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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Donald Trump Driving Anti-Immigrant Messaging And Authoritarian Rhetoric; Governor Glenn Youngkin Of Virginia Is Interviewed About Trump's Rhetoric On Immigration And Authoritarianism; Liz Cheney, No Faith On Speaker Johnson Certifying Election If Trump Loses; Harris Taunts Trump: His Staff Won't Let Him Debate Me Again; Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Is Interviewed About U.S. Sending 100 Troops To Israel To Help Missile Defense; Last-Minute Push To Stop Execution Of Texas Death Row Inmate. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 14, 2024 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The efforts our backed by a group of bipartisan lawmakers and the main detective on the case, who now says he believes Robertson is likely innocent and that detective will join us live ahead.

Plus, lawsuits are already being filed over the 2024 election despite the fact that Election Day is more than three weeks away. One of those lawsuits is the Justice Department suing the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia's governor is standing by to respond to allegations that they're breaking the law by purging certain voters so close to Election Day.

And leading this hour, with just 22 days left until Election Day, former President Donald Trump is claiming that his political opponents are more dangerous than foreign adversaries of the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's the enemy from within. All the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That's a bigger enemy than China and Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The quote, "enemy from within," is a phrase that the former president repeated yesterday in an interview on Fox.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have the outside enemy and then we have the enemy from within. And the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Trump went on to suggest how he might handle these so-called enemies from within on Election Day should he win in November. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have some sick people, radical left lunatics, and I think they're the -- and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or if really necessary, by the military because they can't let that happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So who exactly are these enemies from within that Mr. Trump says he would consider deploying the military or the National Guard against? Someone that, as Trump suggests, poses a greater threat to national security than Russia or China. Who are they?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The thing that's tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside, like Adam Schiff, Adam Shifty-Shift.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Okay. U.S. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California right in the area I am right now, Los Angeles, who is now running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. He was the lead prosecutor in Trump's first impeachment trial.

So as a factual matter, stripping this of all adjectives and any bias, the Republican nominee is telling you that as Commander-in-Chief, he will contemplate using the United States military or National Guard to go after his political opponents, including Democrats, such as the likely next U.S. Senator from California, Adam Schiff. That's what he's saying.

And he is referring to his political opponents here in the United States, Americans, as the enemy, as scum, as a bigger and more dangerous enemy than China or Russia. These are his words. This is what he is telling you that he will do if you elect him president. And it's not just retribution against his political foes.

Mr. Trump is also making comments that seem to be getting darker about migrants, immigrants, undocumented workers in this country, people who came across the country, across the border illegally. You'll remember in 2015 when Mr. Trump launched his presidential bid and he said this about immigrants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They are rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Today, gone is the acknowledgement that some are good people. Instead, Mr. Trump's closing campaign message sounds more like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: We're like an occupied country. We got people taking over parts of Colorado. We have people taking over other states. A lot of states don't want to talk about it because they're embarrassed. The governor's embarrassed, the mayors are embarrassed. But it's no different really than if we lost a war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: He is referring to the United States as occupied, saying it's no different than if we had lost a war. As we reported on Friday, local police in Aurora, Colorado say they have encountered some gang activity tied to a Venezuelan group, but they say any claims that city buildings have been taken over much less parts of Aurora, much less parts of Colorado are simply not true.

But not only is Mr. Trump disparaging all immigrants, some of whom have come over into this country legally with temporary protection, such as, for example, the Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, whom he falsely accused of eating cats and dogs. Mr. Trump is also claiming that these migrants pose a direct threat to your family and to every family across the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The children are in danger. They can't go to school with these people. These people are from a different planet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Quote, "these people are from a different planet," unquote, Mr. Trump said about children.

[17:05:02]

Quote, "they can't go to school with these people," unquote, Mr. Trump said about children. One additional context of what we are hearing from Mr. Trump comes from Bob Woodward's new book "War," which comes out tomorrow. Trump's former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mr. Trump appointed himself, retired General Mark Milley says, quote, "he, meaning Trump, is the most dangerous person ever. Now I realize he's a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country," unquote.

The Trump campaign's response to that was to say, quote, "woke train wreck Mark Milley clearly suffers from Trump derangement syndrome and it's no surprise he pals around with a washed up fiction writer like Bob Woodward to peddle lies and misinformation," unquote. Woodward, of course, is one of the most respected journalists of our time.

In point of fact, Webster's defines fascism the following way. "Quote, a populist political philosophy movement or that exalts nation and often race above the individual that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition," unquote. You can be the judge as to whether General Milley's characterization

sounds like what Mr. Trump is proposing out there on the stump, live for everyone to hear. Let's go straight out to see Kristen Holmes in Oaks, Pennsylvania. It's a suburb of Philly where Trump is set to hold a town hall campaign event later tonight. Kristen, this rhetoric we're hearing from Mr. Trump, it's part of a strategy, right?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, particularly the rhetoric around immigration is part of a strategy. Donald Trump believes that his dark, fear-based rhetoric around immigration was what helped propel him to the White House in 2016. And there is a belief among him and many of his allies that it could help propel him to the White House again this November.

One of the questions that are often asked is how exactly does this play with those moderate voters? If both campaigns believe that this election is going to be determined in the margins by a small group of undecided voters, how is this messaging playing? The response to that from senior advisors is that's not entirely the group that they're going after.

Instead, what they're trying to do is expand Donald Trump's electorate in different ways. And they believe that this messaging helps with that. If you look at what they're trying to do, they're trying to reach out to low propensity voters. These are people who do not traditionally vote throughout the country.

There is a belief for years that those voters that didn't hit the polls in November were actually leaning left. They were leaning Democratic. But in the last several years, they believe that this has been a shift, that these are people who would vote for Donald Trump if they were to go to the polls in November. And reaching them, they're using some of this rhetoric, some of this fear-based rhetoric.

And Jake, I will tell you, having been to a number of these events, people are receptive to it. When we were in Aurora, Colorado, with some of the darkest messaging that I've ever heard this cycle from Donald Trump on immigration, they had slides that had hooded figures with machine guns that said your apartment complex is under a Kamala Harris presidency. The next slide said it'll be better under Donald Trump.

We saw posters of different, what they said were illegal immigrants or gang members. They are clearly stoking fear here. They were very well received, all of this messaging by those people in Aurora, Colorado. And I will tell you, when they look at the polls, they being the Trump senior advisors, and they see a narrowing of the gap, they believe that this messaging is working. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Joining us now is the Republican Governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin. Governor, you heard some of the language that Mr. Trump used over the weekend. What do you think of this idea of, quote, "we have some sick people, radical left lunatics, and I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, the National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military?" Is that something that you support? GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN (R-VA): Jake, first of all, thank you for having

me. And I guess what I want to just make very clear is that it's my belief that what former President Trump is talking about are the people that are coming over the border that, in fact, are committing crimes, that are bringing drugs, that are trafficking humans, and that are turning every state into a border state.

And I'm a governor of a state that is not near the southern border, and yet I see the impacts of 10 million people illegally coming across the border every single day. Five Virginians die on average from fentanyl overdose. We have folks that have crashed -- illegal immigrants that have crashed the front gate at Quantico in a box truck trying to gain access to Quantico. And we've had Virginians who have been subjected to sexual assault by Venezuelan gang members. So to say that this isn't happening, Jake, is just not fair to Americans.

[17:10:01]

TAPPER: Oh.

YOUNGKIN: And so it is happening.

TAPPER: I'm not saying that at all. Obviously, there is a border crisis. Obviously, there are too many criminals who should not be in this country and they should be jailed and deported completely. But that's not what I'm talking about because he was talking about sick people, radical left lunatics who should be handled by the National Guard or the military.

And then later on in that same speech he said that one of the lunatics he addressed was Congressman Adam Schiff. That's who he was talking about using the National Guard and military against, radical left lunatics, enemy from within, people like Adam Schiff.

YOUNGKIN: Again, Jake, I don't think that the -- and again, I can't speak for him --

TAPPER: I'm just waiting --

YOUNGKIN: But I do think that you are misinterpreting and misrepresenting his thoughts. I do believe, again, it's all around the fact that we have had an unprecedented number of illegal immigrants come over the border in an unconstrained, unrestrained fashion. The Biden-Harris administration has allowed it to happen. It was their policies. They did not fix it. And as a result, we do see a substantial number of folks who are violent criminals, folks who have been identified as national security threats here.

TAPPER: Yes. I've --

YOUNGKIN: And in fact, just two weeks ago, just two weeks ago, we, in fact, had senior people from our national security apparatus say that there's 15,000 violent felons in the United States. They have no idea where they are. That is what I believe the president is referring to. I don't think that he's referring to elected people in America. TAPPER: Literally reading his quotes. I'm literally reading his

quotes to you, and I played them earlier so you could hear that they were not made up by me. He's literally talking about, quote, "radical left lunatics," and then one of those lunatics he addressed, he mentioned, was Congressman Adam Schiff. Every -- criminals should be locked up. Migrants who are in this country illegally, who are violent, should be locked up and deported. I grant you all of that, and I am not denying that it's happening at all.

YOUNGKIN: So, Jake -- so, Jake, I wouldn't --

TAPPER: But I'm talking about Donald Trump saying that he wants to use a National Guard and the military to go after the left. That's what he's saying.

YOUNGKIN: I don't believe that's what he's saying, but listen you and I can argue about that but I would suggest if you would also --

TAPPER: I played the quote and I read it to you.

YOUNGKIN: If you would also balance that --

TAPPER: I mean, you can wish that he weren't saying that, but that's what he's saying.

YOUNGKIN: Jake, all the time people are taking little snippets of contact and turning it into a big a big narrative. I think exactly what he's concerned about because I've heard him express it before are the number of national security risks, violent criminals, and folks who are coming into this country where we don't know where they are that are committing crimes and put people's safety at risk.

And I do think that on the same balance, I think you should cover the fact that over the course of the last three and a half years, there has been an unprecedented and unrestrained flow across our border and it has put Americans lives and so much of our livelihood at jeopardy. And I think that's a very important, clear reality that we have to face.

You know, one of the things that's happened in Virginia is that on Friday, the Justice Department sued Virginia for simply doing a very basic, constitutionally --

TAPPER: Yeah. Let me ask you about that.

YOUNGKIN: -- constitutionally authorized step, which is to make sure that non-citizens aren't on our voter roll.

TAPPER: Yeah. Let me ask you about that because I want to bring -- because people might not be aware of it, so I just want to give it. But before I do that, I just want to note, I was just reading you his quotes and he was not talking about dangerous migrants in those quotes. Later, there were other quotes about those migrants and he was saying that people shouldn't even -- children shouldn't even be sending their kids to school with the kids of migrants, but you don't want to accept those quotes. Let's move on to this other thing because this is important. The

Justice Department is suing your state's election officials alleging that you're violating federal law because you're purging voters that were flagged as potential non-citizens. Now the issue is not the program is my understanding. The issue is that the Commonwealth of Virginia was doing it within 90 days of an election.

As you know, and I just want to bring the viewers up to speed here, that's the so-called quiet period before an election, 90 days where you're not supposed to be doing such purging. What is your response to this lawsuit?

YOUNGKIN: Yeah, so let me just begin with just correcting a few of the facts that you used to set this up.

TAPPER: Okay.

YOUNGKIN: So first and foremost, this is a law that's been on our books since 2006.

TAPPER: Yep.

YOUNGKIN: It was a law that was signed by then Democrat Governor Tim Kaine, and it requires our election process and governors to use DMV data when an individual self-identifies as a non-citizen and there is a match with that person on the voter rolls to then notify that person that they have 14 days to affirm that they're a citizen or not and if they're not then they are removed.

[17:14:58]

This process has been in place since 2006. We just had recent Democrat governors like Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam use this exact same process within the 90-day period because it is individualized. An individual starts the process by self-identifying as a non-citizen. And therefore, as governor, I have an obligation, no discretion, to then run the process to notify that person through our registrar that they have 14 days to clear it up. And if they don't clear it up, they're gonna be removed from the voter rolls.

The big question I have is given the clarity of the constitutionality of what I just described, both at the federal level and the state level, and laws at the federal level and the state level that not only require me to do this, but are focused on the fact that these are individual steps that start with someone identifying as a noncitizen, why is it that anyone could argue that a process that removes noncitizens off of our voter rolls is anything else other than common sense and constitutional? And that's my frustration with this whole process --

TAPPER: Yeah.

YOUNGKIN: -- which has started 25 days before a presidential election. They could have started it a long time ago. We would have sorted this out because I firmly believe they are wrong. But this seems far more political than otherwise simply because of the fact this has been going on since 2006 according to law and they chose 25 days before an election in Virginia in order to assert something which really is inconsistent with the process that we're doing.

TAPPER: So obviously, what you're saying is completely correct. This was a Democratic governor, then governor, now Senator Tim Kaine, who signed into law. And obviously, every state in Commonwealth has an interest in making sure that the only people who vote are American citizens who have the right to vote. I don't challenge any of that. I think what the Justice Department is saying is that this took place within 90 days. Now you're suggesting that under Democratic governors, they've used it within the 90 days period as well. Let me ask you, how many people have been removed from voter rolls or rather notified by your administration.

YOUNGKIN: A little over 6,300 instances where someone walked into a DMV identified as a non-citizen and then were on the voter rolls, there was a match, and then they were notified that they have 14 days to either affirm they're a citizen or their name will be removed. And then on top of that, they receive a second notice saying that that's happened. And then finally in Virginia, because we have same-day registration and voting, if they still are a U.S. citizen, they can show up and register a day of voting.

And so 6,300 people, 6,300 instances ended up with someone being notified this way. And I just firmly believe that idea that non- citizens have to be kept on the voter roll, even when we know they're not there, is inconsistent with the Constitution, the state Constitution, federal law, and state law. And this is not something that is new and different. It's been going on for a long time in the Commonwealth of Virginia. And as governor, I have to do it.

TAPPER: So again, let me posit, that no non-citizen should be voting, period. Six thousand three-hundred is a lot.

YOUNGKIN: Yeah.

TAPPER: And I guess the reason, so for people out there who don't understand, the reason why this quiet period was put into law, under the federal law, is because these purging programs, I'm not singling out Virginia's, but in general purging programs, are error filled. And sometimes people who were not citizens, who have since gotten their citizenship, are mistakenly taken off the rolls. Sometimes it's just the same name. Sometimes the government just screws up. And so that's the reason for the 90 day period. Why not just honor that 90 day period?

YOUNGKIN: Let me just first begin. It's anything but a purging program. It begins with someone identifying themselves as a non- citizen. And I guess I would posit back to you. Do you think that non- citizens, when they've itself identified non-citizen should stay on the voter roll and therefore be in a position to potentially vote in a presidential election?

TAPPER: I don't think any non-citizen should vote. How are they self- identifying? How does that happen? YOUNGKIN: They actually tick a box that says I am a non-citizen where

they do not answer the question that they are a citizen and therefore they self-identify that they are not a citizen in the United States of America. And this is why this is so out of bounds in my mind from the Justice Department. They fully understand this. They understand the process starts with a person self-identifying as a non-citizen. And then there is a match with that person's name on the voter rolls and they are given not just one, but up to three times in order to try to cure it.

[17:19:54]

And this is why I find this to be a very, very unreal moments that is stunning that they filed this suit 25 days before a presidential election, when in fact this has been going on in accordance with our Constitution, the federal Constitution, and state law since 2006.

TAPPER: I guess the only thing I would say is, and I'm not here to represent the Justice Department, but 6,300 people is a lot. I don't know that every time everybody checks a box, they know what they're checking. I think a lot of people mess up when they check boxes. And there is this federal law of 90 days. And I just wonder when you knew this was going on did you not know that the law was you can't do this within 90 days of an election or was it just a -- it was just rolling and nobody even thought about it?

YOUNGKIN: No, it's it actually doesn't contravene the federal law at all. And in fact because it is done on an individualized basis, person by person, and because that person has in fact self-identified as a non-citizen, this is not subject to the 90-day blackout period in my view and in counsel's advice. And that is the inconsistency in what the Justice Department is asserting.

It is individualized. It is not systematic. It is individualized that a person by name says, I am not a citizen, and therefore --

TAPPER: Yeah.

YOUNGKIN: -- I probably shouldn't be on the voter roll, but my name got there either by mistake or by purpose, but either way, we shouldn't allow people to be on the voter roll when they have identified as a non-citizen to be there. And I will reiterate yet again, there are multiple fail-safes in this system that has been used and has not been challenged literally for 18 years, and that's why I find this to be such a disturbing moment.

We will continue to have safe and secure elections in Virginia. Listen, that's my job as governor. We have paper ballots, we have counting machines, voting machines, we have great ballot custody laws, we in fact monitor all the drop boxes 24 by 7, they're in secure places, and we make sure that we have really clean election roles. And I think that's what a governor is supposed to do, and I'm compelled to abide by our law and the Constitution to do exactly that.

TAPPER: Well I think we just got at the crux of the matter, which is, you think that because they self-identified that means the 90-day period federal law doesn't apply, and that's what you, think you said in your opinion and your counsel and the Justice Department disagrees. And I guess a judge will decide which one of you is correct, but we appreciate you coming on the show. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, thank you so much.

YOUNGKIN: And Jake, one last thing.

TAPPER: Yes sir.

YOUNGKIN: Whether we're in Virginia or any other state, I just want to go back and reiterate that non-citizens should not be on the voter roll. And when we know they're non-citizens or suspect they're non- citizens, we should have a process for checking that. And if they are citizens, they should be allowed to vote. Every citizen should be encouraged and allowed to vote.

But we should not have a system that restricts a person-by-person process of reacting to a self-declared moment of being a non-citizen and not going through a process of potentially removing them from the voter roll if they can't affirm otherwise. This is common sense --

TAPPER: Only citizens should vote. Governor Youngkin, always good to have you on. Thank you so much, sir.

YOUNGKIN: Right. Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: With only three weeks to go, the preparations are underway right now to try and ensure the election does not face the aftermath we witnessed four years ago. That is next.

Plus, U.S. troops are being deployed to Israel to help the country defend itself against attacks from Iran and the proxy groups that are Iran funds such as the Houthis and Hezbollah and Hamas. But could this draw the United States and our fighting men and women into the fight? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

TAPPER: And we're back with our "2024 Lead" and continued warnings that Trump supporters in positions of power will not certify elections if he loses. Listen to what former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney said this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ CHENEY, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I do not have faith that Mike Johnson will fulfill his Constitutional obligations. And if you just look at what he did in 2020, he has a record repeatedly of doing things that he knows to be wrong. He knows to be unconstitutional in order to placate Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: My panel joins us now, David Urban, if Trump loses, do you have faith that Speaker Johnson, if he is still speaker will certify the election?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, I do Jake. And I think that the law was changed, um, after the last, uh, after the last election to make sure that the Congress has a very minimal role to play there. Look, Jake, let's just hope that that's not the case. I've had a discussion with Governor Shapiro about this and others in the state of Pennsylvania that we have a radically transparent process.

You know in Pennsylvania, it's gonna be a kind of a crazy day on Election Day. It's gonna drag into election night maybe election few days as we count a lot of these ballots and I'm just hoping that they're all transparent and we can, you know, emerge at a day or so later and have a pretty fair and transparent counting. Everyone america will feel good about it.

TAPPER: Let's us also make sure, David, since you and I are both from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania it's entirely likely we're not going to want no who won Pennsylvania that night. In fact, maybe --

URBAN: That's my point, yeah.

TAPPER: Yeah. It might not be for a few days because the Pennsylvania law does not allow any ballots to be counted until the polling is closed including paper ballots, including vote by mail, early vote, et cetera. So we're not going to know.

URBAN: And there's nothing nefarious about that.

TAPPER: No, and everybody should know that, actually, Kamala Harris, Vice President Harris said earlier this morning the following.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His staff won't let him do a "60 Minutes" interview. Every president for the last half century has done one. Anyone who's running for president, everyone has done it except Donald Trump. He will not debate me again. I put out my medical records. He won't put out his medical records. And you have to ask, why is his staff doing that? And it may be because they think he's just not ready and unfit and unstable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:30:01]

TAPPER: What do you make of this line of argument, Ashley?

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, some of us would say, where's the lie? It's true, the -- the race is so close. Why wouldn't there be an opportunity for another debate, when people are saying they still want to know where candidate stand. I -- I could see if Donald Trump was ahead by 10 points. He is not. This race is basically a statistically tie -- tie.

So, while people say that Kamala Harris needs to do more media interviews, well, she is doing every media interview thinkable at this point including "Fox News." When people want to say they want to hear more about it, they're saying, OK, let's do another debate. We still haven't had Donald Trump's medical records and I'm sorry Ronny Jackson does not qualify as a physician that we're going to use as a, you know, the medical records of the future President of the United States.

So, she's -- she's calling out some of the double standards, some of the hypocrisy that she has had to live up to. And she continues to do it and Donald Trump is not.

TAPPER: David, I do want to hear --

URBAN: Well, just to be fair --

TAPPER: I'm coming right to you. I'm coming right to you. Harris is about to sit down with "Fox" and -- and you know Mr. Trump has not really stepped outside the conservative echo chamber for quite some time when it comes to interviews. And I would love another debate. What -- what do you think?

URBAN: Yes, I -- I -- I think he feels like he's ahead at this point. I think the campaign feels like they're ahead.

ALLISON: He's not.

URBAN: I'm not going to gain anything. Well -- well, Ashley I'm just saying they feel like they're ahead, right? The -- the Harris campaign to me seems like a plane that has no -- that the engines have gone out on. And every day it's descending a little bit, little bit, little bit further. And at some point it's going to crash. And I think the campaign is hoping it doesn't crash until Election Day. The Trump campaign on the other hand, is gaining altitude. The numbers continue to increase and the, you know, I think the -- the trump folks feel pretty good about things.

Listen Donald Trump sat down for "Time Magazine," did a big interview. And "Time Magazine" asked Kamala Harris to do a big interview, she didn't. "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris was edited. So, I'm not quite sure that the -- that -- that the, you know, that this total transparency on the -- and the Harris part and Trump is not doing his fair share. I don't think that's a -- that's a -- that's a real argument.

TAPPER: I'm, just a -- a -- I'm -- there are a lot of Trump interviews on "Fox" that are editor -- edited quite a bit.

ALLISON: Yes. He did.

TAPPER: So, but in any case, I'd love --

URBAN: Not "60 Minutes" so generally, Jake.

TAPPER: I'd love "60 Minutes" --

ALLISON: Because he won't show up.

TAPPER: -- and "Fox" and everybody to air all of the interviews and we'll release all the transcripts.

ALLISON: You can't edit a Trump interview if he doesn't show up for the interview. You can't edit it.

TAPPER: All right. In any case.

URBAN: He does tons of press, tons of press.

TAPPER: Thank -- thanks to both of you. Thanks to both of you. Look for our special Town Hall with Vice President Kamala Harris right here on CNN, that's going to be next Wednesday, October 23rd.

Could American troops on the ground in Israel potentially draw the U.S. into a wider conflict? The top lawmaker in the House Foreign Affairs Committee will join us live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:37:09]

TAPPER: In our World Lead, the U.S. announced it is sending 100 current service members to Israel, to help Israel operate an anti- missile defense system as attacks from Hezbollah and Iran have increased in recent weeks. I'm joined now by Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York who's the ranking Democrat on the House of Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. What -- what do you think of this idea U.S. service members sent to Israel put in potential -- potentially put in harm's way to help defend Israel?

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): Well, of course, I want a de-escalation of the situation in the Middle East. I think that that has to be done. And I think and I know that the administration's trying to make that happen. Israel has the right to defend itself but I think that -- what the administration is trying to do is to preserve and make sure that any attack on Israel, these are all defensive weapons, defense to knock down any -- any missiles or rockets or drones that may be launched at Israel to keep them from killing innocent people on the ground.

Unfortunately, we need to have Americans there to operate those systems because the Israeli's don't. And so to protect Israeli innocent citizens, that's the reason why the administration is sending that in. But most importantly I think is that we still need to have a -- a negotiated agreement that sends the hostages home and as a ceasefire in -- in -- in Gaza. I think that's still as important as it's ever been.

And even though, I know that the recent surge about Hamas and their activity particularly on northern Gaza for example, has caused Israel to relaunch a military campaign there. And then you look at what's taking place in Lebanon, which is resulting in great damage to Hezbollah's military capacity which is good but it also, you know, we've got to make sure that any retaliation of any rockets fired on Israel are able to be knocked down. So I -- I think that's what the administration is doing. TAPPER: There's some pretty horrific reports coming from northern Gaza and coming from Lebanon of Israeli attacks and the IDF says they're targeting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon but those attacks also causing the loss of life of innocent civilians. What are you hearing about those attacks? Are you satisfied that Netanyahu and his military are operating with concern for innocent civilians?

MEEKS: You know, I -- you know, I am worried about that. And, you know, as I said, you know, I see the Vice President's Harris concern over the reports from the U.N. for example that no food has entered northern Gaza for nearly two weeks and that -- and, you know, so. I -- echo had called for the need to respect international humanitarian law.

[17:40:11]

And I think that we have to try to avoid innocent lives being taken. And so I think that is -- is -- is -- is extremely important and at the same time respecting and understanding Israel's right to defend itself. But it should not be at the cost of having hundreds of lives, innocent lives, civilians lost. We -- we have to -- that's another reason why there should be some kind of dialogue and -- and negotiations taking place all -- with all sides to try to de-escalate the situation (inaudible).

TAPPER: Quickly turning to U.S. politics -- quickly turning to U.S. politics. Vice President Harris is making a push this week to try to track black male voters. How concerned are you that black men are not going to turn out in the numbers for her that they turned out for Joe Biden for example and that might cause her the election?

MEEKS: Well, I think that we've seen already from the time that she became a nominee to where Joe Biden was at the time. She's tremendously increased that increased those numbers. And also I think that what she's doing is -- is she go -- she's going to black men where they are. And I think what the black men are basically doing are asking questions as to what she have done and what she will do.

And I think that that's what she's addressing and this recent turn out in regards to black men. And they also, you know, want to say this, that, you know, if you take a look at black men who are most likely to support Donald Trump for example, they're also the least likely to vote.

And so as opposed to looking at just black registered voters, when you look at those who will vote or come out especially black men, you will see that they will vote for the Vice President. And in fact, black men will vote, you know, more for the Vice President than anybody else other than black women. And so, I think that it cements the important saying -- saying to black men who just have some questions to answer their questions.

And I think that's exactly what the Vice President is doing. She's saying what she has done and what she will do, which is significant and important.

TAPPER: Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York, thank you so much, sir. Good to see you as always.

Coming up next, a last-minute push to save a life and delay an execution, this week in Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:46:28]

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, a last-minute push to spare the life of a Texas man set to be executed on Thursday. Robert Roberson was convicted of murdering his two-year-old daughter in 2002. The case was predicated on -- at the time on what was then called shaken baby syndrome. But even the detective who investigated Roberson now says he thinks Roberson is likely innocent. CNN's Ed Lavandera is live for us in Dallas. And Ed you spoke -- you spoke with this man on death row. Tell us what he told you.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Robert Roberson insists that he did not kill his two-year-old daughter back in 2002. He's asking the Texas Governor Greg Abbott to spare his life. And at the heart of this is the testimony that prosecutors put on for medical experts who testified that two-year-old Nikki had signs of abuse that the -- the symptoms that she showed up with at the hospital when she was brought there was consistent with abuse, the brain bleeding and head injuries.

But advocates for Robert Roberson say that since then, medical research has proven that there can be situations where other medical explanations can be attributed for causing those kinds of symptoms and essentially what they say is that Nikki had pneumonia that had progressed into a sepsis and if those conditions mimic of something very similar to what appears as abuse in this cases.

Now, Roberson has garnered the support of the Inner Sense Project, bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers, 80 in all, as well as the former detective who sent him to death row. We spoke with Roberson last week, just days before he's scheduled to be executed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Why should people believe that you didn't kill your daughter?

ROBERT ROBERSON, DEATH ROW INMATE: Because I didn't, you know. We can't make a person believe it if you know stuff, you know. But I carried her to the hospital and stuff, you know. I didn't have nothing to hide.

LAVANDERA: Why do you think you were convicted?

ROBERSON: Just because I couldn't explain what happened to her. That said you're guilty. And that way I was acting funny because of my autism. I didn't even know I had autism until I was here.

LAVANDERA: Did you love your daughter? ROBERSON: Yes sir. I loved her. And I -- right now you said, was I prepared? I might not have been pre -- prepared like I should have been, you know.

LAVANDERA: Right.

ROBERSON: But yes, I did love her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And Jake, there is a court hearing scheduled for tomorrow morning in the east Texas City where he was convicted, part of the last-ditch efforts here in the remaining days to try to spare Roberson's life. Jake?

TAPPER: Ed Lavandera in Dallas, Texas, thanks so much.

[17:49:00]

Coming up next, one of the detectives who helped put Roberson behind bars, why he believes Roberson is likely innocent. He'll tell us why live, next.

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TAPPER: We're back with the last-ditch efforts to save Robert Roberson, whose attorney say, he was wrongfully convicted of killing his two-year-old daughter, Nikki, in 2002. Let's bring in Brian Wharton. Brian Wharton is the former detective who helped send Roberson to prison. But Brian you have since expressed regret in your role and what you -- what you view was a narrowly focused investigation and you believe that his life should be spared. Tell us -- tell us why.

BRIAN WHARTON, FORMER PALESTINE, TEXAS, LEAD DETECTIVE: That is correct. Our investigate -- our investigation was -- was -- was narrow. We came to an emergency room where there was filed hurt, frantic nature of that gathering around her nurses and doctors. And it's -- it's an emotional moment, you know. Everybody wants to understand why a child, a beautiful young child like this is hurt and who's responsible.

At the time, Robert was in the emergency room with his child. He presented as in -- in not in typical fashion, not what you would expect from someone who's child was in such dire straits. He was pretty plain spoken, no emotion, matter of fact in his answers. And so it drew the attention of the hospital staff. And then when we arrived on scene, they shared their concerns with us and we experienced with that same thing from Robert.

And then we went on to -- to conduct our investigation with him as the focus because that's where everything was pointing and, you know, when the child was -- Nikki was moved to Dallas, to Children's Hospital the information we received from that hospital just added more. It confirmed that this was an abusive event and that the father, the one -- well they didn't say the father but the one most likely responsible was the one closest to her at the time and that was only Robert. He was the only one there, at the time.

[17:55:22]

TAPPER: But you've since found out that -- that, A, the -- the -- the daughter, Nikki, had a lot of health issues that might have been why she died. And that -- and that, B, that Robert has autism and that's maybe why he didn't present the way he normally would've?

WHARTON: Correct, yes. Yes, these are things that have been learned since. We -- I think we kind of new that there was something different about Robert by the time we had done all our interviews. But the expectation was then, you know, that's -- that's the defense issued a raise. And then --

TAPPER: It sounds -- it sounds like something that the government --

WHARTON: -- the science that we used though has --

TAPPER: Yes, go ahead.

WHARTON: No, you go ahead.

TAPPER: Was it because of this science of shaken baby syndrome, a -- a lot of people have said that it's -- it was diagnosed or -- or used to -- to -- too much, too often 20 years ago and -- and that while it does happen, it doesn't happen as -- as often as people then suggested it did.

WHARTON: Yes. So, you know, the time that this was happening, there was this triad, that if you saw these three things, it was as simple as math. This is shaken baby syndrome and -- and it's your cause of injury and -- and that's what happened here. We saw -- the triad was seen, the -- the -- the diagnosis was made and that's information that was shared with us and that's what we went forward with.

And how -- in the intervening years they have come to understand that -- that's not the case. That these three indicators can be accompanying many other causes of illness or injury within the child. And so, essentially where were at now is were at a place where everything that we rely on for a conviction has been debunked, you know, is junk science.

And so, if, you know, I think if we were to bring the same set of facts forward for a case now, it would be an entirely different outcome. It certainly wouldn't be a death penalty case which is where we are now as the only one in the United States.

TAPPER: Brian Wharton, thank you. I hope Governor Abbott was listening to you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Finally, in our Law and Justice Lead, at least six new lawsuits have been filed today against musician Sean "Diddy" Combs accusing him of sexual assault against men, women and a 16-year-old boy. Diddy is currently in federal custody. He's awaiting trial on counts of racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking and more. He is pleaded not guilty.

[18:00:10]

The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.