CNN.com - Transcripts (2024)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (voice over): Silencing the real women affected. Once again, women's rights at the very heart of this presidential election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLGLASE (on camera): Well, we did reach out to X regarding these accounts, but we are yet to receive a response. We did notice that just in the last 24 hours before publishing, the majority of these accounts have been taken down and it is worth noting that at this stage, there is no indication that the Trump campaign are involved -- Erin.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Fascinating though, and incredible, as you were -- if they knew about it and you'd reach out that those accounts suddenly disappeared. Incredible reporting.

Katie, thank you so much.

And thanks to all of you for joining us. Anderson starts now.

[20:00:46]

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, two campaigns, Kamala Harris in Georgia on the trail and Donald Trump trolling online, spreading QAnon catchphrases and amplifying a vulgar sexual slur against Vice President Harris.

Also tonight, new details about what happened when the former president visited Arlington National Cemetery. What we're learning about the alleged incident between the cemetery official and the campaign.

And parents know it's certainly a stressful job, now a new advisory from the surgeon general calls that stress a serious public health concern for the country. The surgeon general joins us tonight to talk about it.

Good evening. Thanks for joining us. Vice President Harris and running mate, Tim Walz are closing out day one of a two-day campaign through Georgia. The state did a new polling just put out tonight suggests may be winnable for her in November.

Her opponent was not on the trail today, though. It was just two days ago that the former president's campaign was saying, we'd be seeing Trump on steroids, meaning more appearances in battleground states in the days and weeks ahead.

Instead, with the exception of visits to Arlington National Cemetery and Detroit on Monday and a taped interview with Dr. Phil last night, the main place to find the former president has been on social media.

Yesterday, he was raging against the new indictment, Jack Smith securing in the election interference case, today, he took it to a whole other level.

The former president the United States who wants to be the next president is now directly spreading the slogans of the conspiracy cult, QAnon, as well as posting accrued sexist, and misogynistic slur online, re-posting to be precise, which means he didn't come up with it himself, but liked it so much that he wanted the rest of the world to see it, which is both a gentle introduction and a warning.

One posting of several that uses two QAnon catchphrases: Nothing can stop what is coming, which refers to this so-called mass arrests of so-called deep state members, which in the warped world of QAnon is basically anyone who has irked to Donald Trump.

Another posting shows president and Hunter Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, and Vice President Harris in prison in orange jumpsuits. Dr. Fauci and Bill Gates, presumably there for their advocacy of vaccination.

Again, this is what the former president of the United States chose to rebroadcast to and amplify for his many followers. He did not look at this stuff, chuckle silently to himself, if that's what he would do and move on. Instead, he wanted to give it the stamp of approval of the 45th and perhaps the 47th president of the United States.

And then, there is this, a photo of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton. The caption, which I'm not going to read out is demeaning of both women and contains a vulgar reference to oral sex acts.

Now remember, again, this is the Republican candidate for president and the 45th president the United States, talking about two women who no matter what you think of their politics, are two of the most accomplished women in American political history.

This is what he chose to amplify, which as extreme as it is, is not exactly out of character when it comes to him and women.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She was up by far the nastiest to Joe Biden. There was nobody nastier than her. She was extraordinarily nasty to Kavanaugh. She was nasty to a level that was just a horrible thing.

She was probably nastier than even Pocahontas.

By the racist attorney general of New York State "Letitia Peek-a-boo James".

How about low IQ Maxine Waters.

Omarosa is obviously the ultimate villain and the nastiest.

I think it's a very nasty question when you ask and continue in a very hostile, nasty tone.

What a stupid question, but I watch you a lot. You ask a lot of stupid questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: But just moments ago, Harris campaign spokesman put out a statement quoting him now, "Donald Trump is out of his mind. If a family member posted what Donald Trump is sharing today, Americans would rightly be concerned." But this is what Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda offer America -- prosecuting political opponents, using dangerous conspiracy theories to justify harmful policies and dividing Americans against each other.

I want to get perspective now from two CNN political commentators on the right and left respectively, David Urban and Ashley Allison, also CNN "NewsNight" anchor Abby Phillip.

I mean, Abby, I don't know why anybody would be surprised, but it is still -- I mean, the reason we are leading with this is, this guy was the 45th president of the United States, very well could be the next president United States.

[20:05:10]

And the stuff he's putting out, the QAnon conspiracy stuff -- this is like a dangerous cult, which really, you know, has infected a lot of people's lives, destroyed a lot of families, targeted a lot of people, and then the sexual slur against his opponent and Hillary Clinton it's --

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR, "NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP": Yes, it's also Trump and I think as the montage that you all played really lays out, it's part of his long history of doing this.

I mean, there was even an Omarosa clip in there that goes all the way back to "The Apprentice". So the early days of "The Apprentice" --

COOPER: The last soundbite of him insulting a reporter was you.

PHILLIP: Right,, and so, look, a Trump, especially when he is under pressure, that moment between me and him on the White House South Lawn was a moment that he was particularly under pressure because of the Mueller investigation.

And when he is in those moments, he resorts to, I think his most base instincts which are conspiracies, personal attacks, particularly personal attacks against women and people of color, but women of color in particular.

And this is exactly the kind of Trump behavior that his advisors have been trying in a lot of different ways to steer him away from to avoid. They almost got there because the race was heading in their direction. But now that this has become a real contest, Trump is taking the reins back and going to the things that he understands and knows the best, which is attack, attack, attack.

But at this moment, I think the Harris campaign, I thought their response was really interesting because they didn't talk about the personal attacks. They talked about Project 2025 and what they're trying to argue is that Trump is just not all there and that regular people, when they look at these posts, should be concerned about them. This is exactly the kind of argument that hurt him in 2020 and will hurt him in this election as well.

COOPER: David Urban, the campaign said, we're going to see Trump on steroids. I don't know if the steroids have gone to his head. I don't know if they're injecting him with deca or how much they're giving him.

But I mean, does it make any sense to you? Is it defensible at all to go after your opponent with this like sexual slur? I know they do it on Fox News as innuendos but --

DAVID URBAN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Anderson, look, clearly, I'd like to see it go in a different direction, right? I'd like to see the president spend that time -- look, if you want to attack Kamala Harris, attack Kamala Harris, but attack her on banning fracking, attack her on wanting to end private health care. Attack her on wanting to confiscate Americans guns. Attack her on all these crazy positions that she's had and make her defend them, make her --

COOPER: You said this, I mean you and I talked about this, I don't know -- a couple of days or a week, you said this face-to-face to the former president recently?

URBAN: Anderson, I will share with him. Hopefully, I'll see him again this Friday and I'll share again with him. I think it's a lost opportunity, lost time. If the Trump campaign is going to win on November 5th, the president needs to focus on those issues that people care about.

People care about inflation, the economy, the border order, all these things Kamala Harris is very, very vulnerable on. And she would much rather be, you know, trying to trying to make the Project 2025 malarkey to put it in Joe Biden parlance stick than having to defend her own crazy positions.

And so, Donald Trump is by himself, he's letting her squirm out of these crazy positions she's taken and not defend them by, you know, by him. He actually is going defense now, so I will again urge the former president to stick to the knitting here and talk about the issues that people care about, their pocketbook issues the border, you know, you heard Eric -- even Eric Adams says immigration is killing New York City, right? We have Democrats agreeing with him. So, we just need to get President Trump on message here.

COOPER: Ashley, I mean, you know, what happened to the short-lived notion that Trump is going to stay on message, focus on policies, stay away from personal attacks that certainly was -- I don't know if it ever lived even if it was short-lived.

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I don't know if I even ever believed it. Look, here's what I will say, is that the reason why Donald Trump continues to throw these attacks and not talk about the economy or not talk about immigration because that's actually not why he's running for president. He doesn't actually care about those issues. He cares about himself.

And so, the fact that he cannot untwist himself and be an adult and a grown man and have a real adult conversation is because that's who he is, and that's what he is doing. He is showing himself who he is.

I'm fine with him doing that, continues to do that remind American people that we don't want that as a leader. But what I do want the Harris campaign to also remember is that they do not have to meet him where they are.

I often say, the First Lady used to say when they go low, we go high. Let the vice president to stay high. I'll match the energy for Donald Trump and bring the heat towards him.

[20:10:10]

The vice president is qualified, is capable, and for all those Americans who are sitting on the fence tonight and wondering who is going to fight for you. Take a look at where Kamala Harris and Tim Walz were today. They ram rolled Georgia, they were talking to students, some that looked like them and some that didn't.

They were talking about the opportunities that they want for them. They want them to work hard and find the future. The people they were talking to couldn't even vote for them, but they care enough about them to show up.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is on Truth Social and X, putting slurs out towards women, towards people of color. That's the choice you have, and I fundamentally believe that Americans will make the right choice in November and there is a place for you, even if you don't agree on everything that the vice president or Tim Walz or even I say, there's a place for you in our big tent coalition to take this country in a new direction and not where Donald Trump wants to do it with hate divisiveness, and derogatory comments.

COOPER: It is incredible, Abby, again, just that this person whether it's their backs on the wall, or they feel whatever that the line of attack is to sexually demean one of the most accomplished women in political life in the country on the national -- I mean, I know women face this all the time and I don't think I can understand it, I don't think, you know, maybe men can't understand it. But it is extraordinary to me like at this level --

PHILLIP: There is no explaining it. I don't think -- I can't get into Donald Trump's head. I think we just have to look at --

COOPER: He's a guy by the way who is father allegedly of daughters? I mean it's like --

PHILLIP: Yes, and a father of a daughter he put in the White House to advise him, despite having no relevant experience to --

COOPER: I mean, whether he had any involvement of their actual upbringing is beyond the point, but like he is their father, like that, he would look at his daughters and this is what is in his mind.

PHILLIP: I think we can only go off of what he has done and said himself. The pattern is there and it's extremely clear. When it comes to women who are challenging him, Trump doesn't believe that they would ever be qualified. I mean, he called Kamala Harris dumb multiple times this week.

To David Urban's point, he could be attacking her on a whole host of substantive things. But the thing that he attacks her on is something that is clearly very false because of the fact that she, of all that she's accomplished her education, et cetera this is who Trump is, it's also exactly the thing that disturbs moderate Independent voters the most about him.

This campaign now is going to be fought on the grounds of fitness for office. They weaponized that against Joe Biden because of Biden's age. Biden is gone now. So now the question of fitness is going to fall squarely on Donald Trump's lap.

A: He is now the oldest candidate in the race, but B: Every day that he presents himself as somebody who is divorced from reality, someone who cannot handle himself in a presidential way is a problem for him. And it's one of the reasons that voters -- they don't like the distraction. They don't like the headache. They don't like waking up in the morning and wondering what did Trump do last night or overnight.

COOPER: If you got sick of it, it will, you know -- at the first time around. I mean, this is a sign process --

PHILLIP: It's a rerun.

COOPER: -- this is just his is just going to be a rerun. We're out of time.

ALLISON: Can I just say something?

COOPER: Yes, go ahead.

ALLISON: I just want to say like as a Black woman who was worked really, really hard to be where she is today. I remember the moments when I would call my dad and talk about people who would say derogatory things towards me and talk about what to do to get past it.

And for every woman who has ever been in a position that they have worked their butt off to be -- you deserve to be there. We see you. We believe in you don't let these comments actually bring you down. Make them -- let you stand stronger and your power and know that we don't have to live like this.

COOPER: David, you wanted to quickly say something.

URBAN: Yes, Anderson, I just want to say really quickly, I think a lot of this is baked into the Trump vote as, Abby was talking about, right?

So, people know Donald Trump, they know this is who he is and despite what these re-truth things and him being off message, he's still in statistical dead heat with the current vice president, which says a lot about the Biden-Harris administration and the failures that the American people think that they are sustaining on a daily basis.

So if we get them back -- if President Trump gets on message I think November 5th will be --

COOPER: It also says something about the way a lot of people view women or the level of importance people put demeaning women in terms of other issues. And how much they care or they think, oh, you know that's just guys being guys, whatever it may be.

ALLISON: And it's not acceptable.

URBAN: Listen, I'm not saying acceptable, I'm just saying it's -- what Abby was saying about like the people expect a level of presidential behavior out of Trump. I think that part is baked in here. I think it's people are passing --

[20:15:12]

COOPER: Yes, nobody is surprised by this, but I'm surprised, not more people have discussed it. David Urban, appreciate it. Abby, stick around. Ashley Allison, thanks so much.

Next for us, more on that new polling for battleground states, showing for the first time post convention numbers and a big change from where the race stood with Joe Biden in it.

Later, new reporting on what exactly happened to Arlington National Cemetery between the cemetery official and people with the former president on his visit there earlier this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:03]

COOPER: We mentioned new battleground state polling at the top of the program. It's from Fox News post-Democratic Convention and post-Robert Kennedy,, Jr. dropping out of the race. They show no clear leader being inside the margins of error, but clear growth for Vice President Harris compared to when President Biden was in the race.

In Georgia, where Vice President Harris as we mentioned is in the middle of a campaign in swing, she's ahead by two. In Arizona, the vice president is up by one percentage point again, inside the margin of error.

No clear leader in Nevada though Vice President Harris is up by two points and Donald Trump is up by one in North Carolina, again, meaning no clear leader.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now from Savannah, Georgia.

So, what's the strategy behind this Georgia bus tour, particularly, where she's going in Georgia?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the bottom line is that they want to lose by less in these rural counties in South Georgia, ones that typically lean Republican and they're employing an aggressive strategy in that region, including through the bus tour today to try to do exactly that.

Now, it's a playbook that dates back to 2022. That's when Senator Warnock had success doing this in the December 2022 runoff, shaving off some of those votes for Republicans while also winning big in Atlanta.

And the person that was leading that playbook, Quentin Fulks is now the deputy campaign manager for the Harris campaign. And when I spoke to him, he told me that they think that they can pull off the same thing this time around and perhaps more given the anticipated higher turnout, given that it is a presidential election year, but it requires them to pay attention to South Georgia, just as much as they're paying attention to Atlanta.

They've opened up offices in that part of the state. And as noted today, they made visits. The vice president and her vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz, using their first trip after the Democratic National Convention to visit high school students and a barbecue joint in South Georgia.

Now, a strategists that I've talked to in the state also say that there could be a good opportunity here for Tim Walz. He has roots in rural America. He also has a background and football and the military, and those are the types of characteristics that could resonate with voters in that part of the state.

COOPER: And what's next on the bus tour tomorrow?

ALVAREZ: Well, the vice president is going to conclude the bus tour with a rally in the Savannah area. Yet again, trying to gin up support in this crucial battleground state, one that President Biden only won by less than 12,000 votes in 2020.

So, clearly they are trying to be aggressive on this date. But what today's visit told us or showed us is what that strategy is going to look like. And that includes taking those votes from Republicans, where they can, while also winning big, where they anticipate there they have that Democratic or that strong Democratic base -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, Pricilla Alvarez, thanks very much

Perspective now from Democratic strategist Paul Begala back with its also Abby Phillip, and David Urban.

So, John King is always talking about how important it is for the two campaigns to cut into each other's margins. This is certainly that strategy. It's interesting that the same person who seems to have devised that strategy for Senator Warnock is now doing this for Harris.

PHILLIP: Yes, it's really important because I mean Warnock -- first of all, Democrats were able to win two Senate seats in a state that was previously not even really a battleground. And so, there is a playbook there and it's a playbook that involves running a little bit closer to the middle where you can and trying to cut into these margins where Trump is going to run up the score in the rural parts of the state.

The fact that Georgia is now back on the agenda, we should just underscore that because the reality was that even though the Biden campaign kept saying the Georgia was competitive, it really wasn't.

Trump had a comfortable lead there going into his own convention at the RNC. Now, for Harris to have made this a margin of error race means that it really is in contention.

Democrats are also looking to see how they can increase the potential of their upside. So, in the urban areas, can they increase voter registration? Can they actually get out their voters?

Some of these people who might have been thinking about sitting home when the top of the ticket had Joe Biden on it, who might be willing to come out for her. So, this is a real race in that state and its going to matter because now the Harris campaign actually has the ability to press Trump.

They don't need Georgia to win, but it would make things harder for Trump if Trump loses there.

COOPER: Paul, you know, a thing or two about bus tours from your time on Bill Clinton's campaign. What do you see going on here in Georgia compared to holding large one off rallies in arenas?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, it's about respect and for too long, Democrats disrespected rural America and this candidacy is not doing that. Abby is exactly right. You put Tim Walz on the ticket, you're going to get somebody who knows rural America.

When I was with President Clinton at the convention and he looked at Governor Walz and he said, he looks like home and he does, he look like home for a lot of people. Isn't that great? It's so poetic, it's like if you grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, you're the from home; if you grew up in Sugarland, Texas -- he looks like home.

[20:25:09]

Well, you can take him to South Georgia and he looks like home. And Kamala Harris going there, she's showing respect for that culture and it's two things at once.

You know there's a lot of Black folks in rural South Georgia and I always hate when people say urban when they mean Black or rural when they mean White.

There actually are some White people in cities. There's a lot of Black folk in rural South Georgia and Quentin Fulks, Priscilla's report is exactly right, Quentin is a guy who put this together. He went to, by the way, Georgia Southwestern University, it is a great school in South Georgia, he knows that.

And, you're doing two things, you're cutting the margins with these rural Whites who had previously really turned out for Trump by showing them respect and by telling them, I can get your cheaper insulin. I can get you lower your prescription drugs, I'll fight for you and you can boost turnout with African-Americans in South Georgia who in previous years had been ignored by presidential campaigns in my party.

COOPER: David, we mentioned that new Fox News poll that has Vice President Harris up two points in Georgia again within the margin of error, the same poll also has her leading in Arizona, Nevada; Trump leading, North Carolina. All again, margin of error.

How tough will it be for the former president to play defense in Sun Belt States while also making inroads in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin?

URBAN: Look, the map has changed with the addition of Kamala Harris to the ticket, clearly and as Paul and Abby both said, this is about, you know -- campaigns are about addition, one plus one plus one, right, and cutting your margins of loss, that's what we're going to do. But Paul knows this in Pennsylvania, Republicans tried to hold down and their losses in Philly in the suburbs and we're going to run up the score in Cambria and Westmoreland Counties.

President Trump is going to be in Johnstown on Friday and working some of those kind of more rural areas. And so, Republicans try to drive up the numbers in those places and Democrats tried to drive down their losses. So, it's smart campaigning for the vice president to be there.

Now, will that stick once voters actually figure out what she's for? Because we really don't know what she's for. We know what she was for in 2019. But we haven't heard her articulate a plan of what she's for.

She hasn't said, she hasn't really talked about fracking or guns. And I'd like to see some of those good old boys in South Georgia ask about whether she's going to confiscate their 30-30 and give an answer for them. I like to see what she says, but, you know, she's got to convince some of these voters of issues that matter to them, and pocketbook issues, and the border, right? So, it's nice to go there and kind of spread the joy message. But when they peel back the onion and actually get some facts we'll see how they end up voting.

COOPER: Paul, I want to talk about the interview tomorrow. It's going to be airing with Dana Bash -- doing it here first for CNN. It's Harris and Walz. Harris is obviously being criticized by some for not doing the interview solo. Do you think she should have done her first major interviews since accepting the nomination alone?

I don't know how long this interview is going to be, but obviously with two people, it does eat up the time that a reporter can ask her directly questions and follow up with her directly.

BEGALA: I don't think there's a single voter who's going to say, oh gee, she's going to cut my cost of health insurance, but I didn't like that she appeared with her running mate.

This is one of the rare tickets. I think the only other time was Clinton and Gore, where the whole is greater than some of the parts.

There's something here, some alchemy, that I don't think they knew each other well that has really worked with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and I like that they're doing it as a joint interview.

I will say -- take you sort of behind the scenes, there are inner views and there are interviews. Okay, Mr. Trump goes on Sean Hannity, and that's puffery, not an interview.

But he does do and I applaud these large press conferences. The truth is, those are a lot easier than a one-on-one or two on one, those large press conferences I used to call them cluster gatherings. They're easy because reporters don't follow up each other's questions, right. They are all competitive.

You are one-on-one, one-on-two with Dana Bash. She is going to hold your feet to the fire it is going to be a very important interview and a very tough one. I think she's up to it, but let's see.

COOPER: All right. Paul Begala, Abby Phillip, David Urban, thanks very much.

Coming up, the latest on an incident at Arlington National Cemetery involving Donald Trump's campaign staffers and alleged violation of cemetery rules, that's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:33:30]

COOPER: Arlington Cemetery today confirmed there was an incident, as they called it, during the former president's visit there on Monday. He appeared at Arlington to mark the third anniversary of the suicide bombing, which killed 13 American service members outside Kabul Airport during the U.S. chaotic pull-out from Afghanistan. Initially, it was a photo which drew some criticism. The former commander-in- chief giving the thumbs up while grave side with the Gold Star families, but the latest controversy surrounds allegations that the Trump campaign was trying to use his visit for political gain.

According to National Public Radio, which first reported the story, there was a verbal and physical altercation between the campaign and someone working with the cemetery. Today, on the campaign trail, J.D. Vance weighed in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE, (R-OH) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank God that we have a president who stands with our veterans instead of one who runs away from him.

(CROWD CHEERING)

VANCE: We want to talk about a story out of those 13 brave innocent Americans who lost their lives. It's the -- Kamala Harris is so asleep at the wheel that she won't even do an investigation into what happened and she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up -- she can -- she can go to hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: The New York Times, Maggie Haberman has a new story on this up on the Times' web site. It has the following detail about the cemetery official who filed the complaint, quoting from Maggie's report, the official who has not been identified later declined to press charges. Military official said she feared Mr. Trump's supporters pursuing retaliation. In a moment, I'll talk with Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton, who like Senator Vance, is a marine Iraq war vet. First more from CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We lost 13 great, great people.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This campaign video produced during former President Donald Trump's recent visit to Arlington Cemetery is now at the center of a firestorm after Trump staffers verbally abused and pushed aside a cemetery worker, a source with knowledge of the incident told NPR or as a Democratic Congressman put it, acted like bullies. Cemetery officials will only say, there was an incident and a report was filed. Others including a former secretary of defense are saying more.

MARK ESPER, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I think it should be investigated.

FOREMAN (voice-over): How did the confrontation come about? Trump has been ripping into his Democratic opponents over the U.S. military's chaotic departure from Afghanistan.

TRUMP: Terrorists poured out of the prisons after Biden and Harris surrendered Bagram. FOREMAN (voice-over): And he wanted to visit the graves of service what does members who died in the withdrawal, with his own video crew and photographer in tow. But cemetery officials say they specifically reminded Team Trump of a federal law forbidding politicking there. And "photographers, content creators, or any other persons in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign." Trump's staff disputes the nature of the confrontation and says the worker clearly suffering from a mental health episode is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hallowed grounds.

TRUMP: He is not a war hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a war hero.

TRUMP: He's a war hero -- he's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured. OK?

FOREMAN (voice-over): Still Trump's relationship with the military has been fraught for years, for mocking the war hero John McCain, to calling service members losers and suckers, which he denies, to recently saying the presidential Medal of Freedom he gave to a GOP megadonor is better than the Medal of Honor.

TRUMP: Because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor. That soldiers -- they are either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets, or they're dead.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Amid all this, the Trump team says they just did nothing wrong. And the Harris campaign is saying in effect, it's Donald Trump. What did you expect? Anderson?

COOPER: Tom Foreman, thanks very much. Joining us now Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton, who served four terms of duty with the marines in Iraq. Congressman, it's interesting to hear Donald Trump talking about what happened three years ago on Monday, the horrible killing of these 13 service members. Certainly, the Biden Administration, it's understandable, the criticism of the chaotic withdrawal and that's for voters to decide. It was interesting.

I talked to H. R. McMaster earlier this week whose book is just out. He is former national security adviser who was very critical of the former president's policy toward Afghanistan. It was the former president who actually made a deal directly with the Taliban, cutting out the Afghan government from any of those talks, and it was the foreign president who actually freed 5,000 members of the Taliban from prisons in Afghanistan and drew down U.S. troops even though the Taliban was continuing to who attack and welcome back terror groups.

REP. SETH MOULTON, (D-MA): That's right. Trump made a deal with terrorists, something that we don't do in America. Trump wanted to pull out of Afghanistan sooner, which would have resulted in more chaos. So, it's only people who forget their history, who can think that Trump would have handled this better. Trump would have handled it absolutely worse. And by the way, anyone who knows Trump's views on immigration knows that he wouldn't have rescued a single one of our Afghan allies, something that veterans like myself worked tirelessly to do during that withdrawal.

COOPER: The Trump administration had insisted the withdrawal would be on May 1, the Biden Administration pushing it back to August, obviously, still, it ended up being as we all saw. In terms of what happened at Arlington, I mean, Americans are obviously accustomed to seeing news footage of presidents visiting the cemetery on Memorial Day and other solemn occasions, can you explain why certain kinds of footage is permissible in specific locations, but it's frowned upon or barred in other parts of the cemetery because there's -- apparently, you're not supposed to take video that's used for campaign purposes.

MOULTON: That's right. I mean, we want to honor our veterans, not exploit them. We want our honor our veterans not exploit them. And I will always hail the heroes of Abbey Gate, those marines who risked their lives, so that thousands of others could be free. And of course, the 13 servicemen and women who lost their lives trying to save so many others, they'll go down in history as American heroes. And I'll be saying that to the day I'll die because I was fortunate enough, Anderson, to actually witness their work right there at Abbey Gate.

But then to take that sacrifice and twist it and exploit it for partisan political gain is shameful.

[20:40:00]

It's shameful and it's not shameful, it's illegal and yet, given what we know about Donald Trump and his fundamental disrespect for veterans, for those who serve, he (inaudible) draft -- he is, of course, is a draft dodger himself. This really is just par for the course when it comes for how Trump treats veterans.

COOPER: Congressman Seth Moulton, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Up next --

MOULTON: I'll see you, Anderson.

COOPER: CNN Investigation, imagine discovering the home next door to yours is being used to grow weed for the black market marijuana industry. I'm going to take you to California where police say this is a very real problem.

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COOPER: Tonight, a new CNN Investigation, authorities across the country say the family homes in suburban U.S. neighborhoods are being used to grow weed, fueling the black market marijuana industry. It's creating a big problem for law enforcement, particularly in a state like California where the growers faced little in criminal penalties.

[20:45:00]

CNN's Kyung Lah has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: This upscale California suburb is a glimpse into an underground world where authorities say a Chinese crime ring feeds America's black market. Doors and windows heavily fortified at three different homes on the same block in this bedroom community of San Francisco. When officers finally break through, inside, it's a massive marijuana farm. These are family homes worth nearly $1 million, the interior unrecognizable. Every part of the home used to grow weed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is probably a nursery is my guess. Just based off of the way it's set up.

LAH (voice-over): Windows boarded up to control the light, a massive ventilation system running full blast, intricate electrical setups to power lights and fans, a generator in the laundry room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody hold that up here.

LAH (voice-over): Mold can be seen growing on walls, and ceilings runoff into makeshift drains. And room after room after room filled with marijuana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couldn't even tell this as a master bedroom.

KEVIN MCINERNEY, COMMANDER, CA DEPARTMENT OF CANNABIS CONTROL'S LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION: Since you see (inaudible) here. And you're not growing outside, your growing indoors. And as long as the house looks nice and the yard is taken care of, nobody is going to question what's going on inside.

LAH (voice-over): Investigators say this (inaudible) more than $1 million worth of illegal weed cultivated by unlicensed growers, using chemicals without regard for safety that end up in the plants. Despite the growth of the legalized marijuana industry, most pot is still sold on the illegal black market. California produces about 40 percent of the nation's weed. Much of what's grown here will be shipped across the country and sold far cheaper than legal weed.

LAH: How many houses have you hit in Antioch?

BILL JONES, CHIEF, CA DEPARTMENT OF CANNABIS CONTROL'S LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION: About 50.

LAH: How many more might exist in Antioch?

JONES: Somewhere between one to 200 houses.

LAH (voice-over): Up to 200, that they think they know of. Law enforcement says this criminal enterprise can operate in California more easily than anywhere else in the country because California law says illegally growing weed is just a misdemeanor in most cases.

MCINERNEY: It's relatively low risk, huge reward.

LAH: This, whether you have one plant or a truck full of plants, what is the penalty in California? MCINERNEY: It's a misdemeanor in California.

LAH (voice-over): And that offers an opportunity says law enforcement for organized crime. Inside these suburban grow houses, on walls and doors, instructions in Chinese.

LAH: CNN reviewed Antioch search warrants as well as online property records and found that in nearly every grow house busted an Antioch, almost all of them go back to a Chinese owner or occupant.

JONES: It's related to Chinese criminal syndicate that's dominant.

LAH: Why would the Chinese cartel care about marijuana?

JONES: Because it's so lucrative. It is a very profitable crop.

LAH (voice-over): And it's not just in California.

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We are starting to see as we unpack this more, more ties between a lot of these growing operations and Chinese organized crime.

LAH (voice-over): 22 states have illegal bro operation says Senator Susan Collins, a member of the Intelligence Committee, including her state of Maine.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R-ME): Why are Chinese transnational criminal groups here in the United States, buying up these homes and growing illegal marijuana in them? It's difficult for me to believe that there isn't some sort of plot involved.

LAH: How much of this bleeds into a national security issue?

COLLINS: I believe it does pose a serious national security threat as well as a public health risk.

LAH (voice-over): Back in California, we learn there's even more financial incentive for illegal growers.

LAH: It's been about two months since the grow houses were busted. We've learned that one of the houses is going back on the market and today is the open house.

LAH (voice-over): A manicured home with the 'for sale' sign listed for just under $1 million, flipped since that day we watched law enforcement swarm in.

LAH: Hello?

SUSANNA HUANG, REAL-ESTATE AGENT: Hello.

LAH: Hi, are you Susanna Huang?

HUANG: Yeah. (Inaudible).

LAH (voice-over): Susanna Huang is a real estate agent listing this open house and the agent who sold three other suspected grow houses in this area. She owns one of those homes where authorities found more than $900,000 of marijuana last year.

[20:50:00]

Her attorney tells CNN, the house she owns was busted by the state, but it was being rented at the time, and she was not involved in any illegal activity.

LAH: My name is Kyung Lah and I'm a correspondent with CNN. We are recording here. I just wanted to talk --

HUANG: No, I am not feeling comfortable.

LAH (voice-over): Huang did not want to speak on camera, but she did invite us to come inside this home she's listed, to record video on our cell phone and take a look at this immaculately cleaned up space. The dramatic make-over seen in the master bathroom, before and after. The house is listed for $200,000 more than the owner paid for it.

BILL TILLSON, RESIDENT OF ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA: Now, they're going to make money off the house as well as they resell.

LAH (voice-over): Bill Tillson lives on this block.

TILLSON: What's deterring them from setting up shop someplace else? They got to recover their equipment, so now they just picked another location and do the same thing. Oh, bummer, we've got a misdemeanor and then they'll do the same thing and on and on and on. So it's, you know, whac-a-mole.

LAH: One additional detail, one of the houses on that day that the raid took place, is owned by an Oakland police officer, Samson Liu. Law enforcement says that that home owned by Liu contained 80 pounds of illicit marijuana trimmings. They were stuffed into garbage bags. The home had been modified extensively in order to cultivate as well as being fortified from the inside. Cannabis Control did not elaborate on whether Liu was living at the home at the time or had rented it out to tenants, citing an ongoing investigation.

We did reach out to Oakland Police Department who says that it is cooperating with outside law enforcement. They are treating this as a personnel matter. Ever since the day of the raid, says Oakland PD Officer Liu has been placed on administrative leave. Anderson, we did try to reach out to Officer Liu both in person, over the phone, as well as email. We did not hear back. Anderson?

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COOPER: Kyung Lah, thanks so much.

Coming up, the U.S. surgeon general joins me next to talk about his new warning about what he says is a significant public health issue, the growing stress that parents face.

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COOPER: Today, the nation's top health official is warning that parents are facing dangerous levels of stress and it's becoming a public health concern. In a new advisory, U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has two children himself, says the parents are overwhelmed and burned out with the "dizzying pace of the world" and call for a culture shift in support of parents and caregivers.

Dr. Vivek Murthy joins me now. Thanks so much for being back with us. So, what made you decide to issue this advisory on parental stress?

DR. VIVEK MURTHY, UNITED STATES SURGEON GENERAL: Well, Anderson, as I was working on the youth mental health crisis, one of the things that became quickly apparent to me was that it wasn't just kids that were struggling, it was parents too. And as I dug into the data around this, we've found that 48 percent, nearly half of parents are saying on most days, they are completely overwhelmed by their stress. That is an extraordinary number that should alarm all of us.

I also found that parents are struggling with loneliness at levels that are higher than other adults. And but actually, when you look at single parents, more than 75 percent of them are saying they're struggling with loneliness. Now, stress and loneliness together form a tough combination that can take a real toll on the mental health and well-being appearance.

COOPER: Do you think that it's worse than, I mean, I don't know if there's percentages for decades ago, but is with me -- I mean, why do you think it's as bad as it is now? What has contributed?

MURTHY: So that's a really important question and there are a few things that have contributed. There are some of the traditional stresses that parenting has always entailed, parents for generations have worried about kids' safety. They've worried about their education. They worried about a whole host of things related to children, including how to manage their difficult teenage years.

But there are some new factors, Anderson, that parents are dealing with today that my parents, for example, and grandparents didn't have to contend with, like how to manage social media and technology and phones in your kid's life, how to contend with a loneliness epidemic and a youth mental health crisis that's taking a profound toll on millions of kids, and also how to deal with issues like by gun violence, which are really a source of so much fear for parents and kids. Keep in mind, more than half of kids are worried now about a shooting taking place in their school.

You put all of this together with one another critical factor, Anderson, and that's this intensified culture of comparison that we are all living in, that's really potentiated and fed by social media and the online environment where parents are looking around them and comparing themselves to sometimes hundreds of other parents, some of whom they know, some of whom they don't know, but they often come away feeling worse about themselves and like they're falling short as parents. COOPER: I mean, it's so interesting, it's the same thing kids are going through on social media. In that regard, this comparison culture of everybody's life on social media seems so much better than your own life, kids feel that way and it's interesting to hear so many parents feel that way. I certainly do. I always see this stuff. I have a two and a four-year-old, and I'm already worried about the teenage years and how to deal with like social media and when they -- when, if ever, they should get a phone and I'm hoping by then like, no kid will be allowed to get a phone because I don't want to even deal with that.

But, what do you -- what's the answer to this? Because in 'The Times' today, you wrote -- you said that -- you talked about in the past few years, how this has been sort of looked at saying that in the past few years, we've made progress expanding access to early childhood education, maternal health programs, mental health crisis hotline for kids and adults. We have much more to do to make parenting sustainable. We have only about 30 seconds left, but what do you recommend?

MURTHY: Well, we fundamentally need a culture shift, Anderson, and how we value parenting.