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Trump Speaks During Campaign Stop In Battleground North Carolina; Economy Shows Strong Growth, At 2.8 Percent In Latest 3 Months; Legal Experts: Supreme Court Vacancies Not Guaranteed; Trump Addresses Biden's "Garbage" Comments; Flash Floods Kill At Least 72, Dozens Missing In Southeast Spain. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 30, 2024 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This election is a choice between whether we'll have four more years -- think of this, four more years of gross incompetence, the most corrupt --

(BOOING)

TRUMP: -- horrible people. These are horrible people. Oops, we should get along with everybody. They're horrible people.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: You know, some people you just can't get along with. You can't.

But whether we're going to have four years of incompetence and failure or whether we'll begin the four greatest years of the history of the country. That's what's going to happen.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And I'm asking you to be excited about the future again. You have to be excited about -- we have a great potential. If we have to go another two days beyond that term, we're not going to have a great -- we have to get this done now because we're not going to have a second chance.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: They'll never be a second chance. It's too far gone. We're really - you know, we ae a failing nation. We are a nation in decline. But don't worry, we will not be a nation in decline for too much longer. I'll tell you.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: We'll be a nation of incline as opposed to decline. But I'm asking you to dream big again. You're going to have to dream big again. It's going to be hard for you to do that because you've gone through a long period.

But we had some great four years. This will be Americas new Golden Age. This will be better than what we had even four years ago.

Remember, we were energy independent. We had everything.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Every problem facing us can be solved, but now the fate of our nation is in your hands. And this is a very important state.

Number one, I love the state. Number two, we've always won. I won the primaries and I won the elections.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And I didn't have to worry --

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: So you know, if you think, 2016, we did great, 2020, we did much better actually, you know? They say, oh, he's a conspiracy theorist. We only got about, what, 12 million more votes, right?

But this is the best of all. This is -- is more enthusiasm than there was for even 2016 or 2020. This is the best --

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: I just saw General Kellogg, wherever he may be backstage. Where is he? Oh, look at general. He's a real general, not like Milley --

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: -- not like not like Kelly, low -- he's a low I.Q. guy.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: But he is a -- this is a real general. He's great.

What he said backstage, "This reminds me of 2016." I said, "Thank you very much." That's a good -- that's a good reminder, isn't it? He's a great guy.

This Tuesday, you have to stand up and you have to tell Kamala --

(BOOING)

TRUMP: -- that you had enough, that you're not going to take it anymore -

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: He said her name correctly.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Not something he does often.

KEILAR: No, it isn't.

Donald Trump there in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina, rallying his base as he's insulting some people who are on his not-so-nice list anymore, including General Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Let's turn now, a new GDP report showing that people are spending and inflation is cooling off in the third quarter, it's actually a sign of strong economic growth less than a week out from Election Day.

And it's also evidenced of a remarkable achievement of a soft landing with the economy front and center for us voters.

SANCHEZ: And CNN's Matt Egan joins us now with more details on how this could impact the election.

Matt, break down these new numbers.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, in stark contrast to what we just heard from former President Trump and what we typically hear from him on the campaign trail, these new numbers do paint a pretty positive picture about this economy.

It just won't be slowed down by high inflation, by high interest rates, by this crazy election cycle. It really is relentless.

So the new numbers out today are on GDP. And that's the broadest measure of the economy. And it showed that the economy grew at a very solid pace of 2.8 percent during the third quarter.

And this was driven, in large part, by everyone at home, right? By consumer spending. Because despite all those concerns that maybe American shoppers are starting to get tapped out, this new report showed that consumer spending was up by a very strong 4 percent during the last quarter.

Now, we also got new numbers out on the jobs market. ADP says the private sector hiring unexpectedly surged this month to 233,000. That was twice as fast as expected. This is the strongest month of job growth for this report in over a year.

Now, we'll have to wait and see whether or not this kind of strength is also mirrored in the more closely watched government jobs report that's due out on Friday.

But still, this is another reminder that the jobs market has been so much more resilient than people had anticipated.

[13:35:05]

In fact, there are a growing number of economists who think that the Fed may have pulled off something pretty rare, a soft landing, right? Taming inflation without wrecking the jobs market.

Former St. Louis Fed in bold, he told CNN that he does think that we are in fact enjoying a soft landing, right? Taming inflation without wrecking the jobs market.

Former St. Louis Fed Jim Bullard, he told CNN that he does think that we are, in fact, enjoying a soft landing right now. Now none of this, none of this is to say that the economy is perfect. There are still real affordability challenges out there when you think about groceries and daycare, car prices and car insurance. There are issues.

But the good news is that the economy continues to grow. The jobs market continues to grow. And that means that wages are up and paychecks are consistently going up at a faster pace than prices.

So as long as that continues, that should help people feel better about things and catch up to where prices are.

SANCHEZ: Matt, we just heard from former President Trump earlier. We heard from Vice President Harris. Both of them making the economy a central argument in their pitch to voters.

How will these numbers ultimately translate to the election, do you think?

EGAN: Well, Boris and Brianna, what's interesting is these two candidates have very different visions for the economy.

Vice President Harris, she's proposed some upgrades to the economy, right? She's talked about more small-business loans. I'm increasing the minimum wage. More tax credits for parents and building more homes. These are essentially upgrades to the existing economy.

But former President Trump, there's really nothing subtle about what he's calling for, much more drastic changes. Right? He wants a massive immigration crackdown. He's talking about mass deportations, across- the-board tariffs.

He wants to extend fully those 2017 tax cuts. And he has laid out a series of tax breaks. As he said, just a few moments ago, this is all designed, in his view, to bring back the American dream and he promised to end inflation.

I think the problem, though, is that a lot of the mainstream economists that I've talked to, they're skeptical that the economy really needs the type of drastic change that he's calling for.

Because, as we just discussed, we have -- the inflation rate has come down. Unemployment remains very low. And so there is some concern out there that some of the changes that Trump has called for could actually backfire.

In particular, tariffs and deportation. There are risks that those types of dramatic changes could actually cause prices to go up even higher.

But listen, the polls do indicate that a big chunk of voters, they do like what they're hearing from former President Trump because he is calling for significant changes.

I just think the question is whether or not those proposals could actually do more harm than good -- Boris and Brianna? KEILAR: Very good questions.

Matt Egan, thank you so much.

We'll be right back. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:42:18]

SANCHEZ: One of the perks of being a U.S. president is the power to shape the nation's legal playbook by filling Supreme Court vacancies. But some legal experts caution the next commander-in-chief may not get that chance because vacancies aren't guaranteed.

KEILAR: That's right. Clarence Thomas is currently the oldest justice. He is 76-years-old, followed by Justices Samuel Alito, at 74, and Sonya Sotomayor, at 70. Chief Justice John Roberts will turn 70 here in just a few months.

We have seen CNN chief Supreme Court analyst, Joan Biskupic, here with us, forever young, to explain why this presidential exercise is not a sure thing.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: No. The part that is a sure thing is what it can do for a president's legacy?

You just referred to Clarence Thomas. He was put on by President George H.W. Bush, who left office in January of 1993. And Clarence Thomas is still serving more than three decades later.

So you know, presidents think of Supreme Court appointments as a key part of their legacy. Think of even Joe Biden, who, in 2022 was able to put on the bench the first African-American woman justice that he likes to take major credit for his contribution to shaping the Supreme Court.

But he's the one who's also said, oh, I suspect the next president will have two vacancies. But the truth is -- you know, as a Supreme Court journalist, I, of course, love to cover these vacancies.

But there's a reality check here. When you look at why people go, they don't go easily. Justices -- I went back and looked at the last 12 vacancies. More than half of them were caused by death or serious illness.

Even in the past four vacancies, two, two, Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died while serving.

So let's just go back a little bit further. Justice Thurgood Marshall, who left the bench in 1991 and was replaced by Clarence Thomas, said, as he was going, I'm old and coming apart. He was about to turn 83.

William Rehnquist, back from that era also died in office. Sandra Day O'Connor was a little bit of an exception. She went when she was only 76 rather than in her 80s as most of them. But she left to care for her husband, who was suffering from Alzheimer's.

So nothing is guaranteed ,even though the justices also look at who's elected. If Donald Trump is elected president, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito might think of it, even though they're youngsters still.

If Kamala Harris is elected, I would think that Sonia Sotomayor would at least think of it? But they all are still young and still -- and senior -- and, in the end, might not go during the first four-year term.

[13:45:02]

SANCHEZ: Yes. We know that was a part of the calculus during the Trump administration for their picks was their age. They were trying to get folks that would be on the bench for a long time.

Joan Biskupic, thank you so much.

And speaking of the Trump administration, let's go back out to Donald Trump. He's live in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. Let's listen.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: This week, Kamala has been comparing her political opponents to the most evil mass murderers in history. And now speaking on a call for her campaign last night, Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them "garbage."

(BOOING)

TRUMP: And they mean it. Even though, without question, my supporters are far higher quality than Crooked Joe or lying Kamala.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can't lead America if you don't love Americans. You just can't.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And you can't be president if you hate the American people. And there's a lot of hatred there.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Kamala Harris is not fit to be president of the United States.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: She doesn't have the intellect, the stamina or that special quality that real leaders must have to lead. We know what that is. It's a special quality.

Joe Biden's comments were the direct result of Kamala's and Tim Walz's, you know? You know who that is? His decision to portray everyone who isn't voting for them as evil or subhuman. You're not subhuman. I've looked at it. You are not subhuman.

And we know it's what they believe because look how they've treated you. They've treated you like garbage, frankly. They've treated you like garbage.

You know what the truth is? They've treated our whole country like garbage, whether they meant to or not, because they are grossly incompetent people. And they've destroyed our country.

Our country is suffering right now like it's never suffered, with inflation and with the infliction -- think of it. They've allowed millions and millions of people to come into our country that are criminals, that are the highest-level criminals.

And 13,099 Border Control, which endorsed me, by the way, very --

SANCHEZ: That was president -- former President Trump moments ago in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina.

He's responding to comments that we're made by Joe Biden during a Zoom call with a progressive Latino group trying to mobilize Latino voters, in which he said that Donald Trump supporters are "garbage."

We should point out the White House has disputed that, suggesting that Biden was talking about some of the speakers at Donald Trump's rally in Madison Square Garden over the weekend.

But President Trump is certainly not taking it that way. He said that Biden revealed what he and Kamala Harris actually think, bunching of Vice President Harris into those remarks from President Biden, despite Harris saying that she strongly disagrees with any criticism of anyone based on who they vote for.

President Trump there going on to say, quote, "You can't lead America if you don't love Americans." Notable words coming from former President Trump, who has called John McCain a loser, who has, according to administration officials, that served him, called fallen servicemembers, suckers and losers.

Who has described entire American cities, including Baltimore, Detroit, even Milwaukee a range of insulting names. He's called on members of Congress, who are serving in Congress, to go back to their countries, even though they we're born, most of them that he was talking about, in the United States.

Fascinating coming from Donald Trump, suggesting that to be president, you have to love all Americans. Not even saying what he said about immigrants in the past.

KEILAR: Yes, and Jewish-Americans, who don't vote for him --

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: -- we should point out as well. I'm sure the list was not exhaustive that we just went through, to be clear.

I want to bring in Alex Thompson as we do touch upon this, really the headline today.

But I will just say very quickly too, on inflation, he -- he was incorrect. Inflation has gone down. So we just need to be clear and fact-check that as well.

But, Alex, you've done some reporting with the White House when it comes to -- at the White House when it comes to trying to sort out exactly what happened here.

But whatever they say and whatever Trump alleges, what's clear is that this is a vulnerability for Harris.

ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: I mean, this is why Harris aides were texting me in profanities all last night. And then, which is why you also saw her distance south from Biden's comments this morning.

[13:50:01]

Trump may be a hypocrite in terms of how he disparages lots of people. But the Harris campaign knows that Biden's comments really feed into his entire populist narrative, that these are elites that do not care about you, that have left you behind, that don't even like you. They don't want to actually -- they don't want to spend time with you.

They knew that this is a potent message for his base going to last six days of the election. What his comments are there, right there, are basically sort of like their worst-case scenario going into this last week.

SANCHEZ: And we've seen this, what you're describing, that dynamic, play itself out before in 2016, right, when Hillary Clinton gave a speech in which she described some Trump supporters as "deplorables, falling into a basket of deplorables."

Trump took that as momentum. And I saw -- I was covering the campaign that year. And I saw folks wearing shirts, that they still do, to this day, that say "deplorables," that they owned it as a badge of honor.

Do they see that parallel in the Harris campaign? And also, what have you heard from folks at the White House about this? Because I know you've had a back-and-forth with them over the meaning of the distinction of what Biden was trying to say versus what everyone seems to think he actually said.

THOMPSON: Yes, coming to call this Apostrophe-gate at this point. Because the Biden White House originally said, hey, he actually just meant it with an apostrophe "S" when he said, supporters/ supporter's. But people don't speak in apostrophes.

Anyways, I eventually said, OK, well, did you talk to President Biden? Did it to ask him? How do you know that it's an apostrophe "S?" And they didn't comment. And they eventually came back and they said, oh, he did talk to staff.

Anyways, it doesn't matter. Because if you listen to his comments, it doesn't -- it doesn't - you don't hear an apostrophe "S" in his comments. And they're going to probably run them like on loops in ads these last six days,

I wouldn't be surprised if we're going to see Trump's supporters with "garbage" T-shirts in this last week.

KEILAR: It's hard to know what the net gain and the net losses, right, where you have Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian, saying what he said, you have Joe Biden saying what he said.

But I wonder if you think that folks on the Harris campaign wish they had never heard of Tony Hinchcliffe at this point in time.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: If they would give - if they would actually go back --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Well, at that, we know they don't want him on the campaign trail with her.

But would they do think --- and I know this is such a hypothetical. But at this point, whatever they gained, do they feel that it has sort of embroiled them in something that may be even worse, or do they feel that this is not as bad?

THOMPSON: I mean, the dynamic of the entire campaign has been whiplash, right, from highs to lows. They thought they'd -- that Trump had given them an opening.

After a week or two, where it seemed like Trump maybe had some momentum. They were like, oh, finally, like this is completely self- imposed air.

Even like lots of people that support Trump will say -- that are involved in the Trump campaign have told me that this was just a mistake made by hubris.

And then they go back and then they have this great event last night, 75,000 people on the Mall, and now we're all talking about the Trump calling Trump supporters --r or Biden calling Trump's supporters "garbage."

SANCHEZ: Yes, an unforced error, no matter how you look at it, because we're not talking about things like her speech.

Alex Thompson, appreciate the analysis. Thanks so much for joining us.

Stay with CNN. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:35]

KEILAR: In Spain, flash floods have killed at least 72 people and left dozens missing after a years' worth of rain in fell in just hours.

In Valencia, roads turned into rivers. They swept cars away, collapsed buildings. Rescue workers using helicopters to pull stranded residents to safety, including a woman and her dog. You see the pictures here.

SANCHEZ: Yes, more than a thousand troops have been deployed to help now in a race against time with more rain on the way.

Atika Shubert is on the ground near Valencia.

Atika, what are you seeing now?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN JOURNALIST: Yes, things have started to normalize here, but it's going to be another late night for all of the government personnel in the building behind me. They are trying to coordinate search-and-rescue efforts, but also ways to clear a lot of the debris.

This has become one of the biggest problems, is just the amount of mud and cars that are choking the roads, particularly in the rural towns around the city of Valencia that have been most affected.

Basically, there was so much rain that fell within an eight hour period that the river just completely broke its banks, swept up cars and anything in its path.

A number of people have died. They're still doing search-and-rescue though. So that number may well go up.

It's going to take a long time for the city to get back to normal. Schools will be closed tomorrow and all train services have also been canceled. So it's still long days ahead for us.

KEILAR: All right, Antika Shubert, live for us from Spain, we'll continue to follow the story. Thank you.

Still ahead, Ponzi schemes, fake merchandise, identity theft. We'll show you the election-related scams the FBI wants to make sure that you are looking out for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Offender offended. Former President Donald Trump seizing on President Biden's gaffes as the "garbage" controversy threatens to undercut Kamala Harris' closing message. We're on the trail with both campaigns.

And the FBI is warning that scammers are trying to cash in on the election using all sorts of schemes to steal money and identities.

[13:59:55]

KEILAR: Plus, vaccine denier, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, says former President Trump has promised to put him in charge of the CDC and other health agencies if Trump is re-elected. The revelation has health officials alarmed.

We're following these major developing stories and many more --