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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Harris Shows Momentum In Recent Polls; Life And Times Of Coach Walz At Mankato West High School; New Body Cam Video Shows Moment Police Officer Saw Trump Shooter Prior To Assassination Attempt; Trump And Harris Agree To Debate On ABC On September 10; Harris Campaign Tweaks Walz Bio Amid Scrutiny of Military Credentials. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired August 08, 2024 - 20:00   ET

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

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: All right, good to know. Seth, appreciate it as always, thank you.

SETH JONES, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Thank you.

HILL: Thanks to all of you for joining us tonight. I'm Erica Hill in for Erin Burnett. Be sure to stay tuned. The news continues right here on CNN. "AC360" starts now.

[20:00:18]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, the former president meets the press, embraces the debate with Vice President Harris he shunned just days ago, and it gives a lot of facts the cold shoulder, we are keeping him honest.

Also, someone who served in the National Guard with Tim Walz for a decade weighs in on the timing of his retirement and allegations it was to avoid service in Iraq.

And later, what could have been in mass casualty nightmare in a now canceled Taylor Swift concert. The latest on what authorities say three suspects were planning to do and how.

Good evening. John Berman here in for Anderson.

So, it turns out that after backing out of a September 10th presidential debate on ABC, Donald Trump is back in. That was the main nugget of news in a mountain of ramblings at his press conference today at Mar-a-Lago. He now says he wants to three debates. The other two on Fox and NBC.

Vice President Harris late today said this about the ABC face off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: I'm glad that he has finally agreed to a debate on September 10th. I'm looking forward to it and hope he shows up.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: As for the rest of the press conference, it was a very lengthy, very Trumpy affair, one that left a pro-Harris strategist telling CNN's Jamie Gangel, they hope he holds one every day and prompted pro-Trump strategist, Ari Fleischer to tweet partway through, "Trump should stop the news conference now. Don't turn this into the COVID 90-minute briefings."

But like those briefings, the former president held court, held forth, and held the facts largely at arms' length or beyond, such as here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a very bad economy right now. We could literally be on the throes of a depression, not recession, a depression and they can't have that. They can't have that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: In fact, the economy grew by an estimated 2.8 percent last quarter and has been growing since the end of the pandemic. So, no depression and no recession. Heck, the Dow Industrials were up nearly 700 points today. He also said, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Look at what's happened to energy. Look at what's happened, not only to their cars, where gasoline has gone from $1.87 and we had moments when it was below that. But it has gone from $1.87 to $5.00, $6.00, and $7.00.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So keeping them honest according to AAA, the nationwide average price of a gallon of regular is $3.45, and the highest is in Hawaii, averaging out at $4.68, not $7.00.

He also falsely claimed the Democrats, if they win the election will force everyone to buy electric cars and did not mention that domestic oil production according to the Federal Energy Information Agency, is higher than when he was president. It was growing when he was president and continue growing after he left office.

As for how he left office? Here is some of his answer to Maggie Haberman of "The New York Times," challenging his claim that it was a peaceful transfer of power when he departed, and bear in mind, he began it by defending the people who attacked the Capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: No, I think the people that if you look at January 6, which a lot of people aren't talking about very much. I think those people were treated very harshly. When you compare them to other things that took place in this country where a lot of people were killed, nobody was killed on January 6. But I think that the people of January 6 were treated very unfairly and they were there to complain, not through me. They were there to complain about an election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: In fact, one of the attackers, Ashli Babbitt, was fatally shot trying to force her way toward the House chamber. Three other people died of medical emergencies. In addition, Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who was attacked with pepper spray during the riot died after suffering strokes the next day. The medical examiner found that Sicknick died of natural causes, but also told "The Washington Post" that "All that transpired played a role in his condition."

And about that day, the former president, keen as he was to downplay the horrific and yes, deadly violence made sure to make it instead, about two of his favorite topics himself and crowd size.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The whole thing, I had crowds, I don't know who's ever had a bigger crowd than I have, but I had it many times. The biggest crowd I've ever spoken before was that day. And I'll tell you, it's very hard to find a picture of that crowd.

You see the picture of a small number of people relatively going to the Capitol, but you never see the picture of the crowd. The biggest crowd I've ever spoken. I've spoken to the biggest crowds. Nobody has spoken to crowds bigger than me.

If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same everything, same number of people, if not, we had more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, according to the House, January 6th committee's report, about 53,000 people were on hand to hear Donald Trump that day. According to the National Park Service, Dr. King's March on Washington drew a quarter of the million people.

[20:05:13]

Starting us off tonight, CNN political commentators from across the political spectrum, David Axelrod, Ashley Allison, and Scott Jennings.

So, David, this Mar-a-Lago thing today, what did it accomplish?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, nothing necessarily helpful to him, I don't think. It accomplished something maybe for the Harris campaign. Look, I think, John, what's happened here is that they planned a very effective campaign against Joe Biden and they may think of it as having won a campaign against Joe Biden because he's no longer the candidate. But they landed about three months early and now they have a different race and he's clearly freaked out about it.

The reason that he went on and on about crowd size was because he's been watching these rallies of Kamala Harris and he has crowd envy because she's stealing his act. She's got big enthusiastic crowds.

I also thought it was noteworthy a couple of other things. One is, he repeated this notion that somehow it was unconstitutional that she was the candidate because she wasn't the candidate in the primaries. I mean, she was running with the president. So, I think he's laying the predicate here for claiming that somehow this is all illegitimate. If he loses this election, I think that's maybe what he thinks.

But in any case, I leave you with this question, look at Kamala Harris the last few weeks and look at Donald Trump today, and tell me who looks and feels like the confident candidate. It isn't Donald Trump and that is a sea change here from the guy we saw in Milwaukee a few weeks ago who thought he was on his way to an electoral landslide.

BERMAN: It really was just a few weeks ago, which is remarkable.

Scott, you were on CNN's flagship morning show, "CNN News Central" and you said for Donald Trump, disciplined and on message will deliver the day, undisciplined gets dicey. So, with today more deliverance or diceyness?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: They have to focus on how they're going to frame the election. I think Ax is right. They had a plan to defeat Joe Biden and the framework was basically strength versus weakness. They executed it every day and they were winning that framework.

Now, the framework is apparent in a Republican that is radical liberals versus common sense conservatives. They have to prosecute that case in the same ruthless, focused way they were prosecuting strength versus weakness against Biden. It's not exactly happening every day right now. I would challenge Ax on one point about the confidence point.

It's pretty confident to stand up and do a press conference. Kamala Harris is not willing to do that right now, is not sitting down to have her record challenged by any journalist. And I think that does show something of a lack of confidence and if they achieved anything good today, it was to make the point. Trump is who he is and he will stand and answer questions about his views and she will not. I think this was part of a plan to try to draw her out, which they have to do.

BERMAN: But is "disciplined" a word you would use to describe it?

JENNINGS: Oh, it was 90 minutes, I mean.

BERMAN: So, Ashley, one of the things that came up again was how he in his appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists said that Vice President Harris happened to turn Black and before was, she said she was of Indian heritage, of course, she's biracial, and always has been and always said she has. This is what he said about it today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, you'll have to ask her that question because she's the one that said it, I didn't say it, so you'll have to ask her. From her standpoint, I think it's very disrespectful to both really, whether its Indian or Black, I think it is very disrespectful, but to me, it doesn't matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So obviously, he did say it. I mean, that's a lie. It was he who brought it up? He said it on prompt and just to remind people that was that, this is that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black. So, I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Again, if he keeps on repeating this, what can/should the Harris campaign do with this? And what do you think the Harris campaign should do with this appearance today in general?

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first on the, is she Black. I actually don't know if the Harris campaign should entertain him on that. They should just continue to tell the story of who Kamala Harris is, a biracial person who is the daughter of immigrants, one who happens to be a Black Jamaican and the other who happens to be an Indian woman. And that is a story that is resonant for many people in this country who are biracial.

I think what the Harris campaign has been really good at is engaging folks on social media, because when I hear Donald Trump say, it's disrespectful or embarrassing or whatever the word that he used, I want to say, to who?

I'm proud to see Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket as a Black woman and I know a lot of Southeast Asians are also very proud of her because of the history maker that she is. So, let the communities protect her and let the campaign defend her record and identify her biography.

[20:10:29]

In terms of this press conference, I mean, go ahead, Donald, keep doing it. Every day, go out there and remind us who you were in COVID when you told us to put bleach in your arms, today when you say -- continue to say lies that are untrue and we will fact check them. I don't think it helps him get any new voters. I do think that the vice president, she came out, she answered a couple of questions today, two days after announcing her vice president. And I do know she said she would get an interview on the books soon with mainstream media.

So, it's coming, but that contrast is very clear and I think it's working for the Harris campaign now. BERMAN: She said she'll get interviewed by the end of August, which immediate terms in that soon. And so, David, to that point, do you think, and Vice President Harris did answer a few questions, a couple of minutes' worth compared to the 90 minutes that Donald Trump did. What does she need to do, do you think in terms of answering questions to reporters on the trail and sitting down for an interview?

AXELROD: Well look, I would do -- I would be, I would opt for more rather than less. I would come to the back of her campaign plane and talk to reporters on the record. I would do scrums.

Because I'll tell you, the longer that you wait, the more pressure that builds and you turn these interviews into events that are more than they should be. So, she's riding a wave right now and the wave is pretty productive and she's doing well with these events that she's doing.

She's going into a convention here and they're going to ride that wave. But you can't -- presidential campaigns, the bar always gets lifted, there are other tests she has to pass those are part of the test. She's going to have to -- she knows that, they must know that as well, she's going to do this debate on September 10th. She's sure as hell going to take questions then.

So, I don't think this is going to be an issue by then. But one thing that will be, John, that the president said didn't think -- he didn't think would is abortion. And his answers on that question today were kind of head scratchers, too.

He said that all of America wanted Roe vs. Wade to be repealed. Republicans, Independents, and Democrats, that's manifestly untrue. Majority of Americans didn't want that to be the case. And he said he didn't think that abortion was and now it's done and it has gone to the states and it's all okay, and I don't think it's going to be much of an issue in this election. Well, that is a gigantic bid of wishful thinking. I think it's going to be a huge issue in this election.

BERMAN: Ashley, the debates, Donald Trump back, back in to the ABC debate, that's one. Vice President Harris, do you think she should do the other two? How should she approach the issue of other debates?

ALLISON: Well, to date, Donald Trump has been the person who has been dictating, even through the Republican primary, what debate, when debate, why a debate. And so, I think Kamala Harris, right now standing in her power a little bit as a candidate and saying, great, let's do September 10th. She just said yes to it today.

And sure, I'll assess whether or not I'd do more after. I think she's a great debater and so I think that, the more debate she does, the better, but the fact that they are going to have one is impressive, that's more than we probably -- I mean, if he's actually -- I'm still skeptical he shows up or that he doesn't back out after the DNC or makes some excuse of, I don't know. He has so many tricks up his sleeves, so.

BERMAN: All right. We're going to take a quick break, much more to discuss. Next, what a National Guard member who served with Tim Walz has to say about allegations he left for 24 years to avoid deployment in Iraq.

We'll also be joined by Adam Kinzinger, who currently serves in the International Guard.

And later, the absolutely chilling details of what Austrian authorities say three young terrorist suspects had planned for a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:18:15]

BERMAN: Today, the Harris-Walz campaign edited its biography of Tim Walz specifically the part of it that said he is a, "Retired Command Sergeant Major." Now, it says that he once served at that rank, which is accurate because he had not completed the required coursework before retiring. So, he retired one grade lower.

As to when he retired after 24 years of service, two months before his unit got word, they would be deploying to Iraq. Here are somewhere on Fox billed as a member of Walz's battalion and his take on it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM SCHILLING, MEMBER OF WALZ'S BATTALION: We all did what were supposed to do. We did the right thing and, it is dishonorable what he did. He left somebody else up to take over his spot. He just ditched us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, that's one view. Earlier today, CNNs Brianna Keilar spoke with a man named Joe Eustis who served with Governor Walz, Eustis says, he does not see it eye to eye with him politically and will campaign against him about the Iraq allegation.

Though he told Brianna, "He was as good a soldier as you'll find. I don't think it's fair to characterize his service the way they have." He did, however, take issue with Walz talking about an assault weapons ban, saying that he carried one "in war." Walz was deployed to Italy as part of the war in Afghanistan, but not the war zone itself.

With us now is Ryan Marti, who served in Walz's former unit until 2021, deployed with him to Italy and was part of the units deployment to Iraq.

Sergeant, thank you so much for being with us. So, when you served with Tim Walz, did it seem to you like he was trying to avoid being deployed to Iraq? What was the overall feeling among your unit?

STAFF SGT. RYAN MARTI, MINNESOTA NATIONAL GUARD (RET.): Absolutely not. I don't think he tried to avoid that deployment at all. In fact, I'm really glad he went to Congress and did what he did. If you give someone grief for taking a promotion or moving on, I think that's wrong. I think him, going to Congress, is like taking a promotion. He did a lot of good things as my first sergeant and as our major but even more better things for us as a congressman and governor and hopefully going forward as a vice president.

[20:20:19]

BERMAN: So, we played some sound from a man who said he served in Walz's battalion who called Walz dishonorable for getting out before the unit went to Iraq. What do you say about that?

MARTI: I would totally disagree with that. Tim is probably the one of the most honorable man I know. I have no hard feelings and so many of my folks in our unit, we really understand what he was doing was important moving on to the next job, going to Congress.

BERMAN: And did anyone talk about this at the time?

MARTI: So at the time, I mean, there might have been some discussion but really, we had a mission. We are moving on, and we know he was going on and going to be our congressman and take care of us, which he did, when he came home.

BERMAN: So I do want to play a clip of a video the Harris campaign had posted on social media. Governor Walz is talking about his decision to support an assault weapons ban after the 2018 Parkland shooting. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENT NOMINEE: I've been voting for common sense legislation that protects the Second Amendment, but we can do background checks, we could do CDC research. We can make sure we don't have reciprocal carry amongst state and we can make sure that those weapons of war that I carried in war is the only place where those weapons are at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So he said "carried in war." He was stationed in Italy, never in Afghanistan. Do you feel he should have said carried in war?

MARTI: I think there might be some technicality to what he said. However, I remember when I was in Italy, on guard duty, we had live rounds and ammunition in our weapons. We may not have been in a warzone, but were carrying loaded weapons.

BERMAN: But it was not in --

MARTI: So, I don't really take --

BERMAN: It wasn't in combat, correct?

MARTI: Correct. It was not a combat zone. It was not a warzone, no.

BERMAN: You knew Tim Walz is a teacher as well. What impact has he had on your life?

MARTI: So I'm going to change up and call him Mr. Walz now, because as a teacher, I would say he definitely inspired me. He really brought the classroom alive not only in a Social Studies class. We didn't just learn geography and maps.

We really dove in the culture and kind of inspired us to really understand and respect people. I also got the opportunity, he happened to be my football coach and then later on, he recruited me into the National Guard along with my brother and some other students I know.

BERMAN: Sergeant, we do appreciate your time. Thank you so much for being with us.

MARTI: You're welcome. Thank you, John.

BERMAN: All right. Back with us, Scott Jennings and joining us, former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Wisconsin Air National Guard.

So, Congressman let me just start with you or colonel. I'll call you colonel in this case. Based on everything you've heard now, what is your feeling on how Governor Walz has depicted his service?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's just fine. I mean, look, first off, let me just say, I'm scared to death that now anybody that ever served in the military is not going to want to run for office because then they look over everything you've ever said and you unfairly attack somebody for something then it becomes a headline story. So what are we doing here? We're discouraging people with service.

Look, Tim Walz had every right after 20 years to retire from the Army National Guard. He chose to retire before his unit was alerted. He chose to retire while he ran for Congress. He had every right to do that and it is absolutely insane that people would say otherwise.

I mean, look, if he was leaving the unit high and dry like some people are out there saying. The guard can stop loss you which means you cannot retire. You have to stay because they need that position. But as you mentioned, he obviously was replaced by somebody plenty capable. He did his 24 years, which is four years after 9/11, by the way. So he was always within the deployment window until he made a decision to quit.

Everybody after 20 years has a right to quit and we are not attacking JD Vance, or should we, by the way, for not re-enlisting in the Marine Corps because he did his duty and he was done. Well, this is the same thing with Walz right now.

BERMAN: Scott.

JENNINGS: A couple of things. Number one, I think anybody who puts on the uniform -- Adam Kinzinger, Walz, Vance -- and anybody else who puts on the uniform deserves our thanks. They are heroes. They protect our freedoms and I think, that ought to be said upfront when were having these debates.

Number two, I think anybody who goes into politics is going to have their record scrutinized. I think it's pretty clear, evidence laying out there now that at times Walz may have embellished his record.

Now, you can decide that is not a big deal. You can say it is a huge deal. You could say you don't care about it, but when you go into politics, you are going to have your record scrutinized. It doesn't minimize the fact that he served honorably for over 20 years.

But when you get into the political arena, everything you've ever done is going to be looked over. So, I think it's fully appropriate for them to look at Walz's record.

I mean, they're looking over everything JD Vance ever said about himself. I think they're going to look over everything Walz said about himself.

[20:25:10]

BERMAN: You know, Congressman, just the sound from Walz saying that he carried a weapon in war. Do you take issue with that?

KINZINGER: I mean, he probably shouldn't have said it. But keep in mind when he was in Italy, he was actually probably technically under Operation Enduring Freedom, which was anybody that deployed to that area was part of a contingency operation, which is the war in Afghanistan. So, I guess technically, you could say it, he obviously shouldn't have said that, but that's one comment after 24 years of military service, when he retired honorably.

Look, I agree with Scott, you can expect to have your military record looked at. But where you should be attacked is if you were dishonorably discharged, if you lied about what you did for a job or if you're running for president of the United States again and when your country needed you, you let your country down by running away from the draft.

You want to say that Tim Walz, somehow avoided leaving -- deploying with his unit and lead his unit down, fine. I totally don't agree, that's crap. But listen, Donald Trump fled the draft when his country needed him.

He and JD Vance, who is his number two, have no right to go after anybody when the number one on the ticket was too scared to serve in Vietnam and fake medical conditions.

BERMAN: Anything in that, Scott?

JENNINGS: Well, Adam was obviously a surrogate for President Biden before he dropped out of the race. I've always wondered people who have attacked Donald Trump for getting out of his military service have explained Joe Biden getting out of his. I mean, he didn't really exactly cover himself in glory on this point.

KINZINGER: What? That's insane. JENNINGS: No it's not. It's not insane, you're attacking Trump for getting out of military service. Joe Biden somehow got out of the military. I'm just wondering how you square your support for Biden, but yet you attack Trump on this point.

KINZINGER: Yes, okay. Good one. Good one, Scott. I mean, Donald Trump --

JENNINGS: I mean, you have no answer.

KINZINGER: -- he had his own personal Vietnam. I mean, you can sit there and giggle and laugh like a screwy guy. But like, Donald Trump said his personal Vietnam --

JENNINGS: I'm just waiting for you to come up with an answer to the question --

KINZINGER: -- He was getting XTDs, it gets crazy, it's crazy.

JENNINGS: If you want to attack Donald --

KINZINGER: --he's saying -- bone spurs, it's insane.

JENNINGS: If you want to attack Trump for getting out of military service. I think you ought to answer questions about how Joe Biden got out of it and you support --

KINZINGER: You know, I agree with you. I agree with you, but listen Joe Biden is not attacking JD Vance or anybody else's military service. Donald Trump, and his number two are attacking Tim Walz who served 24 years when he didn't even bother to go to the draft.

BERMAN: Let me just ask one last question, which I think is a little bit of a one-off from whatever just happened here in the last 90 seconds. None of this discussion, Scott involved Vice President Kamala Harris. So there's been a lot of -- and I will say, there's been a lot of energy in a lot of Republicans pointing fingers at Tim Walz over the last 36 hours on this. But do you think they ought to be spending their time talking about Vice President Harris instead?

JENNINGS: Well, this week has been about Walz and the campaign has touted his military service as a nexus to his agenda on gun control and they've also touted it as a nexus to his appeal to a rural America or heartland America.

So, I think it's fair game. Look, we've spent several weeks on everything JD Vance has ever said to every podcaster out there. I think spending a couple of days on Walz is to be expected and look, he deserves scrutiny. He did embellish his record, Republicans believe, and that's going to be part of the campaign, whether it's the most important part, we'll find out.

BERMAN: Scott Jennings, Adam Kinzinger, great to have you both here. Thank you very much.

So, coming up, more on the race itself, including fresh newly released poll numbers that answer the question, does Harris have momentum in this race? Larry Sabato from the University of Virginia joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So a new national poll from Marquette Law School shows a climbing Vice President Harris. In a head to head competition, she is up on former President Trump 53 to 47 percent. And when third party candidates are included, the polling suggests her lead goes from six to eight points. Harris is 50, Trump at 42 percent.

We should note this poll was taken July 24th to August 1st, does not capture what has happened this last week of campaigning, including the VP rollout. Also tonight, our new CNN poll of polls, which includes an average of the six surveys since Biden's exit, shows no clear leader in the race, both candidates at 49 percent.

Trump today was asked about the apparent rise in the polls for Harris. He had thoughts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To what do you at -- attribute her rising in the polls, his becoming a more competitive race since she's taken over for Joe Biden?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, she's a woman. She represents certain groups of people, but I will say this, when people find out about her, I think she'll be much less. I -- and I see it right now. I see her going way down to the polls now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joined now by Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the Universe -- University of Virginia. And back with us, David Axelrod. Professor, first to you, one poll is one poll. But in general, the average has been creeping up for Harris. What do you think can be learned or taken from this?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS AT UNIV. OF VIRGINIA: Well, what can be learned or taken is that Joe Biden stepping aside and making a tremendous personal sacrifice has paid off for Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party. There have been six non-partisan or bipartisan national polls. They have all shown the same thing, that Harris has tied Trump either a point or two behind or exactly even or a point or two ahead, and we're starting finally to see good results coming out of individual states.

That is good, reliable polling, including Arizona, which today showed in a poll showed Kamala Harris up three over Trump, which is the first time that either Joe Biden or Kamala Harris has had a lead over Trump in Arizona this year. Georgia, by the way, the latest poll there, also released today bipartisan by the AARP is a dead tie 48 to 48.

[20:35:05]

So the question is will it last? Can the bump be extended by the Democratic Convention? But you really can't question that Kamala Harris is doing well in the polls and has gained a lot. And I don't know what polls Donald Trump has been looking at. I could guess.

BERMAN: David, I don't know how much of a chance you've had to dig inside, but with whom do you think she is making the most progress so far and where does she need to make more progress?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, John, what she's done is she's consolidating the Democratic base. She's getting a lot of the young people who were -- who had strayed off back among African American voters.

She's getting more of the typical vote that you'd expect a Democratic presidential candidate gets. She's doing better among Hispanic voters. So she's really, really assembling the Democratic base. And the question is, can she push out from that? But I will point out a couple of things. One is that, Democratic enthusiasm in this poll is up dramatically.

And -- and that's a very, very important element here because turnout is going to be so important in these races. And the second is her standing, has she had a 35 percent approval rating when they last polled in May and now it's up to 47 percent, that's an enormous amount of progress.

So there are a lot of positive signs in here. But, you know, I've said it many times. I'll say it again. This is going to be a close race. This is going to be a battle. And this race is back to where per -- it was perhaps earlier in the campaign. The debate threw it into a different place and now there's a real horse race.

BERMAN: You know, Larry, what do you make of the fact that in terms of a third party candidate, when other candidates are included here, it does seem, and that's in several polls we've seen most recently, it seems to draw more from Trump than Harris?

SABATO: Yes, that's a bit odd. I don't know if I really believe it. I almost said weird. But I know that's -- that's not the right word to use. It is odd. I don't think it'll hold. I'd be interested to know what David thinks. I think it, you know, this is something where Robert Kennedy goes up and down, and then you hear about a bear cub, and it's just strange.

And he's really below 5 percent now. He is going down, down, down. And the other ones have never gotten any traction. If I could just mention one other thing, which is really critical, and it's a tip of the hat to President Biden. When President Biden withdrew, he was at 36 percent support in the polling average. Now, he is mid, even a little upper 40s. He's gone up that far. And you think, why? Because people were relieved and grateful that he did it. And by the way, the exact same thing happened to Lyndon Johnson in 1968. He was at 36 percent and he went into the 50s, two weeks after he withdrew from the race. So, and -- and it matters. The incumbent president's rating, job rate actually influences the substitute candidates percentage in the fall.

BERMAN: David, since --

AXELROD: John, if I could.

BERMAN: Go ahead. Go ahead.

AXELROD: Go ahead. I'm --

BERMAN: No, no, you.

AXELROD: No, I just wanted to comment on the -- on your previous question about the third party vote. I actually do think this is real. I think and understandable in some ways, because Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate and Cornel West, the independent candidate, African American progressive are getting fewer votes now.

A lot of the people who had parked there are going back. And I think as he becomes more and more bizarre Robert Kennedy Jr. is also losing sort of some of the Democratic vote that he had. He's hanging on to some of the anti-vaxxers and conspir -- conspiracy theory buffs who -- who have been with him and who might be more partial to Trump.

I think for the first time in this race, I always believed the third parties were a detriment to Biden, that they were going to lower the threshold enough that Trump who has basically never exceeded 47 percent of the vote, could win. Now as that -- as that third party vote shrinks, you know, I think it's going to be to the benefit or at least it seems now to the benefit of the Vice President.

BERMAN: Professor Sabato, you ask, you shall receive an answer from David Axelrod. There are thanks to both of you. Really appreciate your time tonight.

AXELROD: Thank you.

SABATO: Thank you.

BERMAN: So Democrats newfound enthusiasm for their ticket has a lot to do with the new running mate for Vice President Harris, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. It's not just his folksy style and sharp attacks on Republicans, but also his past as a teacher and football coach. Whitney Wild has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERRI BLASING, MANKATO WEST PRINCIPAL & FORMER WALZ NEIGHBOR: Tim is who he is. He's never changed. He's all about serving people.

[20:40:03] WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Long before he was Governor Tim Walz to Minnesota, he was Mr. Walz at Mankato West High School and Principal Sherri Blasing's neighbor.

BLASING: If you ask them, who's your favorite teacher? Nine times out of 10, it's going to be Mr. Walz because he was just that kind of teacher and he made learning relevant.

WILD (voice-over): The photos here might be faded, but his impact on former students and football players like Dan Clement is clear.

DANIEL CLEMENT, FORMER WALZ FOOTBALL PLAYER: I was contemplating leaving school by 10th grade, you know, 11th grade, I was just like, I don't think this is for me.

WILD (voice-over): When then Coach Walz asked Clement to join his football team, he followed Walls advice. But it was their daily talks, Clement says, that changed his life.

CLEMENT: He was like, Dan, I want you with me, on my team, on my crew. And I'm going to go to a lot of lengths to make sure that happens. I felt loved, you know, and I felt seen and not just the troublesome kid.

WILD (voice-over): For 10 years in this rural town of around 45,000 people, Walz taught social studies, coached football and sponsored the school's first Gay Straight Alliance. Former student Nicole Grunswick says Walz created a new safe space.

NICOLE GRIENSEWIC, FORMER WALZ STUDENT: For the football coach to say, look, we're going to be respectful of everybody and respect differences, period that was really bold.

WILD (voice-over): A 2004 rally in Mankato for then President George W. Bush marked a turning point for Walz when his students were turned away. Some were spotted wearing items supporting Democrat John Kerry. Brianna Farah was there.

BRIANNA FARAH, FORMER WALZ STUDENT: Even though we were all disappointed, and I'm sure he was as well, and maybe a little upset, right? He never put down the Republican Party.

WILD (voice-over): Walz has said that was the moment he decided to trade public school for public service. In 2006, Walz won his first congressional race, ousting a six term Republican incumbent.

WOLD: What kind of impact did he have on this school?

BLASING: Oh, tremendous impact because he's just a fantastic teacher.

WILD (voice-over): Walz's photo now sits in the high school's Hall of Fame. While Governor Walz may have left Mankato, former students and colleagues say this town never left him.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WILD (on camera): John, what became clear as we were reporting out this story is that what has been crucial to his success is his wife of 30 years, Gwen Walz. The people we spoke with say she is his most trusted advisor. She is a true partner in this endeavor, John.

BERMAN: Whitney Wild, it's been great to have you in Minnesota. Thank you so much.

Coming up, new video from just before the attempted assassination of former President Trump, the moment a police officer encountered the shooter.

Also, we have new information on the alleged terror plot that forced promoters to cancel three Taylor Swift concerts in Austria, new details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:46:43]

BERMAN: All right. We do have breaking news. A surprising new filing from Special Counsel Jack Smith's office tonight asked the federal judge in the 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump to actually delay the case, possibly until next month at the earliest. Our senior crime and justice reporter, Katelyn Polantz, joins us now with why? Why, Katelyn?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Why is a great question, John. And we don't have the answer because all we have is a two-page filing from the Justice Department after the year-long proceedings of this case with the prosecutors from the Office of Special Counsel, Jack Smith, wanting to move this case forward as quickly as possible. It gets back into the trial court's hands after this hiatus with the Supreme Court, and what they say now is they need a delay.

It's three months until the election, and they say it's not going to be until September that they are even going to be ready to say what they want the plan to be moving forward in this case, now that they have to figure out before the trial judge what the Supreme Court's decision about presidential immunity means in this case against Donald Trump related to the 2020 election.

Are they going to have to cut out parts of that case? What will the judge say? So the Justice Department now is basically for the first time in any of these special counsel proceedings, pumping the brakes really hard and needing extra time even to tell the court what its schedule might be coming up in the next couple weeks.

There was supposed to be a filing tomorrow, a hearing next week. We're going to have to wait and see exactly what the judge does hear, Judge Tanya Chutkan, if she puts it all on hold or goes with their schedule. But this really is a fascinating window into a special counsel's office, still figuring things out just months before the presidential election. BERMAN: And you've been covering this from the beginning and I can tell by your voice, this really did come as a surprise to everyone tonight.

POLANTZ: It did.

BERMAN: Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much. Great to see you. So now to gripping new video obtained by CNN. It is from the moments just before the attempted assassination of former President Trump last month. It is from the body cam of the police officer who encountered the shooter just before the shots rang out.

Plus, a separate video of comments by local police just after the shooting that likely will renew scrutiny of the Secret Service efforts to protect the former president. Danny Freeman has the video and the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the moment we've heard so much about, seen now for the first time on police body camera. A Butler Township police officer asking for a boost to check the roof of the AGR Building outside former President Trump's rally. There's no audio in this video obtained by CNN. You can see on the time stamp, it's less than one minute before Thomas Matthew Crooks started shooting.

The officer climbs up to the roof and almost immediately drops down and the tone changes. You don't see it on the video, but police have said Crooks aimed his rifle right at the officer. He runs to the other side of the building to look at the roof. And on this officer's dash cam, which was recording audio, you can hear those first three gunshots from Thomas Matthew Crooks at 6:11 p.m. The officer rushes back to his car to get his rifle. You hear him shout to other law enforcement officers on the dash cam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't pop your head. He's right there.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Back to the officer's body cam.

[20:50:02]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- this close, bro. Dude, he turned around on me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's he at? Where's he at?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's straight up. Who's got eyes on him?

FREEMAN (voice-over): Chaos ensues. By this point, the gunman, Crooks, has already been killed by Secret Service. But it doesn't appear local law enforcement is aware.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're about to hop up. He's laying down. He's (inaudible). Next building over. Right after the gap. He's got glasses, long hair.

FREEMAN (voice-over): These videos provide new insight into local law enforcement's movements moments before the shooting and the frantic aftermath. Since that day, there's been finger pointing between U.S. Secret Service and Western Pennsylvania law enforcement, including testimony from the acting director of the Secret Service asserting local snipers hidden in a building could have spotted Crooks.

ACTING DIRECTOR RONALD ROWE. U.S. SECRET SERVICE: I'm not saying that they should have neutralized him, but if they'd have just held their post and looked left, maybe, and there's a lot of maybes there, Senator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of maybes, but.

FREEMAN (voice-over): But this new body camera footage also suggests local law enforcement had warned Secret Service they needed to protect the building Crooks used to fire the shots.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I -- told them they need to post the guys -- over here. I told them that the --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Secret Service. I told them that -- Tuesday. I told them to post -- guys over here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought you guys were on the roof.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. We're inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Alpha 1 and Bravo 1 paging.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told them, post -- guys over here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wasn't even concerned about it because I thought someone was on the roof. I thought how the hell can you lose a guy walking back there if you're on the roof.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They -- they -- they were inside.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And Danny Freeman is with us now. Danny has a Secret Service responded to the new video?

FREEMAN: Yes, John, we actually got a statement from the Secret Service a little earlier this evening. They say that they are reviewing the new body camera footage that was released earlier today by local law enforcement officers.

But they also added that they appreciate local law enforcement partners who acted courageously as they worked to locate the shooter that day. So again, a little bit of trying to offer goodwill to some of these local law enforcement partners after that finger pointing earlier this past month. John?

BERMAN: All right, Danny Freeman, thanks so much for covering this.

Next, new details on the alleged terror plot that led to the cancellation of three Taylor Swift concerts in Austria.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:56:36]

BERMAN: We have new information from Austria on the alleged terror plot that forced three Taylor Swift concerts, starting tonight, to be canceled. Authorities say the three suspects accused of planning an ISIS inspired suicide attack are teenagers, and Austria's chancellor today said their alleged plot could have caused, quote, numerous deaths and injuries. More now from CNN's Salma Abdelaziz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chilling new details are emerging about the terror plot on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna. Law enforcement says one of the suspects, a 17-year-old, had just been hired to work at the venue he planned to attack.

OMAR HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER, AUSTRIAN DIRECTOR OF SECURITY SERVICES: One of the suspects got an application a few days ago.

ABDELAZIZ: So he had applied for a job?

HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER: He had it.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Officials believe the teens had a three pronged attack. Targeting one of the three sold out Swift concerts for an estimated 65,000 fans each night. Investigators say the suspects plan to run over fans gathered outside the stadium with a vehicle, even obtaining a blue light for their car to mimic a police vehicle. Then they plan to attack innocent concert goers with knives and machetes. And in a final stage, they plan to detonate explosives at the site.

ABDELAZIZ: The alleged mastermind behind the plot is a 19-year-old suspect that lived in this home behind me here. We're just an hour outside Vienna. Authorities say he has confessed to this plot. And in inside the house, police say they found ISIS propaganda, knives and machetes, counterfeit cash, detonators and chemical explosives.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): All three suspects were radicalized online by ISIS recruiters.

HAIJAWI-PIRCHNER: It's very worrying. We can see that in Austria we have very young guys that are radicalized due to the fact that they are using the online propaganda that is brought out from ISIS and also ISKP. ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The prime suspect had pledged allegiance to ISIS. Neighbors say his family was always reserved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They lived very reclusively. We did not see them in their backyard or their children outside.

ABDELAZIZ: The concerts are canceled, but the Swifties have filled the streets of Vienna, and they are singing her songs as loud as they can.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Fans we spoke to say they are disappointed, but grateful to be safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is what we're all about. It's like, we make the best of a bad situation in rain, in sun, like, we'll be here for hours.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from Vienna following one of the best stand ups I have ever seen. The next stop for Taylor Swift's tour is -- is in London. What are authorities saying there about security concerns?

ABDELAZIZ: Yes, John. So the London Mayor Sadiq Khan has spoken out and he has said that the concert will go ahead and that he's going to work with authorities, work with partners, of course, for the event and continue to make sure that that is a secure and safe event.

Of course, thousands expected to attend yet again. So Taylor Swift's Era's Tour continues, hopefully in London for those fans who are waiting with bated breath. But of course, a heightened sense of security across Europe. It is very worrying to see how young the suspects are. And there are true fears that this is part of a trend, John, just recruiting younger and younger, these jihadi groups because of their ability to mold and meld their minds.

[21:00:03]

BERMAN: In -- in just about 15 seconds, besides being in your CNN piece, what are the Taylor Swift fans of Vienna doing?

ABDELAZIZ: Oh, my God. They are taking over the city. It is absolutely incredible. They will do so for the next three days. They're going to be in their outfits. They will continue singing in the streets. Every single restaurant, bar, club seems -- it seems has some sort of offer for Swifties to come in, get a free burger, get a free drink, get to go to this club. So this city continues to go hard for Taylor Swift for the next few days.

BERMAN: We're just glad they're safe. Salma, thank you so much. The news continues. "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins starts now.