Reviewing the Great Debate
50:27 Share

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. And one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update, and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. From

From plumbing to electrical, roof repair to deck upgrades. So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done well. Hire high-quality certified pros at Angie.com. From all over the world, people turn to Cleveland Clinic for our expertise and our compassionate care. As leaders in heart, neurology, and cancer, the future of specialty care is happening right now at Cleveland Clinic.

For every life-saving treatment. For every next step. For every care in the world. Cleveland Clinic. It's Wednesday, September 11th, right now on CNN This Morning. We can chart a new way forward. But I just ask one simple question. Why didn't she do it? A head-to-head confrontation. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump meeting for the first time on the debate stage. Plus this.

People start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. Taking the bait how Harris's strategy of putting Trump on defense paid off and... Will she allow abortion in the eighth month, ninth month, seventh month? Come on. Okay, would you do that? Contentious moment after contentious moment, all the policy arguments from abortion to the economy and immigration. Then later, there's this. Still be true, oh, but no.

Entering her endorsement era, Taylor Swift throws her support behind Kamala Harris just moments after the debate concluded.

All right. 6 a.m. on the East Coast, a live look at New York City on this Wednesday morning. It is, of course, the anniversary of the 9-11 attacks. We don't want to lose sight of that this morning. We're going to see both President Biden and Vice President Harris travel to Ground Zero, to Shanksville, to the Pentagon as we mark and remember those lives.

but we do also want to start here with the historic night last night good morning everyone i'm casey hunt it is wonderful to have you with us democrats are waking up this morning thrilled about last night and asking hey when can kamala harris debate donald trump again last night's debate was the first time that harris and trump had ever met in person and the tone was set before either had spoken harris crossed the stage extended her hand and

and insisted on a handshake. She introduced herself. "I'm Kamala Harris," she said. The vice president did seem nervous at first when she started talking behind the podium, but she found her footing pretty quickly after the moderators asked about abortion.

Now it's not tied up in the federal government. I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it. And the Supreme Court had great courage in doing it. And I give tremendous credit to those six justices. They did exactly as he intended. And now in over 20 states, there are Trump abortion bans, which make it criminal for a doctor or nurse to provide health care. In one state, it provides prison for life.

Trump abortion bans that make no exception even for rape and incest.

I was talking to sources all night last night, and Democrats told me that Trump's answer there is sure to end up in paid campaign ads. One Republican source who actually is in the anti-abortion camp, the pro-life camp as they would describe themselves, said that Trump's answers made them wince on this issue. After that exchange, Harris basically baited Trump, and he just took the bait.

I'm going to invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies because it's a really interesting thing to watch. You will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about windmills cause cancer.

And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early, out of exhaustion and boredom. She said people start leaving. People don't go to her rallies. There's no reason to go. And the people that do go, she's busing them in and paying them to be there and then showing them in a different light. So she can't talk about that. People don't leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics.

So during that answer and others, I mean, you can see it right there. Harris's facial expressions, there's amusement. There is laughter as he spoke, which is,

as we know, may have contributed to her getting under Trump's skin there. Many Republicans who support Trump have been expressing frustration with how the moderators approached the debate, especially around fact checking. But again and again, Trump himself seemed simply unwilling or unable to avoid the traps that Harris laid for him or to stay on the message that he was there to try to deliver.

They're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. Now she wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison. Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people.

So let's be clear about that. And clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that. You talk about a threat to democracy. He got 14 million votes and they threw him out of office. And you know what? I'll give you a little secret. He hates her. He can't stand her. And what did the president then at the time say?

There were fine people on each side. On Charlottesville, that story has been, as you would say, debunked. Laura Ingram, Sean Hannity, Jesse, all of these people. All I can say is I read where she was not black, that she put out, and I'll say that. And then I read that she was black, and that's okay. Either one was okay with me.

That was a lot. And if that weren't enough, minutes after the debate wrapped, superstar Taylor Swift telling Kamala Harris, you belong with me. She wrote on Instagram, like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. She declared, I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 presidential election. And Swift signed that post, quote, with love and hope. Taylor Swift, childless cat lady.

Hmm. Look what you made her do. Joining us now to discuss Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. Mark McKinnon, creator of the circus on Showtime. Former advisor John McCain, President George W. Bush. Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator, former Biden White House communications director. And Matt Gorman, the former senior advisor to Tim Scott's presidential campaign campaign.

Welcome to all of you. Thank you for getting up early after a very late night. Mark McKinnon, I think you're fussing with your microphone. Yeah, I got it. Because he's got this scarf and it's a whole face. It's all right. We'll figure it out. Oh, there you go.

Mark, you have worked for candidates at this incredibly high level. You know what it's like to prepare them. You know what it's like to sit and watch your person, your guy, do something like this on the debate stage last night. And between what we saw on stage with Trump and then what we saw with Taylor Swift moments after the debate stage, your big picture takeaways here?

Absolutely dominant performance, just a TKO. I mean, I've seen watch prep for dozens and dozens and dozens of debates. I just can't remember one that's that dominant in the sense of what she achieved what she needed to do. And I mean, we can go through the points and we'll go through all of them and how she dominated, how she baited him. I mean, she just put cheese on the trap, cheese on the trap. He took it every time.

But, I mean, if you just stand back and think about what she was trying to do, which was introduce herself to 30% of the electorate who don't feel like they know her very well, they saw a calm, cool, confident, presidential-looking candidate. I mean, if you just watch the screen and turn off the sound, it looked like she was on the beach in the sun, and it looked like he was in a howling rainstorm.

She just looked good, and she looked presidential, and she looked in control. What was truly remarkable about last night is that, and what she did, was she is the vice president of the United States to a president whose popularity is underwater. She's been vice president since day one of the administration and owns, whether she likes it or not, everything tied to the president. Yet somehow...

you came out of last night seeing her as the candidate for the future, her as the break from whatever it was, whether it's Joe Biden or Donald Trump. And it was as if

she managed, this is his market set, on every pivot point to get Donald Trump to walk himself into a hole. It was really remarkable. - Yeah, and she also looked strong. I mean, that's the other thing here. That has been one of Trump's advantages in this race. It was the advantage, one of the big advantages he had when Biden was at the top of the ticket. He looked strong.

and she managed to make him look weak. I mean, she made him look angry, defensive, weak. She, as Mark was saying, she looked calm, she looked in control. And so, you know, not only did she manage to draw out kind of the worst of him and his worst impulses and kind of show the country, you know, you want the guy who's shouting about how they're eating dogs? Is that, you know, is that what you want in your leader? You know, she managed to kind of get at that.

But she also, I think, undermined his kind of perceived sense of strength. And that was a critically important thing for her to do and not easy. A couple of things. I mean, look, I think it was a story of missed opportunities for Trump last night. I mean, he didn't lose his cool, but he did lose his train of thought, right? In a lot of respects. And look, I don't think she wasn't some prosecutor. She didn't overpower him. She played it safe. She played it scripted. But what she did do is she chummed the waters and he took the bait over and over again. What I'm interested to see, though, in the polling, I think, I think,

I think, you know, certainly there was some red lights with her with this New York Times and Santa Pola earlier in the week and it gave her a bit of a roadmap. But I think both candidates, a little bit of a roadmap what each needed to do. She obviously needed to make herself into more of the change, but one thing I think she didn't do

And look, that's probably not the story of the debate is she didn't really go into specific on policies that you saw a lot of folks in the poll say we want to hear more from. I'm curious if that pops or that continues or it doesn't. But look, the story of the night is the fact that he was on the defensive for much of it. That piece of that poll was obviously what stood out to all of us the most. Do you think what people were saying there was really... I think my question about it, I guess I would say, is whether people were saying, okay, I really want to know exactly what her policy prescriptions are or...

I actually just want to know her a little better. I don't think it's either or. I think it's a little bit of both. She did the bio a little bit better, but she did not do the policies because also she hasn't been pressed, right? The bio is one thing, but it is policy. You saw some of the focus groups on this network and others talk about, well, you know, I was still better off four years ago. So there is absolutely a policy element that she hasn't articulated yet, but...

You know, that is something I'm very interested to see in the next round of polls. But I think successful political communication at this level is also about infusing. It's not just about rattling off a list of policy proposals. We've seen many candidates kind of attempt that only to be sort of be left by the wayside. People want to know who you are. They want to know why you are advocating for the policies you're advocating for. And so I thought she did do a very good job last night of infusing her

her own story, her own bio, and also just kind of presenting to people, this is how I think about the world, which I think is what people actually want from a debate and from a presidential campaign across the board. Yeah. We're going to go to break in a second, but Mark McKinnon, I wanted to...

I noticed this last night. I wanted to save it for you. The front page of Drudge Report last night, if we could put it up on the screen. So Matt Drudge, and I'm asking you because you have a great memory of the role that Matt Drudge has played in our politics. And, you know, there's a little note up in the far top of the screen where...

it was the night Trump lost it is how he says it and then it's the end and of course him with cats this comes after Taylor Swift endorses I don't know that the Drudge Report plays the same role that it did in our politics but it's telling that this is where he of all people is on this. Well it's incredible that the Drudge is still very relevant and still a real driver of a lot of news and a lot of attention and what's particularly interesting about that is that you know it's

whenever dredged as a poll is usually dominated by conservatives who are driving the poll numbers in and if that's the case even they said the Harris crushed it last night yeah no we were looking at those numbers earlier in thirty percent republicans thought that she won the debate 69 percent and when you're only defense at your team gets beat is is to take on the rest you know yes that and I would just say from a tactical perspective to Trump going to the spin room is a sign that his campaign believes he didn't win

You don't send your candidate into the spin room if you believe they may be the dominant. I mean, knowing him, he probably sent himself into the spin room. Fair enough. And as you remember, that was a tactic he used to grab the oxygen in 2016. Primary debates have become far more common. I think it's less of a sign of losing. General election debates, it's unprecedented. Yeah, it's really interesting. All right, coming up next here on CNN This Morning, will there be another debate? We're going to talk to members of both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris' campaigns later on this hour.

And of course, Taylor Swift speaks now. The global superstar endorsing Kamala Harris. How might her support help with younger voters?

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Roof repair? Done well. Kitchen sink install? Done well. Deck upgrades? Done well. Electrical upgrade? Done well. Angie's been connecting homeowners with skilled pros for nearly 30 years, so we know the difference between done and done well. Hire high-quality, certified pros at Angie.com.

From all over the world, people turn to Cleveland Clinic for our expertise and our compassionate care. As leaders in heart, neurology, and cancer, the future of specialty care is happening right now at Cleveland Clinic. For every life-saving treatment, for every next step, for every care in the world, Cleveland Clinic.

It's not fantastic when your character reference is an Eastern European strongman. Mussolini loves me. Stalin, Gargamel, the guy from Minions movie, Captain Hook. Captain Hook loves me. He's gonna get that Peter Pan and that Tinkerbell, I tell ya.

Late night host Stephen Colbert weighing in on one of several eyebrow-raising moments from Donald Trump's debate performance last night, from praising Hungary's controversial leader to spouting baseless allegations about migrants eating pets. And the January 6th attack on the Capitol, Trump made a number of comments over the course of last night that, let's say, may be outside of the mainstream for many voters.

Viktor Orban, one of the most respected men, they call him a strong man. He's a tough person. Smart. Prime Minister of Hungary. He said the most respected, most feared person is Donald Trump. In Springfield, they're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. I said during my speech, not later on.

peacefully and patriotically. And nobody on the other side was killed. -So that last bit there was about January 6th. But can we just -- Jimmy and the control -- Can we play the pets bite one more time? Can we just watch that one more time? Oh, we just have the VO of it? All right.

Okay, well, the laughter and the pets. Guys, the way that that moment played, we do have sound of undecided voters talking about this pet eating conspiracy because the way he talks about it, just like directly, they're eating dogs, they're eating cats, takes this very sort of complicated internet conspiracy meme and makes it very direct. Let's watch what voters had to say about it. I had not heard anything about it before, so I thought it was just another one of these...

What do you make of that, Kate?

It was such a, I mean, I think, I would imagine 80% of the people watching the debate had no idea what he was talking about or felt like, what the heck does this have to do with me? What even is this? Like you had to, I saw, I think Dan Pfeiffer said on Twitter, like you had to have a PhD in MAGA to even understand what he was talking about.

So, you know, wasted opportunity. You have this audience, this is your moment to talk about what you're going to do for the country and you're using it on these far right memes, essentially, they're on Twitter. They are also, as the undecided voter was saying, there is also an element of hatefulness, of racism. In some ways it was like the quintessential Donald Trump moment. It was absurd, but it was also hateful and

Kamala Harris's reaction I thought was actually was perfect because it was sort of one of those like Kamala Harris's all of us moments where she was just sort of like what the heck is this guy talking about her reaction which is good as he was bad yeah exactly and it just it diminished him it made it rightly made it seem like what he was talking about was nonsense and you know but she didn't get like up in arms she was just like what the heck is this

talking about? Yeah, I mean, look, I think Republicans were waiting for that really strong case on immigration. That's one of our best issues, right? And I think with her having, you know, kind of been in charge of immigration, the border for Biden, there's plenty to go from there. And I think one of the other tough parts is he kind of entered, he entered the answer as if people already knew what he was talking about, right? He talked about just Springfield.

right? Like Springfield. And so like, a lot of Springfields, as I know from The Simpsons, right? I just went to Illinois. It wasn't like Springfield, Ohio, right? So it's, I think it's always a challenge. And we talk about this with any candidate, but it's always a challenge. And you saw with Trump in this instance is where they are down on, you know, the 10 yard line, but people are back at the 40. So you need to bring them along. And so that was always a challenge. That was an insight in there of how it's just

- To pick up on the immigration point, he kept getting in his own way. And one of the best lines against Kamala Harris is this fracking point that she changed her position between 2019 and the present. And she was asked a question about fracking. She answered it and sort of inducted. He then started talking about transgender operations for illegal aliens in prison.

That was one of the flip flops too. Sure, but the simple point is when he had an opportunity to attack the vice president on a vulnerability, he went down this list of MAGA's greatest hits. Without any context. Without any context. And to the extent, if it's about illegal aliens in the United States, then make that the focal point and go there. But it was just sort of a grab bag. Go ahead.

I just want to say it also it also put on display the fact that he cannot make a coherent argument is this somebody want to be present United States it's like there's the issue of the substance of what he's raising substance

And then there's the fact that he's somebody who's sitting there and cannot carry an argument out to its logical conclusion. Is that the person you want sitting in the Oval Office making decisions? Fundamentally, who do you want to be watching for the next four years? This kind of confident, cool woman, this just crazed guy talking about cats. And it's not an unfair point. There are people that care about the border. And he said immigration or border or migrants a bunch of times. It was sort of all over the place and thrown in

with this nonsense about cats and dogs and even expanding the dog. - It disarmed his own argument. - The internet meme was about cats, he threw in the word dogs last night to make it even worse. - Cats and geese. - Did he say geese? - No, cats and geese were the meme about. - Okay guys, this is demonic. - Sorry, sorry. - Now it's not your responsibility. The meme, it's the responsibility of the meme. All right, still to come after the break, Donald Trump.

Questioning more than Kamala Harris' politics, we're going to look at how he weighed in on her racial identity again. Plus, voters sharing what they thought about last night's debate. She's saying she can fix the problems that her administration has caused, but I just don't know if I can afford to take that risk. I just felt more strongly for her as opposed to her opponent.

All right, there's also this story today. Hurricane Francine is approaching Louisiana as the storm strengthens conditions in that state expected to deteriorate over the course of the day. Let's get to our meteorologist, Allison Chinchar, for what folks should be looking out for. Allison, good morning.

And good morning. Yes, right now Francine is sustained winds of 90 mph gusting up to 115. The real question becomes how much more does it intensify before it finally makes landfall late this afternoon and early evening? We are forecasting that it gets up to around 100 mph, which would make it a category two storm and then it will continue to spread its way inland, taking with it the potential for very heavy rain, strong winds and also the storm surge. Already some impressive rainfall totals coming in from Texas, specifically Brownsville, TX.

picking up over seven inches of rain. For some perspective, that's more than they would normally see in the entire month of September, getting that in just the last 48 hours. Some of those rain bands already starting to spread inland across Louisiana. We also have the potential for tornadoes, water spouts, and damaging winds even as far east as the panhandle of Florida. All right, Allison Chinchar for us this morning. With that, Allison, thank you very much.

And coming up next here on CNN This Morning, a coveted endorsement for Kamala Harris from the childless cat lady of all childless cat ladies, plus Vice President Harris calling for a second debate. We're going to ask one of Donald Trump's top advisors if he's on board.

Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. We handed them over a country where the economy and where the stock market was higher than it was before the pandemic came in. It's the new Ghost Burger from Carl's Jr. It's a juicy char-boiled Angus beef burger.

I don't have any teeth. Grab a Ghost Burger for a limited time. Only at Carl's Jr. Need burger? Get burger. Available for a limited time at participating restaurants.

Oh, it's such a clutch off-season pickup, Dave. I was worried we'd bring back the same team. I meant those blackout motorized shades. Blinds.com made it crazy affordable to replace our old blinds. Hard to install? No, it's easy. I installed these and then got some from my mom. She talked to a design consultant for free and scheduled a professional measure and install. Hall of Fame's son? They're the number one online retailer of custom window coverings in the world. Blinds.com is the GOAT!

Shop lines dot com right now and get up to 45 percent off select styles. Rules and restrictions may apply. She was big on defund the police in Minnesota. She went out. Wait a minute. I'm talking now. You don't mind, please. Does that sound familiar? She went out. She went out in Minnesota. Donald Trump attempting to use that famous Kamala Harris line. I'm speaking against her. That was from her 2020 debate, of course, against then vice presidential candidate Hillary

Mike Pence, but even as some of his allies acknowledge it, it was Trump who ended up on the defense for most of the night. The former president, though, felt quite confident about his performance, so confident, in fact, that he is saying a second debate might not be necessary. I thought it was our best debate ever, my best debate ever, I think.

And we had a, it was very interesting, it showed how weak they are, how pathetic they are, what they're doing to destroy our country on the border with foreign trade, with everything. And I think it was the best debate I've ever personally that I've had. She wants a second debate because she lost the night very badly. So they immediately call for a second debate because they lost.

All right. Joining me now is senior advisor to the Trump campaign, Jason Miller. Jason, very grateful to have you on the show this morning. Thank you for being here. I'd like to start with this issue. Can you put it to rest? Will Donald Trump participate in a second debate with Kamala Harris before November 5th?

Well, Casey, I thought this was a bit perplexing because President Trump has already said that he is going to do three debates. We had the September 4th debate, which was going to be on Fox, and Kamala Harris was a no-show. We had last night, and President Trump already said that on September 25th, we would do a debate on NBC. But now Kamala Harris seems to have memory-holed that.

And rather than just saying, we'll see you on September 25th on NBC, is now throwing out some fictional date in October. So very clearly, we're going to have to go back to the drawing board. We've already committed September 25th against NBC. But Kamala Harris, because last night she had two goals. Will you do it on NBC? If she agrees to show up on NBC on September 25th, will you be there?

Oh, we've already committed to September 25th with NBC. But here's the thing. The reason why Kamala Harris is doing it is because she had two goals last night and she didn't land either one. Number one, she had to find a way to break free from Joe Biden. When the wrong track in the country, you have two thirds of the voters saying go on the wrong track, one third right track. It's not enough just to lay out a policy position. You have to say how you're going to change direction, how you're going to break free of Joe Biden. The second thing that Kamala Harris had to do, which she didn't,

was explain after three and a half years of being there why she hasn't done it already. So of course Kamala Harris is going to come back to clean those two things up. It's not enough to give some platitudinal answer. You have to say how you're going to change direction, especially on the economy and immigration. She failed to do that. I hear the points that you're making. I just want to circle back one more time. If Kamala Harris agrees to the September 25th NBC debate, will Donald Trump be there?

Well, again, you heard what I said. President Trump agreed to three debates, September 4th against Fox, which Kamala Harris has already no-showed. So she was 0 for 1. We had last night's debate. President Trump said in a press conference and then via social media that on September 25th, we would do it on NBC. You can't give Kamala Harris credit for saying that she'll do some fictional debate a month, month and a half later.

two months down the road, maybe on election eve, because Kamala Harris is not going to show up. I'm not trying to give her... Okay, go ahead. Sorry. No, just President Trump agreed to three debates, the next one being September 25th on NBC. Kamala Harris clearly refuses to do that, saying that there'll be some fictional date in the future, September 25th. The onus here is on Kamala Harris to quit playing games, quit running, show up on September 25th. She's not going to do it.

Okay, but again, if she were to do it, would you? Well, again, we've already said that September 25th on NBC is when the next debate would be. And you'll stand by that even after the events of last night. But hold on. Kamala Harris last night refused to say that she was going to join us. So you can't give her credit, again, from some fictional date. We're already on the books. September 25th. Call NBC right now. They will tell you. Go back and watch the tape, whether it's the press conference or social media.

We're ready to go. She won't show up. And the reason is because she couldn't explain in 90 minutes last night, actually went a bit more like an hour 45, couldn't say how she'd go any different direction from Joe Biden. They're effectively conjoined twins on the policy matter. And she couldn't say why after three and a half years, she hasn't done it already.

All right. Let's move on. Jason, one of the moments that has obviously been replayed quite a bit this morning, as well as last night after the debate, was this moment where Donald Trump talked about people in Springfield. He didn't mention which Springfield, but people in Springfield eating their pets. I want to watch that moment briefly and we'll talk about it on the other side. Take a look. A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed by it. In Springfield,

They're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats. They're eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what's happening in our country, and it's a shame.

Now, the officials in this town have said that this is not true, this is not happening. And even the Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote overnight that Harris won the debate. And they say it was because she came in with a strategy to taunt and goad Mr. Trump into diving down rabbit holes. They say he always takes the bait. Ms. Harris set the trap, so he spent much of the debate talking about the past, about Joe Biden, or about immigrants eating pets, but not how he'd improve the lives of Americans in the next four years.

Why was Mr. Trump unable to resist going there?

So a bit of a compound question there. So I want to go and unpack each one of those Casey specific to the pet question. If you go to the federalist.com, a very well respected research organization, if you go to the news outlet, the federalist.com, you will see that months before all of this controversy popped up, there was 911 call. There was a police report filed on somebody saying that they saw this, which were illegal immigrants from Haiti who are abducting pets. So I'm going to set that aside for a moment.

What upset me about this was that the moderators, and it was a three-on-one, why couldn't you get into them individually? Let's put that aside for a moment also. This issue of illegal immigration, that there is 20 million illegals been brought in the country, many of them airlifted to the middle of America, making every community a border community.

That was the issue that we should have been talking about. We should have been talking about these airlifts are continuing even after Kamala Harris after 20 million illegals. He could have. He could have. Republicans are more trusted on immigration. I take your point. Yeah.

Yeah, but over and over he did bring it back to immigration, but we got a little bit, I'd say, put into this box with the moderators obsessing. Again, the Federalist says that it's accurate and they've posted the 911 call and the police report on their website. But what we should have been focusing on here is the fact that these fly-ins of illegal aliens to different countries

happening all over. And it's not just at the border, it's the fly-ins. And after 20 million illegals, Kamala Harris didn't say last night, and this is the important thing, two-thirds of the country think we're going the wrong direction. Kamala Harris didn't say what she would do to stop that, didn't commit to stopping the fly-ins, didn't commit to what we do about the 21 million illegals already here. Here's why it matters.

When they're here, Kamala Harris has said in the past she wants blanket amnesty for everyone. That'll bankrupt entitlements, it'll bankrupt healthcare, with everyone getting free healthcare, and of course we see with the housing crisis, where are you going to put another 20 million people? That's what Americans care about. It's not enough.

for Kamala Harris to come in and give the platitudes, she has to say where she's going a different direction. She simply failed to do so last night. If you're an undecided voter or someone who's on the fence, you had to see a willingness to a change in direction. Kamala Harris didn't do it. President Trump over and over said how he would stop that crisis and turned around.

Jason, quickly before I let you go, the other issue that I was left a little bit unclear on was whether or not President Trump would veto a national abortion ban in the event one landed on his desk as president. Can you say now would he or wouldn't he veto such a ban?

Well, I mean, he made it very clear last night. He said, number one, that's not going to come forward. But number two, that's not something that he's in support of. He's very clearly said that's going to be sent to the states. He's very adamant that any laws states need to have the exceptions very strongly. Rape.

incest, life of the mother. And he also pointed out that how a number of states, including Minnesota, allow late term abortion up to the moment of birth abortions in the ninth month. But here's the thing where I am going to take it. But Casey, hold on. I do have to take issues with the moderators on this point. There was a false fact check against President Trump with regard to Minnesota. If you go and look, there have been eight instances

since 2019 where a baby was born and whether it's because of a botched abortion or because there's some other reason after there maybe the attempt to revive or resuscitate the baby after they were born happened eight instances where that baby then died so there have been cases where after the baby was born that unfortunately there are eight lives that perished

Ralph Northam, and again, anyone can Google this, the former governor of Virginia, said in the case of an abortion gone wrong, that baby would be born, they would bring it in front of the doctors, and then the parents, along with the doctors, would make a decision if they would keep that baby alive.

the video clip pinned excuse me not pinned but on my social media timeline at jason miller in dc you can see ralph northam on video saying that literally after a baby is born they would decide if they would keep the baby or if they would terminate the baby that's barbaric tim waltz is such an extremist on this one of six states that allow abortions into the ninth month i think democrats are extremely issue most people know this is a very personal issue

But they're more worried about the economy and immigration. And in these in cases like the ones that you are raising, they are if there is something that is happening, many of these cases and I do not know the details of these ones that you have raised, but they are often very tragic, very difficult situations, often very wanted children. And and that is.

how the parents would frame this. I still am not clear on whether he's going to veto a national abortion ban or not, but I do very much appreciate your time, Jason. Thank you very much for coming on the show this morning.

Hey, thank you as always. All right, coming up next here on CNN This Morning, after a strong debate performance from Kamala Harris, Democrats are riding high, but will Kamala Harris be able to convert this to a win in November? Harris's deputy campaign manager, Quentin Fulks, joins us live next. Plus, look what you made her do. Taylor Swift is throwing her endorsement behind Kamala Harris. Why the superstar said she needed to make her support known.

I just want to say after surviving the PTSD of the last presidential debate, how unbelievably refreshing it is to go back to the same old, nobody's going to answer questions. We're back.

What a different debate we saw last night for Democrats. Kamala Harris now at the top of the ticket and the way she presented herself was much stronger than how Joe Biden performed on that CNN stage back in June. The question remains, was it enough to sway crucial moderate independent voters who were tuning in last night? This is what former presidential hopeful, Trump critic, Chris Christie, had to say.

Vice President Harris, I think, would help herself, Byron, if she would admit what the country knows, which is they were too late on the actions on the border and that that's hurt our country. She should admit that Afghanistan withdrawal did not go well. And I think she would gain a lot of credibility with those moderate independent voters. Those, I think, were missed opportunities by her tonight.

And joining me now is Quentin Fulks, Principal Deputy Campaign Manager for the Harris campaign. Quentin, very grateful to have you on the show. Thank you so much for being here. I'm going to circle back to what Chris Christie had to say and the debate last night in a moment. But I actually want to start with what Jason Miller just said here.

on our air a few moments ago, and that is this question about a second possible debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. I want to play for you what he had to say, just in case you haven't seen it, remind our viewers of what he said, and then we'll talk about it on the other side. Take a look.

President Trump agreed to three debates, the next one being September 25th on NBC. Kamala Harris clearly refuses to do that, saying that there'll be some fictional date in the future, September 25th. The onus here is on Kamala Harris to quit playing games, quit running, show up on September 25th. She's not going to do it. So Quentin, is she going to do it? Is Kamala Harris willing to debate Donald Trump on September 25th on NBC?

Look, I think that both campaigns are going to have to agree to a time. But I think that the vice president is open to a debate in October, as she said last night. But I think that that has just been, look, if I was Donald Trump, I would not want to debate Kamala Harris. Last night, Americans saw Kamala Harris command the stage.

on every single issue that matters most to them and put Donald Trump on the defensive. She was presidential. She held him accountable for his record. And so his team is just playing games. But as the vice president has said, she's willing to explore a second debate in October. And I think that the American people deserve to see that. - So October, but not September?

Look, I think that the two campaigns are going to have to agree on a date, the same way that they agreed on a date for the first one. But at the end of the day, after that performance last night, Donald Trump's team does not want him to debate Kamala Harris again. All right, Quentin, one question that's been raised from some sources that I'm talking to, you heard of Chris Christie articulated there, was that perhaps Kamala Harris obviously got under Donald Trump's skin. We've talked to

quite a bit on this program. Our panelists have all weighed in in terms of how she had such a dominant performance. There were those 30% of Americans in the New York Times poll who said they wanted to know more about what she would do. And I have had some sources and some voters that Phil Mattingly talked to after the debate raise questions about, hey, we do need to know a little bit more about her. Would a second debate give her an additional opportunity to do more of that? And how do you feel about the job she did on that score?

Look, I think a second debate would absolutely give her an opportunity to do that. But the campaigning that we're going to do as a campaign over the next several weeks is also going to give her ability to do that. We are launching our New Way Forward tour where we're going to have the vice president and principals and surrogates of our campaign all across this country in every single battleground state and every single market. And look, last night, the vice president was very clear on all the issues that matter most. While Donald Trump was angry,

and rattled and incoherent. The vice president was not only holding him accountable for the lies that he continued to spew, she was also telling Americans about her vision for this country, how she would be a president for all Americans, how she would offer a new way forward, how she is a new generation of leader, and that the same tired old games of demeaning America and trying to drag our country back are no longer gonna play. And I think that that came through very clearly. So when it comes to the score and where the vice president stands on the issues, I think she was very clear.

Quentin, in the meantime, while the campaigns work out whether or not Americans will have another chance to see these two meet on a debate stage, does Vice President Harris plan to schedule additional media interviews, whether national media interviews or with local stations in some of these critical battleground states?

Look, I think the vice president is going to be out and doing interviews. We know that that is a part and we want to make sure that we are speaking to the press. But look, we have 50 something days here. Our priority has to be the American voters. Last night on the debate stage, she spoke directly to the American people about how she was going to govern as president, about what her administration was going to look like, about the fact that the middle class,

would be a priority and the fact that I think it showed she's willing to stand up to anyone. If it means strengthening American democracy, if it means standing up for middle class families, and that is where her focus is gonna be. And over the next several weeks, we have to campaign. There's a lot of work to do between now and November. One debate is not gonna define who this campaign is or who the vice president is. We feel exceptional about her performance last night, but the work must go on and our campaign is gonna double down and continue to put across the work, put in the work

all across this country. - Very briefly, our panel's gonna talk about this next, but I'm curious, has Kamala Harris been in touch with Taylor Swift since the endorsement came out? - Look, I think it was a late night last night, and look, we're honored to have the endorsement of Taylor Swift.

Because I think that Taylor Swift saw what millions of Americans saw last night on the stage. She saw Donald Trump refuse to say if he was on a national abortion ban. She saw him continue to demean America. And that's not the kind of America that Taylor Swift wants to be in. And so we're honored that somebody who has a platform like that would use their voice to speak out on that. All right. Well, if they end up connecting on the phone, please feel free. Feel free to let us know. Quentin Falks, thank you very much for your time this morning. I really appreciate it.

And of course, as we were just discussing, Taylor Swift knows all too well about upsetting Donald Trump. Let's say that I like Taylor's music about 25% less now, okay?

That was then Donald, President Donald Trump six years ago. He didn't appreciate Taylor Swift's Democratic endorsements in the midterm elections. Possibly safe to say he may like her music even less now because shortly after last night's debate, Swift posted to her 284 million Instagram followers that she's endorsing Kamala Harris for president.

Swift first got off the sidelines in politics back in 2018 when she endorsed Democratic challengers in Tennessee elections. And then again in 2020 when she supported Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Her post seemed to reference this fake AI image that was posted on Trump's Truth Social account.

She says at this moment, Quat brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. And Minnesota Governor Tim Walz last night was more than happy to accept this endorsement. Now you have somebody like Taylor Swift coming out, making that very clear. This would be the opportunity, Swifties. KamalaHarris.com, get on over there. Give us a hand. Get things going.

Harris stopped by a debate watch party after the debate. She did not address the endorsement, but she did give a nod to it as she walked off the stage. We will win! We will win!

That, of course, Harris walking off the stage to I'm the Man, which is an interesting choice of song, Kate. What do you make of all this? Love it. As a diehard Swifty, I'm very excited about this. But in all seriousness, I do think it is a great thing for the campaign for a couple reasons. One, obviously, Taylor Swift has an enormous...

following of fans who care what she thinks and what she says. I mean, we've seen her basically overtake the NFL over the last year because she is so popular and because her fans love her so much. They're all now like watching Chiefs games, you know, go Taylor's boyfriend, Taylor's boyfriend. So she actually has quite a bit of sway. The other

Another thing I think is interesting and telling about the endorsement is she signed it "Childless Cat Lady," which shows you how completely this has permeated the culture and how completely J.D. Vance's war on women has permeated the culture. I have a suggestion for Taylor, how she can leverage this endorsement. Hear me out, Taylor.

Have a series of free concerts and swing states and the way you get into the concert You're an unregistered voter and you register at the event and if that's the only way you get in is if you're unregistered and if you notice it if you notice for democracy if you notice she did frame it at the like Yes, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. However, I've done my research and it's up to you dear voter design It was interesting that was not it. Yeah, because it

And it was framed in terms of voter registration, not in terms of a full-throated endorsement. It was rooted in humility, I think we'd often see from celebrity endorsements, which I think was refreshing. And look, she's a proud citizen. God bless her. Vote for her until she wants. There's also some bullying. Variety did a piece yesterday about if she doesn't endorse Kamala Harris, then there's some betrayal. I don't know.

I noted the humility rooted in it. I thought it was refreshing in that aspect. But yeah, we'll see where it goes. - She's just really smart about her brand and knowing that this is Michael Jordan and Republicans buy sneakers too. And knowing that she has to appear-- - It was a nod to that. I thought the same thing. - And she knows how to talk to young people. Marketing to young people is often

less fully aggressive, it's less the buy this brand. Think about the beer commercials that are like, I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I drink blah, blah, blah. It's an effective way to talk to young people. Yeah, really interesting.

All right, so we've spent a lot of time talking politics today, but we don't want to let this morning pass without remarking on the fact that it is today, September 11th. This is a live look at One World Trade Center in New York. It is the 23rd anniversary of the terror attacks on that fateful day. And later on this morning, President Biden and Vice President Harris will be in New York for the 9/11 ceremony at Ground Zero.

before they will travel to Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Both President Biden and Vice President Harris released statements commemorating the day. They had put an emphasis on unity. A flag was unfurled at the Pentagon just a few moments ago.

Donald Trump, we should note, also plans to travel to New York and to Shanksville as we remember all of the Americans who were lost on that day 23 years ago now. Thanks to our panel for being with us. Thanks to all of you for joining us. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

From all over the world, people turn to Cleveland Clinic for our expertise and our compassionate care. As leaders in heart, neurology, and cancer, the future of specialty care is happening right now at Cleveland Clinic. For every life-saving treatment, for every next step, for every care in the world, Cleveland Clinic.

Don't let CNN's John King have all the fun. Experience the CNN magic wall on your mobile device. Get live results, expert insights, and an immersive election experience. Find it at cnn.com slash magic wall or the CNN app today.