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Harris & Trump to Campaign in Western Battlegrounds; At Least 95 Killed, Dozens Missing in Flash Floods in Spain; Typhoon Kong-Rey Hits Taiwan; L.A. Dodgers Win World Series; Democrat Colin Allred Closing in on Republican Ted Cruz. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired October 31, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm going to do it whether the women like it or not, I'm going to protect them. You can't lead America if you don't love Americans.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When I am elected, I will walk in with a to-do list. And at the top of my list is bringing down your cost of living.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The typhoon just made its landfall on eastern Taiwan. Authorities are taking no chances. A lot of offices and schools have been closed throughout the island.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love LA!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We won it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get the celebration, you get the beer poured on it, and most importantly, you get the World Series trophy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM, with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S., and around the world, I'm Max Foster.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Thursday, October 31st, 8 a.m. here in London and 1 a.m. in the Western U.S., where both candidates are hoping for Halloween treats on the campaign trail.
FOSTER: Later today, Kamala Harris will rally voters in Phoenix, Arizona and Reno, Nevada, before heading to a campaign event with singer Jennifer Lopez. That will be in Las Vegas. Donald Trump will also be visiting the western battleground states of Nevada, Arizona, stopping off as well in Albuquerque, New Mexico. MACFARLANE: The rival nominee spent Wednesday in the state of Wisconsin, one of three so-called blue wall states. It turned blue for President Joe Biden four years ago, but went red for Trump before that.
FOSTER: Now it's orange and yellow. Pennsylvania remains the grand prize with its 19 electors, the most of any swing state. And as you can see, CNN's Poll of Polls shows an even split there amongst likely voters.
MACFARLANE: Well, in Michigan, the third blue wall state, Harris has a slight edge over Trump. And farther down south in North Carolina, the Poll of Polls give Trump a razor-thin edge over Harris.
FOSTER: Couldn't be closer. Harris is trying to distance herself from a remark by the U.S. president that Trump and his team are trying to capitalize on during an event on Tuesday. It sounded like Joe Biden referred to Trump supporters as garbage.
MACFARLANE: He and the White House have since tried to walk that back, saying President Biden was referring to the hateful rhetoric of a single Trump supporter as garbage and not all Trump supporters.
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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: First of all, he clarified his comments. But let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Trump is playing up Biden's gaff, meanwhile, at his most recent rallies, even dressing in a garbage collector-style safety vest and posing in a garbage truck.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden. I just wanted to let you know that 250 million people, that's what I think the real number is for making America great again, 250 million, the real number.
They don't think in terms of garbage, OK? They don't use terms like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Now, keep in mind, there is definitely some hypocrisy at play here. Trump himself has frequently referred to the United States as a garbage can. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're like a garbage can for the world.
TRUMP: The United States of America, and dumped, like we're a garbage can, like we're a garbage can for their people.
TRUMP: I said, we're the garbage can for the world. We're a garbage can, we're like a garbage can, and they dump.
TRUMP: The press gave me a hard time on this one. They said it was very, I don't think it's this. It's like we're a giant garbage can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: A lot of garbage. CNN's Kristen Holmes attended the Green Bay rally where Trump's garbage truck made its debut.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Former President Donald Trump in Green Bay, Wisconsin, continuing to seize on President Joe Biden's remarks, calling his supporters, quote unquote, garbage. Donald Trump has tried to use this as an opportunity to change the media narrative. Earlier in the evening, even taking questions from sitting in front seat of a garbage truck.
He also addressed those comments once again for the third time or more in day while he was at this rally. Take a listen.
[04:05:00]
TRUMP: Crooked Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them garbage. No way. No way. My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple. You can't lead America if you don't love Americans. It's true.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: You can't be president if you hate the American people, which I believe they do.
HOLMES: He also, as you can see there, did the entire rally in his vest that he had worn when he was sitting on the garbage truck. They are clearly sticking to the stick. Now, the important thing here is that this isn't just because Donald Trump wants to seize on this or change the narrative. It's also because they believe that this playbook has worked before.
Remember in 2016, after Hillary Clinton said that Trump supporters were a basket of deplorables, they tried to use the same thing then with supporters. They believe this kind of rhetoric could actually motivate people to go to the polls to back Donald Trump.
Now, whether or not that's going to happen, it's just not something that we're going to know until Election Day. But it is certainly something they are doing to really ramp up that enthusiasm.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, Green Bay, Wisconsin. (END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Kamala Harris is about to visit all seven swing states one more time before Election Day, which means a return later this week to Wisconsin. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports from her rally in Madison.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris taking her closing arguments on the road, visiting three battleground states on Wednesday. North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and right here in Wisconsin. Along the way, she's making her case to supporters to cast their votes early.
The deadline for early voting here in battleground Wisconsin is on Sunday. She's imploring students to get out and vote. Some students we talked to said they waited in line 90 minutes or two hours to cast their ballot.
But campaigning near a college campus also comes with some risks. And that became clear in the early part of her speech when one protester shouted, cease fire now. This is how Harris responded.
HARRIS: Listen, we all want the war in Gaza to end and get the hostages out as soon as possible. And I will do everything in my power to make it heard and known but -- and everyone has a right to be heard, but right now I am speaking.
ZELENY: Her supporters roared with applause when she said that, and she went on to continue delivering her closing message. She is seeking to find common ground, she said, with Republicans and independents, even as she draws a sharp contrast with Donald Trump. Harris is heading west to campaign in Nevada and Arizona on Thursday before coming back to these critical blue wall states Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Now people in Spain are cleaning up after widespread destruction caused by severe flash floods.
FOSTER: The Spanish government has decreed three days of official mourning for victims. At least 95 people were killed after the high water swamped the southern and eastern parts of the country on Tuesday. Emergency services are working to find dozens of people who are still missing.
Weather officials say it was the worst rainfall in 28 years. Atika Shubert has more from Valencia.
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ATIKA SHUBERT: JOURNALIST (voice-over): Muddy waters gush through the streets of Spain, ripping through homes, leaving a trail of destruction behind. Rescue services are working tirelessly trying to save residents from flash floods that have struck parts of southern and eastern Spain since Tuesday. The severity of the weather has killed dozens of people, according to authorities, with torrential rain in many cities. And the death toll is only expected to rise.
SHUBERT: Now, this is the Turia Riverbed in Valencia. Normally, it's a dry riverbed with hardly any water in it. But as of this morning, the water was nearly to the top. And that's because, according to meteorologists, a year's worth of rain, about 20 inches or 500 millimeters, was dropped here in an eight-hour period that ended on Tuesday.
SHUBERT (voice-over): In Valencia, Spain's emergency military unit were deployed to help save locals, wading through the destruction to reach them and bringing them to safety. One local resident witnessed the severity of the water destroying his neighborhood.
ANTONIO CARMONA, RESIDENT (through translator): We saw everything going down. The floods took cars, took down half the house of one of our neighbors, and we had to come in. Look how we have our torn clothes because we were saving dogs.
SHUBERT (voice-over): In other areas of southern Spain, a different kind of catastrophe took place with locals being hit by a severe hailstorm.
Look at the size of this ball, this person says. It's completely round, leaving drivers to battle through extreme weather.
[04:10:02]
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the storms were the worst the country has experienced in the last century and advised citizens to proceed with caution.
PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Our absolute priority is to help you. We are going to provide all the necessary means today and tomorrow and for as long as it takes so that we can recover from this tragedy. We are not going to leave you alone.
SHUBERT (voice-over): Scientists say a human-caused climate crisis is making extreme weather more frequent and more severe. And as the world warms, more intense storms and more frequent catastrophes are on the horizon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, the biggest storm to hit Taiwan in nearly 30 years has made landfall on the island's southeastern coast. Heavy rain from Kong-rey is lashing the region with winds near 200 kilometers per hour, the equivalent of a category three Atlantic hurricane. The storm could impact almost the entire island. All cities and counties in Taiwan are shut down for the day. Financial markets are closed and flights have been cancelled.
FOSTER: Let's bring in CNN's Steven Jiang, who joins us live from Beijing -- Steven.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Max, the local authorities have now confirmed the first victim of this typhoon. A 56- year-old woman was killed by a fallen tree while traveling in her car. Now, that's the kind of danger the authorities, of course, have been warning residents about.
Usually Taiwan responds pretty well to typhoons because they're no stranger to this kind of extreme weather. But still, Kong-rey was the third typhoon to make landfall on the island this season. And that is not very common.
The last time this happened was back in 2008. That's why they are taking no chances. You mentioned the flight cancellations and market shutdown. And a lot of offices and schools throughout the island have been closed as well. And in addition to the civilian first responders, the government there has placed more than 34,000 soldiers on standby to assist in any potential rescue operations.
Now, the slightly fortunate news here is the landfall happened on the eastern side of Taiwan, which is the less populated side of the island. But still, the potential risk lies with a lot of the mountainous regions and remote villages. You could see landslides, not to mention a potential damage to infrastructure, including a power outage.
And this typhoon is now continues to move towards the East China Sea and could potentially impact mainland China and Japan as well in the coming days.
That's why the outer bands of this typhoon already prompting authorities in Shanghai, China's biggest city and its financial hub, issue a blue typhoon warning. That's the lowest level of China's four tier color coded warning system. But still, that means potential gusty winds and downpour hitting Shanghai starting on Thursday evening and wilding to daytime on Friday.
It's already millions of residents in Shanghai are bracing for a perhaps not so pleasant commute on Friday morning -- Max, Christina.
MACFARLANE: All right, Steven Jiang there live for us in Beijing. Thanks, Steven.
And there's much more to come on CNN, including the tough new British budget that aims to get the country back on sound financial footing.
FOSTER: First, the world's richest man is due in a courtroom in Pennsylvania today. Elon Musk has a date with the judge over a one million dollar giveaway to register voters.
MACFARLANE: And we'll take you inside the Dodgers locker room moments after they won the World Series in a thrilling win over New York Yankees.
[04:15:00]
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MACFARLANE: The Los Angeles Dodgers are world champions after winning game five of the World Series. Dodgers players hoisted their trophy in the locker room as they splayed bubbly everywhere, as you can see. And in game five, the rival Yankees had jumped to an early 5-0 lead on two big home runs.
FOSTER: But then the roof caved in on the Bronx Bombers. Three errors by New York and timely hits by LA turned it around for the West Coast team.
MACFARLANE: And it was a comeback for the ages for Los Angeles. A seesaw game with the Dodgers prevailing 7-6. The biggest comeback to clinch a World Series in baseball history. And the eighth world title for the team from the City of Angels.
FOSTER: What a great game. CNN's Omar Jimenez reports from the Dodgers' champagne-drenched locker room.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The winning clubhouse looks exactly like what you think it would look like right now. Celebration. I can barely even see the camera right now.
My goggles have gotten so soaked over the course of this. Whether it's champagne, whether it's beer. If you question how the Dodgers were going to celebrate, I don't think you need to question much longer.
As they brought home their eighth championship in this World Series win here in New York. Deflating the crowd that at the beginning of this game felt like they probably were going to send this back to Los Angeles. It's going back to Los Angeles, but in the form of a parade, not a continuation of this World Series.
And as you see the trophy up top there, this is a moment they have been working for this entire season. And really, if you go back to their last win in 2020, because of the pandemic, this will be their first chance to fully celebrate in the way that I believe they've wanted to for years now.
And of course, another significant moment. This was the first year that Shohei Ohtani was on the Dodgers, brings home a World Series.
Freddie Freeman sets a record in this World Series for consecutive home runs in games. Becomes World Series MVP. This is a team that came in, setting a lot of records, had high expectations and delivered.
This is the manifestation of all that work. You get the celebration, you get the beer poured on it. And most importantly, you get the World Series trophy.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: I think I needed to get a little bit more in the action there. A little bit more sprayed.
FOSTER: If Japan had a favorite son, it was in the World Series. It was, of course, Shohei Ohtani. He was born in Japan 30 years ago and is a veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball.
MACFARLANE: Millions of fans in Japan dropped everything to watch their favorite slugger and Dodgers star. And CNN's Will Ripley has that report.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No wonder they call it baseball's World Series, when some of the most devoted fans are halfway around the globe.
RIPLEY: The games are in New York and Los Angeles this week. But here in Japan, more than 10 percent of the population is tuning into this iconic showdown between the Dodgers and the Yankees.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Game two alone drew a staggering average of 15.9 million viewers in Japan. The highest MLB postseason viewership ever in the country, the league says. Japan's passion for baseball is legendary.
But in this Tokyo bar in the famed Shibuya district, the focus is not just on the game. It's on one player. All-star sensation Shohei Ohtani, the L.A. Dodgers $700 million man, a two-time MVP, cross- cultural icon and hometown hero.
MAMORU TANAKA, MANAGER, FIELDS SHIBUYA SPORTS BAR (through translator): Ohtani is an honorable person in Japan. Everyone shouts Ohtani, Ohtani. And it makes me so happy. We've never had anyone like him. He's our dear Ohtani.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Wednesday night, Ohtani's Dodgers deliver. A game five win in New York City, earning them the World Series crown and a place in the hearts of baseball fans around the world from the United States to Japan.
Will Ripley, CNN, Nara, Japan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:20:00]
FOSTER: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump should win Texas pretty comfortably. But Republican Senate candidate Ted Cruz might not.
MACFARLANE: Multiple polls show Democrat Colin Allred either tied with Cruz or within the margin of error. And Allred is getting some help from big Democratic names.
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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Listen, I just wanted to let you know I could not be prouder of you. The kind of campaign you've conducted. You know, you've been a leader on and off the field. And it's shown in terms of how you're trying to reach out to everybody. And, you know, you've got credibility. And, you know, you're talking about the issues that matter, the kitchen table issues.
COLIN ALLRED, U.S. DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE: Appreciate you, Mr. President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: So who is the candidate mounting a serious challenge to Cruz? So many others have failed. Well, our Ed Lavandera has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The linebacker and the debater are spending the final days of the Texas Senate campaign unleashing a barrage of zingers.
COLIN ALLRED, U.S. DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE: If that everything is bigger in Texas, but Ted Cruz is too small for Texas.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I looked at Kamala Harris and Colin Allred partying with their celebrity friends with Beyonce, with Willie Nelson. I got to say the whole thing seemed like a P. Diddy party.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Ted Cruz is buying for a third term as senator. But once again finds himself in a close race, at least by Texas standards. A recent New York Times-Siena College poll shows Cruz with a slim four- point edge against Colin Allred. The Democrats quest to break through in Texas has been as elusive as Charlie Brown's quest to kick that football.
Republicans like Lucy has snatched victory away for 30 years. Colin Allred wasn't a kicker, but he is a former NFL linebacker, turns civil rights attorney, who flipped the GOP House seat six years ago. His campaign has been squarely focused on attacking Cruz especially for fleeing the state to Mexico during an epic ice storm.
ALLRED: When 30 million Texans were relying on him when the lights went out, he decided to go to Cancun. I'll tell you what, if you did and he ran for office again, you've got to lose your job.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Democrats have spent more than $108 million on ads in the race, mostly focused on abortion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ban that's gone way too far.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Allred organizes events highlighting stories of women impacted by the state's new abortion law, one of the most restrictive in the country.
ALLRED: You can't tell me you're pro-life when women are dying at a record rate. You are so small that you think you can tell Texas women what to do with their bodies, then you have got to lose your job.
CRUZ: This is a battle between sane and crazy.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Ted Cruz is on the final leg of a bus tour of Texas in campaign speeches, he doesn't talk about abortion. He delivers a heavy dose of immigration and border security talk.
CRUZ: It is a full-on invasion.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): While Republicans have spent about 68 million on advertising, much of that messaging is focused on transgender issues and sports.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.
CRUZ: Look, we are living in a world where one of our two major political parties can no longer figure out what is a woman. That didn't use to be a trick question.
Colin Allred's world, don't our daughters have any rights?
LAVANDERA (voice-over): While the transgender issue is popular among Republicans, Colin Allred says Cruz is trying to avoid the broader issue of abortion.
ALLRED: Ted Cruz is desperate, desperate to not talk about what he's actually done to folks in this state. He's making up issues. Folks need to be -- understand that and hold him accountable in this election.
LAVANDERA: While other Texas Republicans like Governor Greg Abbott and Senator John Cornyn have comfortably won re-election, Ted Cruz won his last election by just over 200,000 votes. And since then, according to the Texas Secretary of State's office, 2.8 million new people have been added to the voter rolls here in Texas. And it's not exactly clear how that might affect this senatorial race.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Now, the world's richest man is expected in a Philadelphia courtroom today for a hearing over his million-dollar giveaway to registered voters.
FOSTER: The city's district attorney filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and his political group America PAC and is asking a judge to shut down what he calls an illegal lottery. The DA says, well, he's also requested extra security at the hearing after facing threats and anti- Semitic attacks on X, the social media platform which is owned by Musk.
Taxes here in the U.K. are going up drastically as the Labour Party seeks to shrink the country's growing public debt burden and plug the hole in the budget.
[04:25:00] MACFARLANE: Now, the new budget would raise an additional $52 billion by targeting high earners, wealthy foreigners and business finance ministers -- and businesses, rather. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves, a former Bank of England economist, unveiled the plan Wednesday. She told Parliament that the tough measures were necessary because of inadequate budgeting by the Conservative Party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL REEVES, U.K. FINANCE MINISTER: Together, the hole in our public finances this year, which recurs every year, the compensation schemes that they did not fund, and their failure to assess the scale of the challenges facing our public services, means that this budget raises taxes by 40 billion. Any Chancellor standing here today would have to face this reality. And any responsible Chancellor would take action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, the new budget would also increase employer contributions to national insurance and boost public investment. It also extends a freeze on fuel duties and cuts a tax on draft beer in pubs. I got a draft beer machine yesterday for my birthday, so hopefully I'm unaffected.
MACFARLANE: Good timing, good timing.
Meantime, there is new evidence the U.S. economy has pulled off a historic soft landing after the pandemic. According to data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department, U.S. gross domestic product, the measure of all goods and services produced in the economy, expanded at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter.
FOSTER: U.S. President Joe Biden said the report, quote, shows how far we've come since I took office, from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression to the strongest economy in the world.
Amid a diplomatic push for a ceasefire in Lebanon, more Israeli airstrikes target Hezbollah. Details on the situation there next.
MACFARLANE: And one of the most pivotal states in the upcoming U.S. election is Wisconsin. CNN's John King goes there to gauge the political temperature, whether it's red or blue.
FOSTER: Or orange.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Here are some of the top stories we're following today.
In less than a week, Americans will elect their next president. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are making their case to voters in crucial battleground states. But Pennsylvania remains the grand prize with its 19 electoral votes, the most of any swing state. And as you can see, CNN's poll shows a very likely even split here between voters. And we'll wait to see. Just less than a week to go. Now, a hearing to consider re-sentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez is set for December 11th. The brothers are serving a life sentence for killing their parents in 1989. Last night -- last week, the Los Angeles District Attorney requested they have a possible.
