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Black Wisconsin Voters Open Up About Harris Support; China Starts War Games Near Taiwan; Spanish Olive Growers Adapt to Climate Change. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired October 14, 2024 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane and if you're just joining us, here are some of the top stories we're following today.
The U.S. is sending roughly 100 troops to Israel to operate an advanced anti-missile system amid heightened tensions in the Middle East. While it's rare for U.S. troops to be deployed in Israel, that's a normal amount needed to operate the THAAD system. It could prove helpful in Israel's defense against a future Iranian attack.
President Joe Biden got another firsthand look at damage in Florida following Hurricane Milton and Helene. He thanked first responders and local officials for partnering on the federal response. The president also announced more than $600 million in energy resilience projects to shore up the power grid in places like Florida.
Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will rally supporters in the swing state of Pennsylvania in the coming hours. The state could prove key in deciding the outcome of next month's presidential election, and polling there shows an incredibly tight contest.
Prominent Democrats are about to flood the zone for Kamala Harris. Former President Bill Clinton is set to target several key battleground states. Sources say he's trying to appeal to rural voters, who polls show are falling away from the Democratic Party in growing numbers. Clinton is scheduled to appear at local fairs and porch meetings, talking to a few hundred people at a time.
And former President Barack Obama is facing one of the most active campaign weeks since he ran for office himself. He'll continue his outreach to young Black men with a message that it's not OK to sit out this election.
One of the top Black leaders in the Democratic Party is downplaying polls that show Kamala Harris lagging in support from Black men when compared to Joe Biden's numbers when he ran for president. Congressman James Clyburn says he has had frank and direct conversations with Black men out on the campaign trail, and he does not feel the polls are accurate reflection of what he's seeing and hearing during those discussions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Yes, I am concerned about black men staying home or voting for Trump. But my concerns don't tend to keep me from being energetic about this campaign. Yes, Black men, like everybody else, want to know exactly what I can expect from a Harris administration. And I've been very direct with them. And I've also contrasted that with what they can expect from a Trump administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, this week, the Harris campaign is set to unveil new policy proposals to appeal to Black men. Their support or lack of it could spell the difference between victory or defeat in places like the swing state of Wisconsin. Our John King traveled to the Badger City's largest city, Milwaukee, to see what Black voters had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Door-to-door North side Milwaukee. If Kamala Harris is to win Wisconsin, the path starts right here.
DEVONTA JOHNSON, CANVASSER, BLACK LEADERS ORGANIZING FOR COMMUNITIES: How do you feel like Kamala Harris?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, Kamala Harris, I think she's great.
JOHNSON: She's great.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
JOHNSON: How do you feel about Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not so great.
KING (voice over): A phone number to keep in touch --
JOHNSON: Appreciate you, Ma'am. Have a good day, blessed day.
KING (voice over): -- to make sure support translates into voting.
JOHNSON: She was pretty excited about Kamala.
KING (voice over): Devonta Johnson, Now shares that excitement. When we met a year ago, he was its undecided between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
JOHNSON: At the time I was like, kind of iffy for like everybody else, like undecided and not confused because like I don't know for sure I'm going to vote for him but now that Kamala got the ball and she rolling with it. I feel like, oh yes.
KING (voice over): Johnson and his colleagues walk the streets year round, building trust for right now. The leaves are falling. Halloween is at hand. It's turnout time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want to remind you that early voting starts on October 22nd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife and I, we already absentee ballot.
[04:35:00]
KING (voice over): This look under the hood was positive.
JOHNSON: I just want your opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump is just trying to take it back today that we don't want to be in.
KING (voice over): But there are cracks in the Democratic foundation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know, I don't know him but then I feel like I question her a little bit too.
KING (voice over): The canvassers share notes every workday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are people saying?
KING (voice over): No question. Harris is stronger in the Black neighborhoods now than Joe Biden was when we first visited a year ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a sense of hope in the air.
KING (voice over): But there are warning signs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is people out here saying that they don't want to vote. They are still are saying that.
KING (voice over): Often, the conversation that those doors turns to higher rents and food prices.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've got to pick and choose between what we can and what we can't buy and ain't nobody talking about it, but you all just vote, vote, vote, get out and vote, all you want is the vote.
KING (voice over): Angela Lang is the boss here at Black Leaders Organizing for Communities. She knows the hard math of Hillary Clintons' narrow 2016 Wisconsin loss and what it took to deliver Joe Biden's narrow 2020 win, cautiously optimistic now as she rally her team and runs the 2024 canvassing numbers.
ANGELA LANG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BLACK LEADERS ORGANIZING FOR COMMUNITIES: You can't win a statewide election here without going through the heart of Milwaukee and in some cases that runs through this office and the work that our team does. But also we're seeing folks in heavily red areas that are getting together with other women at coffee shops without their husbands knowing, for example and starting to have those conversations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've got the most to lose right now.
KING (voice over): Off the charts support among women is critical for Harris. When these canvassers encounter a Trump supporter, it is almost always a Black man.
LANG: One of the things that we've heard is people are like, well, I think I had more money in my pocket when Trump was in office because of the stimulus checks during the pandemic.
BRIAN MCMUTUARY, TRUMP SUPPORTER, WISCONSIN: It's kind of hard to choose when that's all you've got.
KING (voice over): Brian McMutuary was a lifelong Democrat, but he voted for Trump in 2020. He's undecided but leaning Trump this year.
MCMUTUARY: The cost of living, you know, gas, food prices, you know, rent is hard. You try to, you know, keep up and try and, you know, stay away from the credit cards.
So what did you do today?
KING (voice over): McMutuary has two children, manages at McDonald's, disagrees with Trump on immigration and abortion, but likes his take on cryptocurrency and remembers being better off when Trump was president.
MCMUTUARY: I would have to say that the biggest difference is I think having the experience.
KING (voice over): Plus, he says he worries Russia's Putin and China's Xi, wouldn't see Harris as an equal.
MCMUTUARY: They look in a man has been, you know, a leader. So that's like, somewhat of a troubling issue.
KING: Do you have any problem with a woman president?
MCMUTUARY: No, not at all. Like I said, it's about doing the right thing for the country.
ERIC JONES, WISCONSIN VOTER: How can you take bigotry over a job?
KING (voice over): Eric Jones hears at all when he stops for coffee, at the barbershop, and in his real estate business.
JONES: If I was a gambling man, I would probably put my money on Harris. Things are getting better, the numbers are better, the energy is different.
KING (voice over): But an earlier job sometimes hurts the vice president.
JONES: It is the Black man. Law enforcement has not been kind to Black people historically. District attorneys have not been kind to Black people historically.
KING (voice over): Plus, John says abortion and transgender rights sometimes come up in his barbershop debates.
JONES: The Good Old Party feels that they have a monopoly over the Christian vote. The Democratic Party feels they have monopoly over the Black vote. The problem is there are a lot of Blacks that are Christians and the Black churches are one of the strongest institutions in the community.
So, you have this tug-of-war in a city that I'm pretty sure the Black vote will decide who wins that city and more likely the presidency.
KING (voice over): Yes, turnout time in a community that matters big time.
John King, CNN, Milwaukee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance campaigned at a NASCAR race in North Carolina on Sunday. The author of the memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, met with drivers, crew members and owners of some NASCAR teams. Vance's wife, Usher, and their three children came along.
Former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick posted on social media that she invited Vance to the race last week. She hosted a town hall with him in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Well, the U.S. stock market will open in a few hours after the S&P and Dow closed at record highs last week. The market's responding positively on Friday after JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo reported higher than expected earnings. Figures are relatively flat ahead of Monday's open.
But there's good news for the U.S. in the Producer Price Index. Inflation for producers and manufacturers slowed further in September, which adds to hopes that the prices will not rise before they reach U.S. consumers. And last week, another key inflation gauge, the Consumer Price Index, slowed last week to its lowest rate since February 2021.
[04:40:00]
Still to come, China launches military drills all around Taiwan as a show of force. Why Beijing says they're vital to protecting national unity.
Plus, with climate change hurting the lucrative olive oil industry in Spain, farmers are figuring out how to adapt and are taking their trees further north.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Beijing is sending a warning to Taiwan with the launch of a new round of war games on Monday. It's the latest escalation in a back-and-forth battle as China views the self-governing island as its own territory. It comes on the heels of a speech from Taiwan's president last week asserting China has no right to represent the island. Taiwan has condemned the new exercises, calling them an unreasonable provocation. CNN senior international correspondent Will Ripley is joining us live now from Taipei with more. Will, this is not the first time this year that China has engaged in military exercises like this, but it is still a highly provocative act.
What more are you learning about this latest round?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Chrissy, yes, you're absolutely right. It was back in May when China launched these exercises that they called Joint Sword 2024-A, and that was right after the inauguration of Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te. Now you have Joint Sword 2024-B happening after President Lai gave a speech last week on Taiwan's National Day where, among other things, he rejected Beijing's longstanding territorial claims over this island democracy.
The rhetoric was nothing new. In fact, it was pretty muted compared to previous comments by the president, especially before he took office, that it had enraged China in the past. But predictably, Beijing cherry-picked the line from his speech that they wanted to use, essentially, experts say, as their excuse to launch these drills.
And now it's, here they go. So they have their aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, sailing basically the east of Taiwan. I want to show you some new video that just came in the last couple of hours.
[04:45:00]
You know, these videos are released by the People's Liberation Army to try to intimidate Taiwan, to let Taiwan know that they could blockade this island at any moment. If you look at the map the Chinese state media released, they showed those six red blocks, all of those locations where they could send their warships and their planes and the aircraft carrier, potentially, to stop imports from coming into this island, which, like all islands, relies heavily on imports of energy, among other things.
I mean, a blockade could be very problematic very quickly when it comes to daily life and even keeping the lights on here in Taiwan. But everything is running smoothly, according to maritime and air officials. There are no flights that are being blocked, no shipments that are being blocked through the Taiwan Strait.
So this is all just a drill for now. But, of course, Beijing, their messaging here, which Taipei calls bullying, Chrissy, is that it's a drill today, but it could be something much more serious tomorrow. And they're spending billions of dollars on this, basically to prove a point that at some point, if Beijing decided they wanted to cut off Taiwan, they say they'd be able to do it.
MACFARLANE: Yes, very important to keep across the developments as they come, even if we have seen them many times before. Will Ripley, they're live in Taipei. Thanks so much, Will.
Now, a drone dispute has North Korea saying it's ready to shoot down South Korean drones. North Korea state media claims that South Korean drones filled with propaganda are being flown into North Korea. On Sunday, North Korean state media reported that the country's defense ministry expects to see more South Korean drones in the future.
Some North Korean defectors are known to fly aid and leaflets into North Korea. The North has blamed those incidents on South Korean military. Meanwhile, for months, North Korea has been sending balloons with trash to the South.
We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. As Europe gets warmer, olive groves in Spain are producing less of their prized oil and farmers are looking for cooler locations. That means heading north where rich soil and plenty of rain can help olive trees grow and thrive.
CNN's Eleni Giokos has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Farther and farther north in Europe, olive trees are taking root. Around 40 percent of the world's olive oil typically comes from Spain. But for two years, heat waves and prolonged droughts in the country have hurt harvests and doubled olive oil prices. One glaring effect of climate change on the world's fastest warming continent.
JOAN SALA, ACCIO ECOLOGISTA-AGRO (through translator): Last year in liters, we had less than half the average rainfall of a normal year. This year, we barely have 10 percent precipitation. If with climate change, it's going to get worse, hotter, less rain, then we are already entering a climate emergency.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Farther north, this farmer is planting the seed for alternative olive growing. The 55-year-old finding a home for his trees in the southern slopes of Hungary. There, the winters are mild, the soil is rich and the rain is plenty for his 200 or so Spanish olive trees.
CSABA TOROK, WINEMAKER AND OLIVE GROWER (through translator): We increasingly tend to belong to a climate where the trees can find a home on better slopes. For me, it's not about wanting a decorative tree. I see the trees as an integral part of the landscape here in the future.
GIOKOS (voice-over): As the climate warms up and olive groves seem to shift northward, some farmers have planted their feet in Austria and Croatia. In Slovakia, homeowners are buying their own Spanish olive trees, looking to get that Mediterranean feeling all the way in Central Europe.
ISTVAN VASS, GARDEN CENTER OWNER (through translator): We are seeing it in practice that there are lots of olive trees planted outside in the gardens and they cope really well, so no need to worry about them. GIOKOS (voice-over): Things are looking up for Spain's olive industry for now. The Spanish Farm Ministry says it estimates a recovery in olive oil production in the country this year. But as climate change elicits more heat waves and droughts farther south, olive farmers must continue to adapt to Europe's changing climate.
Eleni Giokos, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, the Los Angeles Dodgers opened their campaign for the National League title with a dominant win over the New York Mets. Superstar Shohei Ohtani was two for four with a walk. He scored two runs and drove in another in the 9-0 shutout.
Mets pitcher Kodai Senga was knocked out in the second inning, while the Dodgers pitchers, led by Jack Flaherty, extended their record to 33 consecutive scoreless postseason innings. Game two is later today, while the American League series between the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians starts tonight.
And the WNBA finals are heating up. On Sunday, after losing game one in the series, the New York Liberty bounced back, defeating the Minnesota Lynx and tying the series 1-1. Two-time MVP Brianna Stewart scored 21 points for the Liberty, leading them to a victory 80-66. Game three of the Best of Five series is set for Wednesday.
The Lynx are trying to win a record-breaking fifth WNBA championship. The Liberty are hoping to win their first title.
And in the NFL, the Cincinnati Bengals got a badly needed win on the road over the New York Giants on Sunday night football. Perhaps the biggest highlight, the longest touchdown run ever for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Look at this. He went for 47 yards on the play in the first quarter, giving Cincinnati a 7-0 lead. And the Bengals didn't need much more than that, holding the Giants to just one touchdown for a 17-7 victory. It's Cincinnati's second win of the season as they move to two and four.
And meanwhile, for the Detroit Lions, they got a huge win over the Cowboys in Dallas but suffered a big loss in the process. Aidan Hutchinson, one of the best young defensive players in the league, went down with a broken leg in the third quarter after sacking Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
The Lions later said Hutchinson needed immediate surgery for a broken tibia. Coach Dan Campbell said Hutchinson is in good hands, but he'll be out of action for a while.
[04:55:03]
And the stories in the spotlight this hour.
SpaceX adds another feather to its cap with a successful launch and landing of the most powerful rocket system ever built. Starship's latest test was in line with SpaceX's mission to recover and reuse their equipment with the goal of making space travel cheaper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four, three, two, one.
We have liftoff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, Starship had no crew and was remotely piloted during the test. SpaceX attempted an ambitious move, trying to catch the super heavy rocket booster in midair with a pair of massive metal pincers they call chopsticks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can see those chopsticks now.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Wow. Well, if tests go according to plan, SpaceX hopes Starship will one day put the first humans on Mars.
And SpaceX has another mission heading into space today. Busy, busy week. A massive Europa clipper is scheduled to launch from Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It's headed for Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, and that journey will take about seven years. The clipper will gather information on the moon's icy shell and could help scientists learn if there's actually an ocean underneath it. Scientists suspect that the ingredients for life could exist there.
And on that spacey note, we'll end it here from CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane.
Stay with us. CNN THIS MORNING is up after this quick break.
