Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Trump Amps Up Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric at Rally Appearances; Tensions Between Biden & Harris as Election Nears; Cooler Temperatures are On the Way. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired October 14, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Monday, October 14. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

[05:59:38]

The final three weeks. Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, locked in a dead heat. Millions of votes already cast.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), 2024 VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm aware of the gender gap. I see the polling that everybody else does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: the gender divide. How both campaigns are looking to close the gap between men and women in the final stretch.

And then --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within.

It should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: "The enemy from within." Donald Trump with some of his darkest language yet about his political foes.

And stepping in. The U.S. deploys advanced weapons and troops to help the threat that Israel faces from Iran.

It's 6 a.m. on the nose on the East Coast. A live look at New York City on this Monday morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. We are now just 22 days until election day. Millions of early votes

already have been cast in a race that new polling shows is getting tighter than ever.

Over the weekend, the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll has Kamala Harris with a slim 50-to-48 lead among likely voters nationally. No clear leader. Just last month, Harris had a five-point lead in this same poll.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's going to be a tight race until the very end. And we are running as the underdog, so we have some hard work ahead of us. But we like hard work! Hard work is good work! And with your help, in 23 days, we will win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: But as those polls grow closer, Donald Trump's tone is getting darker on immigration, on his political opponents.

Here was the former president in a series of campaign rallies and interviews just this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Kamala has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons of the third world.

I'm hereby calling for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or law enforcement officer. Death penalty. It's time.

If Kamala gets four more years, the entire country will be turned into a migrant camp.

I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered.

I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within. Not even the people that have come in and destroying our country. By the way, totally destroying our country.

It's the enemy from within. All the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That's a bigger enemy than China and Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Joining us now to discuss: Laura Barron Lopez, CNN political analyst, White House correspondent for "PBS Newshour"; Alex Thompson, CNN political analyst, national political reporter for Axios; Meghan Hays, former director of message planning in the Biden White House; and Matt Gorman, former senior adviser to Tim Scott's presidential campaign. Welcome to all of you.

So, we get joy versus darkness, it seems, and darkness seems to be getting an edge. Yes. Why? What's going on?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, it's a divided country. It's a polarized country. The fact is that I think you asked anyone in the Harris campaign in July and August, they would say they expected this race to come back, that there was a little bit of a sugar high.

And the Trump campaign felt the same way, too. They felt that this was a 50-50 race in the very beginning. And really, it just comes -- and that's actually why these last three weeks are so critical.

Because the fact is that Kamala Harris has only been on this national stage in this way as a nominee for 90 days. How she performs these next 90 days -- most people have made up their minds about Donald Trump. It's really about how she performs these next 22 days that could determine this race.

HUNT: Do you agree with that assessment, Meghan? Why is this race playing out the way it is?

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING IN THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE: Yes, I do. I think because -- I agree with you, there was a sugar high. Now we're back to reality of where this was always going to be, whether it was the president, President Biden, or the vice president. This was always going to be a really tight race.

And I do think it matters how she performs the next 22 days. People don't know her. And so, watching her leadership style, watching how she reacts as some of these attacks in the polls, I think, shows what she's going to do as a president and how she's going to be a leader. And I think people who -- who are undecided are watching her and making sure that she's up to the task.

MATT GORMAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO TIM SCOTT'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Well, the series we've seen of polls over this weekend with NBC and others, I mean, have belied, I think, the strategy that we have -- the strategy tone we've -- we've seen over the last week or two of the Harris campaign. Far more anti-Trump messaging. The housing plan isn't really going anywhere now.

And you also hear a little bit more about kind of a little bit more trolling now. I think they realize they're in a desperate spot, including the fact over the last week they've really made this really outsized push for male voters. You see the gender gap and a lot has been talked about our gender gap. They have a gender gap, which according to the NBC News poll, was wider than ours is.

HUNT: I was going to say, it's getting worse.

GORMAN: It's getting worse. And, you know, they seem to -- maybe they don't. But like the Northern Virginia male with "The Future is Female" shirt, they've got them on lock, but they don't have the North Carolina ex-urban suburban dad or the upside (ph) Pennsylvania guy.

And I think that is what they just don't understand. And a lot of their messaging around it, like Barack Obama talking about internalized misogyny, is not going to help the case.

HUNT: Yes. But Laura, while this these polls are tightening, I will say both Republicans and Democrats I talked to think things are moving in Trump's direction at the moment. It is still a tossup, of course.

Trump's rhetoric seems to be getting darker and more apocalyptic, which you know, might suggest if he were a different kind of candidate, I suppose that that he feels like he is losing.

But obviously, Trump has defied every norm and broken every rule in our politics. Why are we seeing this from him with 22 days to go?

LAUREN BARRON LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, this is what Donald Trump has ran on since 2016. In 2016, he ran on, you know, migrant crime, as well.

In 2018, during those midterms, he said there was a migrant caravan coming to the border when there wasn't, and they lost the 2018 midterms.

In 2020, he also ran on this kind of anti-immigrant rhetoric, and he's doing it again. It is -- it has gotten worse the closer he gets to November. And I think that, you know, he and his campaign are also -- part of his strategy in trying to convince the American public and trying to convince his base that eventually, if he gets into office, then they shouldn't be surprised by what he does.

He's saying out loud that he wants to potentially use the National Guard; that he wants to conduct mass deportations; that he may very well even use the National Guard against American citizens. So, the American public shouldn't be surprised if he and Stephen Miller end up pursuing that.

On the race tight -- you know, the race being tied, it was always going to be tight. And yes, maybe right now it looks like it's leaning a little bit towards Trump.

But there's some recent polling that I think is striking in terms of Harris is still ahead of Trump when it comes to, when voters are asked, who do you -- who do you think cares about you the most? They say her, which I think is interesting.

And also, I was just in Arizona and Nevada. And there are a number of Republican women that I spoke to, lifelong Republicans, who said they're not voting for Trump this time around. And a lot of that has to do with abortion, and a lot of it has to do with his character.

And so, economy and immigration may rate high on, you know, when you're asking for head-to-head polls. But a lot of times when you talk to voters, they make their decision based on character.

HUNT: Yes. Well, but I mean this is what you're talking about, right? Matt, that the Democrats have women.

GORMAN: I mean, look, it's going to come down to if Republicans win men by more than they lose women, or the Democrats do the opposite, that's the ball game. Like, that is the ballgame right now.

And I think Democrats are waking up to the fact that they've had -- they have a serious problem with men.

We look -- we've known it for years, right? Like ever since Roe was overturned, we know. We've seen it in '22 and on, that we have work to do with women.

And now I think Democrats are waking up to the same. And it's been a cultural thing that's been in the works for a while now.

THOMPSON: Well, and Trump knows he has a problem, too, because he's going to do a town hall with FOX News with an all-female audience, recently.

You also just see the contortions in J.D. Vance's interview played a clip of it earlier. How he's trying to talk about abortion rights and try to sort of get out of the fact that their past positions and the fact that they appointed the judges that overturned Roe v. Wade.

HUNT: Matt, do you think that the men -- the situation with men, is it because Harris's team is doing a poor job? You gave some examples on how you think that they're not doing a good job of talking to men?

Or is it because Trump has played into that more? I mean, they have -- clearly, are running a strategy aimed at Jackie.

GORMAN: It's both. I mean, just -- just the opposite of -- with Democrats, too. Like Democrats have played into it well with women. And we have had some ham-handed messages on. I think the same thing has happened here.

It's been a cultural thing that's happened over the course of the year that they haven't seen for a while. And candidly, Trump has done a good job of doing things that are authentic to him, but appeals to a male audience. If the key is being authentic to yourself and not -- when doing it.

HUNT: Interesting.

All right, still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, the U.S. lending even more support to Israel after recent attacks from Hezbollah. This time, not just weapons. U.S. personnel now headed to the Middle East. We'll explain.

Plus, tensions building. Why the Harris campaign isn't happy with some recent moves by President Biden and his staff. That's Alex Thompson's reporting. We'll walk through it.

And as we were just discussing, men versus women. We're going to dig further into the gender gap in this election, how each campaign trying to chip away at the other's advantage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: I'm aware of the gender gap. I see the polling that everybody else does. I also think there's some evidence that we've made some progress in the last few weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:56]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to reconsider dropping out of the race?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm back in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: President Joe Biden making a surprise visit to the White House briefing room earlier this month for the first time as commander in chief. The impromptu press conference happening just as Kamala Harris was set to start a campaign event in Michigan.

News networks opting to cover Biden, the sitting president, instead.

Now, new Axios reporting the relationship between these two camps, Harris and Biden, has been a little bit tense recently. Friend of the show Alex Thompson, in his latest piece, found frustration from Harris's team that top White House aides aren't coordinating Biden's messaging and schedule closely enough with what's best for the vice president's campaign.

Biden's team, Alex reports, wants Harris to win the election. That's good. But many senior Biden aides remain wounded by the president being pushed out of his reelection bid.

A close Harris ally tells Axios that the president's team is, quote, "too much in their feelings," end quote.

Our panel is back. Alex, somebody should call Nancy Pelosi and ask her what she thinks about people and their feelings and winning elections and what goes in what order.

[06:15:05]

But that aside, what more did you learn about how this is manifesting itself? Because again, this is one of those things that -- they should know that Harris is about to take the stage. She's running for president. Instead, they send the president out to the podium. What else do you know?

THOMPSON: The president is not used to being in a supporting role. And he's definitely not used to being a supporting role in an election that he intended to be running in. And that's what's really happening here.

There's not sort of a deliberate sabotage here. And that's why they said they're in their feelings. The fact is, like, Joe Biden is an emotional person. And that really trickle -- trickles down to the staff, too.

They are wounded. They feel, in some ways, betrayed by their close allies.

And the fact is that the Harris team is sort of very gently tiptoeing around all of those feelings. And also, at the same time, being like, come on. Like, we got 22 days.

The other example of that was right after Kamala Harris tried to do this whole thing and picking a fight with DeSantis about will you take my call? Will you not take my call?

The next day on camera Joe Biden was, like, DeSantis is doing a great job?

HUNT: And you can almost see Harris herself tiptoeing around Biden's feelings, like the answer that she gave on "The View" that the Trump team seized on where they're like, well, what would you do differently from Biden? And she's, like, nothing comes to mind.

Meghan, take us inside. You were there.

HAYS: I think that some of the people have left, like Anita Dunn has left the White House. And she was the main person around comms driving messaging, and would be more tracking some of that timing, I think.

I don't think it's intentional. I do think they're a little bit oblivious sometimes to her being onstage somewhere or out.

I agree with you. They're probably in their feelings. More of this is coming to an end for a lot of their careers, as well, not just the president. A lot of people are -- you know, they're -- they're old, and they've worked for five times in the White House. This is probably the last time they're going to do that.

But I don't think it's intentional. I don't think that -- the president for sure wants the vice president to win. He has been extremely vocal about that privately and publicly. So, I don't necessarily think it's him trickling down or sending a message to everyone, I think. Some of this is a little bit unintentional and not as strategic as we might think it looks from the outside.

HUNT: It is always a mistake to forget that people running these campaigns are human beings.

HAYS: Yes.

HUNT: And that that matters a lot and also, that the tone is always set. I am continually struck by this. I think it's really true, especially on presidential campaigns. The White House, as well. But it's set by the top, right? It is the person at the top manifested in a group of people below them.

And of course it's been a very difficult. You could see Biden kind of "I'm back in," like he actually really wants to be.

THOMPSON: Yes.

HUNT: OK. Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, another first for Elon Musk and SpaceX. We'll show you what a SpaceX rocket pulled off during a launch over the weekend. One of five things you have to see this morning.

Plus, a cutting-edge American missile defense system for Israel. The U.S. also deploying troops to operate it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:04]

HUNT: All right, 20 minutes past the hour, five things you have to see this morning.

SpaceX's Starship rocket completing its fifth test flight in dramatic fashion this weekend. The rocket booster, along with the spacecraft, launched early Sunday from Boca Chica, Texas. And check this out.

For the first time, SpaceX returned the booster back to the launch tower, catching it -- look at this -- out of the air with two giant mechanical arms that they call chopsticks. That's insane.

All right. Now this. A hot-air balloon blamed for taking down a radio tower in New Mexico. Local fire officials say a hot-air balloon, seen here on nearby security camera footage, flew into the tower and just kept on flying.

All right. Thankfully, no injuries were reported due to that collapse.

An inferno destroying a historic church in Chile. The San Francisco Church was one of the oldest Catholic churches in the country until Friday's fire. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

The cause of the blaze now under investigation.

Tampa Police rescuing a man after his truck became trapped in floodwaters from Hurricane Milton. Officers were delivering food and water to residents in the area when they got the call for help. Fortunately, they were able to pull the man to safety.

And then there's this. Oh, my God. Apparently humans not the only ones needing rescue. People in Lithia, Florida, wrangling a pig that had escaped and was wandering near a gas station. As you can see, the pig had no interest in going.

In the wake of Hurricane Milton, dozens of other animals have also been rescued from floodwaters.

Wow.

All right. Time now for weather. Time to finally get out those jackets. Much cooler temperatures are on the way. Let's get to our meteorologist, the weatherman, Derek van Dam.

Derek, good morning. What should people be prepared for?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, OK. How about the first flakes of this season? This snowboarder is happy to see the snow finally showing up on radar.

And you can see it, Mother Nature giving us this little hint, this tease that winter is coming. But we'll settle into fall first, right? But I just want to highlight this, because the white mountains into the Adirondacks of Northern New York.

Well, yes, you could get a coating of fresh snow, maybe a couple of inches above 1,000 feet. That's what our computer models are telling us. And that's what some of the observations on the ground.

Most of this is rain at the lowest elevations, but a cold rain.

And speaking of cold, look, just how much of the central portions of the country will be impacted by this cold snap that is on its way. It's all thanks to this cold front. It's going to dramatically drop our temperatures compared to what we experienced this weekend.

So, the first parts of this work week are going to feel very different to what the weekend felt like.

Here in Atlanta, this is a prime example. Yesterday it was 84. It'll be 70 degrees today. Significant drop in temperatures in places like Little Rock Northward.

[06:25:06]

And D.C., where Kasie's located, a stab of cold weather for you, as well.

So, it was 80 yesterday. It will drop 23 degrees for your high temperature tomorrow. That's when the real cool weather sets, in the upper 50s for your afternoon highs.

And you know what? Florida, the Sunshine State, they're not out of this. They're not protected from this -- I should say the cool weather. You're actually going to see temperatures drop to around the lower 70s for Orlando, for example.

So cool weather dominating this forecast for the Eastern half of the country, Kasie. Enjoy.

HUNT: All right, thank you. Derek van Dam for us this morning.

Derek, we'll see you tomorrow.

And still coming up here after the break, as Israel fights wars on multiple fronts, the United States set to deliver a new highly advanced missile defense system. It will also mean sending more American troops into the region.

Plus, Donald Trump on the trail, using this unsettling term to describe fellow Americans. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's the enemy from within. All the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That's a bigger enemy than China and Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)