CNN moderator amuses himself with Kamala Harris’ “chicken” discussion at Trump debate

CNN presenter John Berman added an amused disclaimer as he played a video mocking the former president Donald Trump about his hesitation to debate with the Vice President Kamala Harris on September 10th.

Trump has continued to cast doubt on whether or not he will appear at the ABC debate in two weeks. He most recently voiced this during an event at the National Guard Association conference in Detroit, telling the crowd that “if there is a debate,” he would like to surprise the vice president with a talking point.

The Harris team responded to the back and forth with a poultry-fueled video titled “Have you (Trump) been scared?”

In the Tuesday morning edition of CNN News CentralBerman played the clip and noted wryly that the sound effects notin fact, authentic ambient sounds from the various clips, and accused the correspondent Alayna Treene for the latest back and forth.

Treene’s report included Trump’s team acknowledging the need for “a” debate – not necessarily this particular one:

JOHN BERMAN: The scheduled debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is scheduled to take place in exactly two weeks. We say “should” because Trump appears to be sowing new doubts about whether it will take place at all. Listen to the “if not when” question.

DONALD TRUMP: I shouldn’t say that because if there is a debate, it would be nice to surprise people with that.

JOHN BERMAN: “If,” he said. That’s how the Harris campaign responded to the doubts this morning.

VIDEO CLIP: Why not discuss it with her?

We’ll wait. Because they already know everything. So, you know, Trump is not participating in the debate, they’re saying the same thing now.

CHICKENS: (CHICKENS CLUGGLING).

I mean, right now I’m asking myself: why should I participate in a debate? I’m ahead in the polls.

JOHN BERMAN: The sound effects were added by the Harris team.

CNN’s Alayna Treene is here to report on the latest news from Alaina. So what does the Trump campaign have to say about all this this morning?

ALAYNA TREENE: Look, the obvious question right now is: are they going to debate or not?

From my conversations with Donald Trump’s team, I can say that they recognize that they need to have a debate before the election. The question is really about the rules. And I know that this is a process question and that it sounds like we’re getting a little lost in the shoals, which is the case.

The question is whether the microphones will be on for the entire debate or will they be turned off when a candidate finishes speaking. But I think the most important thing to take away from this discussion and this debate about the debate, John, is that it shows how important both campaigns are to this debate. They recognize that this could be a pivotal moment before the election, just as it was for President Joe Biden in June. And so they want to do everything they can to give their candidate a leg up.

Watch above about CNN News Central.

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