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Connect the World
CNN International: Trump Calls Harris a Fascist, says he is "Opposite of a Nazi"; Health Ministry: Northern Gaza Airstrike Kills at least 93; U.S. Airlines Must Refund a Canceled Flight Automatically; Harris Campaign Targets Latino Voters in Arizona; FII Institute Surveys Thousands to Target Investment. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired October 29, 2024 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, you join us in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, at the future Investment Initiative. The talk here is all
about investment in a future set to be dominated by AI and tech, but the global business elite keenly aware that these are uncertain times driven in
large part by the upcoming U.S. election and conflicts in the Middle East and in Europe. It's 04:00 p.m. here in Riyadh. I'm Becky Anderson, welcome
to what is this special edition of "Connect the World".
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Erica Hill. It is 09:00 a.m. here in New York. And yes, that election weighing heavily over here as we enter the
final week of the U.S. presidential race. Kamala Harris calling out Donald Trump's incendiary closing argument as he says he is the quote opposite of
a Nazi.
The former president is expected to address reporters in just the next hour, but before we get to our election news, Becky, I know you have more
on what is happening there in Riyadh at this economic conference.
ANDERSON: That's right. Leaders and investors here to discuss not only the state of the world right now, but the future. They are trying to make sense
of what is an uncertain world with new multipolar decision centers emerging every day, of course. I sat down with the CEO of the FII to discuss what he
calls impactful investing in this quite unsettling climate.
Richard Attias, like most people here, is not ignoring the fact that we are less than one week out from one of the most important consequential
political events in years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ATTIAS, CEO OF FUTURE INVESTMENT INITIATIVE (FII) INSTITUTE: Despite all the conflicts, despite the uncertainty of the result of the
U.S. election, which will definitely have a big impact, geoeconomically and geopolitically, the business community wants to move forward, I would say
the show must go on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, you also heard a reference to the wars that we are reporting on daily, of course. Nowhere is conflict more top of the mind
than here in the Middle East. I've also spoken with Saudi Arabia's Minister of Investment, His Excellency, Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih.
And he acknowledged the unacceptable reality for people on the ground and underscored the kingdom's commitment to finding peace within that reality.
We discussed Saudi's regional leadership and its future focus, despite the challenges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
H.E. KHALID BIN ABDULAZIZ AL-FALIH, SAUDI ARABIA MINISTER OF INVESTMENT: We are the center of the Middle East, and we feel the pain that is happening
at the human level, and we see the disruptions in the Red Sea. And some of the audience may ask, how is that reflected on the economic environment and
the business environment.
And obviously, head winds will reflect any economy. But thanks to His Royal Highness, thanks to the vision, the tail winds are much stronger than the
head winds and the economy of Saudi Arabia under vision 2030 is navigating these geo political and macro-economic and global challenges, including
trade tensions and political conflicts extremely well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: An event like this, illustrates the fact that Riyadh is emerging as one of those global poles of leadership in what is this new multi polar
world that I mentioned. Yes, there are huge challenges that people here are facing and acknowledging, but the atmosphere is one focused on finding
solutions and more from here, a little later this hour, Erica.
HILL: All right. We look forward to it throughout the course of the show, Becky, thank you. The focus from here in New York, it is squarely on the
election at this point. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, now officially in the final week of this 2024 presidential campaign.
And both are looking to reach as many voters as possible, though, offering vastly different messages. On Monday, the former president calling Harris a
fascist, telling supporters in Georgia he is quote, the opposite of a Nazi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The newest line from Kamala and her campaign is that everyone who isn't
voting for her is a Nazi. I had a great father, tough guy. He's always saying, never use the word Nazi. Never use that word. And it's saying,
never use the word Hitler, don't use that word. And yet they use that word freely, both words they use it. He's Hitler. And then they say he's a Nazi.
I'm not a Nazi. I'm the opposite of a Nazi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[09:05:00]
HILL: Kamala Harris making her closing arguments to voters later today in Washington. And she'll be giving an address near the exact same spot where
Trump gave his speech on January 6 to his supporters. That, of course, is by design that she will be making that address on the ellipse in
Washington.
Harris' advisers say her speech will be hopeful and optimistic and will continue with part of her closing argument, which is to contrast her
character and vision from those of Donald Trump. It's a message you've heard repeatedly on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just got to also talk about the contrast, because my opponent spends full
time talking about. Just kind of diminishing who we are as America, and talking down at people, talking about, we're the garbage can of the world.
We're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Well, that speech from Monday. This follows Trump's campaign event, of course, at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, which featured a
lineup of speakers making a number of racist vulgar remarks, including disparaging remarks about Kamala Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID REM, FRIEND OF DONALD TRUMP: She is the devil. Whoever screamed that out, she is the anti-Christ.
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)
HILL: The Trump campaign looking to distance itself from that final comment, not necessarily the other ones, as the Harris campaign quickly
turned the comment about Puerto Rico 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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)
HILL: CNN's Stephen Collinson joining me now from Washington. This has been really, quite a news cycle over the last 24 plus hours, as we look at where
things go from here, those Sunday night comments are not going away. Donald Trump is set to address reporters at Mar-a-Lago just about an hour from
now, unclear if he will be taking questions, but we will be bringing that to folks live.
There has been more and more pressure, even from the Archbishop of San Juan, for the former president to personally apologize for those remarks
Sunday night, specifically the remarks about Puerto Rico. I don't think anyone should hold their breath for that. That being said. Do we know what
he does plan to say this morning?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: No, we don't know what he does plan to say, and even when he's saying it, often he goes off on all
sorts of tangents that could not be predicted. I think the issue here for Trump is that this is not necessarily a Puerto Rico problem.
It's a Pennsylvania problem, because there are significant pockets of Puerto Rican and Latino voters in Pennsylvania, which is one of the key
states next week, which Kamala Harris certainly needs to win to get to the White House. The Trump campaign had been very happy where it was standing
in Pennsylvania, but it seems like there's been quite a big backlash to these comments.
I think we also need to point out that although the campaign is disavowing what the comedian said on Sunday night. This was at a Trump rally. This is
exactly the kind of behavior and comments, and so were those other ones that you played from the event that Trump has allowed into the Republican
Party.
He's almost given permission for extremists. There is a big incentive on the conservative media network for these kinds of comments. So, although
the former president didn't say it himself and may not share these sentiments. It's very much part of Trumpism and the Republican Party under
the former president.
HILL: And in many ways, this play to the base to make sure that the base does, in fact, turn out, whether in early voting or on November 5th.
Meantime, we are so we're waiting on that from the former president about an hour. We'll hear from him. Kamala Harris is set to make an address later
today on the ellipse in Washington.
And her campaign really wants this split screen right, of her holding a speech basically in the same spot where Donald Trump spoke just before a
number of his followers then made their way to the U.S. Capitol, and we saw the violence that ensued on January 6th.
COLLINSON: Yeah, and this is the encapsulation of part of the Harris message that Americans have a fleeting chance to move on from the chaos and
the division of the Trump years as they are perceived by democrats.
[09:10:00]
That was an early message of her campaign. I don't think we should necessarily expect her to completely anchor her closing message on the
democracy argument. There are questions whether that is the most effective approach at the end of this campaign, at a time when many Americans are
struggling with high grocery and housing prices.
But her argument is that if you vote for Trump, you'll get four more years of exactly the same kind of stuff that you got on January the sixth,
whereas she will take steps, she'll get into the Oval Office and try to adopt policies that make life better for regular Americans, lowering
grocery prices, making housing more affordable.
So, it's a dual argument, and it's less, you know, directly involved with the Donald Trump as a threat to democracy and is an existential threat to
American freedoms, that was at the center of President Joe Biden's former campaign for the Democratic nomination.
HILL: Yeah. Stephen Collison, appreciate it as always. Thank you. Well, with one week to go before the election, how's this for timing? Steve
Bannon out of prison, the longtime ally of Donald Trump, served four months behind bars for contempt of Congress. That's of course, after refusing to
comply with a congressional investigation into the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Bannon is expected to return to the helm of his right-wing media platform and to his podcast. His team says, he will also hold a news conference this
afternoon in New York. CNN's Sara Murray joining me now. I mean, quite the timing -- I would think he's going to have a lot to say when we hear from
him, and certainly leading into this election just a week away.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, fortuitous timing in the eyes of Steve Bannon, but he really only has a week to do what he, of
course, wants to do, which is try to push Donald Trump over the edge and into the presidency yet again. And in order to do that, he's returning to
his war room podcast.
That's where he's really had this MAGA megaphone in the past to rile up the Trump base, get them motivated to participate in the electoral process in a
number of ways. And so, we expect him to resume those hosting duties. But I was talking to folks who track these podcasts, in particular a company
called Podchaser.
And they pointed out that the metrics for this podcast, the reach, the listenership, really dropped off when Steve was incarcerated. Once Bannon
was behind bars, the numbers started taking the podcast fell off some of the top rankings that it had. And people kind of fled, and they've started
to sort of trickle back, as the fill in hosts have been teasing that Steve Bannon is coming back, everyone comes back, return and listen.
And so, we'll see how he decides to capitalize on that, or tries to capitalize that on that in the final week before the election. The other
thing in talking to folks who monitor these sort of conservative media chambers, where we see all of these kinds of conspiracy especially related
to the election.
The thing that they are worried about is not just what Bannon could pull off in the next week, but also what we could hear from Steve Bannon in
terms of incendiary, inflammatory rhetoric, if it appears that Donald Trump is coming up short on Election Day. Obviously, Bannon was a very prominent
early voice in the, you know, quote, unquote, stop the steal movement in 2020.
He shared plenty of election conspiracy on his podcast since then. And so, there is sort of a concern that he's going to be whipping up the Trump
faithful after Election Day if it looks like Donald Trump is not situated to win.
HILL: Sara Murray, good to see you this morning. Thank you.
MURRAY: Thanks.
HILL: I want to hand it back over now to, Becky, for more of the latest news from the Middle East, Becky.
ANDERSON: I want to turn to the conflict in Gaza. And to a story that is just breaking out of there, where officials say an Israeli air strike has
killed 93 people, 25 of them are children. The Gaza Civil Defense says that the strike hit a building where displaced people have gone seeking shelter.
People are using their bare hands to try to reach those who are still trapped in the rubble. Israel is in the midst of a new offensive in the
region, which it says is aimed at preventing a resurgence by Hamas. Well, let's get you straight to Matthew Chance, who is reporting live from
Jerusalem today. What more can you tell us about this attack, Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, it's yet another example of the extreme military force that's being used by
Israel, as they say, as you just mentioned there, to try and prevent a resurgence of Hamas in that part of Northern Gaza. Much of the fighting has
been focused around the Jabalia refugee camp up there in Northern Gaza.
This is in a location just next door, Beit Lahia. But it's all part of the same sort of focus, which is this apparent resurgence according to Israeli
military of Hamas in that area. And of course, the impact on civilians is enormous, not only of tens of thousands of people been evacuated or
forcibly evicted, sort of more accurately.
[09:15:00]
But also, there's been a huge toll in terms of the casualties on the civilian population, with dozens of people in these latest series of
strikes being killed, according to Palestinian health workers. And of course, the casualty figures in the area over the past several weeks, runs
into the many hundreds of people, perhaps as many as 1000 according to some reports out of Gaza.
Absolutely horrific scenes of bloodshed throughout that area of the Northern Gaza Strip. And of course, there are strikes being carried out
elsewhere in the Gaza Strip as well in the center of the area in the south of the Gaza strip near Rafah. More strikes being carried out there as
military operations continue.
I mean this as Israel continues its operations inside Lebanon, as well, against the Hezbollah organization, backed by Iran, of course, with more
people killed. Dozens of people there killed in latest strikes in Southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese health officials. And so yeah, there is no
sign at this stage of Israel's military operations, either in Gaza or in Southern Lebanon, easing up.
ANDERSON: And is it clear after the Knesset decision to ban the U.N. agency which is responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA? Is it clear what will
happen on the distribution of any aid that is actually getting into Gaza at this point, which is, of course, minimal as we understand it.
CHANCE: Yeah, it is minimal, and you're right. It's one of the reasons why there's so much international concern about the decision by the Israeli
Knesset to ban UNRWA, the United Nations agency, which is the main agency that helps Palestinian refugees in the region, including in Gaza and the
West Bank, as well as the wider region, of course.
And it's an organization that provides employment, of course, to many Palestinians, it provides humanitarian assistance in terms of food and
shelter, medical care, education facilities as well. And it is not clear, once they are banned, who is going to step into that vacuum.
And so that's an enormous concern for the international community. And of course, a direct worry for the millions of Palestinians who currently
benefit from UNRWA activities in the Gaza Strip in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and further afield as well.
ANDERSON: Yeah.
CHANCE: And so, look, you have all allies, including the United States, basically criticizing this move, calling on Israel to reconsider.
ANDERSON: It's 03:17 in Jerusalem. It is 04:17 here in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Matthew, thank you. We're going to take a very short break at this
point. Still to come, amid a wave of canceled subscriptions. "The Washington Post" Owner Jeff Bezos defends the decision not to endorse a
candidate in the U.S. presidential race. His reasoning and the reaction, is after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
HILL: Welcome back, I'm Erica Hill in New York. Just about 30 minutes from now, Donald Trump is set to address reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort
before he hits the trail in Pennsylvania today. Trump's team has been working to clean up the fallout from his rally at Madison Square Garden on
Sunday, where several speakers made racist, sexist and vulgar comments.
Comments that threaten to overshadow Trump's closing message. And with just a week to go, it really is, crunch time for both candidates. Kamala Harris
set to deliver her closing argument in a speech later today from the ellipse in Washington, D.C. That of course, is the same park where Donald
Trump spoke to his supporters on January 6, 2021 just before the violent attack on the U S Capitol.
And aides say that split screen is part of the vice president's plan to highlight the deep contrast between her and her opponent. "The Washington
Post" Owner Jeff Bezos is defending his decision not to allow the paper to endorse a candidate in the U.S. presidential race. That breaks a 36-year
tradition for the editorial board endorsing a candidate in a rare op-ed written just after three members of the paper's editorial board stepped
down.
Bezos writes presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. What they actually do is create a perception of bias and non-
independence, ending them as a principled decision, and it is the right one. CNN Media Correspondent Hadas Gold joining me now with more.
Look, there's a lot of questions about whether he may have a point there, and whether many people see the division between an editorial board and a
news organization. That being said, there is substantial fallout from this. We're talking hundreds of thousands of prescriptions.
HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's according to NPR, who had reported that around 200,000 subscribers had canceled. And this was
actually brought up in a meeting that the opinion section had yesterday with the opinions editor David Shipley to talk about this fallout. Now
David Shipley said he didn't have those numbers, but notably, "The Washington Post" spokes, people have declined to comment on this.
They also that means, though, that they have not denied that it's possible that 200,000 subscribers have canceled. We have seen that outpouring of
anger online, and plenty of you know, tweets and posts from people angrily canceling their subscriptions. I should remind though, people that
subscriptions are also what helped fund the news side of "The Washington Post".
And the journalism, the very important journalism that those people do. We're also seeing, of course, the backlash from inside the newsroom. As you
noted, at least three members of "The Washington Post" editorial board have stepped down from their editorial board position. It's a 10-member board,
so that's nearly 1/3 of that board.
Now those three members are still keeping their jobs, but they have resigned their positions on the board in protest of this decision. And
David Shipley during this meeting, he did talk about how Jeff Bezos had expressed skepticism about this, about an endorsement all the way back in
September. And that David Shipley, the opinions editor, tried to convince Jeff Bezos, up until last week, to go forward with this endorsement.
But David Shipley told his team, I failed. He said I failed at doing so. And this morning is when we're seeing Jeff Bezos, his first on the record
comments about this in this op-ed for the "The Washington Post", where he wrote, in part, I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a
moment further from the election and the emotions around it.
Because for a lot of reporters that I'm speaking to at the "The Washington Post", they talk about how it's the timing that bothers them. They say,
actually they say actually they don't mind the fact that the "The Washington Post" is not going to endorse a candidate. They actually agree
with the idea that it helps perpetuate this perception of bias in the media.
And Jeff Bezos talks about how the media has lost so much trust amongst the public, but for them is the fact that this is coming just days before the
election, and the sort of time bomb. Because imagine if they had made this announcement back in September, when Jeff Bezos first expressed skepticism
about this, as David Shipley said, we would have covered it.
It would have been a little bit of a story, but then it would have, everyone would have continued and moved on. I also spoke to David Hoffman,
who is one of those editorial board members who resigned. He actually just this year, won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing, specifically about
autocracies and how they're using digital means to try to further their power.
And he said to me, in part, we face a terrible, terrible choice, I believe, a looming autocracy. I don't want to be silent about it. I don't want the
post to be silent about it, and the fact that we're not going to endorse is a degree of silence I cannot stand. This is still continuing to have
reverberations throughout the "The Washington Post" even today, Erica.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Hadas, really appreciate it. Thank you. How about some good news for U.S. air travelers. U.S. airlines are now required to
give passengers an automatic refund if their flight is significantly delayed or canceled. The final federal, will requiring airlines to do out
refunds, again, refunds, not vouchers, actually took effect on Monday.
[09:25:00]
This is a major change, and it's also, of course, coming just ahead of the very busy holiday travel season. CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean
joining me now from Washington, D.C. So, the fact that this is going to into effect just ahead of the holiday season, right? Thanksgiving here in
the U.S., of course, the last weekend of November sounds great for customers. How are the airlines taking it?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The airlines were pushing back on this initially, Erica, you know the timing is so key here, though, because
we're only 30 days away from the Thanksgiving travel rush here in the United States and the winter travel season, which really accounts for the
lion share of cancelations and delays here in the United States.
This is being celebrated big time, not only by consumer advocates, but also by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who really first proposed this
back in April. The transportation department here in the United States now says this rule is fully in effect as of just yesterday.
It's called the automatic refund provision, and it means if your flight is canceled or significantly delayed, you automatically get a cash refund from
the airline, not vouchers, not a credit to use on a future flight. There is some fine print here though, if the airline does rebook you on a different
flight, you essentially must not accept that rebooking.
You have to walk. The airline is then supposed to automatically give you that money back within seven days, if you bought your flight on a credit
card, seven business days. Within 20 calendar days, if you use something else, then the money is sent back to you right away.
Some really interesting things here too. This also fully defines what a significant delay is. It's a flight that arrives more than three hours late
for a domestic flight in the United States. More than six hours late for an international flight going outside of the United States. That is really
key, something that has not been on paper for some time.
What is really interesting here, Erica, is that this is something that automatically causes cash refunds and -- the regulations that have been in
place in the European Union for some time. The U.S. was really behind here, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg really pushed for airlines to
get on the same page here.
It took some time, and there was some really serious push back. The good news is that the cancelations and delays of 2021 and 2022 when there were
staff shortages and COVID sick outs, were really a thing of the past. Now the cancelations and the cancelation rate in the U.S. is now about 1
percent.
So, things have gotten a lot better, but it's really, really good news for so many people planning holiday trips a sweet spot to buy about three weeks
out. So, we're right, almost in that sweet spot just now, Erica, really music to a lot of passenger's ears.
HILL: I love it when you read my mind on when should I be buying tickets. Pete Muntean, thank you. Good to see you, my friend. Stay tuned. Much more
to come. We'll take a quick break here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
HILL: We are officially in the home stretch one week now before Election Day, the official Election Day in the United States. But frankly, it's
already been happening for weeks now. Look at this. More than 43.5 million Americans have already cast their ballots across the country and early
voting.
Among them a man who just until three months ago, had planned on being the presidential nominee for the Democrats, of course. Brian Todd has more and
also a closer look at how early voting could impact this razor thin margin in the race for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Biden voting early on Monday in his home state of Delaware. A reporter asking him about casting a
ballot that he had hoped to cast for himself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this bittersweet for you?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No, this is just sweet.
TODD (voice-over): The president's party, meantime, has brought out the star power to promote early voting Former President Barack Obama hitting
the trail in battle ground states in recent days.
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: Find out where to vote early.
TODD (voice-over): So far, more than 43 million Americans have already cast their ballots, either in person or by mail. Michigan has never conducted
early in person voting in a general election until this year. The Secretary of State in the Wolverine state says it's been a hit.
JOCELYN BENSON, SECRETARY OF MICHIGAN STATE: A quarter of a million Michigan citizens voted on the first two days alone.
TODD (voice-over): The State of Georgia got off to a record start for early voting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought we won't get ahead of the game a little bit, but looks like everybody got the same thing in line
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This first time I've ever done it. And we like this line, maybe the last.
TODD (voice-over): State officials in Georgia said that as of Monday afternoon, more than a third of active voters in Georgia had already cast
their ballots.
HARRIS: So now is the time to vote early.
TODD (voice-over): Once again, Democrats seem more likely to vote early, or at least by mail, if not in person, but Republicans are expected to turn
out on Election Day.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Kamala Harris is almost certainly going to win that vote by mail. She leads in an average of the recent
polls. Get this by 43 points that early in person voting, that's going to be pretty split down the middle. But then we're expecting that Election Day
vote to be very good for Donald Trump. In the average polling, we see him up by 17.
TODD (voice-over): This year. More Republicans are voting early than in 2020 partly because the former president has changed his tune on it. For
years, Donald Trump denigrated early voting as being suspect even fraudulent, now.
TRUMP: Early voting is underway. Get everyone you know and vote.
TODD: Why do you think the Republicans have changed their messaging on early voting?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I -- they know they've gotten trounced on this right. Republicans are playing catch up whether or not they'll fully ever equal
Democrats on the early voting front, unknown.
TODD (on camera): Analysts say it's almost impossible to project from early voting who will win this election. One key reason why it's difficult to
tell from that, the fact that the majority of states don't report to us the party affiliations of those who vote early. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: In the battleground state of Arizona, Kamala Harris at her running mate Tim Walz, are set to hold a Get Out the Vote rally on Thursday. The
Democratic nominees have been trying to pick up some crucial support in the state, especially from Latino voters. Here's CNN's John King with a closer
look at those efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock, knock.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Crunch time in the Battle Grounds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice to meet you. My name is Meg (ph). I'm with LUCHA, Living United for a Change in Arizona.
KING (voice-over): One handout promotes the Arizona ballot initiative expanding abortion rights. The other promotes Kamala Harris and Democratic
candidates for the Senate and the House.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that your voice has power in this election?
KING (voice-over): LUCHA canvassers are at 600,000 door knocks and counting. They encourage early voting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know where your polling location is?
KING (voice-over): Many of the targeted homes are Latinos who are registered but don't always vote.
KING: What's the most common question you get at a door knock about the vice president?
CLAUDIO RODRIGUEZ, ARIZONA VOTER: The most common question we get a door knock is, why Kamala? Why Kamala? And my answer to that is like, first,
she's not a felon, one, she's a strong woman, and as a Latino man, we like strong women and we don't like weak men.
KING (voice-over): Claudio Rodriguez volunteers for LUCHA and also runs a community farm and food bank. He is upbeat about Harris' chances here, says
encouraging younger voters to turn out is one big need in this final week.
RODRIGUEZ: You do get the folks who are like, kind of like, feel hopeless, but then you got to bring them back in. You get folks who say, like, voting
doesn't matter. My vote doesn't matter. And to my response to that is like, whether you believe it matters or not, it still exists. And so why not
participate in it? Put your voice in there. You're a -- Tucson.
[09:35:00]
KING (voice-over): Tucson is in deep blue Pima County, Biden's giant 2020, edge here was critical to winning the state by just 10,000 votes.
TAMARA VARGA, ARIZONA VOTER: Mickey is one of our biggest selling --
KING (voice-over): Well, Tamara Varga is a lifelong Republican who came to Tucson 30 years ago from San Diego. She thought she lived in a blue pocket
or a red state.
KING: Did it surprise you in 2020 when Biden won Arizona --
VARGA: Absolutely -- surprised me. I was not expecting that.
KING (voice-over): Varga owns two candy shops and two food trucks so she can provide jobs for individuals with special needs, including her sons.
She says housing and other costs of living are up. Her gut says Trump is stronger this time.
VARGA: I feel that Trump's ahead, but I felt that way in 2020 as well. So, it's hard to say. You know, I feel that I have had more friends that are
open to Trump and are flipping to a Trump vote.
KING: And the local friends who are doing that, do they cite a reason?
VARGA: The border and the economy as people are having a hard time putting food on their table and gas in their cars, and it's really affecting them.
So, I think that they now think about their vote and how it will affect their household.
KING (on camera): There's no doubt voter anxiety over the cost of living and the immigration issue gives the former president a chance to flip
Arizona back to red and win its 11 electoral votes. But Trump's rhetoric and that of his allies sometimes lands wrong and defends two critical
voting groups here. Moderates in the fast-growing suburbs and Latino voters. John King, CNN, Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: And stay with us. "Connect the World" continues after this short break. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for this special edition of "Connect the World". In order to understand the needs of what is a
changing global population, the FII Institute conducted a massive survey. More than 50,000 respondents in 24 countries representing 62 percent of the
world.
And this was in an effort to target the kinds of massive investment that we see an event like this into projects that people need and importantly,
really -- importantly, need and want. I had the chance to speak to the CEO of the FII Institute, Richard Attias, about what he learned from this road
map for investment and his call to action.
ATTIAS: Number one, priority again, unfortunately, cost of living. People are still extremely concerned by the cost of living. Number two, which is
new, it was not even in our radar last year. Governance, citizens are extremely concerned by the way that countries are managed.
[09:40:00]
And 63 percent of the people that we have questions, consider that a nation is not going in the right direction. And they consider that the world at 75
percent is not going in the right direction. So, they are very concerned by corruption and by lack of governance.
And number three, health care, which is a new emerging priority. This is why our initiative, we hope it's part of the answer, because many health
care systems are broken.
ANDERSON: Talk to me about what that investment looks like?
ATTIAS: Today, you have more and more companies who are using AI to give very quick, fast diagnostic on how is your body. Because today -- we seem
to be in good health, but we don't know what is happening inside our body of something which potentially, God forbid, will wake up in one year or two
years.
So many cancers, for example, when you take them at stage one, which is not really visible, you can curate 99 percent of them. So, this is why people
now are investing a lot, because we can today, thanks to new technologies, check exactly what is happening in your body.
And thanks to AI, we can come also with amazing diagnostics. So, this is why people are investing in these new clinics, which are totally focusing
on full medical checkup, which is preventive medicine supporting longevity. And you see a lot of money going in this medical well-being clinics
happening in beautiful result. Or this is why we want to make it more inclusive, and we're launching a big initiative.
ANDERSON: The swinging public debt for countries around the world is such that even in the United States, running a what, $35 trillion debt at this
point. The idea of giving away sort of free health care on an annual basis is sort of an executive checkup. Just, I can't see that making sense on the
bottom line. That's the problem.
ATTIAS: You know, at the end of the day, we're talking about taking a little part of the profit of the corporation to be invested in your
employees and your staff. And I'm -- I can guarantee you, if you tell to your employees, let's guys, instead of increasing your salary by X percent
or increasing your bonus, we would like to together, let's do half-half.
We can give you access to free medical checkup. Trust me, employees will be supporting and they will be extremely happy by this benefit.
ANDERSON: And "World Sport" with Patrick Snell is up after this short break. We will be back from here in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia. Top of the
hour for you.
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[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
END
