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Michael Tyler is Interviewed about the Harris Campaign; Brad Raffensperger is Interviewed about Georgia Voting; Trick-or-Treat Trends. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 31, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Joining me now is Harris communications director, Michael Tyler, from Wilmington, Delaware.

Thank you so much for being here.

Donald Trump is really playing up this - this trash talk. He's got a tuck and he wore an outfit that - that trash workers would wear. He's really trying to make this link.

Do you think that Joe Biden's particular trash talk, pun intended, is a problem for Kamala Harris

MICHAEL TYLER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN: No. Thank you so much for having me. Good morning.

No, listen, I think Donald Trump, I know he's old and increasingly unhinged and unstable, but I think he's forgetting who it is he's actually running against in this campaign. He's running against Vice President Kamala Harris, who made it abundantly clear that she would never disparage any American based upon who they vote for. I think what you so on The Ellipse on Tuesday night was a candidate who pledged to serve as president of the United States for all Americans, who wants us to move past this era of toxicity, this era of politics largely defined by Donald Trump, who traffics in chaos, who traffics in division, who traffics in hatred, and actually have some leadership that is focused on the people and their needs, their concerns, their hopes.

That's exactly what the vice president laid out on Tuesday night. That's what she's been campaigning on since she became the candidate in this race. And that's exactly how she'll govern after the American people elect her on November 5th.

SIDNER: Harris has also seized on the enemy within comments that Donald Trump keeps making. She is also pointing out the racist rhetoric at the Trump rally targeting Latinos. And she's got a brand- new ad that just came out that we just discovered, it is in Spanish, where the message is - it says this November 5th Trump will understand that some people's trash is others treasurer, a play on what was said about Puerto Rico. You've got a famous Puerto Rican, reggaeton superstar Nicky Jam, who

supported Donald Trump, is now denouncing him. Do you think stars are effective in influencing voters? And she has several stars of Latino heritage with her as she is going to these battleground states today.

TYLER: Yes, we obviously have Jennifer Lopez with us out west today.

Listen, I think what you're seeing from Nicky Jam or Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, frankly, is a representation of what you're seeing throughout the electorate writ large, right, when it comes to Latinos. They've seen the disparaging rhetoric, but they've also seen the harm that Donald Trump caused when he had his chance as president of the United States. We know the ways in which he mismanaged the response to Hurricane Maria. We know the ways in which he has disparaged Latinos throughout his life, not - not to mention his presidency and this campaign alone.

And I think they also see that in Kamala Harris they have somebody who is actually focused on solving their problems, who's actually on the stump every single day speaking, not just to the challenges that communities face, but again to our hopes, our dreams, our aspirations.

The very day that Donald Trump held that rally in Madison Square Garden, where he disparaged - where the rally disparaged Puerto Ricans, disparage the entire island, Kamala Harris was at a Puerto Rican restaurant in the city of Philadelphia laying out her opportunity agenda for Puerto Ricans, both on the island and here on the mainland, speaking again to what we can achieve under her presidency. That is the - that is the contrast and the choice in this race. You have a candidate in Donald Trump who's focused on division, fear and hatred. And you have a candidate in Kamala Harris who's focused on what we can actually achieve if we work together.

SIDNER: I want to talk to you about Pennsylvania, which is seemingly becoming the most potentially important battleground state. Neck and neck according to a new CNN poll. But Wisconsin is also tightening. And we looked at our Marquette poll showing that the third party candidates are polling about 9 percent of the vote. A super PAC for Jill Stein, one of those third party candidates, has sent this robo call out to voters there.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kamala Harris will never stop the genocide in Gaza. Do not vote for Kamala Harris. You have a better choice. Jill Stein for president. There is only one candidate for president who will fight for our planet, support a real green new deal and ban fracking. And it's not Kamala Harris, its Jill Stein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Interesting to note there that she's not going after Donald Trump. Third party candidates, in particular Jill Stein, impacted the 2016 election, which went for Trump. Is there worry that this might happen again judging from some of these numbers?

TYLER: No. I mean you mentioned that robo call didn't go after Donald Trump. If you look at the funding, that should come as no surprise, right? She's being largely propped up by Donald Trump's MAGA backers down the stretch here. And so, we think it's important for all voters, particularly those undecided voters, to understand that there is a very clear choice in this campaign. There's only going to be two candidates with the possibility of reaching 270 electoral votes.

It's either going to be Donald Trump, who we know the harm that he caused when he was president, but we also know, through his Project 2025 agenda, everything that he wants to do. He's going to walk into the Oval Office with an enemies list, not focused on anything other than himself and his own petty grievances.

[09:35:03]

He's going to terminate the ACA. He's going to ban abortion nationwide. And he's going to give another tax cut for the ultra- wealthy.

And then, on the other side of that choice, you have Kamala Harris, who's actually going to focus on your issues, your dreams, your hopes and your aspirations. We think that people of Wisconsin understand that. We see a lot of energy and enthusiasm on the ground. And, frankly, we see that across the country.

Our organizing apparatus is full steam ahead. We've knocked on nearly 3 million doors across the country last week, a million-and-a-half over the weekend alone. That work continues this week throughout the end of the early voting period. And it will be in full effect on Election Day.

We are confident that we have the infrastructure in place, that we have the right candidate and the right message to reach these voters, these undecided voters, these lower-propensity voters who are going to be crucial to deciding the pathway to 270 electoral votes. There's only one campaign that is putting in the work necessary to win a razor-thin race, and that's Kamala Harris' campaign.

SIDNER: And this time around, since it is razor-thin, there has been a lot of work put in by the candidates trying to get to voters.

Michael Tyler, thank you so much. Appreciate you coming on this morning.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, I stand ready to defend the results. The new promise from a top election official in a key battleground state as the Trump campaigns stokes fears of election fraud.

And Russia fines Google an amount so high you have to Google to find out how big it is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:03]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Five days until the country starts counting votes. And election officials across the country know just how high the stakes are, especially in the battlegrounds, especially in Georgia. Election officials there say voters continue to set early turnout records, already reaching two-thirds of the entire turnout they saw in the 2020 election. And they're also imploring voters, no matter who they support, to accept the outcome and avoid the chaos of last cycle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABE STERLING, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE: This is a tight election. And I want to make sure that all the Harris supporters and all the Trump support boarders who can't possibly imagine the person that they hate winning, it might happen. It might happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And with that in mind, Georgia's secretary of state is making a promise, saying, quote, "I stand ready to defend the results."

And joining us right now is that secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger.

Secretary, it's good to see you. Thank you for coming in.

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Good morning, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Talk to me about early voting. The numbers, I had to keep looking at it, they're so big. What do you know so far about who all is voting early and why do you think so many people are voting early?

RAFFENSPERGER: I think it's so easy to vote, but it is hard to cheat. But we have photo ID for all forms of voting. I think voters trust the system. But I also - they're concerned. They want to make sure that - what if you had bad weather next Tuesday, but also, you have so many options. With 17 days early voting, you really can pick what time you want to come by.

My wife and I, Trisha, we voted in seven minutes. Other people I heard had voted in 20 minutes. But typically, it's under an hour. On Election Day it has to be under an hour by state law. But we're just seeing by 65, 70 percent of all of our voters are going to vote early. And then about 5 percent are voting absentee.

Right now we're over 3.5 million. Today we're probably pushing over - just over 3.7 million. And then tomorrow's our last day of early voting. People are engaged. They're having fun because the lines are moving so quickly.

BOLDUAN: I just was speaking to the secretary of state of Pennsylvania, and he said something interesting that they've seen in the - I'll just call it early voting because it's a little bit different there, is that they're seeing more Republicans engaging in early voting than they had seen last cycle with kind of their mail-in system.

Are you seeing any changes from last cycle, other than more people getting out to early vote?

RAFFENSPERGER: Well, there was the delightful little article. This 81- year-old Republican Party chair up in Towns County, on the Tennessee line, she's gotten everyone out to vote and they're at 81 percent, the highest in the state. And so you're seeing that.

Obviously, there's not as many folks in Towns County as in other counties in the metro area. But I think voters are engaged on both sides of the aisle.

What we just want to do is make sure we have a fair, honest, accurate process. And that's what we do. We have photo ID for all forms of voting. I've done to citizenship audits of the voter rolls to make sure only American citizens are voting in our elections. We have a clean voter list. But then we also want to improve the process so we can streamline. We have electronic poll pads checking people in, in under two minutes. Trisha and I, I got checked through in 47 seconds. Really fast check-in. And then voted in seven minutes.

We want voters have a great voter experience. And now all these early vote totals that we're having right now have to be reported on by 8:00 p.m., one hour after the polls close on Tuesday. That's going to be 70, 75 percent of all the votes cast in Georgia will be reported by 8:00 p.m. We think that's a good thing. I think voters are going to love that.

BOLDUAN: So that - and let's talk about what that could potentially mean, kind of a change from last cycle is when the results will be known or when the race could be called in Georgia.

We were looking back, I think it was last cycle that CNN made the call that Joe Biden won Georgia. I think it was maybe ten days - I mean it was - it was days after the election. And there was a lot that went into that we know because of the extensive reviews that were required.

When do you think we'll know the results in Georgia?

RAFFENSPERGER: Well, it depends how close it is. But I do know that all the ballots that have been cast, you know, for this early vote, absentee, that have been - are received this weekend, they'll all be counted (ph) and reported by no later than 8:00 p.m.

[09:45:07]

The voting that happens on Tuesday, you're going to get all of that before the end of the night. May the counties, the smaller ones particularly, will be done by 10:00 to 11:00 at the very latest, probably 9:30 to 10:00, and then the other larger counties. But we're looking at, by the end of the night, every vote that has been cast that way well be reported and up on the board. The only thing we'll be waiting for is those overseas military ballots and the absentee ballots that had come in, you know, Monday, Tuesday, which, you know, then get tabulated, you know, post-election, and maybe during, you know, the Tuesday date. It just takes a little bit longer to do that. And that's about 10,000 ballots outstanding. But the rest of it will all be up before the end of the night.

BOLDUAN: So, after the 2020 race, you're talking about 10,000 ballots. It brings - conjures up a memory of 11,780 votes, if you will. After the 2020 election everyone will remember you were famously on the other end of the phone call when Donald Trump, on January 2nd of 2021 said - he told you he needed to find 11,780 votes. That did not happen, of course.

Given what happened last time, and you're - and you are secretary of state, you know, still and - still and will continue to be, are you going to be taking any calls from any president-elects candidates, defeated candidates, before Congress certifies this result?

RAFFENSPERGER: If they - if they want to call, I'll take their - I will talk to him like I did last time. And just, you know, and respectfully explain, this is why we got the results what (ph) they (ph) were (ph). They are accurate. And they're - I wrote a letter to Congress on January 6th, all those data points. The only thing that's changed, we found two more dead people.

But we had the facts, and that's what we work on in this business. I'm an engineer. I'm pretty good with numbers. I want to make sure we have the facts. We have photo ID for all forms of voting, done two citizenship audits, have cleaned the voter rolls.

We actually, because we're part of a multi-state organization, found 432,000 people don't live here anymore. So, before we started this election cycle, we made sure we had a clean voter list. We have photo ID. And then we're getting those results quick. And then we also have short lines. You know, and so we're really just running a good shop here. And when you have an efficient, you know, organization with great people up and down the line, counties are doing good work, then you - those are results you can trust.

And I think trust is the new gold standard. And that's what we strive for every day we worked for the voters of Georgia. I want voters to understand their vote matters because they matter. And we work - really work hard to get it right, to be so tight on those numbers that when we have a tight race there will be no question who the winner is and who came up short.

BOLDUAN: Secretary of the state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, thank you so much. Five days to go. Good luck. Thank you.

RAFFENSPERGER: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: Do you have the candy that will bring all of the ghost and ghouls to your door. We're tracking the top trick or treat trends and the monster mash. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:29]

SIDNER: This morning at least 95 people are dead and dozens more are missing in Spain amid the worst flooding they've seen there in nearly three decades. High waters swamped the southern and eastern parts of the country this week. In one city, a courthouse had to be turned into a temporary morgue because of so many dead. The Spanish government has declared three days of mourning as they try to deal with this flooding.

All right, I know you've seen this, but let's go Dodgers? I don't have to say that anymore. You know why? Because they're, once again, world champs after clinching their eighth World Series title. Depending on who you ask, it was both the best and the worst inning in history as the Dodgers made an incredible comeback down 5-0. They capitalized on error after error by the Yankees, eventually winning 7-6.

John Berman, you and I are both smiling today. I have no idea why.

BERMAN: Mookie Betts, world champion, just like he was with the Boston Red Sox.

All right, one of the most popular Halloween costumes you may see tonight, inspired by one of the top movies of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL KEATON, ACTOR, "BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE": I'm needed upstairs. Bob, hold down the fort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, to be clear, that was the film not the costume.

With us now is CNN's senior data taco, Harry Enten.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I think I look delicious.

SIDNER: Oh, my God.

BERMAN: So, Harold -

ENTEN: Why don't you take a bite out of me?

BERMAN: What are the -

BOLDUAN: John's favorite segment ever.

BERMAN: What are the top Halloween costumes this year, Harry?

ENTEN: Well, that's just - this is - this is definitely a straight- funny man routine that we got going on here.

All right, the top trending Halloween costumes, you mentioned it off the top, Shrunken Bob Head, right. Number two, I've seen a lot of folks dressed as this, Raygun. I wish I could get down on the ground and do a dance like this, but in a taco suit it's a little bit difficult.

SIDNER: We should all (ph).

ENTEN: And Catnap is number three. I have to admit, I've never heard of this. I have no idea what this is. But that is the beauty of Halloween. You find out what people's interests are, and you're always learning, Mr. Berman.

BERMAN: This year I went as Jake Tapper. Last year - last year I went as David Muir. But this year a little too great to be Muir, so I am Jake Tapper this year.

So, Harold, those are costumes -

SIDNER: Wow! Wow!

BERMAN: That's amazing. Amazing.

BERMAN: He was dissing me on Twitter. I'm just saying.

SIDNER: It's true.

BOLDUAN: He was (ph)?

BERMAN: All right, Harry, let's talk about candy. What's the most popular candy?

ENTEN: You might have to give some candy away to some folks after those burns.

Look, which Halloween costumer - Halloween candy is your favorite? Numero uno, Reese's Pieces at 36 percent.

[09:55:01]

BOLDUAN: Concur. Concur.

ENTEN: I'm a little lukewarm on that.

SIDNER: What?

ENTEN: I'm not the biggest fan.

How about Snickers?

BOLDUAN: Anti-American.

ENTEN: Eighteen percent. Snickers at 18 percent. I'm a bigger fan of that.

Number three is M&Ms.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE). ENTEN: I mean, I don't think you can go wrong with M&M's at 11 percent. But Snickers are my favorite. Of course, my favorite thing to be on Halloween is a taco. My favorite thing to eat is a Snickers.

BERMAN: And just for the data nerds out there, note this, Monmouth can ask you what your favorite candy is, but no longer ask you who you're going to vote for president. They don't do that anymore. So, they're in good shape over there.

All right, Harry, there are people -

BOLDUAN: No, I can't. I just can't.

ENTEN: (INAUDIBLE) burned.

BOLDUAN: I can't.

BERMAN: There are people who believe in ghosts, apparently.

BOLDUAN: He can't - can't give it up.

ENTEN: There - there are people who believe in ghosts. I feel like there are spirits going all around us right now.

This is one of the most interesting sort of trend lines that we've seen in America.

BOLDUAN: You've got this, John.

ENTEN: Americans - yes, Kate and - Kate and Sara are having a lot of fun over there.

In 1979, 11 percent of Americans believed in ghosts. That is up to 39 percent today. Apparently, with religiosity going down in this country, folks are trying to find some spirituality. And the ghost belief is way up.

But I will say, that as I stand here alone at this particular point, I do feel the spirits all around me and I feel great. But the bottom line is, my dear trio friends over there, happy, happy Halloween to all of you.

BOLDUAN: Harry Enten -

SIDNER: Harry, I feel like you should come join us. This -

ENTEN: Oh, I can walk over.

SIDNER: You know why - you know why this is the best?

BOLDUAN: John begs you to not.

SIDNER: No, I - please, come. And you know why? Because the best part of this segment was how uncomfortable John Berman was.

ENTEN: Here. Look at this. BOLDUAN: There's nothing better.

SIDNER: Look at this happy family.

BERMAN: Let's - let's just say, I'm uncomfortable because this is a hard shell taco.

Got to leave it there.

SIDNER: OK. Wow.

BOLDUAN: Oh, John, you really are so good at dad jokes.

SIDNER: OK. I'm scared.

BOLDUAN: Harry, thank you. You have done what our favorite thing to do is, is just make him squirm.

Thank you all so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We think we'll be back tomorrow. We'll check our email after this.

"CNN NEWSROOM" Is up next.

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