The Lead with Jake Tapper 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. [16:00:01] … (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:59:36] TAPPER: 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 in and clear security failures. … The Lead with Jake Tapper Aired July 22, 2024 - 17:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [17:00:00] JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And leading this hour, 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. Let's get right to CNN's Kayla Tausche at the White House and Priscilla Alvarez in Wilmington, Delaware, just outside Campaign HQ, what they're calling Kamala HQ. Priscilla, Vice President Harris just arrived in Wilmington to meet with the staff there. You have new reporting about the mood. What can you tell us? PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake, there are certainly mixed emotions over the course of the day here at the campaign headquarters. Of course, there was a seismic shift for the campaign over the last 24 hours, and sources tell me there was a feeling of grief, of relief, and also excitement. And that is what you heard as soon as the Vice President walked into headquarters, was that cheering and applause. But Jake, if you also notice in those images, while there is new signage of Kamala for president, there is also still Biden-Harris signage. That's how quickly all of this happened, that they still haven't been able to replace everything, though they did also hang up the California state flag. And only moments before she walked into campaign headquarters, they also debuted a new website. Up until this point, the website was JoeBiden.com. It is now Kamalaharris.com. Now, of course, the campaign is celebrating a big fundraising haul over the last 24 hours, a whopping $81 million over the last 24 hours, the highest of any candidate in history, according to the campaign. This, of course, welcomed news after the campaign had been struggling with donors because of all of the questions circling around President Joe Biden's candidacy. Well, now they are seeing that money flow right back in. Now, the Vice President, before coming here, had been working the phones yesterday, 10 hours on the phones, talking to more than 100 Democratic officials while she was in Washington, D.C., essentially telling them that she wanted to earn the nomination and also earn their support. Now, Jake, I think it's also worth noting there's so much new here and there's so many questions as to how this campaign will take shape with her as the lead of the party's ticket. Well, the campaign manager has a long history with the vice president. She, Julia Chavez Rodriguez, had served as the state director when Kamala Harris was senator of California. And so there are already some relationships here that they will be leaning on and that allies of the vice president have pointed to as she starts to take this role on. And we'll also hear directly from the vice president here at campaign headquarters later this hour, where she will deliver remarks to staff. And that, too, will be a moment to get a sense of where her head is at and how she rallies the staffers who, over the last 24 hours, have just been through a really remarkable and pivotal moment in this campaign, a lot of them finding out with the rest of the American public when the president said he wasn't going to seek reelection. So all eyes on her remarks later this hour. TAPPER: All right, Kayla, so far, we've seen statements online from President Biden and the letter that he signed. What are we going to hear from President Biden, his own words? KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we heard this afternoon, Jake, from the president's doctor who said that his symptoms of COVID, which is why he's isolating in Delaware, have resolved almost completely and that the president completed his 10th dose of Paxlovid, which in standard dosing, that is the final one. White House officials had told CNN that the president was eager to address the nation as soon as possible to explain his rationale in making the decision to withdraw from the race. And, of course, with every day that goes on, the shape of the Harris candidacy becomes even more filled out. And discussion moves on as to what her effort, what her platform and what the party's next steps are. So, certainly, Biden wants to get out there as soon as he gets cleared to come back to the White House and deliver that address, as he laid out in his letter on Sunday, that he would do to the American people. He's also expected this week to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And White House officials expect that to happen mid to late week. So watch that space. But in the meantime, as I mentioned, the Harris candidacy is moving full steam ahead. And there is going to be an effort on Wednesday to have the Vice President reach a majority of delegates to essentially firm up her nomination around the same time that the Democratic National Committee's rules committee is going to be convening virtually to discuss the path forward to lock up that nomination for Harris ahead of what they see as ballot access deadlines on August 7. And in talking to a couple members of that committee, Jake, I have learned that there's also going to be a discussion, they expect on that call, about a timeline for selecting a running mate and whether that needs to happen by August 7, as well. [17:05:56] Of course, the timeline for this candidacy running straight into the convention has been expedited, as you know, this is a very unprecedented situation. And so any discussion that they have around setting a deadline potentially for choosing a running mate could put them on an even faster track, Jake. TAPPER: All right, Kayla Tausche and Priscilla Alvarez, thanks to both of you. CNN's Manu Raju is live on Capitol Hill for us right now. Manu, former Speaker Pelosi waited until today to endorse Vice President Harris, while House Democratic Leader Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Schumer put out a statement this afternoon saying that Harris is off to a, quote, "great start to earn the nomination." But notably, neither of those men endorsed her. What is going on in top Democratic leadership circles right now? MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, initially, right off the bat yesterday, Jake, the Democratic leaders did not want to put their fingers on the scale as they were grappling with this news, literally blindsided by this news that happened yesterday afternoon and trying to assess whether or not any rivals would jump into the race against Kamala Harris. But in the last day or so, it's been very clear that those rivals, potential rivals, have endorsed Harris. And it's very clear that Harris is well on her way to securing the Democratic nomination. Those two leaders, Jeffries and Schumer, have made it very clear that they are almost certain going to endorse her imminently. It may not happen today, but they want to have a meeting with her first. They said that will happen probably in the next day, maybe a couple of days before they actually sit down and meet with her and then at that point issue their formal endorsement. But the Democratic Party is in a much different place than they were just a couple of days ago when this party was distraught, when Schumer and Jeffries themselves made the case to Joe Biden that there was widespread concern within their respective caucuses to Biden continuing on as a Democratic nominee. Now there is a much upbeat tone and there's a belief that this campaign could turn around and it's been going Donald Trump's way for so long. And that is a view among Democratic leaders themselves, as we expect an endorsement to come, maybe not today, but as soon as tomorrow, maybe the day after, Jake. TAPPER: All right. And Manu, how are Republicans there on Capitol Hill handling this 180 at the top of the Democratic ticket? RAJU: You know, they're still finalizing their strategy. Several of them said that they believe that they could tie Kamala Harris to some of the more unpopular aspects of Joe Biden's presidency, namely how immigration and border security have gone down. She, of course, was named to try to help find the root causes of migration. And we've seen what's happened at the border and Republicans want to hammer that issue home, some of them criticizing her more liberal policies. One congressman, Tim Burchett, indicating that perhaps that she was plucked from the position as vice president simply because of a diversity issue, despite her past background as a senator and a prosecutor. And the Speaker of the House indicating to me earlier that there could be efforts by Republicans at the state level to try to deny Harris access and her name on the ballot, suggesting it could run afoul of election law. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I said that we have 50 different systems in each of the states when it comes to presidential elections and choosing electors and all the rest. And in some of the states, there are impediments to just switching someone out like that. RAJU: Are you suggesting she was a DEI hire? JOHNSON: One hundred percent. She was a DEI hire. He said he was going to hire and then -- and she didn't. Her record is abysmal at best. RAJU: Are you concerned at all about her more liberal politics for a moderate district like yours? JOHNSON: It's funny, during the primary in 2020, right, she was getting a lot of flak from progressives that she was too far to the middle. And so, you know, everyone's trying to frame her, oh, she's to the left or she's to centered depending upon, you know, what side of the aisle you're on. (END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: And that last comment coming from a Democratic congressman, a more moderate freshman Democrat, Jared Moskowitz of Florida, who has endorsed Harris and making it very clear that despite the Republican efforts to try to tie them to -- tie her to those more vulnerable Democrats, that some of them are embracing Vice President Harris as their party's standard bearer, believing that Jake, should be helpful down the ticket. And that is a much different calculation, Jake, than a lot of Democrats had for Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, worried that he would depress turnout and would not be able to put back together that coalition that took him to the White House in 2020. So, much different views of both parties as they grapple with this momentous news over the past day, Jake. TAPPER: And Manu, just a fact-check here for Congressman Burchett. President Biden, when he was running, I think he said he was going to pick a woman running mate. He didn't pledge to pick a black woman running mate. He said he would put a black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, but he never said that he was going to pick a black woman as his running mate. So the suggestion that she was picked for his race, that's, I mean, her race, that's in Congressman Burchett's faulty memory, presumably. I can't find that as established fact. RAJU: Yeah. And he made the same argument today at a Secret Service hearing too, Jake, going after the Secret Service director for calling her essentially a DEI hire. [17:10:00] So, that is the pointed criticism from that Republican congressman, even if it may not stand up to the facts, as you suggest there, Jake. TAPPER: Pointed would be one word for it, I suppose. Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, thank you so much. Today marks 106 days until the November election. It's also the first full day without President Biden in the race. Does Vice President Kamala Harris really have the full court support of the Democratic Party? We're going to talk about that as we stand by to hear her message to her newly inherited campaign staff. Plus, Donald Trump's reaction to all this and how his campaign is already launching new political attacks. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: And we're back with more on our "2024 Lead," Republican vice- presidential nominee, J.D. Vance, the senator from Ohio reacted to the news today that Vice President Kamala Harris is now the likely Democratic nominee for president. (END VIDEO CLIP) J.D. VANCE, REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I was told I was going to get to debate Kamala Harris and now President Trump's going to get to debate her. [17:15:00] I'm kind of pissed off about that, if I'm being honest with you. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: With me now is CNN's Phil Mattingly, as well as Kristen Holmes. And Kristen, this Democratic shakeup has major implications for the Trump campaign. Are they -- I know that they're saying that this doesn't change anything, they're going to be able to beat her just like they're going to beat Joe Biden, but is that the reality? Are they as confident as they're acting like they are? KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The truth is that they don't know right now what exactly this means. I mean, one of the things about President Joe Biden is that they saw an enthusiasm gap. It's not just that they had this enormous campaign apparatus that they had put into place with millions of dollars in modeling, and that was what they were going off of. But it was also the fact that Democrats weren't rallying around President Joe Biden even before the debate. That led to what they believe to be a turnout gap in November. And they just don't know what this means in terms of actual enthusiasm. Are people going to rally around her? Is she going to be able to bring out different groups that President Joe Biden wasn't going to be able to bring out? Now, there is some confidence in the fact that one of the things that Donald Trump's team likes about it being Kamala Harris, rather than being somebody who's not part of the administration, is that they still believe that they can run on three issues, crime, immigration and inflation. And they believe that they can tie Kamala Harris to all of those policies because she is the vice president of the United States. So that gives them some hope in that way. But really, right now, it's not so much that they even know what this looks like exactly. I mean, there's still not even -- if she's the nominee, we still don't know who the vice president is going to be, which is going to shift things again. So right now, it's a lot of trying to figure out what does this actually mean moving forward. TAPPER: And Phil, this morning, Fox aired a clip from an interview they taped with Trump and Vance. It's going to air this evening. Well, listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Is it a coup against Joe Biden? DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's sort of -- VANCE: I think it is. I mean, look, there's a constitutional process, the 25th Amendment. If Joe Biden can't run for president, he can't serve as president. And if they want to take him down because he's mentally incapable of serving, invoke the 25th Amendment. You don't get to sort of do this in the most politically beneficial way for Democrats. If it's an actual problem, they should take care of it the appropriate way. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: I mean, I feel like we should have Daniel Dale here, really. But what's your response? PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHORE & CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: I mean, first thing I thought was that pause from the former president was the pause of somebody who's like, wait, I actually did try and do a coup once. How am I supposed to respond to this -- TAPPER: Right. MATTINGLY: -- in terms of trying to overturn a free and fair election? TAPPER: Right. They didn't even have an angry mob. MATTINGLY: Right. Yeah. No, they weren't giving their full effort there. TAPPER: Nobody died. The thing is about what J.D. Vance and the 25th Amendment, we've seen it from Republicans, Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, other Republicans have said something similar. The fact that this isn't constitutional, this is a party issue and party politics and a campaign. The current president said he's not running for re-election because he's going to spend the next six months focused on the presidency. These are two separate things, two separate kinds of tracks here on some level. I do understand that Republicans are trying as hard as they can to continue to sow chaos, chaos that has been enormously beneficial to them over the course of the last three plus weeks. I think some lawmakers are talking about introducing resolutions, trying to push cabinet members to pursue the 25th Amendment. It's a sideshow. It has no kind of basis in either what Democrats who control the Senate would actually do or the fact that Biden said, I'm not running for re-election, not that I'm not capable of -- TAPPER: Yeah. MATTINGLY: -- being president. TAPPER: I think there is a legitimate question about the president's health and abilities -- MATTINGLY: No question. TAPPER: -- and that should he, I mean, if they want to do that, should he be president -- MATTINGLY: And those are fair questions -- TAPPER: Right. MATTINGLY: -- based on everything that's happened over the course of the last three weeks. TAPPER: But what just happened is not -- there is -- anyway. Go ahead. HOLMES: I also think that part of the language that they were using was an attempt to try to get Joe Biden not to drop out of the race. I mean, now it has happened, but talking about how if he drops out of the campaign, he can't serve as president. That's a warning sign that this is the next message that we're going to send to Joe Biden. If you hear them continue to say this is going to be a coup, they're trying to throw him out. That's trying to signal to Joe Biden, you shouldn't let them try to throw you out. TAPPER: Right. Yeah. HOLMES: These are not just what -- you're saying now that he's out. That was what they were trying to message before he dropped out of the race in attempts, I think, to try to keep him in. TAPPER: Yeah. And again, there are legitimate questions about the president's health, but they're like trying to tie things together that aren't necessarily together. And as you note, how you campaign and decisions having to do with the politics of it are not relevant to the 25th Amendment. MATTINGLY: They are two distinct things. TAPPER: But there is this coup issue that dates back to January 6, 2021. And then we heard some language today at the J.D. Vance rally. This is Ohio State Senator George Lang, who spoke before Vance, and he said this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE LANG, OHIO STATE SENATE: I believe wholeheartedly Donald Trump and Butler County's J.D. Vance are the last chance to save our country politically. [17:20:01] I'm afraid if we lose this one, it's going to take a civil war to save the country. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Not if we lose this one, it's going to cause a civil war because the left is so insane, but it's going to take a civil war to save the country, which suggests like we're going to have to -- if the Trump-Vance ticket doesn't win, we're going to have to stage a civil war. That's the implication in terms of the construct of the sentence. MATTINGLY: Yeah, look, the message of unity and taking down the temperature had a good run. It was about nine days, 10 days long on some level. I think there's a -- I should note, first and foremost, the state senator, George Lang from Ohio, who represents where they were today for the Vance rally, has since posted on X that he regrets his comments. He said they do not accurately reflect my views, which he stated -- TAPPER: Whose views do they represent? MATTINGLY: Did not clarify that in the statement itself. TAPPER: Was a ventriloquist present? What was going on? HOLMES: Sounds like he got a call from the campaign. TAPPER: Bingo. MATTINGLY: And I think what that underscores more than anything else, one thing I was struck by last week at the convention, which I think everybody would acknowledge was extremely well run, went very well. The only kind of thing that got sidetracked was the former president's speech on some level, was the most divisive figures in the party, who are oftentimes the most dedicated Trump acolytes, were kind of buried before the primetime coverage started. Peter Navarro's speech, which was absolutely bonkers and borderline insane, was at like 6:30 p.m. And so that was, I think, structurally intentional. Their issue, and we've already seen the Harris campaign put out a statement talking about how they're trying to sow hatred, and this is a reflection of Trump, is that comments like this, particularly if they ramp up because Harris looks like she's going to be the nominee, are problematic for them and the message that they're trying to send. TAPPER: And Kristen, we saw the MAGA team launch their first attack ad against Vice President Harris. Here's a clip. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNKNOWN: Kamala knew Joe couldn't do the job, so she did it. Look what she got done. A border invasion, runaway inflation, the American dream, dead. They created this mess. They know Kamala owns his failed record. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: So it's interesting because they're kind of suggesting that she was like some sort of puppet master. HOLMES: Yeah, I think that this is their attempt, as I said earlier, to try to link her to the Biden administration and say those policies are actually her policies. TAPPER: Well, she's the vice president out there. HOLMES: Right, which is not -- it's not an unfair linking. I will say one thing. One of the things that Donald Trump's team feels about Kamala Harris is that they've seen all the polling that shows that she has the highest name ID of anyone that could potentially be a Democratic nominee of the people that we think are in the mix, right. But what they say is missing is this what they call name education, which means there's a gap there for them to paint her in whatever way that they want to for the next several weeks or months, which they're trying to take advantage of. And I think we've just seen the tip of the iceberg. I think it's going to get incredibly -- TAPPER: Absolutely. It's a race. It's a race between the Harris team and the Trump-Vance team who can define her quickest. HOLMES: Exactly. TAPPER: Thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it. For a hot second there, for a hot second today, it sounded as though Vice President Harris may have had a clear challenger. Listen to independent Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia on CNN this morning. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHORE: So, Senator, are you running for president? SEN. JOE MANCHIN (I-WV): I'm pursuing the process. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Not even a full hour later, Manchin was on another network backing off the comment, confirming that he was actually not considering a run for office any longer. So, does Vice President Harris have any competition among her party or, you know, Democratic- friendly independents going into the height of this race? We're going to be back with that conversation next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:28:00] TAPPER: Vice President Kamala Harris is addressing her inherited campaign staff right now in Wilmington, Delaware. Let's take a listen. Oh, it's not going on yet. Sorry. Apologies. We're not ready yet. Let's continue our "2024 Lead." Moments after President Biden upended the 2024 race by bowing out, Vice President Kamala Harris started working the phones in an effort to earn and win the Democratic nomination. Potential challengers are now falling in line. High-profile governors throwing their support behind the vice president, Senator Joe Manchin, Independent from West Virginia, former Democrat, he briefly flirted with re-registering as a Democrat and running. He did finally say he's not going to go forward with that bid this morning, but he did call for a competitive process. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MANCHIN: Coordination doesn't always basically produce, I think, the strongest, if you will, the strongest team. Very well, Kamala could be that person and I think going through some sort of a process would have been very enlightening. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Here with us is a panel of political voices and a reporter to discuss. Alencia Johnson, do you think it's a mistake for the party to have coalesced around Vice President Harris so there is no competitive process at all and it does kind of look like an anointing? ALENCIA JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I actually don't think it's an anointing. I think that during the primary, folks understood that if I'm voting for Joe Biden, I'm voting for Joe Biden and Vice President Harris. And folks have had the concern about his age, so understanding that she could eventually be President Harris. And so I appreciate her tone and that she's looking forward to earning and winning the nomination. But when you have the energy that we have seen, I mean, $81 million in 24 hours, a call that I was on of over 44,000 black women in the middle of the night talking about this, this unprecedented amount of support. It's not necessarily coordination. It is actually the factions of our party that were frustrated in the last three weeks coming together and saying, we actually see this as the opportunity for the path forward. [17:30:04] TAPPER: I don't think it's a, you know, this is still going to be very competitive. But don't you think that -- that Vice President Harris as the nominee, is tougher than Joe Biden for -- for -- for President Trump to beat? That's not saying he won't beat her but I'm saying -- MARC LOTTER, CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, AMERICA FIRST POLICY INSTITUTE: Right. TAPPER: I mean, she is enthusing crowds. Democrats are smiling for the first time in like five months, six months. She is exciting groups that Biden was struggling with African Americans, young people, et cetera. That's, again, isn't she just inherently a better challenge? LOTTER: I think it changes that narrative in terms of an energy standpoint from the Democrat party, but the policy underlying it doesn't. I mean, they're still running basically campaign 1A, which is substitute the name Harris or Biden for Harris. TAPPER: Sure. LOTTER: And it's still the -- it's still the gas prices, groceries, immigration, southern border, where were you for three and a half years? How long did you hide Joe Biden's infirmity from the American people? None of those things are going to change. It just depends on who they put on the bumper sticker. TAPPER: And speaking of the bumper sticker, we're still figuring out or trying to wait for her to figure out who she is going to pick as her running mate. What can you tell us about that process? JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, we know that it is a going to be a truncated process, obviously, because the vote on this could come as -- as early or before August 7th, so that doesn't leave a lot of time for vetting. So that largely means that it's most likely to be someone already in the public eye who's run for office before. She's looking at governors not surprisingly. We're looking -- we're learning that Democratic lawyers are beginning to look into the financial records and voting records and family histories of several governors, including Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, not a surprise, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, he has the deepest relationship with Vice President Harris because they served as attorneys general together at the same time. And this is her first big presidential choice. This is her decision that she will make alone as she inherits this campaign. So it's certainly interesting, but also Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. He was the youngest person on the list of 46 years old. They don't have much of a relationship, but I'm told she was watching him, sort of auditioning this morning on cable television, and also J.B. Pritzker. He's on the list as well, the governor of Illinois, and it could be more. And Arizona Senator Mark Kelly -- TAPPER: Yes. ZELENY: -- I forgot about him. He's the only Senator on the list and should she pick him and should they win? Arizona has a Democratic governor. So she would appointed Democrat to fill that seat. But otherwise, senators are sort of off limits here because the balance of power is so fragile in the Senate. TAPPER: So Sarah, you've been doing at least 14 focus groups of swing voters since the debate, which was 700 years ago, actually three -- three weeks in a few days ago. And almost all of them wanted Biden to step aside. You say you posted this before Biden exited from the race, quote, the most alarming groups for Democrats are the ones we've done with Clinton-Biden voters, regular Democratic voters who are now undecided. Those groups also wanted Biden to step aside. And several people were third party curious, are talking about leaving by the top of the ticket blank. So what happens now that Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee? SARAH LONGWELL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think a lot of people come back. We were literally doing a swing group. As I left the office, seven of the eight of the people of the participants, they were all going to vote for Harris. People were just so bored and bereft over this choice. There's a reason double haters were the name that we were using for the persuadable group, because they really didn't like their choices. And the reason we were seeing even some sort of soft Democrats turn on Joe Biden is they felt like it was irresponsible to have him run the country for another four years. And so for people for whom they hate Trump, but age was the real defining factor as to why they couldn't support Joe Biden, Kamala Harris takes a lot of that off the table. I will say, having done these focus groups now for a long time, swing voters are, you know, they've had sort of a negative-ish reaction to her for a while. They -- they feel like they don't see her. They don't know what she does. But that's why she has a shot here. She has a shot to totally reintroduce herself to these voters. And if she can get them there, they're sort of waiting for somebody to make the case to get them there. They don't want to vote for Trump again, they just need something a little bit of something to before. TAPPER: There's something normal, right? LONGWELL: Yes. TAPPER: So it doesn't say, I -- I hear you on the policy stuff. And that's a totally fair hit, Vice President's own the President's administration. But is there a way to go after Kamala Harris that you think for Republicans that you think will be successful because I haven't seen anything effective yet? LOTTER: Yes. Well, I think the reintroduction will be done by the Trump will be done by the Trump campaign and will jump $100 million, introducing the real Kamala Harris to the American people. The woman who bailed out the BLM rioters, protesters, arsonists, one who's just now recently been charged with murder. It'll be the all of the mistakes that I ended the charges that she had when she was at the -- attorney general in California, that she was a co-sponsor or co-author of the Green New Deal. There's plenty of material and tape. I mean thank God, she explained Ukraine to us as being a small country next to Russia which is a big one. I mean those kinds of things will leave an indelible mark as she tries to -- [17:35:06] LONGWELL: Did Donald Trump give her $5,000 check to support her campaign? TAPPER: Her Attorney General. LOTTER: Attorney General. TAPPER: Yes. LONGWELL: Yes. TAPPER: Well, let's say -- JOHNSON: But there's also -- I mean, to that point, I mean, look, she has been the leading voice on abortion access, which is actually the issue that is waiting for us. She also is a prosecutor going up against someone who is convicted of 34 felonies, right? So you can talk about all of that if she wants to. And then also, as you mentioned, some of these -- these positions, climate change, it actually galvanizes our base, you know, making sure that protesters are able to have their voice heard that galvanizes our base, so all of the issues that you all want to put front and center are the things that our coalition is actually excited about. TAPPER: Everyone, stick around, we're going to keep talking. The podium is set for Vice President Harris to speak at campaign HQ. And to underscore just how new this new phases. Check this out, that his campaign staff just moments ago taping up Kamala signs to the wall there. We'll have much more of the conversation, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:40:09] TAPPER: I'm back with my 2024 Lead as we await Kamala Harris's remarks to staff at her campaign headquarters. My panel is back with me. Marc, Senator J.D. Vance had his first solo rally in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio today, and comments made by an Ohio State Senator George -- named George Lang before Senator Lang -- Vance spoke are getting a lot of attention. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. GEORGE LANG (R-GA): I believe wholeheartedly, Donald Trump and Butler County's J.D. Vance are the last chance to save our country politically. I'm afraid if we lose this one, it's going to take a civil war to save the country. (END VIDEO CLIP) SCIUTTO: What -- what happened to taking down the temperature and everybody watching what they say? LOTTER: Apparently didn't get to low level state officials. I mean, no, that -- that just an irresponsible comment. And I think he -- has he apologized for it or something along those lines since then? And if not, he should very quickly. TAPPER: So anyway, turning to President Trump, he posted on his social media site, Truth Social, so we are forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden, he polls badly after having a terrible debate and quits the race. Now we have to start all over again. Shouldn't the Republican Party be reimbursed for fraud? You said that Harris at the top of the ticket doesn't change anything policy wise. But I -- I could seriously understand the frustration they have spent millions of dollars on modeling and advertising and figuring out how to go after Joe Biden and now they have a whole new person. LOTTER: Yes. They've been preparing for it for weeks now when it -- when it became more and more clear that post debate that that call was really picking up speed. But now you have to execute to the benefit. You -- Joe Biden helped us define Joe Biden, with his actions, his words, his -- his physical appearance. Kamala Harris, you're going to spend a lot of money and to define her before she gets to define herself. And that's rule number one really of campaigns on all sides. ZELENY: But they've also spent very little money on television. So I mean, that's one thing that Trump campaign has spent just a sliver of what the Biden campaign had spent on television, and, you know, look where the race is. So -- TAPPER: Right. ZELENY: -- some would argue that the Trump campaign has been sort of behind in organizing and -- and building state offices and things. So they haven't spent that much money. I mean, Super PACs have. But the fraud was kind of rich. And that's always is worth noting. JOHNSON: Well, that -- I mean, that posed to me was Trump being a toddler kicking and screaming, I think they are scared, which is actually really surprising to me, because they have always known that Vice President Harris was going to be on the ticket somehow. And so for them to really show their cards that they are flat footed, and not prepared, actually is another advantage for us. But all of his posts have shown me that they are actually really scared that she's at the top of the ticket. LOTTER: They are not. They are not scared. SCIUTTO: What are the advance -- based pace on the focus groups you've done? What -- where are Harris's most biggest vulnerabilities and where her -- her potential biggest strengths? LONGWELL: So the biggest strength is just the age thing. So Donald Trump they -- they were. They were thought they were facing Biden, and they built a framework around age, mental acuity, what. So now, age is a big deal. TAPPER: It worked. LONGWELL: And now Donald Trump is the oldest president -- oldest candidate ever be nominated for president. And so now they're living in the age framework, and they got to deal with that. In terms of reliability, I agree. It's probably immigration and the fact that they're going to try to dump $100 million on her head out of the gate. And because, like I said, the voters constantly talk about how they don't see her because she has been so sidelined has been so out of view, like it's a race to define Kamala Harris. And Kamala Harris better realize that she needs to define herself before they define her. This was Ron DeSantis's big -- that Ron DeSantis got to find before he can even get in the race. And so this first month, I think people they shouldn't think, oh, we've got some time before the convention and then we're going to launch Kamala, no, no, no, she's got to go right now. ZELENY: And he is doing defining it's Chris LaCivita, who of course, as we all remember, from the 2004 campaign, the Swift POWs Veterans for Truth, they define John Kerry immediately here. So that's what -- LOTTER: And the people who are going to be defining Kamala Harris, she's in Delaware right now meeting for the first time. They don't even know her name. JOHNSON: They -- they know Kamala Harris. She's been on the ground. She has I mean, up until this point she has done like 80-some local interviews. It's just a matter of the national attention hasn't really been on her. TAPPER: But don't you think she needs to? I mean, I realize it's been literally one day, but don't you think? I mean, they did -- he'd be scheduling big rallies and events and -- and doing interviews and doing town halls and all of that. JOHNSON: Yes. TAPPER: Like now. JOHNSON: Yes. And -- and look, they are. They're planning all of that. And I will be honest, I get her readouts. She has been doing that. But national media is covering Trump-Biden. Now, the attention is going to go through Kamala Harris and what she's doing on the ground with these voters. TAPPER: One interesting story I don't want to miss "The Washington Post" is reporting that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. floated to President Trump, a job in the second administration, as -- second Trump administration as kind of like the benefit, you know, if he endorsed Donald Trump he would get a job a senior role overseeing a portfolio of health and medical issues which is a horrifying thought given his rejection of science and -- and medicine. [17:45:09] TAPPER: The Trump campaign rejected it. It sounds like from "The Washington Post" reporting, and rightfully so, because there are serious quid pro quo questions there about that. But what do you make of that? ZELENY: I mean, I make of that the meeting happened in Wisconsin, states like that are places where they're worried that Donald Trump voters otherwise may support RFK. And if it's going to be a margin, a race on the margins, I mean, he's clearly trying to get him out of the way. So I think that's all you can really read. TAPPER: All right, thanks one and all. Appreciate it. President Biden was supposed to meet tomorrow with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, just arrived in Washington, D.C. in the last hour. But now that meeting is pending because Biden we're told is recovering from COVID. So will Vice President Kamala Harris meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu instead? The official word from her office, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: President Biden has called into this rally a campaign headquarters. Let's listen in. JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- everybody in this effort. I know yesterday's news is surprising and it's hard for you to hear. But it was the right thing to do. It's a -- I -- I know it's hard because you've poured your heart and soul into me to help us win this thing, help me get this nomination, help me win the nomination, and then go on to win the -- win the -- the presidency. But, you know, you're an amazing team. But we've got a great, great -- I think we made the right decision. I know how hard you've worked, how many sacrifices you've made. And so many of you, so many of you uprooted your lives for me, and the kind of commitment few people make or anything these days, but you made it. And I've been honored and humbled. I mean, this is from the bottom my heart, my word as a Biden, for all you've done for me and my family. And you -- we built the best campaign in organ -- organization in history. I've been doing this, like you're always kidding because I know I'm only 40. But I've been around a long time. I don't know of a better campaign organization grassroots campaign. You know, we have over 230 offices opened. We have over 2,000-page staff. And we have literally several thousand volunteers on a regular basis, thousands of them and they've been relentless and tireless and reaching out and contacting voters. The leadership of this campaign has been amazing, Jen O'Malley Dillon, Julie Quinn, Michael Taylor and Rob Flaherty, Rufus on raising money and so many more. You built this team and you brought them together, you brought us together you've inspired them. And -- and you've done what leaders do. Now -- now we got to, you know, the name has changed the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn't changed at all. And by the way, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be on the campaign with her, with Kamala. I'm going to be working like hell, both as a sitting president getting legislation passed, as well as -- and campaigning. You know what we still need to save this democracy. And Trump -- Trump is still a danger to the community. He's a danger to the nation. And just, you know, satisfy foreign policy colleagues, my counterparts and other people around the world and at home. Look, so I'm hoping you'll give every bit of your heart and soul that you gave to me to Kamala. And -- and I want you to know, I won't be on a ticket, but I'm still going to be fully, fully engaged. I've got six months left in my presidency, I'm determined to get as much done as I possibly can both foreign policy and domestic policy, keep lowering costs for families continue to speak out on guns, and childcare, eldercare, prescription drugs and climate. Climate still is an existential threat that we face. [17:50:35] And we have -- if we don't -- if we don't win this thing, it's all in jeopardy. And we got to keep working for an end to the war in Gaza. I'll be working very closely with the -- with the Israelis and with the Palestinians to try to work out how we can get the Gaza war to end in the Middle East peace, and get all those hostages home. I think we're on a verge of being able to do that. And we got to keep our alliances together. It's critically important. It took a while for me to build these alliances. Most of these are my colleagues have acknowledged that. But it's critically, critically important for our safety and security. And I know, I'll be doing whatever Kamala wants me and needs me to do in addition. So let me be real clear, we're still fighting in this fight together. I'm not going anywhere. And I want you to know I've always -- you've always had my back, and I promise you, I will always have your back. And I'm anxious to -- for you at all to hear from Kamala. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Julie. You're the best. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) JULIE CHAVEZ RODRIGUEZ, CAMPAIGN MANAGER, VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS'S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Well, thank you so much, Mr. President. BIDEN: Thank you. I'm -- I'm sticking around. I'm going to listen. RODRIGUEZ: All right, thank you so much, Mr. President, again, for taking time to join our call today. And, you know, as the President said, we are full steam ahead and supporting the Vice President. And we are seeing incredible enthusiasm already from our supporters, from Democratic governors, to senators, to House members, to mayors to folks across the country. You know, our Democratic Party is really uniting around our nominee. And we just announced that we raised $81 million in 24 hours. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) RODRIGUEZ: So now, I'm incredibly honored to bring up the Second Gentleman to be able to mark a historic day with us today. With that, I'd like to introduce second gentleman, Doug Emhoff. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) DOUG EMHOFF, SECOND GENTLEMAN: Wow, Julie, thank you so much. I've known Julie a long, long time, going back to her days working in Kamala's Senate office. And we put a lot of time together out on the road on the last campaign. And I can't think of anyone better to be leading this campaign, so thank you so much, you're the best. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) EMHOFF: I was just very emotional, listening to President Biden, just saying. I was emotional before I heard that, because of -- of who he is, and what he represents, the dignity, the empathy. He's had my back, personally, some of my toughest moments as Second Gentleman. One, leaving the career that I loved. It was always the President who came up to me and said, look, I know -- I know, kid, you're a great lawyer. I know this must have been tough. But what -- what better way to -- to leave that and to support your wife who you love so much, and your country that you love so much. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) EMHOFF: And it's hard to believe it was about four years ago, the first time I came to Wilmington is when she got the call from -- from President, then candidate Biden to be on the ticket. And we came here the next day, we went to their home. And he said with Dr. Biden, welcome to the family. You're now Biden's. And they made us cookies. (LAUGHS) EMHOFF: And they called our kids. And they called my parents. (LAUGHS) EMHOFF: This was day one four years ago. And now look where we are now to have been able to serve a Second Gentleman with him as our President, Dr. Biden as our First Lady. Unbelievable. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) EMHOFF: And now, now I get to support my wife, Kamala Harri, running for President of the United States. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) EMHOFF: Let me tell you something. We are going to win this election. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) EMHOFF: We are on the right side of every single issue. And we have this team right here and thousands of others all around the country. How do I know? Because I've been traveling all around the country, and I've met them. (CHEERING) [17:55:11] EMHOFF: We have an amazing team, you have done an amazing job and you're going to continue to do that. So we can elect Kamala Harris as an ex-President of the United States of America. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) EMHOFF: So let's hear it for Kamala Harris. Thank you. (MUSIC) (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hey, Delaware. CROWD: Kamala. Kamala. Kamala. HARRIS: Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. (CHEERING) HARRIS: Thank you all. Thank you. Can we just give it up again for my husband? (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: It is so good to hear our President's voice. Joe, I know you're still on the -- on the call. And we've been talking every day. You probably, you guys heard it from Doug's voice, we love Joe and Jill. We really do. They truly are like family to us. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So do we. HARRIS: And we just everybody here on us. BIDEN: It's Mitchell (ph). (LAUGHS) HARRIS: I know you're still there. You're not going anywhere, Joe. BIDEN: I'm watching you kid. I'm watching you kid. I love you. HARRIS: I love you Joe. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: So Joe I'm going to recognize some of the electeds who are here and then I'm going to get back to you, hold on a second. So let me do please acknowledged some extraordinary national leaders who are also dear friends both to the President and to me, Governor John Carney we are you. There you are. And his wife they are here. Senator Tom Carper, my former colleague, and his wife who's here. Chris Coons, my dear friend, Attorney General Kathy Jennings. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: The mayor is here, Purzycki, where you are? There. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: And the next United States senator from the great state of Delaware is here, Lisa Blunt Rochester. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: And I know everyone here has seen these elected leaders in this very campaign office on a regular basis. And I know Joe is so thankful to them for their lifelong friendship, but I want to thank them also, because you guys really been carrying some heavy water from the first days of our campaign. So thank you all. This truly is a Delaware family. Thank you. (CHEERING) HARRIS: I want to thank Jen O'Malley Dillon, where is she? Jen? (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: I'm going to talk about her in a minute, Julie Chavez Rodriguez. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: Sheila Nix. (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: And the entire team that is here, I want to thank all of you and those who are joining from offices across our nation. So Doug, and I wanted to stop by today to thank everybody. And -- and to express just what we know to be true. You all have been working so hard. The people in this office have been working so hard. And you have given so much of yourselves long days and nights. What you are sacrificing in terms of the time you could be spending with other friends and other family. And you're giving yourselves to our country because you love our country and you love Joe and you love me and we know that. And so today just right after Joe made his announcement, it was important for me to continue with his role of leadership in this office of like him was said for many, many, many months. And I say it today, thank you all so very much for what you were doing, and what you will continue to do. So let's applause -- (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) HARRIS: And I know it's been a roller coaster, and we're all filled with so many mixed emotions about this. I just have to say I love Joe Biden. I love Joe Biden. And I know we all do and we have so many darn good reasons for loving Joe Biden. And I have full faith that this team is the team will be the reason we win in November, you all who are here. [18:00:05] And as Julie always says and I will quote the great Julie, we are -- First Move with Julia Chatterley Aired July 22, 2024 - 18:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [18:00:00] KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: One team, one fight. And she's been an extraordinary campaign manager. She's going to continue in this role and see us to victory in November. And we are all here because we love our country, right? And we believe in our foundational principles. We believe in freedom. And opportunity and justice, not for some, but for all. And so, we have 106 days until election day, and in that time, we have some hard work to do. And as JOD always reminds us, we can do hard things. JOD has been such an incredible leader of this team, and that is why I have just asked her to run my campaign, and she has accepted. And so, over the next 106 days, we are going to Our case to the American people, and we are going to win. We are going to win. And so, now, I'm getting back to you, Joe. I will tell you, it has been one of the greatest honors of my life, truly, to serve as vice president to our president, Joe Biden. Joe's legacy of accomplishment, just over a lifetime, but just over the last three and a half years, is unmatched in modern history. In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who served two terms in office. Think about it, and I know everyone here in the campaign, we have, we know. But, if we don't know, we got a problem. But I'm going to repeat some for those who might be guests at the moment. Joe got the COVID-19 pandemic under control. Remember those days? He has created more than 15 million new jobs. He brought together Republicans and Democrats and passed historic legislation. And I'm going to tell you, I'm a firsthand witness to all this work. I would sit with Joe in the Oval Office while he would bring members of both sides of the aisle and talk and listen and help them see what they may have in common and how we can actually work towards solutions. And because of their confidence in Joe, these accomplishments occurred. Joe has stood up for democracy at home, and he has stood up for democracy abroad, and he has always stood up for what he believes is right. And many of you may know, I first came to know Joe through his son, Beau. Beau and I worked together as State Attorneys General. And back then, Beau would often tell me stories about his dad, and he would talk about the kind of father and the kind of man that Joe Biden is. And he would talk about the qualities of his father and the qualities that that Beau revered the most are the same qualities that I see every day in our president. His honesty, his integrity, his commitment to his faith and his family, his big, big heart, and his deep love of our country. And I don't need to tell you all, you know, Joe's background, right? I mean, he grew up in a middle-class family in Scranton and he has never forgotten where he comes from. And so, again, I am a firsthand witness from being with him in the Oval Office to the Situation Room, and seeing him on the global stage with world leaders. President Joe Biden fights for the American people and we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation. Joe, are you watching? Do you hear this clapping? Can you see it? JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm watching. I'm watching. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you, Joe. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you, Joe. BIDEN: You're the best, dude. HARRIS: And let us be very clear. Joe is not done. Far from it. He knows there is still more work to do. And our nation will continue to praise his bold and visionary leadership as president. Thank you, Joe. BIDEN: Thank you. HARRIS: And it is my great honor to have Joe's endorsement in this race. BIDEN: You sure do. [18:05:00] HARRIS: And it is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win. So, in the days and weeks ahead, I, together with you, will do everything in my power to unite our Democratic Party. I'm here today to unite our nation, and to win this election. You know, as many of you know, before I was elected as vice president, before I was elected as United States Senator, I was the elected attorney general, as I've mentioned, of California, and before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump's type. And in this campaign, I will proudly, I will proudly put my record against his. As a young prosecutor, when I was in the Alameda County district attorney's office in California, I specialized in cases involving sexual abuse. Donald Trump was found liable by a jury for committing sexual abuse. As attorney general of California, I took on one of our country's largest for-profit colleges and put it out of business. Donald Trump ran a for profit college, Trump University, that was forced to pay $25 million dollars to the students it scammed. As district attorney to go after polluters, I created one of the first environmental justice units in our nation. Donald Trump stood in Mar-a-Lago and told big oil lobbyists he would do their bidding for a $1 billion campaign contribution. During the foreclosure crisis, I took on the big Wall Street banks in won $20 billion for California families, holding those banks accountable for fraud. Donald Trump was just found guilty of 34 counts of fraud. CROWD: Guilty, guilty. HARRIS: But make no mistake, all of that being said, this campaign is not just about us versus Donald Trump. There is more to this campaign than that. Our campaign has always been about two different versions of what we see as the future of our country. Two different visions for the future of our country. One focused on the future, the other focused on the past. Donald Trump wants to take our country backwards, to a time before many of our fellow Americans had full freedoms and rights. But we believe in a brighter future that makes room for all Americans. We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by but to get ahead. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. HARRIS: We believe in a future where no child has to grow up in poverty. Where every person can buy a home, start a family, and build wealth. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amen. HARRIS: And where every person has access to paid family leave and affordable child care. That's the future we see. Together, we fight to build a nation where every person has access. Affordable health care, where every worker is paid fairly and where every senior can retire with dignity. CROWD: Yes. HARRIS: All of this is to say, building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency. [18:10:00] Because we here know when our middle class is strong, America is strong. And we know that's not the future Donald Trump is fighting for. He and his extreme Project 2025 will weaken the middle class This bill that bring us backward. Please do note that. Back to the failed trickle-down policies that gave huge tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and made working families pay the cost. Back to policies that put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block. Back to policies that treat health care as only a privilege for the wealthy instead of what we all know it should be, which is a right for every American. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. HARRIS: America has tried these economic policies before. They do not lead to prosperity. They lead to inequity and economic injustice. And we are not going back. We are not going back. They're not taking us back. Our fight for the future is also a fight for freedom. Generations of Americans before us have led the fight for freedom from our founders to our framers, to the abolitionists and the suffragettes, to the freedom riders and farm workers. And now, I say, team, the baton is in our hands. We who believe in the sacred freedom to vote, we who are committed to fight to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, we who believe in the freedom to live safe from gun violence, and that's why we will work to pass universal background checks, red flag laws, and an assault weapons ban. We who will fight for reproductive freedom, knowing if Trump gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban to outlaw abortion in every single state, but we are not going to let that happen. It is this team here that is going to help in this November to elect a majority of members of the United States Congress who agree the government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body. And when Congress passes a law to restore reproductive freedoms, as president of the United States, I will sign it into law. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We the people. HARRIS: Indeed, we the people. So, ultimately, to all the friends here, I say, in this election, we know we each face a question, what kind of country do we want to live in? A country of freedom, compassion, and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear, and hate? CROWD: No. HARRIS: You all are here because you as leaders know we each, including our neighbors and our friends and our family, we each as Americans have the power to answer that question. That's the beauty of it, the power of the people. We each have the ability to answer that question. So, in the next 106 days, we have work to do. We have doors to knock on. We have people to talk to. We have phone calls to make. And we have an election to win. So, are you ready to get to work? Do we believe in freedom? Do we believe in our opportunity? Do we believe in the promise of America? CROWD: Yes. HARRIS: And are we willing to fight for it? CROWD: Yes. HARRIS: And when we fight, we win. CROWD: We win. HARRIS: God bless you all and God bless the United States of America and Joe Biden. [18:15:00] JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: You have been listening to a confident, eloquent, jubilant Vice President Kamala Harris talking from campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. She thanked everyone for their effort and sacrifice. So, far, she spent time thanking President Joe Biden. Expressed her love, her devotion, her support that he has a big heart, his deep love for America. She also said there's 106 days until election day, and we are going to win. She also laid out what she underscored was the focus, the goal of her presidency, which was building up the middle class. Really, what you saw there was Kamala Harris spending her first full day as presidential candidate. Harris aiming to quickly consolidate support and earning an endorsement from Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the process. Sources also telling CNN that Democratic heavyweights, the likes of Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, are set to back her within hours. Harris making her first public appearance since President Biden's bombshell decision to step aside earlier today at a White House ceremony. You can see her there. Harris also, as we were just seeing there, visiting the campaign offices in Wilmington, Delaware, where she also -- we heard her speak, of course, a campaign official saying, too, well over 28,000 new volunteers have already signed up across the nation. Donors also showing the same level of enthusiasm too. The Harris team saying, it's raised $81 million online in the 24 hours since she announced her candidacy. Super PAC Future Forward saying it's received further $150 million in donor commitments too. Harris, however, well aware that time is short and we heard her say it there. She also said earlier on X, one day down, 105 to go. Together, we are going to win this. And that was a message that she underscored as we just heard from her there. Senior Democratic National Committee Adviser Brad Woodhouse joins me now. Brad, great to have you with us. What did you make of that speech? You can feel, I think, the enthusiasm in the room. Oh, I don't think we have him. We'll see if we can get him back. Brad, can you hear me? No, he was furiously scribbling there. So, he was definitely listening to that speech. We will try and reestablish connection with him as far as we can. For now, we'll move on and we'll come back to him as soon as we possibly can. In the meantime, the other big story today, both Republican and Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives are calling for the Secret Service head to resign. Kimberly Cheatle was grilled on Capitol Hill over the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. The director took responsibility, saying "We failed." One congressman from South Carolina told Cheatle she's lost the trust of the American people. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. WILLIAM TIMMONS (R-SC): Who made the decision to deploy 12 to the first lady's event and three to the Trump event? KIMBERLY CHEATLE, DIRECTOR, U.S. SECRET SERVICE: The allocation of resources is decided based on the availability of personnel and their location and where they are. But there were sufficient resources that were given -- TIMMONS: What did you just say? CHEATLE: -- to the former presidents. TIMMONS: Did you just say there were sufficient resources? President Trump got shot. Someone got killed. There were not sufficient resources, clearly. CHEATLE: There was a gap. TIMMONS: And it doesn't take 27 years of experience to know that, and whoever made that decision, it probably wasn't you, needs to be fired, and then you need to resign because this is absolutely unacceptable, and you've lost the trust of the American people. (END VIDEO CLIP) CHATTERLEY: Andrew McCabe is former FBI deputy director and a CNN senior law enforcement analyst. Andrew, great to have you with us. She called it a colossal failure, but she also said she's the best person to stay in the role as the head of the Secret Service. She though faced pertinent legitimate questions about what happened, and some of those questions she passed on answering, others, she simply didn't have facts. What was this? ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Boy, it was a mess. I think it's very hard to rectify those two assertions that it was an absolute failure and that she's the best person to fix it. I think from the very beginning -- beginning with that assumption that the Service failed in its primary mission that Saturday the 13th, it's -- she's already in a very tough spot. And since things -- and since then, things have only gotten worse. It's a very questionable decisions about how they're interacting with the media and the public failing to show up for the first law enforcement press conference on the evening of the assassination attempt sending out really mixed signals through different media interviews and also through some of the statements of her subordinates. And then, to -- on top of all that, you had today's performance, which was -- you know, we have a saying, don't bring a knife to a gunfight. Well, in this context, same idea. Don't come to a congressional hearing without any information. And that's essentially what she did. [18:20:00] She wasn't comfortable sharing the information she knew. And then it was clear that, in response to other questions, she just simply didn't have the facts. I think that sum total of that was just a very, very damaging performance for her today, and it really puts her tenure in that position in question. CHATTERLEY: Yes, I was going to ask that next. Is this a leadership problem, Andrew? Because would you agree she could have shared more? MCCABE: She certainly could have shared more. You know, it's very often in situations where, as a law enforcement executive, and I know this very well from personal experience, you're called up to Capitol Hill to provide information. And if there is an ongoing criminal investigation, you're in a really tough spot because you can't share information that might prejudice the criminal investigation. That is obviously not the case here. She admitted today she received numerous briefings from the FBI about what they're finding in their investigations. She could likely have, with a minimal amount of coordination, shared much of that information, but she chose not to. So, it's -- she really kind of backed herself into an untenable position. And I -- and to your question of whether it's a leadership issue, it's always a leadership issue. And a failure at this level, I think -- unless there's some obvious answer, which there isn't at this point, I think people naturally start looking to a leadership change. CHATTERLEY: I mean, she actually managed to unite members of Congress in that room who were all calling for her to resign beyond others. Something that remains divisive is guns, in general, in this country. And a lot of the Democrats use this as an opportunity to say, look, actually, this is an example where when it's a potential presidential assassination or somebody in this kind of powerful position, they actually do get a hearing, unlike what we see in other mass shootings around the country. Do you think it changes the narrative, Andrew? We just heard the vice president talking about the Democrats going to push beyond this presidential election to push for greater gun control. Do you think it changes the narrative? I mean, this was the Republicans guy that was targeted. MCCABE: We've had so many terrible examples of gun violence in this country. We have them day after day after day. And the fact that none of them has really been able to change the narrative significantly, I think, leads us to believe that this situation probably won't either. However, I think it was a fair point that the Democratic representatives brought up in the hearing. And it's also another example of a place where I think that the Secret Service director could have been more informative. She was asked directly by several members, does the profusion of guns in this country, the fact that we are awash in guns, many of them very powerful weapons of war, like rifles, like the rifle that was used in this assassination attempt, does the sheer number of guns make the job harder for law enforcement? And no matter where you sit on the political spectrum, the answer to that is yes. As a law enforcement professional responsible for directing agents and, you know, verifying the security of the operations, it is infinitely harder to do law enforcement well and safely in this country, simply because we have so many guns. And that was an opportunity. I think she could have won a few allies on the committee, but unfortunately, she didn't take it. CHATTERLEY: Yes, she prevaricated over that answer. And finally, when she admitted it, there was a smattering of frustrated applause in the room that it took us so long to agree to that. It was a tough one. Andrew, great to get your insights today. MCCABE: Yes. CHATTERLEY: Thank you so much. All right. Let's return to the presidential race and Kamala Harris, who addressed party campaigners a short time ago. Senior Democratic National Committee Adviser Brad Woodhouse is back with me and he can hear me. Hooray. BRAD WOODHOUSE, SENIOR DNC ADVISER: Hell CHATTERLEY: Hello. Welcome. What did you make of what she said? You could feel, and I said this to you, you couldn't hear me, the energy, I think, in the room underscored by what we've seen from donors and volunteers over the past 24 hours. WOODHOUSE: It's absolutely electric. I mean, the energy in this Democratic Party in the last 24 hours is like nothing I have ever seen. It is -- and it's all a tribute and a credit to Joe Biden. Joe Biden, who made what had to be a difficult choice, but a choice that he knew was the right one, to energize this party, to energize this race, to take on Donald Trump, to defend democracy from Trump and Vance and Project 2025. I was watching it on TV. I was listening to it in your feed. I had had the staff calling in the background. It was just a tremendous thing to watch. And I think Donald Trump's got to be really concerned now. It's one reason he seems to be backing out of the debate that he'd agreed to with President Biden on ABC is that this prosecutor is going to prosecute a case against him as a fraudster, as a convicted felon, and as a sexual abuser. And I just don't think Donald Trump quite knows what he's in for. [18:25:00] CHATTERLEY: And she underscored that in that speech, as you said, the sort of distinction between her being a prosecutor and him being a convicted felon. We'll talk more about how the Trump campaign perhaps reacts to this as we push forward. But she is talking like the nominee, she isn't. And there was some reticence, at least some discussion about the prospect of a coronation of Kamala Harris versus a nomination of Kamala Harris. Do you think the distinction matters to voters today or is this just a done deal next? WOODHOUSE: Well, for some reason, I didn't hear all of your question. I heard the word coronation. So, let me just say this, you know, this is not a coordination. I think anyone yesterday, once they heard any Democrat, any governor, any senator who heard that the president had dropped out, could have got on the phone and did exactly what Kamala Harris did. And that process is still open and it will remain open. We don't have -- now, that President Biden stepped away, we don't have a nominee for the -- for at least a couple more weeks -- hours. She called over 100 people. She secured a bunch of endorsements. Other people could have done that. They're welcome to still try to do it. I think her competition out there, the people who are most mentioned as having what we call presidential timber, have all endorsed her. But of course, somebody can still emerge. The process is open. She said she wanted to go earn it. And in the last 24 hours, she's worked her butt off to go earn it. CHATTERLEY: Yes, she certainly has. Brad Woodhouse, it's going to be an interesting few weeks. Great to get your insight. Sir, thank you so much. And thank you for hanging on in there with us when we were having some technical difficulties there. All right. Returning to the presidential race. And a recent polling showing a tight race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Here's what voters are saying in the swing State of Pennsylvania. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harris pulls well against Trump. So, I think she has a real shot at winning. And I think he's doing the right thing right now, despite some people being so nervous and saying it's disastrous. But I think it actually may end up being an asset to the Democratic Party. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think anything should be given to Vice President Harris. I mean, I think the DNC needs to look hard at all possible options. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they had made her the nominee in the first place, she could have been a very good candidate. I think that everything that's happened with the attempted assassination Donald Trump and the way that the -- you know, what's going on in Palestine currently, we really are broken up in -- as Democrats at the moment. (END VIDEO CLIP) CHATTERLEY: But what do the numbers say? Who better to ask than our very own senior data reporter, Harry Enten. Harry, welcome to the show. The big question is, what does the data say? Can Kamala beat Trump? HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes. Absolutely. I mean, look there are a few things we should know. You know, you -- I had a banner up before the race it was, you know, very tight, too close to call. We just had a Quinnipiac University poll that was released in the last hour, I believe, that showed Trump up by two, but well within the margin of error. And more than that, while Donald Trump and Joe Biden are universally well- known entities, there is still a significant portion of the electorate, depending on which poll you look at between 10 percent and 20 percent of the electorate that has not formed an opinion the current vice president. And so, while the Trump-Biden matchup stayed static for months and months and months and months on end, that's historically unusual. What we may, in fact, see going forward with plenty of voters who have not yet formed an opinion Kamala Harris is we may get more of that wave that we're used to seeing in presidential horse race polling. One in which, at this particular point, is a race that I certainly think cannot be called at this time. CHATTERLEY: And she can pick up votes, surely, women, people of color, young people, independents. This is where we're going to be watching now very closely. ENTEN: Yes, absolutely. You know, you mentioned independents in there and what we saw in our CNN SSRS poll was that while Joe Biden trailed among independents against Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, in fact, led among independents against Donald Trump. We know that during the course of this campaign that Joe Biden had been doing considerably worse among younger voters than he did four years ago, far worse than a Democrat normally does, at least since I've been able to vote. You mentioned voters of color. You know, we know that among black voters and Hispanic voters, Donald Trump was putting up historically strong numbers. In fact, among black voters, he was doing as well, if not better than any Republican has done a presidential race since Richard Nixon, since 1960. And what I was looking at when we looked at black voters, at least in the average of polls, was that at least when you looked at the margin by which Harris was leading Trump, she was leading by an eight-point wider margin than Biden was among black voters. [18:30:00] So, there's plenty of room for growth. And given that Harris is not particularly well-known, at least compared to Biden at this point, it certainly provides Democrats with an opportunity as compared to a race that they had previously basically been running where Biden had been behind every single day this year. CHATTERLEY: Yes, no choice when you look at it like that. Harry, I've got millions more questions but we're out of time. We'll reconvene. ENTEN: Oh, well. CHATTERLEY: Great to have you with us. Harry Enten there. All right. Now, in the hours since Joe Biden has backed out of the 2024 race, many of his rivals are saying he should not only back out of the race, but out of his current term in office. More on that, just ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHATTERLEY: Welcome back to "First Move" with a look at more international headlines this hour. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington for a series of events this week. He's set to address Congress. And officials say he'll likely meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden. The president's COVID status may, though, impact the timing of their meeting. Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel will remain the most important ally of the U.S. in the Middle East regardless of who is "chosen to lead." At least six people have lost their lives after a gunman opened fire in a home for the elderly in Croatia. Local police made an arrest in a nearby cafe shortly after the attack. Among the victims are five nursing home residents and one employee. The British Royal Family releasing a new photo of Prince George to mark his 11th birthday. The picture was taken by his mother, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, and shared on social media with the message wishing Prince George a very happy 11th birthday today. Now, as Joe Biden exits the race for the White House, leading Democrats are praising him and his decades of service. Top Republicans, meanwhile, including Donald Trump, are demanding President Biden resign. On Sunday, Trump posted this on social media, crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for president and is certainly not fit to serve and never was. Kristen Holmes is in Washington with more. [18:35:00] KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Julia, Donald Trump and his campaign had already started launching these personal attacks on Kamala Harris weeks ago in the anticipation that she could potentially be at the top of the ticket. Now, that doesn't mean that the campaign was prepared for this or has even come up with a new strategy to attack the fact that President Joe Biden is no longer running for president. Remember, they have spent millions of dollars on modeling, on data research, on campaign ads, all with the anticipation that they are running against President Joe Biden. And they're very confident. in that fact. They believe that they were going to beat him. Now, all bets are off. Now, whether or not they say they believe Harris is an easy candidate, anyone, any Democrat is an easy candidate, that their campaign was built around Donald Trump, not against whoever the opponent is, none of that is entirely true because they know that this means that there is a change in calculation in the way that people think. One of the things about Joe Biden was that there was a lack of enthusiasm among Democratic voters when it came to him as a candidate. They don't know how that enthusiasm changes with Harris or anyone else at the top of the ticket. Enthusiasm generally equals turnout. So, they are going to have to restructure and rethink the way that they were creating their campaign to attack and to go after and run against President Joe Biden. Now, one thing they say when it comes to Kamala Harris, if she is in fact the nominee, is that they believe that that could be more helpful to them than to say some specific governor of a different country administration or a different state, the reason being that they can link Kamala Harris to Joe Biden's policies, particularly those policies that Trump pulls ahead of Biden on when it comes to immigration, crime, inflation. The other thing that they point to is the fact that they've seen polling that shows that Harris has the highest name I.D. of any of these potential nominees that could be at the top of the ticket. However, they do believe that name I.D. and name education are different, meaning that people might recognize her name, but that doesn't mean that they know anything about her. And they believe that gives them an opportunity to spend the next several weeks painting her in a negative light as they sort of reintroduce her, or even introduce her to some voters. Julia. CHATTERLEY: Our thanks to Kristen there. Now, with President Biden no longer in the 2024 race, Kamala Harris campaign says it's raised $81 million dollars in online donations in just 24 hours. Her spokesperson, Lauren Hitt, calls this a huge haul, showing grassroots enthusiasm for Harris. The campaign says it's the largest 24-hour raise in presidential history. Now, support for Harris also extends to many business leaders. That's according to Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. He's known as the CEO whisperer and is the senior associate dean for Executive Programs at Yale University. And he joins us now. Jeff, fantastic to have you on the show. What are you hearing from the business community? JEFFREY SONNENFELD, SENIOR ASSOCIATE DEAN, YALE UNIVERSITY: It's great to see you. And thanks for the invitation. We're hearing tremendous enthusiasm from the business community. As you can see right now, that historic record of fundraising that you mentioned, that was the greatest amount collected in a 24-hour period in the history of campaigns anywhere in the world, that it's now -- that was about $81 million, now it's approaching $100 is -- that's from small donors. We have large donors that are now just gearing up for a huge tidal wave of support. But CEOs in particular are so relieved. They personally liked Joe Biden a lot. But Joe Biden has got to be one of the most unlucky politicians in history. Just, you know, with the tragic losses he's had in his family and, of course, having career opportunities blunted before by other candidates and jumped in front of him. And now, up for re-election that he had to deal with this COVID illness, and whatever drug he was given for going into the debate was a debacle. So, they're happy to see the vitality that Kamala Harris brings. And she hits the ground running having been vice president. She knows the key players. She knows, of course, the instruments of government and they're excited. She taps into amazing constituencies of excitement. I mean, you're saying that CEOs are euphoric in some cases about the decision by Joe Biden to step back. And obviously, Kamala Harris now moving into poll position. Is it about policy or is it about personality? Is this again a decision that they don't want Trump personality versus policy? Because is there an assumption from the business community that there'll be policy continuity between Biden and Harris? SONNENFELD: They don't want Trump because of policy reasons. The -- of course, the debt swelled under him under, under Trump, and Biden brought it down by a third. [18:40:00] The deficit spending was up enormously under Trump, is 100 percent. It was up, you know, 10, 15 percent, which is not good. But under Biden, inflation's come down from over 7 percent to just around 3 percent. Unemployment hasn't been this low since the 1960s, at 3.8 to 4.1 percent in that range, and the global growth forecast of the World Bank is driven 80 percent by the strength of the United States' economy. It's the world's largest energy producer by 50 percent. So, they like those policies and they're frightened about the Biden -- the Trump policies. They want to have all tariffs all the time against the entire world. That brings us back to the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1929 that helped trigger the Great Depression, it's ridiculous. It would be highly inflationary anywhere from 5 to 10 percent. And in some countries, they're looking at 60 to 100 percent tariffs. This would be impossible. It's almost like a new iron curtain weirdly enough around the United States and the retaliatory adjusters would be awful as it was. Many companies like Harley Davidson couldn't get product, made the U.S. into Europe because of the European understandable retaliation against Trump tariffs. So, it's really problematic. And of course, the condemnation of immigration to have highly skilled H-1B visa recipients blocked the way Trump did, it's very problematic to business. The independents of the Federal Reserve, which is a hallmark of U.S. financial policies that have a monetary system that isn't subject to political whims, the way Putin wakes up in the morning and invents a number, all that's really, really troubling to CEOs. They're not isolationist. They're not protectionist. They're not xenophobic. But more than anything else, Julia, they believe in the rule of law and not the law of a ruler. CHATTERLEY: Yes. That's an interesting point. So, the message is, I think, from the business community to the Trump campaign, tone down the tariff chat, perhaps, and calibrate that immigration response to legal versus illegal in this case. What's her potential Achilles heel? Jeff, if you had to point it out, whether it's the more we hear from her, perhaps? We certainly saw when she became a potential presidential candidate that the polls dropped almost immediately for her and that continued onto them becoming vice president, and that's perhaps been tied now to President Biden. How does she distinguish herself and what's the potential Achilles heel? SONNENFELD: There are three Achilles heels. So, I guess somebody would have to have three legs instead of two legs. But one of them is that in the primary campaigns she could have -- she could come across as a little defensive and prickly, but Heaven's nose, being in that position, I would be a nightmare to deal with. And she's come a very long way. She's never campaigned on the national stage before. And with the global reach she's had, she's learned now how to be humorous, responsive, and informative without being as caustic as she used to be. So, that was one. I think she's transcended that. A second one, which is a challenge, is, it has to do with big tech, in particular, social media companies is that right now, Silicon Valley, no matter what you read or see, Silicon Valley is overwhelmingly Democratic. But still, some of the regulation coming towards them is problematic, but - - you know, for big tech, but they're still supporting her. Now, what is her saving grace on that is some of the most important legislation is either sponsored by Republicans or it's bipartisan. Marsha Blackburn, the great Republican Senator and Dick Blumenthal, Democrat Senator, are the ones who are sponsoring the Child Safety -- Kid Safety Act for social media, for example. But that kind of stuff, of course, gets big tech a little nervous and some of the cryptocurrency issues, but also that is bipartisan. And the third one, of course, if we didn't get to this before I -- you escaped hearing from me today, your viewers would get mad, and that is on the immigration front. She was assigned that duty, but not given a lot of discretion and that was a problem. It wasn't a winning hand. So, those are three areas where she has some vulnerability. But I think, you know, in the 11th hour, they came up with some very good programs on trying to stem immigration. And in fact, illegal border crossings, no matter what you see are actually down under Biden, but still, that's a vulnerability. CHATTERLEY: Yes. Good point. Well made, sir. Great to chat to you as always. Jeff Sonnenfeld there. Thank you. Now, more "First Move" after the break. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:47:24] CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. Now, that U.S. President Joe Biden has announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race, messages of support have poured in from around the world. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he respected Biden's decision, whilst Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked him for being "a great friend." Let's get more now on this with Marc Stewart. You know, Marc, it's great to have you with us from Beijing. I want to hear what the Beijing buzz is. What are people over there saying about what's taking place over here? MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Julia. Good to see you. Look, let me start with some context. As you know, from covering China, there are many moments when Beijing will give bold and boisterous statements about U.S. politics and policy, but this current election is not one of them. Beijing has been very hands off. Yet, a lot of these moments that we have seen in recent weeks, including Joe Biden's departure from the race, it is getting coverage in state media. People are aware of it and they are talking about it. We took to the streets of Beijing just yesterday to hear some of these different opinions. Take a listen as to what we discovered. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): From my view as a Chinese citizen, whoever wins as U.S. president, I don't think it will impact China too much. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As for me, I'm really interested about how America was happening now. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it's a huge problem. It's complicated. So, I obviously don't have a solution for it. But yes, there are definitely issues. (END VIDEO CLIP) STEWART: So, this is a talking point on the streets, also on Chinese state media. But if we look beyond Beijing, if we look to some of the neighbors here, Japan and South Korea, they too are also taking a very distant approach to the U.S. political scene. But this is important, especially for Japan and for South Korea, as along with the United States, there is this mutual defense, this military agreement between these three nations. So, the White House presence, Julia, certainly does matter here in Asia. CHATTERLEY: Yes, certainly. And a reluctance there to provide a solution, even if he had one, which is -- which was quite fun. Marc, great to have you with us. And I'm just astonished by your backdrop. That's the level of pollution there in Beijing today. Wowzers. That's a topic in of itself. STEWART: Murky day. CHATTERLEY: We shall reconvene. Yes. Wear a mask. All right. Still to come here on "First Move," how Olympic organizers are avoiding a pretty sticky situation with the games just a few days away. We'll show you how technology is being used to beat the heat. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:52:10] CHATTERLEY: Welcome back. The Paris Olympics are just days away and preparations are on the home straight. But there's one major concern for organizers and that's the heat. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has the details. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): The Olympics are about to kick off in Europe's most vulnerable city to heat. Extreme weather fueled by increasing temperatures may be one of the event organizers' toughest challenges. VAN DAM: While rain could postpone the events, heat waves threaten spectators and athletes in the city. This device detects heat using infrared. The yellows are the hottest, the purples are the coolest. Something meteorologists will be watching closely. VAN DAM (voice-over): CNN spoke exclusively with a meteorologist responsible for monitoring incoming severe weather and advising the Olympic Committee on potential impacts. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we have something I can show you here. We have really hot summers that we never had before the 21st century in Paris. VAN DAM (voice-over): This year's games will take place around the same period of the year as France's most lethal heatwave in 2003. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the worst event we had in France overall and especially in Paris here. Paris is vulnerable because we have a very big urban heat effect. VAN DAM (voice-over): Because Paris is such a densely populated city, heat is amplified by various surfaces like asphalt, concrete, and even buildings. While Olympic athletes strive to break records, our own planet is breaking records too, as 2023 was Earth's hottest year ever, with 2024 on track to be even warmer. VAN DAM: And what I see is a concerning trend of more frequent extreme heat and longer lasting heat. VAN DAM (voice-over): While extreme heat is just one element monitored here, forecasters from Meteo-France will use an arsenal of tools to warn of any incoming severe weather. ALEXIS DECALONNE, HEAD, METEO-FRANCE SPORTS: It's like rain detection at street level. VAN DAM: This little-known device could determine whether or not an Olympic event is postponed or canceled. It is the mobile radar that measures rain in real-time. So, Meteo-France forecasters can advise the Olympic Committee. DECALONNE: If a threshold for a given sport is exceeded, postponement or calendar adaptation or the worst cancellation could happen. VAN DAM (voice-over): Heavy rain already postponed an opening ceremony rehearsal on the scene as the river was flowing too quickly. The last time Paris hosted the Olympics in 1924, the French capital was five and a half degrees cooler than it is today, helping fuel the climate with more extreme weather. 2024 is certainly on track to rewrite both the climate and Olympic history books. Derek Van Dam, CNN, Paris. (END VIDEOTAPE) [18:55:00] CHATTERLEY: And finally, on "First Move", Kamala Harris' team is making appeals to young voters in a way that many other candidates simply aren't. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) (MUSIC PLAYING) (END VIDEO CLIP) CHATTERLEY: "So Julia," that's the song, hard on the heels of the popular new album Brat from British pop singer Charli XCX which has taken off on TikTok. The pop star seemingly endorsed Harris with this rather simple tweet. Kamala is Brat. And Harris is leaning in, adopting the font and looking of the Brat album cover on her X or Twitter page, making a clear pitch to the social media generation. But what is Brat? I know, don't worry. I had to Google it as well. Well, actually, Charli explained it on her own TikTok. You're just like that girl who's a little messy and likes to party and maybe say some dumb things sometimes. It is a compliment. And that just about wraps up the show. Thank you for joining us. We'll see you tomorrow. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) END