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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Interview With Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Democratic Congressional Leadership To Endorse Kamala Harris Soon, Harris Says She Will "Proudly" Put Her Record Against Trump's; Harris Says She Will "Proudly" Put Her Record Against Trump's; Harris Campaign Says Record $81M Raised In First 24 Hours; Democratic Congressional Leadership Set To Endorse Kamala Harris Soon; Lawmakers Rip Into Secret Service Over Trump Rally Shooting. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 22, 2024 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Especially from some lawmakers who were saying, we need these answers now, so we can course correct immediately, this is a major security issue.
Finally, Erin, in addition to not detailing the gaps and the failures, at some moments she doubled down on things like resources and their threat assessment. Back to you.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, Whitney, thank you very much -- just to watch all of that.
Thanks to Whitney there on Capitol Hill.
And thanks so much to all of you, of course, as always for joining us. AC 360 starts now.
[20:00:23]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, Kamala Harris takes the torch from President Biden and takes the fight to Donald Trump in her first campaign appearance since Biden bowed out.
Tonight, we have new polling and breaking news on when her biggest endorsement yet could come and from whom.
Also tonight, everything we're learning about who might share Harris' ticket and which big names have already said no.
Plus, the Secret Service director gets grilled in Congress on Trump's assassination attempts and members on both sides of the aisle say she has got to go.
Good evening. Thanks for joining us.
Just a short time ago and barely a night and day into a run for the White House, Vice President Harris made her first appearance in a strictly campaign capacity, visiting her headquarters, formerly Biden- Harris headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.
She spoke and so did the president who joined by phone. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): It is so good to hear our president's voice. Joe, I know you're still 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.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's mutual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: After that and some remarks, thanking staffers for their work so far and work yet to come, the vice president, a former prosecutor, made her opening statement in her case against Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: You know, as many as 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 at California, and before that I was a courtroom prosecutor.
In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: This caps a day, that saw nearly every bump in turn in her road to the Democratic presidential nomination, smoothed out, straightened and cleared of traffic.
CNN has learned the top Senate and House Democrat Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are said to endorse her perhaps tomorrow. That's according to multiple sources familiar with their decision and it follows House Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi's endorsement today along with a string of other influential Democratic lawmakers and the commitment of nearly 1,300 delegates and superdelegates just about half the number needed to secure the nomination if superdelegates are allowed to vote. Significantly, more than half if they aren't.
On top of that, many who might have challenged the vice president for the nomination of taking themselves out of the running by endorsing Harris.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer also bowed out of consideration as a potential Harris' running mate and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear sounded to some political observers as though he was auditioning for the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): So, the vice president is ready. She has my full endorsement. I'm going to do everything I can to support her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, whoever she chooses, if she's the nominee, new polling shows the Democrats are reacting positively to her boss' decision to bow out into her topping the ticket. Harry Enten joins us shortly with that.
We'll also talk about the early stages of the Republican case against her, including a racially loaded insinuation that's been pushed by right-wing broadcasters and today, from Tennessee Republican Congressman, Tim Burchett.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you suggesting she was a DEI hire?
REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): One hundred percent, she was DEI hire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining us now, Vermont Independent senator and former Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders.
Senator Sanders, when you hear phrases like that, DEI hire, already being used or you hear an Ohio State senator at today JD Vance's rally warning it would take a civil war to save the country if Trump is not elected. What does it tell you about what lies ahead in the next few months in this campaign?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Well, it's going to be a brutal campaign. I believe that Kamala Harris is going to be the next president of the United States and I think, Anderson, she has a chance to win this election big.
If we can focus on the serious problems facing working families all over this country, politics is not a game, it's not about polls or mis-statements. What it is about is what we can do to address the fact that 60 percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, while the people on top have never, ever had it so good. Fifty percent of our seniors are living on $30,000.00 a year or less.
[20:05:09]
I believe, President Biden believes and I think, the vice president believes that we should expand Social Security. Raise those benefits to make it easier for the elderly to get by and pay for the prescription drugs that they need.
We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any nation on earth. And what we've got to do is do what we did in the American Rescue Plan is make the child tax credit permanent. That's $300.00 a month per kid. We cut childhood poverty by 40 percent. We've got to bring that back because it's really tough to raise a kid with the cost of childcare and everything else in this country.
We've got workers out there making ten bucks an hour.
COOPER: Yes.
SANDERS: Nobody can get by in 10 to 11 bucks an hour. We've got to raise that minimum wage to a living wage.
If the vice president campaigns on an economic agenda among other things, she's going to win and win big.
COOPER: Have you talked to her since President Biden dropped out? And if so, what did you say to her?
SANDERS: Well, I did talk to her but, you know, those conversations are private.
COOPER: I figured I shouldn't ask.
SANDERS: But again, I think -- yes.
COOPER: Vice President Harris though, has now been endorsed by at least 41 Democratic senators, 186 Democratic representatives, 23 Democratic governors. You've yet to endorse her. You've previously supported President Biden staying in the race.
Will you -- what's going to take for you to endorse the vice president?
SANDERS: Well, I'm sure that I will, and I wanted to chat with her and I want to make sure -- look, this is a consequential campaign. It is, you know, when we talk about the future of the planet and climate change, we have to make sure that we elect the vice president.
When we talk about economic rights, we've got to make sure that we elect the vice president. I just want to make sure that her campaign understands that for too many people in this country, when they look at Washington, DC, they feel ignored, they feel insulted that people are not understanding what is going on in their lives.
Life expectancy for working class people is 10 years shorter than it is for the rich. And working-class people want a government that represents them and not corporate America.
And I just want to make sure that the vice president, as I'm sure, she will be, will stand up strongly with an agenda that speaks of the long-neglected needs of working families. And if she does that, she's going to win and win big.
COOPER: Would you have liked to have seen more of -- there are some people who have talked about some sort of shortened primary process. Would you have liked to have seen more people having a chance to kind of throw their hat in the ring, debate these issues, talk about these issues, make their case, all the issues that you've just discussed to the American people?
SANDERS: Well, this has been a really weird election process, that goes without saying. I have not been overjoyed to see the kind of attacks against the president, President Biden by the corporate media and by some of the wealthy donors forcing him to leave the campaign, and I think a lot of that was just not right.
But he is out of the race right now. Kamala Harris is going to be the candidate and I will do everything I can to make sure that Trump is defeated and that she is elected.
COOPER: And just briefly, several names have obviously been floated as possible running mates. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. Do you have somebody you would recommend?
SANDERS: Look, at a time when we are moving toward an oligarchic society where a small number of billionaires exercise incredible power over our economic and political systems, I want a ticket which is prepared to stand up and fight for working class people. Thats what I want. And there are a number of people out there who are prepared to do that, but that's who I would like to be part of that ticket.
COOPER: Senator Sanders, thank you for your time.
SANDERS: Thank you.
COOPER: Before turning to the panel, I want to play another moment from this evenings Harris' event at her newly minted campaign headquarters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All of this is to say building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
HARRIS: Because we here know when our middle-class is strong, America is strong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hell, yes.
HARRIS: And we know that's not the future Donald Trump is fighting for.
He and his --
(LAUGHTER)
[20:10:08]
He and his extreme Project 2025 will weaken the middle class and bring us backward.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Joining me now, CNN political commentators, David Axelrod and Kate Bedingfield. He is a former Obama senior adviser. She served as President's Biden's White House communications director. Also joining us, Ashley Etienne, former senior adviser to the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign.
David, first of all, what do you make of what we heard from Vice President Harris today?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I thought this was -- I remember her campaign from 2020 and it wasn't a good campaign. She wasn't -- she'd seemed uncertain. Her message was unclear.
This was a different person who we saw today and it shows what four years of experience has done. I mean, she knows what she's fighting for and she made it very clear. She wove her biography as a prosecutor and attorney general into the narrative and drawing contrasts with Donald Trump on values and on vision. And I really -- I think a lot of people were heartened by what --
COOPER: For somebody who just got ejected into the biggest stage in the universe and in this very strange, as what Senator Sanders calls this very weird situation, she would seem remarkably --
AXELROD: At ease.
COOPER: At ease, yes.
AXELROD: Yes, now, there was a comfort and an ease --
COOPER: Joy, like enjoying it, almost.
AXELROD: Yes, and that was something that we didn't see four years ago. I think she's grown in this role and she's been on the trail now for a year and I think that shows as well.
I'm sure this wasn't new -- all new material, but it was a really, really strong kickoff and reintroduction to the American people in this new role.
COOPER: Kate, with Nancy Pelosi's endorsement today, the expected endorsement of all the other Democratic congressional leadership soon, and any potential rivals declining to enter the race. I mean, is this now a done deal? I mean --
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean it feels like we're very close to that. And I think, not only are you seeing elected officials, governors, significant names in the Democratic Party. I mean, Senator Sanders was just saying, I'm going to do everything I can to get her elected.
Not only are you seeing that support, but I think you're seeing it from voters. I mean, the campaign announced $80 million in the first 24 hours including a lot of new donations, people on the ground who are clearly excited about her candidacy, who feel energized. So, I think it's -- you know, it's not just the support from the top of the party that we are seeing, but I think the Harris campaign is making a good case that they're seeing that support from voters.
So, I think -- look, I wouldn't say, done deal, because as you have just discussed, this has been an incredibly weird campaign, but I think we are very, very close and I think there's an enormous amount of energy for her of Democrats who are excited to put the last month of infighting behind them and move forward focusing on Donald Trump in the way that Vice President Harris was doing very effectively this afternoon.
COOPER: Ashley, we just heard a Republican member of Congress today claiming that Vice President Harris was a DEI hire, something. a lot of cable news talkers have been saying of late. Is this just the beginning of what to expect in the next couple of months?
ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO THE 2020 BIDEN-HARRIS CAMPAIGN: Absolutely, it's only the beginning and unfortunately, it's only the beginning. But the good thing is that Kamala Harris has been the first at every job in position she's ever had from the AG to the Senate.
So, she's very accustomed to this incoming paying, these attacks. I worked with her as her communications director. The first year was crazy onslaught from conservative media, Republicans and Fox News, and she became very fortified in that, and herself, and who she is. And it created this armor.
And so now, I look at the vice president now and to David Axelrod's point, you can see where this is all that stuff is starting to roll off of her in a way that it's sort of stuck in the first year or so.
So, you can tell she's just become accustomed to this, but I will make this point. I do believe where the Republicans are going to make their biggest mistake is they're going to attack her on two fronts. One, is her being a woman and her being a woman of color. And both of those are actually some of her biggest advantages going into this election. I don't know any other election that is more right for a woman to win, especially with the GOP's assault on women.
Secondly, her candidacy has clearly energized young people, people of color. Black folks are just energized about her. I was on a call last night; 50,000 women were on the call in a matter of hours with $7 million raised.
So, you know, the Republicans are going to continue to go down this path to their peril. It's going to turn off that one to two percent that's going to make the decision in this election.
COOPER: David, I just want to play a little bit more from Vice President Harris.
[20:15:04]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: One of the things obviously, this election boils down to a certain number of key states and getting enough -- Joe Biden had a very close election in Wisconsin and Michigan, and elsewhere. How does she do, you think, in those states?
AXELROD: Well, this is the question, I mean, what we saw today was that she's ready to go. She's ready to perform and take the case to Trump, but this is in some ways, as Van Jones was saying the other night, a math problem.
You need to get 270 electoral votes; you need to do it state-by-state. As it was, the Biden campaign had a very, very small window to get to 270 and it ran through Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and one district in Nebraska that elects by districts.
That is sort of where she is right now and it's not clear yet how she will play in those states. I think the choice of a running mate will be important and it's not clear that she can open up other fronts that are sufficient.
So, today is a day in which Democrats are excited, but everybody has to buckle down there because this is not going to be an easy battle.
COOPER: Yes. Everyone stay with us. After the break, we're going to talk about new polling and what has changed for Democrats since yesterday. Harry Enten joins us for that.
Also, best-selling author and columnist, Tom Friedman's take on the president's decision to bow out and the prospects of a Harris campaign.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:21:01]
COOPER: We mentioned new polling at the top. There is also new fundraising figures from the Harris campaign. CNN's senior data reporter, Harry Enten is here to break it down.
So, do we know how voters feel at this point?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes, there's this whole belief that, oh, my God, it's just the Democratic establishment that was trying to get Joe Biden out of the race.
But the fact is Democratic voters love this move. We have fresh polling. It's amazing fast we can conduct this polling from CBS News- YouGov that shows two things. Number one, Democratic voters -- the vast majority of them approve of the idea that Joe Biden has gotten out of the race. You see it right there, 83 percent and more than that, nearly the same percentage agree with the idea that Kamala Harris should in fact be the Democratic nominee.
She's well on her way right now. She's adding up those delegates across the different states. We will see if she gets it by the end of the week, but Democrats --
COOPER: It seems because Senator Sanders, who was just on, and he was sort of pointing the finger at, what he said is corporate media and big money donors, kind of making Biden drop out, the polls show people wanted that.
ENTEN: The polls show that people want it. Democratic voters approved of this. Look, you can say everything you want from the top trying to tell the bottom what to do but the fact is, if the voters were on a board the Democratic establishment wouldn't have come aboard on getting Biden.
COOPER: What about Harris' fundraising?
ENTEN: Yes. So, you're talking about fundraising, right? And Joe Biden's campaign had a big problem from raising towards the end of his campaign.
Do you know how much money Kamala Harris raised in her first day of fundraising? Get this, she raised $81 million. That is the largest amount ever raised in a single day. Compare that to Donald Trump's campaign where it was all that talk -- post-conviction, he raised all that money, but he raised just $53 million in a day afterwards; $81 million crushed it.
The Kamala Harris campaign will have no problem, Mr. Cooper, raising and the money necessary to compete against Donald Trump.
COOPER: Harry Enten, stay there. I want to bring back the panel. Ashley, what do you make of the level of Democratic enthusiasm and fundraising right now for Vice President Harris and I mean, is that sustainable?
ETIENNE: Well, it's clear that folks wanted an alternative and now they've gotten that in Kamala Harris and people are on fire for her and it's not just the fundraising numbers, but the campaign announced today that they signed up 30,000 new volunteers.
I mean, 30,000 new volunteers in one day. So, to me it just suggests that there's a level of excitement, enthusiasm for the vice president that's off the charts. I'm not surprised by it at all, I think folks think that she's ready. She's going to be ready day one.
She's a partner to the president and his accomplishments, and she laid out an incredible, powerful vision today for America -- freedom, opportunity and the promise of America, and I think that's what the American people want to hear and it's resonating with them. COOPER: Kate, I mean, as someone who was deputy campaign manager for the 2020 Biden campaign, what do you think the top priorities for Democrats need to be right now? I mean, how do you translate this enthusiasm into enough votes in the key swing states?
BEDINGFIELD: Yes, well, the volunteer numbers are encouraging. I mean, the number one thing that the campaign needs to do from an operational standpoint from now through November, even through early September, when early voting starts is to get their volunteer shifts and to get people knocking doors, to get people on the phone to make sure that that community outreach is happening.
Obviously, the paid media happen, the earned media will happen, the narrative is important. No doubt about it, but to take this energy and this moment and this excitement that people are feeling, the campaign's challenge is to translate that into people out in their communities, getting people to the polls.
One of the challenges that we saw on the Democratic side, and frankly, I think they see it on the Republican side too, but that we've seen across the course of this campaign before President Biden stepped down is an overall lack of enthusiasm from voters, a sense that up until yesterday this was going to be a rematch of two candidates they weren't excited about, who didn't have positive favorables that had a lot of negatives.
And there was just a lot of apathy from voters about this choice in front of them. And so, this infusion of energy from voters, the Harris campaign's challenge is to take that, turn it into people out in their communities, getting people to the polls.
COOPER: David, I mean, how different is this campaign now from the Trump campaign?
AXELROD: From the --
COOPER: From the Trump campaign's perspective, I mean, how --
AXELROD: Oh, for the Trump campaign.
COOPER: Yes.
[20:25:08]
AXELROD: Listen, I think was not the scenario they wanted. I mean, I think that they -- Ashley said, that she can take credit for part of the Biden accomplishments. They're going to try and give her credit for the elements of Biden's program that people are unhappy about and this is not going to be -- her numbers are not great either.
So, one of the questions is, does she pick up now? Does this enthusiasm translate, especially with Independent voters, I mean, clearly, she's jazzing Democratic base. Does that translate to Independent voters?
In terms of Trump, his whole campaign was crafted around Joe Biden and now he has a whole new candidate, and you saw her today. I mean, she is vibrant in a way that the president obviously wasn't and she can talk about the future in a different way than the president and did in a compelling way. And all of a sudden, Donald Trump is the 78-year-old guy who sounds a little bit more like yesterday than tomorrow.
COOPER: He's the guy who is now rambling in long rallies.
AXELROD: No, the contrast is going to be start between what you saw today and what you see in Donald Trump.
COOPER: Everybody, thanks so much.
More on the historic nature of Vice President Harris' candidacy and the uncertain bumpy road it took to get there with "New York Time's" columnist, Tom Friedman, That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:39]
COOPER: Before Vice President Harris laid out her attacks on the former president, as well as the economic message she hopes to run on, she admitted that it was not an easy ride for Democrats to get to the point where they are now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, this is certainly a historic moment. The proverbial torch has been passed, never so late in the presidential season, and never after such political drama, and never to someone who could potentially be the first black woman and Asian American as president.
I'm joined now by Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, who's also the author of a number of bestsellers, including "From Beirut to Jerusalem." So Tom, do you think Vice President Harris did -- or what do you make of her first talk today?
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, NEW YORK TIMES FOREIGN AFFAIRS COLUMNIST: Yes, I was impressed, actually, Anderson. I've actually never spoken to the Vice President since she's been in office. So -- and covering Biden, I just never attended any of her speeches either. I was really impressed at how well she spoke. There seemed to be a lot of growth there.
And most importantly, I'm impressed by the incredible energy she unlocked from the base of the party, which was clearly starved all these months for a leader, you know, to express their passion and to take on Donald Trump. And you've just seen this explosion of energy and money. And that I think is a really good sign as well.
I think the real question is, is as someone who maybe would define his own politics as somewhere between a conservative Democrat and an Independent, a pro-business Democrat, as it were, I'm interested in how she's going to be able to appeal to that segment of the population. Because that's really, I think, where the future of this election is going to reside in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan with those Independents and more Conservative voters.
But she's done what she needed to do to get off to a good start. And I think, and that's really unlocked the energy of the party and give people that voice they were looking for to take on Donald Trump.
COOPER: There was a lot of discussion, you know, over the last several strange weeks about, you know, some sort of an open primary, perhaps with, you know, four people competing during town halls. Do you think it's wise that that didn't happen? That basically, you know, everybody coalesced around Kamala Harris?
FRIEDMAN: I wish it had happened. I think, you know, steel sharpens steel. I would have loved to have heard different voices. I think it could, you know, maybe given the party the kind of maybe different diverse direction it needed going forward, again, particularly to appeal to those independent voters, but it clearly wasn't going to happen.
And if I'm impressed by one thing, you know, one of the criticisms of Vice President Harris early on was that she wasn't particularly organized. Wow, I'll tell you, you know, Joe Biden resigned Sunday afternoon and by every indication she had no more hint than anybody else and she got a whip operation going in 24 hours that, boy, if she was running a war, I'd be pretty impressed.
COOPER: Earlier in the program I mentioned a comment, an Ohio Republican state senator told the crowd at a Republican Vice President nominee J.C. Vance's first solo rally as Trump's running mate and I just want to play this for -- that for our viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE LANG (R), OHIO STATE SENATE: 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, and it will be saved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You also now already have, you know, you have a Tennessee congressman today saying that Vice President Harris is a DEI candidate, essentially, DEI, you know, diversity, equity, and inclusion. How nasty do you think this is going to get?
FRIEDMAN: Oh, I think it's going to get real nasty, Anderson. And it's going to get real nasty from the top down. You know, I was really struck by when President Biden announced he wasn't running again.
[20:35:02]
I was just wondering -- I wonder what Trump and J.D. Vance will say. And their remarks were so repulsive, so ungenerous to a man who had served his country as vice president for two terms and president. Couldn't just say, you know what, we've had our big differences with President Biden, but he's a decent man, a good family man. He did his best for the country. Move on.
No, it had to be, you never should have been president. You're the worst human being in the world, you know, or to that effect. What is wrong with you people? You know, really? I mean, where -- no sense of charity at all. And I hope Americans were paying attention to that.
COOPER: Do you think -- I mean, obviously this is going to boil down to, you know, a handful of battleground states and it was very close the last time around, everybody pays attention to the, you know, the popular vote, but obviously the votes in those states are the ones that matter and make up the electoral college. So, I mean, can Vice President Harris win in Pennsylvania, in, Michigan, in some of these states?
FRIEDMAN: I hope so, obviously. I think she can. I think a lot will depend on who she chooses as a vice president. I think some real good choices out there. People like Mark Kelly and Jim Cooper in particular. But it's going to take a both-end (ph) presidency, a both- end (ph), you know.
I'm for a high wall on the border with a big gate. I want with a big gate, OK? I'm for growing the pie and re-dividing the pie. I wanted an agenda of abundance. And if we do an either or thing, if Democrats do that, I don't think they're going to get anywhere.
Think where we are, Anderson, we're on the eve of an AI revolution. What do we need most in this country? We need immigrants of energy, but also immigrants of great talent. Look at these AI companies. Almost everybody there is a foreign born scientist.
And if you listen to Donald Trump and you listen to J.D. Vance today, what is their message to the world? Get the hell off my lawn.
COOPER: Yes, I mean --
FRIEDMAN: Well, that's actually not --
COOPER: -- mass deportation is actually the message.
FRIEDMAN: -- a message. Yes, for the age of AI. So I think there's a lot of ways to take them on. What I also think has been missing from Democrats and you're seeing this explosion of energy for Kamala Harris because of it, is that Biden just, you know, because he was old, he couldn't actually rebut Trump in real time.
You know, listening to that debate in Atlanta when Trump was saying the economy has been a disaster for four years, you know. I was just dying for Trump to say, you know -- for Biden to say to Trump, you know, Mr. Trump, you lost an $88 million judgment to E. Jean Carroll. Had you taken that $88 million and put it in an S&P index fund an hour after I was sworn in? You'd be up 40 percent today.
COOPER: Tom Freidman, thanks very much. Good to talk to you.
Coming up now --
FRIEDMAN: Thank you.
COOPER: -- that she appears to have the inside track to the Democratic nomination for president, can she re-energize Democratic voters and swing states? A look at the battleground state of Georgia next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:42:16]
COOPER: Vice President Harris laid out her vision for the next three plus months of campaigning to unite the party and win the election, a day after Trump's allies debuted their first attack video against her in key battleground states, including the swing state of Georgia. Polls this month and last month had President Biden trailing the former president there by four and five points, almost four years after Biden earned a narrow win there.
Ryan Young has more on whether Harris can re-energize a key group of swing state voters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NAOMI CARGILL, GEORGIA VOTER: I think she's definitely has the ability to be a great leader of this country.
MICHAELA SHELTON, GEORGIA REGISTERED DEMOCRAT: Being 107 days or less away from the election is kind of scary, but I do think a shakeup needed to happen.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the critical battleground state of Georgia, where black voters are a key voting bloc for Democrats, we spoke to many who expressed enthusiasm for Vice President Kamala Harris and her prospects for the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm excited and I think that she will continue to build momentum.
PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: I didn't think it was real.
YOUNG: OK.
YOUNG (voice-over): Pastor Jamal Bryant leaves New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, one of Atlanta's largest and just recently met with the Vice President.
BRYANT: History was made within six hours. She was able to raise $63 million.
YOUNG (voice-over): Georgia was crucial to Biden's win in 2020 when he became the first Democrat to win the state since 1992, defeating Donald Trump by fewer than 12,000 votes. Black voters made up nearly 30 percent of the electorate and backed Biden by more than 70 points.
BRYANT: The most consistent voting bloc for the Democratic Party has been black women.
YOUNG (voice-over): Those numbers are not lost on either campaign. Trump's allies quickly launched ads attacking Vice President Kamala Harris in the wake of Biden's exit from the race.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They know Kamala.
YOUNG (voice-over): Some voters here tell us they have a renewed energy about the presidential race.
RAY HILL, GEORGIA REGISTERED DEMOCRAT: I was energized. Like this is the political discourse that I wanted to see our community have. And then also it just reinvigorated the fire within myself.
DR. TROY GIBBONS, GEORGIA REGISTERED DEMOCRAT: I think she's going to have overwhelming support in Atlanta, you know?
YOUNG: Yes.
GIBBONS: But I think she should have overwhelming support in general with women, especially.
ANTHONY WILSON, GEORGIA REGISTERED DEMOCRAT: I saw her when she announced her presidency in Oakland years ago, and so it's a come full circle to see her launch again is really exciting.
YOUNG (voice-over): Others expressing caution and concern
CARGILL: Overall, general opinion is yes, but it is going to take some effort and a lot of hard work.
SANNIKA MATHEW, GEORGIA VOTER: I think most people don't know perhaps what she's done for the country so far.
YOUNG (voice-over): But Harris supporters say they are optimistic about the road ahead.
BRYANT: Last night we did a Zoom call for black women, 47,000 black women on one call. And so I'm telling you, it's really a movement that is taking place. 100 days to go. It's going to be something that America has never seen before.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[20:45:09]
YOUNG (on-camera): Yes. Anderson, even right now, I'm watching a zoom call with black men. Last night was black women. Over 20,000 black men are involved in the Zoom call. They've already raised over $100,000. So you can see this energy sort of streaming online. But we have to make something clear, especially for the young African- Americans that we talked to here in Atlanta. They wanted to make it clear to the Vice President. They wanted a renewed conversation with them about how they would move the party forward in the future because that's something they want to talk about and over again -- over and over again, we heard about reparations.
That's something that black men kept bringing up. So it'd be interesting to see how they bridge this divide, especially along age lines. Anderson?
COOPER: Ryan Young, thanks very much.
I'm joined now by CNN Political Commentator Bakari Sellers, who's backing the Vice President. Tonight he's co-hosting that phone call that Ryan was talking about just mentioned. So, talk a little bit about the call tonight. Are you confident in Vice President Harris's ability to, you know, build enthusiasm, restore enthusiasm among black voters, young voters, and others in Georgia?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Honestly, Anderson, I think the numbers speak for themselves to be completely honest with you. Tonight, we have over 20,000 black men. We tried -- we have to raise the limit from 10,000 and 20,000. We've already raised over $50,000 dollars and this call literally started with four people.
It started with myself. It started with the organization that Black Men Vote. It started with Quentin James and it started with Roland Martin. We were able to come together as a group of four. Today, that number expanded to the CBC, it expanded to entertainers, actors, it expanded to businessmen.
And what we're all saying is a few things. The first thing is we're not only do we support Kamala Harris, but we're going to push back on these attacks that are the underbelly of the United States of America. The ones where people are out here calling her a hoe, they're saying that she made it through some other means other than her intellect and acumen.
They're saying she's not qualified for the job. They're calling her anything but being from this country. They're already authorizing her. And what we're saying is that black men, as the head of our communities, are going to stand arm in arm with black women, and we're going to be a formidable voting bloc.
Is that going to be enough to win the presidency of the United States? No. But does that give her a strong base from which to go out and bring other voters in? The answer is resoundingly yes.
COOPER: Obviously, the Trump campaign spent time during their, you know, their convention trying to reach out to black men, to black women. They had a lot of -- they had a number of ministers speaking, others, members of Congress. In your view, what should Vice President Harris and the party do to try to solidify support?
SELLERS: I mean, the first thing is you have to look at black men holistically, Anderson. We've had enough of these conversations that really black men, they only get talked to about things like criminal justice reform. There's only a conversation with black men when they're trying to figure out how we either stay out of jail or keep our friends out of jail.
But what we're talking about on the call is economic mobility. We're talking about how to educate our kids, how to make sure we have health care. And Kamala Harris and her brother-in-law, Tony and General Milley (ph) and Julie Rodriguez, not only do they have to put black men in a forward facing position on the campaign, but they also have to listen to black men and talk about these issues.
COOPER: As we've mentioned Republican Congressman Burchett today from Tennessee referred to Vice President Harris as a DEI hire, suggesting President Biden chose her as VP simply because of her race and gender. Obviously that is just the beginning of what to expect.
SELLERS: Yes. I mean, he should have just called her nigger. I mean, to be honest with you, that's what he wanted to do. But the thing about Kamala is that she's seen all of those things. She heard all of those epithets, but she's fought through all of those things.
We can see the history of who Kamala Harris is, right? But Kamala is going to be able to go to these places, to these excerpts, to these suburbs, to be able to talk to rural workers, to farmers. You saw the labor unions come around her and support her.
One of the things people didn't know that would happen with Kamala Harris was the energy happening this fast. Whenever you're able to put 40,000 people on one call or 20,000 people on another call, that means the energy is real. But we still have questions to answer, Anderson.
I'll be brief with this story, but I was on a call in 2008 or 2007, excuse me, with Michelle Obama and Steve Hildebrand and the leadership from the South Carolina campaign to elect Barack Obama. I was co-chair of that call. And I echo to Michelle Obama and Steve Hildebrand at that time, the two fears that people in my community had.
The one was that white voters weren't going to vote for Barack Obama. Number two was that they were going to kill him. There was a real fear amongst black voters that there was going to be some level of martyrdom with Barack Obama. He had to go out and assuage those fears, even in the black community.
And so what Kamala Harris has to do is be able to assuage those fears and say, look, we can win. We can actually win this race. And the way she does that is by broadening her coalition and going out and bringing other voters into the mix.
[20:50:09]
COOPER: Bakari Sellers, thanks very much.
Coming up, the Secret Service director testifying about the security lapses that led to the assassination attempt against Donald Trump and lawmakers saying she has got to go. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: There was a lot of anger at a hearing on Capitol Hill today, and it was bipartisan. The House Oversight Committee tried to get answers from Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle over the attempt on former President Trump's life at a rally in Pennsylvania, which killed one person, wounded two others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIMBERLY CHEATLE, SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: On July 13th, we failed. I take full responsibility for any security lapse. I will move heaven and earth to ensure that an incident like July 13th does not happen again.
REP. MICHAEL CLOUD (R), TEXAS: The job description of your task was just to make sure it never happens, period.
REP. ANDY BIGGS (R), ARIZONA: Why didn't they put a security hold on President Trump going on stage at that rally?
[20:55:08]
CHEATLE: At a number of our protective sites, there are suspicious individuals that are identified all the time. It doesn't necessarily mean that they constitute a threat.
REP. NANCY MACE (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: You're full of shit today. You're just being completely dishonest.
REP. JAMES COMER (R), OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: It is my firm belief, Director Cheatle, that you should resign.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D), RANKING MEMBER, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: The director has lost the confidence of Congress at a very urgent and tender moment in the history of the country. And we need to very quickly move beyond this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That's the top Republican and Democrat on the committee, each calling for the director's resignation. Cheatle told lawmakers she thinks she's, quote, "The best person to lead the Secret Service at this time."
Joining me now is former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Does it make sense to you how this happened, I mean, at this stage?
JEH JOHNSON, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY, OBAMA ADMIN.: No, it does not. Let me begin with this. The Secret Service given its mission has to go out and pitch a no hitter every game. And if anybody gets on base, the results are catastrophic. Another way of saying it is, one failure is the equivalent of 10,000 successes.
In my experience, the Secret Service performed admirably. I was their cabinet level oversight. I was a protectee of that agency for three years. I personally made the decision that Donald Trump should have Secret Service protection when he was a candidate in 2015.
COOPER: You're the one who made that call?
JOHNSON: And he needed it at the time given the threat streams directed at him at the time. Having said all that, I have no good explanation for why they did not, the Secret Service, not local law enforcement, the Secret Service did not take care to secure any direct line of fire at an open air event at their protectee.
I mean, we learned this, of course, November 22nd, 1963. People saw Lee Harvey Oswald in the open window of the Texas Book Depository with the rifle moments before he shot Kennedy. So it's the Secret Service's job to, of course, secure the immediate perimeter of the event with magnetometers.
But you also have to secure rooftops, terraces windows that have a direct line of sight, certainly within the range of 148 yards at the protectee. Why that did not happen? I do not know why, given the timeline. There weren't law enforcement screaming in the ear of the earpiece, just like this earpiece, of the immediate detail around President Trump saying, gun, gun, don't let him get out of the --
COOPER: Because she testified today that the agency was told of a suspicious individual, in her words, somewhere between two and five times. Source told CNN 19 minutes before the shooting, law enforcement was trying to locate the shooter. The fact that they allowed him to go on the stage and get out of the armored vehicle is, I mean --
JOHNSON: I did not hear a good explanation for that today.
COOPER: Yes.
JOHNSON: Normally the Secret Service would and should err on the side of being overly cautious with the protectee and requiring him to stay in the armored vehicle, if not leave the site entirely if there's some sort of unexplained potential threat.
COOPER: It is extraordinary that a, you know, I think a 20-year-old person could, you know, not any military experience could find line of sight, could do all of this.
JOHNSON: Yes. Right, right.
COOPER: Do you think she should resign?
JOHNSON: I don't know her. I don't know her relationship with the secretary or the president. So I don't have a judgment on that. I will say this, sometimes the person who was in the chair when the mistake occurred is the best person to fix the problem. Sometimes the loss of credibility is so bad. You need to have a fresh start with a new leader.
I don't know quite where on the scale this situation fits. About 10 years ago, the director of the Secret Service then resigned. It was suggested to her that she resign because of a series of mishaps that had occurred with the agency. This could be the same or it could be something very different. I'm not there. I'm not in a position to know.
COOPER: It's rare to see, I mean, bipartisanship on Capitol Hill these days to see it Democrats and Republicans saying she should resign.
JOHNSON: When Democrats and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee are both screaming for your resignation, that's a problem.
COOPER: Yes. It's also extraordinary -- I mean, how would she wait until the investigation is done before stepping down?
JOHNSON: I think that if she stays on for the next 48 hours, 72 hours, she's probably there for the time being. That's my instinct. That's why it's only an instinct.
COOPER: Yes.
JOHNSON: If she survives the next 48 hours, 72 hours after that hearing today.
COOPER: Yes. Security Jeh Johnson, thank you so much.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
COOPER: Appreciate it.
The news -- that's it for us. The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
