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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Attacks Harris' Identity, "Happened To Turn Black"; NYT: Iran's Supreme Leader Orders Direct Strike On Israel; PA Law Enforcement Slams Secret Service For Finger Pointing. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired July 31, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:41]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Donald Trump is questioning whether Kamala Harris is Black in front of a packed room of Black journalists. We're going to speak to one of them who was there.
And just moments from now, Harris will be responding live.
And the veepstakes. Right now, rampant speculation over who Kamala Harris will choose. New details we are learning this hour about who it will, and now, we're learning who it won't be.
And Donald Trump's nephew is OUTFRONT, speaking out, talking about Trump's comments that he made to him about his disabled son and his use of the N-word. And now, he's breaking with the family going for Kamala Harris.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, Trump asking, quote, is she Indian or is she Black? The former president during a combative appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference went after the Democrats' presumptive nominee, questioning whether the first Black president -- vice president of the United States is, in fact, Black.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL SCOTT, MODERATOR: Do you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she's a Black woman?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I can say, no, I think it's maybe a little bit different. So I've known her a long time indirectly, not directly, very much, and she was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black. So I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?
SCOTT: She's always identified as a Black woman. She went to a historically Black college. TRUMP: But you know what? I respect either one. I respect either one.
But she obviously he doesn't because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went -- she became a Black person.
SCOTT: Just be clear, sir, do you believe that --
TRUMP: I think somebody should look into that, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. He said somebody should look into that, too. And at this hour, Trump is tripling down on the attacks against Harris.
Just to be clear, Harris's father was Jamaican, her mother was Indian. She is both Black and Indian descent. And Trump is now posting: Crazy Kamala is saying she's Indian, not Black. This is a big deal. Stone cold phony. She uses everybody, including her racial identity.
And at his rally in Pennsylvania, the campaign showed headlines that identify Harris as an Indian American.
Well, Trump's appearance was 35 minutes at the NABJ of nonstop insults. It was a packed room. Hundreds of journalists were there.
He faced questions from three moderators, from the ABC News reporter Rachel Scott, Harris Faulkner of Fox News, and Kadia Goba from "Semafor", who is joining us in just a moment.
But first, you know, Trump went off the rails almost immediately in this room, which by the way, he was there by choice. And no one forced him to be there. He chose to be there as President Harris was not there, he chose to go.
And here's how it went from the first question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT: You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true.
You have told four congresswomen of color who were American citizens to go back to where they came from.
You have used words like animal and rabbit to describe Black district attorneys.
You've attacked Black journalists calling them a "loser", saying the questions that they asked are, quote, "stupid and racist".
You've had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort?
So my question, sir, now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that? TRUMP: Well, first of all, I don't think I've ever been asked a
question. So, in such a horrible manner, a first question. You don't even say hello. How are you?
Are you with ABC? Because I think they're a fake news network. A terrible network.
And I think it's disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I think it's a very rude introduction. I don't know exactly why you would do something like that.
SCOTT: I love if you can answer the question on your rhetoric.
TRUMP: I think it's very nasty question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. So that's how it started.
Tonight, Kamala Harris's campaign is responding, writing: The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office and throughout his campaign for president. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us.
Now, that was the written statement, but I want to be clear: Vice President Harris will be speaking momentarily in Houston at a rally where she'll have the first opportunity to respond.
[19:05:09]
And let's listen right now. Trump at a rally taking the stage in Pennsylvania. Let's see if he addresses this. He just took the stage.
TRUMP: We didn't need anybody to get the people here. We didn't need a star. We didn't need a star.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: We didn't need some entertainer to fill it up. And then she goes on last night. In about six minutes, everyone was leaving. They were pouring at, and we don't need that.
We've got our star. You know, the star is all of you people are the star. You're the star.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And I mean that. Hello, Harrisburg. A very special hello to Pennsylvania. I'm thrilled to be back in this beautiful commonwealth with thousands of hardworking American patriots. Thank you very much.
As you know this is my first we turn to Pennsylvania since her rally in Butler. We're going back to Butler, too, by the way.
(CHEERING) TRUMP: People said to me. Are you serious? Yes. I said I'm serious. We're going back. It's a great place, 18 days ago where we had a very terrible day. We had a rough day.
I will tell you. By all accounts, I should not be with you today. I shouldn't be with you but I am. I want to thank all of the people of Pennsylvania for their extraordinary love and support.
It is incredible. We're going to win this thing so big. We're going to win it big, including everyone at Butler Memorial Hospital, they were fantastic. Wow, wow. They saw -- they saw some pretty bad things. Thank you.
(CHANTING)
TRUMP: Thank you very much.
No, they -- they did an amazing job and we have by the way, we have the doctor. One of the great doctors was there. They worked on Corey actually.
Corey had a hard time. Corey, Corey is special.
Thank you, Doctor. Appreciate it very much. Great, great doctors. Great doctors, that job they did on David Dutch and James Copenhaver was just incredible and as you know, they brought them back from very, very seriously wounded.
They were going to be maybe not with us -- who was a group of us but they are doing really well now. They're making it, they're going to be fine, not going to be perfect, maybe.
But who is? Who is? As we get older, who is perfect?
But the doctors were so great, they had two great doctors also, most of all, we lift the memory, our memory to the brave firefighter who were so cruelly taken from us, Corey Comperatore.
Corey Comperatore, very brave guy. Loved by his family and his friends. He was really love, right? In his last act on this Earth, Corey threw themselves over his wife and daughters and died shielding them from the bullets -- the bullets of a very disturbed guy.
Corey is a hero to all of us, to all of us.
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING)
TRUMP: I want to thank a friend of mine, too. I'm not going to mention his name because he's pretty well known. And he came up to me, he said would it be okay if I presented Corey's wife and family with a check, and I said, yeah, it would be okay with me. It's certainly okay.
And he handed me a check for $1 million, $1 million. Thank of that. Thank you, Dan. (CHEERING)
TRUMP: So he was very generous.
In addition, we have a GoFundMe that's -- it's really been great. I think we're at $6 million mark with it, the three of them plus some other people.
So, you know what? Corey's wife said, I'd rather have my husband. Isn't that good?
I know a lot of lives that would not say that. I'm sorry. They would not say that. But no, it's a great family. H was a great man. He was a brave man. He saw what was happening and he jumped on top and he got hit.
But we will carry Corey's spirit of love and devotion and patriotism with us for all time.
[19:10:05]
And we will never forget Corey or his beautiful family.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And maybe let's have a brief moment of silence in memory of Corey, great Pennsylvania.
Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Beautiful.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Beautiful. That is the most quiet I have ever heard an arena. I have never heard. You could hear a pin drop.
No, it's amazing. It's a beautiful thing.
In the wake of this heinous attack, we gather tonight more determined than ever, our resolve is unbroken and our will is undeterred. Nothing will stop us on our mission to make America great again. Nothing's going to stop us. The country is doing badly.
BURNETT: All right. You're listening to the former president on the stump there in Pennsylvania and we were waiting to see if he was going to respond directly to what happened today at the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago with that incredibly combative and intense time there in that packed room.
Vice President Kamala Harris is going to be speaking live momentarily. We're going to bring that to you live as well, and we're going to continue to monitor this to see if he responds.
In the meantime, our Sara Sidner was there in that room.
And, Sara, what were going to see if he responds in a very well may hear given what happened. But you were there what, what actually was the feeling in that room?
SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Disappointment, sometimes shock and frustration. I think those are the three things that you heard.
Certainly, you know, you're hearing Donald Trump in front of a crowd, of his adoring fans. That was not what the situation was like here. Donald Trump showed up to the NABJ conference, you know, given credit for showing up, but he took some questions from journalists and the journalists had some very tough questions to ask him questions that the American public may want to ask him.
And he was here most believed because he is trying to encourage more Black Americans to vote for him. But his performance may have done just the opposite.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER (voice-over): Donald Trump's appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention turning contentious right from the beginning.
TRUMP: Look, if I came onto a stage like this and I got treated so rudely as this woman treated me --
MODERATOR: Oh my goodness.
TRUMP: -- and I'm fine with it because she -- it doesn't -- she was very rude, sir. Very rude.
SIDNER: As the former president attempts to broaden his appeal with Black voters, speaking to a roomful of Black journalists in Chicago, Trump invoking Kamala Harris's race, falsely questioning the vice president's Black heritage.
TRUMP: I didn't know she was Black, until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don't know. Is she Indian or is she Black?
MODERATOR: She's always identified as a Black woman. She went to a historically Black college.
TRUMP: But you know what? I respect either one -- I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't, because he was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went -- she became a Black person.
SIDNER: With running mate J.D. Vance drawing scrutiny for past comments he made about childless women, Trump was asked about his decision to pick the Ohio senator and whether he would be ready to serve on day one.
TRUMP: But you're not voting that way. You're voting for the president. You're voting for me. If you're like me, I'm going to win. If you don't like me, I'm not going to win. SIDNER: On policy, Trump focusing his attacks on inflation and the Biden administration's handling of the economy, a top concern for all voters.
TRUMP: What do I do? That and I drill, baby, drill. I bring energy way down. I bring interest rates down, I bring inflation way down, so people can buy bacon again. So people can buy a ham sandwich again, so that people can go to a restaurant and afford it because right now, people can't buy food.
SIDNER: The former president was also asked about his pledge to pardon rioters involved with the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
TRUMP: If they're innocent, I would pardon them.
MODERATOR: They've been convicted.
TRUMP: And, by the way, the Supreme Court just under -- well, they were convicted by a very, very tough system.
SIDNER: And in a case that has touched the Black community deeply, an Illinois mother shot and killed in her own home earlier this month by a sheriff's deputy after calling 911 for help, Trump saying he was unfamiliar with the specifics of the case.
TRUMP: I don't know the exact case, but I saw something and it didn't look -- it didn't look good to me. It didn't look good to me.
MODERATOR: So why should he receive immunity?
[19:15:01]
TRUMP: Well, he might not. I mean, it depends -- it depends on what happens. I'm talking about people that are much different cases than that. We need people to protect ourselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER (on camera): Yeah, he was asked about immunity and he sort of wavered on that and you couldn't quite tell exactly what he meant.
But I do want to address something that he said about Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris went to a historically Black university. She also is a member of the first Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and has long presented herself as a Black woman. So this lie about her presenting herself differently in times past is just -- it's just untrue.
I think perhaps the best thing that he did for himself was show up, Erin.
BURNETT: Right. I mean, and why he chose to do that, I guess that that's the big unknown.
All right, Sara, thank you very much.
And I want to go OUTFRONT now to Kadia Goba. She was one of the moderators you saw on the stage there and that discussion with Trump at the NABJ.
And I know, Kadia, you're a political reporter. You report for "Semafor". So when you're sitting out there, Trump comes out. He had chosen to come to this. Obviously, Vice President Harris did not come.
He came. He wanted to be there. And then it started out as we just heard.
What was your reaction? Were you surprised?
KADIA GOBA, POLITICAL REPORTER, SEMAFOR: Yeah, I was shocked. I didn't anticipate that because I've figured if the former president made the effort to come to Chicago in front of a bunch of journalists, Black journalists, he would anticipate certain questions.
So I was -- you know, I was excited to do the interview and then immediately sink in my seat once he started -- like essentially bashing the panel.
BURNETT: So okay, so you're saying there and he's doing that. And then I'm just trying to -- I was trying to listen as we were hearing those sound bites play a couple of times.
At one point, it seemed like people were almost some more laughing, then they were clearly upset. How did the audience receive him and did that sort of shift in those first few minutes?
GOBA: Yeah, you are right. They were very responsive to, first, his attacks. But there were also some -- you know, last throughout the course of the 35 minutes, there were audible gasps at one point, especially when he talked about Vice President Kamala Harris not being Black, which was I think to a roomful of Black journalists was sort of off putting, but also like confusing as well, when she has always presented herself as Black.
But, you -- it was -- it was very interesting. The crowd was very responsive.
BURNETT: Yes. I mean, it wasn't -- as you because at one point, I did hear some laughter. And then those audible gasps that you just referred to.
So, Kadia, you obviously were part one of the moderators as you talked about sinking in your seat when you realize how this was going to go. You then, of course, were asking questions and I wanted to play one of the exchanges that you had with Trump. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOBA: Would you consider taking a cognitive test?
MODERATOR: Mr. President?
TRUMP: I would look to do it.
GOBA: And make it public? TRUMP: Well, I've already taken two of them, but I'll do it again.
MODERATOR: Mr. President, how do you intend to --
TRUMP: I suggested Harris -- let's take one. I said Joe and I will go and take a cognitive test.
Now, I do it with her, too. I would do it with her also. You know what? She failed her law exam. She didn't pass her law exam. So maybe she wasn't passed a cognitive test.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Just to your point of fact, she did fail the bar exam the first time she took it. She did pass it, then. She was district attorney in San Francisco, attorney general of California.
So what did you make of that response in the moment?
GOBA: Also, very surprising, and I just immediately remember thinking, oh, is this going to be at an attack line on the campaign? I just -- I just didn't -- it was surprising. I didn't know where I come from. I also didn't understand where, you know, not calling her saying that she wasn't Black. It was just very surprising.
But I was happy we have PolitiFact there to, you know, just kind of push back, if not in real time online.
BURNETT: Right, to do the facts.
Okay. So, are we surprise he stayed all 35 minutes given how this went?
GOBA: Yeah, yeah. We were promised an hour, but I it was clear that he had like sort of in a hard out, but obviously because he was going to Pennsylvania.
Yeah. No, I was -- I anticipated him to spend the time. He -- in the time they actually told us he would have to depart, that he did that.
I anticipated -- I just didn't think that he would come all the way to Chicago and not do this.
BURNETT: Right. And to come up with Chicago and do what he did that that is what seems a bit confounding here in terms of the audience.
All right. Kadia, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
GOBA: Thank you for having me.
BURNETT: And as I said, you saw Kadia there in the center there, moderating that debate -- monitoring that conversation with Trump.
[19:20:06]
David Urban and Aisha Mills is with me now. All right, Aisha, so, you know, you heard Kadia, I mean, he was supposed to come for an hour, but, you know, he stopped for the 35 minutes. I just -- I just can't emphasize enough that he chose to be there.
He wanted to be there, and he took his time to go there, right? All of those things are true.
So what do you think is the outcome of this?
AISHA MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Everywhere he goes, there he is, okay? Donald Trump is going to Donald Trump. Everywhere he goes, he's going to be Donald Trump.
He has always been just disrespectful and had such disdain for the media, first of all, for Black people in general, and certainly for Black women who are members of the media. You can just roll the tapes back and see how he's treated everybody pretty much who was Black in his -- in his press room, but specifically someone who was a friend of CNN, April Ryan, the nasty things that he is coming out and said about her.
So I wasn't surprised at all and Donald Trump sat there and was so frustrated and just evil to the people who were questioning him and expecting him to answer and account for himself because that is something that he doesn't' do well.
He has such a vitriol and a horrible recoiling at anyone who ever questions his judgment, who asked him to explain himself, who asked him to back up with facts his positions, his attitudes, his beliefs. And certainly when it's coming from Black women, he doesn't have any patience or tolerance for it, and that's what we saw on display.
BURNETT: So, David, what did -- what did we see? What was the point of making a whole thing about whether Kamala Harris was Indian or Black, when she's both and frankly has always openly discussed that she's both? What was the -- what was the point of that?
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah. Erin, I'm not quite so sure what the point is. Indian, Black -- Donald Trump should have said, her race is irrelevant, her gender is irrelevant, her performance is what I want to talk about, her positions are I want to talk about.
And he should have delved into those. He should have said, listen, when he was asked what he did for why should Black Americans listen or trust him now, he got into a bit and talked about funding to HBCUs, and the First Step Act and lowest unemployment, African community -- I mean, you know, empowerment zones, things that his administration did. Stick to the facts.
He had it -- he had -- Trump had a good record. The president had a good record as president, with the African American community and he should have spoken about that. Don't -- don't get down and getting these petty grievances about things that are relevant when we're talking about Kamala Harris's descent, we're not talking about the things that matter to people, her policies, talk about, you know, whether she's for fracking, what that's going to mean to the people in Western Pennsylvania, whether she wants to take your guns away in states.
Let's have a debate on the merits, and I would have challenged every citizen, your journalists in this room. No ones asked her a question yet since she's been the candidate, I hope you ask because some really tough questions, moving forward. I think it was a missed opportunity.
BURNETT: I mean, there's no question. I mean, in a sense, Aisha, that that's true. And David, obviously, is giving his analysis as somebody who sees the politics of this, and the policy of this very differently than you do. But instead, you know, were actually now he's saying, well, she was she was Indian and then she turned Black, is that how we put it.
So just to go back here and this is I know, David, your frustration, but then we have to fact check it, which is so -- back when she was running last time, did she indeed identified only as Indian heritage or not? And so, back, in 2019, here's what she said about being Black.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm Black.
HOST: Yes.
HARRIS: And I'm proud of being Black.
HOST: Absolutely.
HARRIS: And I was born Black. I will die Black. And I'm proud of being Black and I'm not going to make any excuses for anybody because they don't understand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay.
URBAN: Erin, you could go -- you could go --
MILLS: She's always been a Black woman and she can't hide from that.
URBAN: Yeah, but I would say equally go back, pull the tapes, look at "The Sacramento Bee," which is I think the paper record, California touts, you know, first Indian American senator sworn in and the Senate in 2016. I mean, there are, there are some articles out there that you can hang your hat on that says that she's -- she was Southeast Asian descent and really played that part up.
And look, she's -- she's --
(CROSSTALK)
URBAN: She's both. She's both. BURNETT: I think -- I think you agree with me when I say this, she's both. Right, she's both, right? She's all -- she's -- she's whatever --
URBAN: Yeah.
BURNETT: -- at any moment I'm sure, like anybody when you think about where you came from, sometimes you feel more one thing --
URBAN: Listen, my ancestors -- yeah, my ancestors, are half Italian, half Polish. I'm both.
MILLS: We're not talking about ancestors. Can we just talk about how ignorant this whole conversation is?
BURNETT: Yeah, I think we're all amazed that we're having -- yeah.
MILLS: This is a biracial woman in America.
URBAN: Aisha, listen --
MILLS: We're not talk about ancestors of both. We're talking about a woman whose father was a Black Jamaican man, whose mother happened to be an Indian woman. There are many people in this country who are biracial people who absolutely identify as the fullness of who they are.
And the fact that you have someone who is a former president, is running for president again that is making a mockery of the heritage of anybody is really the fine point on all of this that we should be talking about here. It is ridiculous.
[19:25:13]
BURNETT: All right. So --
URBAN: Well, I will say, Aisha, I agree with you. It is -- it is ridiculous we're talking about it and not talking about Kamala Harris's record. And President Trump put himself in that position. So instead here tonight of debating her failed policies of the Biden administration, we're talking about this.
And it's a distraction. It's distraction in American people. I'm sure it's a distraction to the American people who don't want this to be talking about.
BURNETT: Aisha, I want to give you last question though, because J.D. Vance came out and defended Trump, but his defending was he raised one point that I want to give you a chance to respond to. He said, well, Harris offered to address the group virtually, did not offer to go to Chicago because her schedule could not accommodate a virtual or in- person appearance this week.
Should she have made the time?
MILLS: Here's the thing. I don't speak for the Harris campaign and what her schedule is, but I will just say this. I think that, you know, I would just say shame on the National Association of Black Journalists for inviting Trump to have this platform period, because everybody knew how this was going to go.
Now, if they wanted to have the vice president come and speak, they should have figured out how to accommodate that.
BURNETT: OK, let me just play the other side of that. They're both running for president. Why not happen? And he did, to David's point, he could come out and make his argument of criminal justice reform.
MILLS: They have invited him for years and he never showed up. By the way, this isn't the first time that Donald Trump was ever invited. He didn't actually show up in '16, '17, '18, okay? Like this wasn't the first invitation.
But to your point and about whether Vice President Harris is going to address them, can address them, come virtually, that's all a matter of their scheduling. The invitation was extended. She -- here's the thing though.
BURNETT: Yeah.
MILLS: Kamala Harris has a very deep relationship with Black media, with Black people.
So this is not the be-all, end-all platform for her.
BURNETT: Maybe not worth her time, yeah.
MILLS: No, it's worth her time, but it's not be-all, end-all.
URBAN: Not worth her time, not worth her time. Erin, not worth their time. Are you kidding me?
BURNETT: Well, you've got -- I said that too lightly, but you got to make choices about where you spend your time and if its a group of people, you know very well, trying to introduce yourself to others and a campaign that just started 10 days ago.
MILLS: She's at Representative Sheila Jackson Lee's funeral that is coming off this weekend in Houston. That's what she's doing.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you both very much.
And next, Trump's nephew is speaking out live OUTFRONT. He is now all in for Kamala Harris and he takes us inside the family dynamics of what he will describe is Trump's. He says cruelty towards disabled person in his own life and his alleged use of the N-word.
Plus, new reporting tonight on how Trump is reacting behind closed doors to J.D. Vance's history of disparaging people who don't have kids.
And then a story you'll see first OUTFRONT, Pennsylvania officers are now speaking out for the first time, furious at the Secret Service, accusing the agency of blaming them for their failures in the attempted assassination.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's extremely misleading to the American people when -- I mean, it makes our guys look incompetent.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:31:50]
BURNETT: The breaking news, Donald Trump's nephew going all in for Kamala Harris. Fred Trump telling us he'll join Harris and her team on a call this week and that he's ready to campaign for her, saying that she is the only person who could move the country forward.
Fred Trump is publicly for the first time breaking ranks with his family, writing about his relationship with Donald Trump and his new book, "All In the Family," and Fred Trump is OUTFRONT with me now.
So, Fred, I really appreciate your time.
FRED TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP'S NEPHEW: My pleasure.
BURNETT: I know that you've never publicly endorsed your -- your uncle's opponent before, you know? This is -- this is the first time that you have chosen to be public about this and speak out. You've said you'll campaign now for Harris if you're asked, so you've offered that.
Can you tell me why you feel so strongly about doing this and why do you feel so strongly about doing it now? And you didn't before?
F. TRUMP: When he was first running, part of the family, just thought it truly was a branding exercise and he didn't think he was going to win and perhaps he didn't want to win.
It was about getting his, his brand out there, and he did win and we didn't think he could do much damage. This was new. I mean, he knows the wheels of politics, but certainly didn't think things would turn out the way they did.
And now, the reason I am endorsing Kamala Harris, is things have gotten to a level of craziness that is unacceptable. And I firmly believe that our freedoms are on the line and Kamala Harris is the only one standing between his divisiveness and rolling back freedoms and democracy.
BURNETT: Do you speak at all to your cousins or have they respond to this, Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric?
F. TRUMP: Eric has put out a statement and he says things about me. And that's fine. I just asked people to read the book and find out what the real story is.
BURNETT: So I want to talk to you about something you write in the book. There's a moment, you're young, someone vandalizes Donald Trump's car because that's the setup. And then about this moment, right, you say N-words.
F. TRUMP: Uh-huh.
BURNETT: This is you: I recall him saying disgustedly, look what the N-words did and then you add, quote, Donald hadn't seen whoever did this.
F. TRUMP: That's right.
BURNETT: So it's twofold. Its one that he didn't see who did it. He makes an assumption about who it is, what color they are. And then refers to them as the N-word.
His campaign says this is a fabricated story. I just want to give you a chance to respond and tell me how this story has lived in your life.
F. TRUMP: It's the absolute truth. And I remembered as if it were yesterday, he had a black roof, he had a role of electrical tape taping up the probably the slash was about this long, two of them and he was he was pissed and again, he just assumed it was Black people who had done that.
Around the same time, I had a bike stolen I lived in Jamaica, Queens. And three he young Black kids about my age took my bike.
[19:35:02]
I wasn't going to put up a fight and the police called my mom and said we found the bike and the person one of the people who had done it. And she called Donald because my father, unfortunately, was not around.
We went to the police station and Donald was adamant about the kid being thrown in jail, which I just couldn't take. I mean, he was a kid my age. I didn't want to be responsible for perhaps --
BURNETT: You were a teen?
F. TRUMP: I was 10. I was about 10. I didn't want to be responsible for this kid's life being changed.
Flash forward 17 years or so, Central Park Five, same thing. He has no evidence that those five young men were guilty of what they were charged with. Yet he puts out a full-page ad asking for their execution.
BURNETT: So, would you use the word racist to describe him?
F. TRUMP: I think he just believes in things that racist people say. I wouldn't call him a racist, but he -- he will espouse beliefs ever -- and by that, I mean anybody who he needs, he'll take on. And whatever it is and then he'll cast them aside. And to me that's -- that's really not the way people should be treated.
BURNETT: So he -- he was talking about Kamala Harris today and race came up, right? He's talking about whether she's Black or Indian and the entire conversation seems to hinge upon that. I'll just play that one of the main clips for you, Fred.
F. TRUMP: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don't know. Is she Indian or is she Black?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Does that surprise you?
F. TRUMP: No, I wish he had said she's a woman, instead of whether she was Black or India. No, it doesn't surprise me, that he was playing to the crowd. I assume from what I understand the reaction was very mixed.
BURNETT: Yeah.
F. TRUMP: Which it seems to be happening lately -- is in many instances misreading the crowd now.
BURNETT: Which is in some -- that is a shift from what we had seen before.
F. TRUMP: Yes.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Fred, I appreciate your time and thank you very much.
F. TRUMP: Thank you.
BURNETT: You know, as I said, I know your book "All In The Family" is out now and you can read more of these stories and Fred's experience with his uncle.
All right. Next, Vice President Kamala Harris is about to speak for the first time since Trump questioned whether she was Black. That sound bite that I just played for Fred.
Plus, new reporting tonight about who from Trump's inner circle is now bad mouthing J.D. Vance behind the scenes. So, inside the Trump camp internal fire, it is a name that all of you watching know well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:41:38]
BURNETT: The breaking news, Vice President Kamala Harris expected to take the stage at any moment at a campaign event in Houston, Texas, and we watching to see whether she responds to what Trump said today.
He said that she happened to turn Black. Trump also refusing to condemn Republicans calling her a, quote, DEI hire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: How do you define DEI? Go ahead. How do you define --
MODERATOR: Diversity, equity, inclusion.
TRUMP: Okay. Yeah, go ahead. Is that what your definition?
MODERATOR: That that is definitely the words.
TRUMP: Give me a definition then. Will you give me a definition?
MODERATOR: DEI.
TRUMP: Give me a definition.
MODERATOR: Sir, I'm asking you a question, a very direct question.
TRUMP: No, no, you have to define it. Define the -- define it for me if you would.
MODERATOR: I just defined it, sir.
Do you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is a DEI hire as some Republicans would say?
TRUMP: I really don't know. I mean, I really don't know. Could be, could be. There are some.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Arlette Saenz is OUTFRONT live from Houston.
And, Arlette, Harris's husband is coming to her defense as we await her remarks. What is he saying?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erin, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff forcefully pushing back on former President Donald Trump's comments, falsely questioning Harris's identity as a Black woman. Doug Emhoff was speaking at a fundraiser in Maine tonight.
And according to "The Washington Post", he said, quote, that Donald Trump, quote, showed a worse version of an already horrible person. The insults, the BS shows a lack of character, but it's a distraction. That guy should never be in the White House again.
These comments coming from someone perhaps most close to Vice President Kamala Harris, who yet has to -- who has yet to weigh in specifically on these comments from Trump.
Now, Harris at this moment is at a fundraiser and that she said to speak here at a boule for Sigma Gamma Rho, a key sorority of this part of the Divine Nine. Her campaign today did not directly address those comments from Trump, but they did criticize his appearance at his overall comments at the NABJ convention. They tried to portray Trump's comments as divisive and chaotic. Michael Tyler, a communications director for the Harris campaign, said
in a statement, today's tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump's MAGA rallies this entire campaign.
Now, tonight's speech here in Houston will be closely watched. It's important good to know the group that she is speaking to. She is speaking to Sigma Gamma Rho. That is a key Black sorority. This part of the divine nine, Harris herself is a member of a Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, also a Divine Nine.
She's here to try to mobilize Black women voters heading into this election. But the event is taking on additional significance in the wake of these comments from Trump baselessly questioning Harris's identity as a Black woman.
BURNETT: All right. Arlette, thank you very much at that rally where momentarily, we will see the Vice President Harris and will listen to see if she responds to that, will listen with you. We'll take that live.
Also tonight, Donald Trump is facing growing questions about J.D. Vance and downplaying the impact of a number two on his ticket.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Historically, the vice president in terms of the election does not have any impact. I mean, virtually no impact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. That actually is historically true, right? It's just you don't want to be in a position where when you just made that choice, that's the argument you're making about your own choice to state the obvious.
OK. It comes as "The Bulwark's" Marc Caputo is reporting tonight that former Trump campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who is one of Donald Trump's most steadfast supporters, is questioning Trump's choice for VP and being accused by a dozen top allies of actively badmouthing Vance behind the scenes.
[19:45:06]
Conway denies it, says quote, when it comes to concern people questioning the vetting or selection of J.D. Vance. The calls are coming in, not going out.
So let's go straight to "Bulwark's" Marc Caputo, who broke this story.
Marc, I mean, obviously Trump -- Trump's saying by the way, the number two doesn't matter, is not an argument that you want to be making what you just picked her number two.
Okay, so let me just ask you -- your reporting here on Kellyanne Conway, how much of this is real, how much of this is stirring the pot?
MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: Well, I think what it really speaks to is this, is up until this point, the Trump 2024 campaign and Trump's broader orbit has been sort of leak-free and internal drama free, and we're starting to see that change. And we're starting to see Trump world sort of looked like the way it looked in 2016 and 2020, and points in-between when he was in the White House.
I can't say whether Kellyanne Conway is really doing the leaking or not. She's denying it but there are so many people in Trump's upper orbit and inner orbit who believe it, that it speaks to this deeper truth that for the first time in Trump's campaign, there are a lot of people who are communicating through their body language and their suspicions and their infighting, that they feel like they're starting to lose momentum and they're losing ground.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, that's -- that's what it would seem like, right? You start having that internal sniping when things turn weeks so that the fact that you're reporting it, that they're feeling that weakness, they're feeling that they're losing ground.
You know, it is interesting though, obviously what's caused a lot of the issue at J.D. Vance and there's been multiple things, but comments about childless people are first and foremost among them.
Kellyanne Conway has spoken about this issue. I mean, he or she is back in December 2016.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, FORMER TRUMP ADVISER: I would just note to you that some people have attacked our moms, but a lot of them who have attacked me are either childless interns born in the 1990s, or the aughts, or I've noticed, women who have cats as their Twitter pictures. So, I'm not going to really just lose my mind over people attacking me in 140 characters. I can assure you of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Taylor Lorenz, "Washington Post" reporter in her book, "Here's the Deal: said. The unmarried and childless -- I'm sorry. Kellyanne Conway said of Taylor Lorenz, the unmarried and childless Lorenz spends most days trolling other people's kids on social media.
I mean, I got to say it takes a lot to find a fit there that the thing they have in common is childless cat ladies.
CAPUTO: Yeah, they seem to really not like cats. I wonder what they say about dogs. I'm more of a cat person to be perfectly honest, but joking aside, I think beyond sort of the caustic rhetoric, this points to a deeper issue in the Republican Party, where they have increasingly talked about the need for people to have more children. In fact, J.D. Vance talks about that and he says, look, that is where my comments should be read. That's the context in which they should be read. The problem that Vance is having, which a number of commentators, both in the Senate and he ran on the left are pointing out is Republican Party policies overall haven't been very conducive to helping people have kids, raise kids and be able to take care of them. And that's really what starting to cause them problems on the policy end.
BURNETT: All right. Marc, thank you very much. I appreciate it.
CAPUTO: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. And next, we've got breaking news, the Middle East bracing Iran vowing to retaliate a direct attack, direct attack on Israel.
Plus, local police of Pennsylvania right now accusing the Secret Service are pointing the finger at them after Trump's attempted assassination.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have always considered ourselves partners in the mission of the Secret Service.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:51:58]
BURNETT: The breaking news, Iran's supreme leader ordering a direct strike on Israel just hours after the killing of a top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. This is according to "The New York Times".
This letter I received today that the Islamic Republic of Iran sent asking for an urgent meeting with the U.N. Security Council, and it included it was a whole list of their demands of punishing Israel for what Iran says is a violation of international law.
Jim Sciutto is OUTFRONT with the story on right now, what could be a very much bigger war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST (voice-over): The stunning assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran is a bold strike at the very top of Hamas leadership. But it is also a test of the relationship between Israel and the U.S., already strained by the ongoing war in Gaza.
ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: It's something we were not aware of or involved in.
SCIUTTO: Close observers of the region seeing is Israeli leader who now feels unencumbered by a U.S. president.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We're prepared for any scenario, and will stand united and determined against any threat.
SCIUTTO: Who's viewed in the region as a lame duck following his withdrawal in the presidential race.
In the near term, to strike very likely disrupts the tenuous negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages.
President Biden has made completing the deal a central feature of his final months in office.
More broadly, in ordering assassination strikes abroad, the Israeli leader is showing his willingness to risk broadening the war.
A senior U.S. official told me the Biden administration views such a risk as limited, the assessment is that none of the players Israel, Iran, or its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas truly want a regional war.
On Wednesday, White House senior advisor John Kirby downplayed escalation fears.
JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURIYT COUNCIL SPOKESMAN: We don't believe that an escalation is inevitable and there's no signs that an escalation is imminent. This is something that we've been concerned about since 7th of October. It's not like brushing off concerns at all. We're watching this very, very closely.
SCIUTTO: However, the reason history of the region shows that neither side ever fully understands the others red lines as each side retaliates against the other and increasingly aggressive ways, the danger of escalation lesion growths.
To that point today, a senior Iranian official tweeted: Undoubtedly the Israeli occupying regime will pay a heavy price.
Enter one final variable to the calculus, Benjamin Netanyahu himself. Even some Israelis questioned whether he wants to extend the fighting to delay any political reckoning for the October 7 attacks at home.
Jonathan Dekel-Chen's 35-year-old son was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7. He says Hamas and the Israeli leader don't truly want peace and the stalling only helps Netanyahu's political future.
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, SON HELD HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: I could find no legitimate reason other than to satisfy his domestic political partners to delaying any kind of progress, real progress.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:55:05]
SCIUTTO: Soon after the October 7th attacks, a senior Israeli intelligence official told me that Hamas leaders could no longer feel safe, Erin, anywhere in the world. And it appears that is turned out to be true with multiple strikes abroad, I will say, Erin, that if there is a potential silver lining, that there is some thought bought in Israel that by taking out senior Hamas and Hezbollah leadership, it might allow Netanyahu to claim some victory and then therefore move forward to some eventual ceasefire.
BURNETT: All right. Jim Sciutto. Thank you very much.
I'm just reading the Iranians sent to us. They're telling me. There could not have occurred without the authorization of the United States so we'll obviously see where this goes.
And more breaking news tonight as we speak, local Pennsylvania law enforcement are furious at the Secret Service and they are lashing out over the accusations that they were responsible for security failures that allowed that gunman to try to assassinate Donald Trump. And they are speaking out tonight, and they are warning that this could happen again.
And Danny Freeman has the interview that you'll see first OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATHAN BIBLE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, BEAVER COUNTY, PA: It's extremely misleading to the American people. I mean, it makes our guys look incompetent.
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, local law enforcement from western Pennsylvania, pushing back hard against the U.S. Secret Service, who blamed them for not stopping a gun coming from shooting Trump.
RONALD L. ROWE JR., U.S. SECRET SERVICE ACTING DIRECTOR: We assumed that the state and locals had it. We made an assumption that there was going to be uniform presence out there, that there would be sufficient eyes to cover that, that there was going to be counter-sniper teams in the AGR building. And I can assure you that we're not going to make that mistake again.
FREEMAN: Detective Pat Young leads the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit, which had a sniper in the AGR building on July 13.
The acting Secret Service director essentially said we assumed that the local guys on the ground had control of this situation and we're not going to make that mistake again. What do you hear when you hear that comment?
PATRICK YOUNG, CHIEF DETECTIVE & EMERGENCY SERVICE UNIT COMMANDER, BEAVER COUNTY, PA: I hear that the acting Secret Service director has no faith in local law enforcement and we have always consider ourselves partners in the mission of the Secret Service. However, that statement really hurts those relationships.
FREEMAN: Detective Young and Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible emphatic that their men followed Secret Service orders.
BIBLE: So to me, you're talking about a building that was 150 yards away with a clear line of sight to the stage and for you to just say, well, the local guys have it. Everything that was done there by any of the local guys was done at the direction of the Secret Service.
FREEMAN: The two local law enforcement leaders specifically took offense when acting director of the Secret Service, Ronald Rowe suggested all the local snipers had to do was look out the window.
ROWE: I'm not saying that they should have neutralized him but if they had just held their post and looked left, maybe -- it's a lot of maybes, Senator --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of maybe, but --
FREEMAN: What's your reaction to that? Should one of your snipers look left? Was it that simple?
YOUNG: It was absolutely not that simple. And the first thing that comes to mind is that we have not had any contact with Secret Service since -- actually since the last election cycle. The acting director to say that this is where our guys were and this is what they seem is a misrepresentation to the American people. We were never asked what we seen or where we were from Secret Service.
FREEMAN: Detective Young and D.A. Bible says this image presented by the Secret Service to Congress is misleading. They say it reflects an angle their snipers did not have, and that their sniper was here at the far end of the AGR building looking straight out towards the crowd.
YOUNG: Their views in no way could have seen crooks without pushing their hands outside the window and looking back. The videos and the exhibits presented to Congress are purely wrong.
FREEMAN: Now, the concern is looking forward as President Trump announced he's planning another rally in Butler County.
Can you confidently say that something like this will not happen again, if that happens?
YOUNG: I cannot say that. At this point, me, along with the I'm sure the majority of the American people, have many questions as to what and how the Secret Service does their job. For every thing that they say that they did wrong, there's a but and that but fall -- is usually assigning blame to the local law enforcement or state police.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREEMAN (on camera): Erin, now, I will say these men say, of course, they will help out with any other rallies if they are asked, but they did acknowledge that confidence and trust they have with that working relationship with Secret Service, it definitely has been fractured.
Last thing, I'll note, Erin, the Secret Service declined to comment for our story this evening -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Danny, thank you very much.
And thanks so much to all of you as always for being with us. Anderson starts now.
