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One World with Zain Asher

Harris Accepts Democratic Presidential Nomination; New Phase Of 2024 Presidential Election Is Now Underway; Sources: Israel Offers New Proposal For Philadelphi Corridor; Secret Service Personnel On Admin Duty Over Trump Shooting; Harris And Trump Focus On Swing States As Race Heats Up; Virginia Mom Has Been Missing For Over Three Weeks; Beyonce Rumors Swept Through The Convention Hall; Aired 12:00-1:00p ET

Aired August 23, 2024 - 12:00:00   ET

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

[12:00:29]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: All right. History has been made. What now?

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: ONE WORLD starts right now.

Kamala Harris is officially the Democratic nominee for president. How can she keep the momentum going? We'll discuss this hour.

ASHER: Also ahead, making the grade they were undecided before, how are they feeling after the convention?

GOLODRYGA: And later, the question on everyone's mind. We were robbed, man. We're in the world.

ASHER: We're ghosted.

GOLODRYGA: Where was Beyonce last night?

ASHER: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.

GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching ONE WORLD.

Well, the party is over, and now a new phase of the 2024 presidential election is underway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of

America.

(CROWD CHEERING)

ASHER: In a speech that rallied the crowd and promised a new way forward, Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic nomination in Chicago on

Thursday night and talked about the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny.

And she delivered a searing rebuke of her Republican rival, Donald Trump, reminding voters of the, quote, chaos and calamity when he was in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences -- but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely

serious.

Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol where they assaulted law enforcement

officers.

Consider what he intends to do if we give him power again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Harris summed it up by delivering this simple message to Americans.

You don't have to live like this anymore.

The vice president also got personal, recounting her childhood, her experience growing up as the daughter of two immigrants, and also fondly

recalling important lessons she learned from her mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it. Do something about it.

She also taught us and never do anything half-assed. And that is a direct quote. A direct quote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: For four days this week, the Democratic Convention all but pushed Donald Trump to the sidelines of the national conversation.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And last night, he tried to reclaim the spotlight even as she was delivering her nomination, except in speech.

Trump was insulting Kamala Harris in all caps, real time rampage on his social media platform. He posted dozens of times throughout the speech. And

when Harris was finished speaking, Trump immediately called into Fox News, where he again continued to lash out at the vice president.

Here's how one conservative outspoken critic who spoke at the convention last night described the former president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM KINZINGER, FORMER UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: The Republican Party is no longer conservative. It has switched its allegiance from the

principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself.

Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: That's our friend, Adam Kinzinger.

GOLODRYGA: He knocked it out of the park too.

ASHER: He really did a great job.

All right. CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us live now from Phoenix, Arizona.

One of the things I want to start with is the fact that, you know, Donald Trump's counter programming this week also included a fundraiser for

January 6th defendants, which really feeds into this idea that Democrats are talking about, this idea that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy.

I also want to talk about what's happening where you are, because you've got Trump and RFK Jr. both in Arizona. Just walk us through what we can

expect in terms of a possible endorsement from RFK Jr. to Donald Trump.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN REPORTER: OK. So where we are right now, we're in Phoenix, Arizona. And right behind me in a mere number of hours, RFK Jr. is

expected to take the stage and suspend his campaign.

[12:05:08]

And what we've been told is that they're high level talks between Donald Trump's team, as well as RFK's orbit, on getting that RFK endorsement for

Donald Trump.

And as you mentioned, Donald Trump is also going to be just outside of Phoenix later tonight. He's going to be at a rally, giving remarks.

So the question is whether or not this is the time that RFK actually issues an endorsement for former President Donald Trump.

Now, one of the things you might be asking yourself is, does this even matter, particularly given the fact that RFK has had a pretty plagued by

controversy campaign.

At one point, he admitted that he had a parasitic brain worm that died in his head and caused brain fog.

We know that he also admitted that he left a bear cub carcass in Central Park.

At one point, he'd sat for an interview with Vanity Fair and evaded questions on allegations that he sexually assaulted his nanny.

So, why exactly would someone want RFK's endorsement?

Well, the truth is that he has built up a small but pretty significant base, a base that could determine the election. And that's what essentially

Donald Trump's team would be banking on and why they would want that endorsement.

I want to particularly point to the state of Arizona, where we are right now. This is a critical state to both sides. You're going to see them here

all the time.

And RFK here was polling in recent "New York Times" polling at six percent. Harris was at 45 percent and Trump at 42 percent.

Do they believe that if RFK was to endorse Trump, he's going to get the full six percent? No. But there is some belief that if they can get any of

that in a race that is bound to be determined by razor thin margins, that it could help put Donald Trump over the edge.

And to be clear, it's not just in Arizona nationwide, RFK is polling at roughly five percent. So Donald Trump's team is really looking at this

seriously.

There was also some concern at a certain point that RFK was going to draw voters away from Donald Trump. Again, thinking about those razor thin

margins, this would hope for them to put those votes back in Donald Trump's pocket.

GOLODRYGA: It seemed, Kristen, that this was more of a challenge and concern for both the Republican and Democratic campaigns when Joe Biden was

still at the top of the democratic ticket.

Nonetheless, there had been reports that RFK Jr. was actually shopping, perhaps even for cabinet positions with the Kamala Harris campaign team as

well in return for his endorsement of her.

What more do we know about that? And are we now, if in fact it is true, that we see him endorse Donald Trump? Could we see the two of them together

on the campaign trail?

HOLMES: Well, I think it's likely you'd see them together tonight at that rally in Phoenix if he does, in fact, endorse him. And I do think it would

be probably very likely you'd see him on the campaign trail in various areas like Arizona, where they think it could give Donald Trump a real

boost.

Now, when it comes to RFK shopping around endorsements, one thing to note is that I asked Donald Trump specifically if he would be interested or even

thought about giving an administration role to RFK. And he essentially said, yes, he had thought about it.

Now, overall, I will say that, yes, when Joe Biden was in the race, it was a huge concern for both Democrats and Republicans. But there was still some

concern, even among Democrats, that he could siphon votes away from Kamala Harris.

And you're hearing some democratic grumbling today, even, that Democrats didn't do enough to try and garner RFK support or his base, that that could

help Kamala Harris in the long run.

Obviously, we don't know how this is going to play out. And even Donald Trump's team doesn't know. When you're talking to them on background about

how this potential endorsement would work, no one is saying, OK, if he endorsed us, we'd get immediate six percent.

They are just talking about handfuls of votes here and there. But again, we're talking about an election that right now feels like it could be

determined by handful of votes.

And so that is why you were seeing so much effort from Donald Trump's team around this.

And I do want to note one thing. They have been very coy. Generally, they're, you know, talk a lot about what is exactly is happening with this

endorsement, not going beyond this idea that they are just in high-level talks.

And that could be because RFK has likely talked to both sides and they want to make sure that this is 100 percent before they get out there.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. We'll be watching closely.

Well, our next guest says policy isn't going to win the 2024 presidential election. Tom Nichols is a staff writer for "The Atlantic." And he's also

the author of, "Our Worst Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy."

Welcome to the program, Tom. It's been a while since we've seen you.

So, why do you think this election won't be policy-based? And given that, do you think it's wrong in this next 71 days or so, 73 days of a truncated

campaign to have either candidate? But I'm assuming that you're specifically talking about Kamala Harris to really focus on specifics now.

[12:10:05]

TOM NICHOLS, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Well, first of all, most campaigns are not about detailed policy. That's kind of one of the great myths of

American politics that the voters are out there saying, well, as soon as I see a white paper, you know, about highway infrastructure, I'm going to

make up my mind.

You know, it's just not true. And we've known this both in practical experience and actual research for decades that voters make a big decision.

They say one candidate goes in a kind of general direction, the other candidate goes in a different general direction, and then I'll leave it to

them to work out the details when they govern.

But in this case, because Donald Trump is the kind of candidate who really defies talking about policy. This is -- he is very much a post-policy

candidate. He runs on feelings and emotions and anger and revenge.

And his party, which is my former party, no longer functions like a political party. It functions like a cult of personality. And you can't

have an argument about policy with a cult of personality.

Remember that the Republicans in 2020 didn't even bother writing a new platform. They just said, whatever Donald Trump says is our platform.

There's no point in asking Kamala Harris to say, wow, if that's the case, then, you know, here's my plan for, you know, housing -- you know,

increasing housing starts in 2026. That's a -- that's a -- that's a fool's errand to try to make that kind of argument. And I'm glad she avoided it.

ASHER: I mean, you're absolutely right. I mean, it's certainly in these days, it's less about policy. It's much more about character and overall

values. I mean, I'm from the U.K. and I was talking to Bianna yesterday about this, just sort of seeing Kamala Harris and her husband essentially

talk about how they met, their first date and how that went.

In the U.K., nobody would ever care about that. It's much more about the actual policy of the prime minister -- of the potential prime minister.

Just in terms of, you know, personality and character, we're going to see all of that on full display in a couple of weeks at the debate.

Just walk us through what Kamala Harris needs to say or not say what she needs to do or not do on that stage. That is obviously a major inflection

point in order to sort of maintain this momentum, do you think?

NICHOLS: Well, let me link this back to what you were saying about character and elections in the U.K.

Remember, that when Americans elect a president, we're stuck for four years. You know, in the U.K., you can keep having elections, you know,

every six weeks if you're going to vote.

GOLODRYGA: For better or worse, right.

NICHOLS: You know, I mean, if you don't like the prime minister, you know, as we've seen in the past few years, you know, that -- just wait a moment

and you'll have a new one.

And so character -- there's nothing wrong with running on character and personal virtue because you're entrusting this person for four years with a

huge amount of power, including becoming the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and holding the codes of the nuclear arsenal.

There's -- I think we've devalued the notion that somehow it's not enough or that we think it's not enough to say, look, this is not a good person.

This is not a person you want to trust with that much power in his hands for four years.

And I think there's nothing wrong with that as a platform because again, we have a system of separated powers. Congress is going to have and say -- you

know, Kamala Harris can say, or Donald Trump, for that matter, can send whatever they want from behind the podium, but the House and the Senate are

going to weigh in and have their part in it.

And anybody who promises things ahead of a presidential term is really just issuing a wish list when it comes to policy.

Character, I would argue, it's fundamental to an American election. And we've lost that over the years. And I'm glad to see it back. At the debate,

I think that's the -- that's one of the things that she needs to do.

Well, I think Joe Biden's huge mistake during his debate was that Donald Trump was being Donald Trump. He is a terrible person in every way. And Joe

Biden was talking about Pell grants and climate change targets and, you know, interest rates. That's not why people tuned into that debate. They

want to see what kind of people -- they have to live with this person for the next four years.

What kind of people are these? And I think Harris should continue doing what she did at the convention, which is to say, I am a perfectly normal

person. I am a competent, incredible alternative here to become president of the United States.

[12:15:00]

I am not going to terrify you for four years. I'm not going to make you dread turning on the T.V. or opening your phone for the next four years.

And I think the most important thing she can do --

ASHER: Or getting those Twits or less.

NICHOLS: Yes. Most importantly, she can do is let Donald Trump be Donald Trump.

GOLODRYGA: Tom as a former Republic --

NICHOLS: Go.

GOLODRYGA: As a former Republican, I'm just wondering how you felt this week seeing what many described, not only as a Democratic Party instilling

a vision of joy and hope for the future, but also patriotism.

The amount of times you heard USA, USA cheered throughout that auditorium. Every single night the number of American flags, I mean that is something

that we typically would see at a Republican convention.

Peggy Noonan even noted that today in "The Wall Street Journal" that she seemed to say that the Democrats effectively stole one of the talking

points here for Republicans traditionally and that is this theme of patriotism.

NICHOLS: You know, it's interesting. I remember the 1984 convention where Jeane Kirkpatrick gave a speech where she excoriated liberals for blaming

America first. That was the chant. She said they blame America first.

And now the parties have completely flipped those scripts. The Democrats are these kind of unapologetically, you know, pro-American flag waivers.

And I think that's wonderful. I wish both parties would do that.

But the Republicans are now the sort of dour, dark, you know, we need to get away from our allies and NATO sucks and Russia is not so bad. And I

mean it really is a remarkable self-own by the Republicans that they have allowed the Democrats to become the party of foreign policy, the party of

national security, the party of American patriotism.

But again, all of that is an emanation of the problem that the Republicans are no longer a party. They're just -- they're basically just an appendage

of Donald Trump and his narcissistic problems.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. I mean it does appear that Donald Trump has a theme of always knocking on America and criticizing America except for when he's in

office. And what we heard this week was how exceptional this country is.

Yes, there continues to be work that needs to be done. But the fact that a woman who is the daughter of two immigrants can now be the Democratic

Party's nominee speaks volumes about this country and you see the pride that not only resonated from Kamala Harris, but from the room as I think

there must have been, you know, a million plus American flags flown throughout this week.

Tom Nichols, good to see you. Thanks so much for your time.

ASHER: Thank you. Thank you, Tom.

NICHOLS: Thank you.

ASHER: All right. The White House says the talks in Cairo are, so far, constructive as mediators try once again to broker Gaza ceasefire and

hostage release deal.

A top White House envoy, Brett McGurk, is leading Israeli and Egyptian officials. And CIA director, Bill Burns, has also arrived in Cairo to join

the talks.

ASHER: A diplomat and an Israeli source say that Egypt is set to deliver Israel's latest proposal on the Philadelphi Corridor after Israel proposed

a revision plan on Thursday. The narrow stretch of land along the border between Gaza and Egypt has become a sticking point to reach the deal.

CNN State Department reporter Jennifer Hansler joins us live now from Washington, D.C.

So what more do we know, Jennifer?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Zain and Bianna, there are a lot of moving pieces at play here. You have this bridging

proposal that the U.S. put forward last week that is meant to close the gaps between Israel and Hamas. And it is based on past proposals that have

been put forward.

At the same time, we have these talks that are going on in Cairo with Burns, with McGurk, aimed at doing the implementation of this deal. That

means moving it from paper to actuality. How do you get these plans actually in place?

And we've heard from U.S. officials that they are looking for commitments from both sides, from the Netanyahu government, as well as with Hamas on

how this moves forward. And they are calling on both sides to be flexible and actually uphold those commitments.

Now one of the critical sticking points is that Philadelphi Corridor. And we've heard from our colleagues, Jeremy Diamond and Alex Marquardt, that

the Israeli government is putting forward a new proposal to Hamas that reduces the number of troops that they have in that corridor that is on the

Egyptian-Gazan border and the number of outposts in an attempt to perhaps get this deal underway. Whether Hamas accepts that proposal will be key in

whether they show up to these high-level talks this weekend.

But that's just one of many sticking points that we are aware of. There's also the question of the number of hostages that are released each week and

which prisoners are released. So there is still a lot to be done in these talks in Cairo, guys.

[12:20:11]

ASHER: All right. Jennifer Hansler live for us there. Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, the Secret Service agents will not -- several Secret Service agents will not be in the office anytime soon. We'll look at what

action the agency has taken after last month's shooting at Donald Trump's rally in Pennsylvania.

ASHER: Also ahead, a husband appears in court as a Virginia mother goes missing for more than three weeks. Details for you ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: All right. We have new details about the fallout from last month's assassination attempt on Donald Trump's life.

GOLODRYGA: The Secret Service has placed several people from its Pittsburgh office and one member of Trump's security detail on administrative duties.

That's according to a source who adds that they will also have to work from home.

ASHER: The entire agency is under scrutiny right now, after a gunman, everyone remembers this moment, fired eight rounds at the former president,

piercing his ear. You saw him basically fall to the ground right afterwards, and that whole scene left one spectator, as we know, dead.

GOLODRYGA: Zachary Cohen has the details on the story and joins us now from Washington.

So, Zachary Cohen, administrative duty is not fired, right? So -- or suspended. So, clearly an investigation is ongoing, but it seems at least

from preliminary reports, there's a lot of disturbing information that authorities have already found.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, guys. I would characterize this as pre-action. Really, the acting director of the Secret

Service, Ronald Rowe, has faced immense pressure from lawmakers on Capitol Hill and outside advisors to take steps to discipline members of the Secret

Service who were involved in the planning and the response to the shooting at Trump's Butler Rally on July 13th.

And this is just sort of an intermediary step. He is, as you said, not firing these individuals, but placing them on administrative duties or

doing them to work from home. These are members of the Pittsburgh field office.

And also one member of Donald Trump's security detail who was involved in that advanced planning for the rally. So, clearly trying to take some sort

of a concrete step in the direction of holding individuals accountable for the security failures that day, but not taking the ultimate step until this

investigation wraps up.

And until they identify whether or not many individuals violated Secret Service protocol or, you know, really dropped the ball in a way that

deserves firing. So, we'll have to wait and see how that concludes.

[12:25:05]

As we mentioned, there's multiple inquiries underway, including an independent review by a board put together by the parent -- or parent

agency oversee Secret Service, DHS. There's an internal review being conducted by the Secret Service itself. And a congressional task force

that's going to travel to Butler next week, going to visit the rally side and really marking this jumpstart of their investigation into the security

failures.

So we'll have to see ultimately what comes from all of that. But Ronald Rowe, remember, he's only in the job of acting director because his former

boss, Kimberly Cheatle, who was the director at the time of the rally, was forced to resign.

She appeared on Capitol Hill and really didn't answer any of the questions from lawmakers, which was kind of the final -- the final step for most of

them. Bipartisan calls for her resignation.

Now Ronald Rowe facing similar pressure to hold individuals in Secret Service accountable.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Zachary Cohen, thank you so much.

ASHER: All right. Still to come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMARA AJAGU, KAMALA HARRIS' GRANDNIECE: Everybody on the -- everybody over here, say Kama.

(CROWD CHANTING "KAMA")

LEELA AJAGU, KAMALA HARRIS' GRANDNIECE: Everybody over here, say La.

(CROWD CHANTING "LA")

KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTRESS: Together.

(CROWD CHANTING "KAMALA")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Literally, my -- I think my favorite moment --

GOLODRYGA: Adorable.

ASHER: -- of the week.

How Kamala Harris' grandnieces stole the show on the last night of the Democratic National Prevention.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:07]

GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher.

In a historic moment, Kamala Harris, the first woman of color, to lead a major presidential party ticket, officially accepted the Democratic Party's

nomination. That was on Thursday night.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Harris used policy ideas and personal stories to spell out clear differences between her path forward and the one being offered by

Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: My early memories of our parents together are very joyful ones. A chance to chart a new way forward.

I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations.

Freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness, and endless possibilities.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Harris has no major events planned today other than returning to Washington, but the sprint, of course, to Election Day has begun, 75 days.

Seventy-four, I believe, left to go.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Early voting begins if you can believe it in just a few weeks in some states.

And last night, CNN's Gary Tuchman sat down with some undecided voters to see if Harris' speech had changed their minds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Like I said, none of you were ready to make a commitment to any candidate in November.

Please raise your hand right now if you're now ready to make a commitment after today.

Wow. I'm just kind of surprised by what -- we haven't rehearsed this. I'm going to make that very clear. What does of this?

Seven of you are now ready.

Scott?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm going to vote for Kamala Harris.

TUCHMAN: Andy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Kamala Harris. Yes.

TUCHMAN: Dana (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I'm voting for her also.

TUCHMAN: Sean (ph)? Sean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Kamala.

TUCHMAN: Sabrina?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kamala.

TUCHMAN: Patrick?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kamala.

TUCHMAN: Brian?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump.

TUCHMAN: Trump. And final, Lindsey (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still probably not voting.

TUCHMAN: So probably you don't like either of them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Those voters are from Pennsylvania. One of the most important swing states.

And we want to talk about more swing states where elections are won or lost, obviously, in the United States.

Joining us live now is Steve Harrison, a political reporter from North Carolina Public Radio. And also Ronald Hansen, national reporter --

national political reporter, rather, for "The Arizona Republic."

Ronald, let me just start with you because both parties really do have their eyes on Arizona. And you look at some of the things that Kamala

Harris talked about in her speech last night, this idea of being tough on immigration.

Obviously, she is the daughter of immigrants, but she made it very clear that she's tough on immigration. And this idea that she does support the

bipartisan border security bill.

Just how well will those comments land with Arizonans, do you think?

RONALD HANSEN, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, ARIZONA REPUBLIC: Yes. So that bipartisan border security bill was negotiated in principle with one of

Arizona's senators, Kyrsten Sinema. So it's something that there's already been some amount of buy-in in Arizona.

We have another U.S. Senate race that the Democrat in that race endorsed that bill. President Biden endorsed that bill.

I think Kamala Harris put herself really in the center of where a lot of support. As shown in the polls and those other races is that. So she's on

good standing in that area.

GOLODRYGA: And, Steve, it is notable that prior to Biden dropping out of the race, his path towards victory was really narrow and it consisted of

winning in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

And now just looking at the polls, it appears that Kamala Harris has more breathing room. In addition to those states, she could possibly even lose

there if she does win in others, like Arizona, in Georgia and North Carolina.

And all of them seem to be more or less in play right now. North Carolina, specifically is what we're talking about, given that your state's governor

introduced Kamala Harris last night. Joe Biden put a lot of money and focus on winning that state and he wasn't making any inroads.

I'm wondering what do you think it is about Kamala Harris and what voters there have seen in the last four weeks that has given her an opening?

STEVE HARRISON, POLITICAL REPORTER, WFAE: Yes. Like you said, the Biden campaign had put a lot of money and time into North Carolina, but there

just wasn't a lot of energy on the ground. They were here, but there just wasn't any excitement. And in the last month, that has really turned around

in North Carolina.

For the first time in a long time, more people are registering as Democrats than Republicans. That's a big change. A lot of people are volunteering.

[12:35:01]

The Harris campaign also, I think, believes that with Kamala Harris potentially being the second African-American president, that can energize

North Carolina's black voters. About one in five voters in the state are African-American.

In recent elections, they have lagged. They're turning out his lags. And they want to see that return to the old Obama days in 2008 and 2012.

ASHER: Ronald, we just had on Tom Nichols, a staff writer for "The Atlantic," who is essentially saying that elections these days are much

more about character, about energy than they are about policy.

He was saying that one of the mistakes he thought that President Biden made during the last debate, the infamous last debate, is that while Trump went

on these attacks, and obviously Trump is much more about the cult of personality, he started talking about policy, about Pell Grants, et cetera,

when people were much more focused on character.

Do you think that the swing states, in particular, like, for example, Arizona, do you think personality and character, obviously, we saw so much

joy, so much enthusiasm this week? Do you think that will matter more than actual policy come November?

HANSEN: Yes. I think it depends on what you want to quantify as personality and such. But I think the basic takeaway was that the vice president left

people feeling like they saw boys, they saw someone who could be president. And it's about whether you think that she is the kind of person who shared

your basic values.

Did she do that? I think for a lot of folks, she did. The real test is going to be how she looks in contrast to Donald Trump when they debate.

That will be the next big measure. I think she's done a lot to help herself look apart and now comes the biggest test in some ways.

GOLODRYGA: And that split screen of the next debate is really notable, because as we've mentioned for the past year, poll after poll showed there

was a consensus among Americans, regardless of which party they belong to. And that is that they were not happy with either Donald Trump as a

candidate or Joe Biden as a candidate.

Now we've seen a change, and many are attributing just the bump that Kamala Harris has had in the past month as that being one of the major factors

too, that now you have a younger candidate, someone who's different in at least one party.

And, Steve, the focus is now on Trump being the candidate who was, you know, president in the past. He's now going to be the oldest candidate

running for president with Joe Biden out of the race.

How are Republicans in the state of North Carolina? I mean, I know it ultimately comes down to what Donald Trump says and does.

But how are Republicans there trying to focus on course correcting in the 73 days remaining?

HARRISON: Yes. You know, famously in the Republican primaries, when South Carolina governor Nikki Haley challenged Trump, she said that the general

election would be won by the first party that discarded or changed their 80-year-old nominee. That has happened, of course, on the Democratic side.

And we've seen the energy from that.

In North Carolina, I think there's a sense among Republicans that this is still a slightly red-leaning state. They feel like that they have enough

voters. That even though it's a purple state, it's very close that the numbers are with them. They eked out a victory last time of 73,000 votes.

They think there's enough people there.

Again, we've had in North Carolina, a lot of new people come. And many of them are conservative. Many of them are retirees who've come from other

places. So they feel like that in the end, they will pull out North Carolina.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Many of them that have come are young too and going to really tech centered areas that are fast developing growing cities there

as well. So North Carolina, indeed both and Arizona, will be fascinating to watch.

Steve Harrison, Ronald Hansen, thank you.

ASHER: Thank you both.

All right. For the most part, the enduring images and big moments from last night of the Democratic Convention were, of course, from Harris' speech.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. But the candidate herself was almost upstaged by her adorable grandnieces who took center stage alongside actors, Kerry

Washington, to offer a little lesson in how Kamala is pronounced.

ASHER: No excuses anymore, guys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WASHINGTON: It's come to my attention that there are some folks who struggle or pretend to struggle with the proper pronunciation of our future

president's name. So hear me out. Confusion is understandable. Disrespect is not.

[12:40:01]

So tonight, we are going to help everyone get it right. Here to help me are some very special guests.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Thank you, ladies. Can you tell us your names?

A. AJAGU: Hello, everybody. My name's Amara.

L. AJAGU: And my name is Leela, her little sister.

WASHINGTON: And what are you here to do?

A. AJAGU: To teach you how to say our auntie's name.

WASHINGTON: OK. So, how do you pronounce it?

A. AJAGU: First you say comma like a comma in a sentence.

L. AJAGU: Then you say la like la, la, la, la, la.

A. AJAGU: Everybody over here say Kama.

(CROWD CHANTING "KAMA")

L. AJAGU: Everybody over here say La.

(CROWD CHANTING "LA")

WASHINGTON: Together.

(CROWD CHANTING "KAMALA")

For president.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Comma like in a sentence.

ASHER: Oh, I love that.

GOLODRYGA: Right?

ASHER: And by the way, what was most adorable was that those two little girls were too young to realize how nervous they should be, speaking in

front of thousands of -- did you see the size of that audience?

GOLODRYGA: They were -- they stole the show, though. That was a fantastic moment, adorable little girls.

Well, still to come for us, a look back at some of the best moments, that was one of them, from the Democratic National Convention, including -- this

was my favorite. High energy roll call vote.

Just say what is.

(MUSIC)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GOLODRYGA: Well, police in Virginia are investigating the case of a mother who has gone missing for three weeks.

ASHER: Her husband, Naresh Bhatt, was seen taken away in handcuffs outside the couple's home Thursday morning. He was in court on Friday for an

arraignment.

GOLODRYGA: He's been charged with concealing a body in connection with the disappearance of his 28-year-old wife, Mamta.

Authorities say the couple's infant daughter is being looked after by a caregiver.

ASHER: CNN's Jean Casarez joins us live now from New York.

Jean, obviously this is a really painful story to -- my heart just broke reading it this morning.

What more do we know at this point?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's so much we do know, but there is a lot that we don't know.

First of all, Mamta Kafle Bhatt is the mother of a one-year-old, and she worked at the University of Virginia Medical Science Center in the surgery

unit.

And if we look at the timeline here, because sometimes that's the best way to look at it, on July 27th, that was the last time that she reported for

work.

[12:45:11]

On July 28th, she spoke with a friend, but after that, radio silence.

Now, her husband told authorities that he was at the dinner table with her on July 31st, but according to the complaint, and remember, the charge is

concealment of a body. He is not charged with murder at this point, because this is the evidence they have at this point. And to our knowledge, they

have not found a body.

But what he said was that last time he saw her was the 31st of July, they say in the complaint, they believe she was murdered by him, her husband, on

the 30th of July.

Where her friends from the Nepalese community have gathered around her, they have spoken with law enforcement, they're doing everything they can.

And what is significant here is her mother is in Nepal, and she is working very hard to get an emergency visa to get out here to the United States, to

Virginia, because that little one-year-old is in the custody of the state, and the next step will be a foster family, and the mother, the grandmother,

wants to be here to get at least temporary custody of that baby.

But the fact is now they do not believe she's alive, but yet murder charges have not been filed, but her husband is being held without bond right now.

So we are trying to contact a defense lawyer, but I'm sure authorities also are trying to find out where she or that body might be.

ASHER: One of the most depressing stories I've heard in a while. I really hope the grandmother gets that visa so she can take care of that baby.

Jean Casarez live for us there. Thank you so much.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

ASHER: We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Amazing video out of Florida where two waterspouts were seen swirling off the coast on Thursday. Waterspouts are essentially tornadoes

over water that can be really dangerous, especially if they come ashore.

GOLODRYGA: In addition to these twin funnels, a smaller third funnel could be seen forming just to the right.

The Palm Beach Police Department posted this video saying that it's fortunate they were seen from a distance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:50:15]

ASHER: Bring me back to my, not college days, my 20s. My 20s for sure. That is, of course, Atlanta's Lil Jon delighting the crowd at the DNC when he

performed during the state's roll call music out undoubtedly a highlight at this year's convention.

GOLODRYGA: And this is DJ Cassidy as he spun a special song for each state and territory, awarding its delegates to Kamala Harris on Tuesday, turning

the roll call into the ultimate dance party.

CNN spoke to him earlier about that performance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DJ CASSIDY, GRAMMY-NOMINATED PRODUCER AND PERFORMER: I wanted to be as collaborative as possible, not only as collaborative as possible with the

convention producers and the Democratic National Committee, but with the states, especially those representatives of the state who were going to be

there in person.

So I acted really as the source of inspiration. I immediately came up with a master list of songs for every state and it was really collaborative.

And I was really eager to get input from the states and from the representatives who were going to be on site in the arena.

And after all was said and done, and we had curated this epic 57-song playlist, it was my job to put the pieces of the puzzle together and form

this epic emotional tapestry of music that would work together, not only musically, but emotionally. And it all comes down to emotion.

That to me was the most important thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: DJ Cassidy there.

Well, listen, you may have heard that we were ghosted last night by Beyonce. She stood us up. Another major music moment never ended up

happening.

Internet rumors that Beyonce would make an appearance at the convention Thursday night, turned out actually not to be true.

GOLODRYGA: And Beyonce's song "Freedom" has been an unofficial anthem of the Harris campaign, but the pop superstar never showed up in person.

CNN entertainment correspondent, Elizabeth Wagmeister, has been tracking this one for us.

Listen, it wasn't just a few people that were spreading gossip, Elizabeth. There were some well-sourced reporters that were stating that this was

basically fact, and we should expect to see Beyonce perform.

And I'm wondering, you know, for what you're hearing, a lot of this is attributed to TMZ, but how did things get blown into such a, I don't know,

out of proportion, that up until the last minute when Kamala came out, people were still wondering where Beyonce was?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I will tell you, the beehive is not happy today.

And I will say that we were not among the reporters who said that this was definitely happening, but we did report as recently as yesterday that there

was intense speculation. I did have a lot of sources on the ground who were telling me we hear she's coming. Now we hear that she's not coming. She

might be coming. Is she performing? Is she going to introduce Kamala?

The rumors were just running wild, but we do hear from sources close to the campaign that some people didn't believe that she was going to show up.

Then after TMZ came out with this report, which ended up being false, they said that she is definitely coming. Then I heard directly from Beyonce's

rep when I reached out and here's what she told me, a brief but concrete statement. She said, quote, she was never scheduled to be in Chicago.

Now she first gave a similar statement to "The Hollywood Reporter." That's when people basically realized that this was not happening.

But to your point, Beyonce, obviously, is backing Vice President Harris. She gave her signoff to use her song "Freedom," which we did hear last

night as the Vice President was coming on the stage and as she was exiting.

So the aura of Beyonce was there, but no, Queen Bey did not show up.

ASHER: Not the physical body, no.

So just in terms of your favorite moments, because this was obviously yes about politics, but it was also a lot about entertainment. I mean, you

know, the Oscars have -- it was Lisa that was speaking to yesterday. It was like the Oscars had nothing on the DNC this week.

Just talk to us about some of the celebrities we saw, obviously, Kerry Washington. Oprah was a crowd pleaser, for sure. Give us your take,

Elizabeth.

WAGMEISTER: And, you know, that's exactly right, is, you know, there was so much focus on Beyonce wasn't there. And was Taylor Swift going to show up?

But when you look at this entire week, it was really an embarrassment of riches when it comes to celebrities because there's a ton of Hollywood

enthusiasm for the Harris ticket.

You know, you were talking about Lil Jon right before this. That was absolutely a standout moment.

[12:55:00]

But right there, we're seeing Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn, and that was one of my personal favorite moments because I was a big fan of

"Scandal." And that show has such a huge fan base even years after it's off the air.

Now I had broken the news earlier in the week exclusively that Tony Goldwyn would serve as the MC of the DNC on Monday night and that Kerry would be

serving on Thursday night.

So there were celebrity hosts, there were celebrity performers. We also broke the news exclusively that Pink would be performing. She was

incredible.

Last night, we broke the news that John Legend would perform. The Chicks did the national anthem last night.

So really a ton of A-list celebrities who were there and I anticipate.

But as this campaign continues in the lead up to November, we will only see more.

GOLODRYGA: Only follow Elizabeth Wagmeister when it comes to any entertainment reporting because you've just been breaking news for us left,

right and center.

WAGMEISTER: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: I just have to say my favorite part, it was and I've been vocal about it, was the roll call. And I really think the reason is to me even

beyond the chants of USA and the American flags, I found it so patriotic to listen to all of these states. I believe these were all American songs, but

all of these states represented by some of our best music.

ASHER: She also loves Tupac. And so when it was California's turn, you know Beyonce was --

GOLODRYGA: Was more American than Tupac.

ASHER: That's Bianna. I just called you Beyonce, by the way. Bianna was not an insult.

Elizabeth, thank you so much.

WAGMEISTER: Thank you.

ASHER: That does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.

GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. "Amanpour" is next.

We are being music off the shore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END