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Inside Politics

Harris Responds To Vile Insults At Trump Madison Square Garden, Trump Warm-Up Act Tells Shockingly Racist Jokes About Hispanics; Puerto Rican Superstar Bad Bunny Endorses Harris; Trump Once Again Calls Democrats "The Enemy Within"; Today: VP Harris Campaigns In Battleground Michigan; Pro-Harris PAC: "Attacking Trump's Fascism Is Not That Persuasive"; Joe Biden Casts His Ballot In Wilmington, D.E. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired October 28, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Today on INSIDE POLITICS, the final lap with just eight days left to win votes. The candidates are spread out across the battleground states, trying to reach that dwindling slice of undecided voters. More than 40 million Americans have already cast their ballots.

Plus, vile, racist, sexist insults. Dominated Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden, the former president's typical fear mongering was actually upstaged by his own warm-up acts who disparaged countless Americans and likened the vice president to a prostitute.

And when the votes are in, we could see the biggest gender gap ever. Two pollsters from both parties will break down the growing divide and how each side is trying to close it.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at INSIDE POLITICS.

Moments ago, Kamala Harris responded to those offensive comments we heard at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not new about him, by the way, what he did last night is not a discovery. It is just more of the same and maybe more vivid than usual. Donald Trump spends full time trying to have Americans point their finger at each other, fans the fuel of hate and division, and that's why people are exhausted with him.

I'm very proud to have the support of folks like Bad Bunny and Jennifer Lopez and others who were supporting me before that nonsense last night at Madison Square Garden and are supporting me because they understand that they want a president of United States that's about uplifting the people and not berating, not calling America a garbage can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now we heard dozens of crude and hateful comments last night in Madison Square Garden. To be clear, these were speakers approved by the campaign at an official Donald Trump rally, but it is this remark from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that has the Trump campaign in damage control mode.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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)

BASH: He made plenty of other horrifying remarks about Latinos, but they're, frankly, just too x rated to play here. CNN's Kristen Holmes is in Atlanta, Georgia, where Donald Trump is speaking later today.

Kristen, when I last night saw that the Trump campaign released a statement, trying to distance themselves from -- distance the former president from that comedian, which is something they almost never do, no apology, but even showing some sense that there is some trouble there politically, that to me, was very telling.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, in addition to the fact that they were just vile comments. We do know that there is likely or potentially a problem politically for Donald Trump. Puerto Ricans are spread out in large swaths across swing states, and the backlash was almost immediate, not just from Democrats, but also from Republicans.

I was told by one source that there were lawmakers or aides to lawmakers reaching out to various members of the campaign over those comments. We saw publicly, people like Rick Scott posting that those comments were abhorrent. And even today, we've seen some of Donald Trump's closest allies saying that nobody agreed with what the comedian said.

And here's exactly what the campaign said, and they issued this fairly quickly. They said this joke does not reflect the views president -- of President Trump or of the campaign. As you said, this is a rare statement of themselves, purposely distancing themselves from that comedian.

I can tell you, I spoke to a number of senior advisers, a number of allies of the former president, who were absolutely livid at these remarks, particularly because they thought it overshadowed Donald Trump's entire appearance at Madison Square Garden.

One thing to keep in mind here, Dana, I mean, somebody who goes to almost all of these rallies, nothing Donald Trump himself said last night was any different from what we have heard time and time again and reported on this rhetoric around immigration, around crime, it's kind of fear stoking language. That is all things that he has said before.

But what really made this such a bizarre experience to watch and at times really -- again vile was those pre remarks, those people who came up to speak. Now, I spoke to a number of advisers who said that the remarks were supposed to be vetted. One person said that his -- the comedian in particular, his entire speech was not vetted. Clearly, he said there was some sort of disconnect here. I will remind you that when it was the RNC, the campaign went through every single speech leading up to Donald Trump with a fine-tooth comb.

[12:05:00]

We still heard some of this incendiary rhetoric from those people, but nothing like this. I mean this really took it to a whole new level. It was about eight hours or six hours of this pre-show leading up to Donald Trump.

BASH: Thank you so much, Kristen. And I'm going to just flatly called BS on the disconnect. And the reason is because -- thank you for that reporting, awesome reporting, as always. The reason I'm going to say that is because that comment about Puerto Rico was part of a theme that we heard last night. Here's just some of the other speakers at the rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID REM, TRUMP SUPPORTER: She is the devil, whoever screamed that out. She is the anti-Christ.

SID ROSENBERG, RADIO HOST: Americans sleeping on their own feces on a banks in Central Park, but the -- illegals that got whatever they want.

GRANT CARDONE, BUSINESS OWNER: Her and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.

HULK HOGAN, FORMER PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER: When I hear Kamala speak, it sounds, yeah. It sounds like a script from Hollywood with a really, really bad actress.

STEPHEN MILLER: TRUMP SENIOR ADVISER: America is for Americans and Americans only.

TUCKER CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, Tucker Carlson knows full well Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris has a Jamaican father and had an Indian mother. Let's get to some great reporters here with me today, Priscilla Alvarez, Manu Raju, and Phil Mattingly, all my wonderful CNN colleagues.

Priscilla, I heard you on last night. I called in after you did, after this -- after this rally. You spend all your time covering the Harris campaign. They obviously believe that this is a gift. But then you also hear Kamala Harris saying just, you know, within the last hour that this is not new. So how realistically do you think that they can try to capitalize politically on what we just played?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the messages I was getting last night were, look, this wasn't the split screen we thought we were going to get today, but they are very happy to seize on it. Because earlier yesterday, the vice president was at a Puerto Rican restaurant in the Philadelphia area, courting those voters, talking about her plans for the island, and then what followed was these comments of scaling Puerto Rico at the former president's rally.

So, they jumped on that, and so did Bad Bunny. Who -- by the way, sources tell me that the Harris campaign has been trying to get to lend his support to the vice president. So, this eventually snowballed into what you're saying, Dana, an opportunity for the Harris campaign as they are trying to make inroads with these Latino voters.

And by the way, just hammering in home on the Puerto Rican vote, I did some math for you. Pennsylvania in 2020, President Joe Biden only won by some 82,000 votes. We're talking about half a million Latinos in that state alone, and many of them are Puerto Rican. So as all of this unfolded, those were the messages I was getting opportunity.

BASH: And thank you for -- you know, who else did some math for us, our terrific INSIDE POLITICS team. I just want to add to what you just said. Pennsylvania has, of course, you're always right, 472,672 that's according to the census. Georgia, 132 and change -- thousand and change, North Carolina 124,000 and change.

And just to sort of add more numbers. You mentioned Bad Bunny. Let's look at some of the other mega stars who made their voices and their positions clear last night after this rally, Bad Bunny, Ricky Martin, J. Lo, Luis Fonsi.

And if you just look at some of the numbers of their followers, J. Lo 250 million, Bad Bunny 45.6 million, Ricky Martin 18.6 million, Luis Fonsi 16 million. They probably have some cross over there, but that's 330.2 million people who saw worldwide. But who saw their very clear stance on this rally?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, we'll see what kind of impact it has. Of course, tens of millions of people have already early voted. We've seen, polls showing the, you know, views of Donald Trump are locked in. This is a race that is so close, well within the margin of error, very few percent (inaudible) voters out there. So maybe may have some impact on the margins. We shall see.

I got to say, though, that the Trump campaign statement distancing itself was pretty weak sauce. I mean, there were so many things that were said throughout that -- from the other people who spoke that there was not much pushback from the Trump campaign, calling out a black man in the crowd, and saying the comedians joking about a carved watermelon. That is a flat-out racist statement that we have really not heard much distancing from the campaign. [12:10:00]

I mean, if your campaign who really concerned about the things they said about Puerto Ricans or the black individual in the audience, probably come out and say, I strongly condemn these remarks. Is absolutely nothing to do with --

BASH: And not a spokesperson, nobody's heard of the actual candidate.

RAJU: Yes, exactly. Because they don't file. These are racist comments. And that if the campaign wants nothing to do with it, they have to be stronger and pushing back. So, we'll have an impact, we'll see. But the response has been pretty weak so far distance.

ALVAREZ: Can I just say on Bad Bunny, though, quickly? I mean, we talk about all these followings with Beyonce and Taylor Swift, but Bad Bunny is immensely influential, especially among Latino men. And remember that polling has shown there's been some waning enthusiasm there. So, him putting his finger on the lever here, or on the balance.

It certainly is something that the campaign is beyond excited about, because they know that's a group of voters they've struggled with, who have been leaning for foreign President Donald Trump. And they think that with Bad Bunny weighing in, it could help them get across the finish line.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: A couple of things. One, I think, to your point, the recognition -- you name off all the stars of Puerto Rican descent that have endorsed or came out and condemned the remarks. Bad Bunny was deeply involved and kind of political protest, political action on the island.

A couple of years ago, it might have been 2016 -- 2015, 2016. With younger Puerto Ricans when they were extremely active and in the streets. So, he's not just a star who left the island a while ago and sometimes goes back. Like, he's deeply, deeply involved in the community there. And so, the residents there, I think, is critical.

The other thing to Manu's point, like how we've defined down saying -- the campaign saying this doesn't represent the president's views on that one specific comment. And everybody's like, oh my goodness, wow. They put out a statement. They put out -- they didn't quite apologize, but they put out a statement that shows how bad it is.

And to Manu's point, there were about 15 other things that they should have put out similar, more robust statements to -- when it comes to this, I was actually more struck, and Manu deals with these folks every single day. Among those condemning the comments were Senator Rick Scott of Florida, Maria Elvira Salazar, the Congresswoman from Florida.

You know, you have Republican lawmakers who never say anything to get cross wise with Donald Trump or his campaign --

(CROSSTALK) MATTINGLY: -- let alone before the election.

(CROSSTALK)

MATTINGLY: And do very well in the community. I think those were kind of the telling things from last night.

BASH: So, all of this is related to what happened earlier in the day yesterday, which is an interview that Jake Tapper did with J.D. Vance aired, and pretty much the entire conversation was about the enemy within and what it actually means and what Donald Trump will actually do. Let's just listen to part of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: 1.5 percent of the military to go after the enemy within, which is the American people.

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He did not say that, Jake. He said that he was going to send the military after the American people. Show me the quote, where he said he was going to -- he said the American -- the enemy within far-left lunatics. He's talking about the rioting, and he's talking about people rioting after the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: OK. That was a masterful interview. Then I don't know how many hours after that. What like seven hours after that aired, six or seven hours after that aired. Donald Trump was, of course, as we mentioned at Madison Square Garden, getting overshadowed by the way, by the people who nobody has ever heard of, which probably is killing him more than anything. But here's what he said, again, using that term, enemy from within.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're smart and they're vicious, and we have to defeat them. And when I say the enemy from within, the other side goes crazy, becomes a sound, the whole, how can he say? You know, they've done very bad things to this country. They are indeed the enemy from within, but this is who we're fighting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Phil?

MATTINGLY: Well, Manu who probably recognized what Senator Vance was doing quite well, because that's what we hear constantly on Capitol Hill. Does not what he actually --

RAJU: No, he meant -- he meant to say this.

MATTINGLY: Let me tell you. Let me explain for you. Let me translate for you what he meant in like, real terms or policy terms or same terms. And then like, six hours later, Donald Trump comes out. He's like, no, no. What I actually meant was the thing that was insane that you were trying to cover for message around.

I think the -- what I would suggest for folks is to actually look at the policy proposals that have been put out by the Trump campaign, of which there are very many, and some of them are robust.

And I think the decision by their campaign coming off of the four-year experience that they have with their senior advisers, who will no longer be new if they enter the White House, who will no longer be inexperienced, who will no longer include a bunch of people that aren't necessarily Trump supporters.

[12:15:00]

They have a very robust view of executive authority. They have a very robust view of what they believe the president can instruct his agencies, whether it be the defense department, whether it be ICE, whether it be DHS. What they can and should and most importantly, will do.

And I think that -- what it's no longer one of those, what was the dynamic back in '16 like, take him seriously, not literally, and all that type of no, no, take him literally. And if you want to know what to take literally, it's in print.

RAJU: But there's a -- there's a reason why Vance is trying to clarify or walk back, or whatever you want to say, water down what he's trying to say, is because the polls do show that there are a sizable number of voters who are willing to vote against Donald Trump because of his desire to retaliate against his political enemies. I think the one poll had about 50 percent of voters saying that is one reason why they're willing to vote against him. So, of course, he wants to say that Trump did it.

ALVAREZ: Well, I'm -- oh, go ahead.

BASH: No, it's OK. We're going to take a quick break. But I just -- before -- or as we go to break, I just want to show our viewers one thing, and that is something that he posted just on Friday. And that is, I will imprison them this time. And he's talking about his political opponents.

And if you can look at it on the screen right there. If you want to go Google it and look at it later. This is a post that people should see. He is not just talking about the enemy within. He is being very specific about what he says he will do if he is reelected.

All right, coming up. It is the F word of this election. But his focusing on fascism, the way for Team Harris to win undecided voters. Plus, presidents. It appears they're just like us. President Biden apparently is standing online. You're looking at live pictures of Joe Biden waiting to cast his ballot in Wilmington, Delaware, just like everybody else. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:20:00]

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BASH: Vice President Harris is taking her closing message to battleground Michigan, today she'll focus on manufacturing. And the industry that is a very key part of the economy in that must win state. CNN's Eva McKend is in Harbor, Michigan. Eva?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Dana, it is a big manufacturing push for the vice president. Today, she's going to visit a semiconductor facility in Saginaw, Michigan, an assembly line, visiting with workers. She will then head to Macomb County to go to a labor union training facility. And it gives her an opportunity to tout the winds of the Biden, Harris administration.

In her view, on this issue, she will argue that the chips act fortified these jobs. She will also be able to talk about her policy in this space. As it relates to promoting apprenticeship programs and giving a tax credit to American manufacturers. And this comes at a time when Democrats in some corners, want this to be the message.

Her affirmative case for why she wants to be president, not so much talking about the former president, who they will argue is impervious to these criticisms about his character, about fascism. Instead, she needs to be out here making an affirmative case for why she wants to be president and talking about the opportunity economy.

So that's what today is all about. She'll end it here in the college town of Ann Arbor, for a when we vote we win concert series, Maggie Rogers will perform. And then we will see Vice President Harris on stage with her running mate, Governor Walz, a rare opportunity to see them on stage campaigning together. Dana?

BASH: Eva, thank you so much. Appreciate that. My excellent panel is back here now. Manu, the whole idea of what Eva touched on there is of -- and, you know, we're all hearing this from various democratic sources, saying, is this the right thing to do? Some saying, flat out, it is not the right thing to do, to focus on fascism.

The pro Harris Super PAC sort of who's not legally allowed to talk to the Harris campaign instead, put out a memo so to get the information to --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Attacking Trump's fascism is not that persuasive. And meanwhile, what the Harris campaign says, and I'm sure you hear this all the time, is it's not an either or it's a yes and.

RAJU: Yeah. I mean, this is a difficult thing because Trump is not your typical Republican. So, you can't run a typical GOP campaign against (inaudible), just talking about the issues. And you look at the polls, they do show that voters are concerned about his temperament and his character. So, a lot of Democrats do want to make this a character argument, and the democracy, fascism stuff all plays into it.

But then you have that divide, the real divide of the party, say yes, but the polls show that the economy is still going to be the driving factor for just a large swath of the American public. And that is a concern. And people like Bernie Sanders saying that, you're not focusing enough on the working-class issues and that turn off voters at the end of the day and we'll see.

BASH: And so, Priscilla, what Harris officials have said to me is, she talks about it all the time. It's just other stuff may get a little bit more attention by us in the media, but she talks about it all the time, pointing to just for one example, her answer to Norah O'Donnell on CBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: It's going to be lowering cost and a package of legislation that is about lowering cost again, on the issue of housing, small businesses, Child Tax Credit, basically putting more money in the hands of American working people, but also cutting middle class taxes. A priority in an equal form is going to be what we need to do to deal with reproductive healthcare and reinstate the freedoms and the rights that all people should have, and women should have over their own body. And then dealing with immigration and particular border security and bringing back up that bipartisan bill that Donald Trump killed. So, we can get more resources down to the border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:25:00]

BASH: And our terrific colleague, David Wright, who tracks what ads go up, what the themes are, and how much money is spent, says that that same Super PAC future forward pack. The number one ad that is supporting Kamala Harris that is airing around on TV and on digital is about this very issue.

(PLAYING VIDEO)

BASH: Between October 1 and 21st, $22 million was spent on that.

ALVAREZ: Well, let me tell you what was unbelievable about yesterday, when she was in Pennsylvania. When she was in front of the attendees at this Community Center in Philadelphia, she didn't mention Donald Trump once. In fact, she was talking about, turning the page and the new way forward, as her campaign says.

But what has come up quite a bit a line that has been emerging is that the former president is consumed by his quote, enemies list, and that she's working on her to-do list. I'm told by sources that is going to feature quite prominently over the next several days, where it is doing the yes. And they're trying to cast the former president as just plotting revenge, versus the vice president working on those three agenda items, which by the way happen to be the three top issues that voters are also thinking about. But to the point about the former president's character. Remember, this is a campaign that's also trying to grab those disaffected Republicans. And that is a line that they think works with them, because they're tired of former President Donald Trump. So, while she's trying to outline her agenda in these Liz Cheney moderated conversations to Republicans, they were also very focused on a former president who did not, for example, respect the constitution.

MATTINGLY: Yeah. I think that's an important point. And I don't know, whether or not, they'll be able to do it. But I think the reality is, is when you watch what they're doing, when you talk to people involved with what they're doing, they're not doing a town hall with Liz Cheney and kind of using a validator like John Kelly and accusing former president of fascism because they want to reach black voters in Philadelphia, right?

They're doing that to reach out a little bit even further than those color counties in Pennsylvania, where they need kind of former Republicans or moderate Republicans to say, That's right. Like, I'm tired of this. This is not what I want. Let's move forward.

What she's doing today in Saginaw, drafting off of the kind of one area Biden administration success that she really likes to talk about, which is their industrial policy, their manufacturing policy, getting the money that they're getting to Hemlock Semiconductor. See, I listen, I care about this, Dana.

It's actually really important for Saginaw, which was a county that was decided by 300 or 400 votes, and in 2016 it went to Donald Trump. And so, I think they're going to do stuff on the economy because they know, it matters.

BASH: What you're looking at is Joe Biden just voted. He waited online. He just voted. Just real quick. He voted for Kamala Harris. He had hoped he was voting for himself.

RAJU: Well, we assume he did not write it himself.

(CROSSTALK)

ALVAREZ: As endorsed, Manu?

RAJU: But it's remarkable that this is just what a few months ago, that this is all changed in a matter of months. He thought it would be him on that ballot, and it obviously is not, what a change. But just back to the other conversation. This is all setting up the finger pointing that will almost will undoubtedly ensue if Kamala Harris falls short. Was it the right strategy to go after Donald Trump.

BASH: I've never seen that happen, or Republicans, or anybody who loses. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back.

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