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One World with Zain Asher
Brand-New CNN Polls From Arizona And Nevada; Trump Refuses To Address Latino Controversy In Latest Remarks; Harris To Speak Where Trump Rallied On Jan. 6th 2021; Vital U.N. Agency For Palestinians Banned From Israel; Harris Pushes Back Of Reported Lack Of Support From Black Men; Harris Campaign Courting Latino Voters in Arizona; U.S. Airlines Must Refund A Canceled Flight Automatically; Aired 12:00-1:00p ET
Aired October 29, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:31]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching ONE WORLD.
And we are exactly one week --
ASHER: IN case you didn't know.
GOLODRYGA: -- from election day in the United States. And everyone has one question on their minds, who's going to win?
ASHER: That is the big question. CNN has a brand-new poll out, just released several polls actually. And the answer is, of course, as we've
been saying multiple times, we still do not know. From Arizona, one of the key Sunbelt swing states. CNN finds that Kamala Harris just barely ahead,
but no clear leader in that race.
And from next door in Nevada, also no clear leader. Though Donald Trump does have a tiny, tiny slim lead there.
To help us understand, we can glean from these numbers and the rest of the new Arizona/Nevada polls, we welcome in CNN senior data reporter there. I
love that look.
GOLODRYGA: As if he's a first time guest.
ASHER: I know. I love that look. Harry, so how much should we be reading into the polls? I mean, a lot of people are asking themselves, look, can we
even trust the polls that much? You know, especially after what we saw in 2016, we keep on getting the same result. These polls are neck and neck.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes. You know, yesterday, I had to sit at a desk and I wasn't sure whether I'd have the magic wall with me
today. So I actually brought a backup option just in case I brought a yellow wall if I needed it, but it turns out I do not.
So let's sort of dig into these numbers. You know, you mentioned Arizona and Nevada. And what's so interesting to me about these two states is, it's
actually not part of Kamala Harris' best bet in order to achieve 270 electoral votes.
Her best path actually runs through the Great Lake battleground states up here, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. That would get her to 270
electoral votes.
You see on the screen her best bet actually includes Nevada and Arizona being red. But the fact that those states are so close and our new CNN/SSRS
polling opens up a potential second path for Kamala Harris, and that is through the Sun Belt.
So let's just say those Great Lakes states that I think are part of Kamala Harris' best path, actually go to Trump. She could still get the 270
electoral votes by winning in Nevada and Arizona, which our polls say are certainly possible, as well as winning down here in North Carolina and
Georgia, which are so, so tight.
Now, this is the good news for Kamala Harris. Let's talk about perhaps the bad news for Kamala Harris. And that comes with Hispanic voters, all right?
So this is the Democrat versus Hispanic voters. This is among likely voters in our last poll. Arizona, Nevada average.
You go back to November of 2020. Look at this. Joe Biden carried Hispanic voters in these two states by 24 points. You take an aggregate in Arizona
and Nevada this time around in our latest poll. Look at that. Kamala Harris is up by just 10 points. So Donald Trump is cutting into the Democratic
advantage among Hispanic voters.
And more than that, more than that, when you compare it to where we were in August in these two states, look at this. Kamala Harris was ahead by 13
points. Now she's ahead by just 10 points. So there's no sign that Donald Trump isn't keeping up his gains with Hispanic voters.
If he ends up winning in Arizona and Nevada, it's because he went in, took a part of what is normally a huge chunk of the Democratic base in the
Southwest, and was able to bring those voters closer to them.
One little last thing I'll note. I don't have it here on the slides which is you ask whether or not we can trust the polls. And you know what my
answer is?
ASHER: Give it to me.
ENTEN: I have no idea. I have no idea. No clue.
ASHER: That basically means no.
ENTEN: No. Who knows? Anyone could win in this election. That's all I could say.
GOLODRYGA: That's why we pay you the big bucks --
ASHER: Yes. Harry.
ENTEN: In two dollar bill.
Golodryga: Tell us to us straight. I hope you didn't hit anybody with that notepad that you just threw across the room.
ENTEN: No. Our colleague, Lea (ph) is off to the side here.
ASHER: Any casualties there?
ENTEN: Here, she's going to hand it right to me. I still have it with us right here.
ASHER: Oh, she caught it. OK, perfect.
ENTEN: She caught it. I'm a good tosser. I should go out for the Yankees because Lord knows they need the help.
GOLODRYGA: Oh, please. Don't even bring up that game, Harry Enten.
ENTEN: They're going to adios amigos, let me tell you.
ASHER: Bianna's son is a big fan.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, yes. We got 12-year-old to console.
ENTEN: I know -- I know she is, but the bottom line is this. The Yankees are a horrible franchise and they should play nothing but 14 inning games
play in the ring.
ASHER: Wow. We really got off-topic, didn't we?
ENTEN: Off-topic, who cares? We're having fun and we're informing the audience as well.
GOLODRYGA: Listen, people love sports more than politics anyway.
Harry Enten, thank you, as always.
ENTEN: Bye.
ASHER: Harry.
ENTEN: Yankees lose.
ASHER: OK.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, Donald Trump has been speaking to reporters and others gathered at his Mar-a-Lago resort. But if you thought he might talk
about the controversial remarks, those racist remarks from his Sunday night rally in New York, well, think again. He didn't.
[12:05:12]
ASHER: Yes. Trump had nothing to say about a joke told at the rally that called Puerto Rico an island of garbage. Instead, he's just been delivering
his regular campaign speech, saying that Kamala Harris is trying to destroy America by opening the borders to criminals.
Trump allies and aides are set to be worried that the Puerto Rico controversy is not dying down and there are fears it could actually
overshadow his closing message.
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Alayna Treene is at Mar-a-Lago for Trump's remarks. She joins us now live. So, Alayna, it should be no surprise, I guess, on the
one hand, because Donald Trump is loath to apologize for anything publicly. But you've been reporting and others as well about behind the scenes. His
campaign was really frustrated at what they view as an own goal over the weekend, so close to the election.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right. And I'm going to be quiet, both Bianna and Zain, just because he's still talking behind me and I don't want
to be disruptive.
But you're totally right. He has not addressed some of those racist, sexist remarks that he had made at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Or excuse me.
Not that he had made, but many of the speakers who were in part of that pre-programming before then.
However, even though Donald Trump himself did not say those things, did not make those comments or specifically make that joke that we heard from the
comedian, Hinchcliffe, where he had said that Puerto Rico or likened Puerto Rico to a floating island of garbage. A lot of people are angry with the
Trump campaign and a lot of that backlash is being directed at Donald Trump because they are the ones who gave those people the platform.
Now we have heard from many people, including the Archbishop of San Juan, as well as several other Republican leaders, saying that Donald Trump needs
to not only address some of what was said, but also condemn and apologize for it.
But so far, we have not heard him do that. Now, one key question, of course, is whether or not he's going to take questions from the press once
he finishes with these remarks. It's unclear the way that the setup is -- excuse me. The way that this setup is behind me, it's not very conducive to
that. But if he does, I think that's what you'll actually hear him address some of this head on.
Now, one thing I also just want to point your attention to is that later today, Donald Trump is going to Pennsylvania, particularly he has a later
rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which is home to a very large Puerto Rican population.
I think that's going to be another moment where people are going to be wondering, are you going to apologize for what was said at one of your
events?
But all to say, I think if we put this all together, this is not what his campaign wants to be talking about with just seven days left until election
day. You just asked me if I'm talking to people behind the scenes, I am.
And we've been hearing that a lot of Donald Trump's allies, those people who want him to win come election day, are calling up Trump's campaign,
calling up his advisers, saying you need to do something about this.
Now, just to give you a sense as well, Zain and Bianna, of what Donald Trump is currently talking about since he's not addressing those things,
this has pretty much been a typical stump speech that I have heard at a lot of his most recent rallies.
He's talked a little bit about the economy and inflation, but mainly is focused on immigration issue that he continues to say publicly he thinks is
the number one priority, even as many people are telling him the economy is the number one issue for voters.
He did actually touched on some of what we have heard him and others really focus on this week about, you know, this question, this conversation around
Hitler and whether or not Donald Trump is fascist.
Now, he said that Kamala Harris has been labeling him Hitler and calling him a Nazi. Things that we know are not true. But she did tell CNN that she
believes he meets the definition of a fascist.
But he's also spent a lot of time talking about undocumented migrants coming over the border. But all to say, this has really meant to be these
remarks, his rebuttal to Kamala Harris' speech on The Ellipse later today. That is where she is going to deliver her closing argument.
And I was told that this is really supposed to be Donald Trump's version of that, trying to draw that contrast with Harris. And I'll also note that
this came together. This was not a preplanned speech or remarks that he is giving right now. It came together in less than 24 hours. It was kind of a
scramble for all of this to come together.
So we're still waiting to see whether or not there's going to be some bigger announcement around this. Zain, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Alayna Treene at Mar-a-Lago for us. Thank you so much.
ASHER: Thank you, Alayna.
All right. And as Alayna was just talking about there, for the final big push of the Harris campaign, the vice president is headed back to the spot
where Donald Trump rallied his supporters on January 6, 2021, really hoping to strike the balance between dire warnings about her rival, who she has
called a fascist, as Alayna touched on as well, and the forward-thinking optimism she wants to bring to her presidency.
[12:10:01]
GOLODRYGA: Yes. The speech is one of the last opportunities that Harris will have to change the minds of swing voters. According to her advisors,
Harris wants to drive home the point that her victory would turn the page on Trump's divisiveness.
ASHER: CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak joins us from The Ellipse where Kamala Harris will deliver her speech later.
Actually, you're not at The Ellipse.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I was there.
ASHER: You're in the bureau.
LIPTAK: I was there a few hours ago.
ASHER: Oh, you were there earlier.
LIPTAK: Yes.
ASHER: Our bad. Our bad. I'm sorry.
LIPTAK: And I can tell you, I can describe the scene for you a few hours ago.
ASHER: Go ahead, Kevin. Take it away.
LIPTAK: Right with the -- right with the anticipation for this big address. And I will say there was some pretty tight security and it gives you a
sense of how many people they're expecting at that rally tonight. The permit from the National Park Service put it at 40,000, which would be the
biggest rally that she has spoken to so far.
So, you know, a big event that they're planning for down there on the mall. It was cold earlier, but it should be warmer tonight when she speaks.
And the words that her advisors are describing the speeches hopeful, optimistic. These aren't necessarily the themes that I think a lot of
people first came to mind when they said that she was going to deliver this closing argument address at The Ellipse, which is where Donald Trump
rallied his supporters on January 6th before they marched to the Capitol to stage an insurrection.
People had expected, you know, this treaties on democracy, a dissertation on the state of the republic. That is not what advisors say she'll be doing
tonight. There will be some of that. Certainly she wants to, you know, make clear this contrast with what she says was the chaos of the Trump
presidency versus what she would bring to the office.
But they do say that they want her to really help people visualize the kind of president that she would be. And The Ellipse helps in that because it's
only 500 yards from the Oval Office. She'll be speaking in front of the South Portico of the White House and her team really wants people to be
able to picture what kind of president she would be.
And they really do view this as the last probably big tent-pole moment to try and convince what they call conflicted voters. People who aren't really
sold on Donald Trump, who may be concerned about some of the rhetoric that they've been hearing from him on the campaign trail over the last several
weeks, but who also aren't sold on Kamala Harris, who want to know more about her plans for the economy, for example, who want to know really more
about who she is as a person.
They say this could be the moment for her to do that. They say that this is a closing argument and they've likened it to some of the closing arguments
she gave as a prosecutor in courtrooms. They say she's been laying out the evidence to the jury, in this case, undecided voters, and this will be her
a moment to try and bring it all together to try and thread it all together into this cohesive argument for her candidacy. And so it remains to be
seen.
You know, there's no question. I don't think one speech, one moment like this is going to to convince every undecided voter out there that she's the
candidate for them. But they do believe that in this final stretch of the campaign, as there are fewer and fewer moments like this to reach an
audience, a televised audience of millions, that this could be the last chance for a lot of these people to hear from her and they do want to make
the most of that in that speech tonight.
ASHER: All right. Kevin Liptak from the bureau, I should note, live for us. Thank you so -- thank you so much.
We are joined live now by Jeff Nussbaum. He's a former senior presidential speechwriter who worked for President Biden between 2021 and 2022. He has
since written the book undelivered about Presidential speeches that never got delivered.
Jeff, thank you so much for being with us. I just want to sort of jump off from what Kevin Liptak was just saying there. I mean, obviously, Harris'
speech at The Ellipse is, of course, steeped in symbolism. It's her way of showing, you know, look, this is what the -- showcasing the sort of chaos
that Donald Trump's presidency would bring back to the country and also just really calling into question his overall fitness for office.
Kevin was just touching upon the fact that, you know, obviously this message is geared towards undecided voters. My question to you is, will it
actually make a difference? Will it actually move the needle seven days until the election, do you think?
JEFF NUSSBAUM, FORMER SENIOR PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHWRITER: Short answer is it can. And it can because there are just vanishingly few opportunities for
campaigns now to speak directly to an audience of folks who might be undecided or might not even support them. And you get that at the
convention, you get that at the debates a little bit.
But by characterizing this as a closing message, and honestly with former President Trump playing into that characterization by hosting his own
Madison Square Garden event, once again, you've galvanized attention.
And what we know is that when people hear about Vice President Harris' policies, when they see her, when they get a sense of who she is, and
there's still a lot of voters out there, shockingly, who want a better sense of who she is, who don't feel like they know yet, they tend to turn
in her favor. And that's what we think is going to happen here, what she thinks is going to happen.
[12:15:07]
GOLODRYGA: And, Jeff, it's obvious why she chose this location. It's the split screen. Everyone remembers what happened four years ago when Donald
Trump gave his rally speech there as well.
And yet when you look at polling, just seven percent of Americans say democracy is their number one most important issue when they're making
their choice for president. Now we hear from Harris' campaign that she's not just going to be focusing on the need to preserve democracy and the
threat that Donald Trump poses. She'll also be speaking about the economy as well.
But does that then dilute the messaging she's trying to give to voters and those undecided voters by choosing this, The Ellipse, of all venues?
NUSSBAUM: Well, I, you know, I guess to paraphrase, or with all due respect to Marshall McLuhan, the location, the medium, is not the entirety of the
message, right? That's part of the message. But really when she talks about turning the page, I think she's doing a couple of things, or she will do a
couple of things.
She is going to make clear what that means, yes, in terms of democracy. And, of course, that is fundamental and important. But you're right, it's
not fundamental to every voter and not necessarily fundamental to a lot of the voters she now needs to reach.
And so I think you will also hear how she's turning the page a little bit on President Biden. And I say this with love and respect for my former
boss, but she is stepping out there and giving people a look at what she will be like as her own person and her own president.
And so I expect you to hear about her tax cuts for middle families, making housing more affordable, making healthcare more affordable. So I expect you
to actually really hear about those pocketbook issues.
Yes, the location sends a powerful message, but that's actually not going to be the totality of what we -- what we would expect to hear from her.
ASHER: Jeff, you said something really interesting in your first answer, and that is, you know, there are a lot of people who sort of shockingly
still feel they don't know Kamala Harris. Why is that? I mean, obviously, you know, she's been in this sort of position in terms of running for
president for about, what, three months now, vice president, of course, for four years.
Why do you think that people still feel that they don't know who she is?
NUSSBAUM: Well, I mean, given my backdrop, given my background, right, it's almost surprising. How can you not know? But there are a lot of people for
whom politics is not a big part of their lives. They don't see it actually impacting their lives, or they see it adversely impacting their lives. And
that's something Trump has appealed to quite powerfully.
But now people are locking in, right? It is unavoidable that you -- that you see ads, that you know that there's an election going on. And so there
really are people who are tuning in just now and making their choice just now.
And as we heard earlier from Kevin, there are folks who -- it's not that they're uninformed, it's that they have -- they've not made up their minds,
right? They feel a little uncomfortable with each. And they're looking for someone to make them comfortable. They're looking for someone to close the
deal.
And the play that Vice President Harris is making is that's what they should see tonight, someone who they're comfortable with, someone who they
know is going to be looking out for them, someone who they can see as a president.
GOLODRYGA: So, if you were writing this speech, Jeff, what would you make sure to include in this speech to convey that message that you say she must
deliver?
NUSSBAUM: I think it is really about bringing it -- bringing it down to ground level for people. It is tough to argue in support of concepts,
right? It is actually tough to make an argument for democracy, right? Trump talks about walls and swamps, less so swamps these days, but those things
are very concrete and they're very understandable.
There's no reason that Vice President Harris can't make her own policies similarly concrete. In the case of housing, actual concrete, but make it
meaningful in people's lives, what Trump's tax plans will do to raise taxes on the middle class, what her plans will do to lower taxes, same with
housing, same with healthcare, same with a whole host of issues.
So the trick is to sort of elevate the concepts and make you feel good about the larger gestalt of what her presidency would mean, while also
helping folks understand in a very real way, in a very personal way, what it will mean for them.
ASHER: Yes. And that's the reason why she's including the economy in this. It's not going to be just about democracy, even though it is at The
Ellipse. She's also including the economy for that precise reason, I believe.
Jeff Nussbaum live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Jeff. Great to see you.
NUSSBAUM: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Well, still to come for us, Israeli lawmakers vote to ban a vital U.N. agency that delivers aid to Palestinians. We'll have a live
report from Jerusalem just ahead.
ASHER: Also, Hezbollah names a new leader. Find out why Israel's defense minister calls that a temporary appointment.
[12:20:02]
GOLODRYGA: And later, a better deal for U.S. air travelers if you're left waiting for a late or --
ASHER: I love this one.
GOLODRYGA: -- non-existent flight.
ASHER: I love this one.
GOLODRYGA: Zain loves this one. More details coming up.
ASHER: I said it twice.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. At this hour, Hezbollah has named a new leader.
Named Qassem will be the group's new secretary general following Israel's killing of Hassan Nasrallah last month. Hours after the announcement,
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted a picture of him on X with a caption, temporary appointment, not for long.
GOLODRYGA: This as Israel intensifies its operations in both Lebanon and Gaza. Lebanon's health ministry says at least 60 people were killed as
Israel struck several cities in the east overnight.
ASHER: Meantime in Northern Gaza, a hospital director is describing a catastrophic situation after an Israeli airstrike killed dozens of
Palestinians.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Gaza's ministry of health says at least 93 people were killed early Tuesday, 25 of them children. The strike hit a five-story
building sheltering displaced Palestinians. And a warning, the images you're about to see are disturbing.
ASHER: Yes. A video from Beit Lahia shows blankets covering some of the bodies and scenes of destruction. One doctor said he stands helpless,
literally watching people die with no resources to help the victims.
GOLODRYGA: Well, the humanitarian situation could get worse in Gaza. Despite strong international pressure, Israeli lawmakers voted Monday to
ban the United Nations Relief and Workers Agency, or UNRWA, from operating in Israel.
That's because Israel says some of its employees are affiliated with Hamas. The U.N. Secretary General says the vote could have devastating
consequences.
ASHER: UNWRA supports nearly six million Palestinians across the Middle East, including in Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan. It provides food,
education, medical services and jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABU HASNA, UNRWA SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Placing obstacles in front of the organization and preventing it from fulfilling its role, it
has 13,000 employees in Gaza, hundreds of facilities and logistical capacity to implement relief operations effectively, forcing this system to
stop would be more like a humanitarian tsunami than just a humanitarian disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now live from Tel Aviv, Israel, with the latest developments here. And a big question even many Israelis
are asking, if not UNRWA, then who will be replacing the organization in terms of getting aid into Gaza?
[12:25:10]
And on that note, we just heard recently in the last hour or so from the U.S. envoy to the United Nations expressing her continued concern about
enough aid getting into Gaza. What more are we hearing on that front, Jeremy?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right. The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, expressing concerns about
the fact that Israel does not appear to be improving access to humanitarian aid in Gaza.
You'll recall that before this UNRWA bill came up, before the Israeli Parliament, several weeks ago, the United States sent a letter to Israel
giving them 30 days to dramatically increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza with very specific benchmarks of the number of access points into
Gaza, the number of trucks per day, a whole range of steps that needed to be taken, especially as the situation in Northern Gaza was growing more and
more dire.
And not only have Israeli officials not come close to fulfilling that list of demands by the United States on the humanitarian aid front, but now,
they have also passed this bill into law yesterday, overwhelmingly 92 to 10, in the Israeli Knesset to effectively ban UNRWA staffers from
transiting across Israel to ban UNRWA resources from going on to Israeli territory.
And while this doesn't explicitly ban UNRWA from functioning inside Gaza or the West Bank, it is going to make it exponentially more difficult and
perhaps may ultimately end up having the effect of debilitating UNRWA's ability to provide aid to Palestinians as the number one provider of aid to
Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip.
So it's not clear who can or will fill the void. The United States still seems to be pressuring Israel to hold off on implementation of this law. We
heard from the Israeli prime minister in his office yesterday making clear that sustained humanitarian aid, he said, must remain available in Gaza.
But, of course, that rhetoric simply is not matching up with what we are seeing on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza, where parts of that --
part of the Gaza Strip have been completely besieged by the Israeli military. And that was evidenced this morning in the aftermath of this
strike in Beit Lahia in Northern Gaza, not only did you have at least 90 people who were killed in this strike, according to the Palestinian Health
Ministry and local hospital officials, but you also don't have Gaza's civil defense able to go there to rescue people from under the rubble. You don't
have ambulances that can take the injured to hospitals.
And once people do make it to the hospital at Kamal Adwan, for example, there simply are not enough doctors. There are about two doctors now
remaining at that hospital, none with surgical expertise. And getting patients from that hospital further south in the Gaza Strip has proved
enormously difficult.
So it is very clear when you listen to U.N. and other humanitarian aid officials that Northern Gaza is staring down perhaps one of the worst
crises that we have seen over the course of this war. And there is no real indication that that is a problem that the Israelis are focused on solving.
Instead, it appears that their actions are only making the situation there worse. Bianna, Zain.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Jeremy Diamond live for us from Tel Aviv. Thank you so much.
ASHER: All right. Coming up here on ONE WORLD.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLAUDIO RODRIGUEZ, ARIZONA VOTER: Why Kamala? Why Kamala? And my answer to that is like, first, she's not a felon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Ahead, what the Harris campaign is doing to get Arizona's Latino voters and how Donald Trump hopes to win back the state in 2024.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:04]
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.
With just one week until election day, more than 43 million people have cast their ballots in early voting. So far, that number is actually down
significantly from this point in the last election during the COVID pandemic. However, Georgia is an outlier here, with the battleground state
breaking early voting records.
ASHER: Yes. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump making a final push to win over crucial undecided voters there. Last night in Atlanta, Trump lashed out
over attempts to paint him as a fascist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The newest line from Kamala and her campaign is that everyone who isn't voting for her is a Nazi. We're
Nazis.
He's Hitler. And then they say he's a Nazi. I'm not a Nazi. I'm the opposite of a Nazi. I don't know.
But Kamala is labeling more than half of the country as the enemy combatants. And she's calling them all fascists and Nazis, OK? But she's a
fascist, OK? She's a fascist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Both candidates have been eager to court black voters during the campaign. Harris pushing back on a reported lack of support specifically
among black men.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The brothers aren't saying that. I mean, I was just
at the barbershop in Philly talking with very incredible and distinguished men who are leaders in their community and small business and education.
And these men -- these black men were talking about not only their support for me, but most importantly their support from my perspective.
But the black men in particular who are at the rallies have recently been saying to me, don't you listen to that. And they got to stop with all that
noise. We support you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Time now for The Exchange. Joining us is Maya Prabhu, state government reporter at "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution." And
Shermichael Singleton, Republican strategist and CNN political commentator.
So breaking down the numbers in Georgia alone, Maya, as we have seen a record number of early voters, some three million. This is a state that,
reminding our viewers, Joe Biden won by just under 12,000 votes in 2020.
And it's interesting, because when you break down who has actually voted early. Forty-nine percent of those are white voters, 37 percent black
voters, and 60 to 64-year-olds are out voting every other age group thus far. What, if anything, can we glean from these figures?
MAYA PRABHU, STATE GOVERNMENT REPORTER, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: I think the biggest takeaway is that in 2020, Donald Trump and other
Republicans discouraged his supporters from voting early.
Republicans have historically trended toward voting on election day itself. And so he had been pushing them, you know, don't vote early, don't vote
absentee, go into the polls on election day.
[12:35:05]
This time, Republicans in Georgia have been very adamant about getting folks to the polls early, having them vote early, make sure their vote is
counted, vote early in person. And so I think that has a lot to do with why numbers are trending the way that they are.
ASHER: Shermichael, let me bring you in because you've got Kamala Harris speaking at The Ellipse. Obviously, trying to remind everyone, as if we
could forget, what happened on January 6, 2021.
You've also got the fact that Donald Trump, for his part, is essentially already making moves to sort of try to undermine the validity of the
results if he were to lose. He's done that through several comments.
And on top of that, of course, you saw what happened on Sunday at Madison Square Garden in terms of the racist comments that we saw delivered to the
crowd there.
Talk to us, in your opinion, Shermichael, about what all of this says about the health of the Republican Party, regardless of whether Donald Trump wins
or loses comes next week.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, look, I mean, there's two ways to answer that. I mean, ideologically, one can say that
conservatism, at least in sort of modern contextual sense, meaning George W. Bush, his father, Ronald Reagan, certainly doesn't exist.
I mean, the Republican Party under Donald Trump is certainly a more nationalistic populist party. And you're sort of seeing this in the
westernized world across the globe. I mean, South America, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany.
ASHER: So that trend -- Shermichael, that trend doesn't change if he loses. That trend doesn't change if he loses?
SINGLETON: No. Yes. No, no, no. I don't think that trend changes at all.
ASHER: Cause the point of no return.
SINGLETON: Yes. Look, as I analyze this, let's take off the strategist hat, but just looking at it from sort of a philosophical perspective. I mean,
you really do have a lot of people in a lot of societies across the globe that do feel somewhat disconnected from broader society, perhaps displaced.
A lot of that can be traced to economics, and a lot of it can be traced to educational divides. And so I think the question for those of us in the
West, those of us within the Republican Party in the United States, is how do you provide a solution to close that educational gap? Does that mean
more college for everyone? Or does that mean more trades for everyone? Or is there a healthy combination of the two?
What does that look like in terms of closing that economic gap so that you don't have people who live in sort of major cities or suburban areas
earning far more than those who do not reside in those areas?
This is a very complicated problem that I think the party and society is writ large are going going to have to address.
But I think, you know, again, to answer that fundamental question, what does it mean about the Republican Party? It just means that the party is
disparate from where it was 10, 15, 20 years ago. And I think it's disparate because of the reasons that I just laid out. And the question
becomes, what are the solutions to address it?
GOLODRYGA: Listen, I mean, it was just a few months ago that you had someone like Liz Cheney, a stalwart of the Republican Party, really
question whether or not the party can go back to what it was before, whether it can be redeemed to its former self or whether a new party would
have to be formed.
Maya, in addressing those voters who are disconnected, feel displaced, are undecided at this point, I'm just wondering, who stands to benefit more,
Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in this final week, when a lot of the focus has turned to who the fascist is, who the Nazi is sprinkled in with some
economic policy?
PRABHU: You know, I think, especially here in Georgia, things seem to be very, very close. It's difficult to say which way folks are going to break
in this -- in this last coming -- or in this last week, where we're going.
So I think it's difficult to say what -- who these voters are going to turn toward. I think -- I think it's more of an issue of people being frustrated
with the rhetoric and maybe choosing to stay home instead.
ASHER: And, Shermichael, just in terms of Kamala Harris' speech at The Ellipse again tonight, obviously, a lot of the focus is going to be
democracy, not entirely, because she is going to sprinkle in some economic policy, as Bianna just mentioned there.
But who is the target audience? I mean, obviously, on paper, the target audience is undecided voters. But is it moderate Republicans that she's
trying to appeal to in terms of trying to remind everyone what took place there four years ago?
SINGLETON: I definitely think so. Look, I've always been of the mindset, guys, that it's one thing to sort of expect moderate Republicans to vote
for someone like Joe Biden. Like I think Joe Biden -- I think most people would say, he's a middle of the road, sort of centrist leaning Democrat,
the old school Democrat that Republicans can say, I don't agree with a lot of his policies, but if I'm going to cast a vote for a Democrat against a
Republican, it's going to be a Joe Biden Democrat.
[12:40:09]
The hurdle, the barrier is much more expansive, if you will, for someone like a Vice President Harris, particularly when you take into consideration
some of her previous policy positions, which is why her campaign and the Vice President decided to shift.
Now, a lot of Republicans have been critical of that. And I understand why, for electoral reasons, but it was strategically smart for her to do so,
knowing that you're going to have to appeal and appease some of the concerns of some of those potential voters.
I do think the speech tonight is going to have in mind those sort of Nikki Haley, never Trumpers, who again may say, I can vote for Joe. I don't know
if I can vote for Kamala. I think she's too far to the left, ideologically speaking, in terms of some of her policy positions. I may just sit this
thing out.
Well, if you're a Harris campaign, you're looking at some fractures, some cracks within your base, and you're recognizing, I need to consolidate as
many people as I possibly can to get to that magic number of 270, you're going to try to target some of those voters, some of those Republicans,
that is.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. You mentioned Nikki Haley, she's been screaming from the background, from the bleachers, you know, I'm here. Use me. Take me. And to
no avail thus far.
We'll see if Donald Trump is able to make amends with her and bring her out on the campaign trail with him this final week.
SINGLETON: He should.
GOLODRYGA: He should. That's what you say, Shermichael, and you're not the only one.
Shermichael Singleton, Maya Prabhu, thank you for the time. Appreciate it.
SINGLETON: Thank you, guys.
ASHER: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, speaking of courting voters, Kamala Harris and running mate, Tim Walz, are heading to the battleground state of Arizona for a Get
Out The Vote rally on Thursday.
ASHER: Yes. The democratic nominees have been trying to pick up crucial support from Latino voters, among others. CNN's John King looks at how that
effort is going.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Knock, knock.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Crunch time in the battlegrounds.
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?
RODRIGUEZ: 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. Your little two cents.
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? Just barely --
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: 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)
[12:45:59]
ASHER: All right. Still to come, a big win for American air travelers. This is the one I'm waiting. If your flight is delayed or canceled, we'll share
the good news with you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Airlines in the U.S. are now required to give passengers an automatic refund if their flight is significantly delayed or cancelled.
GOLODRYGA: It seemed like this was just a no-brainer, right? The federal rule requiring airlines to provide refunds, not vouchers, took effect
Monday. It is a major change and comes less than a month before what's likely to be a huge holiday travel season.
ASHER: Let's get CNN's Pete Muntean in Washington. So, Pete, I travel a lot. And it's always bothered me. It has always irked me that whenever I
have to cancel, I get a voucher. I get credit instead of my money back.
And by the way, when I do get my money back, they make you jump through so many hoops, but it takes forever.
GOLODRYGA: Earn that money back.
ASHER: It takes seven business days to respond if you get your money back at all. So I'm happy about this.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You're so not alone in this. And this is -- this is what this rule really gets at. You know, what's so
interesting here is that the U.S. is actually catching up with the E.U., which has had these rules in place for years.
But so many people just want their money automatically, not vouchers, not a credit on an airline like they've been giving you habitually. This is
really so big with the holiday travel rush right on the horizon. It's hard to believe it's only 30 days until Thanksgiving here in the U.S.
This change is really big, especially coming from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who originally announced this back in April, known
officially as the Automatic Refund Provision. And the Department of Transportation now says it is fully in effect as of just yesterday.
Here's what it means. I'm going to break it down here for you. Your flight gets canceled or significantly delayed, the airline must give you your
money back automatically. That's big, because airlines have offered vouchers and credits for you to use on a later flight. So this is, in
essence, a cash refund.
A little bit of fine print here, though. If the airline re-books you on a different flight, you can't accept that re-booking or any other
compensation the airline offers you. Bottom line, you have to choose not to fly so that you get your money back.
One other big change here is that this defined what is a significant delay. So if you're on a domestic flight, that's more than three hours late, or an
international flight, more than six hours late, you now qualify for a full refund from the airline.
[12:50:07]
How quickly will you get the money back? That's the big question that so many have. Really depends on how you pay. The requirement says the airline
must refund you within seven business days if you paid using a credit card. Most people do that. Although 20 calendar days, if you use a different form
of payment.
The pushback here really came initially from the airlines who thought that this would be just simply too complicated to implement. Transportation
Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced this in a post on X, and he said, passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes them
without headaches or haggling.
A huge change here, especially after the major cancellations that airlines had to struggle with in 2021 and 2022. Now they're mostly out of the woods.
The cancellation rate in the U.S. down to about 1.6 percent of all flights, but it's still really big, especially on the cusp of the winter travel.
ASHER: And also the computer glitch this summer, back in --
MUNTEAN: Yes.
ASHER: -- July. I love how you pointed out that you can't get your money back and also get another flight, right? You can't be greedy.
MUNTEAN: You have to choose carefully. I feel like one of the TikTokers who was always posting things about, you know, the tips that you need to follow
in order to get your money back. Actually, this really took off on TikTok. I feel like I should maybe start a side hustle here of, you know, Pete's
tips to profit from travel.
GOLODRYGA: It's bad idea, Pete. Zain will be your first subscriber.
MUNTEAN: Thanks.
ASHER: I will. We love you, Pete. Thank you. Thank you so much, Pete. We appreciate it. We'll have more news when we come back after this short
break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Well, as usual, when there's a big political fallout, like the one from this weekend's Trump rally, Jon Stewart gives his unique take on
it.
ASHER: Daily Show host took a look at Tony Hinchcliffe's racist jokes and why Trump's day one plan may not work. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, AMERICAN COMEDIAN: It's very stressful, the elections in a week. I only have one week left to decide who I'm going to vote for.
Of course, for the media, there was one moment in particular that raised the alarms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The opening act grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons. A comedian who offered unfunny racist cringe-worthy jokes.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: Basically calling Puerto Ricans trash.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Extremely vile so-called jokes.
STEWART: Extremely vile so-called jokes. She name-checked my comedy album from the '90s.
Those people, those are just the underlings. And they brought a real dark apocalyptic version of America to the stage. I'm sure former President
Trump will temper those passions.
[12:55:14]
TRUMP: On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history to get the criminals out.
STEWART: Day one? Have a snack. Meet the staff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: One week away, right?
ASHER: Always makes me laugh.
GOLODRYGA: All right. That does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Thank you so much for watching. "AMANPOUR" is up next. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
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