Obama Endorses Kamala, Harris Meets Netanyahu, Trump Won't Commit
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Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office. Kamala Harris taking a big phone call, getting that big endorsement from former President Obama this morning. Plus, Harris' tough message to Israel after her face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. And this. I haven't agreed to anything. I agreed to a debate with Joe Biden. Why Donald Trump is so far refusing to commit to a debate against his new opponent.

And we're following this developing story out of Paris. Coordinated arson attacks on French train lines on the morning of the Olympic opening ceremonies. All right, 6 a.m. here in Washington, a live look at the White House on this Friday morning. Good morning, everyone. Happy Friday. We actually made it to the end of what has been an absolutely ridiculous Newsweek. I am Casey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

New this morning? Yes, she can. Barack and Michelle Obama closing out the week for Kamala Harris, endorsing her days after President Biden left the race. I can't have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala, I am proud of you. This is going to be historic. We call to say Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office. Oh my goodness.

Michelle, Barack, this means so much to me. I am looking forward to doing this with the two of you, Doug and I both.

Following Joe Biden's announcement that he was exiting the race on Sunday, the Obamas had initially held off endorsing anyone, expressing their confidence instead in the party and the process. This morning's announcement, of course, yet another sign opposition to Harris as the Democratic nominee is effectively non-existent. The Obamas join every other major Democratic figure in uniting behind the vice president, includes the Bidens, the Clintons, Democratic congressional leaders Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In a statement released this morning, the Obamas write this, quote, "There is no doubt in our mind that Kamala Harris has exactly what it takes to win this election and deliver for the American people at a time when the stakes have never been higher. She gives us all reason to hope."

And the Harris campaign may have more reason to hope. This morning, a new poll of likely voters conducted by the New York Times. It finds no clear leader between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. That's our parlance here at CNN. Just one point separates the candidates here, and that stands in pretty stark contrast

to the same poll conducted just three weeks ago when this was a different race. In the wake of his performance at the CNN debate, Joe Biden found himself six points behind Donald Trump. There was a very clear leader then and there is no clear leader now. Joining me now to discuss CNN, senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche is here, Ashley Etienne, the former communications director for Vice President Harris, and Republican strategist Sarah Longwell joins us. Welcome to all of you.

so the Obama's did hold off on doing this Kayla I'm partly my understanding is everybody kinda wanted this to roll out in a sequential way this was widely expected but the same time it gets the it gets everybody on the same team and I think the Obama's also wanted to avoid the appearance and being seen as putting their thumb on the scale here letting the Rules Committee process play out letting the delegates lineup behind Harris and then coming out with their endorsement but it also

The sequential nature of this also has the benefit of extending her honeymoon period slightly. I mean, this is quite a sprint to the finish line for Harris. She has a ton of momentum behind her. And when these things happen in these sequences, it only serves to extend her momentum, which I think is also part of the rationale here. Yeah. So, Ashley, one of the things that stood out to me in that statement is that they explicitly said that they think Kamala Harris could win because there had been some reporting that

about nervousness that the former president, Barack Obama, may have had around whether she was capable of winning the election. And that was a big part of the kind of behind-the-scenes conversation. Generally, as we approach this, that seems to be tamping down.

I was laughing in my head because I think people said the same thing about Barack Obama. Right. And so that's what I found very interesting is that he would make a statement like that about her. But, you know, I love my former boss. I think he's great. And I'm glad that they both came out and endorsed her. You know, and they came out at a time where it was very clear. There's no question that she's not only prepared based on what we saw yesterday, but there's this

Huge enthusiasm from the grassroots to within the party and even beyond, you know, as we'll get into the polling for her. And now it is her moment. And so I'm excited for her. I think this endorsement was just just additional cherry on top of a 15 tier cake with icing already flowing all over.

off of it for her. And I think what she represents today, the example, what she embodies is what's possible when you turn the page. That's also what Barack Obama exemplified. Turn the page on yesterday, turn the page on what's old, turn the page on sexism, racism,

all the isms, and now we're seeing what's possible, not just for her, but for the nation and for the party. - Yeah, Sarah Longwell, you talk to voters all the time, and a little bit later on in the show, we're gonna hear from some of them and what they've had to say recently, but let's look at this New York Times poll

a little bit more in depth because I mean, 48-47 is the head to head between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris right now. But then let's look at what happens when you add in third party candidates. You get 44-43, 5%. I mean, clearly her being there is changing the calculus on how a third party is affecting things. What are you hearing from voters about how this race has changed?

Well, look, here's the thing. So I've been talking to voters about Kamala Harris for years now. And the number one thing they would say is they had sort of a negative impression of her, but it was steeped in this idea that they didn't see her. They felt like, I don't know what she does. I don't see her around. I was excited about her, but now I just, she's invisible.

For a long time, I think that was the reason people were nervous about her, because they felt like there was this negative impression. And the only time you did see her is when Republicans were doing, like, a mean supercut of her laughing or something. But if you're listening, actually, what you hear is all the upside, because the voters didn't know her, which meant she had this opportunity to completely reintroduce herself

to the country and have them take a fresh look at her. And what's happening right now in the focus groups we've done subsequently with swing voters, which I think we're gonna listen to, is you're starting to hear people saying, "Yeah, give me your pitch." Because they were like so desperate for something else besides a race between Donald Trump and Joe Biden that even if they were, you know,

Not sure how they felt about her. They were like, okay, give me your best shot. I'm ready to listen. I'm here. Yeah, one of the most interesting things to me about this election is just how right the voters have turned out to be, right? In that they were telling us all the way along, we don't want this, we don't want this. And the number of people that would come up to me and say, seriously, this is seriously the campaign we're going to get? I'd be like, well, it seems that way. 70% of respondents in polls in April 2023 said that Joe Biden's age was an issue. And yet that month, he and his team decided to launch another campaign

bid for the White House, even though the voters were telling them then, as they ended up being right again this summer, that age is an issue. It will continue to be an issue. It will. Kayla, can I ask you, I mean, you've covered, you've been covering the White House for years now. What Sarah was saying about Kamala Harris not really being present, can you kind of walk us through how the Biden team has deployed or not deployed Harris? Because she clearly has, you know, kind of had a growth trajectory recently, but she had a tough

start. She had a tough start and certainly I was talking about some of her policy assignments with folks who know her well earlier this week and they were making the point that yes she had very tough assignments but she also has a much smaller staff and she has a much smaller budget so she doesn't have the travel budget, she doesn't have the expertise in-house that someone like

a president or even an agency would. And so the argument from some people who have been in the fold with her was that not necessarily that she was set up to fail, but that the infrastructure around her was not necessarily benefiting her. Certainly those are people who want to see her succeed now. But I think that her

her record on the border and immigration is going to come under very harsh scrutiny in the next few months and her record on on some the other issues actually anyone again here to I just want to get in on this issue because I was actually there from day one with Kamala Harris and this this this narrative that she was not present wasn't doing anything is a completely false narrative I think it's

out of context. You know, I talked to a lot of reporters then. I still talk to a lot of reporters about this now. We've been writing these stories. - Ashley, let me push pause on you. I'm so sorry, we're having a technical problem with your microphone. So we'll go to break, we'll get it fixed, and we'll continue this conversation on the other side. Up next here on CNN This Morning. - It is time for this war to end.

Finalize the deal as soon as possible. Kamala Harris lays out a very clear position on Israel. Plus, sabotage in Paris. French rail lines targeted by arson attacks just hours before tonight's opening ceremonies at the Olympics. And why the governor of Kentucky, a VP hopeful, issued this strange apology. Folks, I've been a person that when

Sometimes I've gone over the line. I wanted to make sure that I set the record straight. So I do owe an apology to Diet Mountain Dew. Overnight, Dunkin's Pumpkin Spice Coffee has sent folks into a cozy craze. I'm Lauren LaTulip reporting live from home in my hand-knit turtleneck that my nana made me. Mmm, cinnamony. The home with Dunkin' is where you want to be.

I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. What are some of the social service agencies that have supported you and your family growing up? That's Dr. Robert Waldinger. He's a psychiatrist, a professor, and a Zen master. What kind of relationships actually help us maintain happiness? And what should we do in those moments where we have setbacks and things that don't work out? Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts.

I just had a frank and constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. I told him that I will always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself. I also expressed with the Prime Minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.

Kamala Harris declaring she'll not be silent about the suffering in Gaza right after her face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Axios, Netanyahu was angry about her comments, suggesting that they could hurt ongoing ceasefire and hostage release negotiations. Netanyahu also sat down with President Biden at the White House. It was the president's first meeting with a world leader since announcing he's withdrawing from the presidential race.

Mr. President, we've known each other for 40 years, and you've known every Israeli prime minister for 50 years, from Golda Meir. So from a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish-American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the State of Israel.

A proud Irish-American Zionist. Kayla Tausche, the tone from Kamala Harris, notably different on this issue than President Biden has been. What do you make... This is...

you know the presidential race hangs over how she deals with this right because it's something that's really split the Democratic Party I'm water what is your reporting around how she views this and why she did what she did yesterday well there have been some tensions in the White House for recent months just based on some other tone that she had taken in her official capacity as vice president there was one event in particular back in March in Selma Alabama where she led with the suffering in Gaza it was the very first thing that she said and she talked

She talked very emphatically about the need for an immediate ceasefire, which at the time was under negotiations just as on a temporary basis. And she did in that speech say that Israel had a right to defend itself, but it was seen as buried in those remarks. And there was a lot of tension

within the White House about whether she was coming across as breaking with the president in those remarks. And I was told at the time and even recently that she's not substantively different than the president. She's tonally different. She is more emphatic about the things that she cares about and she does believe that there's room for both sides of this debate in a way that the president and his own team were very slow to embrace that throughout the course of this conflict.

She had a very clear goal in those comments yesterday, and that was to put her mark on the administration's position and to...

step out and identify her own position on Israel, on Gaza. And it was something that had been at the center of many discussions in the campaign. I mean, the National Finance Committee chair told donors Wednesday, they said, what is her position on Israel? And they said, wait a few days. We've got to get it ironed out. There may be more nuance than there has been before now that she's able to plant the flag on her own policy. Sarah Longwell, what

What kind of opportunity is there with voters here for Kamala Harris? Especially, I'm interested in Michigan, as one of the states the Democrats absolutely really have to win if they want to get to 270. This has been something that's really divided the Democratic Party, and it's something that young voters are very focused on, for example. How big is the opportunity here for her on this issue? Yeah, I think the biggest opportunity is that

she is able to articulate nuance in a way that Joe Biden was really struggling to do. Simply as a communicator, Joe Biden was having trouble, I think, being able to express clearly like a complicated position. And I think she is doing a pretty good job of trying to find the sweet spot more for Democrats than the total electorate. But certainly Democrats want to hear an acknowledgement of the suffering in Gaza. And I think

She is coming out now and she is emphasizing her support for Israel while mentioning the suffering in Gaza, which I think for the Democratic coalition feels like the right space. And I just saw a poll this morning out of Michigan in which she is now, there was a nine point swing toward her. I think Biden just had too much baggage with voters on this. They were too angry at him among Democrats. When I do focus groups with, you know, young Democrats, it was the

only thing that you would hear them talk about. And so she's got an opportunity to reset. And I do also think voters might give her some grace. They might give her a little more latitude than they would have Joe Biden because they feel like maybe she's slightly more with them. Yeah. Ashley, as somebody who worked for Harris for a long time, what insight can you give us into how she thinks about this issue? Well, I think what you saw yesterday, and I'm glad you asked me that, but what

what I think we saw yesterday is really her ethos. She said it yesterday, "I see you to both sides." And that is who Kamala Harris is. I mean, I remember working for her and she would tell us, "When you go into the Oval Office or when you go into the Roosevelt Room, you bring the people into those rooms who don't even know that those rooms exist." And so to have her do two things yesterday, one, reinforce her commitment to Israel, dating all the way back from when she was a child,

to also say, I see you to the Palestinian people and say you have a right to live free. I mean, that was a powerful statement to say that it's not a binary choice. I can see both sides. And I think that's what makes her the leader, the right leader for this moment. And I think I would also sort of add to that

how strong she looked yesterday. I mean, I think it's those types of things that we don't really talk about a lot on television that doesn't really show up in the poll. But she looked in command. She looked commanding yesterday. She looked fortified in who she is, fortified in what she's capable of. And I think that came across very well yesterday. I've worked in that building twice, and I've never seen a vice president deliver such a remark so profound on such a big stage with a...

a world leader like this before. So that was incredibly impressive. And it's clear that Joe Biden is moving to the left and giving her the stage now to command it. But this is who she is as a leader, that she brings everyone to the table, everyone's perspective to the table. And she made the point and reiterated it. And that's a lesson for young people as well. And the Democratic Party, this doesn't have to be a binary choice.

All right. Coming up next here, Kamala Harris' VP frontrunners trying out attack lines against J.D. Vance. Plus, the big mystery surrounding tonight's Olympic opening ceremony. Is Celine Dion performing? Don't want to be my man anymore.

All right, welcome back. It's burning an average of 50 football fields per minute. The park fire exploding in size, raging out of control, only 3% contained. A suspect is under arrest accused of starting the fire by pushing a burning car into a ravine. Today, we're expecting another day of hot and dry conditions out west, but some relief apparently could be on the way. Let's get straight to our weatherman, Derek Van Dam. Derek, good morning. What are you seeing out there?

Yeah, Casey, you can see the Park Fire from space. This is a satellite image. Look at the rapid fire growth over the past 24 hours or so. Impressive. Lots of smoke, of course, billowing out from this particular fire. Multiple fires over the western U.S. creating degraded air quality. The Park Fire right now only at 3% containment. It has burned more than the area of the city of Atlanta. That puts it into perspective as well.

red fire warnings, red flag warnings I should say for the Central Valley of California but not just there you can see other areas across the western US as nearly 90 active large wildfires continue to burn with poor air quality alerts in place from Oregon into the state of Washington. Several wildfires from Western Canada also contributing to some of this lower air quality and of course hazy skies overhead.

Now we're going to pivot quickly because I want to talk about the opening ceremony this evening, all eyes on Paris and what we believe will happen. It's raining now in Paris. We'll get a break in the afternoon and then just in time this evening, we do see the potential for light to moderate rain showers that could put a dampen on tonight's opening ceremony. Of course, so much of the celebration reliance on the weather that occurs this evening. Casey.

All right, our weatherman Van Damme, Derek, thank you very much. Have a great weekend. All right. Coming up next, will we see another presidential debate before November? Now it appears he's backpedaling, but I'm ready. Coming up, the Harris and Trump campaigns battle over the terms of the debates, plus potential VP picks auditioning to be Harris' running mate. We'll talk about the latest. What about debating President Trump? You think you could deliver the goods against the commander in cheese puffs?

Well, Jimmy, if I do debate President Trump, I'm sure it'll be a competitive face-off where either one of us could end up on top. Really? No, I'd wipe the floor with him.

As far back as five years ago, Kamala Harris said she was ready to debate Donald Trump. Now, she may actually get the chance. The deal's not done yet, though. Trump's campaign has refused to commit until Harris is officially the nominee, even though, of course, their candidate debated President Biden before he was the official nominee. Well, I haven't agreed to anything. I agreed to a debate with Joe Biden. If Kamala Harris does end up being the Democrat nominee, will you commit to debating her at least one time?

Oh yes, absolutely. I would be willing to do more than one debate actually. Harris says Trump is backpedaling. Many of you have been asking me about the debate and I'll tell you I'm ready to debate Donald Trump. I have agreed to the previously agreed upon September 10th debate. He agreed to that previously. Now it appears he's backpedaling, but I'm ready. And I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists.

in this race on a debate stage. And so I'm ready. Let's go. So Kayla Tausche, where are we on this? There was, of course, supposed to be a debate on ABC early in September. Trump seemed

Seems to be saying, yes, he'll debate her, but won't agree to place in time. Well, Donald Trump does things on his own terms. And if there's an opportunity to change the terms, then he will try to do that. I mean, the first debate that took place was done on terms that the Biden campaign thought would benefit their candidate. We obviously have seen how that turned out.

But in this situation, most of the terms were brought to the Trump campaign and they had very little input on them. And so I see this as having covered Trump's presidency before as him trying to get a better deal out of it, whether it is a deal over how much time each answer is or trying to pick

the moderators for the debate. This is him saying, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to give you the ratings bonanza unless you come and meet me on my terms. Yeah. And of course, he we knew he loves an audience. For example, we didn't have one in the in the debate with Biden. That might be something else they're going to be talking about. All right. Let's turn now to this. It seems like the younger generation, they are more likely to vote for Harris over Biden. Like

That's just the vibe that I get based on what's being posted online and based on what's being shared on social media. I just feel like it'll be like a breath of fresh air. I feel like it'll be like a new beginning. She's quick-witted, she's funny, she has a personality. Obviously, being a female, there are people out there that don't want to vote for a female president. I think those same people are ones that would not vote for Biden either.

These voices from a focus group conducted by Republican voters against Trump. They're sounding off about Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee. That group also running their first major ad campaign since President Biden left the race. This is targeting conservative-leaning voters in swing states. Let's watch. ♪♪

I'm a two-time Trump voter. Voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. In 2020, I voted for Donald Trump. I will never support Donald Trump. I'm not going to vote for him. Burn down our democracy and rule over the ashes. He's putting Donald Trump first and to hell with democracy. I will never vote for Trump again. He'll never get my vote ever, ever.

All right. So Sarah Longwell's here. She's a part of that, of course, in charge of it, I should say. Sarah, I think the question that I've had as we've watched this week unfold, and it's been a fast one, so we're all still trying to catch up. But I'm wondering for a lot of these conservatives, perhaps people that have pulled the lever for Republicans, have to be convinced not just to go to the voting booth and not vote for Trump, but put

pull the lever for the Democrats. Is it harder to convince those people with Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket than it was with Joe Biden, or is it easier? So, look, I had assumed, I think, for a long time that it would be harder. That Joe Biden back in 2020, I was so glad.

when the Democratic Party came together and nominated him, because I knew that he was the only one in that field that we were going to be able to move these right-leaning independents, soft GOP voters, and get them to vote for the Democrats and not Trump. And those kinds of voters make up the margins. And I've been very worried about whether or not they would go for Kamala Harris. But you know what's happened in the intervening time is that these voters have increasingly become so...

so frustrated with this choice, so down on Biden. I mean, we were seeing a ton of backsliding in swing voting groups of people who had voted for Trump. I'm sorry, who had voted for, no, voted for Trump in '16 and then voted for Biden in 2020. A lot of them were moving back to Trump. And now as we've been talking to swing voters, you hear that breath of fresh air. They're just, the contours of this race changing

are exciting to them, and that is being helpful. And also a lot of it depends how she runs and what her vice president looks like. I think that if she can pivot somewhat to the middle, and look, if J.D. Vance can go from calling Donald Trump America's Hitler to being his vice president, there's room for her to pivot to the middle of it.

And so I think if she does that and doesn't run like the progressive Californian that she did in 2020 and runs more like an AG who is a tough prosecutor, I think she can pick up a lot of these swing voters. Yeah. So we have a little bit more sound from some of these voters talking about their reservations about Harris, if you will. Let's listen to a little bit more of that.

I feel like I just don't know her well enough. The positive part is, I assume, her being a woman, she's going to be looking out for women's rights. I really think that far more people were racist and sexist than they let on, and that

That's going to be how they vote. It's just going to be they're going to vote because, oh, I'm going to vote for Trump because I can't vote for a woman. It's going to be the, oh, but what happens if she has a bad day and she gets really emotional?

Ashley, what is your sense of how they plan to deal with all of this? I mean, because this had been a big part, especially among many black voters who tend to be very pragmatic. They're worried about putting her up because it can be harder to run. It is harder to run as a black candidate and as a woman.

Yeah, I mean, I think what we've seen over the last four or five days or however many days it's been is that America is bigger than these two issues. That America wants to move past these issues. And you see that in, again, not only the grassroots support, but you can hear it in the tone and the tenor of what those swing voters are saying. You can see it in the money that she's raising.

But what I think is what we should focus on is the internal polls within the now Harris campaign is showing that not only is she outpacing Donald Trump among that big, broad coalition that Biden built to win in 2020, but that she's also

in a position to expand that coalition. She's plus 19 with white educated voters. She's plus 19 with voters over the age of 65. And that's incredibly encouraging. And to add on to that, the previous point that was made, she now has an opportunity to clear the slate, drop Joe Biden's baggage now and reintroduce herself to the world because she has been in the shadow.

She has been in the shadows. And now she's on the nature of the job. Yeah. Now she's on now she's on the on the national and global stage. And people are getting a sense of who she is. And clearly they want more of it. Let's put up the New York Times poll has a little bit of a breakdown of how voters in various camps see this race. And Kayla Toshi, when we get to chance to look at it, you see there white voters with Trump fairly, you know, by it.

with a majority, but these black voters, 72%, 19% for Trump, that 19%, still higher than I think Democrats really need it to be, but going in the right direction for Harris. - Yeah, but certainly that is a real opportunity for her because that is messaging about the economy. And that is an area where President Biden

did not succeed for the majority of his presidency in identifying with Americans who felt like life was too expensive. And by and large, you've seen in those polls, black voters saying, "Groceries are too expensive. My housing is too expensive. Yes, I have a job, but I don't make enough in that job." And when you hear President Biden having continued to harp on, "Well, we created 15 million jobs," but voters saying,

but I'm not making enough, this is an opportunity for Harris to come out with a stronger economic message to try to turn the tide of those numbers. Again, I mentioned the call that her campaign held with donors earlier this week, but I think it's really instructive because they asked again, what is her message on the economy? And those donors were told again, we're still working on it because they know that that's an area where they have to change what's been happening. Yeah, for sure.

All right, coming up next here on CNN This Morning, malicious arson acts aimed at disrupting travel in Paris. But we've now learned the opening ceremonies will go on as planned regardless. Plus, Billy Joel's historic run at Madison Square Garden coming to an end.

Alright, 46 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup. Coordinated sabotage the morning of opening ceremonies in Paris. There were several malicious acts of arson on French train lines overnight aimed at paralyzing travel in the city, according to authorities. Cables on the tracks were set on fire and taken apart. Tonight, over 300,000 spectators are expected to attend the opening ceremonies.

California Governor Gavin Newsom ordering the removal of homeless encampments statewide. There are an estimated 180,000 homeless people in California. It's the largest population in any state. In a statement, Newsom said, "No more excuses. We've provided the time, we've provided the funds. Now it's time for locals to do their jobs." And this. ♪ Like if that's moving up ♪ ♪ Then I'm moving out ♪

Billy Joel moving out of Madison Square Garden after a 10-year residency featuring 150 shows. The late night host Jimmy Fallon presenting Joel with a banner that will live in the rafters at the iconic New York City Arena. Very cool. All right, let's turn back now to the presidential race.

-Vice President Harris is less than two weeks away from naming her running mate, setting up one of the fastest VP searches in modern history. -Alright, fine, Jimmy. I'll do it. -Wait, what? Rob Lowe -- -I'm Rob Lowe, and I am auditioning for the role of Vice President of the United States. So remember, when they go high, we go low. Spelled with an "E."

Okay, slow with an E. With Kamala Harris's vice presidential vetting well underway, a short list of candidates shaping up. Some of the top contenders, of course, hail from swing states, and they are already trying out their ability, trying to demonstrate their ability to go after their would-be Republican counterpart.

Of all the people in the country that Donald Trump could have chose, this reflects his judgment. He chose JD Vance. This is not somebody who is a normie. He's not a normal person. Some of the tapes that have come out on him talking about

childless parents. Those kinds of things are not gonna play well in North Carolina or anywhere across the country. He has exploited and attempted to attack my fellow Kentuckians and it's my job as governor to stand up when that happens. What I really worry about is what he would do being one heartbeat away from the presidency.

If it's Friday, you know what it means. Joining me now, Michael Smirconish, host of CNN Smirconish, also a CNN political commentator. Michael, always wonderful to see you. Let's start with Harris's picks, and then I do want to spend some time talking big picture and talking about J.D. Vance in particular as well. We're both from P.A.,

Is Josh Shapiro the guy for her? Is Mark Kelly the guy for her? These are the two names that have kind of floated at the top of my list, but I want to know what you think.

Yes and yes. I think she's got two solid choices in both Kelly and in Shapiro because it's been a phenomenal week for the vice president. Such a turnaround, Casey, from the two of us a week ago today talking about what I thought was a near flawless Republican National Convention. Donald Trump came out of that with a head of steam leading in the national polls, leading in the battleground polls. And look at where we are now. But in the end.

where can she move the needle in those seven states? So you look at Kelly and you look at Shapiro, the margin that Donald Trump enjoyed before this whole change was larger in Arizona than it was in Pennsylvania. I think Josh Shapiro brings her the opportunity to put Pennsylvania back in the Democratic column. And I have to believe that behind closed doors right now, they are focus grouping and polling the bejesus

out of how these two in particular move their respective states. Yeah, very interesting. Michael, Harris, one of the reasons why Harris has had such a great week so far is because she does seem to be popping on social media for all the right reasons.

while J.D. Vance, the Republican running mate, seems to be doing it for, many seem to think, the wrong ones. This soundbite has been making the rounds. You may have heard it, but just as a reminder, this was J.D. Vance with Tucker Carlson. Watch.

We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made. And so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too. And it's just a basic fact. You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.

This prompted Jennifer Aniston to weigh in, someone who we do not hear from on political issues very often, but she has been public about her own struggle to have children. All I can say is, Mr. Vance, I pray your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option because you're trying to take that away from her, too. This seems to these comments seem to have really broken through. How big of a problem do you think they are? What's your sort of overall way of looking at this?

I think it's not playing well in Mar-a-Lago. I don't know how it's playing in middle America. I assume not well, but I'm sure it's not playing well in Mar-a-Lago because the last thing that former president Trump wants is to have JD Vance become a drag on the ticket when he's got other issues that he's got to deal with. There's also a tone question here that this brings to my mind in terms of how does the Trump campaign, and I think they're wrestling with this and so far coming forward,

to the wrong answer. How do they deal with Vice President Kamala Harris? What are they going to say about her? In my view, to say that she's a progressive from San Francisco and to regard her as the most liberal member of the United States Senate, that's all appropriate. That's all debatable. That's all fair game. To talk about her as a DEI hire and to say anything that smacks of misogyny or racism,

I think is going to have enormous blowback. So they got to get their act together and decide now how they're going to handle her. And what I'm seeing in his true social responses so far, meaning President Trump tells me he's taking the wrong approach. He should have been more dignified. He should have come out of that convention as the victim that he was of an assassination attempt and continue to try and maintain that level of dignity.

So, Michael, I absolutely take your point. I mean, we've we've seen Trump on the stump once since this all unfolded, and he seemed to mostly stick to policy based attacks against Harris. He did warn that he wasn't going to be nice. Do you think Trump himself is capable of doing what I'm sure Chris LaCivita and Susie Riles, who are running the campaign, want him to do, which is what you are suggesting? Do you think Trump, the man, can actually pull that off?

No. And the reason that I say probably not is because I think of the convention speech for the first 25 minutes, for the first 30 minutes or so of the convention speech, I thought it was really compelling, really convincing. He was recounting what it was like to be on the receiving end of that bullet.

And then you could almost see him, not almost, you could see him deviate from the teleprompter, go off script as he so often does. He's very good at reading the crowd and knowing when he needs to enthuse his base, but that's also what gets him in trouble. And what,

What Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both need to be considering now is that the primary and nomination process is over. She's no longer needing to worry about progressives, and she didn't have a fight anyway, and he's got his base. It's time now to think if they can move anybody who's a centrist, anybody who's an independent, or at least alter the enthusiasm of the party's respective bases.

Yeah, really interesting. All right, Michael Smirconish, thank you as always, my friend. Always wonderful to have you. Thank you. And remember, tune in tomorrow, 9 a.m. for Smirconish right here on CNN. I'm actually filling in for Chris Wallace right after that tomorrow as well, so I hope you'll stick around for that too. All right, Olympic organizers in Paris announcing tonight's opening ceremonies will go ahead as planned despite disruptions to the French train system and the possibility of rain. The stars will be out for opening night.

Lady Gaga, just one of the headliners for tonight's opening ceremonies at the Paris Olympics. According to multiple reports, she's going to be performing a duet with Celine Dion. Before the opening ceremonies even begin, Snoop Dogg will carry the Olympic torch on its final leg through the streets in northern Paris. And carrying the flag for Team USA, LeBron James, along with tennis star Coco Gauff. Gauff spoke to our Koi Wire about what that honor means to her. It took a while for it to sink in. I still haven't really...

I mean, so many people are coming up to say congratulations, not just from Team USA, but from other sports and countries as well. So I don't think it will until maybe, honestly, like a year from now or something because I think it's just going to be one of those things that you're like, I can't believe I just did that.

So the Olympic countdown is on. Let's go live to Paris. Christine Brennan is there. We've had some news this morning, but set the scene for us, Christine, in preparation for these opening ceremonies, which are going to look different than any that we've seen before in recent memory. That's right, Casey. This has never happened before, an opening ceremony that's not in a stadium. I think for people watching the Olympics over the last years and decades, you know, you think of the stadium, you think of the flame coming in, the athletes coming in behind the flags. This time, the athletes will be on boats on the Seine River.

and the fans will be along the river, on the bridges, as the athletes, as the performers, as the entertainment comes along on the Seine. It's an incredibly ambitious undertaking by the French,

Fingers crossed they're going to be able to pull it off. Of course, the disruptions with the trains earlier today. But as we are standing here, we hear the police going by all the time. The security is incredibly tight. And here's hoping if the weather holds, rain has stopped for now, that they can have the celebration that will be really a once-in-a-lifetime event for the Olympic Games. Yeah. Christine, what do we know about that arson attack on the train lines at this point?

You know, we're reporting and continue to report as everyone else is, Casey. And I have talked to my sources in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and they say all the athletes are fine, all the family members. Everyone has been alerted. They're all on the international SOS system, so they're getting the same updates that we are.

and the USOPC will have all of their athletes on buses, so no one's taking a train to an event anyway. But of course the great concern is hundreds of thousands of people, according to various reports, that are now being impacted who are trying to come into Paris for the opening ceremonies and for the actual competition, which of course women's soccer and others have started

But the big events, of course, tomorrow, swimming right off the bat Saturday morning, Katie Ledecky, the Chinese, all the issues that we've been discussing. And people have tickets for that. And they bought those tickets in some cases months, even years ago. And now they are, of course, caught in the same, you know, the issue of can they get here on the trains. And so kind of surprising that this is what's happened.

We know the Olympics are a target, Casey, for possibly anything. Knock on wood that this will be as bad as it gets here. And let's hope that's the case, that this is all it is. Fingers crossed. Christine Brennan for us. Christine, thank you very much.

Do you guys have favorites, Olympic favorites? What are you watching? Oh, I'm a track and field kind of girl. So I'm watching all the sprints. I used to run the 400 and the 800 in the mile relay. Look at you. Yes, come on. I'm Team USA. I also think this is a great opportunity. I'm curious to see how Kamala Harris is going to lean in on the Olympics. It really creates an opportunity. Oh, man, bring it right back to your thing today, every single moment. Yeah, I mean, like full circle. What are you watching? Soccer. Yes, of course. Women's soccer, come on. Of course, of course.

All right, I will leave you with this on a Friday because I got to tell you, I love this. Chevrolet rolling out the most powerful Corvette that they have ever produced. The Detroit Automaker says the new ZR1 packs more than 1,000

1,000 horsepower. No Corvette has ever eclipsed that mark before. The pricing details aren't out for this one just yet. Previous years have gone for over $120,000. That is too rich for my blood, but I will take...

My classic, this is my 1989 C4. Let me tell you, it cost a fraction of what this new super fast Corvette will have. It only has about 245 horsepower, but let me tell you, it's still a blast to drive. I can't wait to see those out there. All right. Thanks to our panel. Thanks to all of you for joining us. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

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