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CNN This Morning
Today: Harris Makes Speech At Site Of Trump's January 6 Rally; Georgian President Calls For Protests Over Disputed Election; Record Heat From Southwest Plains To Great Lakes. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired October 29, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:48]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Tuesday, October 29th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not a Nazi. I'm the opposite of a Nazi. She's a fascist, okay?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Fallout following his rally at the garden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Turn the page on the fear and divisiveness that have characterized our politics for a decade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: A final campaign address today, Kamala Harris speaks at the site where Donald Trumps stoked January 6 rioters in her pitch to conflicted voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: If somebody does not respect you, you should not hope for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Seizing on the fallout, the Harris campaign tries to make gains following backlash from the controversial joke made at Trump's weekend rally
(MUSIC)
HUNT: Five a.m. here on the East Coast, a live look at Capitol Hill. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. Here we are, Election Day now, just one week away later today, the
vice president's final major address of her campaign. She's set to give an address at the ellipse, its the same spot that Donald Trump spoke out on January 6, just before a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol after he told them that they had to fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: It's got to also talk about the contrast because my opponent spends full time talking about are as American and talking down at people, talking about that we're the garbage can of the world. We're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Her speech coming after fallout from Trump's own closing argument speech at Madison Square Garden, which featured a lineup of oftentimes vulgar rhetoric from the speakers at the event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID REM, FRIEND OF DONALD TRUMP: She is the devil, whoever screamed that out. She is the antichrist.
GRANT CARDONE, BUSINESSMAN: She's a pretender. Her and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.
TUCKER CARLSON, MEDIA PERSONALITY: Kamala Harris, she's just -- she got 85 million votes because she's just so impressive, as the first Samoan Malaysian, low IQ, former California prosecutor ever to be elected president.
TONY HINCHCLIFFE, COMEDIAN: I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it's called Puerto Rico
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: That last comment about Puerto Rico, in particular, under discussion on the trail on Monday, the Harris campaign, quickly turning it into a campaign ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HINCHCLIFFE: A floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean, I think it's called Puerto Rico.
TRUMP: Puerto Rico.
HARRIS: I will never forget what Donald Trump did. He abandoned the island and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults.
Puerto Ricans deserve better.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: The Trump campaign releasing a statement attempting to distance themselves from the Puerto Rico moment on Sunday night, but J.D. Vance now trying to play it down is just a joke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Again, I haven't seen the joke. I -- you know, maybe -- maybe it's a stupid racist joke as you said, maybe it's not. I haven't seen it. I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the joke, but I think that we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America. I'm just -- I'm so over it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Joining us now to discuss, Margaret Talev, senior contributor at "Axios".
Margaret, good morning.
MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
HUNT: It's always good to have you.
TALEV: Thank you.
HUNT: One week to election day.
TALEV: You don't say.
HUNT: The contrast -- we were talking about this yesterday, pretty stark between what each candidate is offering here, more stark then many of our previous elections. The Puerto Rico comment in particular -- obviously, there are Puerto Rican communities in swing states like Pennsylvania. A lot of people watching to see exactly how that's rippling out.
But it's also part of this bigger picture. What we saw on display on that stage, very different than what we are used to seeing in our politics I suppose it's an evolution of what we've seen in the Trump years.
[05:05:01]
But what does it say about the state of the race here in the final days?
TALEV: Well, we've been talking for a year, more than a year, year- and-a-half about how this election is all about the economy, how the one issue that voters tell us and poll after poll and focus group after focus group, that they care about the most on the basis on which there'll be voting is inflation and how that's impacted their lives.
But in the closing days of this race, we are seeing a return to the culture wars. It's Donald Trump's ads about transgender that are airing during football games and now this rally is giving Harris -- Vice President Harris a last-minute opportunity to take the wheel on the culture wars argument and say these are the people who feel elevated by former President Trump's campaign, and whether or not he pre-screened their jokes if you elect him again, you're going to get more of this.
These are going to persuade voters who thought that they wanted to be voting on the economy? I don't know, but I do know that that rally was not the message that he presumably wanted to take into the closing days of the election.
HUNT: And you mentioned whether or not people had looked at his remarks because we also -- I mean, he also mentioned a Black person and a watermelon. I mean, the Puerto Rican moment that we can play was more palatable, I guess, than another joke he made about Latinos. That's really too vulgar.
TALEV: I actually watched that whole thing.
HUNT: To even play, right? But the reporting that we have here at CNN, quote, one adviser suggested that no one had reviewed Hinchcliffe's remarks in full, but another said the campaign wasn't given a draft that included some of the comedian's more indecent jokes but they did flag one calling Vice President Kamala Harris, a CNT, as in poor taste. And it was nixed from the set.
So somebody saw that he was going to use the C-word, call Harris the C-word, and said, maybe we shouldn't do that.
TALEV: Maybe that ones in poor taste, right.
So this is going to create fodder in ads and a lot of that in the closing days of the campaign. But, you know, in some focus groups, as I often am last night that we haven't released them yet, but if you are -- if you are a voter who is already leaning towards former President Trump, and in particular, if the economies you're most animating message, many of these voters are so attuned to -- are so accustomed to over the top, beyond the pale kind of commentary, either from the former president himself or from people around him, people who are attracted to his Israelis, that in some cases they really are willing to say, well, yeah, I really don't like that, but I had more money in my pocket four years ago.
So I think it's shocking to watch some of these comments. There -- that's -- come on, that's 2024, like let's move on. But I don't know that they will be the decisive factor in this race. But for Harris and Democrats who have been so nervous about how tight the polls have been, about the momentum that had been tracking and former President Trump's direction, this does give them a real opportunity in the closing days.
HUNT: Yeah. Where do you think that stands at this writing one week out? I mean, "The Times" has a big new story about how Harris aides are bullish quietly, growing more bullish on defeating Trump, you know?
TALEV: Maybe they are, or maybe they just have to say they are. I mean, I don't know --
(CROSSTALK)
HUNT: Exactly, right.
TALEV: You know, it is. It's a week out here -- like we're going to return to the same. It's like we say, every four years, but for slightly different reasons every time, like millions of -- 47 million people have voted.
That means like 200 million people haven't voted, like most people, a lot of people haven't voted yet. They're going to -- they know what they're going to do, but they're waiting into the last day or they don't know what they do, and they're going to go in at the last minute and say, what is my gut say.
And so, all these things that seem like just a little piece really, really matter, particularly in a swing state, if -- if you are former President Trump and you're counting on the Latino vote, to move in your direction in Pennsylvania, is this going to help? Probably not.
If you are Vice President Harris and you are counting on reproductive rights and abortion to carry -- propel a vote that completely overcomes people's concerns about how inflation and the price of goods have impacted you post-COVID on what has been the Biden/Harris watch, is this going to help carry you? Totally unclear.
So, turnout really, really matters and we're going to see everything from these, you know, her version of a massive rally we're going to see tonight and Washington, D.C. today, in Washington, D.C., at the ellipse, but all of these efforts, they are both at turning out the base and at trying to just shave off or capture that tiny, ever shrinking element of persuadable voters.
HUNT: All right. Margaret Talev, thanks for starting us off this morning. One week to go, appreciate it.
All right. Straight ahead here on CNN this morning, hundreds of ballots destroyed. The federal investigation now underway after a string of ballot drop-box fires.
[05:10:06]
Plus, more than 43 million ballots already cast. How the GOP's strategy is laying the groundwork in the courts to contest mail-in ballot rules.
And with just a week left in the campaign, Trump facing backlash from Latino voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: One guy called Puerto Rico, quote, an island of garbage. These are fellow citizens he's talking about. Here in Philadelphia, they are your neighbors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[05:05:00]
HUNT: All right. Welcome back.
The president of Georgia is calling for protests following a disputed election. President Salome Zourabichvili claiming Russia interfered with Saturday's election in the Eastern European nation, giving the Georgian Dream Party an outright majority despite exit polls suggesting that four opposition parties had won.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour spoke to the Georgian president about the alleged election fraud, which she claims comes right out of Putin's playbook.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: We know that Russia still occupies, I think about 20 percent of your territory similar to what it occupies in Ukraine, but it obviously denies interfering. What is your evidence?
SALOME ZOURABICHVILI, GEORGIAN PRESIDENT: Everything has been used in this election, all the different tools and rigging of elections, all the instruments, and especially, a new one electronic voting, which has been proven that there have been using IDs that were taken from citizens, and have been used 7 times, 10 times, 17 times, all this evidence has been and -- is being collected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Joining us now is Max Foster live from London.
Max, always great to see you.
What do we understand here about the evidence at hand? What the Kremlin may or may not be doing? And if we heard anything from the Kremlin on this?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: We ca n assume that Kremlin is pretty happy with this because, you know, this is a huge endorsement for a pro-Russia government in a country that was heading towards closer relations with the European Union at one point.
And the tide is very much turned back towards Russia, for the president there that Christiane was speaking to, very much a pro- European, but she has very little authority in the country. It's all about the prime minister and a resounding vote in the ruling party's favor the claims are that this was rigged and it should be checked but these calls are coming from a president that doesn't have the authority to turn that around.
So it's a question of where the country goes from here. Obviously, a lot of support for both sides and there's some concern that this could blow up with some protests, but we'll just have to wait and see.
HUNT: So, Max, can you help us understand how this fits into kind of the broader geopolitical picture in this region of the world? How the Russians think about the politics in Georgia, how that interacts or doesn't with the war in Ukraine?
FOSTER: Well, you know, President Putin wants to expand his power. You could see what he's trying to do in Ukraine. He has no plans. There's no suggestion he has plans to take over Georgia, but if you can create a sympathetic government, there becomes some would call less satellites state where he has lots of authority, connects him to Turkey, interesting, the prime minister of Turkey was the first visit. The new prime minister of Georgia and congratulate him.
And that's caused a real stink with the European Union, bear with me because Turkey holds the European Union presidency and it looked like it was somehow been endorsed by the E.U. But that is not the case because there were hopes within the E.U. that Georgia will join and it would bolster Europe and the West. Instead, it's bolstering Russia.
HUNT: Very interesting. All right, Max Foster for us this morning, always so grateful to have you, Max. Thank you.
All right. Ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, the growing backlash from that ugly joke. Could Latino voters punish Donald Trump for comments? That were made at his Madison Square Garden rally.
Plus, new clues in the search for a suspect who set to drop boxes on fire, destroying hundreds of ballots.
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[05:23:19]
HUNT: Twenty-two minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
Federal investigation is underway and did fires set at ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington. Hundreds of ballots were destroyed at the Vancouver location. Authorities believe the fires are connected, along with another fire earlier this month at another Vancouver ballot box.
Steve Bannon released from prison this morning. The Trump allies serving his full 120-day sentence after being found guilty of contempt of Congress back in 2022 for not complying with a subpoena in connection to January 6. He is still appealing his conviction.
Chase Bank suing four customers who allegedly withdrew money fraudulently from Chase ATMs. The bank says that customers owe more than $600,000 before individuals allegedly wrote checks to themselves as part of a viral TikTok trend and then immediately withdrew the money before the checks bounced.
All right. Time now for weather. Record heat descending on the Southwest Plains and the Great Lakes and some cities could see the warmest Halloween in decades. Let's get straight to our meteorologist, the weatherman, Derek Van
Dam, with the real news everyone is looking for, which is all about Thursday.
What trick and treating going to look like, Derek?
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is so crucial, right, especially for parents of young children.
You know, this could go down as one of the warmest Halloween since the '50s, especially across the Northeast. I mean, look at these daytime highs. This is for Thursday afternoon, so Halloween day will reach the lower 80s for the nation's capital, 78 for New York, 81 for Atlanta. They had a warm Halloween, a couple of years ago, I was part of that sweating in my trick or treat outfit with my kids.
It's going to be another hot one for this Thursday, in Halloween Day.
[05:25:04]
In fact, we've got 135-plus record high temperatures possible through Halloween Day, over the eastern two-thirds of the country. The West, a completely different weather pattern unfolding, cooler weather out West as the system moves in. I'll show you that in just one moment.
Look at the three-day forecast taking you from today -- you could see temperatures in the 70s and then they warm up quite quickly into Washington, D.C. This is the cold front that'll bring snow and a harbinger of change. In fact, that will sweep across the nation.
But notice the timeline at the top portion of your screen doesn't reach the East Coast by Thursday evening, so we'll stay dry and we'll stay warm ahead of the front. A lot of people have been heading to the polls early for voting, and we put together this weather forecast, Kasie, that shows you individual locations, Pittsburgh, New York, and Atlanta, taking you through the course of the day today, what really need much of a raincoat or a coded all in the east coast because the warmth that's the major story. As we head in towards the Plains and the Midwest, more the same for today, but of wind into the Windy City.
But Napoleon Stations look dry and no problem. So --
HUNT: I love it. Derek Van Dam for us this morning, Derek, thank you very much. I'll see you next hour.
VAN DAM: All right.
HUNT: Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING: casting doubt on the election results. Republicans filing more than 100 pre-election in lawsuits before most votes are even cast or counted.
Plus, Donald Trump's allies attempting to defend the hateful rhetoric that came out of Sunday's Madison Square Garden rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VANCE: It's telling that Kamala Harris's closing message is essentially that all of Donald Trumps voters are Nazis and you should get really off about a comedian telling a joke. That is not the message of a winning campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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