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The Lead with Jake Tapper
CNN Democratic National Convention; Source: Trump Attorney Targeted In Alleged Iran Hack Attack; Soon: DNC Night Two Kicks Off In Chicago. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired August 20, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: A live look inside the United Center here in Chicago, Illinois, where night two of the Democratic National Convention is about to get underway, featuring another U.S. president, one who exploded onto the national political stage on a Democratic National Conventions stage two decades ago, 2004.
Hello and welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper here at the DNC, where excitement is building among delegates for another big night of Democratic headliners, including former President Barack Obama, his wife, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and the man who wants to become the nation's first ever first gentleman, Doug Emhoff, following a raucous and oftentimes logistically challenged day one of the convention of solutes and send-offs and emotional standoffs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president.
And all this talk about how I'm angry, with all those people said I should step down, that's not true.
I love my country more and we need to preserve our democracy.
America, I gave my best to you.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: An emotional handoff of sorts. Biden did not even start speaking until after 11:00 p.m. Eastern. His speech going until well after midnight East Coast time.
Tonight, we're going to kick off our coverage at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. A ceremonial roll call of the states will be held to nominate Kamala Harris and as a tribute to President Biden, it will begin with his beloved home state of Delaware, the small wonder state.
Vice President Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, are holding a rally tonight in battleground Wisconsin, right next door, after getting a rousing reception here in the arena last night.
Milwaukee is about 90 miles away from where we are in Chicago. So we're not sure yet whether or not they will go from the arena to the rally and back, or whether they'll appeal appear in the arena at all.
Tonight, we are told that former President Obama will make an appearance and deliver a forceful affirmation. The Kamala Harris this is the right leader for this moment, you might remember Obama became an overnight star at the Democrat's national convention 20 years ago when they were nominating John Kerry in Boston. He was, Mr. Obama, at the time, a little known state senator from Illinois and he spoke movingly about unity and hope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?
(END VIDEOO CLIP)
TAPPER: He looked 17. He, of course, went on to become president and he endorsed Kamala Harris when she was running for attorney general in California in 2010.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: A dear, dear friend of mine. So I want everybody to do right by her. San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: We saw President Obama endorsed Biden and Harris at the 2020 convention during the COVID pandemic. That was a weird series of conventions, of course, because of the pandemic.
In a few hours, Mr. Obama returns to vouch for Harris once again, this time in her candidacy for president, after Mr. Obama, President Obama quietly maneuvered behind the scenes with other Democratic Party leaders to try to convince Biden, Obama's own vice president, to step aside.
We're also going to hear tonight from former First Lady Michelle Obama, who famously delivered one of the most memorable convention lines in history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: You don't stoop to their level. No, our motto is, when they go low, we go high.
(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Right now in the arena, the rapper Common is doing a little sound check, a preview of what we might hear this evening. Although last night, James Taylor, we brought, you hear sound check at this time yesterday. It went so over -- we were not able to hear "Sweet Baby James" quite regrettably.
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Let's go live to the convention floor where CNN's Kaitlan Collins, a big Common fans and host of "THE SOURCE" here on CNN, is keeping tabs on everything.
Kaitlan, the speech is yesterday. I have to say they were all over the map. We had strong endorsements for Kamala Harris from AOC, from Hillary Clinton and others, but obviously, a big chunk of the evening was about President Biden.
What are Democrats hoping for this evening?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Well, hopefully, Common does get better treatment tonight, but James Taylor does actually end up performing. He's right there on stage behind me, Jake, before he does perform, we're going to hear from a list of speakers that will be much more focused on Vice President Harris than last night, which, of course, as you noted, where a lot of tributes to President Biden before his big speech at the end of the evening? And that'll all get started tonight when we are hearing from the home state governor, that is Governor J.B. Pritzker, an Illinois delegation is right over there to my right. I'm standing right by the Delaware delegation that you noted is going to get that ceremonial roll call started in underway.
But then we'll hear from some notable senators. Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Bernie Sanders. That, of course, will be one watch given he has not yet outright endorsed Harris. He is supporting her, but they have differences when it comes to what this policy platform is going to look like.
And then for the rest of the night, Jake, expect to hear more of the personal side of Harris. We're going to hear from the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, who was seated next to her in the VIP box. Last night. He'll be trying to tell people about Harris herself, not as a politician, not as the candidate, but as her son. And what he knows about her.
And then she will be -- and then we're going to hear from but former First Lady Michelle Obama, who has her own relationship with Harris. And of course, former President Barack Obama, one of the greatest speakers in the Democratic party, obviously who's going to close out the United Center tonight in a speech that everyone is watching very closely. And for those who don't know, obviously, Harris and Obama had this relationship that goes back two decades, Jake.
So, it will be notable to hear from him on her as well because immediately when she was a rising star in the Democratic Party, you heard all of these natural comparisons between the two of them and their speaking styles and their presence on stage. And so that is something that people will be watching for in Obama's
speech tonight.
TAPPER: They're -- they are good friends, in fact, so friendly, so familiar. I'm old enough to remember when President Obama had to apologize for calling Kamala Harris the best looking attorney general in the country. I'm sure he did not mean it as a criticism.
This is a full-circle moment for Vice President Harris and Obama, 20 years in the making, as you say.
COLLINS: Yeah.
TAPPER: They've crossed paths. They helped each other out many times over the years. Harris knocked on doors for Obama in Iowa until 2008. Now, of course, he is in charge of rallying Democrats behind her.
COLLINS: Yeah, I believe it was New Year's Eve of that year when she went to Iowa. It was her first-time there and she was knocking on doors, part of his very small campaign at the time, long before he had one in any of the caucuses and the primaries.
But that was notable at the time, Jake, you know, looking back on it now as history paints it, obviously, it's not a surprise. But at the time, a lot of the Democratic heavyweights are putting their weight behind Hillary Clinton. She had the all-powerful endorser of her husband, former President Bill Clinton in that race.
So it was notable that Harris, essentially going to cross that line. It was supporting Obama in that race, something that he clearly did not forget. He ended up helping her get elected in her race as AG and as the -- as U.S. senator in California. And so, certainly, you've seen that relationship go back and forward when it comes to pay those favors back.
But tonight, essentially, it was the ultimate version of that, Jake, would he gets on stage here tonight and makes the case for her. We've seen this happen with presidents in the past. Remember, former President Bill Clinton came out in 2012 and made a 52-minute argument for reelecting Obama that was seen as really helping that convention, will be seeing Obama do that for Harris tonight.
I will note, Jake, just as we're seeing the delegates and media get inside here in the United Center tonight, there is something new on the chairs. There are these bracelets. Anyone who's been to a Taylor Swift concert has seen a version of this, maybe not marked with the DNC's logo. But these bracelets that light up.
Last night, it was kind of amazing to watch how quickly they were changing the signs with the message that they wanted it out there. Obviously, it went from Jill Biden to unions to we love Joe.
Tonight, we see these bracelets on the chair says will be watching to see how the programming aspect of tonight looks when night two of the Democratic convention gets kicked off, Jake. TAPPER: Yeah, that's right, old man Tapper saw those for the first
time in Philly, when Harris and Walz came out, I had no idea what they were, but they all change colors at the same time. It's pretty cool and my Swifty friends and relatives were quick to tell me if this was not exactly -- not exactly a newfangled technology.
Kaitlan, thanks so much. You'll be back with more shortly.
Let's bring in my panel of political experts to weigh in all the stories happening here and outside the convention hall.
Alyssa, I want to start with the fact that we are going to hear from Stephanie Grisham, former colleague of yours this evening. She was the Trump White House press secretary, communications director, chief of staff for Melania Trump.
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She's going to be talking here at the Democratic convention along with a number of other Republicans.
You are not doing that. You are a Republican not voting for Trump. What -- what do you make of it all?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So listen, the Harris campaign has reached out to a lot of prominent Republicans, Adam Kinzinger, former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan.
Stephanie Grisham is a fascinating one to me. She is a friend and colleague, former colleague of mine. She was a die-hard Trump true believer. She was on the 2016 campaign. She was in the thick of it, close to the family.
But she resigned after January 6. She couldn't stand by it. And since then, she's kept a very quiet life, lives in Kansas, has an animal sanctuary.
This isn't something she necessarily I think wanted to do, but she's got two young sons. She said she cares about the future of the country, and she thinks it's her duty as someone who has so much insight into that world to talk about the character of Trump and why she believes he's unfit for office.
Significant, they are really reaching out to Republicans, I've got to say.
TAPPER: Yeah. David Urban, do you think this has any impact?
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Zero.
TAPPER: Zero, really?
URBAN: Zero impact. Tell me what voter -- listen, if you're -- if you're a Trump hater in Montgomery County, these folks don't matter to you. They're not going to matter to you. Half America doesn't even know who they are. TAPPER: What about what the -- what are called the double haters? The
people that don't like Kamala and don't Trump.
URBAN: I don't -- yeah, I don't know. I don't know if disgruntled former employees or disgruntled members of the party --
GRIFFIN: It's not that though. It's Nikki Haley voters and, by the way, women, there are so many women who are lifelong Republicans in the suburbs, college educated, who saw January 6 and it was a bridge too far, and they're looking for a permission structure and an off- ramp, even if they don't like Kamala Harris at all.
URBAN: Yeah, I'm not so sure.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Do you think those people are already gone? Is that what you're --
URBAN: I think that those people are gone. I don't think you're getting a lot of those people back. The Nikki Haley voters -- people who voted Nikki Haley, they're never going to vote for Donald Trump ever. We're not going to get those people back, right?
So I don't know if --
GRIFFIN: That's going to be tough.
(CROSSTALK)
URBAN: I don't think you're getting them back.
TAPPER: What do you -- what do you think?
URBAN: I think you'll get some Republicans but not --
TAPPER: You know what? Let me ask --
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think this is fascinating TV.
TAPPER: But you're a South Carolina Democrat, but you have Republican friends, you work across the aisle. Do you think that -- do you buy what Alyssa saying about a permission structure? Adam Kinzinger, conservative Republican, flies in the Air Force National Guard, et cetera.
SELLERS: Yes, I think -- I think --
TAPPER: He comes out and he says, I'm -- I can't vote for Trump.
SELLERS: I think a lot of it as a permission structure and that's a great way to look at it. A lot of the Republican outreach that you're seeing, you saw the mayors of border cities who are Republican in Arizona who are coming out and supporting Kamala Harris. And the reason I disagree with David Urban is because this race is going to be extremely close.
URBAN: Absolutely.
SELLERS: And so that number is not zero.
URBAN: No, no, I'm saying --
SELLERS: What I'm saying is that in a marginal race, these marginal voters do matter. And even in the state of Georgia, that number is not marginal. It's over 100,000 people who did not vote for Donald Trump.
URBAN: Geoff Duncan's a very popular guy in Georgia. He may be helpful in the state of Georgia.
TAPPER: Okay.
URBAN: A hundred percent, right.
TAPPER: Okay.
URBAN: The other people, I don't -- they're not going to matter. That the people in Pennsylvania, they don't know who these people are. They don't care. They're irrelevant. But Geoff Duncan may have an impact.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: I want to bring -- because Trump, if we could punch up, yeah, three. Yesterday, former President Trump continued to take a level, some very personal attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris, although he's still by the way, out there today attacking Joe Biden. It's pretty clear that he longs for Biden in many ways.
But take a listen to him going after Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala has no idea what the hell she's doing. Her father is a Marxist professor. And I believe he taught her well. I wonder if they knew that when they did an overthrow or a coup on Joe Biden, I wonder if they knew where she comes from, where she came from, what her ideology is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: What do you think of that? I mean, he's still struggling to come out and find and effective way --
CHALIAN: Yes.
TAPPER: -- to go after her.
CHALIAN: Yeah, that to me still reads as somebody who is flailing a little bit, like he is still searching because just throwing the insults I don't think -- I truly don't think this whole communism thing is going to land, A, because it's not true. It's not where she is. And B, it takes him off of his economic immigration crime argument,
which is where all (INAUDIBLE), but I will just say -- we have to say that last bit there. This was not a coup.
TAPPER: Right.
CHALIAN: This was not a coup. This was as ton of pressure applied to Joe Biden get out of this race because Democrats thought he was going to sink their party's chances in November. And he heeded that call.
TAPPER: So one other thing I want to bring up, Vice President Harris's running mate Tim Walz is set to take the stage tomorrow night. The campaign is having to clean up some comments he's made about one of the campaigns signature issue having to do with reproductive rights. This is what Governor Walz said on MSNBC while criticizing J.D. Vance. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: J.D. Vance knows nothing about that. And then he keeps going into all of these things. Today is IVF day. Thank God for IVF, my wife and I have two beautiful children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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TAPPER: Now, it's -- that's not accurate, right? I mean, it wasn't IVF. It was a different procedure and his wife, Gwen Walz, the first lady of Minnesota's, taking care to tell CNN that they actually used the procedure called intrauterine insemination.
SELLERS: IUI.
CHALIAN: IUI.
TAPPER: IUI. It's a process she described him as incredibly personal, difficult experience. They did use fertility treatments. It wasn't IVF.
GRIFFIN: Any woman --
URBAN: Command sergeant major --
GRIFFIN: I'm sorry. Any woman --
TAPPER: Hold on, hold on, I want to --
GRIFFIN: Any one of the women -- seven women who goes through fertility treatments, IUI is part of the suite of fertility treatments as a step below IVF, it's direct insemination versus creating embryos. I think that is a stretch to say that it's not part of the broader fertility treatment.
TAPPER: The way they explain it is he just talks like how regular people talk.
GRIFFIN: I mean, my husband would have known the different.
SELLERS: First of all, my wife did IUI, not once but twice and then we did IVF, not once but twice, trying to have a child. And so, as a father of IVF babies or whatever, yes. I would call -- I mean --
GRIFFIN: Not winning if you're making --
SELLERS: Yeah.
TAPPER: What? You would say it's the same thing?
SELLERS: I would just -- as a man, I would probably mess that up.
CHALIAN: This is a head scratcher, politically.
URBAN: Why clean it up?
CHALIAN: It's just -- just have your facts right as you come out, you're going to tell the story. That -- it just -- it opens up an opportunity --
GRIFFIN: Well --
CHALIAN: -- for them to now have to try and bury --
(CROSSTALK)
SELLERS: But we will have this discussion with J.D. Vance and Donald Trump any day of the week. We -- I mean, I get it. It was an artful. It was not -- it was not accurate.
TAPPER: It was not accurate.
SELLERS: It was not accurate.
GRIFFIN: Well, the distinction is IVF is -- or IUI is not under attack anywhere the way IVF is, but it is stark part of the suite of options. Most people begin with one and go to the other.
TAPPER: We're glad that he has two kids. It's also important for politicians to be accurate. Thanks to everyone.
Breaking with their parties, Republican former governor, lieutenant governor -- sorry, Republican former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan who has a speaking role here at the DNC, as Alyssa and I were just talking about, and Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who challenged Biden in the primaries, two apostates, are both going to join me next.
And been breaking right now, new details on who in Donald Trump's orbit may have targeted -- may have been targeted by Iran in an alleged hacking attack on the 2024 presidential campaign.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: And we're back live from Chicago with our special coverage of day two of the Democratic National Convention. It's not only another day full of speeches from top Democrats but also some rather notable Republicans, including former Trump White House press secretary and former chief of staff to Melania Trump, Stephanie Grisham.
Grisham tells me that her speech tonight to Democrats, quote, touches on who Trump really is behind the scenes, as someone who was with the family for six years, unquote.
I want to bring in another Republican who's going to speak at the DNC, the former lieutenant governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan. I also want to bring in, former challenger to President Biden, Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota, two apostates of sort. I'm glad I could hook you guys up so you could meet each other.
You both are our brave in different ways.
Lieutenant Governor Duncan, let me start with you. Why do you think it's important for you to speak in this setting? And did you have any concerns about speaking to a roomful of lefties?
GEOFF DUNCAN, FORMER LT. GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: Well, no concerns. Look at the end of the day, we're all Americans and that's really the journey I'm on, right? I'm here as -- not as a Republican, not as a Democrat, but as an American that wants to give the air cover to the tens of millions of Republicans that are absolutely sick and tired of Donald Trump, and that's what I'm doing. I'm here to share my thoughts and to give some air cover.
TAPPER: That's interesting and beyond talking about the perils of what another Trump administration could bring, why would a Republican votes for Kamala Harris? I mean, she's not -- she's pretty progressive, right? I mean, you probably don't agree on a lot. I mean, I guess you probably agree on Ukraine and Israel, but beyond that.
DUNCAN: My campaign slogan all the way through running for a state house seat and then lieutenant governor was policy over politics. And so, some of my Republican friends stopped me and say, what's this policy over politics? It's a sham. And I said, no, actually, democracy is the number one policy, and we're here because we believe I think she's going to protect democracy better than Donald Trump will.
I think it gives us as a Republican Party enough time to heal and rebuild this thing from the ground up because it's broken.
TAPPER: And, Congressman Phillips, you ran against President Biden. Just to bring people up to speed, the Democratic Party did everything they could to shut you out of debates, to keep you off ballot, et cetera. Your purpose in running was to try to bring attention to the fact that President Biden, in your view, was too old to win.
REP. DEAN PHILLIPS (D-MN): Let me correct you in that.
TAPPER: OK, go ahead.
PHILLIPS: It wasn't necessarily my perspective.
TAPPER: Yes.
PHILLIPS: The overwhelming majority of Americans and a majority of voters --
TAPPER: Right.
PHILLIPS: That had made that determination. And in the absence of listening to American voters, both parties have lost their way. That was the mission. It was more Paul Revere than George Washington.
TAPPER: Okay. Fair enough. And you were proven correct and the Democratic Party came to your point of view late, but not -- not too late. That did anybody has -- I don't know if you saw, but I asked Governor Walz who had kind of discounted you, and said some not nice things about your campaign. I asked him about it like, you know, Congressman Phillips was right, you were wrong. He kind of sidestepped it.
Does anybody say you were right?
PHILLIPS: I mean, you know, Jake, it was not my intention actually, they come here this week last-minute, I decided to do so and it was a great decision because I've been welcomed back at the popular kids table.
TAPPER: Is that right?
PHILLIPS: I kid you not. It's been full of high fives, handshakes and hugs gratitude, from some party elders my colleagues and just everyday delegates and Democrats said really restored my faith that there still his capacity for dissent and to be welcomed back.
And that is -- that's our mission. I just and I want to celebrate the friend here who recognizes there is no political reward for demonstrating courage right now on the left or right. To be sitting here together is a little bit of a demonstration generates optimism that we can still do so, be welcomed here on this, and at least my friend on the stage but to be here and be welcomed back into the fold, when people recognize that we've got to create space for dissent and differing opinions.
If we don't, we are not fulfilling our obligations.
[16:25:02]
And I would argue that is the vitamin with democracy.
TAPPER: And Lieutenant Governor Duncan. I don't know how much you paid attention to his race, but obviously he was not the only one. He's correct. That had concerns about President Biden's ability to win. Let's put it that way, you know, based on his performance.
What were you thinking when you were watching that play out?
DUNCAN: Well, I was watching, you know, similar thoughts. There's just a better way to do this. I think most Americans wake up and realize like the political system is broken. Ours are going one way, you know, crazy and not conservative, and the left was going further left. I think a majority of Americans just want somebody to come in and understand the complexities of the economy and understand the complexities of their lives, and just be able to sit at the table and get the whole 80/20 rule that Ronald Reagan talks about, somebody who was with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally, not a 20 percent traitor.
That mentality is what a majority of people in this. And also, I think if you took put a little truth serum in Republicans cups, they would say the same thing. They want somebody who pays attention the real problems and doesn't just throw red meat to the crowd.
TAPPER: Last question, when the debate happened on June 27th, was it -- did you think to yourself this is what I know would have happened if I'd been allowed to debate in January, February, and they wouldn't let me do it. And they hid this and now you get it in June.
I mean, was that -- that must have been exactly what was on top of mind.
PHILLIPS: Exactly. That was the whole mission. I recog -- the system is not created to accept and give platform to a challenge or like me, we all know that. But it was my intention at least to get him to debate because I thought then at least Americans could see with their own eyes because I think it had been hidden.
And of course, it didn't happen. And I think I woke up the next morning and thought to myself, why was I not surprised? And I think it was because most Americans had not seen with their own eyes what I've been seeing for so many months.
And that's why I was disappointed with my colleagues at that time for being so silent and again, that's back to this reward system. And I think we both suffered from, and we need to encourage new generations to both participate, vote in primaries and candidates and then elected officials to demonstrate courage and because absent that, we are in trouble.
But I'm optimistic and this is a perfect example.
TAPPER: Well, let me just say that, that whether or not people agree with either of you on anything without question, you both have done some brave things that were far more uncomfortable than they were full of applause and plaudits. And for that alone, you're to be heralded and there's too little of that in public life, left, right, center. So, thanks so much for being here.
DUNCAN: Thank you, Jake.
TAPPER: I really appreciate it.
Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips of Minnesota, former lieutenant governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan.
Kaitlan?
COLLINS: Thanks, Jake.
I do want to get to some breaking news we have right now involving what U.S. intelligence agencies have said is Iran's recent attack, hack attack into Donald Trumps campaign. Sources are now telling CNN, one of Donald Trump's lawyers was targeted in a hacking attempt.
This is new reporting that I'm breaking with our colleagues, Evan Perez, Sean Lyngaas.
And Evan Perez joins me now.
Evan, obviously, for people who don't know, this is Lindsey Halligan. They might also remember seeing her. She was sitting front row actually in the VIP box at the Republican convention just a month ago. She's been on Donald Trump's legal team for quite some time now, and she now is one of these attorneys.
She's kind of seen as a Trump whisperer internally. She's someone who can often go back and talk to him. So she is quite close to him and now we have learned that she was targeted in a hacking attempt, something that could obviously be a potentially very serious new development as we are still reporting out of this FBI investigation into the Iran hacking of the Trump campaign.
Evan, can we just talk about what we've learned here in this reporting that we are breaking with Sean?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kaitlan, one of the things that we've learned is that this is the same group, the same group that's been behind in the broader attempts to try to attack, to target both political campaigns, both the Biden-Harris campaign and the Trump campaign were targeted. In the case of the Trump campaign, we know that there were some documents would that have news organizations have reported receiving that from inside the campaign.
And the belief is that they were able to get to that by my first getting to Roger Stone, someone who is an adviser to former president and using that, they were able to refine their targeting yet to people inside the campaign. And as you pointed out, Lindsey Halligan, is somebody who was important in the Trump legal circles. She was involved in the classified documents case.
And so, what it shows you is the effort -- the persistent effort by the minute Iranians to try to get influenced somehow on this year's election, whether -- on the Democratic side for the Republican side -- Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yeah. And, Evan, I should note. You know, we don't know the extent of this hack, to whether or not they were successful. This target of her, if it was devices or emails.
I do want to read a statement from the Trump campaign and we got. This is from a spokesperson, Steven Cheung. They said these reports of the attempted hacking of President Trump's team by the terrorist regime in Iran come after the recent disclosures of an Iranian plot to assassinate President Trump around the same time as that Butler, PA rally. They go on to say the Iranians are petrified that he will stop their reign of terror as he did during his first four years in the White House.
[16:30:04]
Obviously, we don't know. We're still learning a lot about this, but this is incredibly significant potential news that a Trump attorney has been targeted in a hacking attempt.
Evan Perez, great work. Thank you for that.
PEREZ: Thanks.
COLLINS: Jake, back to you.
TAPPER: All right, thanks so much.
CNN's Kristen Holmes has just spoken with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on the campaign trail in battleground Michigan. Mr. Trump, as is his want, had quite a lot to say, including some reaction to our exclusive reporting on his former chief of staff, John Kelly's response to his assertion -- Trump's assertion that the congressional medal of freedom is, quote, much better than the medal of honor and Kristen Holmes joins us next.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: And we're back here live in Chicago as Democrats get set for night two of their convention.
The Trump-Vance campaign continues its GOP counter programming push. Moments ago, former President Donald Trump wrapping up a campaign event in battleground Michigan, and after he spoke with CNN's Kristen Holmes.
Kristen, this is a rare one-on-one. I don't know the last time he did a one-on-one with CNN. What did he have to say?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things that he talked about was your exclusive reporting, Jake, talking about John Kelly pushing back on Donald Trump's remarks, which obviously rubbed a lot of veterans the wrong way, when he essentially said that a civilian honor was the same as receiving the medal of freedom, something -- or the medal of honor, that was something that John Kelly had pushed back on, saying not even close. When I asked Donald Trump about it, here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John Kelly has an ax to grind and he made up the story. Nobody would say what he said. I would be the last person said he's a liar, he's been a proven liar. He's lied in other occasions.
I didn't respect him. Once I lost so my respect for because I saw that he couldn't do the job, I fired him. And when you fire people, they tend to say negative things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, of course, just to remind everyone, John Kelly was his longest serving chief of staff. He is a retired marine and he was Donald Trump's chief of staff while he was in the White House. The two had a very close working relationship.
But obviously, these comments from Kelly repeated comments from Kelly have gotten underneath Donald Trump's skin.
Now, in addition to that, I asked Donald Trump about the new reporting that RFK might be considering endorsing him. And would that mean that RFK might get a role in the administration and Trump said that he would look into it, that but something that he would consider putting RFK in that role.
When I asked about any kind of pushback since he's had so many progressive ideas, RFK, he said, well, Republicans like me and I want smart people in the White House.
Now, a reminder, Jake, yesterday he said he would also consider putting Elon Musk into the administration, so something that would likely not go over well with Republicans, but it was interesting to see him in this room today, not just for our one-on-one, but really trying to talk to the crowd here.
He was clearly trying to stay on message as we have seen over and over again him kind of devolve as Harris became the top of the ticket.
TAPPER: All right. Kristen Holmes. Thank you so much.
And obviously, when it comes to retired Marine General John Kelly versus Donald Trump on just a record of truth-telling, I don't think there's much competition there.
Well, we're back with more from the Democratic National Convention here in Chicago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:42:08]
COLLINS: We are back here in Chicago at the united center covering the Democratic national convention is night two is set to get kicked off.
As we know, there is no viable path right now for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to win the White House in November. But his third party run could potentially please be a spoiler and today his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, revealed that they are considering endorsing Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLE SHANAHAN (I), RFK JR.'S RUNNING MATE: Two options that we're looking at and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris, and Walz presidency because we draw votes from Trump, we draw somehow more votes from Trump. Or we walk away, right now and join forces with Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I wanted to discuss more with CNN's Kasie Hunt and Manu Raju, here with me.
Kasie, I mean, you interviewed RFK Jr. a few months ago. Obviously, the race we've seen so many changes since then, but this is interesting coming on the heels of the reporting that he was seeking a meeting with Vice President Harris and considering endorsing her if she promised him a cabinet position or something high level?
KASIE HUNT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yeah. It really interesting the way Nicole Shanahan put this, I thought where she says, well, we would risk a Harris-Walz presidency and that's always been something that has been kind of underlying, especially the Kennedy family's skepticism around RFK Jr.'s bid for the White House that at the end of the day, what he was doing was going to help Donald Trump, whether it was when Biden was in the race or now in this particular case with the Harris switch.
You've seen the polling start to change it was it was kind of moving that direction even before they changed the top of the Democratic ticket. They have tried to shy away from that and insist, no, no, this is really about RFK Jr. and his presidential bid, but I think were starting to see the cracks show in that facade.
COLLINS: Well, what it's interesting to hear this, Jack Schlossberg is going to be speaking tonight at the convention, a member of the Kennedy family, and we've seen just obviously how feel good they've been about this because of that very concern.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. It's been interesting to see as Kasie was noting, how the polling has shifted in the aftermath of Biden dropping out of the race that we have seen RFK Jr.'s support really appears to be coming from Trump, not as much from Harris because Harris has starting to consolidate support from the Democratic base, and others who have been skeptical of Joe Biden. And because we're considering endorsing, voting for RFK Jr. now coming to her side.
One person in particular, Chris Shays, is a former Republican congressman from Connecticut, who but endorsed Joe Biden back in 2020. I ran into him here and he said he was going to vote for RFK Jr., but now he's here stumping for Kamala Harris because she's read -- he said the Biden wasn't fit to do the job, but Harris is.
So that's a dynamic that Trump probably recognized.
COLLINS: Yeah. And she's created -- we've seen the unity in the Democratic Party here and we've been witnessing it.
[16:45:01]
You're both Capitol Hill stalwarts and have covered it for a long time. We have talked about just what it's looked like and how the party has felt so much better about it, but there are a few notable vulnerable Democratic senators who are not here yet and not having these public displays of backing Harris and Walz.
RAJU: Yeah. No question about several who are in difficult races won in a purple state. Jacky Rosen, she's in from Nevada, tough race there, but also Joe, Jon Tester of Montana, who has to run probably about 20 points ahead of Kamala Harris in order to hang onto his seat in a very red state. He's still has not endorsed Kamala Harris and Sherrod Brown. I was just in Ohio I interviewed him about this.
He said, I typically don't go to conventions also, Ohio has shifted Republican much harder for him to hang on this seat in a presidential election year, which is one reason why he wants nothing to do with presidential politics in this race.
HUNT: Well, and the bottom line is they're all doing the right thing for them, right? They are all doing the right thing for Democrats hopes to win the Senate in November and -- or keep the Senate in November I should say.
And I don't think there's anyone who actually focuses on winning elections who's begrudging them, not being here, right?
COLLINS: Yeah, they're all kind of look at the cold, hard political calculus, right.
RAJU: And the interesting thing is in the Republican convention, Republican candidates for the Senate, they were speaking on behalf of Donald Trump, even from swing states like Ohio or Pennsylvania, or Michigan. Mike Rogers --
(CROSSTALK)
HUNT: Yeah. Well, who would punish them for that?
RAJU: Exactly. Such a different on the party.
HUNT: Donald Trump would punish people for not doing the thing that was right by him, even if it was the thing that was right by them. That is one of the differences here. I mean, we've talked a lot about how that quote from Susie Wiles, I keep going back to it and that Tim Alberta piece where she said, I'm not concerned about Joe Biden, but I am concerned about the advantage of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has a structure that gives permission to these
people to do what they need to do to win. And it's led by, first of all, Nancy Pelosi, but Chuck Schumer is on board, too.
COLLINS: Yeah. Think about them attacking Larry Hogan, a Republican candidate who could win in Maryland.
HUNT: Thank you both for being here. Great reporting.
We will be here all night, Jake, obviously right here on the kitchen bench and for watching the delegates start to trickle in the United Center.
TAPPER: Okay. I'm going to send you some popcorn because I know you're going to be there for awhile.
Coming up next, not to be overshadowed by the Obama's, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff who wants to be the first gentleman. He's also speaking tonight. He has one of tonight's most critical roles. We'll explain, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:47]
TAPPER: One of tonight's key speakers on day two of the Democratic National Convention here in Chi-Town is someone who may know Vice President Kamala Harris better than anyone. And that is, of course, her husband, second gentleman, Doug Emhoff.
Let's bring in CNN's White House correspondent, MJ Lee.
MJ, how is the second gentleman, Mr. Emhoff, planning to describe his wife as he takes center stage at the DNC tonight?
MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake, you know, Doug Emhoff may not have the political celebrity of the Obamas, for example, but for Vice President Harris and her campaign, this is a really important speech tonight, obviously goes without saying that he is the person that knows the vice president best, and he is somebody that no longer is going to be speaking just as second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, but the second gentleman that is trying to become the first -- first gentleman when it comes to January.
And what we are told is that he is going to be speaking about their personal relationship, really in the only way that he can, he will talk about the story of the couple meeting and getting together, and how she became the stepmom to his children, Cole and Ella. And he is going to describe her as the anchor of their blended families, what I am told.
And, you know, this comes at a moment when obviously the campaign is trying to quickly define the image of the vice president. And given that she is now a quickly ramping up her presidential campaign. So, the sources that are in the Harris campaign and who know the second gentleman, they believe that he is sort of uniquely positioned to play the role of almost chief advocate for his wife.
Now, Harris and Walz are going to be campaigning tonight in Milwaukee. So the expectation is that she is not going to be in the room when her husband speaks, but we'll see if the campaign tries to find some way to beam her in perhaps to make sure that she's a part of that speech tonight -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. MJ Lee, thank you so much.
Just about an hour to go now, before the Democratic National Convention kicks off, night number two. We're going to take it back to the convention floor after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:58:11]
TAPPER: And we're back in Chicago, night number two of the Democratic National Committee's convention.
Let's check in with our own Sara Sidner, who's on the convention floor -- Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I am on the convention floor. It is starting to fill in. We've got about three hours for the big show, if you will, lots of people talking about one man and his wife, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.
I have heard people actually saying some people came in just for this day and have to be back at work tomorrow. So we will see, but this place is going to be packed tonight.
I am standing right here. Why am I standing here? Well, you know that, Jake. Tim Walz, home of Tim Walz and the land of 10,000 lakes.
It is a little bit back from the stage. California's nice up and close, Pennsylvania, up-close, Delaware here, and Minnesota here.
There is a reason for that. We were talking to some folks thanks. Look, they have a lot of uncommitted voters and you remember the uncommitted voters sort of went forward and said, look, we are not committing to who we are going to vote for in the election. However, they're here, they want their voices heard and they're making their decision.
There also right next to them, Nevada, and we've got some folks from Nevada.
I just wanted to give you a little sense, a little a little color here. Look at these wonderful hats. They've all got these hats on. They say "first in the west".
There's a whole contingent that has just walked down here, down to the floor but it is pretty incredible feeling especially because this is the hometown of Michelle Obama and Barack Obama. Now, a lot of people are talking about there's a long line. The line getting longer and longer and longer each day.
But I want to give you some sense, just where we are now. There are so many delegates that are coming in Virginia. You see Idaho, Michigan, lot of the swing states, the all-important swing states, expect to see the large contingent of folks here.
We're also expecting a special guest. Minnesota has this really famous and I know you liked sports, Jake, you ever heard of the Purple People Eaters? You ever heard of them? We're expecting one of them to show up. We're going to try to grab them a little bit later -- John.
TAPPER: Very, very, very exciting. The Purple People Eaters.
I'll be back here in two hours, 7:00 p.m. Eastern for our coverage of the second night of the Democratic National Committee's convention. Our coverage now continues with Wolf Blitzer and Kaitlan Collins in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
