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Campaigns Hit Swint States; Bezos Defends Non-Endorsement; Jamie Harrison is Interviewed about the Presidential Race; McDonald's Resumes Selling Quarter Pounder. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 29, 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 REPORTER: Suggest that Trump will do better than the average, or actually too good for Trump.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Interesting day to look at it. And, of course, we talk about 2016 and 2020. We have had a big election since then.

ENTEN: That's exactly right. So, you know, if the idea is that maybe the pollsters have, in fact, been making adjustments, you might have seen it in 2022. And what do we see in 2022 in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Well, it turns out that the average poll in those states actually underestimated Democrats by four points. It underestimated democrats by four points.

And I want to apply that to the electoral map because of it turns out that the polls underestimate Donald Trump - or underestimated the Democrats, excuse me, like they did in 2022, what happens? Well, Kamala Harris wins a sweep because she wins all these Great Lake battleground states, she wins down in the southeast, and she wins down in the southwest and she gets the 319 electoral votes.

The bottom line is this, dear audience and Mr. Berman, I think a lot of folks are sort of counting in that Donald Trump will, in fact, be underestimated by the polls. But when I'm looking at the evidence, I think you got a hold on a second. Maybe that'll happen. Maybe it will happen. But I think that there are folks who are underestimated the idea that maybe Kamala Harris will be underestimated by the polls, at least a week out.

BERMAN: A public service announcement from our senior data reporter Harry Enten.

Thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, the two campaigns responding in strikingly different tones on the Trump rally speaker who called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage and joked about black people and watermelons.

Kamala Harris and J.D. Vance responded this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We understand the opportunity that we have before us to turn the page on the fear and divisiveness that have characterized our politics for a decade.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And my own view on this is, look, again, I haven't seen the joke. I - I, you know, maybe - maybe it's a stupid, racist joke, as you said. Maybe it's not. I haven't seen it. I'm not going to comment on the specifics so the joke. But I think that we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America. I'm just - I'm so over it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining me now, political strategist and Trump 2020 board member, Madison Gesiotto, and CNN political commentator Maria Cardona.

Thank you both for being here.

Madison, I'll start with you,

Vance, you heard him there, telling voters they should just brush off the racist joke, stop getting so upset, after the campaign has already tried to distance itself from that particular joke.

Is this the closing argument you want the campaign to be making a week until the election?

MADISON GESIOTTO, TRUMP 2020 BOARD MEMBER: Well, I think the campaign has to be out there making a closing argument about the issues that voters care about most about the economy, about the border, about, you know, what's going on internationally when we talk about the Middle East, or we talk about the war in Ukraine and Russia. I mean people want to see peace across the world, especially in many of the swing states like Michigan, where they've isolated themselves from the Kamala Harris campaign. A lot of people in the Muslim community not supporting her that may have otherwise.

And so, I think there are a lot of issues that President Trump should be piggybacking on right now about his successes from 2017 to 2020, talking about what he was able to do for the American people and what he's going to do in the next four years if elected.

I think you're seeing similar concerns coming out of Kamala Harris' super PAC that are putting out statements saying you shouldn't be focusing on this purely negative character attack on Donald Trump. The most effective messaging for Kamala Harris and her campaign is calling contrast messaging, talking about abortion, talking about the economy. And so I think it's a big mistake on her front as well to be continuing to talk about what went on at this rally. Well, obviously, people don't support this. You could see in the room people were appalled by these jokes. It wasn't the venue for it. I don't think it was OK at all.

But again, I don't know necessarily if this is going to swing the needle for people who are really concerned about, you know, putting food on the table, for people who are concerned about energy prices, for people who are concerned about the border and what's gone on in their communities as a result.

SIDNER: Maria, is racist and misogynistic rhetoric by the Trump campaign the October surprise that Democrats can play off of?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it certainly is that, Sara. And if Republicans don't think that this is going to move the needle, then they have not talked to any of the Puorto Ricans (ph), any of the Latinos, any of the women, any of the black voters who were all the subject of horrid insults at that Madison Square Garden rally that the Trump campaign had. And so that's why you see voters all in battleground states and all over the country, frankly, telling all of their friends and neighbors and family to go out and vote for Kamala Harris because they understand that the vitriol, the hatred, the misogyny, the racism, the white supremacy that was all on display - and that's nothing new, frankly, coming from Trump world, is not something that American voters want. They want to turn the page and they are looking at Kamala Harris, who is focused on the future. She has a to-do list where she's going to solve the issues that Americans really care about, the economy, health, reproductive rights, and, yes, democracy, versus Donald Trump, who is focused and obsessed with retribution, with vengeance, stooped over, looking at his enemies list to see how he can sic the military on Americans.

[08:35:20]

And that is not something that the American voter wants. They're going to turn the page. They're going to get away from the chaos, the vitriol, the cruelty, and they're going to focus on the agenda that Kamala Harris has for the American people, which is focused on optimism, on hope, on bringing people together and on being the president for everyone, as opposed to just those who voted for her.

SIDNER: I do - I would be remiss if I didn't mention this because after what we saw happening at Madison Square Garden, Elon Musk is getting in on the misogynistic train, playing on the c-word in this latest ad, his pro-Trump super PAC shared on X.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warning, this ad contains multiple instances of the c-word. Viewer discretion is advised.

Kamala Harris is a c-word. You heard that right, a big old c-word. In fact, all of the other c-words think she's the biggest c-word of them all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Madison, who was this supposed to appeal to? What - what are you - what are they doing here?

GESIOTTO: I have no idea on what they're doing on that one. It certainly doesn't appeal to me as a woman voter. But at the same time, you know, we talk about minorities. Kamala Harris' campaign continuing to hemorrhage support with many minority communities. It is a concern. And I don't think to just say, oh, it's all, you know, rainbows and butterflies because she's different than Donald Trump is the answer.

I mean my husband's black. My family's black. They're supporting Donald Trump because of the economy. They're supporting Donald Trump because of the border. And so, you look across the country and there are many people who feel the same way who were hoping maybe for a contrasting message, for more policy details. The polling continues to reflect that many minorities and specifically swing voters and in swing states want to hear more about her policy proposals, don't feel comfortable with what she's said so far on some of her flip-flops. And I don't think she's provided them with the answer to that.

And so, when it comes to next Tuesday, it's going to be down to the margins. It could potentially come down just to Pennsylvania. And so, I think they both need to be out there fighting for those same voters and, of course, pushing their basis to turn out as well.

SIDNER: Maria, I'll let you get in the last word.

CARDONA: So, yes, Kamala Harris is absolutely continuing to fight for every single vote. And you see in the latest polling that she is where she needs to be and more with Latino voters, with black voters. She is absolutely where she needs to be with women, as well as she's continuing to fight for men.

But if you don't think that any of what Donald Trump is saying and all of his allies who are focused on the kind of misogyny that you just showed, Sara, if you don't think that that's moving the needle, then Republicans are not paying attention because voters are sick of it. They have had it. They have had it with the chaos and with the cruelty and with the insults. They want someone who's going to focus on their future. And Kamala Harris has been the one the focus on those economic solutions.

Kamala Harris is ready to get to work. Donald Trump is ready to get even and Americans are going to reject that wholeheartedly in this election.

SIDNER: Maria Cardona, Madison Gesiotto, thank you both.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Kamala Harris is laying out her closing argument today at the same site where Donald Trump urged his supporters to fight like hell on January 6th against the 2020 election results, fueling the attack on the U.S. Capitol that followed. And new reporting on what the Harris campaign is planning for this major speech.

So, should you start reconsidering your Halloween costume with just two days to go from the big day? I ask because Google is now announcing the top trending Halloween costumes of the year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:01]

BOLDUAN: In a rare opinion piece in his own paper, "Washington Post" owner Jeff Bezos is explaining and defending his decision to block the editorial board from endorsing a presidential candidate, breaking a 36-year tradition. The move faced immediate backlash by way of some top reporters resigning according to NPR and at least 200,000 people canceling their subscriptions. Bezos says that politics is not at play in his decision. Here's what he said in part in the op-ed, "what presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision and it's the right one."

CNN's Hadas Gold is following all of this, what's been said, what motivated it, and now what's come of it after the fact. What are you learning?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, these are the first public comments we're hearing from Jeff Bezos since this sort of surprise non-endorsement came out. And "The Washington Post" giving it a nice splash here in the paper where the headline is called "The Hard Truth: Americans Don't Trust the News Media."

And that is essentially Jeff Bezos' argument. He's saying that people have lost trust in the media, they believe the media is biased, and that these types of endorsements only contribute to that perception of bias when they're trying to rebuild the trust.

I want to read part of what he says. He says, "I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it. That was inadequate planning and not some intentional strategy. I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here."

And that's because of that meeting we saw on Friday between former President Donald Trump and members of the Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' space company. And there was a perception that this non-endorsement was coming at the same day of this meeting.

There was also a meeting of the editorial board yesterday, led by David Shipley, the opinions editor. And he is saying that he had tried to convince Jeff Bezos to still make this endorsement. He said that Jeff Bezos first expressed doubt back in September with what he called an arched eyebrow. But David Shipley said to the team, I failed in trying to convince him. He did try to convince them until the very last minute.

[08:45:01] We also know of at least three members of "The Post's" editorial board resigning from the editorial board. That's nearly one-third of the entire editorial board. It's a ten-member editorial board. They are not resigning from their jobs at "The Washington Post," but they are resigning from their position. But you see all three of them. And actually, David Hoffman, right there, he just won a Pulitzer Prize, actually, for editorial writing about how autocrats will try to use digital means to further their power, the dictatorial power. And he told me in an interview yesterday, he said, "we face a terrible, terrible choice, I believe a looming autocracy. I don't want to be silent about it. I don't want 'The Post' to be silent about it. And the fact that we're not going to endorse is a degree of silence I cannot stand."

And we're seeing this very swift backlash also from the readers, from the subscribers. The - NPR is reporting that some 200,000 subscribers have canceled their subscriptions. Now, Shipley was asked about this in the meeting by members of the editorial staff. He said he didn't have the numbers. "The Washington Post," though, notably has declined to comment on this. That means they're also not denying that that number of subscribers have canceled. That's significant. You know, a lot of newspapers are struggling right now, and Jeff Bezos is talking about how they need to increase their subscriber numbers and increase that trust. But, obviously, this endorsement has deeply affected that.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Hadas, great reporting. Thank you so much,

John.

BERMAN: All right, a huge day in this political campaign. Donald Trump is about to hold a news conference. Will he apologize for the racist jokes about Puerto Ricans at his big rally.

Vice President Harris about to give a big speech on The Ellipse in Washington, D.C., the site where Donald Trump spoke on January 6th during his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

With us now, Jamie Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Mr. Chairman, thanks so much for being with us.

Again, Donald Trump about to give this news conference at Mar-a-Lago. Do you think he should apologize for what was said at his rally about Puerto Rican, and what difference do you think it makes if he does?

JAMIE HARRISON, CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Well, John, I don't think Donald Trump's going to apologize. And, listen, it's because he has enabled this type of dialogue. You know, that MSG rally was - it was filled with bigotry, hatred, division, misogyny, racism. Everything that you could find.

You know, just a few years ago any presidential candidate that was just even affiliated with that type of vile - vile would be eliminated from even being considered. But this is who Donald Trump is. And the American people really need to ask themselves a question. Do we want four more years of this? These are the people that he hangs out with.

So, don't be shocked folks, this is who Donald Trump is. And this is what the type of stuff that you hear at his rallies. This is the type of stuff that you see all the time. America is better than this. It is so much better than this. And we don't need to go back. We won't go back. We're going to close the chapter on Donald Trump and move forward with joy and hope and unity and all of those things. Those are the things that - that Kamala Harris is fighting for each and every day. You would never hear that type of vile coming out of her mouth. You would never see her affiliate with those type of people, John.

BERMAN: I am part of the, you can't read too much into early voting club. A proud member, in fact, of that club. But I know, Chairman, that you are excited about what you're seeing in Michigan. Why?

HARRISON: Well, I'm excited what I'm seeing across the country. I'm excited - you know, early vote is going. It's going full - you know, everybody's getting out there. They're cashing their ballots early. We're seeing also a large number of women go out and vote early. And we know that there's a big gap right now in terms of gender division because women are also fed up. They are - and those of us who support the women in our lives are fed up.

I mean, for the first time in 50 years, John, grandmothers and great grandmothers have had more rights than their granddaughters and their daughters. You know, we are a country that is supposedly always progressing, but since Donald Trump has been - was president, we started regressing, moving back. And he talks about making America great again, saying that America's greatness is in her past. But we know America's greatness is in our future. And that future means more rights for the American people, not less.

And so, I believe that looking at the numbers and the way that they are, we are in a really good place, but it's going to be close.

BERMAN: So -

HARRISON: And they can't take anything for granted. And we've got to make sure everybody gets out to - to have their voice be heard.

BERMAN: You're excited about the voting numbers among women early. But I do have to say, you know, live by early vote prognostication, you know, die by early vote prognostication. And I point you to Nevada.

John Ralston, who everyone knows, does such a great job within the Nevada independent, talking about the early vote there. By his count right now, Republicans who have returned ballots, 40,000 vote lead for Republicans right now in Nevada among those ballot returns, 5.7 percent.

[08:50:08]

You know, he says this has never happened, not even close in recent times. Why is it happening?

HARRISON: Well, listen, I mean the Republicans this year have pushed early vote. And so you have seen early vote numbers for even Republicans go up. But regardless of that, I am very, very confident in our get out the vote operation. I think it is the best that we've had in the Democratic Party in generations. We have had people on the ground in many of these battleground states not - more - more than a year.

I mean, remember, John, these same battleground states were the battleground states in the midterms. The battleground states in which we won Senate races. The battleground states in which we won governors races. So, I'm very, very confident in our operation.

You know, the culinary workers there in Las Vegas have had the biggest operation they've had in their history. I'm going out to Nevada this week in order to make sure that we're pushing. I'll probably end up again - I was just in Michigan. I'll probably end up again in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. So, we're not taking anything for granted and we're pushing. And I believe in this very close election. It is our ground operation. A 50 state strategy that is going to make the difference.

BERMAN: Just for the record, in 2022, you won a Senate race in Nevada. You did lose the governor's mansion there. And the early voting numbers, according to Ralston two years ago, looked better for Democrats, at least at this point. But we'll see. As I said, I'm a proud member of the don't read too much into early voting.

Chairman Jamie Harrison, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

Sara.

HARRISON: Thank you, John.

SIDNER: All right, new allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs. The disturbing new claims in a civil lawsuit just filed involving children.

And we check in on the World Series where the Dodgers are one win away from clinching their eighth World Series. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:56:27]

SIDNER: There have been recalls this year on everything from toaster waffles to bologna meat, to burritos and Quarter Pounders to try and keep people from getting sick or worse. The latest was an E. Coli outbreak at McDonald's across 13 states which left one person dead and 75 sick. And now McDonald's has determined it was the slivered onion. That was the culprit. And they are now serving the popular Quarter Pounder again without the onion after its beef patties from Colorado tested negative for E. Coli.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is on call for us today.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDIAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

SIDNER: Sanja, when you look - looked at this, did the USDA agree that it wasn't the McDonald's beef patties that were the source of the E. Coli?

GUPTA: Yes, pretty much. I mean, I think the thing that they were sort of pointing at was when you look at these fast food restaurants, as a general rule, when it comes to the meat, they're going to be cooking this at pretty high temperatures. So, I got a Quarter Pounder with cheese here, Sara, first thing in the morning just to show you.

SIDNER: Oh.

GUPTA: So, it was - it was not the beef so much as they think it was the slivered onions on here.

SIDNER: Yes.

GUPTA: By the way, those are slivered onions, in case you didn't know. Those are those thinly sliced onions.

But when you - when they cook meat at these fast food restaurants, they're cooking it typically at temperatures high enough that it's going to take care of things like E. Coli. So, the recommendation, if you go look at this, would be 160 degrees to kill E. Coli. McDonald's cooking temperature is 175 degrees.

So, when I heard that there were several restaurants that seemed to be the source of this outbreak, unless they all started cooking their beef at lower temperatures, it had to be something else. And I think that's what sort of led the investigation towards these slivered onions. And in many places, I think around 900 restaurants, you won't have slivered onions on those Quarter Pounders for some time, until they can rectify that outbreak.

SIDNER: Sanjay, I thought you were going to take a bite out of that at 8:57, and that was going to be breaking news that Dr. Gupta is eating Quarter Pounders before 9:00 in the morning.

GUPTA: We had - we had to go buy this last night, so it's definitely even less appetizing than normal.

SIDNER: Don't eat it right now.

Anyway, this morning, you know, we seem to be hearing about this more and more. Is that because this is happening more and more?

GUPTA: I think - I think it's a couple things. I think there are more outbreaks, certainly, but I think, you know, if you look at the way we investigate these sort of outbreaks, meaning the USDA and others, they're far more sophisticated at it. If you take a look at the numbers overall, there are a lot of people who get some sort of foodborne illness every year. I mean in the - in the, you know, 48 million illnesses a year, 128,000 people hospitalized, 3,000 deaths. Putting this together, like, where did this start, where did it come from, what's the source, has always been challenging. But now, I think, they've gotten much better with genomics to be able to say, hey, there's a gene match here. Let's start to figure out what all these various restaurants have in common. So, they can actually target these outbreaks more.

When you look at these numbers, you realize the majority - vast majority of people who get a foodborne illness, they'll never really be discovered because they sort of just take care of it at home themselves.

SIDNER: Right.

GUPTA: The top foods, incidentally, for potential foodborne illnesses, turkey, fruits, chicken and pork. Those are going to be the most likely culprits. And there are several types of pathogens that can potentially be exposed - you could be exposed to, and including salmonella, that's more common in the summer months, norovirus, that's the thing that people associate with cruise ships.

And when you look at these pathogens overall, you got to keep in mind that just a small amount, just a very small amount could actually make people sick.

[09:00:05]

And that's why there's so much of a focus on this.

SIDNER: Well, you did give us some good advice at the beginning.