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Harris Courts Black Voters; Harris Ramps Up Media Blitz; Harris Calls Trump "Unstable and Unhinged"; Trump Responds to Harris' Call on His Medical Records; U.S. Troops Arrive in Israel; Afghan Man Arrested in Foiled Terror Plot in France; Starbucks Scales Back Discounts and Promotions. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 15, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA CORRESPONDENT: And that can actually move the overall electorate more than ginormous shifts among a considerably smaller part of the electorate, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You can just do the math. More than double the impact, depending on how it all spaces itself out. Why?

ENTEN: Why? Why? Why? Why? I think that this gets at a pretty good reason why. All right. Abortion is the top voting issue. We're going to look at Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, on average, where 80 percent or north of the voters are white. Look at this. The percentage of women who say that abortion is the top voting issue come November, 27 percent. Look at this gender gap among men in those states, it's just 7 percent.

I think what we're talking about here is after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, white women in the suburban areas, in these key battleground states, have very much turned against Republicans. And we're seeing in the polling right now, because Kamala Harris is doing historically well, at least this century, for a Democratic candidate among white women, and of course they make up a very large portion of the electorate. If she wins, it could ultimately be because she did so well with white women, John.

BERMAN: As we said, big shifts with an F there. Harry Enten, thank you. Thank you, my friend.

ENTEN: Thank you very much.

BERMAN: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, jumping off of that, and another aspect that has been coming up with this election and the issues late in this race, new this morning, Donald Trump responds to -- is responding now to the calls from Kamala Harris to release his medical records. We'll tell you what he has to say about it.

And Vice President Harris is continuing her efforts to appeal to black voters with the next stop in her media blitz tour sitting down with Charlamagne Tha God in a critical battleground state. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Exactly three weeks from Election Day and Kamala Harris is ramping up her media blitz in Detroit today. She has a radio town hall hosted by Charlamagne the God. Tomorrow, the Democratic nominee sits down with Fox News. Joining me now, CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter. Good to see you, Brian.

What kind of audience is she trying to reach? Because we have been noticing that she has been talking to a lot -- of sort, of the black online media.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, she calls herself the underdog. And the interview blitz that we're seeing reflects that. You know, last week it was The View and Howard Stern and Call Her Daddy. This week, so far, she's going on The Shade Room, which is an online tabloid with a huge black audience. She's having this town hall with Charlamagne Tha God today in Detroit.

Remember, Trump disparaged Detroit last week. Now, Harris is there doing a nationwide radio event. So, she's clearly trying to reach a number of different audiences, whether it's going on Fox News, going into an adversarial environment or going on the radio with Charlamagne Tha God. I think it's a leave no stone unturned strategy.

And in my conversations with Harris aides, there's something really interesting going on here. Harris knows that news junkies are already going to go vote. I mean, a lot of us news junkies already have voted or have a plan to vote. But what Harris is focusing on are people that are more skeptical or more cynical, people who might not be tuned in and people who might frankly be avoiding the news. That's why she's going on podcasts like Call Her Daddy, trying to reach people where they are and not assuming that they're going to watch, you know, CNN all day, even though lots of us do,

SIDNER: It's interesting because for so long Donald Trump has criticized her for not doing interviews. And now, she has turned the tables, criticizing him for avoiding mainstream media. And over the past month, he -- of course, he pulled out of the 60 Minutes interview and she's repeated this sort of again and again, declined another debate. Is this a strategy that we're going to see going forward where she's really on the attack as opposed to sort of sending this message of joy?

STELTER: Well, I think that's absolutely right. Harris aides are emphasizing this point, right, that Trump is staying inside his right- wing media bubble, at the same time, Harris is trying to pop that bubble by making her first ever appearance on Fox News.

Trump, for example, taped an interview yesterday with Glenn Beck, the Christian radio host, you know, hitting on religious themes, but also hitting on some of these very dark themes we've heard from Trump about retribution. So, those kinds of interviews keep airing. Trump really is in that bubble. Clearly, he believes that's the right strategy for him. Harris, maybe because she portrays herself as the underdog, is taking more risks right now.

SIDNER: You have read Bob Woodward's new book that is out this morning and in it, he has this quote where Mark Milley calls Trump a fascist. You've read the book. Can you put this in some context for us and give us some idea of all that is in the book named "War," you're seeing it there.

STELTER: That's right. This book is largely about the Biden administration, but the headlines about Trump really stand out. Mark Milley, Trump's former Joint Chiefs Chairman, is using Bob Woodward to send a message, and it's a chilling message on page 179 of this book. You know, part of the quote has been publicized in recent days. People have been talking about it. Milley calling Trump a fascist to the core.

The other part of the quote is also really striking. Milley also says to Woodward, we have got to stop him. You have got to stop him. Woodward says that the you is referring to the American press writ large. To have the former Joint Chiefs Chairman calling the former president and want to be next president of fascists is front page news. And I'm glad it's been treated that way in the last few days.

We have to talk seriously in this country about what fascism is and what it means to have Milley making this morning. It'll be interesting to see, by the way, if Milley does TV interviews or does other press, because so far, he's only using Woodward to get this message out.

And, Sara, this morning is not getting through to pro Trump media, it's being completely ignored. So, I wonder if Harris will bring it up on Fox tomorrow. When she goes on appearances like Fox, she has a chance to show and tell people that are not hearing this stuff about it for the first time.

[08:40:00]

SIDNER: Yes, that's exactly right. We will wait and see with that big interview coming up with Bret Baier on Fox News. Brian Stelter, thank you so much for running through all of that with us. Appreciate it. John.

BERMAN: I was just reading about this on reliable sources written by Brian Stelter that published like two minutes ago.

SIDNER: Literally.

BERMAN: It was great to read Brian and to see him live on TV on CNN News Central. Brian talks about where the candidates are saying things, what they are saying is so essential with, what, 22 days left until the election. And for the first time, and this is notable, Vice President Harris chose to use one of her events to play sound of Donald Trump to her supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: I will show you one example of Donald Trump's worldview and intentions. Please roll the clip.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The worst people are the enemies from within.

HARRIS: So, you heard his words. You heard his words coming from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. She went on to call him unstable and unhinged. With us now Former Republican strategist Lee Carter and Democratic strategist and CNN Political Commentator Maria Cardona. And one of the reasons I say it's so important to listen to what they say is there's limited real estate between now and Election Day, 22 days left. You only have so much time. So, what you choose to do and say is so important.

So, Maria choosing to focus on the, the enemy within, calling Trump unhinged rather than what we were hearing around the convention just after that message of joy. So, why this? Why now?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, because I think that she has to remind the American people just how much of an existential threat Donald Trump is to the future of this country in his own words. You know, you just did a report with Brian Stelter, who was talking about how General Milley, who worked for him, who worked alongside Trump, and so many others who have worked alongside Trump at his side in the White House, in the national security realm, have also come out to endorse Vice President Harris and have underscored just how dangerous Donald Trump is.

I think so many voters have heard so much noise about this that they perhaps don't take it seriously, that they perhaps don't think that, you know, that would actually be the case if he gets near the Oval Office. So, I do think it's important for her to underscore that, in his own words, what he would do, and that we have to take him seriously.

But it also does not take her away from her additional message of what she's going to do for the American people and how she's going to be the president for all Americans and how, yes, how she's going to bring everyone together. She always talks about how she believes there is more that unites us than divides us. So, I don't think it's an either or, it's a this and that message for her in these closing days of the election, John.

BERMAN: Well to that point, Lee, am I wrong? Is it not a choice? And if it is a choice, is she making the right one?

LEE CARTER, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT AND FORMER REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND POLLSTER: I don't think it's the right choice. In fact, I think it's a very, very poor choice on her part. Now, I understand that what he said, taken in the context in the way it is is outrageous, right? But I think people are sort of -- have already weighed that into their vote. People have said, it's -- you know, he says these outrageous things when he was president, he didn't actually do anything that scared me. In fact, I felt better under him, and those people who are going to vote for him are going to vote for him anyway. And those people who are being outraged by it are outraged already. And so, it doesn't do anything.

When you talk to undecided voters, the issue that they have right now is what is Kamala Harris going to do different in her presidency than she's done for the last four years. It's not about how unhinged Donald Trump is. And the most effective criticism that she's had so far with undecided voters is not saying that he's a threat to democracy, it's saying that he is a small man with big consequences. It's also been the weird comments.

You could always tell who's winning by who's reacting. By reacting to Donald Trump, it actually puts the focus on Donald Trump not on her. And I think that her other attacks were much, much more effective, and this is a waste of her time.

BERMAN: I will say, and I do want to move on, that Tim Walz said an interesting take on that, which is, he told a crowd, I think it was in Wisconsin, that Donald Trump is talking about you. He said that to the crowd. Donald Trump is talking about you, which is slightly different, right? It's putting it -- you know, it's making people think that it has a direct relationship to them.

CARTER: Well, I think what he was talking about, right, was the -- was outside agitators in -- that might can come into the election. So, he might be talking to you if you're somebody who's going to go on and protest the election and say, you know, be the equivalent of the left version of January 6th. Maybe then he's talking to you.

BERMAN: But to be clear, he mentioned Adam Schiff as one of these people who was a radical left lunatic, in his words. So, it's not exactly clear who he was talking about.

Maria, Lee said something interesting, that if you're reacting, you can see who thinks they're losing by how they are reacting. OK. Donald Trump has reacted a lot over the last 48 hours to Vice President Harris calling on him to release his medical records, questioning his fitness.

[08:45:00]

He -- you know, he put out a tweet two days ago overnight. He mentioned it on stage. And then, tonight or over the last few hours, he put out this tweet and I want to try to read it if I can. It uses words that are a little hard for me to pronounce.

He's talking about Vice President Harris' medical record. According to her doctor's report, she suffers from urticaria defined as a rash of round red wells on the skin that itch intensely sometimes with dangerous swelling. She also has allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis, a very messy and dangerous situation. These are deeply serious conditions that clearly impact her functioning.

I guess it's not the what he's saying here that I find interesting, it's the fact that he's saying it at all. It does seem like she got under his skin here.

CARDONA: If we're going to measure who's winning and who's losing by the extent of the reaction to the other candidate, Donald Trump has already lost. Because one of the things that Kamala Harris is so good at is, yes, getting under his skin. And, you know, maybe, she is a rash for him, and maybe that's what he's talking about.

And so, I think that every single day that he lashes out, which is every single day and almost every minute of every day, you can tell he is nervous. You can tell his campaign is nervous about where they are. Because, frankly, by small -- very small margin, but she is ahead. She's ahead in the national polls. She's ahead in a lot of these swing states, and there's no question that there's still a lot more that she needs to be doing. But we are seeing her doing it. She's going, you know, everywhere, wherever she needs to go to meet the voters where they are.

And again, she is talking about all of the messages that matter. And democracy is a huge message that matters to voters. And that is exactly what she's going to be focusing on from here to Election Day.

BERMAN: I will say, you know, you call it a campaign that's not nervous a losing campaign. Every campaign should be nervous by definition at every moment. Lee Carter, Maria Cardona, thank you both very much. Kate.

CARDONA: Thanks, John.

BOLDUAN: So, an advanced team of U.S. military personnel and the first components of the THAAD battery have arrived in Israel, that's according to the Pentagon, about that powerful American anti-missile system. Israeli officials, at the same time, are assuring -- reassuring U.S. leaders that a counterstrike on Iran would be limited to military targets rather than nuclear facilities, which was feared.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem with the very latest for us and joins us now. Jeremy, what more are you hearing about this?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, as recently as a week ago, the Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, told me that everything was on the table as it relates to Israel's response to Iran's ballistic missile attack about a couple of weeks ago. But now, a person familiar with the matter is telling our colleague Kevin Liptak that indeed Israel has conveyed to the United States that it will not strike oil or nuclear targets inside of Iran, but will rather focus its fire on military targets as it prepares for its retaliation. And that is notable, of course, because the United States has brought heavy pressure to bear on Israel not to attack the nuclear facilities in particular of Iran, but also the oil facilities because it could be viewed as so escalatory.

Now, Israeli officials haven't officially confirmed this, and in fact, the Israeli prime minister's office, in the wake of this report, said that we quote, "listen to the opinions of the United States, but that we will make our final decisions based on our national interests." So, certainly not singing from the same songbook, at least not publicly, but privately, it appears that those assurances have been conveyed.

And it comes, of course, as the United States has offered to send Israel a significant anti-air missile defense system, the THAAD system. And in fact, components of that have already begun to arrive in Israel in recent days, including U.S. military personnel who will operate that system. More components, more U.S. personnel, about a hundred troops altogether, are set to arrive in Israel in the coming days, according to the U.S. military. They won't say exactly when it will be fully operational, other than to say that that will happen in the near future.

But obviously, another sign that we are getting closer to Israel actually taking this step of carrying out its retaliation against Iran for that ballistic missile barrage.

BOLDUAN: Great to see you, Jeremy. Thank you so much for the reporting. John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, an investigation into an alleged terror plot planned for Election Day. And, giant inflatable pumpkin one, responding officer zero.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:00]

BERMAN: All right. this morning authorities in France have opened an investigation following a foiled Election Day terror plot here in the United States. CNN's Melissa Bell is in Paris this morning. So, what's going on here, Melissa?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we understand is that French authorities, John, have placed under formal investigation now three individuals they took into custody last week, including a 22-year-old Afghan that they believe was preparing some sort of terror plot here in France in the name of ISIS. He'd been scouting out football stadiums, for instance, and shopping centers. Although authorities say he didn't yet have the explosives he needed to carry out his attack.

What is most interesting about what we're hearing from the French are the links between this 22-year-old Afghan, John, and his older brother now. We now understand the 27-year-old Afghan national who was taken into custody by the FBI last week in Oklahoma City.

Now, he was taken into custody after trying to buy AK-47s from undercover FBI agents. And what the FBI have said as part of the indictment, he's now facing several charges, is that they understand that he may have been trying to prepare an attack on a large gathering of people on November 5th. So, timed exactly for the U.S. election.

[08:55:00]

What we've heard from French authorities is that it was as a result of this arrest last week by the FBI in Oklahoma that they acted against his brother here in France, as a result of the communication between the two men. The arrest, the first man, 27-year-old Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, comes even as the FBI and the Department of Justice say they're fully focused, John, on ensuring that the November poll is protected from any foreign attacks. John.

BERMAN: Obviously a lot of concerns. Thank you so much, Melissa Bell. Appreciate it. Sara.

SIDNER: All right. New this morning, North Korea vows to cut off its territory with South Korea, and it does so by blowing up a road near its border. Video shows several explosions near the military demarcation line that separates the countries. The roads were not in use for years, but the symbolic display of aggression comes during a tense time between the two Koreas.

BrucePac, a company that promotes and produces precooked meats and poultry items is recalling 10 million of their products due to possible listeria contamination. The recalled items, which include chicken, salad bowls. and sandwiches were sold at stores like Walmart, Kroger, and Trader Joe's from June 19th to October 8th. While no illnesses have been reported so far, people should not eat these products. Instead, return them to the store for a refund or throw them out.

In a hilarious incident caught on dash cam, Ohio police officers were attacked by a runaway Halloween display. You see it there. The officers were called to the area where they were almost -- well, they kind of were completely swallowed up by the inflatable pumpkin as it blew across the road. Backup arrived and they were able to return the pumpkin -- that is so frustrating when that happens -- back home safely with no officers or pumpkin harmed. Kate.

BOLDUAN: When that happens, like this is a regular occurrence with you?

SIDNER: Do you know my life? It's just the sort of thing that's --

BOLDUAN: Well, if any of us is going to be attacked by a giant inflatable pumpkin, I am putting my money on you.

SIDNER: Hashtag facts first.

BOLDUAN: Does anyone need a pumpkin that large? You --

SIDNER: You know, it just makes me happy. So, yes.

BOLDUAN: It was impressive. I will just -- we'll just say that. OK. OK. Oh, my God. You make me laugh. You make me cry, laugh all the time. OK. Changes are coming to Starbucks. Starbucks discounts to be more specific. And the move may leave customers feeling a little less than thrilled. CNN's Matt Egan has more on this. So, what are the changes and maybe most importantly, why?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Kate, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but --

BOLDUAN: But you are. EGAN: -- I am. Starbucks, they're cutting back on those discounts that we've become accustomed to. CNN has confirmed that the company is scaling back on promotions through its app. Wall Street Journal is reporting that they're not going to be running those broad offers during the holidays. They plan to really do more promotion of their seasonal drinks through advertising.

Now, this is a shift, right? Because earlier this year they were trying to win back customers who were frustrated by higher prices, frustrated by long wait times, by offering buy one get one, by having 50 percent off. But here's the thing, Kate, there's a new boss calling the shots at Starbucks, right? Former Chipotle CEO, Brian Niccol. He's taking the helm a few weeks ago, and this is really one of his first big moves. He's trying to reposition Starbucks as a premium brand, not an online driven business. And so, yes, unfortunately for coffee lovers, that does mean fewer discounts.

BOLDUAN: Well, well, well.

EGAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan's daughters will be furious about this.

EGAN: Not with me though, right?

BOLDUAN: No. I'm going to direct it straight to you. OK. In another kind of vein of this, you've got 7-Eleven and Walgreens, they're both closing down. Lots of stores, lots of locations. Why?

EGAN: Yes, Kate. Because those stores are not making money right now. Let's start with Walgreens. They just announced this morning, they're shutting down 1,200 stores over the next several years, that includes 500 stores that are being shut down over the next year. We don't know the specific locations yet, but we --

BOLDUAN: Yes, because I'm curious, is it buying patterns are changing or they expanded too fast? Like this always kind of the --

EGAN: It could be a little bit of both. Some of the pressure that the drugstore chains are facing right now is more competition from online, particularly from Amazon. They're also facing some problems because there's been falling prescription drug payments.

Now, we don't know the specific Walgreens locations, but one in seven -- by 2027, one in seven of the current stores open are no longer going to be open. And we also just learned the other day about 7- Eleven. 7-Eleven is shutting 444 underperforming stores across North America. Again, we don't know the specifics. They haven't been laid out in terms of which stores, but this represents about 3 percent of the convenience stores around the continent.

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