The Lead with Jake Tapper Aired July 24, 2024 - 16:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. [16:00:03] … (COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, after a month of covering Democrats in disastrous disarray, you can be forgiven for forgetting the degree to which House Republicans can sometimes barely govern their way out of a paper bag. … The Lead with Jake Tapper Aired July 24, 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: …They just adjourned until after Labor Day with much unfinished business, and we'll explain what went down. Plus, the TikTok in the 2024 race, we've seen it already with the Brad and the coconut references in the Harris campaign. Can influencers actually move the needle with young voters in November? But leading this hour, Donald Trump just minutes away from his very first campaign event since the major shakeup in the 2024 race where his Democratic rival is no longer President Biden. What will Republicans do with all those Let's Go Brandon t-shirts? If your name is Brandon, might be a good time to get some personalized swag. Price to move, let's go straight to CNN's Kristen Holmes, who is in Charlotte, North Carolina for Trump's rally. And Kristen, Trump's speech tonight could really give us a glimpse of how he plans to publicly go after Vice President Harris for the rest of the campaign. KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake. We expect to see him sort of starting to frame up those attacks against Vice President Harris. All we've seen so far are these kind of rants on social media. At one point, he called her as dumb as rocks. But in a call with reporters yesterday, he actually was much more on message attacking her record, not just as vice president, going back to her time as a California prosecutor. That is exactly what his team wants him to do, to stay on message and to continue linking her to Biden's policies, particularly when it comes to immigration, inflation, crime. They believe that they can make a case that she is just another arm of Biden when it comes to these unpopular policies. But of course, as we know, Donald Trump tends to go off message. And usually he uses these rallies as an opportunity to test various kinds of messaging to see what the crowd reacts to. And you have to remember, Jake, this is a critical time for Donald Trump because really a race to define Kamala Harris. Harris is hitting the ground running as we know, Trump is going to try all of that he can. It's not just going to be him, it's going to be a social media army, it's going to be his campaign to define who Kamala Harris is in Republican terms, in the terms they want to define her as. They want to fill that void of knowledge that people have about or don't have about Kamala Harris with negative imagery, with, again, links to things that are unpopular about the Biden administration. But time is running out, they're up against the clock. So we'll see what he does tonight when he takes that stage and really starts to lay out those attacks and that plan for running against Harris. TAPPER: All right, Kristen Holmes in Charlotte, North Carolina, thanks so much. Meanwhile, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris spent the day engaging with black women voters Indianapolis, Indiana. This is a brand new CNN poll shows some critical movement in the early days of a Harris Trump race. CNN's Eva McKend has more now on the outline that the Harris presidential campaign believes is their electoral path to victory. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) EVA MCKEND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kamala Harris pressing forward now that she's the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I am president of the United States -- MCKEND (voice-over): Addressing the historically black sorority Zeta Phi Beta in Indianapolis, focusing on winning over women of color. HARRIS: With your support, I am fighting for our nation's future. MCKEND (voice-over): And praising her former running mate, President Joe Biden, as he's set to address the nation tonight on his decision to leave the race. HARRIS: He cares about the future. He thinks about the future. MCKEND (voice-over): Attendees here in Indianapolis say Harris is the right choice. MARTHA JOHNSON, NORTH CAROLINA VOTER: She's been tried and tested. She's served as vice president. She's had a political career. She's a senator. She's the attorney general of California. MCKEND (voice-over): The vice president's outreach today follows a speech to her own Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority convention two weeks ago. More than 1,500 of her sisters are now sending support to the Harris campaign in the amount of 19.08 in honor of the founding year of their sorority. HARRIS: These extremists want to take us back, but we are not going back. MCKEND (voice-over): The Harris campaign also outlining their strategy in a memo today, sharing what they see as their electoral path to victory over Donald Trump. HARRIS: The path to the White House goes through Wisconsin. MCKEND (voice-over): Saying they will, quote, "play offense" in the blue wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania that Biden was able to flip in 2020, and the sunbelt states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, where the campaign argues the vice president's advantages with young voters, black voters and Latino voters offer multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes. HARRIS: We have an election to win. MCKEND (voice-over): A new CNN survey of previous poll respondents shows Harris improving on Biden's performance among crucial voting blocs seen as trouble spots for the President, including women, younger voters, black voters and Hispanic voters, those groups critical to Biden's victory in 2020 and now Harris's chances in November. [17:05:18] HARRIS: When we organize mountains move, when we mobilize nations change, and when we vote, we make history. (END VIDEOTAPE) MCKEND (on camera): And Jake, the vice president not only running a race defined by opposition to Trump, but also touting the administration's record, speaking today about capping the cost of insulin at $35, passing the child tax credit, addressing student loans among other policy issues. Jake. TAPPER: All right, Eva McKend in Indianapolis, thanks so much. Let's bring in former Democratic presidential candidate and former DNC chair and former Vermont governor, Howard Dean. Governor, good to see you. I first want to ask you about President Biden and his address to the nation this evening. What do you expect him to say about leaving the 2024 presidential race and about Vice President Harris' presidential run? HOWARD DEAN, (D) FORMER GOVERNOR OF VERMONT: I expect him to explain what his thinking is, which I think is fairly clear. And I expect him to thank the American people. And I expect him to explain why Vice President Kamala Harris is the right person for the job. And I think that's pretty straightforward. TAPPER: The Democratic National Convention is less than a month away. Do you think President Biden will give a primetime speech? DEAN: I suspect so, but I have no inside knowledge of that at all. But don't remember -- don't forget that we're going to nominate Kamala Harris probably sometime in the next 10 days because of the chicanery that's going on in Ohio, insisting that we have the nomination settled by August 7 or it doesn't get on the ballot. So I think this is going to get wrapped up pretty quickly. She already has the delegates to win. TAPPER: You ran a real grassroots campaign in 2004. Given that and given your time as the chairman of the DNC, what do you say to the Democratic voters out there who voted for Biden in the primary and are disappointed that the party is picking the nominee through delegates and not through direct votes? DEAN: Well, as far as I've seen, there's almost no disappointment whatsoever. Our delegation here in Vermont, which is a pretty liberal state, voted unanimously in favor of Kamala Harris after the President withdrew. So if there's disappointment, I haven't heard any of it except this stuff that Trump says and who obviously doesn't care about democracy anyway. TAPPER: A new CNN poll gives an early glimpse into a likely Harris- Trump race. There's no clear winner between them. He's up a few points, but it's within the margin of error, 49 for Trump, 46 for Harris. That's closer than it was in a poll last month between Biden and Trump when Biden was behind Trump by six percentage points outside the margin of error. When a Harris Trump race is broken down by political party in this new poll, Independents 43 percent for Harris, 46 percent for Trump, she needs to improve those numbers significantly among Independent voters. How do you think she can do so, already there's a lot of criticism of her record saying that she's a San Francisco progressive out of touch with the American voter? DEAN: Well, that sounds like Republican talking points. I don't think anybody gives a damn what the Republicans say. The real key to this, your reporters previously were pretty clear about, is young voters. Joe was not able to rally young voters. He should, he had a great record. Kamala Harris is -- the excitement of Kamala Harris for young people is extraordinary. I would predict now that third party candidate, RFK Jr., is going to actually take more in this atmosphere, is going to take more votes away from Trump than -- which is probably why they're talking about RFK endorsing Trump and him getting a job. I think that's unlikely. But I think this changes everything. It now gives Democrats a real alternative, and Trump becomes the old codger who probably has some cognitive issues. TAPPER: Trump has cognitive issues, you're saying? DEAN: Yes, I mean, it's pretty clear. You get up and make a speech and lie 73 times in 10 minutes, you got some problems there. TAPPER: This new CNN poll also shows Vice President Harris doing better than President Biden when it comes to these key groups. As you note, 47 percent with ages 18 to 34, that's up four points from Biden, 50 percent with female voters, also up four points, 78 percent with black voters, it's up seven points. What do you make of the shift among these groups? And are you concerned about the shifts that might be going in the other direction among Independents or moderates, white working class voters, et cetera? [17:10:21] DEAN: Look, I don't think that Kamala is going to lose any votes that we hadn't already lost. I mean, the great thing about her candidacy is she's a fresh face and she's almost 20 years younger than Trump. That makes it -- I mean, this election is about a generation shifting. And the problem is neither party shifted generations because of what Joe Biden did. We have now started that generational shift. And I do think that it's going to cause enormous flocking towards Harris in key states. Remember, as you well know, these national poll readings are relatively meaningless because it really only matters in six or seven swing states. And Harris is doing well, much better, I think, in all of them. TAPPER: All right, former DNC chair and former Vermont governor Howard Brush Dean III, thank you so much for joining us, sir. Appreciate it. Ahead, President Biden's address to the nation, that's tonight. Join us for special coverage along with Anderson Cooper starting at 08:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Anderson and I will be co-anchoring that. But first, one of the names once considered a potential VP candidate for the VP, Kamala Harris. Plus, graffiti sprayed across landmarks here in Washington. Here's one that says Hamas is coming. That's a terrorist group, Hamas. They kill innocent civilians. The scene just as the Israeli prime minister addressed Congress just a few hours ago. This high stakes political moment as Israel's war continues against Hamas in Gaza. That's coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:15:57] TAPPER: Staying in our politics lead, as vice president, Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. She's quickly securing support among delegates, sparking a spike in fundraising. One of the big questions left right now is who will be her running mate. One name being discussed is Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. He joins us now. Governor Pritzker, have you been asked by the Harris campaign to submit any paperwork to be vetted as vice president? GOV. JB PRITZKER (D-IL): Well, I'm not going to talk about any private conversations that I've had. But as you know, I've been traveling the country advocating for Kamala Harris, for the democratic ticket and making sure that were beating Donald Trump everywhere we can. TAPPER: If asked, would you accept an invitation to be her running mate? PRITZKER: Well, I think, you know, I love being governor of Illinois. The people of Illinois have graced me with that title for the last two elections. And, you know, I'd be reluctant to make a change, but it'd be hard to resist a call and consideration if the nominee called me to ask to be considered for vice president. TAPPER: How has President Biden stepping out of the race, how has that changed the electoral landscape for Democrats, do you think? PRITZKER: Well, I think that the palpable excitement and honestly, I've had, I don't know, hundreds of calls in the last three days. People are really genuinely psyched and ready to go. And so that's very different. There was a lot of uncertainty in the last month or two, a lot of attacks that were, you know, feeling, I think the pressure of, and now we've got Kamala Harris who just brings this kind of, I don't know, get up and go sort of energy. Young people really excited. I can tell you about two young people who I talked to a couple of weeks ago who basically said they're not sure they were going to vote. Now they're volunteering for Kamala Harris's campaign. So it's a big difference. TAPPER: Of course, the cliche is does it play in Peoria? And since you represent Peoria, I guess my question would be, how do you think Vice President Harris appeals to white working class voters that have been eluding President Biden and Democrats? How does she appeal to suburban Chicago voters who maybe were starting to slip away from the Democrats with President Biden at the top of the ticket? PRITZKER: Well, let's talk about exactly those two demographics. First of all, she's been an advocate for workers rights, making sure that working families have what they need to thrive. She's been fighting for that her whole career. And so that's not a demographic that's slipping away. That's a demographic that's solidifying around the democratic nominee because of her views on workers' rights and raising wages for middle class Americans. And then, to your point about suburban voters, I've seen this in Illinois and in Illinois elections. Standing up strongly for reproductive rights makes a big difference. People want to make sure that the agenda of Project 2025 that Donald Trump is 100 percent foursquare in favor of but is seemingly running away from it because he realizes he's going to lose votes. Those views of the Republicans are driving suburban voters away, and they're driving them toward the Democratic Party. But it's our views on standing up for freedoms for, you know, against book bans, for banning book bans, making sure that we're standing up for reproductive rights and, of course, standing up for voting rights and civil rights. These are things that suburban voters care deeply about. And it's why they're drifting toward the Democratic Party. And especially, I think, they've been enlivened by Kamala Harris' candidacy. TAPPER: It seems as though Senator JD Vance from Ohio, I mean, he mentioned Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, I think, four or five times in his acceptance speech, it seems like he was picked, I'm sure, for any number of reasons, including he does seem the heir to MAGAism or whatever. But beyond that, the fact that he's from the Midwest, from the states, you know, Minnesota to Pennsylvania, et cetera, that that is one of the reasons. Do you think that Vice President Harris, whoever she picks, should consider somebody from that region specifically to keep that blue wall intact? [17:20:21] PRITZKER: Well, the blue wall is very important, no doubt, to Democrats. And so, you know, when JD Vance, frankly, attacks women, hides the fact that he is opposed to reproductive rights, even in cases of rape or incest, you know, he's the Donald Trump mini me. Donald Trump has done terribly in Illinois. And across the Midwest, there is a growing sense that JD Vance just doesn't stand where most Illinoisans and most Midwesterners stand. So, you know, it's a question. Donald Trump seems to be drifting away from his own nominee because he's had so many weird views that he's expressed. I mean, he's had the worst launch since Sarah Palin. So, I'm not sure if Donald Trump is going to frankly throw him off the ticket and pick somebody else because he's been just terrible on the stump. TAPPER: So Chicago is going to host the Democratic National Convention in August, given the assassination attempt on former President Trump, given all the protests, the anti-Israel protests that we've seen as recently as today with somebody spray painting Hamas is coming one of the statues outside Union Station here in Washington, D.C. How have the security preparations changed? PRITZKER: Well, let me remind you that we had a terrific convention in 1996. There are protests at every convention. I think I've been to everyone since I was able to vote. Always our protests. Here in Chicago, you know, we take this very seriously. We've hosted the NATO summit before. We've hosted conventions. We've hosted more conventions than any other city in the United States. So we're prepared. We've got every level of law enforcement from secret service and FBI, all the way to the sheriffs, as well as, of course, Chicago Police Department and surrounding police departments from states next to ours. So, we're ready. We also think it's going to be a convention where people are going to express themselves. There's no doubt about that. But the convention itself is a palpably exciting event now. And I think inside the hall, you're going to see Democrats coming together and supporting the person I think is going to be our nominee, and that's Kamala Harris. TAPPER: All those, the description of all the law enforcement converging on Chicago just brought back the images of that last scene in "The Blues Brothers." Anyway, Governor Pritzker, thanks so much for being here. I really appreciate it. Good to see you. PRITZKER: Thanks so much, Jake. TAPPER: In her constitutional role as president of the Senate, Vice President Kamala Harris was one of the notable absences today as the Israeli prime minister addressed Congress. And as a sitting senator, Donald Trump's VP pick, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, was also absent. Despite their reasons why, will voters remember? We'll talk about that next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:27:32] TAPPER: New video shows an anti-Israel protester right here in the nation's capital writing the phrase Hamas is coming on the Columbus Circle statue in Washington, D.C. Hamas, of course, recognized terrorist group by the government of the United States. This moment's after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress in which he called such protesters useful idiots for Iran. CNN's Miguel Marquez is near the capital for us. Miguel, Capitol police say they arrested people. They deployed flashbangs, pepper spray. What did you witness? MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we saw all of that. Flashbangs, pepper spray, four or five people detained along the afternoon, protesters started on the west front of the Capitol. They marched around and then ended up here at Union Station, the main train station for Washington, D.C. You can see the capital in the distance. And then that is the Columbus memorial that they have spray painted. The Liberty Bell, the mock-up of the Liberty Bell has also been spray painted. And then over in this direction, they burned two American flags, one right over here. There was also an effigy of Benjamin Netanyahu that they burned right there, an American flag there. These giant flag poles in front of Union Station, there were American flags there, they tore them down and then they raised Palestinian flags. There are still police out in front of Union Station. It is open now. Protesters, there were so many out here at one point. They shut down the station essentially, but police have now sort of established order. They're starting to clean up some of the streets and there's a small knot of protesters over in that direction. But tonight they are promising to go to the Watergate hotel where Benjamin Netanyahu is staying. But that is a fortress as well. So it's not clear how much they're going to be able to do or if he would even hear them if they are chanting outside. Jake. TAPPER: All right. Miguel Marquez, thank you so much. …