Debate Fallout, Eating Dogs, Historic Spacewalk
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for every life-saving treatment, for every next step, for every care in the world. Cleveland Clinic. It's Thursday, September 12th, right now on CNN This Morning. A daring mission in outer space. The world's first commercial spacewalk about to begin any minute now. We're going to show you that live. And as Democrats urge caution, Republicans trying to do some damage control will have all the fallout from the debate. Plus this.

They're eating the pets of the people that live there. It was one of the more bizarre moments in the debate. Now city and state leaders in Ohio are trying to set the record straight. And later. Taylor Swift asking her millions of fans to speak now after dropping her key endorsement for Kamala Harris. The Trump campaign trying to brush off its impact.

All right, we are coming up on 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. We're up a little before the top of the hour because we want to go live to outer space where any moment now a historic and daring mission about to get underway. A SpaceX crew is about to try to carry out the world's first commercial spacewalk.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. SpaceX's Polaris Dawn team about to begin the elaborate process to prepare themselves for the void of space. The first step, preparing their spacesuits and getting into position before they open the hatch

on their dragon capsule two of the four crew members will then exit the capital about the capsule they will be outside for about 20 minutes the entire process expected to last about two hours let's bring in kristen fisher she has seen on space and defense correspondent kristen good morning to you uh the

really fun to be able to do this live with you on set. Walk us through, here at the top of the hour, we're just about to see the preparations get underway. By the half hour, though, things should start to get really interesting. That's when things should get really exciting. If all goes according to plan, at around...

6:30, that's when the hatch should actually open. But right now, the crew has donned their brand new SpaceX spacesuits, never been worn before or tested in the vacuum of space. They've also been securing the Dragon spacecraft and preparing it

to enter the vacuum of space because, you know, Casey, think about it. When an airplane takes off or lands, all the things you have to do to prepare it for landing and takeoff, this is even more extreme because anything that's not secured down is just gonna float away. - It's gone. - Yeah, it's gone forever.

But not just that, I mean, in addition to the astronauts themselves having to protect themselves from the vacuum of space, the spacecraft has to be hardened as well. And so back on Earth, they did what's called a bake-off. And they brought the whole spacecraft

down to a vacuum on Earth so that a lot of the metals that the spacecraft is made of don't emit toxins during this spacewalk. So now here we are, should be getting started any minute now. - Yeah, and we're seeing kind of the feed from SpaceX here. It's gonna be eventually mission control, but they sort of provide this live narration, which is what you're seeing on your screen. Kristen, can you just explain

why this is different from how NASA does it, because when NASA conducts spacewalks, there are still astronauts inside who are in a pressurized environment, no?

Yeah, so these are similar suits, but they're new suits. I mean, these are just new generation EVAs, right? So NASA has been using these spacesuits, the same spacesuits that were used during the shuttle program and now up at the International Space Station for about 40 years now, right? So SpaceX said, we want to make new spacesuits that are cheaper to produce, faster to produce,

And so this is the first test of them. I just mean in terms of everyone involved in the mission being exposed to the vacuum at the same time. Yeah, so what's different about that is the entire spacecraft is opening up. So even if you're not venturing out of the spacecraft, only two of the four crew members are actually going to go outside. Because the whole spacecraft is opening up, even the two crew members that stay inside are still going to be exposed to the vacuum of space. So they all have to be wearing their spacesuits.

And that's... We can see them there, too. So this is a live look at the interior of the spacecraft as, again, they are preparing to, in a half an hour or so, open up this door and have a couple of them walk outside. All right, Kristen, thank you very much. You're going to be back. We're going to talk a little bit of politics, but we're not going to miss this incredibly historic moment.

All right, let us turn though back to the follow-up from the debate with the first and perhaps only debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump now over. Both candidates trying to spin up momentum in the wake of the showdown in Philadelphia. 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. She's been there for three and a half years. They've had three and a half years to fix the border. They've had three and a half years to create jobs and all the things we talked about. Why hasn't she done it?

There was a break in the bitter campaign on Wednesday, even if it was just for a moment. Both Harris and Trump were back in the same place, shaking hands again. This was at the 9-11 memorial in lower Manhattan yesterday. Later in the day, though, Trump declaring victory in the debate and casting doubts on whether he'd do another one. We're looking at it, but...

You know, when you win, you don't really necessarily have to do it a second time. So we'll see. When you don't win, it's like a fighter. When a fighter has a bad fight, gets knocked out or loses the fight, the first thing he says is, we want a rematch. So we won the debate according to every poll, every single poll. I think that, are we going to do a rematch? I just don't know. We'll think about it.

So we learned yesterday that more than 67 million people watched the debate. That was a 31% jump from the June showdown between Trump and President Biden, which drew about 51 million viewers. That is a lot of people who saw Harris continually bait Trump into going off message. Starting today, the vice president is trying to keep North Carolina in play with a stop there. And tomorrow she'll be back in Pennsylvania as she urges her supporters not to get complacent.

We've got some work to do because listen, I think that we think today was a good day and it kind of was. But we have 56 days to go and guys, we're still the underdogs in this race. It's tight.

All right, joining us now to discuss David Frum, staff writer at The Atlantic, Isaac DuVern, CNN senior reporter, Bakari Sellers, CNN political commentator and former South Carolina state rep, and Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director. Welcome to all of you. Thank you all for being here. Isaac, let's kind of start with the big picture here. I was just talking to Debbie Dingell, who kind of laid it out as saying, yeah, I was as thrilled as any Democrat was by Kamala Harris's performance. She was riding high. Then she says she got on the phone with somebody that she really trusts,

in Michigan who brought her back down to earth. She identified immigration as an issue that she thinks is one that is keeping this race as close as it is. What are you hearing? Well, certainly immigration continues to be a big issue and

One of the things that surprised the Harris campaign was that Donald Trump didn't come back to it more and didn't beat her up more over it over the course of the debate. But there is no one who is looking at any numbers

external numbers, internal numbers, who doesn't think that this is a tight race. A lot of the people who are in and around the Harris campaign right now look at this and say, yes, she had a good debate on Tuesday night. They're obviously much happier with it than they were with the Joe Biden debate in June.

But that if the election were held tomorrow or this coming Tuesday, I've talked to a number of people who think that she would still lose and that this is, for all of the enthusiasm there, that that worry is there. That doesn't mean that they think that she will lose in November. They think that there is a lot that needs to be done in between now and then to get there. Well, and David Frum, you have been a consistent critic of Donald Trump for many reasons that we have discussed on this show. I'm

I'm curious what your diagnosis is in terms of why it is that the race is so close for all these reasons. I think two things are driving this race. First is in every democracy, we can see that incumbent governments have been damaged by the inflation of 21-22. Biden-Harris, the conservative government in Britain just lost a big election.

Justin Trudeau in Canada, very different politics. His numbers are terrible. Everywhere you go, if you were there in '21 and '22, voters are mad at you because prices went up a lot and they went up faster than wages did. And we can offer all kinds of explanations. Well, the economy was coming back to life after COVID. What did you expect? They said, not this. I didn't expect this. So that's issue one. And then issue two, I think, is, as Isaac just said, the immigration issue. I wrote in January of '21 when

President Biden relaxed many of the Trump border controls. And this was going to be the most important mistake of his presidency, that it was just that numbers had surged during the early part of the Trump presidency. They put some measures in place in the later part and then came COVID and America got a little holiday from this mass border crossing where people abused the asylum laws.

And President Biden, for his own political reasons, decided to undo a lot of those restraints and got the influx that was predictable in January of '21. And people don't like that either. So those are the two big things that override the genuine strength of the American economy in 2024 and, of course, the threat to American democratic institutions posed by former President Trump.

Bakari, what does Harris need to be doing on these fronts as she heads? I mean, we're in the final days here. Well, there are a couple of things. The first thing is both Isaac and David are very correct about their analysis of where we are. I think the latter part of that analysis is all economic indicators suggest that we're actually having a softer landing. And when compared to every other country that David mentioned, we're actually coming out of COVID. We're coming out of this inflationary period a lot sooner, a lot faster, and a lot softer because of Biden and Harris.

You asked a good question, what does she need to be doing? I don't necessarily agree with Isaac on this.

You're such a Debbie Downer. I don't know anybody in Kamala Harris land that is saying, oh my God, if the election was today, we'd lose, right? Do you think she'd win for her today? There's nobody that says that. I think that there are a lot of people who says this would be a very, very close race. But people are optimistic. I mean, people are very hopeful. People are saying, everybody I talk to says, look, you know, because the difference is, and one of the differences between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump today is Kamala Harris has two paths to the White House.

Donald Trump has won. Donald Trump has to run an inside straight on November 5th. He has to win Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania to be president of the United States. And Pennsylvania to be president of the United States. Well, you reverse that. She loses all her pass without Pennsylvania. No, she doesn't. Not at all.

Not at all. She loses quite a few of them. Not at all. No, she doesn't. And if she's losing Pennsylvania, she's probably also losing North Carolina. No. So what happens is if she loses Pennsylvania, she wins Georgia or North Carolina and Nevada or Arizona. She's president of the United States.

I mean, that is the math. And so when you have a poll that says that Mark Robinson is down 14 points, the gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina, that gives you a great deal of hope. She's going to Greensboro today. She's going to Charlotte today. I mean, North Carolina is one of the states that's in play. And so I just... I do love your obsession with North Carolina. You bring it to the set every time. Every time you show up, it's fascinating. I'm fascinated to see you turn out to be right. North Carolina is an obsession.

It is a Carolina obsession. I'm just saying, you know, it's God's country. I mean, that's what we're here for. What is the opposite of Debbie Downer? I don't know, but it's... Because that's what you are right now. You're on this high. I'm high on life. Oh, okay.

Well, at least, again, his shirt is buttoned today. I think this is the second time this week I've said this on the air. You got me here at 6 o'clock. Mike Dubke, you were raising an eyebrow while Bakari was talking. Well, I can't remember at which point I was raising an eyebrow. There were multiple points. And I've got to believe, Isaac is right, that there is at least one person in the Harris campaign that thinks they're going to lose. There's

there's gotta be and if not I that's not what I said not going to be they think that it could lose that right now things are still yes and and Bakari's right that not that not everybody feels that way there's a lot of enthusiasm and confidence but just that there are people who look at this and say if it were today that she is still behind

- Can I add a footnote to that? Because I think we need to be more specific about what we mean by loose. Obviously within the rules of American politics, with the electoral college, this is a very tight race. I don't think there's anybody anywhere who thinks that Donald Trump will actually get more votes than Kamala Harris. I mean everyone understands that we're talking about-- - Those aren't the rules of the game. - Those aren't the rules of the game, but it's a weird game where we all talk about this as if there's this mass movement behind Donald Trump. We need to start with our awareness

Donald Trump

is a 46 percent candidate, always has been, always will be. There was not a single day in his presidency when he had even a 50 percent approval rating in any reputable poll. Not a damn day where he had half the country behind him, even half. So what we're always, and of course those are the rules, they were written in 1787, maybe they're wise, maybe they're stupid, probably they're stupid. But the United States has this unique situation where 46 percent of the country is bidding to command the entire executive branch.

That's one of the reasons why this race is so dangerous and upsetting, because we know

We've always known that theoretically that could happen, but in the Trump years it really happened and then the power was abused to run the most corrupt and authoritarian administration in American history with 46% of the people. That's what we're struggling with right now. Will a minority govern in an abusive way? And that when we say it's close, we mean that there are states of contact where local majorities are going to be able to overwhelm the national majority.

All right, coming up next here on CNN This Morning, the follow continues after Donald Trump falsely claimed that migrants in Ohio are eating people's pets. They're eating the dogs, the people that came in. They're eating the cats. Mayor Rue of Springfield says, no, there's no truth in that.

how the city and the state of Ohio are trying to clear up this rumor. Plus, longtime pollster Frank Luntz is here to discuss if the debate moved the needle for either candidate. And we're watching live throughout the hour as four civilians are set to embark on a very risky spacewalk.

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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. Trump's repeated falsehood about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, is now being disputed by local officials. And Ohio's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, is backing them up.

This is something that came up on the internet and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes. And look, the mayor, Mayor Rue of Springfield says no, there's no truth in that. They have no evidence of that at all. So I think we go with what the mayor says. He knows his city.

So Mike Dubke, I just, I think I keep coming back to this question of like, there are plenty of things that Republicans have to say about immigration that would 100% resonate with voters who say they trust Republicans more. Why this thing from the president, former president of the United States? So I think immigration is the major issue that he should focus on. I wish he had talked more about immigration. I wish he had talked more about the 10 million that have already crossed the border that we know of.

But on this, there is a, Donald Trump's an unconventional politician. We all know that. We all accept that. It's part of his allure. On this question, there are tens of thousands of

in Springfield, Ohio that have overwhelmed the social services system. There is French Creole is now almost the dominant language in the schools. There is this reaction by the citizens in that area

against this heavy influx of migrants. I don't know why when individuals are dispersed. - Yeah, I'm not disputing any of that. - But let me get to the point. But this is an unconventional way to bring that point up. Now, Ohio is not a state-- - Unconventional is a very generous way to put it. - Ohio is not a state that is, it's gonna go for Donald Trump. I wish there was a Springfield, Pennsylvania or a Springfield, Michigan where he was talking about this.

It is an unconventional way to bring it up, but this is true on the ground issues. If you're serious about getting control of this border situation, here are the things you have to talk about. You have to talk about revising asylum laws and international treaties, which bind the United States government.

You have to talk about enforcing legal workplace status in the workplace, the way Mitt Romney did in 2012. And you have to talk about how you're going to find workers for American industry, because one of the reasons people are coming is this giant help wanted sign over the United States. But the reason Donald Trump, he's not an unconventional candidate.

He is a candidate who is uninterested in solutions. He's interested in mobilizing fear and hatred and contempt. You know, the fallback position of J.D. Vance on the dog and cat story is, OK, maybe they're not killing people's dogs and cats, but some of these migrants are killing ducks and geese. So I remember in 2016 when Donald Trump was so proud of his endorsement by the Duck Dynasty people

They became famous by hunting ducks. That was good. Why is this bad? I think one of the things that we fail to do is call a thing a thing, right? Now, that's first. And I love Mike Dupke because he's probably the smartest person I'm on TV with day in and day out. That's very generous. But did you just watch him struggle with that at 615 this morning? That's very generous by Sally Sunshine. That's what we do in South Carolina. We just prop you up before we stab you in the back.

But did you watch him just struggle with that? I'm wrapping up. I know. But I think that Donald Trump for a long period of time has used xenophobia and racism as political currency. And that's what this is. There's nothing more, nothing less. This isn't unconventional. This is who Donald Trump is.

Okay, with that, straight ahead here on CNN This Morning, we are just moments away from witnessing history in space. Mission Control just gave the thumbs up for two members of the Polaris Dawn SpaceX crew about to embark on the first ever civilian spacewalk to get their preparation started. Plus this. I was not a Taylor Swift fan. It was just a question of time. Donald Trump, not too excited about Taylor Swift's endorsement of Kamala Harris.

All right, 24 minutes past the hour. Five things you have to see this morning happening right now. The crew of SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission is preparing to open the hatch and step out into space. Mission Control just gave the go to start moving forward, and if successful, they'll make history with the first civilian spacewalk in human history.

The rock legend Jon Bon Jovi helping a woman to safety after he spotted her on the ledge of a bridge. Nashville police releasing video showing Bon Jovi along with one other person speaking with the woman and helping her back over the ledge. Alright, heart-stopping video out of Arizona. 30 people were injured when a driver crashed a truck into an Elks Lodge. Police believe the driver was under the influence. Wow.

Take a look at this woman narrowly escaping the airport fire in Orange County, California. Fire officials reaching her just in time as she struggled across the Ortega Highway and escaped the flames. We're glad she got out. Tropical Storm Francine making its way further inland. Stunning video here showing a person being rescued from their pickup truck live on television in New Orleans yesterday. Even though the storm is weakening, a flood threat continues across the southeastern U.S.

All right, still to come after the break here, just days after the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, we're going to talk to pollster Frank Luntz for his assessment of where the race stands. Plus, we're monitoring live SpaceX making history, the first group of non-government astronauts taking part in a commercial spacewalk. This week on The Assignment with me, Adi Cornish.

We can make more housing. Like, it's not alchemy. Sonia Trouse and her organization, Yimby Law, sued a town in Ventura County in Southern California, not far from where we're sitting down for this interview. We don't have to just accept limits and fight with people. The language of that movement has spread to the presidential campaigns. Listen to The Assignment with me, Audie Cornish, streaming now on your favorite podcast app.

Last night, Fox News offered sent letters to your campaign and her campaign offering three dates of debates moderated by Martha and Brett. One is October 9th in Arizona. Well, I wouldn't want to have Martha and Brett. I'd love to have somebody else other than Martha and Brett. I'd love to have, frankly, Sean or Jesse or Laura. Or Kid Rock or Kanye. Yeah.

Kim Jong-un would be very good. A lot of very fine people. It is still unclear whether we will see a second presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It seems that the first debate did provide the vice president with a boost in favorability ratings among independent viewers. Some undecided voters, however, told CNN after the debate they still want more answers from the candidates before they make up their minds.

Clarity was one of the things that, you know, we had mentioned that we wanted, that we were looking for. In this debate, we just didn't see that. We didn't find that, so we're looking for more information, more facts, things like that to help us decide. I think we need to hear more interviews. I think debates just don't cut it. I just want to know where they actually stand on things and not just hear pretty sound clips.

All right, joining me now to discuss is longtime pollster Frank Luntz. Frank, so grateful to have you back on the program. I am very interested to hear kind of how you first took in the debate. I saw what you had said on another network, basically acknowledging you don't think Donald Trump did himself any favors, but I also want to know whether or not you think it matters. It absolutely matters.

and you're gonna see it in the polling. It'll take a few days for it to register. And not only does it matter, we're talking about democracy. We're talking about the future of the country. It's not just an election. And I recognize there's so many people say this is the most important election in their lifetime.

Well, it also matters in history. Arguably, this is going to have a huge impact on who we are and what we're about as Americans. She won the debate. Let me emphasize that because I'm getting criticized and viewers should know if you go online, you can see that I suggested that maybe Harris do a little less

of the visualization of how she felt. That it was undercutting her message because to the voters that we talked to, they thought it was inauthentic. They thought she was acting. Now I want to emphasize, they believe she won the debate. They believe that she presented better than Donald Trump. But I'm a language guy. I'm a visual guy. I'm a debate coach. And I'd say to her, tone it down. In Donald Trump's case,

I'm getting beat up by those by those voters because I don't think there's going to be another debate. And I think that his performance came so far off the mark. And again, I recognize that people who say that it was three against one, that the host of the the moderators of the debates kept fact checking him and not doing the same to Harris. That aside, and that's the context.

He did not focus on inflation. He did not focus on solutions. He spent way more time talking about what had happened in the past and not enough time talking about the future. Net-net, it was not a great night. It was not a great debate, but Kamala Harris clearly won the encounter and you will see some benefit to her in the polls that follow.

So Frank, I will say, I want to push a little bit on Harris and how she responded. You're not the only person-- I heard from people as the debate was unfolding

who were wondering whether the way she was making facial expressions was effective. I asked my dozens of sources that I'm in touch with every election night, is this something that we should be comparing to the way Obama looked in the split screen with Mitt Romney in their first debate where he, not similarly necessarily, but the way that his demeanor was coming across was something that was ultimately seen as a negative. I

I have to say the overwhelming response I received back was that actually what she was doing, and I heard this from both Republicans and Democrats,

was very effective in terms of sending a message about who she was, in terms of continuing to get under Trump's skin, which it seems like literally laughing at him seems to have that impact. And I will say, considering the way communications and media has changed in recent years, the thing that I see all over my social media feeds are her faces laughing.

in this instance. So I'm curious if you think that there's something to that, because I will also say, you know, people who, one of the criticisms would be, okay, well, a woman doing this would get more criticism than a man, for example. Yes, but the question is, does it add to the impact of what you say or does it detract?

Does it help with the messaging? And most importantly, voters want someone who's going to look them straight in the eye, say what they mean, mean what they say, and do what they say. And anything that cheapens that hurts the communication process. I am emphasizing

that they feel she won the debate. I've seen polling two to one, even three to one that says she's won. Trump produced his own polls to show that he won. I wondered the people they were talking to. Does it add or does it detract? Does it cause you to focus on something you shouldn't be? And I don't react myself. I listen to what voters tell me.

And in listening to that, that's why I've raised it. And I have to be able to do that as an objective observer. And I just want to emphasize, I'm getting beat up on the Trump people because they said that his comment about people eating pets or stealing pets and then eating them, illegal immigrants,

that I'm making too much of that. Well, no, because voters are making a lot of that, and that has become part of the commentary. It's our job on networks like yours to look you straight in the eye, even taking abuse from partisans on either side, and tell you the truth. And the truth is, she could have lowered the intensity of the face and raised the intensity of the rhetoric. That said, she won.

And I don't know how to communicate that any more clearly than that. All right. Fair enough. Frank, very briefly, unfortunately, we're very short on time. I wanted to play a little bit of this focus group you did with West Point cadets, just because I think that's a really interesting group of people to talk to, especially as we are looking at the way both of these candidates are talking about America. Trump presents America as a nation in decline. Clearly, the Democrats tried to regain some footing around embracing patriotism with the way that they did the convention. What did you hear from those

cadets who really do obviously represent the best of our country. They're not political. They're not partisan. They're the best of the country because they support the Constitution and they emphasize that. Their responsibility is to that document and to defend that document and to defend the country. And when we talk about the importance of safety and security, they're the living, breathing embodiment of it. So when we talk about sending troops to foreign countries, it's them

And that's how I'm trying to bring this focus group to as many people as possible, because I want them to personalize, individualize, and most importantly, humanize the people who defend this country. All right. Frank Luntz, very grateful to have you. I hope you'll come back soon. Thank you.

All right, still ahead here on CNN This Morning, we're continuing to follow history in space. In just moments, the SpaceX crew about to open the hatch and step out into space. Plus, we're going to be joined live by Congressman Ryan Zinke as the Biden administration debates another critical moment in the war in Ukraine. Will you lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons by Ukraine? We're working that out right now.

President Biden facing more pressure to ease restrictions on Ukrainian use of U.S. provided long-range weapons systems and allow Kyiv to strike targets deep inside Russia. While two U.S. officials later told CNN they anticipate no change in policy from the administration on strike restrictions at the moment,

A number of senior lawmakers are urging the administration to make a change. A group of key House Republicans writing to the president this week, quote, similar to the Biden-Harris administration's shameful delay in approving our allies' transfer of F-16 jets to Ukraine, the administration is once again stopping our forward-leaning allies from helping Ukraine win. And joining me now is Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke of Montana. He's a former Navy SEAL commander, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, good morning. Thank you

Good morning and great to be with you. So sir, you have opposed Ukraine aid in instances in the past. Do you support giving Zelensky more ability to strike with U.S. weaponry? Well, let's be clear. Putin is a war criminal and I'm not pro-Russian in this instance, but what's the plan?

You know, I'm a former, you know, SEAL Team Six commander and I've been on a lot of missions in my life. I've never been on an operation without clearly defined objectives and a plan. So we're $180 billion plus.

And what's the plan? What's the objectives? What's the end state? You know, as we tiptoe towards a nuclear disaster, giving more weapons, longer range, more sophisticated weapons without a plan,

I think that should be a concern for us all. In the instance of the Kursk incursion that Vladimir Zelensky, President Zelensky has made, that earned praise from the CIA for being part of an effective plan.

Do you see it that way? Well, what's the end state? Is the end state the Crimean Peninsula? There have been 14 wars fought over history over the Crimean Peninsula. Is it, you know, we're going to deny access to Russia, to the Black Sea? You know, what's the end state? You can't reward aggressive behavior, and Russia's a problem, and now you have larger issues.

It also looks at Ukraine in the context of what's happening in the rest of the world, what's happening in the Middle East, what's happening in Taiwan. As you know, our military is stretched. We cannot fight four different wars. Our military is only configured to actually fight one at a time and hold the other. We're looking down the barrel of four possible major regional conflicts. That should be a concern for us all. And without having a plan and objectives in Ukraine, I think it adds to that fire.

Congressman, let me ask you about Afghanistan. Obviously, there was a report out laying blame at President Biden's feet. Also mentioned Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor. Do you think Kamala Harris played a critical role in our withdrawal from Afghanistan? Or did she not, based on her position? Well, you know, last person in the room, you know, what does that entail? Certainly, she agreed with it.

But Afghanistan was a failure at a colossal level, and it had repercussions. Not only did we lose 13, we could have lost thousands. And remember, we were consolidating against the advice of military commanders, of our allies. Do you think President Trump mishandled the deal with the Taliban that got us to that point? I think President Trump, well, I know President Trump wanted to end the endless wars, but it was conditional.

And the synopsis and I think the final assessment of the Afghanistan is we were lied to. It didn't involve the Doha agreements. It was around a date, a date certain regardless of conditions.

Remember Kabul, there were better places to defend. You had Bagram, you had Kandahar. Certainly that we could have projected force. But it could have been, I can tell you, it could have been much worse in '13. It could have been that every ally and every citizen, which there were thousands we didn't know about, could have been killed. At the same time, remember,

The Taliban were stoning to death female pilots we trained and hanging interpreters out of our helicopters at the same time. They certainly had the capacity to go much further. - All right, I'm not sure about the details there, but unfortunately I have to say thank you. I do appreciate your time today because we have some breaking news unfolding here that I really wanna get to because happening right now, history in space. The Polaris Dawn crew, look at that,

They're opening the hatch of the Dragon capsule. They're about to expose themselves and everything in their cabin to the vacuum of space. And then two of those crew members will be leaving the capsule on a first-ever civilian spacewalk. We're going to get back now to Kristen Fisher, CNN Space and Defense correspondent. We also have Miles O'Brien, CNN aviation analyst. Kristen, let me just start with you to bring us up to speed on what we are seeing right now.

Well, Casey, we are just seconds away from the moment, right? Like the moment of this mission. Jared Isaacman, the cruise commander, has his hands on the hatch of the Dragon spacecraft orbiting the Earth, and he is just pulling it a little bit to pop the

top the seal essentially and then mission specialist Sarah Gillis is going to press a button and the hatch is going to open and Casey can you imagine what that moment must feel like for these four civilian astronauts they have just become the world's first

private astronaut spacewalkers. It is the largest spacewalk ever conducted in terms of numbers. And right now that SpaceX spacesuit is being tested for the very first time in the vacuum of space. And even though the hatch hasn't been opened, they are still right now, the spacecraft inside is at the same pressure

as the vacuum of space outside, which is why they need that spacesuit to protect them. So, Casey, and just to kind of give our viewers a sense of what you're looking at there, that is Mission Control for SpaceX on the left-hand side of your screen, based in Hawthorne, California. A reminder that this is not NASA. This is a private company doing this.

Really interesting. And Miles O'Brien, I mean, on that point, I mean, you have seen and covered so much history, space, aviation history over the past few decades. Can you help us understand a little bit about how we got here that a private company is doing this now and where we're going? I hope you should.

Yeah, it was a purposeful effort on the part of NASA to try to get out of the business of directly owning and operating spacecraft to get in and out of low Earth orbit. This goes back a couple of decades now. And of course, SpaceX has led the charge in at first delivering cargo to the International Space Station, developing the Dragon capsule, which the crew is on right now.

and then eventually putting crews inside. And now this is the 14th crewed mission of a SpaceX Dragon capsule. And it has been an extremely successful program. And in contrast, Boeing, the blue-chip aerospace enterprise, which 10 years ago had a similar contract let to them from NASA, has had nothing but trouble building its Starliner capsule. So

SpaceX has proven that this new way of operating, this commercialization of space, this idea of a fixed price contract is the way to go. Hey, hold on, Miles, one second. I want to talk about the pictures that we're seeing because we just saw a lot of applause from Mission Control. And now it looks like the hatch is wide open.

exposing again, there are four astronauts inside this capsule for a civilian. Perhaps I'm, Kristen, correct me if I'm using the incorrect terminology for what we're calling these civilian space walkers. But this is, of course, the first time that these suits, as you've said, have been exposed to the vacuum of space. And Kristen, can you talk a little bit about the suits? Because the NASA ones are 40 years old. These are brand new. And one is.

I don't know if we should listen in maybe to these astronauts for just one second too, or if they are talking about what they're seeing. That structure you see there is... SpaceX copies, we're with you in your helmet, Kim.

That's a helmet camera view we're looking at. We're going to keep listening in. That structure we see is the space walker. This is Jared now egressing through the forward hatch of Dragon Resilience. The first views of the first ever commercial spacewalk. And at the bottom of the mobility aid. I have a feeling the crowd is about to go wild.

Wow. Back at home, we all have a lot of work to do, but from here, work sure looks like a perfect world. All right, Statec. You can run. I'm going to step into Test Matrix 1.

single-handed mobility demonstration. Commander Jared Isaacman now emerging from... Copy, Raytheon test makers one watching from the nose cone. Up, down, left and right are three. Pitch and roll are three, yaw is a two. Switching.

Single-handed operations are fine, static and with dynamic disturbance. Switching to left hand. Up, down, left and right are threes, maybe a two. Pitch is a four. Roll is a two.

So these are the suit mobility checks that Jared is performing. SpaceX copies test matrix one and HUD readout.

Keep watching this together. Kristen Fisher, am I correct in saying

saying that we are seeing the billionaire Jared Isaacman here as the first person, the first commercial spacewalk gets underway. Tell us what we're looking at. Yeah, so that is the Polaris Dawn mission commander, Jared Isaacman. And I'm sure many of you are wondering what on earth is he doing out there? What does all of this mean?

What he's doing is he's taking the suit through a series of mobility checks. He's moving all of his joints and limbs and seeing how this spacecraft, space suit,

feels and moves in the vacuum of space. And that's really the whole purpose of this spacewalk, right? Like this crew wants to take the lessons that are learned from this spacewalk, bring it back to the SpaceX engineers on the ground and say, hey, this is what worked, this is what didn't work. And then SpaceX engineers can get to work on making those changes because someday these are the spacesuits that SpaceX wants to use

when humans first land on Mars. But, you know, just what a moment for the commander, Jared Isaacman, here, because, you know, he first flew to space, Casey, three years ago as the commander of Inspiration4. And the whole purpose of that mission was to, as the name says, inspire people and let people know that, you know, you don't have to be a NASA government professional astronaut to go to space anymore. He had three crewmates that were just

Average people, very cool, but average people going to space. He landed from that mission, went to SpaceX's Elon Musk,

and the two of them came up with this plan. He said, "I don't want to just inspire with this mission. I want to do a real test and development program. I want to help SpaceX advance their technical objectives. How can I help?" And so he has partially funded this mission and is trying to advance SpaceX's human space flight. And the thing they need now are spacesuits, and they need to be able to develop them faster and

more cheaply than NASA has been able to over the last 40 years, Casey. So that's what's happening now. Look at these images.

That's Jared Isaacman and then coming up next is going to be Sarah Gillis, a SpaceX employee and SpaceX's lead astronaut trainer. Do we call them astronauts? What do we call them? You can call them astronauts now. They are private astronauts or civilian astronauts. That's the right term. But hey, when you're doing a spacewalk, you're an astronaut.

That seems entirely fair. Kristen, I know you've got to run. You're going to be on the top of the next hour. I really want to thank you for all of your contributions. And Miles O'Brien, let's just stick with what we're seeing here as we head toward the top of the hour. Again, the first...

civilian astronaut spacewalk. We are seeing all these pictures coming in live from SpaceX. And Kristen was talking a little bit about this, but the goal here is to go much farther than just Earth orbit here with these suits. Now, I mean, isn't this about the moon and eventually Mars? Okay, Max reads.

Yeah, what you're seeing is, you know, one small step, if you'll excuse that phrase. But what we're talking about here is...

is um you know eventually the vision is rather grandiose imagine our models of spacecraft going to mars that's the spacex vision in order to really execute that plan you need to have human beings protected inside suits right now uh there are about uh i think a little more than a dozen uh x

extravehicular mobility units. That's NASA's space suit for spacewalks that exists. And they're $15 million a copy. And NASA has had a very difficult time developing a new generation for its Artemis program. So in parallel here, SpaceX is working on its own space suit for spacewalks. And they're trying to do it much cheaper, Casey.

Much cheaper, certainly cutting edge as we are seeing unfold literally before our eyes. It seems like we've gone back perhaps to another helmet camera. As Kristen was noting, we're going to see that second, this person, a SpaceX employee to follow the billionaire who actually helped fund this mission. Miles O'Brien, very grateful to have you on the show. Really have loved your work for many years. Appreciate your time.

Thanks to all of you for joining us. Don't go anywhere. We're gonna continue this live coverage of exactly what you're seeing. I'm Casey Hunt, 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.