Special Report with Bret Baier 8/7/24 Full End Show | Fox Breaking News August 7 2024
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00:00Good evening and welcome to Washington. I'm John Robertson. For Brett Baier tonight,
00:04the Biden administration weighs its response to an attack that injured U.S. troops in Iraq.
00:10Taylor Swift is forced to cancel multiple shows overseas
00:13due to a possible terror plot targeting the concerts.
00:16And we look at efforts to boost cyber defenses across the public and private sectors.
00:25Breaking tonight, we have brand new Fox Power rankings, the first since Vice President Kamala
00:29Harris ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket. Former President Trump holds a slight
00:34edge over the vice president in the Electoral College projection, 251 to 241, though the race
00:42is closer than ever. And these next few weeks will be crucial for both candidates.
00:46There are just 90 days now until the election, while early voting kicks off in just 30 days.
00:52But the GOP and Democrats focusing on key Midwestern states today,
00:57Vice President Harris and running mate Tim Walz will appear at a campaign event in Detroit later
01:01this hour. Fox Business correspondent Grady Trimble is there right now. Good evening, Grady.
01:08Good evening, John. You might be able to see the folks behind me wearing red shirts. Those
01:12are members of the United Auto Workers Union. Their president will speak this evening shortly
01:17after Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. And they both know that union support will be key to
01:23winning Michigan. And the Harris campaign is hoping that Governor Tim Walz helps deliver
01:29that working class vote. Tonight, the candidates are crisscrossing the country,
01:34trying to rally swing state voters. Vice President Kamala Harris and her new VP nominee,
01:40Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, continuing their battleground tour in Wisconsin and Michigan,
01:45hitting all three of the blue wall states in their first two days as a presidential ticket.
01:50As we work to move our nation forward, Donald Trump intends to take our nation backward.
01:58He sows chaos and division amongst the people.
02:03And that's to say nothing of the job he did as president.
02:06Former President Trump's running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, visiting the same two states today
02:12is trying to halt their momentum, crossing paths with Harris's plane at the airport in Wisconsin
02:18and trolling her for not talking to the media.
02:20I just wanted to check out my future plane, but I also wanted to go say hello to the vice president
02:25and ask her why Kamala Harris refuses. Why does she refuse to answer questions from the media?
02:31And I also thought that the press gaggle following her might get a little lonely.
02:35Trump isn't on the campaign trail, but he did call into Fox & Friends to share his reaction
02:39to Walz as Harris's pick. He's a very, very liberal man.
02:44And he's a shocking pick, and I'm thrilled. I could not be more thrilled.
02:48There's never been a ticket like this.
02:50The Harris-Walz campaign says it's pulled in $36
02:53million in the 24 hours since Harris named her running mate.
02:57Some Democrats think Walz will appeal to working class Americans in the heartland,
03:01but he's not from any of the key swing states Harris will need to win.
03:05She traded a state for a state of mind. He is a guy who people can relate to.
03:10The latest Fox News power rankings, the first since both tickets have been finalized,
03:15show the race is tightening with toss ups in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada.
03:22Harris hasn't held a press conference or sat down for an interview since
03:26replacing President Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.
03:30In that phone interview today, Trump says he will debate her. He says he prefers for
03:35that debate to take place on Fox, but John, no date has been set.
03:40All right, we'll see if they agree to it or not.
03:42Grady Trimble in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Grady, thank you.
03:45President Biden says he is not confident there will be a peaceful transfer of power
03:51after the November election. The president did an interview with CBS
03:55today that will be broadcast on Sunday. After initially misspeaking,
03:59the president said a Trump loss could lead to trouble.
04:03Are you confident that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January 2025?
04:10If Trump wins, no, I'm not confident at all. I mean, if Trump loses, I'm not confident at all.
04:17He means what he says. We don't take him seriously. He means it. All the stuff about
04:23if we lose, there'll be a bloodbath, there'll be a stolen election. Look what they're trying to do
04:27now in the local election districts where people count the votes. They're putting people in place
04:33in states that they're going to count the votes, right? You can't love your country only when you
04:38win. Republicans are attacking what some have called the most progressive Democratic ticket
04:43in U.S. history. Let's look at some of the specifics regarding vice presidential pick
04:47Tim Walz. Senior correspondent Mike Tobin has that part of the story. He's in Chicago tonight.
04:53Governor Tim Walz was at the helm when Minneapolis burned following the murder of George Floyd.
05:00Even the city's liberal mayor criticized Walz for hesitating to deploy the National Guard.
05:06There's philosophically an argument to be made that an armed presence on the ground in the midst
05:11of where we just had a police killing is seen as a catalyst. My point to that was is we don't need
05:17a catalyst. It's already burning. In the hesitation, a police precinct was overrun. City blocks burned.
05:24The damage estimate is 500 million dollars. Three people died. But obviously, that was an
05:29unprecedented situation. And I think on balance, you know, he handled that as well as we could.
05:36It was a moving event. Walz also served in the Army National Guard. For 24 years, I proudly wore
05:41the uniform of this nation. He went to Italy in support of the war in Afghanistan. Critics note
05:46that he retired in 2005 and ran for Congress before his unit went to Iraq. Given that you
05:52abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq and he has not spent a day in a combat zone.
05:57Walz was a teacher, a coach and a liberal. He supported free college tuition for illegal
06:02migrants and issued an executive order to safeguard gender affirming care. He mandated
06:08masks during COVID and set up a hotline for citizens to report violators. He has really
06:13embraced this far left agenda. If the Democrats are looking for balance on this ticket, they're
06:18not getting it with Tim Walz. With a mugshot from a 1995 DUI making the rounds on social media,
06:25Walz was one of the first Democrats to call Republicans weird. You know it, you feel it.
06:30These guys are creepy and yes, just weird as hell. That's what you see. That's what you see.
06:37And just a short time ago, we tracked down the video of the statement Republicans are
06:41referencing when they accuse Walz of stolen valor. It's from his campaign in 2018 and he's
06:46advocating assault weapons bans. But we can do background checks, we can do CDC research, we can
06:52make sure we don't have reciprocal carry among states and we can make sure that those weapons
06:56of war that I carried in war is the only place where those weapons were. Now Walz went overseas
07:02in support of a war but it appears he did not see combat. The Harris-Walz campaign said he's a
07:06tireless advocate of men and women in uniform. John. Mike Tubman with the latest from Chicago
07:11tonight. Mike, thank you. Yeah. The world waits for a threatened Iranian attack on Israel. The
07:18U.S. is trying to come up with a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Our national correspondent
07:23Jeff Paul is in Tel Aviv tonight. As the war in Gaza hits 10 months, all eyes right now are farther
07:31north as Israel prepares for a retaliatory attack by Iran and its proxies. Israeli Prime Minister
07:37Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to new recruits at a military base near Tel Aviv as the country braces
07:43itself. We are prepared both defensively and offensively. We are striking our enemies and
07:49are determined to defend ourselves. A Washington Post report indicates White House officials
07:53believe Iran might be reconsidering a plan for major retaliation, citing backchannel talks that
07:59urged restraint. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was asked about any direct contact
08:04between the U.S. and Iran. When we need to send a message to Iran, we have the ability to do so.
08:10However, what is unclear, how Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah plans to move forward.
08:18Our response, God willing, will be strong, influential and effective. And between us and
08:23them are only a few days and nights till we meet in the battlefield. Just today, an Israeli
08:28airstrike killed a Hezbollah anti-tank missile commander. Hezbollah, meanwhile, continues to hit
08:33northern Israel with both rockets and drone strikes. U.S. officials, however, are pushing
08:38for de-escalation and a new ceasefire and hostage deal. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that
08:44new agreement is in the final stage and that it's now in the hands of newly appointed Hamas leader
08:49Yehezenwar. He has been and remains the primary decider when it comes to
08:57concluding a ceasefire. And so I think this only underscores the fact that it is really on him.
09:06Now, there have been some reports regarding Egypt telling all airlines to avoid Iranian
09:12airspace for about three hours starting early Thursday morning. No indication that this is
09:16related to a specific attack, but it really underscores the growing tension that's building
09:21not only here in Israel, but around the region and the world. John, we wait and see. Jeff Palforce
09:27tonight in Tel Aviv. Jeff, thank you. We still do not know if, when or when the U.S. will retaliate
09:34over the strike on an Iraqi base earlier this week. Several U.S. personnel were hurt.
09:38Our chief national security correspondent, Jennifer Griffin, is at the Pentagon tonight.
09:43The U.S. military is evaluating its response options after an attack at Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq
09:50injured seven American service members and contractors as the White House pressed on for diplomacy.
09:56We've shared the readouts that the president has had with Egypt, with Jordan,
10:00with Qatar, and urge de-escalation. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin blamed an Iranian-backed
10:06Shia group for the attack. The United States will not tolerate attacks on our personnel in the
10:12region. Iraq's government, fearing U.S. retaliation against Iranian-backed units in its own military,
10:19announced several arrests and dismantled eight rockets found in the back of a truck near the
10:24launch site. Those Americans still receiving treatment are in stable condition. Some of the
10:32individuals who were wounded have returned to duty and that some
10:40are undergoing additional medical care outside of the region. Secretary Austin has ordered
10:48increased air defense measures for U.S. bases in the region and additional U.S. Navy cruisers
10:54and destroyers to assist Israel's defense, along with a Marine amphibious ready group
11:00in the eastern Mediterranean with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit on board. The Theodore
11:06Roosevelt Aircraft Carrier Strike Group left the narrow Strait of Hormuz for the Gulf of Oman.
11:12Austin also ordered a squadron of F-22 stealth fighter jets to the Middle East.
11:18U.S. intelligence has seen evidence that Iran is moving some missiles and missile
11:22launchers into position, but it's not clear when or how Iran plans to strike.
11:29U.S. and Israeli officials assess Iran might employ a phased approach,
11:33starting with a phased attack from Lebanese Hezbollah from the north, followed by action
11:38from Iran itself and the Houthis. Or maybe Iran is rethinking its military response altogether.
11:44John? I think the latter one would be the preferable way to go. Jennifer Griffin-Forens,
11:50Jennifer, thank you. Up next, the end of the political line for another member of the
11:54progressive squad. First, beyond our borders tonight, Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo
11:59Gonzalez did not appear before the country's high court for a hearing related to an election audit
12:04requested by President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice has ordered Gonzalez,
12:10Maduro, and the other eight candidates in the July 28th presidential election to attend hearings
12:16scheduled through Friday. Maduro was declared the winner, but officials have yet to produce
12:21any voting tallies. And this is a live look at Rome, one of the big stories there tonight.
12:26Fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has launched a new alcohol-free perfume for dogs. It's called Fefe,
12:33in honor of Domenico Dolce's poodle. However, not all vets and pet owners agree that it's safe
12:38or appropriate. The perfume costs $108 for 3.4 ounces. NASA is delaying its next astronaut
12:46launch to buy more time at the International Space Station for Boeing's troubled new Starliner
12:51crew capsule. Astronauts Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stranded at the ISS for 30 days
12:57now, or 60 days rather. The space agency says it's bumping SpaceX's four-person flight from this
13:03month to next. Officials say that will give them more time to analyze thruster and leak problems
13:08that hit Boeing's Starliner capsule after its June liftoff. In a worst-case scenario, NASA says
13:13Williams and Wilmore may have to stay aboard ISS until next February, then hitch a ride home
13:19on a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Stocks were down today. The roller coaster ride continues. The Dow
13:24lost 234. The S&P 500 fell 41. The Nasdaq dropped 171. A second member of the so-called progressive
13:39squad has lost in a primary. Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush fell to a St. Louis prosecutor yesterday.
13:46Your senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram.
13:51Cori Bush ousted. Too liberal for even some Democrats. The progressive congresswoman
13:57blasted Israel and waffled on calling Hamas a terrorist organization. Bush threatening
14:03retribution. What you didn't want to do was allow me to get radicalized even more because this is
14:10the thing. I ain't scared. The race was the second most expensive in primary history. The congresswoman
14:18specifically called out AIPAC, the nation's largest pro-Israel lobbying organization, spent nearly
14:24$9 million trying to beat Bush.
14:33Prosecutor Wesley Bell toppled Bush, promising a different tone.
14:37I believe that words matter, but this race got nasty.
14:44Reporters questioned some of Bush's campaign tactics, especially on Israel.
14:48One of your poll workers up in Blackjack when Mr. Bell was at the polling place earlier today
14:54called him a child killer because of the support from AIPAC. I don't know anything about that.
15:00Bush remains under federal investigation for allegedly paying her husband with campaign funds
15:04for security. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bush's primary defeat mirrors a loss by New York
15:10Democrat Jamal Bowman in June. Bowman also opposed Israel. So AIPAC hammered Bowman,
15:17drenching his opponent George Latimer with cash in the most expensive primary of all time.
15:23The left denounced the dollar dumps. That to me speaks to the corrupting role of our current
15:29campaign finance system. Bell is liberal, but says his style is more measured than Bush's.
15:35Progressives should actually make progress. Another squad member faces a primary next week.
15:42Don Samuels hopes to unseat Democrat Ilhan Omar in Minnesota.
15:47Samuels is motivated by Bush's defeat. He congratulated Bell.
15:52John, we'll see what happens next week. Chad Perkin for us. Chad, thank you.
15:55Up next, a trio of Taylor Swift concerts are canceled over what officials say was a foiled
16:01terror plot. We'll have details for you. First, here's what some of our Fox affiliates around
16:05the country are covering tonight. KSAS in Wichita is a former Kansas police chief
16:10who raided a local weekly newspaper, will be charged with interfering in the judicial process.
16:16Gideon Cody led the incursions into the organization's office and the home of its
16:20publisher. The paper's co-owner and the publisher's mother, who was 98 years old,
16:25died the next day. Her son has blamed her death on the stress of the situation.
16:31And this is a live look at Kaanapali, Hawaii, one of the big stories just south of there tonight.
16:36A sprawling tree is regrowing following the deadly wildfire that tore through Lahaina on
16:41Maui last August. The banyan tree is the oldest living one on Maui, but it is not a species
16:46indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands. Last year's fire and intense heat charred leaves and dried
16:51out much of the tree. Tropical Storm Debbie is expected to make a second landfall in either
16:57North Carolina or South Carolina overnight. At least six people have died because of the storm.
17:02The system is pushing bad weather up the East Coast. It could lead to catastrophic flooding.
17:07It's also bringing heavy rain to residents as far away as the Great Lakes and New Jersey.
17:11The center of Debbie was over the Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Charleston, South Carolina,
17:16and midday and barely moving.
17:22Breaking tonight, a terror threat has forced the cancellation of this week's
17:26Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. It comes after the arrest of suspected extremists,
17:32who authorities say may have been planning to attack the events. Let's get the latest
17:37from Christina Coleman. She's in Los Angeles for us tonight. Hello, Christina.
17:41Hi, John. Concert organizers are playing it safe and canceling three of Taylor Swift's
17:46sold-out shows over this alleged planned terrorist attack. Authorities announced
17:51they arrested two people who they identified as suspected extremists.
17:55Austria's Interior Ministry said one of them is a 19-year-old Austrian citizen
18:00who they believe became radicalized on the Internet and pledged an oath of allegiance
18:05to the Islamic State group. Authorities also confirmed they obtained chemical substances
18:10that they say they are now evaluating. Tens of thousands of fans were expected to attend
18:15the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna. The event's organizer, Barracuda Music, said,
18:21With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium,
18:25we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone's safety.
18:30All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days. Again,
18:35organizers playing it safe, not taking any risks to avoid another potential deadly situation at
18:40a big show. In 2017, a suicide bomber killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester,
18:48England. Very devastating, John. It certainly was. All right. Thank you for so much. Appreciate
18:53it, Christina. We are getting new information right now about a Pakistani man who U.S. officials
18:59say is linked to Iran. He is accused of plotting to kill U.S. political figures, possibly including
19:05former President Trump. Correspondent Nate Foy has the latest details for us tonight. Hi, Nate.
19:11Hey, John. Federal law enforcement sources tell Fox tonight that they allowed the Pakistani
19:16national into the country on parole so that they could build a case against him. And that's exactly
19:21what happened. Federal agents went undercover, posing as paid assassins, and arrested the man
19:26three months after letting him into the country. Pakistani national Asif Murshid is in federal
19:32custody in New York. Prosecutors say he has ties to Iran and tried orchestrating the assassinations
19:38of U.S. government officials and politicians on U.S. soil, including possibly former President
19:43Donald Trump, who directed the drone strike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
19:48For years, the Justice Department has been working to aggressively counter Iran's brazen
19:53and unrelenting efforts to retaliate against American government officials
19:58for the killing of General Soleimani. We expect that these threats will continue.
20:03Murshad flew to the United States from Pakistan in April, just two weeks after visiting Iran.
20:08According to court documents, he sketched out assassination scenarios on a napkin
20:12in a New York City hotel room and created a coded language to discuss his plot, telling a
20:17confidential source, quote, people who will be targeted are the ones who are hurting Pakistan
20:21and the world, the Muslim world. These are not normal people. The DOJ says Murshad paid undercover
20:26officers $5,000, thinking they were hitmen. He said he would tell them who to assassinate
20:32after he left the country. But before he could, federal agents arrested him. FBI Director Christopher
20:37Wray said, quote, a foreign directed plot to kill a public official or any U.S. citizen is
20:42a threat to our national security and will be met with the full might and resources of the FBI.
20:47U.S. officials say Murshad's arrest is not related to the attempted assassination of
20:52former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Federal agents arrested Murshad just one day
20:58before that attempt on former President Trump's life. A senior law enforcement official tells
21:03Fox it is one of the reasons that Trump had Secret Service countersnipers at that rally.
21:09John. Nate Foy for us with the latest on that. Nate, thank you. A team of researchers in Scotland
21:15is hoping to develop a potentially unhackable quantum Internet. It is part of the United
21:20Kingdom's 200 million dollar investment to boost cybersecurity defenses. It comes as the United
21:26States hopes to enhance its networks, too. Brett Baer is here tonight with a look at some of those
21:32efforts. Thanks, John. Businesses, governments and practically anyone with access to a computer.
21:39Well, they're all working to boost their response to cyber threats. Many entities are training
21:45civilians on how to combat those responsible for the attacks. Tonight, we take a look at
21:50some of those efforts to try to stay one step ahead in the cyber realm. One of the lessons
21:56learned was if you survived your first 10 combat missions as a fighter pilot, your chance of
22:01success dramatically increased. William Hutch Hutchinson is a former F-15 fighter pilot trained
22:08in red flag drills. They created an exercise to duplicate those first 10 combat missions.
22:17Red flag exercises were designed after the Vietnam War. The drills simulate threats that
22:22fighter pilots could face from adversaries to help better prepare them for combat.
22:27Hutch took that training to the U.S. Cyber Command to lead an exercise called Cyber Flag.
22:32The idea was to provide insights to commanders on how we would fare in a future cyber conflict.
22:39Now, as CEO of SimSpace, he's training those in both the public and private sectors.
22:45One of the other important things that the military focuses on is conducting mission rehearsals.
22:53Practice it before you do it. In the real circumstance, the private sector, the commercial sector could use as well.
23:00We haven't had a lot of success in bringing U.S. government cyber defense with civilian company defense.
23:07We haven't done that really well, and the threat is only increasing.
23:12And the threat is significant. I mean, if you're thinking about the future and major combat between
23:18near-peer adversaries, probably the next first strike in anything like that, it's not going to be like Pearl Harbor.
23:27It'll be a cyber attack. And our adversaries out there, whether it's China, Iran, Russia,
23:35now North Korea, has invested heavily in this. We've got to do a better job producing the
23:40workforce that's going to defend this nation. Last year, dozens of state legislatures passed
23:45laws to boost cyber security, as private companies and state and federal governments
23:50face a worker shortage. The challenge is getting people into those, what are often thought of as
23:56STEM programs, into those programs through a system to get them the training to get these
24:03what are really good paying jobs. Arizona has a cyber command, and some states have their own
24:09cyber reserve forces. So there is a need for these cyber security forces. 100 percent. And we just,
24:15in the last defense bill, just stood up a civilian cyber security corps that again will be that
24:20bridge between civilian tech world and military national security, homeland security world and
24:28bring those two together. SimSpace is working alongside Cyber Florida to train state and
24:33local employees using military grade cyber ranges. What Florida has done is they've moved beyond what
24:40most other states have been doing, which is individual training and and having sort of
24:46academically supported practice environments for these kinds of things. Cyber ranges are
24:53interactive, simulated platforms. They replicate scenarios for different sectors like health care
24:58or energy based on the threats they may face. Ten years ago, there were some viable options,
25:05but nothing like that that we see today that really
25:11helps the users to understand what's going on with their systems and their networks and how
25:17to react properly. Can military style training help civilians? How can that help when it comes
25:23to identifying cyber criminals? Is that something that you think about? It's the public private
25:29partnership. We can't play perfect defense right now. We are trying to bat a thousand and not let
25:35anything through. I think for China especially, we need to take a mutually assured destruction
25:41approach like we did with nuclear weapons years ago in that we can shut down your economy, too.
25:48So and your critical infrastructure. So you better not shut ours down. Next, we'll take a look at how
25:53technology is advancing for those defending against cyber attacks and also the bad actors
25:59initiating the offense. We'll send it back to you. All right. Fascinating stuff. Brett,
26:04thank you. Up next, the panel on the latest in the presidential race and the new Fox Power rankings.
26:13And he has a very progressive record. Here's the cover from today's New York Post.
26:17Out of left field, most radical ticket in history. What do you say? You know, I think that she picked
26:24someone that she's going to govern with and wants to govern with. I do think that if being progressive
26:27means that you got kids to have free to have lunches and breakfast paid for when they're in
26:32school or to, you know, protect women's reproductive freedoms, then great. We should all be progressive.
26:37But I think that she picked a governing partner. I think it's great for the American people. He's
26:40done more for working families. He is he speaks their language. He is understand what's needed.
26:44And he is going to be a complete asset to her ticket. But critics would say, Mark, that he also
26:49gave free tuition, driver's licenses and free health care to illegal immigrants who are in
26:54his state, as he would fall under the progressive as he put it a week ago. One man's socialist is
27:00another man's neighborly neighborliness, right? Socialism. So she had she's the most radically
27:05left wing candidate that the Democratic Party has ever put forward. And she had a panoply of very
27:10good options of centrist governors and senators from swing states that she needed to win,
27:15including Josh Shapiro, who had sixty one percent approval in Pennsylvania.
27:19And she went with the only self-avowed socialist on the list. That's not a smart move. This is
27:24a this is a guy who he when the national crime rate was going down, it went up nine point one
27:29percent on his watch. He let Minnesota Minneapolis burn during the during the riots. He's all the
27:35things that she said in twenty nineteen that she's trying to walk back from on immigration,
27:39like giving taxpayer funded health care to illegal migrants. He did it in Minnesota.
27:43So he literally put her agenda in place in his home state. So I don't see how this helps her.
27:50What it does is reinforce the perception that this is the most left wing ticket that
27:54the party's ever put. Josh, he does seem to happily accept the label of big government
27:58liberal. Listen to this exchange here. I'll get you to react on the other side.
28:02You might have the most progressive record as governor. You've legalized recreational
28:07marijuana. You passed universal background checks on guns. You expanded LGBTQ protections.
28:12You implemented tuition free college for low income Minnesotans. There's a free breakfast
28:17and lunch for school kids. Would it risk fueling Trump's attacks as you being a big government
28:22liberal? What a monster kids are eating. Women are making their own health care decisions.
28:26If that's where they want to label me, I'm more than happy to take the label.
28:30And they will label him that between now and November, Josh.
28:33Yeah, look, I don't think he's vulnerable so much on the economic progressivism. But when
28:38Mark was talking about his role as governor during the riots in Minneapolis after the George Floyd
28:44murder, that is going to be one of the biggest vulnerabilities for him. You heard JD Vance talk
28:48about that. He got criticized by the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis for being slow to respond
28:54to the growing violence taking place in the city. He waited 18 hours.
28:5818 hours. The National Guard took a while to send the National Guard in.
29:01That is Kamala Harris's vulnerability. She is seen as too far to the left of the party.
29:06She offered to pay the bail of some of the rioters that took place in Minneapolis. So
29:11she picked someone who was governor of the most important state on that map
29:14in 2020 and handled that crisis very poorly. All right. Let's go to the power rankings now,
29:19because I think they're interesting to see how the race is shifting. First of all,
29:22let's put the Electoral College map up so you can get a look. I know it's hard to sort of figure out
29:28what is happening everywhere at the same time here. But you see there the projections for which
29:34way the states are going to go. And then we take a look at the power rankings forecast.
29:37Trump still has an edge, Megan, 251 to 241. Takes 270 to win. But there's no question that this race
29:46is getting closer. Look at the latest RCP average. Kamala Harris now pulling into the lead, 47.4%
29:52in the average compared to 46.9% for Trump. Those numbers were reversed just a week ago.
29:58No, absolutely. I think that her being on the top of the ticket and now with Governor Walz,
30:02there has been definitely an inflection of enthusiasm and volunteers and cash flow into
30:07this campaign, which makes it a more competitive race. And she's going into the convention,
30:11which Democrats will get a boost from. And then the fall is going to be tough. They are going to
30:15have to. This is going to be a slog in the fall. And it's going to come down to the issues and
30:18the people who are you know, this is going to be one in seven states and about 10,000 votes in each
30:23state. So who can get to those independent voters and who those people, you know, the Democrats need
30:28to talk to those independent voters, the suburban women, and really make a case for why that they
30:32are the better, better ticket. I'm always amazed that this huge country and it comes down to
30:36seven states and 10,000 voters in each state. She is experiencing a oh, my God, it's not Biden
30:43honeymoon right now. She's also got the benefit of the vice presidential announcement. And then
30:48she's got the convention week after next, all of which give her a lot of momentum. But at some
30:52point, the honeymoon will be over. They'll come back from the Caribbean island, and they'll be
30:56back to work. Well, she's she's been speaking off of a teleprompter for two weeks. She hasn't taken
31:01a single interview, doesn't haven't done a single press conference. You know, at some point, she's
31:05going to have to speak, which gets temporaneously, and she's not very good at that. And she has a
31:09structural problem. And I think actually, the waltz pick was a sign of weakness, because Donald
31:14Trump's base is on fire for him. They will walk over molten lava after the assassination attempt.
31:18He's got to win. He can focus entirely if he can be disciplined about it on winning over swing
31:23voters. The Democrats have had a problem.