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State of the Union

Interview With Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL); Interview With Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH); Interview With Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Aired 9-10a ET

Aired August 18, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:40]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Big tent party? Democrats are set to celebrate, as their convention kicks off tomorrow with a passing of the torch.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We take the next step. Thank you, Joe.

TAPPER: How will Vice President Kamala Harris put her own stamp on the convention? And is Chicago ready for thousands of protesters? Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is here.

And head to head. New polling shows Harris closing the gap with Trump and putting new states potentially in play, as she works to shore up issues where voters favor Republicans.

HARRIS: Everyday prices are too high.

TAPPER: What's the state of the race? Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is next.

Plus: center stage. Donald Trump hits Harris over her economic message, but he doesn't stop there.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a better-looking person. As soon as she laughs, the election is over.

TAPPER: Will that help him seize back the spotlight? New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu joins me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Hello. I'm Jake Tapper at the Union Center in Chicago, site of the Democratic National Convention, where the state of our union is rebooting.

Tomorrow, right here, Democrats will kick off their four-day convention to officially make Vice President Kamala Harris their party nominee and lean into the optimism Democrats feel about her candidacy with the theme -- quote -- "For the People, For Our Future" -- unquote.

A major national poll out this morning shows Harris with a narrow lead over Trump outside the poll's margin of error for the very first time since she entered the race four weeks ago today.

And a brand-new CNN analysis finds a new potential path to victory for the Democrats through the Sun Belt states of Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Right behind me this week, Harris will try to build on her momentum in what is basically a neck-and-neck race with remarks by top Democrats, from Barack Obama, to Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and President Biden, who will appear with Harris on stage tomorrow night at a much different convention than was originally planned for him, while Donald Trump tries to keep some of the spotlight on himself this week with his own events.

Last night, in a rally in Pennsylvania, he made numerous personal attacks against Harris, which we will get into later. But he did also make some policy arguments that perhaps some voters may find persuasive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You say she's going to lower the cost of food and housing starting on day one, but day one for Kamala was 3.5 years ago. So why didn't she do it then?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining me now, Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

Leader Jeffries, thanks for joining us.

So, your party's convention is set to kick off tomorrow. Do you think that the Democratic Party is in a better place now, with Vice President Harris at the top of the ticket, than it was with President Biden at the top of the ticket? And have you talked to President Biden since he dropped out of the race four weeks ago?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): I have talked to President Biden.

And let me simply say that President Biden will go down in American history as one of the most consequential presidents of all time. He made a very selfless decision to pass the torch to Vice President Harris, who's a courageous leader, a compassionate leader, and a commonsense leader.

And she's ready, she's willing, she's able to get the job done. There's a lot of excitement, a lot of enthusiasm, and a lot of energy with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the top of the ticket. And we're looking forward to a very joyful Democratic National Convention.

TAPPER: Vice President Harris unveiled some of her economic platform on Friday. One key platform plank was her plan to ban price gouging for grocery prices.

Jason Furman, who was the top economist for President Obama, said that her plan is not a good idea -- quote -- "The good case scenario is, price gouging is a message, not a reality. The bad case scenario is that this is a real proposal. You will end up with bigger shortages, less supply and ultimately risk higher prices and worse outcomes for consumers if you try to enforce this in a real way, which I don't know if they would or wouldn't do" -- unquote.

Do you plan to support Vice President Harris' plan to ban price gouging?

JEFFRIES: Kamala Harris has articulated a very important plan to make sure that we are lowering costs for everyday Americans, that we are ending price gouging throughout the country, and that, of course, we are growing the middle class and making sure that everyday Americans can get ahead.

[09:05:13]

So we, as House Democrats, look forward to working with Kamala Harris to drive costs down. We have done some of that work in terms of driving down the high price of lifesaving prescription drugs for millions of Americans, including capping the price of insulin at $35 per hour.

We have lowered the cost of Internet availability and in several other areas. But we recognize that there is more work that needs to be done,because there are far too many Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling each and every month. And we have got to drive down costs, including the cost of groceries.

TAPPER: Well, "The Washington Post" editorial board said blaming big business or corporations was a -- quote -- "gambit."

The San Francisco Federal Reserve found little evidence that price gouging was the main culprit behind inflation, floating supply chains and production costs instead.

Isn't part of the problem here when it comes to high prices and inflation the fact that you and your colleagues on Capitol Hill, along with both President Trump and President Biden, infused the economy with perhaps too much cash because of the pandemic?

JEFFRIES: The challenge is that President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited three different catastrophes from the prior president at the same time.

There was a public health catastrophe connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was an economic catastrophe that resulted from the shutdown of our economy. And, of course, there was a democracy catastrophe related to the January 6 violent assault on the Capitol incited by the former president as part of the effort to halt the peaceful transfer of power.

And so, in the context of the economic catastrophe, the shutdown of the economy had consequences. And when demand came back, the supply chain needed to, of course, catch up. And so that is a process that has been under way that has triggered an inflationary environment.

But it's fair to say that part of the challenge that many everyday Americans have felt is that price gouging is occurring by some bad actors. And it's reasonable for us to look into how we can stop it from occurring.

Vice President Harris is simply saying we have to make sure that markets are properly functioning. That's the American way.

TAPPER: We're here in Chicago where Democrats are expecting tens of thousands of anti-Israel protesters who have been calling President Biden -- quote -- "Genocide Joe" for months.

An effort called Abandon Biden says that they are not yet targeting Vice President Harris, but a spokesperson told Reuters -- quote -- "The clock is ticking and our patience is running out."

Do you see a policy difference between President Biden and Vice President Harris when it comes to Israel and Gaza?

JEFFRIES: Well, President Biden and Vice President Harris have been working hard to try to bring about a peace agreement that has been on the table over the last few weeks to try to get that to closure.

It's a very necessary thing to accomplish. It will allow for, of course, a cease-fire to be put in place for the hostages to be returned home -- those are both Israeli hostages and American hostages -- for us to surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza, so we can help out Palestinian civilians who are in harm's way through no fault of their own, and also, of course, to lay the foundation for a just and lasting peace between a safe and secure Israel and the opportunity for the Palestinian people to receive the dignity and the self- determination that they deserve.

That's what is on the table right now, and we are squarely behind that effort led by President Biden, joined by Vice President Harris, and, of course, supported by Secretary Blinken, who is in the region right now to try to get this peace agreement done.

TAPPER: Former President Trump is making a big push to get black voters to come to his side. I wanted to get your reaction to something President Trump said recently about Vice President Harris and her race at an event for black journalists.

Take a listen.

(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.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: So, I don't know. Is she Indian or is she black? (END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What was your response when you heard that?

JEFFRIES: It was a very ignorant statement made by the former president, but we should not be surprised, because this is someone who's often engaged in racial arson to try to inflame passions amongst the American people in a very unproductive way.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are running a forward-looking, joyful campaign. The difference between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is as wide as the Grand Canyon. Kamala Harris is about unity. Donald Trump is about division. Kamala Harris is about the future. Donald Trump represents the past.

[09:10:20]

Kamala Harris will build an economy that allows the middle class and everyday Americans to get ahead. Donald Trump wants to go back to an economy where his main emphasis is big tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected.

So we're going to continue to be part of, led by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, a joyful, forward-looking campaign that brings the American people together, that is designed to deliver real results for everyday Americans and solve problems for hardworking American taxpayers. We will leave the chaos, the division, and the extremism to Donald Trump and the Republicans.

TAPPER: Donald Trump and his allies are already starting to lay the groundwork to contest the election results in November. Are you confident that a Republican-led House will certify the 2024 election in January?

JEFFRIES: I'm confident that we're going to do everything that we need to do over the next few months to make sure that House Democrats take back the majority, so that the American people do not have to encounter that question.

It is a reality that far too many of my extreme MAGA Republican colleagues in the House have engaged in election denial, conspiracy theories, and have tried to undermine the very fabric of our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power.

By the way, Jake, that's what Trump's Project 2025 is all about. The extreme MAGA Republicans want total control over the lives of the American people, total control over our government, and total control over our democracy. And we have got to stop it from happening.

TAPPER: Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

I will see you here in Chicago when you get here.

JEFFRIES: Thanks, Jake. See you in Chicago. TAPPER: How will Vice President Kamala Harris put her stamp on this

convention, and will protesters in Chicago escalate? The governor, top Democrat J.B. Pritzker, will join me right here next.

And what does this new raft of polling show us about momentum in the presidential race?

That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It's tough to explain the 1990s to people, but that was the last Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1996. And that was a version of the Macarena.

We're inside the United Center.

Will my next guest kick off a round of the Macarena here this week?

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker joins us now.

That was a rhetorical question. I'm assuming you're not going to be doing the Macarena here.

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): I was doing the Macarena here in 1996...

TAPPER: Were you really?

(LAUGHTER)

PRITZKER: ... just to be clear. I'm just old enough to have...

TAPPER: And there's no footage of it, though. That's how we know -- I know that because you won your election.

PRITZKER: Exactly. Thank God.

(LAUGHTER)

PRITZKER: I never would have made it this far.

TAPPER: How will this convention be different with Vice President Harris as the nominee than President Biden?

PRITZKER: Well, remember, first of all, you were talking about a reelection nomination, a renomination. And now you're talking about something completely different, right? We have got -- I mean, this is a candidate who's energized the party

in a way that I haven't seen certainly since '08. And when I think about -- I have been to every convention since I was able to vote. And I can say I have not felt this kind of energy and electricity at any convention, other than the one for Barack Obama.

So to have it here in Chicago, and the fact that people are coming here, they're calling -- I can't tell you a number of calls I have gotten from people late in the game here saying, "God, now I want to come."

TAPPER: Oh, is that right?

So there was the '96 convention in Chicago. Obviously, another one that's looms large is the '68 convention here in Chicago. It was overshadowed by violent clashes between police and protesters then protesting the Vietnam War. This time, thousands of anti-Israel protesters are expected to descend on the city.

How worried are you about them disrupting the actual convention, including the uncommitted delegates inside the convention hall?

PRITZKER: Well, I know reporters like to hearken back to '68 because there's a lot of good footage you get to point to.

TAPPER: Yes, we also hearken back to '96.

PRITZKER: You did. You got the Macarena in there.

(LAUGHTER)

PRITZKER: But the fact is, it's a whole different ball game. Here we are 56 years later. We have got a very, very different situation in the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party, honestly, is -- has coalesced around this candidate. That was not the case in 1968. We have got -- policing is all different now, and we have got technology at work. And, really, the protesters are protesting something that is very far away from here, very important, but it's not about people getting drafted from here going abroad.

So it's a whole different situation. And, honestly, I expect that we're going to have peaceful protests, we're going to protect the protesters, but also protect all the people visiting, 50,000 people coming to Chicago, and the residents of Chicago.

So the plan's been in place for a year-and-a quarter now already. We're going to execute on that plan the next four days.

TAPPER: Certainly, most of the protesters, I'm sure, intend to be peaceful, but there are some groups that are making it clear they do not want to be peaceful. There's one called Behind Enemy Lines, for example...

PRITZKER: Yes. TAPPER: ... a leftist anti-imperialist protest group calling on its supporters to shut down the DNC, urging them to make bruises from Chicago police batons to 2024 back-to-school fall fashion.

[09:20:01]

You guys prepared for that?

PRITZKER: If there are troublemakers, they're going to get arrested and they're going to get convicted.

But the fact is that the vast majority of people who are protesting -- and we have seen this before -- are peaceful protesters. They want to have their voices heard. They're going to be heard, no doubt about it. And we're going to protect that.

TAPPER: Vice President Harris laid out some of her economic priorities this week, focusing on the high cost of living in the United States.

Here's how "The Washington Post" editorial board responded: "Unfortunately, instead of delivering a substantial plan," "The Post" wrote, she squandered the moment on populist gimmicks" -- unquote.

Even some Democratic economists say her plans to target corporate price gouging and eliminate taxes on tips likely would not actually bring prices down or significantly help low-income workers.

Do you -- what do you think about these two policies she's proposed?

PRITZKER: Well, I just want to remind you that raising the child tax credit to $6,000, that is not a gimmick. That's a real thing that helps real families across the United States.

TAPPER: Wasn't one of the two I named.

PRITZKER: I understand. But, I mean, there are a whole host of proposals that she has put forward. I know you would like to go to the one or two, but I just want to say that the whole panoply of them, honestly, is good for average, everyday working Americans.

That's what she's going for, is focused on the challenges that they have experienced. And, yes, there has been price gouging. And, of course, there are economists who say, well, that's not really true. There's been inflation.

But you have heard corporations talk about how they raised prices even above what the inflationary amount would be. And you saw that their profits went up significantly during that time period. So I think it's not unreasonable for her to say that the federal government should do what many states have already done, which is focus on that price gouging.

And then, don't forget, she's also focused on middle-class housing. It is impossible in this country right now with interest rates as high as they are for people to buy a house. And until that amount goes down, until the 6-plus percent interest rate that people are paying goes down, they need help from the federal government.

And that's what she is offering. And I think middle-class and working- class people across the United States appreciate that she's thinking about them. Nothing is coming out of the Trump administration -- the Trump campaign about helping working-class and middle-class Americans.

TAPPER: You were all in on Biden's candidacy right until the moment he dropped out.

I want you to take a listen to what Biden's former Chief of Staff Ron Klain told my colleague Anderson Cooper earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON KLAIN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I do think the president was pushed by public calls from elected officials for him to drop out, from donors calling him to drop out. And I think that was wrong.

The president had won the nomination fair and square; 14 million people went and voted for him and the vice president as vice president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Was it wrong for the Democrats to effectively push Biden out?

PRITZKER: Well, I want to remind you that, I mean, there is an enormous amount of reverence for Joe Biden.

For 50 years, he has fought for the American people and for working families. And so as we were approaching this convention, I think there was a -- everybody was looking at the polls and seeing that there were some real challenges ahead.

There is a danger on the horizon here, and that is that Donald Trump might become president again. And it's a danger that a majority of Americans will reject. But they need to know that who they're voting for is somebody that they can be excited and electrified by.

And I think they weren't feeling that about Joe Biden. Having said that, this is a man who's accomplished more than 3.5 years than most presidents get done in eight. So we're going to see a celebration of him. We're also going to see how Kamala Harris has brought the party together with Tim Walz, by the way, a good friend of mine and a fellow Midwestern governor, who's an everyday guy and somebody that everybody relates to.

So, I think that collection, that pair, it has turned this place into -- well, frankly, it'll be like a rock concert. I think people are going to be cheering and pretty excited.

TAPPER: Before we go, I wanted to give you a chance to respond to some brutal attacks from your fellow Democratic governors.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted a picture of some -- I guess this is supposed to be deep-dish pizza. He (sic) said: "Seriously, what is this?"

And Governor Whitmer of Michigan offered to give you a lift back to Michigan -- quote -- "if you want to see some winning sports teams."

Ouch.

PRITZKER: Well, all I can...

TAPPER: That's rough stuff.

PRITZKER: All I can say is that there were a lot of years where Detroit had no winners.

We have had an awful lot of championships right in this arena, I might add, in the United Center. And, of course, on the pizza front, I mean, there's no better pizza than Chicago pizza.

TAPPER: It's not really pizza, though, right? It's more like an actual casserole.

PRITZKER: Listen, you're from Philly. You don't know pizza from anything.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: We don't know pizza in Philly?

PRITZKER: Let's be clear. Let's be clear. We know pizza. And she's showing a picture of something apparently she made in her own kitchen.

Come to Chicago, experience deep-dish pizza. We know it.

TAPPER: It's like a swimming pool of cheese, is really what it is. I'm not really sure -- and bread.

PRITZKER: Don't judge a book by its cover.

TAPPER: And -- I have -- I have eaten that souffle before.

In any case, good to see you. I hope you have a great convention. And I hope it's a peaceful, nonviolent convention.

PRITZKER: Thank you.

TAPPER: Thank you so much.

[09:25:00]

Coming up next: how Donald Trump is hoping to stay in the spotlight this week, despite the Democratic Convention.

Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Have you heard her laugh? That is the laugh of a crazy person. As soon as she laughs, the election's over.

I'm a better-looking person than Kamala.

It was a coup of a president. This was a coup, and they stole the presidency of the United States from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Welcome back to the STATE OF THE UNION.

Donald Trump there veering off his economic remarks at a rally in Pennsylvania last night.

Joining us now, Trump supporter and the Republican governor of the great state of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu.

[09:30:04]

Governor Sununu, you just heard former President Trump attacking Vice President Harris.

Former Governor Nikki Haley, whom you supported for president, had some advice for Trump about the best way to campaign against Harris. Take a listen to that, and then take a listen to what Trump said this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FMR. GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R-SC): One thing Republicans have to stop doing, quit whining about her. The campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes.

It's not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is. It's not going to win talking about whether she's dumb. It's not. You can't win on those things.

TRUMP: I think I'm entitled to personal attacks. I don't have a lot of respect for her. I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence. And I think she will be a terrible president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Who's right here, Haley or Trump?

GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): Well, it isn't Donald Trump in this case.

Look, as Nikki probably wouldn't point out because she was the alternative, almost any other Republican candidate would be winning this race by 10 points.

And so the message is very clear. If you stick to the issues, if you stick to what matters, this should be an easy race for Donald Trump. It really should. The delta that you're seeing right now is, Trump does better with males by about 10 points. But where this giant shift in August has come is with the female

voter. Frank Luntz pointed this out in his polling. He's down 10, 12 points at least, with females. And they're going to come out in much bigger numbers than they previously would have if Biden were the candidate.

If you talk about these economic issues, if you talk about -- remind folks that he's running against the most liberal and most unpopular vice president in history that has now laid out the worst economic plan ever laid out by a Democrat candidate -- even Obama's team is panning this as a disaster for America.

So she then picked her own vice presidential candidate, which is also one of the most liberal, progressive governors in the country that has huge issues in terms of supporting public safety. All of these things are lining up for a huge Republican win.

He's got to deliver. And we have also showed him exactly that playbook to do so. If he can get it together in the last 60 days, he can. And remind folks that they're -- as individuals, they're more important than the government.

This Democrat administration, Harris' administration, right -- she's not new to this game. She's been there for almost four years -- has really tried to dominate with a big-government solution. It hasn't worked, right?

So if he sticks to what matters, he sticks to what made this country great, he can be very successful in November.

TAPPER: It sounds like you think it's going to be harder for Trump to beat Vice President Harris than it would have been for him to beat President Biden.

SUNUNU: Oh, sure. Oh, sure. No, there's no doubt about that, because she was able to kind of establish this resurgence.

And her team has done a very good job of kind of avoiding the issues, trying to make people believe that she hasn't been there for four years. And they have done a very good job of that, at the same time kind of capitalizing on Trump's reaction, right?

They knew that the former president can be a very reactionary person. And I saw that clip that you just played. Trump can say, look, I'm entitled to be -- to personal attacks.

Nobody cares what you're entitled to. Do what you have to do to get the votes and win. This is an election. It's about delivering those votes, talking to those independent voters, especially those moms, those suburban females that typically wouldn't have come out strong for Biden. You have got to get them back on the team.

There's time to do it, because they care about the economy. This whole idea that inflation was driven by price gouging, that's a bunch of nonsense, that the government's going to control prices to solve it. I just heard Hakeem Jeffries say that that's -- her plan is the

American way. It's one of the most un-American plans that has ever been proposed. Free markets, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, her plan would crush all of that, right?

So let's do those things that got us out of economic slumps in the '80s and in the '60s. We have a record of success doing it the right way, not with government controls.

TAPPER: At an event this week, former President Trump compared giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to top Republican donor Miriam Adelson to giving the Medal of Honor to American service members who risk their lives in battle. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's actually much better, because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor. That's soldiers. They're either in very bad shape because they have been hit so many times by bullets or they're dead.

She gets it, and she's a healthy, beautiful woman. It's like...

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And they're rated equal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The head of the VFW, Veterans of Foreign Wars, said -- quote -- "These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation's highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty" -- unquote.

Do you agree with the VFW?

SUNUNU: Yes, they were asinine comments. There's no doubt about that.

Again, I don't think they're the first asinine comments former President Trump has ever made. I don't think they will be a game changer in terms of the election.

[09:35:03]

When you're talking about what it takes for someone to stand up and protect this country, I -- it's uncomparable, I think, right? It stands alone in its own lane in terms of the honor, especially when you're talking about the Congressional Medal of Honor.

What Trump needs to be focusing on, if he ever brings up the military, is what it takes to keep America strong across the world, how to bring world peace in dangerous places like the Ukraine and what's going on in Israel, in the Middle East. These things get solved, if you will, with America's strength.

And that only happens because of America's brave soldiers and servicemen that are willing to protect and kind of make sure the American way of life is established across the country and our allies know that they can count on that.

So, to make these types of comparisons is so far afield.I don't think it's going to be a big politically -- big politically in terms of moving votes. He's said crazy things like this before. At the end of the day, he's got to just focus on what Americans are feeling, which is the economy, the stresses, the border crisis, the migrant crisis, and he's going to have a great opportunity, right?

They're bringing this thing to Chicago, this Democrat Convention. Illinois is one of the worst -- I'm sorry. With all due respect to J.B., why is everyone leaving Illinois and every state around Illinois is gaining population? Why does Chicago still have the reputation it has on safety? It's not good.

So that's another opportunity for Republicans to say, this is what the Democrats highlight. We just want Americans to feel safe and have opportunity in their lives.

TAPPER: Quickly, because you have been so critical of Vice President Harris' proposal, economic proposals from last week, former President Trump has been floating sweeping new tariffs if he's elected, up to 20 percent.

Many economists, as I'm sure you know, say that's going to raise prices for Americans. In North Carolina, he suggested those tariffs could be as high as 20 percent. Is a 20 percent across-the-board tariff a good idea, do you think?

SUNUNU: Well, look, I will say this.

I think the former president, when he was president, had the right idea with tariffs in terms of ratcheting things up and ratcheting up the negotiations, right? It's the threat of tariffs that really get the rest of the world panicked and start allowing America to capitalize on what they're bringing to the table.

So whether that would actually come to fruition or not, I don't know. I don't think so. He kind of used those types of threats in the first administration. We got a better NAFTA deal under former President Trump, NAFTA 2.0, which has been a huge success in a lot of different ways. And now we have to deal with the issue of China, right?

That's a real threat and making sure that not just the jobs are protected in America, but the workers are protected and we can keep those dollars here, instead of this massive trade imbalance. He's willing to talk about it. He's willing to take it on. Kamala Harris doesn't even understand tariffs, to be honest.

Kamala does not even understand these international issues. And, again, when her economic plan is being panned by even Democrats, everyone's wondering who the heck wrote this thing. So I think that gives everyone in America, every business owner, small and large in America, a lot of pause in terms of what she would bring to the table for the next four years.

TAPPER: Governor Sununu, thanks so much for your time today. Appreciate it.

SUNUNU: You bet, buddy.

TAPPER: What to expect from this week's convention, including a few surprises, when my panel joins me right here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:47]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not at all offended that none of you have any idea who I am.

It's time to elect John Kerry.

I accept your nomination to run and serve with Barack Obama.

With great honor and pleasure, I accept.

We own the finish line.

I accept this nomination for president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Forty-four years of Joe Biden at Democratic National Conventions.

Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION.

And, tomorrow, we're going to see a new face, as Biden passes the torch to his vice president, Kamala Harris.

My panel is here.

David, what are we expecting from Joe Biden when he speaks tomorrow night?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think he's obviously going to talk a little bit about what he's done. But, hopefully, he will talk about Kamala Harris in the future.

This is an awkward pivot, right? Because he's getting off the stage. It was not necessarily what he planned. He planned to be speaking Thursday night. But the service he can perform to her is talk about her and the future as much as he talks about himself and let others talk about him.

And we will see. TAPPER: And we should note there is some new polling suggesting --

also very positive for Kamala Harris. I'm going to come to you on the polling.

There's the ABC News/"Washington Post" poll that had her at 49 percent over Trump 45 percent nationally among registered voters. That's outside the margin of error. That's the first time she's polled ahead of him outside the margin of error.

And then a new poll from CBS, Harris 51 percent, Trump 48 percent among registered voters nationally. Again, national polls don't matter as much as the state-by-state, but, still, it is indicative of something.

What are you seeing in the polls?

KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, what I think it's indicative of is, a lot of voters who had sat on the sidelines in a Trump-versus-Biden rematch deciding that they want to put their name down for voting for Harris for the moment.

But I wouldn't say these are fully committed folks. If you look at a lot of these polls and you compare July to August, Donald Trump's share of the vote hasn't actually shrunk by that much. And in some cases, it's stayed the same or gone up. It is Harris' numbers that look very different from Biden's.

She's taking away from RFK Jr. She's bringing in some more of those undecided. So the question will be, with this convention, does she deliver a message that can secure those voters to her? What kind of a story does she tell to the Americans who don't know that much about her? They know they don't like the policies they have seen under President Biden.

[09:45:10]

They don't feel like the country's on the right track and they want to know, is she actually going to be a turning of the page in some way?

TAPPER: But can she do that? I mean, that's -- it's true. People don't know a lot about her.

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

TAPPER: And I remember, in 2008 -- this is not meant as a criticism of either Obama or Harris -- but there was a degree to which people just projected their hopes and their thoughts onto him and now her that may or may not actually be accurate.

ALLISON: It might not be accurate, but it's a great place to be as a candidate, where you have the electorate who is -- who wants to be a part of what you're building, who wants to be some -- a part of something bigger than themselves or the candidate itself.

And so I think Joe Biden should acknowledge the success of his presidency, but not just talk about the future, but why he picked her to be his number two. He can start to credentialize her as a leader, as what -- as the type of person he's seen her before with his, what -- the relationship she had with his son Beau.

So, humanize her, but then, two, talk about her -- her integrity, her ability to make calculated decisions, what type of partnership they had to lay the foundation for the rest of the night to be introduced the -- introduce the country to Kamala Harris.

I will just also say a lot of people don't know a lot about a lot of vice presidents. And so it's not a -- it's not a disadvantage because she hasn't been a good vice president. Is it just the nature of the role.

TAPPER: No, I just mean, like, for a nominee for president...

(CROSSTALK)

ALLISON: Oh, sure, sure. Yes. Yes. Yes. Sure.

TAPPER: ... for a nominee, because usually, there's a process, is all...

ALLISON: Yes, fair enough.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: It's also an -- it's opportunity for Republicans to define her...

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

TAPPER: ... given the fact that there's -- so little is known.

URBAN: Yes, so she's had by far the best run for the past month, unscathed. She hasn't done a press conference in 28 days. She's a political Rorschach test.

So people are projecting their hopes, their dreams, everything on to Kamala Harris. What Axe says is true. It's going to be a little bit of a tough position here on Monday when Joe Biden, who's a part of this administration -- he was running this administration. It's the Biden/Harris campaign.

The vice president's trying to project herself as an outsider, right? She doesn't really want to be tied to the former president -- the current president, who is going to be here, because he's not that popular. Remember, that's why he's not on this ticket. That's why he's not here speaking on Thursday, because he was so unpopular. They kicked him off and put her on.

So for her to distance herself from the guy who put her here is a little bit of political jujitsu, right? And so I think that's going to be interesting to see how that plays out, and then when she starts answering questions.

She's had this incredible month, and she's still tied with Donald Trump.

TAPPER: Yes.

URBAN: In that ABC poll, he's still ahead on the economy, on immigration, on inflation. He's still ahead on those factors.

TAPPER: All right.

URBAN: So, anybody who thinks this is a runaway race...

AXELROD: Yes, there were 11 issues, and she was leading on six.

URBAN: Yes. Yes.

AXELROD: I think the thing that was most interesting about that poll was on the sort of personal ratings and favorable -- favorabilities of them as human beings. Trump was 22 points underwater, and she was in plus territory.

And I think that's really big. I mean, people were willing to tolerate Donald Trump, even though they didn't particularly like him, because they had questions about Joe Biden. If she makes herself acceptable, they're going to -- they're going to -- they're going to move to her. And this convention is an opportunity to do it.

It is always true, when you have a candidate who is not the incumbent, that these conventions are a lot about telling people who they are, what their values are, Bill Clinton, the man from Hope. The Obama convention was like that. That's the way -- even last time, Joe Biden -- that convention was really important to Joe Biden, rooting him in the middle of the country, in Middle America, his values, his attachment to faith, to the military, and so on.

So, this is an opportunity for -- and how different will this convention be than it would have been had it been a Biden convention?

URBAN: And, you know, Jake, to that point, Donald Trump has a great -- had a great line at the press conference of Bedminster.

He said, Kamala Harris keeps saying she's going to be ready on day one to take on these problems. Her day one was 3.5 years ago.

TAPPER: Right.

URBAN: Why not take care of it right now? That's a great point.

SOLTIS ANDERSON: But she benefited greatly.

In that ABC/"Washington Post" poll, one of the questions they asked was...

AXELROD: Right.

SOLTIS ANDERSON: ... do you think that Kamala Harris has had a lot of influence over Biden's economic policies, immigration policies? Only a third of voters said they thought she had. AXELROD: Yes, I...

SOLTIS ANDERSON: And so that does mean it's a bit of a blank sheet of paper. To what extent does Biden say...

(CROSSTALK)

AXELROD: I don't hear Trump talking about the Pence years, OK?

ALLISON: Right. Exactly. He can't.

(LAUGHTER)

URBAN: But he's not running. Pence isn't the nominee.

ALLISON: Want to ask why? I don't think you want that answer.

(LAUGHTER)

ALLISON: But I will just say, when you look back in this arena, I think one of the things that Kamala Harris can do, like no one else, is say, this is what America looks like, and you can be a part -- this is -- like, we want you to -- we want to build this big tent party. We want to build this big tent coalition.

It doesn't matter if you come from the Midwest or the coasts. You can be a part of this. And that will speak to independent voters.

TAPPER: And on that issue, Jamie Gangel is reporting that, on Thursday night, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who's from Chicago, is going to speak and endorse Kamala Harris.

[09:50:06]

He's -- I don't think that he agrees with Kamala Harris on very much, but he is one of the Republicans, like Liz Cheney and others, who sees Trump as such an existential threat to the United States.

Does that kind of endorsement have an impact?

SOLTIS ANDERSON: Well, you put that up against, say, Doug Ducey of Arizona this week, who's somebody who has been kind of -- maybe not -- critical is maybe not the right word, but that may have been a surprise to people to see Doug Ducey say, I'm endorsing Kari Lake and Donald Trump.

So, right now, there is really a divide, where, for among those Republicans who have been critical of Donald Trump, to what extent does Kamala Harris sort of force you to say, you're in or you're out? This is a moment of clear division and clear difference between these two candidates.

And so while you do have the Adam Kinzingers who are leaving, you do have also the folks like, say, Doug Ducey, who say, I haven't liked Trump in the past, but I have to go to him now? URBAN: Or Governor Sununu.

(LAUGHTER)

SOLTIS ANDERSON: Yes.

AXELROD: Well, the question is, does that work for -- you had Senator Burr, who voted for impeachment, saying, yes, well, I'm going to be for him, even though I thought he was guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors.

I don't know if, at the end of the day, that is that helpful.

(CROSSTALK)

ALLISON: The double haters, though, are going more towards Kamala Harris than they are Donald Trump. And that's a good thing for her.

TAPPER: Thanks, one and all, for being here.

(LAUGHTER)

URBAN: We will see.

TAPPER: And we will be -- we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:55:56]

TAPPER: We're going to have much more on the Democratic National Convention from the Democratic National Convention. Special coverage live will kick off tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

Tomorrow, join us right back here, "THE LEAD," at 4:00. Our special coverage starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Thank you for spending your Sunday morning with us.

"FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" starts next. And I will see you tomorrow.