you believed in him, and you didn't think he was too old and you saw and you saw positives in that. Is there any part of you that feel sad or wishes he would have stayed in the race?
SISSON: Yeah, I think my immediate reaction to Biden's decision was a mix of sadness and appreciation, sadness because, you know, my colleagues and I, we love Joe Biden like he's a good, decent man, but also appreciation in the sense that like he put the country before himself. He put the country's interests before his interests and step down.
This is not something we see in American politics. It's certainly not something we see in global politics. So I'm appreciative of the president and I'm excited for the future.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Harry, thank you very much. Good to see you again.
SISSON: Likewise.
BURNETT: And next for the first time, we're seeing the authorities arrest NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Davis just because he asked for a cup of ice on the airplane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:39]
BURNETT: Tonight, you're looking at a new video of police handcuffing NFL Hall of Famer Terrell Davis on a United Airlines flight. It happened after Davis said he lightly tapped a flight attendant on the arm to ask for a cup of ice. You can see Davis's wife Tamiko there looking absolutely shocked.
Davis and his wife spoke to me shortly after this happened. Stephanie Elam is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This new video shows the moment Terrell Davis was escorted off a plane in handcuffs by law enforcement earlier this month. The Hall of Fame running back (AUDIO GAP) passengers look on. All of this, Davis says springing from a small interaction earlier in the flight.
PARKER STINAR, DAVIS FAMILY ATTORNEY: I think the Davis family is still in shock.
ELAM: Davis and his wife were traveling with their three children from Denver to Orange County, California, when one son asked for a cup of ice during beverage service, Davis says the flight attendant either didn't hear or ignored his request and continued past their row.
In an interview with CNN's OUTFRONT, he showed how he says he tapped the male flight attendant on the shoulder.
TERRELL DAVIS, NFL HALL OF FAMER: I said, excuse me, and he didn't hear me. So I just tapped him. His spun back and said, don't hit me. He left the cart there, went into the cockpit or went up to first- class and we didn't see him for about five or ten minutes and then he came back and he placed a cup of ice. So my sons tray grabbed the cart, took it up to first-class.
BURNETT: That was it.
TERRELL DAVIS: That was it.
ELAM: But at the end of the flight, Davis thought the commotion on the plane was for someone else.
TERRELL DAVIS: And I just its thought there was like a medical emergency and then I just looked up and I'm watching them and they're coming down the aisle and they just come right up to me. And I'm looking at looking at him and he says, don't fight it, don't fight it.
And he puts the cuffs on me.
ELAM: In the video, Davis' wife Tamiko can be seen across the aisle from him speaking to FBI agents as they handcuffed him and took him off the plane.
TAMIKO DAVIS, WIFE OF TERRELL DAVIS: Terrell knows better. Unfortunately, historically in these situations, interaction with law enforcement, in law enforcement as a Black man, you can't fight, you can't resist, you can't act -- and I don't want to say fight, you can't ask.
All he could do was sit there and comply and be humiliated in front of his sons and the 200, whatever, how many people were on that plane.
ELAM: The FBI's Los Angeles field office did confirm to CNN that they responded to a report from united of a violent assault. And the person who was detained for questioning who they did not identify was cooperative with law enforcement and was released to continue his travels.
STINAR: We have heard from many, many United passengers that unfortunately have experienced events with law enforcement. But the vast, vast majority do not result in the passenger being handcuffed.
ELAM: United Airlines told CNN it has removed the flight attendant from duty while it reviews the matter.
Still, the Davis family says this incident will have a lingering impact on all of them, especially their young children.
TERRELL DAVIS: I can see the look on their faces and it broke my heart because my kids are looking at their eyes are watery. They don't know what's happening to their dad. He's got a handcuffs on. Nobody explained to them what was going on.
And I was powerless. I couldn't do anything about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM (on camera): And Davis did say that there was a man sitting by the window in the row in front of him that did corroborate what he said happened so that he didn't hit him. He said, of course not.
But what the Davis family really wants here, Erin, is were there to be accountability and for there to be some process to make take the safer for flyers because after all, not everyone, as he says, has the same platform as Terrell Davis, and maybe it doesn't have two Super Bowl rings to his name and which case can make the case and get the resources so it doesn't happen to anybody else -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Stephanie, thank you.
And thanks so much as always to all of you for being with us as well. See you back here tomorrow.
"AC360" starts now.
