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Quest Means Business
Democratic Support For Harris Grows After Biden Exits Race; Polls Show Tight Race Between Harris And Trump; Secret Service Chief Grilled In Congress; Delta's Tech Disruptions Continue; Gunman Kills At Least Six In Croatia Elderly Care Hom; Russian-American Journalist Sentenced To 6-1/2 Years In Russian Prison. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired July 22, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:02]
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: The clapping has begun. The Monday trading session coming to an end, and now, the closing bell ringing on Wall
Street. Thank you, sir.
As you look -- it is Domino's Pizza by the way. You would have thought, they might have actually turned up with a bit of pizza to help ring the
closing bell. Look at the way the market has gone. We are up, but we have been up peaks and troughs and valleys and mountains throughout the course
of the session, as we come to the close. One, two, that was a wimpy gavel from Domino's Pizza, but a strong day on the markets.
Those are the markets and these are the main events of the day. Democratic leaders will soon endorse Kamala Harris, CNN is led to believe.
Follow the money: The Harris campaign brings in tens of millions of dollars from donors and likely will inherit any of the Biden remaining funds.
And three days after a global tech glitch, most airlines are back in business, but Delta Air Lines is still canceling hundreds of flights.
Live from London. It is Monday, it is July the 22nd. I'm Richard Quest and I mean business.
Good evening.
Right now, Kamala Harris is on her way to meet campaign staff on the first official day of her campaign to be the presidential nominee for her party.
She has already secured the support of more than a thousand Democratic delegates, it includes dozens of lawmakers and key party leaders, such as
the Clintons and the former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Multiple sources are now telling us that the Democratic congressional leaders, Senator Chuck Schumer and Representative Hakeem Jeffries will also
endorse her as soon as later today. Jeffries spoke to reporters earlier. Without giving anything away, he said he was looking forward to sitting
down with the vice president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We owe debt of gratitude to President Biden for his tremendous leadership and I am also thankful for the incredible
partnership that he has had for the last three-and-a-half years with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Vice President Kamala Harris has excited the community. She has excited the House Democratic Caucus and she is exciting the country, and so I am
looking forward to sitting down with her in person in short order.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, that momentum is the result of a furious effort to coalesce support behind the vice president after the president announced he would
not run.
CNN's MJ Lee with more of the day's events.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Greetings everyone.
MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Vice President Kamala Harris stepping into the brightest political spotlight of her career.
HARRIS: Our President Joe Biden wanted to be here today.
LEE: Harris becoming a presidential candidate overnight following President Joe Biden's stunning announcement Sunday to drop out of the 2024 race.
In her first public appearance since the bombshell decision, Harris playing tribute to not only the president's first-term record --
HARRIS: Joe Biden's legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern history.
LEE: But also his character and his patriotism.
HARRIS: His honesty, his integrity, his commitment to his faith, and his family, his big heart and his love, deep love of our country.
LEE: With just 3.5 months until election day, Harris now running full steam ahead with Biden's full support and endorsement in hand.
Her first order of business, Sunday, reaching out to more than 100 individuals over the span of 10 hours, including Democratic elected
officials, labor leaders, and civil rights and advocacy leaders, a furious effort to quickly get the party to coalesce behind her in an unprecedented
political moment.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): We decided not to run and so I've decided to support Vice President Harris.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): I support Vice President Harris.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): When you're up against a convicted felon, who better than a former prosecutor to take it straight to Donald Trump.
REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): I fully support Kamala Harris. And in fact, she has been trained by the best.
LEE: Among those endorsing Harris, high-profile Democrats widely seen as having presidential aspirations of their own or ending up on a future
Harris vice presidential shortlist.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): The vice president is ready. She has my full endorsement. I am going to do everything I can to support her.
LEE: Biden's remarkable decision this weekend coming after he was presented with polling that showed his path to victory was basically non-existent. A
person familiar telling CNN, the decision, so closely held, even senior most advisers barely getting a heads up.
[16:05:05]
In a letter addressed to the American people, Biden writing: "It is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus
solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Now, we are of course, a business program. So we follow the money, and the money and support of Kamala Harris apparently is flooding in.
Major super PAC, Future Forward announced $150 million in commitments from Democratic donors. The campaign said it raised more than $80 million in the
24 hours since she announced she would seek the nomination.
There could be setbacks. The campaign may face legal challenges over whether it can use money donated while Joe Biden was at the top of the
ticket.
Kenneth Gross is a former associate general counsel at the Federal Election Commission, now senior political counselor at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer.
You have been asked this question, at least 20 times in the last 48 hours. Answer it again, sir can Kamala Harris use the funds from the Biden-Harris
Campaign? Can she inherit them?
KENNETH GROSS, FORMER ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL AT THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION: The simple answer is yes and that's because when this campaign
was originally registered, both Biden and Harris will put on the statement of organization and statement of candidacy with the Federal Election
Commission and that doesn't always happen. Sometimes a presidential candidate doesn't have a vice president from the get-go. But in this case,
Biden did, so she -- it is her committee as much as it is his committee.
And in fact, over the weekend, she put her name on top the same committee, no transfer, the actual same committee. So she gets to keep the money and
use it.
QUEST: But if I had donated -- assuming I donated money to Biden-Harris, I can't donate again above the federal individual limits, can I? Because for
the very same reason that she can inherit, I can't double dip.
GROSS: That's correct. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. So if you've maxed out, which is $3,300.00 to the Biden-Harris Campaign.
You're done for the primary period, which extends through the date of the convention and then you can give another $3,300.00 to the general. You can
do that now or you can wait. Either way, you'd have to -- the campaign can spend that money until the general election. We don't know for sure that
she will be the nominee.
QUEST: The spending of the money, the money that goes direct to the campaign versus the money that goes to PACs and super PACs, which is the
more important?
GROSS: The campaign money is more important for two reasons. One, that's the money that the campaign has absolute control over. If it goes to a
super PAC or in some sort of independent Political Action Committee, they can hope and probably rely on the fact that it will be spent in favor of
the candidacy, but it won't be the same control. Legally, they are not allowed to control it.
And secondly, under the federal communication rules, you get a lower rate for your TV time if it is coming from the campaign committee as opposed to
a PAC.
QUEST: Would you expect there to be litigation on any and all of these issues, particularly the question of the inheritance.
GROSS: Yes, I think I would be naive to say that there won't be some legal challenge. There has already been some rumblings that maybe she is not
entitled to these funds. This is my life's work and I don't see how they get to that conclusion, but it has never happened before. This is
unprecedented. So I don't have a case I can cite to you where it happened in this particular instance.
So it is open to interpretation, and as I said, I think this is the right legal answer, but it may be challenged and if it is, we will see what
happens.
QUEST: I guess, this is not strictly an FEC issue, but it is a sort of a general comment. The sheer amount of money that has going into this
election is just vast. I mean, when you think about what I've just been reporting, $150 million into a PAC, $80 million into Harris-Biden -- sorry,
well, now, you've got allegedly tens of millions coming from Elon Musk to Donald Trump through PACs. It's vast sums of money.
[16:10:04]
GROSS: Right. We are talking hundreds of millions of dollars that go at pouring into this election, not only to the campaign committee, to these
outside groups, based on a Supreme Court opinion, so-called super PACs that can spend unlimited money and collect unlimited money from billionaires and
you know, the stakes in this election are that high.
However, legally the question is one for the Federal Election Commission. They regulate the money and that is where the complaint would be
adjudicated.
Ultimately, it could make it to court, but that takes time.
QUEST: Kenneth Gross, I promise you I won't ask you again the inheritance question, at least not this election period. I am grateful for your
expertise in helping us today. Thank you, sir.
GROSS: Thank you.
QUEST: Now, wherever the money goes, recent polling does show a tight race between the vice president and the former President Donald Trump.
The CNN Poll of Polls show Trump averaging 48 percent while Harris averages 47. Now, all of those were conducted before she became the likely
Democratic nominee. They were the hypotheticals, if you will.
And a recent CNN poll found that the vice president has strong support amongst groups that are likely and key to the Democrats' success in
November.
Harry Enten is with me.
Harry, there is a difference, sir -- I've been reading up on this -- between a hypothetical poll and a reality poll when she actually becomes
the nominee. Explain.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, I mean, look, you're asking folks to sort of give their opinion on something that hasn't actually
occurred yet or wasn't necessarily likely to occur, and so it wouldn't be surprising to me if folks change their mind.
You know, one of the things I like doing, Richard, is looking underneath the hood of these polls. And I looked looking at the amount of people who
have no opinion or are neutral on a candidate and for Vice President Harris, that's near 20 percent of the American electorate, at least
according to recent polling data, that's significantly a higher percentage than it is for either Donald Trump or for Joe Biden.
And what that means is when we were looking at the Biden-Trump matchups, he didn't see any volatility whatsoever, which is basically a straight line,
maybe Trump gained a little bit after the debate, but it was just a consistent small Trump advantage.
Now, we've entered a new arena. Now we've entered a race in which you do have a candidate who many voters have not necessarily formed an opinion of.
And so you are asking these hypotheticals. Let's see what happens when you actually have to face this decision between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
The fact of the matter is, as your last guest was saying, is, were in an unprecedented territory. I honestly have no idea what is going to happen
and that's what kind of makes it very exciting for a person like myself.
QUEST: Well, exciting for all of us because thought 20-odd percent that you say don't have -- didn't have an opinion or a strong opinion. I mean, it
could go any which way or backwards.
No one can predict, which -- yet to the same time, you're hearing from the Democratic fundraisers and politicians that there is a new excitement,
which again, your polls will have to quantify at some point.
ENTEN: They will, but you know, you mentioned that $81 million, according to the Harris Campaign and I actually agree with them based upon my
research into it. That is the most amount of money ever raised by a presidential candidate in a single day, ever, ever. That screams
excitement.
You know, Donald Trump after he was convicted in New York and the day afterwards, a 24-hour period afterwards, raised a little bit more than $50
million and the Trump Campaign then claimed it was a record for a single day, and the Harris Campaign has raised a little bit less than $30 million
more than that.
So if we are talking about excitement and Democrats are saying that folks are excited for Harris, will have to see how it is among the broad
electorate. But when at least it comes to the Democratic base, where there had been a lack of excitement when it comes to Joe Biden, there is a ton of
excitement for Kamala Harris and of course, we will just have to wait and see whether or not that translate because at the end of the day, money
doesn't vote, people vote.
QUEST: Right. Now history -- I am going to go on a limb here, Harry.
ENTEN: Please.
QUEST: It cannot be the best judge because normally we would say the history of vice presidents immediately succeeding the president of which
they served has not been good. The number of them who have done it is actually relatively small, but this is different, isn't it? This isn't a
Bush-Reagan type of situation, this is somebody who has come completely out of left field in a sense, because the president stood down.
ENTEN: Yes, it's exactly right. You know, you mentioned Bush and Reagan, that was in fact the last time that in fact --
QUEST: Right.
ENTEN: -- you had a VP succeeding a president. I think in fact before that.
QUEST: Yes.
ENTEN: I think before that, the only person, a president who served two terms and then had a VP succeeding them, at least the most recent one is I
think Martin Van Buren in 1837.
QUEST: That's it.
ENTEN: If my memory -- thank you very much for that. And before that -- before that, I think it might have been, you know, you have to go all the
way back even further in the 19th Century. So this is just unprecedented stuff.
[16:15:07]
Perhaps the best sort of examples that you could kind of go to is like Lyndon Baines Johnson succeeding JFK after of course, he was assassinated.
Harry S. Truman succeeding FDR back in 1945 after FDR died in office.
And here is the key thing to remember, both of those guys actually were able to go out there and win another term on their own. So this idea that
you are floating out that a VP can't necessarily succeed a president, that history should be taken. We are going to take that history and we're going
to literally chuck it out the window because, my friend, once again, unprecedented times.
But the beautiful thing is, Mr. Quest, we get to live through it together.
QUEST: We do, and daily you and I will joust -- verbally joust I shall take it.
ENTEN: I like fencing. It's pretty good.
QUEST: You don't fence.
ENTEN: No, but you know, I did go to an elitist prep high school, so the fact is, there were plenty of fencers that I know.
QUEST: The sort of fences I know you wouldn't want to know. Thank you, sir. I'm very grateful, but they'll sell you a good watch. Thank you, sir. I'm
grateful.
Democrats and Republicans are calling for the head of the Secret Service to resign. Kimberly Cheatle's contentious testimony today on the attempted
assassination of Donald Trump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
QUEST: Both Republican and Democratic leaders in the US House of Representatives are calling for the head of the Secret Service to resign.
Kimberly Cheatle was grilled on Capitol Hill over the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. The director took responsibility for the
events of July 13, but repeatedly said ongoing investigations was stopping her from answering many of the committees' questions.
CNN's Paula Reid reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. MELANIE STANSBURY (D-NM): Madam Director, with all due respect, the answers that we've received here in this hearing today are completely
unsatisfactory.
PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Republican and Democratic members of Congress frustrated with the head of the Secret
Service, many calling for her immediate resignation.
REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): It is my firm belief Director Cheatle that you should resign.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): The director has lost the confidence of Congress at a very urgent and tender moment in the history of the country and we
need to very quickly move beyond this.
REID: There were still a lot of unanswered questions after a horrific assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump nine days ago.
[16:20:07]
KIM CHEATLE, US SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse of
our agency.
REID: Kimberly Cheatle facing bipartisan fury over her agency's failures.
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): Have you provided all audio and video recordings in your possession to this committee as we asked on July 15th, yes or no?
CHEATLE: I would have to get back to you.
MACE: That is a no. You're full of shit today. You're just being completely dishonest.
REID: Both Republicans and Democrats growing frustrated with Cheatle's lack of forthcoming information as she repeatedly stonewalled lawmakers
deferring to the ongoing FBI investigation.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): It has been 10 days since an assassination attempt on a former president of the United States,
regardless of party. There need to be answers.
REID: Cheatle acknowledged that Secret Service was told about a suspicious individual several times before the shooting.
REP. ANDY BIGGS (R-AZ): Why didn't they put a security hold on President Trump going on stage at that rally?
CHEATLE: At a number of our protective sites, there are suspicious individuals that are identified all the time. It doesn't necessarily mean
that they constitute a threat.
REID: She pledged to complete an internal investigation of the incident within 60 days and defended her position.
REP. VIRGINIA FOXX (R-NC): Do you think you are the best person in the country to head the Secret Service?
CHEATLE: I think that I am the best person to lead the Secret Service at this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Evan Perez is in Washington.
She managed to do something that almost nobody can. She manage to get both sides to agree on something that she should go or that she was -- I mean,
are they being fair? Could she have answered more than she did, bearing in mind the ongoing investigation?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes absolutely. She absolutely could have provided more answers.
As a matter of fact, Richard, there were questions that she declined to answer at the beginning of this five-and-a-half hours or so of grilling
that by the end, she just kind of gave up and started answering.
So for instance, one of the big questions was if the local law enforcement took a picture of this guy who was acting suspiciously near the
magnetometers, had a range finder, and is spotted at different places. And if they knew about this and they were looking for him for about 19 minutes,
how is it that, you know, he still managed to get on a roof and be able to fire off these shots. When did he go from being suspicious to actually a
threat?
And it is not until she was asked about it, probably about the 17th time that she finally said only seconds -- seconds before he fired those shots
did they finally realize that he was actually a threat.
And so again, those are things that she it could have answered. She also could have answered, did you actually put someone on that roof? The answer
is no. The answer is plainly no. Nobody was on the roof because we know the shooter got on that roof and nobody was there to stop him. But she couldn't
answer those questions.
And so she didn't really help herself and that is one of the reasons why, as you were just pointing out very quickly there, that she essentially was
a unifier at this hearing where everybody, Republican and Democrat unanimously were saying she has to go and she has to go soon.
QUEST: In any situation like this where there is an attack, it is the Swiss cheese theory.
PEREZ: Yes.
QUEST: But you are well familiar that if there are enough holes, that eventually something goes through, and that seems to be what happened here,
isn't it?
PEREZ: Yes.
QUEST: I mean, so really it is a question of whether she has to take responsibility in a resignation or the accountability that has to take
place, which of course is separate from ensuring it doesn't happen again.
PEREZ: Right. Absolutely.
And look, one of the difficulties for her is that part of the answer is that some of the failure here was not on the Secret Service's part, it
happened to be on the local side.
QUEST: Right.
PEREZ: The local cops who were supposed to be securing that building where the shooter took up a position. And so, she didn't want to do that because
she didn't want to blame them.
But in the end, it is the Secret Service's responsibility to protect Donald Trump and anyone else and it is their responsibility to devise a plan to
make sure someone can't get on a roof to fire shots at a leading candidate for the presidency. That is an absolute failure on the part of the Secret
Service.
QUEST: We will watch and you'll report more. I am grateful to you, sir. Thank you.
PEREZ: Thank you.
QUEST: One prominent tech leader has already endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. It's LinkedIn co-founder, Reid Hoffman, who called her the right
person at the right time.
The vice president is seen as friendly to Big Tech and that makes her name as a politician near Silicon Valley.
In the past, she has been supported by executives like former Meta chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg and the Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff.
The vice president's position on climate and energy are similar to President Biden's.
Clare Duffy is with me in New York.
[16:25:08]
Now, the interesting thing here is arguably, the VP is as friendly to tech as Trump's VP pick, Vance -- JD Vance is hostile to tech.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, it is interesting, Richard, its especially interesting in this moment when you have this maybe not large,
but certainly loud contingent of mostly men in Silicon Valley who have started to rally for former President Donald Trump's candidacy, Harris may
actually end up being seen as the friendlier candidate, the one who knows this industry better than he does.
And look, this is somebody who was born in the Bay Area. She is seen as very friendly with major executives in Silicon Valley. For example, she
went to the wedding of former Facebook executive, Sean Parker. She received those donations from the likes of Sheryl Sandberg, but she has also called
for tech accountability in some really key areas.
She has for example, gone after tech companies for their role in online sexual harassment and revenge porn. She has shown an interest in online
data privacy and protection. And crucially in this moment right now, she has also called for regulation of what she has called existential risks
from artificial intelligence, such as algorithmic bias and misinformation.
QUEST: Right.
DUFFY: So this is somebody who really he does know this industry well and she has got connections there.
QUEST: Right, but now advancing your point, there is a difference, isn't there though? She is talking about the issues relating to tech.
Vance and Trump are talking about the very power of the tech companies themselves -- the size, the scale, their ability to be laws unto
themselves, which is arguably different in a sense, where she wants to talk about the societal effects.
DUFFY: Yes, I think you might see these Big Tech companies appreciate the fact that she is coming at this industry with a really nuanced and
knowledgeable point of view.
You have Trump, for example, pushing for trade regulations and trade restrictions, which is something the tech companies really do not want. And
you have Harris, of course, calling for regulation in some cases, calling for accountability for tech companies, but she is coming from a position
where she really does understand these issues well, and has connections with these tech CEOs.
For example, earlier this year, she called tech CEOs to the White House to talk about voluntary AI safety commitment. So she has the connections and
the knowledge to be able to navigate what needs to be done to rein in these very powerful companies without upsetting the leader because of these
companies.
QUEST: Great to have you. As always, thanks very much.
Now, if Vice President Harris does win the nomination, she plans to use the time as a prosecutor to her advantage. She will contrast her record with
that of Donald Trump's record as a convicted felon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:31:39]
QUEST: Hello, I'm Richard Quest. Together we will have a lot more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. But explain why hundreds of flights have been canceled for
the fourth day in a row after last week's massive I.T. outage.
And from Harry Truman to LBJ. Let's explore how past presidents exits have shaken up the election race. We'll only get to that after the news because
this is CNN and, on this network, the news always comes first.
The Israeli prime minister will be in Washington this week, where he's set to address Congress and officials say he'll meet with Vice President Kamala
Harris and President Joe Biden. President Biden's COVID status may impact the timing of their meeting.
At least six people are dead after a gunman opened fire in our home for the elderly in Croatia. Local police have arrested the assailant in a nearby
cafe shortly after the attack. Amongst the victims are five nursing home residents and an employee.
A Russian American journalist has been sentenced to 6-1/2 years in Russian prison. Alsu Kurmasheva was found guilty of spreading false information
about the Russian army. The U.S. government has yet to declare Kurmasheva as wrongly detained.
A judge is ordering the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to testify as part of an investigation into corruption allegations against his wife. She
has not been charged thus far in the case. The prime minister has called the accusations against the unfounded.
So, let's return to our top story. Top Democrats are running around Vice President Harris on the first full day of her presidential campaign. She's
preparing to contrast her record as a prosecutor with Donald Trump's as a felon. Congressional Republicans are also on the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): I don't think it matters who the Democrats run. Can't change the facts. Facts are in 3-1/2 years we went from a secure
border to no -- to no border. She's borders czar.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What's her biggest liability?
JORDAN: I think the border. I mean, I think it was their biggest liability to begin with, and she was tasked with fixing it and that has not gone
well.
RAJU: Will she be tougher to beat?
MIKE JOHNSON, UNITED STATES HOUSE SPEAKER: She will not be tougher to beat. No, not at all. We're excited about Kamala being at the top of the ticket.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Edward Isaac-Dovere today in Washington and with me now. It's going to be -- look, you know, forgive the shot and fight him. It's going to be
delicious to actually see on their neck -- on their debate. It should -- we should get it. He's a felon. She is a former prosecutor, a tough
prosecutor, D.A. and a former attorney general. And what do they got to say to each other?
EDWARD ISAAC-DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, look, she will be not long before they get onto the debate stage be making a very different kind of
argument against Donald Trump than Joe Biden was. And one I should say that she was preparing to make, even when she thought it would be as Joe Biden's
running mate, which is to say, as you point out. She is a former prosecutor.
He is a literally convicted felon and in the middle of a number of other trials, but it's more than that. It's saying that she fought the big banks
when she was attorney general.
[16:35:00]
Donald Trump is working with a lot of rich people and moneyed interests and gave tax cuts to the rich and saying that she locked up rapists when she
was district attorney. And he has had many women accused him of sexual assault, including one who had a civil settlement of hundreds of millions
of dollars for that.
QUEST: He will turn around and say of course, yes, which you have politicized the Justice Department, you have politicized all these
prosecutions against me, actually, Miss Harris, you are the problem, because of the way you have administered crooked justice.
ISAAC-DOVERE: Yes. Look, the -- we should not just because Democrats are excited today and sort of relieved to move past the situation that they've
been in for the last almost month with Joe Biden. Forget the fact that there are a lot of problems that Joe Biden had that were not related to his
debate performance in this election. And that she will be tied to. She was his vice president over the time.
There's also a lot of problems that people have had with her over the years, specifically, those who haven't all of a sudden evaporated. But it's
how she can make the case in this sprint, which is really what it is. It's just over 100 days to go from being someone who was not running for
president to trying to get elected president.
QUEST: And I also -- she's a -- she's a -- she's an accomplished speaker but she's not a great orator when she gives us big. Now, by the same token,
Donald Trump -- I mean, if you listened to his speech at his convention, 90 minutes, a lot of it was just rambling nonsense. So, neither of them come
at this as great orators of worthy of debate.
ISAAC-DOVERE: Listen, they have very different styles. And obviously a lot of people have responded very much to Donald Trump over the years. But I
will tell you in the book that I wrote about the 2020 campaign, one of the things that I had in there was that when Harris was considering jumping
into the '20 campaign, she was asked by staff what she would have done. Had she been at that townhall debate in 2016 when Donald Trump was following
Hillary Clinton around the stage, sort of stalking behind her.
And she told staff then that her response would have been that she'd turn around and say to him, why are you being so weird? And so, I think this is
not just about work order, ability or rhetorical flourishes, but it's a different kind of spirit. And it's a different kind of fighting, in your
face approach that she is hoping that she will bring to light against Trump.
QUEST: Is she a grubby fighter? I mean, as a D.A., down in the trenches, does she get really down and get that, as we said, get the rubber gloves
on?
ISAAC-DOVERE: She can go back and look at how she was in those Senate hearings when she was in the Senate going after Brett Kavanaugh real cross
examining of it. She also though sometimes gets really caught up in the all the legal back and forth and sort of re -- thinking about can -- is that
actually true? Can we say that? How do we think about it? And that is one of the things that can lead her to sort of being in her own head in a way
that has been damaging to her.
So like, we don't know exactly what we're going to see out of her. We -- this is a very strange thing to run for president, even for people who have
done it before. And you can see that the pressure gets to lots of people in different ways. Joe Biden, very experienced politician obviously, did not
deal well with running for president this time around.
QUEST: Good to have you. We'll talk more. I'm grateful. Thank you.
ISAAC-DOVERE: Thank you.
QUEST: President Biden's decision to send down this late without precedent. You -- we've said this a million times. But there are others who stepped
aside, but they did so much earlier in the cycle. We'll talk about this in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:41:15]
QUEST: The President's decision to step aside this late in the contest unprecedented. You have to look back decades for other instances of
incumbents bowing out. President Harry Truman was eligible for another term in 1952, though he decided not to run. And of course, Lyndon Johnson
famously declined the nomination in 1968.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNDON B. JOHNSON, 36TH U.S. PRESIDENT: Accordingly, I shall not see. And I will not accept
the nomination of my party for another term as your president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, the main difference is when those presidents made their decision versus today. So here we are with Joe Biden, July to November. You
go back to Harry Truman, you're talking about going into March the 29th. So, a good run up to November. Lyndon Johnson also did so he did it on
March the 31st. In both cases, Democrats had more time to pivot before people cast their votes.
President Biden made his decision on July the 21st. There's only six days until the actual presidential election. Vice President Harris has little
time by U.S. standards to mount a campaign. CNN Political Analyst Julian Zelizer is a historian and professor at Princeton University. I just -- I
love the fact that we are in uncharted territory in such an era of predictability of planning of polls of algorithms, and suddenly, you can
tell me what's going to happen next, or how it's going to end.
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: And this was meant or thought to be one of the most boring races in years, very predictable, very familiar. And I
think it's fair to say this has been up ended almost every week and given his decision to withdraw the change in the race. We are in unprecedented
territory. And even with the historical examples, it's very hard to see where this goes.
QUEST: The historical examples to give us some guidance, though, don't they? I mean, the Lyndon Johnson one was devastating for the Democratic
Party for the -- for the short-term thereafter. But you argue, of course, in the longer term, it actually allowed the Democratic Party to rebuild
itself in a new guise.
ZELIZER: I think that's true. You know, a new coalition will emerge after Lyndon Johnson makes that decision. It won't help the Democrats in '68 or
1972 when Richard Nixon is reelected. But over the long term, you have the coalition that put Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden into place. I
would say 2024 is a little different than 1968. The political parties are more polarized, so that will make it easier to bounce back.
And the party, the Democrats are not nearly as divided as they were in 1968 when Vietnam created a deep fault line within the party that just doesn't
exist today,
QUEST: Except -- and we've got some pictures of Vice President Harris arriving Wilmington, Delaware, as she's meeting her campaign staff on the
first full day. While we look at these pictures, the issue though is classic Kennedy, the torch being passed to a new generation. Now, although
she has the issues of welfare and all of these, there are the other Gen X, if you will, millennial issues that she will be able to bring to the fore.
And arguably, this is a different Democratic Party that she is going to be leading.
[16:45:11]
ZELIZER: And that's the opportunity if she can seize it. She can bring in many young voters who've been disaffected frankly, from the party. She
could deal with issues such as reproductive rights or climate change with a kind of intensity that's harder for older Democrats to do. And she herself
represents huge change, it would be a historic election as 2008 was with Barack Obama.
And I think that has the potential -- again potential to excite a lot of voters who otherwise would be laggard going into the next few months.
QUEST: You know, and then I -- we were on the one hand, on the other hand, on the one hand, on the other hand, we go backwards and forwards, because
on the other hand, you've got that middle America, even the Democrat Middle America that is more conservative that does go back to traditional values.
And that's going to be where her running mate becomes absolutely crucial because if she is perceived to be that little bit too liberal, a little bit
too bicoastal. who she picks his her running mate could be the balance?
ZELIZER: Who she picks us her running mate will be important. And at the same time, how she presents herself will be important. She has -- as many
Democrats do, the chance to use economic issues, talk about economic security, talk about education, talk about health care cost. Issues that
Democrats are very comfortable with, but often shy away from as a way to try to win support in those areas.
So, I think the running mate is a piece of it. But ultimately, she has to focus on that kind of agenda and do it with vigor to challenge the populism
that former President Trump and Senator Vance claim that they represent for this country.
QUEST: At the end of the day, you're going to have an (INAUDIBLE) year old man who rambles and 59-60-year-old woman who will arguably can be a little
bit dull, but she can make cogent arguments. And the difference will be striking that night on the next debate.
ZELIZER: I think that's true. The age issue has now flipped and that debate assuming it does happen, we'll draw that contrast. She also speaks with
precision. She doesn't have great oratory but she can speak like a prosecutor. And I think that will be an incredible contrast with the style
that Trump uses, which goes from one issue to the next one sentence to another.
QUEST: Very grateful to have you, Julian. Thank you. We'll talk more as the election moves forward.
ZELIZER: Thanks for having me.
QUEST: Thank you, sir. And the fallout continues from Friday's global tech meltdown. Delta Airlines is still suffering the effects. We'll talk about
the hundreds of canceled flights with the leaving passengers stranded.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:50:46]
QUEST: Shares in CrowdStrike. The company responsible for Friday's global I.T. meltdown fell heavily. Off one 13 percent and down almost 30 percent
from a week ago.
The airlines continue to struggle amongst the worst affected companies. Delta in particular has canceled 15 percent of its flights today. The U.S.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg put a check singled out Delta in a statement saying hundreds of complaints have been filed about delta. CNN's
Tom Foreman is in Washington, D.C. Why is Delta? Well -- I mean, the all the airlines have been affected but Delta has failed to recover, as well as
the others. Do we know why?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems to be, Richard the management of people. That's the problem. Delta put out a statement where they said, in
particular, one of our crew tracking related tools was affected and unable to effectively process the unprecedented number of changes triggered by the
system shut down. As, you know, there are limits on how long crews can fly where they have to be that sort of thing.
Delta has somewhere between 15, 17,000 people in this position where they have to manage where they are, where they're going, how long they've been
on that part of their system was broken down by this and that's what's tied them up according to Delta.
QUEST: Now, I was reading that the insurance industry says, well, look, it's going to be a bit expensive, but it's not going to be a mega -- a mega
event. Because a lot of this has nothing to do with cybersecurity. It's nothing to do -- nothing went wrong except that -- pardon my French, the
cock up of CrowdStrike, which may end up of course having to pay large amounts of compensation itself.
FOREMAN: The other thing this could be a billion-dollar problem when you add up all the impact around the world. You noted what Secretary Buttigieg
said a short while ago there. What he was saying to the airlines, particularly to Delta was, hey, we have protections for consumers out
there. This wasn't something that would fall under an area that you're not responsible for.
You're going to have to go out there and get them hotels and food vouchers and get them rebooked and give them refunds if they don't want to fly on
you. So that could cost a tremendous amount of money. And yes, the problem here was that these were systems that were very reliant upon Microsoft and
when the CrowdStrike problem disabled on Microsoft computers. You know, Richard, one of the things here that had to happen is many systems actually
had to be rebooted by it.
So, you walk through an airport, think of all the computers around you and think about when you try to reboot your computer if something doesn't go
right. That's a -- that's an awful lot to deal with. And I'll guarantee you they don't have I.T. people just sitting around in such surplus, but they
can knock that out. I
QUEST: I can't decide, Tom. Do I feel sorry for Microsoft or not? It's not their computer or their computers as such, but it's not really their
software that was at fault. It was CrowdStrike's negligence in putting up this update and properly not properly testing it. That took the whole thing
down. Am I just being a patsy here?
FOREMAN: Oh, you're correct. It was not Microsoft's problem. The thing that I've heard from some analysts, though, talking about the airlines, talking
about Microsoft, talking about anybody else, is to say, look, maybe the industry was too reliant on one service here. Maybe there wasn't enough
redundancy. And in that sense, they're saying, don't feel too sorry for some of these companies because they made these choices.
QUEST: Tom, thank you for putting me right.
(CROSSTALK)
QUEST: Thank you.
FOREMAN: Thank you, Richard.
QUEST: Tom Foreman in Washington. I need to update you on the market's (INAUDIBLE) NVIDIA top nearly five percent of recovering some of last
week's eight percent pullback. You see it at (INAUDIBLE) and change. The Dow Jones wavered throughout the course of the day, finishing 127 points.
If you look at the 30, Nike is at the top. You'll often see that. Nike at the top with techs rebounding from Salesforce, Microsoft and Intel leading
the charge.
Verizon finished down six percent after missing revenue estimates. Verizon is down that much and you look at the lower half of it. And you see Disney.
You get an idea there was no focus per se in a market today. Other than a recovery maybe an attack at the top.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:57:56]
QUEST: Tonight's profitable moment. There is something delicious about the air of uncertainty that now lies over the political landscape in the United
States. Not because I want to see anything going wrong or that one wants to see an appending and great uncertainty. But the reality is that so much of
our time is spent on predictability. We spend fortunes are predicting this quantum theorying that, algorithming the other.
Reducing the risk in any shape, form or description that we possibly can. And then you end up with what we've got now. The number of times on this
program, you've heard the word unprecedented. No one knows what's going to happen. No one knows how it's going to play out. This theory, that theory,
this could happen, that could happen. And before long, you're off to the races.
And that's maybe how it should be in an era where we try to reduce risk as much as possible. It is perhaps a little refreshing that we are in a new
era of uncertainty, unpredictability and unknown. And in that era, well, anything could happen. And that's what makes it so exciting. And that's
QUEST MEANS BUSINESS for tonight. I'm Richard Quest in London. Whatever you're up to in the hours ahead, I hope it's profitable. But I can't be
sure it will be.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, President Biden's official schedule says no events scheduled as he recovers
from COVID. What this means for his big meeting this week with the Israeli prime minister who's in D.C. waiting at the White House doorstep.
Plus, new calls for the head of the U.S. Secret Service to resign. Ahead, one of the lawmakers who led an intense line of questioning in the wake of
the assassination attempt on Donald Trump and sick -- and clear security failures. And leading this our Vice President Kamala Harris making her
first trip to visit campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware since President Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed her for president.
[17:00:04]
Let's get right to CNN's Kayla Tausche's at the White House and Priscilla Alvarez in Wilmington, Delaware just outside --
END
