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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Milton, The Planet's Strongest Storm This Year, Barrels Toward FL; Trump: There Are "A Lot Of Bad Genes" Among Migrant Murderers; Israel Remembers 1,200+ People Killed In Oct. 7 Terror Attack. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired October 07, 2024 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: --both natural and manmade. There's a car covered in natural debris. A tank or a silo, back here, that's also covered in debris. This is the main highway here, in Micaville, North Carolina, as well that goes through the Smoky Mountains.
So, it is just going to take an enormous amount of time. A lot is coming back online here. But it's going to take a long time for this part of the United States to cover -- recover.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: Yes.
MARQUEZ: Back to you.
COOPER: Miguel, thank you for that.
The news continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now. I'll see you, tomorrow.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: Straight from THE SOURCE tonight.
Massive evacuations are underway, as now Category 5 Hurricane Milton takes aim at Florida's west coast. My source tonight is the Mayor of Tampa, with a blunt warning for those who are staying behind.
Plus, Vice President Harris is kicking off a media blitz. What she just said in a new interview, tonight, about firing that Glock that she owns.
And as Israel is marking a somber anniversary, the number of anti- Semitic incidents here at home is off the charts. We're going to bring the latest data to you, tonight.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
As cities are still cleaning up debris from Hurricane Helene, tonight, Florida is now bracing for another monster storm.
Hurricane Milton is barreling toward Florida's west coast with winds that are up to a mind-boggling 180 miles per hour. This storm has exploded from a Tropical Storm to a Category 5 in just 24 hours. Milton, as it is turning over that very warm water, in the Gulf Coast, right now, is more powerful than any storm on this planet, this year.
Millions of people, across the Tampa Bay area, are being warned to get out now. Most Floridians, as we can see, are following suit, jamming the highways, and rushing to safer ground. Officials there are preparing for one storm, as some residents in other states are still unaccounted for, after Helene, which has now killed 235 people in total.
You would think, that sober number would encourage world leaders to stick to the -- encourage our leaders, here, to stick to the facts, given how many lives and livelihoods have been shattered.
But Donald Trump has continued to push outright false information, which Vice President Harris today blasted as irresponsible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There's a lot of mis- and disinformation being pushed out there by the former President about what is available.
It's extraordinarily irresponsible. It's about him. It's not about you. And the reality is that FEMA has so many resources that are available to folks who desperately need them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: As Harris was telling reporters, about what FEMA is offering to those who are affected by these storms, she was also asked about reports that Florida's Republican governor is dodging her calls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Reporting Governor DeSantis is ignoring your calls on hurricanes' resources and help. How does that hurt the situation here?
HARRIS: You know, moments of crisis, if nothing else, should really be the moment that anyone who calls themselves a leader says they're going to put politics aside and put the people first.
People are in desperate need of support right now. And playing political games with this moment, in these crisis situations, these are the height of emergency situations. It's just utterly irresponsible and it is selfish. And it is about political gamesmanship, instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, Governor DeSantis denied those reports.
And we are just learning tonight, he did speak with President Biden, a short time ago, as he's made clear, his state has gotten what it needs from the federal government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): I didn't know she called me. I saw that, but I was not aware of that.
The President has approved what we asked for. We're thankful for that.
Everything we've asked for from President Biden, he has approved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: We'll have more on that and the misinformation that we've been seeing spread by some officials today.
But we're going to start tonight with a live update on when and where Milton is expected to strike.
I want to get right to CNN's Chad Myers, who is in the CNN Weather Center.
And Chad, this became the strongest storm of the year anywhere in a globe.
CHAD MYERS, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
COLLINS: It just took a matter of hours.
What can you tell us about how strong it is right now, and where it's headed in Florida.
MYERS: Extremely warm water. Here's the Yucatan Peninsula. Here's the Bay of Campeche. This is the Gulf of Mexico. 180 mile per hour winds around the center of the core.
Now, what I can find right now, because we have a Hurricane Hunter aircraft in it, at this point, it's not getting any stronger. And maybe that's maybe tongue-in-cheek. But it is not. It has been getting stronger, had been getting stronger all day long. Hour by hour, it got bigger and bigger and bigger. Now at least it's flattened out. And hopefully, by morning, it'll flatten out some more. But from 50 to 180 miles per hour, in 36 hours.
[21:05:00]
Tropical storm warnings, hurricane warnings are already posted. And you'll notice that hurricane warnings are almost all the way to the east coast of Florida, because hurricane conditions will be there.
We're going to have major winds, major hurricane winds, in this entire purple area, from Fort Myers, all the way up to where the last hurricane hit, and hurricane winds all the way across Orlando to the east coast.
The surge is going to be a big problem. This storm is going to carry 15 feet of surge. And that's a problem because we talked about the damage. We saw the damage from the last storm. And the surge with that storm was only six and seven. Even on up to where it was really bad, Cedar Key, nine. But now we're talking 10 to 15.
So, I know you're going to talk to the Mayor of Tampa. This is a big concern of his. All the way from Dunedin, all the way down to Fort Myers, this is going to be a major slosh of the ocean, 10 to 15 feet deep. And some of those Barrier Islands are not going to be recognizable.
Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yes, it's just a scary prediction. Obviously, we'll be watching it all closely.
MYERS: Yes.
COLLINS: Chad Myers, we'll continue to check back in with you as you're watching this. Thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COLLINS: And my source, tonight, is the Mayor of Tampa, Florida, Jane Castor.
Mayor Castor, it's great to have you here. I know you have a lot going on.
What is your number one message, to Tampa residents, tonight?
MAYOR JANE CASTOR, (D) TAMPA, FLORIDA: The number one message, as it has been for several days now, is that you need to prepare, do whatever you need to do, and then get out of the evacuation zones, which now are evacuation zone A and B.
And as we all have heard so many times now, You hide from the wind and run from the water. And we are talking about, right now, the possibility of a direct hit with 10- to 12-foot tidal surge. Put that in perspective. Hurricane Helene, which just left the Tampa Bay area, a week ago, there was six-foot storm surge, and that was literally devastating to so many, in our coastal area. We have a 126 miles of coast just in the City of Tampa.
And so, people need to be heeding that warning. And from the looks of traffic, on all of our northbound highways, they're doing just that.
COLLINS: Yes, we've seen how jammed up those highways are. I know a lot of the tolls have been suspended, to help facilitate people getting out of there.
What would you say to people, tonight, who are saying, You know what? I'm going to ride this out. I've ridden others out. What would you say to people, who aren't heeding those evacuation orders?
CASTOR: Well, I can tell you, right now, that they may have done that in others. There's never been one like this. And this, Helene -- Helene was a wake-up call. This is literally catastrophic. And I can say, without any dramatization, whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you're going to die.
COLLINS: Wow. I mean, that is an incredibly blunt message. And I know, you have a lot of experience dealing with these storms. You don't say something like that lightly, Mayor.
CASTOR: I've never said that. And 10- to 12-foot surge? I mean, if this takes a jog to the south, that's going to save us from the storm surge. But it stays on the track that it's projected to be on, right now, or if it goes a bit north, would be even worse.
Some of the predictions are saying that Pinellas County, to the south of us, the entire county, is going to be underwater. So, this is something that I have never seen in my life. And I can tell you that anyone who was born and raised in the Tampa Bay area has never seen anything like this before. People need to get out.
COLLINS: And your message is just, this isn't survivable?
CASTOR: This -- if we have that predicted storm surge? It is not survivable.
COLLINS: Can I ask you what that means for the General Hospital there, in Tampa? Because it's on a bit of an island.
And there was actually kind of this amazing thing that was used during Helene, the AquaFence, as it's known, to stop the storm surge. And it worked. But from what I read, it said it can only stop about 15-feet of water. Are you worried that may not be enough for this storm?
CASTOR: I am worried about that. But it worked before. That, it's not on a kind of an island. It's on an island, Davis Islands. And of course, that hospital's close to 100-years-old, was built there. Wouldn't be built there under current conditions.
[21:10:00]
But that AquaFence really saved that hospital. So, hopefully the engineering behind it continues to work, where the weight of the water holds that fence down, and keeps the water from coming in. But it is rated for 12-feet. So, if we hit the storm surge, as said, high tide? Hopefully that fence will hold, and the surge will just go over the top of it. We'll see what happens with that.
COLLINS: Yes.
CASTOR: But they have all of the patients are up higher, on higher floors. But it certainly would take out the electricity, the generators and so forth at that location.
COLLINS: Mayor, you're dealing with such serious matters here, having to move hospital patients, to higher floors, in case of a big storm surge, closing the Tampa International Airport, obviously a very busy airport. So many steps that you're taking, and delivering this blunt message tonight.
I just, I can't believe I have to ask this. But I do want to ask you, if the misinformation that we've seen about storms and the federal response, is getting in the way, actually, and affecting your disaster response, as a city official.
CASTOR: It's not. That is just all noise out there. And it really is sad that individuals would stoop to that level. It's, you know, to bring politics into something like this.
President Biden just called my cell phone, less than an hour ago, to ensure that we had everything that we needed.
The Administrator for FEMA came here from North Carolina, where they are handling the issues up there. Flew into Tampa, drove around with us, and then went over to the Barrier Islands, in Pinellas County, St. Pete/Clearwater.
We have the resources from the federal government. Governor DeSantis, Kevin Guthrie, the Emergency Manager, they are on top of it. Everyone is working together to make sure that we keep our communities as safe as we possibly can during this event.
COLLINS: Yes, just seeing how urgently you're working to clean it from one storm and prepare for the next.
Mayor, we're thinking of everybody in Tampa, hoping everyone stays safe. Thank you for taking the time to join us tonight.
CASTOR: Thank you, Kaitlan. I appreciate it.
COLLINS: And as we reported here, on THE SOURCE, on Friday, a lot of the misinformation about the federal government's disaster relief efforts is being unleashed by none other than the former President.
In a new interview on Fox News, Trump repeated that again, saying at one point that storm victims were only getting $750 from FEMA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So we're into almost $300 billion for Ukraine, and yet they're offering people $750.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: For immediate needs.
TRUMP: For the worst -- yes.
INGRAHAM: Yes.
TRUMP: But for the worst hurricane that anybody's seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I want to bring in CNN's Chief Media Analyst, Brian Stelter.
And Brian, that part there at the end. I mean, it is only for immediate needs. It's if you need to get baby formula, water, food, in the next-- BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST, AUTHOR, "NETWORK OF LIES": Food.
COLLINS: --immediate time frame, if you're one of these people who's had your house completely destroyed by this.
STELTER: Right.
COLLINS: And -- but this is catching on, this $750 thing that that's all these victims in North Carolina and these other states are getting. It's just not true.
STELTER: But your explanation took a few sentences. And it's cheaper and easier for Donald Trump to lie about it.
Thankfully, FEMA is fighting back. They have a rumor control page @FEMA.gov. But the people who most need to read it are the ones who won't believe it, And this is the unfortunate result of decades and decades of lying about government, of eroding trust in institutions.
Of course, we should all be skeptical of the government. We should all hold the government accountable. But there's been so much destruction of truth and trust that we're at the point now, where people would rather believe anonymous, probably foreign propaganda actors on X, than they would actually believe their local government officials.
COLLINS: Well, and but they're looking at actual government officials, who are also spreading this.
STELTER: That's right.
COLLINS: I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene, that Congresswoman from Georgia, has posted it -- was posting the other week about, they -- well they do control the weather.
STELTER: She said, They control the weather.
Who's they?
COLLINS: She posted this tonight, this meme, or not even a meme, I guess, I wouldn't call it. It says, They can't control the weather. And then she lists a bunch of patents underneath it, as if that is evidence that someone is controlling the weather.
And I think some people might see this and say, Oh, that's Marjorie Taylor Greene. Of course, she's spreading a conspiracy theory.
There is a very famous meteorologist, in Alabama, James Spann. Everyone follows him.
STELTER: Yes, yes.
COLLINS: Everyone looks to him when something's happening. He had to post earlier today, was essentially like, Please stop sending me these conspiracies about the government controlling the weather, and they--
STELTER: Yes.
COLLINS: --created this hurricane.
STELTER: Because all that garbage is overwhelming his inbox, and he can't help share what is true.
Meteorologists, including government meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center, are going to save lives in the next few days.
And Marco Rubio, the Senator from Florida who, on Friday, was tweeting about the fake jobs report, sowing doubt about the government statistics. Today, he is imploring his constituents to believe the government forecast, to take the government information seriously, to believe the government data.
[21:15:00]
What a difference three days makes, for Marco Rubio? And he's supposed to be one of the more responsible ones. I think that's ultimately what's so frustrating here, Kaitlan, as we see these government forecasters, and these broadcast meteorologists trying to save lives.
I spoke with a person down North Carolina, on Saturday, a public information officer in Rutherford County, who said that debunking all these lies has, quote, consumed resources that could have been more effectively utilized in the recovery efforts.
And what I'm afraid is that we're seeing the same thing now with Hurricane Milton. We're seeing the same lies starting to spread. And we're going to see an actual human toll as a result.
COLLINS: Yes, it's a scary thought as we're watching all this.
Brian Stelter, thank you for keeping up with that.
STELTER: Thanks.
COLLINS: Up next. Vice President Harris just appeared on "60 Minutes," where she was pressed on immigration. And she also revealed more about that gun that she owns, including the time when she has fired it. We'll bring you that here in a moment.
Also, on this October 7th, Israel is marking a year of anguish and war, as Americans are seeing the biggest spike in anti-Semitic incidents since that deadly attack.
[21:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Tonight, Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off a media blitz, and immediately was pressed in a new "60 Minutes" interview on CBS, about the Biden administration's handling of the immigration crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: The policies that we have been proposing are about fixing a problem, not promoting a problem, OK? But the--
BILL WHITAKER, "60 MINUTES" CORRESPONDENT, CBS NEWS: But the numbers did quadruple under your--
HARRIS: And the numbers today--
WHITAKER: --under your watch.
HARRIS: --because of what we have done-- we have cut the flow of illegal immigration by half. We have cut the--
WHITAKER: But should you have done that--
HARRIS: --flow of fentanyl--
WHITAKER: --should you have done that--
HARRIS: --by half. But we need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I want to get straight to my political sources, tonight, including a member of Congress who is here with us.
Congressman Ro Khanna, you were listening to that interview and that answer there. Do you think she answered that question in the right way that's sufficient to voters, who do have questions about why the Biden administration didn't act sooner?
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): First of all, she's taking the tough questions and three follow-ups.
Here's the reality. President Biden came to Congress, for a comprehensive immigration reform, on day one of his presidency. Now, he waited for three years, because Congress didn't act. You can argue, Well maybe he should have done it sooner. But the problem is, he wanted Congress to go first, and he was really hoping to get a bipartisan deal.
COLLINS: And of course, that bipartisan deal that was later crafted, Trump sank, which is what she often points to.
But Kevin, when you look at that and that answer. I mean, immigration is one of the number one concerns voters have. And Trump often does better in polling than she does on this issue. So, I think it is a question of how she talks about this on the campaign trail.
KEVIN MADDEN, ADVISER, MITT ROMNEY'S 2008 & 2012 CAMPAIGNS: Yes, and I think that's right.
And I think one of the reasons that Trump wins on this issue is because he has such resolve. He has such a calcified opinion about what exactly he thinks is wrong with the border, and how he's going to fix it. Oftentimes, we all agree that he falls short on any of the specifics on the policies on that. But because he's so -- has such resolve, that's why he wins.
I think one of the problems with the answer that Vice President Harris has here, and she's had this in many of her interviews, is that she comes off as very irritated by even seeing the questions, by even having to feel the questions.
And then, as a result, I think she sort of kind of meanders a little bit, and ends up spending more time explaining, rather than really focusing on the hard truths that, or the policies that she hopes to bring to fix the problem. And so, I think she lacks an ability to really gain some credibility with voters by approaching it that way.
COLLINS: Is that how you saw it, Sara, that she was a little defensive on the question?
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST, SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER, AXIOS: I do. This is not her winning issue.
Her winning issue is women's rights and abortion. And so, anytime she gets the chance to talk about that, you can see her light up. She has a personal story to tell about it, including what inspired her to go after this issue, as a prosecutor. She's obviously winning in terms of the polls with women, right now. So, that's where she feels most comfortable.
I think one of the other issues, though, with that question is that she's constantly sort of being asked to go through Congress, or she mentions, Well, this is an issue that we're going to have to work through Congress.
But her track record and her relationship of getting things done through Congress isn't so robust. It's not something that we hear about a lot. You don't hear people on the Hill talking about how closely they're working with Kamala Harris, or how close they even were with her as a senator, because she wasn't there for super-long. And so, that's going to be a challenge for her.
Every time she leans -- she answered this with the tax question too, at CBS. Every time she says, I'm going in through Congress? How?
COLLINS: Well--
KHANNA: Well, in fairness, she was -- played a decisive role in getting the Inflation Reduction Act passed, the American Rescue Plan passed. I mean, she was calling me, and she was calling members of Congress, to get the agenda through. So, I do think that she deserves credit for some of the relationships.
And on the tax question. I mean, she's calling for more specifics than Donald Trump. No one's asking how he's going to get Mexico to pay for his wall.
And what she's pointing out is that federal revenue right now is 17 percent of GDP. It traditionally has been up to 20 percent. They have a concrete plan on how to raise the revenue, getting corporations to pay tax from overseas.
COLLINS: Yes. And of course, if she does have a Republican House, and maybe a Republican Senate, that's going to be an even tougher question for those plans.
But she was also asked about what she's said before. She said it actually first in a CNN Town Hall, in 2019. But she's been repeating it, as she is trying to appeal to these more moderate voters, disaffected conservatives, about her gun ownership.
And she was pressed on the specifics of that in this interview. Here's what she had to say about her Glock.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITAKER: What kind of gun do you own, and when and why did you get it?
HARRIS: I have a Glock, and-- I've had it for quite some time. And-- I mean, look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement. And-- so there you go.
WHITAKER: Have you-- ever fired it?
[21:25:00]
HARRIS: Yes. (LAUGHTER) Of course I have. At a shooting range. Yes, of course I have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I mean, that is not the Democratic answer you would always expect for a Democrat to be touting that they own a Glock, that they've been to the shooting range, and used it. What do you make of our tactic?
MADDEN: Well, I think it comes off as somewhat inauthentic.
Look -- and I am having flashbacks right now because I worked for Mitt Romney, who tried to appeal to a lot of Second Amendment gun owners, by saying he was a hunter, and hunter throughout his life.
And to tell you the truth, gun owners, people who really care about the Second Amendment issue? I think, on the one side, the gun owner side, they only care that you're not going to take that right away from them.
I think on the other side of this, where you have more moderate, centrist gun owners, who sort of believe in Second Amendment rights, but also they want to see a tremendous amount of focus on safety, and also the research that drives the best safety solutions, when it comes to policy.
But when you talk about it through the terms of, I have a Glock and so therefore I'm just like you? I think it falls flat, and it doesn't really resonate with a lot of voters. COLLINS: Do you think it fell flat, Congressman?
KHANNA: I think she's being honest. She's not pretending to hunt. I mean, this is not John Kerry dressed up, going, trying to be someone he wasn't. I mean, that's why we lost. The campaign you ran.
MADDEN: Yes.
KHANNA: This is just her being honest. She's been talking about this since she was a senator in California, since I've known her. She has a gun. It's a Glock. She was asked it. What else is she supposed to say?
COLLINS: Sara, I also have to ask. We're listening to Vice President Harris in this interview.
It is tradition before an election that "60 Minutes" sits down with both candidates. And Trump did sit down with them in 2020, but he walked out of the interview, we actually reported, halfway through, because he was upset with Lesley Stahl's questioning.
They backed out of an interview, last week. The Trump campaign disputed that they had backed out. But Scott Pelley actually read text messages from Trump officials and said this was why they were told Trump was not coming on the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT PELLEY, CORRESPONDENT & ANCHOR, CBS NEWS: The campaign offered shifting explanations.
First, it complained that we would fact-check the interview.
We fact-check every story.
Later, Trump said he needed an apology for his interview in 2020. Trump claims Correspondent, Lesley Stahl, said in that interview that Hunter Biden's controversial laptop came from Russia.
She never said that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I mean, it's pretty remarkable to see how they handled this.
FISCHER: Yes, but they had to. Because if you're a news organization, nowadays, trust in news is at an all-time low.
The number one thing you can do to regain trust is to be transparent, as transparent as you can without breaking any sort of -- violating any sort of source agreements. If they had said, This is off the record? That'd be one thing. They clearly didn't. CBS has the right. Clearly, they value viewer trust.
COLLINS: I mean, Kevin, Trump would have gotten a huge audience from this. These interviews garner a lot of viewers. If he's not doing another debate, I mean, do you think this was a missed opportunity for Donald Trump?
MADDEN: I don't. I mean, Donald Trump has a 110 percent name ID right now. He's talking to the voters that he's already wants to talk to. And so, I don't think a missed opportunity with "60 Minutes."
I think, if anything, he sort of sends a message to his base voters that, again, he's on the attack against the media. And they love that.
COLLINS: Thank you all for being here.
Up next. We're going to speak to a senator about her issues that she's facing as she is in a very competitive race.
Also, this comes as Donald Trump is setting off a new storm, with claims he's made about undocumented immigrants, suggesting those who commit murder have quote, "Bad genes." Language, the White House says is hateful, dangerous and vile.
[21:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: In the latest example of Donald Trump disparaging undocumented immigrants. Today, the Republican front-runner said this, during a radio interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: How about allowing people to come through an open border, 13,000 of which were murderers. Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they are now happily living in the United States. You know now a murderer, I believe this, it's in their genes. And we got bad, a lot of bad genes in our country right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Joining me now is the Democratic senator locked in a close race for reelection in Wisconsin. Tammy Baldwin.
Senator, thank you for being here.
SEN. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI): Thank you.
COLLINS: On that comment there, the Trump campaign is claiming tonight that he was referring to murderers, when he said, quote, "It's in their genes."
What's your response to that?
BALDWIN: Look, Trump wants this as a political issue for his campaign. I know, you were talking about it in the previous segment.
But we could have had in place, for months now, a bill that would have brought 1,500 new Border Patrol agents to the southern border. This was a bipartisan measure, drafted in large part by one of the most conservative Republican senators. And it would also have brought in technology, to help us scan nearly all the vehicles that come in, to be able to interdict more of the illicit fentanyl.
This was a very important -- this was about solving problems. And instead, Trump and my Republican opponent, Eric Hovde, wanted this as a political issue that they could run on, rather than pursuing real solutions.
COLLINS: Well, and it made me think of something that he said, when he was in your home state of Wisconsin, yesterday.
I want everyone to just listen, for those who missed the Trump rally, to this comment.
[21:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Today, I make you this promise. I will liberate Wisconsin and our entire nation from this mass migration invasion of murderers.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Child predators.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Drug dealers, gang members and thugs.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Going to be liberated. It'll liberate.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Senator, you see the crowd standing up and cheering, as he says that. Does the Wisconsin that you know look like the Wisconsin that Donald Trump is describing there?
BALDWIN: No. But -- and I hear him talk about liberation, I think about all the women in the State of Wisconsin that have fewer rights and freedoms than their mothers and grandmothers. We have an abortion ban, criminal abortion ban, that was passed in 1849, in effect, because of the Dobbs decision.
If we need liberation, we need to return to -- we need to codify and pass my Women's Health Protection Act, which is the bill that would codify Roe v. Wade. That's what we need, in terms of liberation, in the State of Wisconsin.
COLLINS: Trump's been in Wisconsin eight times in the last four days -- or four times, I believe, in the last eight days. He is going to some Democratic strongholds when he's making stops there.
You said recently that you're confident that there are Trump-Tammy voters, obviously referring to people you believe will split the ticket, between voting for Donald Trump and voting for you, Senator. Who -- there's a lot of people, I think, that would be curious, who are those voters?
BALDWIN: Well, I would say, just this week, I got the endorsement of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. It's the first time in almost 20 years that they've endorsed a Democrat.
But I know, a lot of dairy farmers, who may prefer Trump at the top of the ticket, but have seen my work to pass the Dairy Business Innovation Act, and to make their bottom line a huge priority for me.
I know folks -- one of the issues that I worked very hard on, in the Senate, is getting Buy America rules attached to things like the infrastructure bill. And there are jobs that have come back to Wisconsin because of that. Now, Trump talked about Buy America, all the time. He didn't get much done on it. I'm getting stuff done. And I think there's some workers, who realize that, and will cast, you know, they'll split their tickets.
I do not believe that this is going to be a huge number. And in my race, it's tightening so much, in these final weeks. We see polls. The Cook Political Report, making it a two-point race, and switching me to a toss-up, switching this to a toss-up state. And the national Republicans are seeing that.
So, Mitch McConnell is putting $17 million in the closing days into the State of Wisconsin. And my opponent, who's a multi-millionaire, has already spent about $30 million of his own wealth, is also doing that.
So, we're going to be really outspent in this last period of time. But we're fighting. We got the people.
COLLINS: Yes, well, you mentioned your opponent. And he has really worked to link you to President Biden, to Vice President Harris. Given how you are seeing those numbers, and between the two of you, shrink so much, do you believe that has played a role in how tight your race is right now?
BALDWIN: I think people in Wisconsin know that I fight for Wisconsin, and I will work with presidents of either party, as I did on Buy America, with both President Trump and President Biden. But I will also stand up to presidents of either party, if it means we can help advance issues that help my constituents.
COLLINS: Senator Tammy Baldwin, thank you for your time tonight.
BALDWIN: Thank you for having me. COLLINS: Both the campaigns are marking today, the first anniversary of October, 7th. Vice President Harris planting a tree outside her home, in Washington, to symbolize the resilience of the Jewish people.
This comes as anti-Semitic incidents, here in the United States, have soared to record highs. We'll bring you the numbers right after this.
[21:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It's hard to believe it's been more than a year since the horrific October 7th attack by Hamas on Israel. The searing pain and grief from that day is still fresh for so many.
People gathered, across Israel, today, to remember the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. More than 1,200 people were killed that day, and 250 were taken hostage. Right now, more than 100 of them are still being held.
Today, grieving families protested outside the home of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for their release. Others gathered at the site of the Nova Music Festival attack, listening to the last song that their loved ones heard before everything abruptly stopped.
Amid a moment of silence, the screams of a grieving mother could be heard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - GRIEVING MOTHER'S SCREAM PIERCES MOMENT OF SILENCE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That is the sound of the pain that so many people still feel today.
And right now, with no ceasefire or hostage deal in sight, prayers have become a source of comfort, including here in the United States, at the White House.
[21:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER OF THE UNITED STATES: Perhaps for the first time ever, this morning, the traditional mourning prayer, El Malei Rachamim, was read in Hebrew in the quiet of the residence of the White House. One line from that prayer, as many of you know: "God full of mercy...grant rest on the wings of the Divine."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Joining me tonight is Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League. That was Jake Sullivan, the National Security Adviser, who doesn't often get choked up.
And you have new data that I want to talk about. But first, how are you reflecting on, on today?
JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: Yes, I think this is a solemn day for all of us. I mean, to think about what happened. I mean, October the 7th could have been any normal day. And to imagine a world in which 1,200 people were butchered and tortured and murdered, thousands of people were injured?
And what's interesting is there hasn't been any respite since that day. So, since October the 7th, this explosion of hate in America, and around the world? Since October the 7th, while we're trying to mourn, while we're trying to grieve? We've seen these activists staging, what they call, protests, they're more like mob scenes, all over the country.
So, I think the Jewish community feels under siege. I mean, we had the Rosh Hashanah holiday, last week. And in every synagogue in America, Kaitlan, you have to walk through metal detectors. You have to walk past armed guards just to get inside. I mean, that isn't normal.
And I've had parents telling me about how they're encouraging their children to change their names, and their Uber profiles, so they don't sound Jewish. I've had--
COLLINS: Wow.
GREENBLATT: --I've had college students tell me they're putting away their Stars of David, or taking the mezuzahs off their door, so no one knows their faith.
I mean, a world in which Jews have to hide in the closet, have to push down their identities? That's not the America that I grew up in. And I don't think we should tolerate that.
COLLINS: And when you say no moment of peace or even anything? I really feel like the only moment was, was when the ceasefire deal happened, and that was last November, and hostages were released.
GREENBLATT: Yes. Yes.
COLLINS: I mean, that was -- that was the only moment it felt like.
And the numbers that you're looking at, about what's happening here in the U.S., is really dramatic.
GREENBLATT: Yes.
COLLINS: It shows a 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents between a year ago today.
GREENBLATT: That's right.
COLLINS: And the end of September. That -- it was 3,300 incidents, the year before that.
GREENBLATT: Yes, I mean, imagine that. Imagine after literally the most violent anti-Semitic attacks, since the Holocaust, we then had a tsunami of anti-Semitic violence, literally triple the number of incidents over the same period of time. That's extraordinary.
And again, I think this should be a moment to mourn and to grieve. I mean, imagine if after 9/11, we had hundreds of protests around the country, against America, and for Al-Qaeda? That's basically what we're seeing here.
And look, I want a ceasefire deal. I want peace between Israel and the Palestinians. I believe there is a -- there is a future, in which if both sides don't have some degree of dignity and equality. It's got to happen.
But today, on October the 7th, this is the day to grieve the Jews, and the Christians, and the Muslims, the Israelis, and the Bedouin, and the people of all different nationalities, who were slaughtered on that day. And that we're not even allowed to do that, that we're told we have to sort of equivocate? I think it's really--
COLLINS: Yes.
GREENBLATT: --reprehensible.
COLLINS: Well, and just thinking, since that day, all the Palestinians, who were killed, as a result of what Hamas did, and looking at this.
I do want to ask you. Because this is inter politics as we are--
GREENBLATT: Yes.
COLLINS: --at the home stretch of this presidential race.
Trump said, last month, that any Jewish voters that vote for Harris should have their head examined.
GREENBLATT: Yes.
COLLINS: But I just want you to listen to what he said today about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Nobody's done more for the Jewish people than I have. Nobody's done more for Israel as a president, maybe beyond being a president if you want to know the truth.
I should get a 100 percent of the Jewish vote and I don't, it's amazing.
October 7th never would have happened if I was there.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: I mean, he's also said that if he doesn't win, the Jewish people have a lot to do with it.
GREENBLATT: Yes, look, like I think there's no question that when he was in office, he did things like the Abraham Accords that were incredibly important for the region, and was putting it on a path to peace. And now, things seem to have unraveled.
On the other hand, I think October the 7th isn't something that he, or President Biden, or any one person, could have stopped, unless we're talking about the Government of Israel. So, there are real questions to ask about how October 7th happened, the real questions to ask of the IDF and the Israeli intelligence.
[21:50:00]
But today, on this day, it's not about President Trump or Vice President Harris. It needs to be about the victims, remembering what happened to them, and focusing on that loss.
COLLINS: Yes, and just their pain.
GREENBLATT: Yes.
COLLINS: Jonathan Greenblatt, thank you for coming on tonight.
GREENBLATT: Thanks, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Up next. It is one of the more explosive claims that we saw, last week, when that massive filing came out from the Special Counsel, Jack Smith. It was the quote, "Make them riot." Well we've now uncovered who it was, from Donald Trump's campaign, that said that about a Michigan polling place.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: "Make them riot." Those three words jumped off the page when presented as proof, by Jack Smith, in the election conspiracy case against Donald Trump. But the context of what was happening, and who we now know is alleged to have said those three words, only increases their significance.
[21:55:00]
This is in the Special Counsel's a 165-page narrative that we got, last week, where Jack Smith says Person 5, a Campaign employee, agent, and co-conspirator of Donald Trump, tried to sow confusion when the ongoing vote count at the TCF Center in Detroit, Michigan, looked unfavorable for Trump.
There, when a colleague at the TCF Center told Person 5, We think a batch of votes heavily in Biden's favor is right, Person 5 responded, Find a reason it isn't, give me options to file litigation and, quote, "Even if" it's BS.
As that conversation was happening, on Election Night 2020, crowds were gathering, and police officers were standing guard, in front of the rooms, where those ballots were being counted. You can see it here.
According to the Special Counsel, when it was suggested that there was about to be unrest in Detroit, Person 5 responded, "Make them riot" and "Do it" with three exclamation points.
Meanwhile, civil servants were working throughout the night, just trying to do their jobs, and make sure every vote was properly counted. Angry Trump supporters were venting their frustrations, just feet away, banging on the glass, taunting and yelling at them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - PROTESTERS CHANTING "STOP THE COUNT")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Outside, more of the same was happening as crowds were forming, and they were spurred on by online lies about the election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VIDEO - PROTESTERS CHANTING "STOP THE COUNT")
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Well, CNN can now report tonight that according to a source familiar with the matter, Person 5 is Mike Roman. He was Trump's Director of Election Day Operations.
I should note, a spokesperson for the Special Counsel's Office declined to comment further. Roman's attorneys did not immediately respond to our inquiries either.
My source tonight is the Michigan Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson.
And thank you so much for being here.
I just wonder what you make of the fact that someone, who was directly employed, by the Trump campaign, was sending messages like this, encouraging them to make people riot.
JOCELYN BENSON, (D) MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, well, it's clear that there is a direct line between the Trump campaign, and an intention to incite violence outside the very place, where poll workers and observers, from both parties, were observing a process of counting valid votes.
And it's chilling, because it underscores both, I believe, a knowledge and intent to create disruption, and a recognition that regardless of the results, or even with knowledge that the election had been lost at that point, there would be an intention to keep pushing a lie, in a way that was intended to not just disrupt the counting of valid votes, but the peaceful transfer of power in our country.
COLLINS: Does it scare you, for this election, to see what was actually being said behind-the-scenes?
BENSON: It does. I mean, it scared us in that moment, to see everything unfold.
It's chilling now, because it's a reminder that though the 2020 election is behind us, everything that we were up against, in 2020, is not, and the 2024 election could very well be a resurgence of these same types of tactics, perhaps even more virulent, and more vitriolic, and more sophisticated even, than what we dealt with in 2020.
So, we're prepared both in Michigan and in Pennsylvania, and in Arizona and Nevada. We've been preparing, for this election, since 2020, knowing what we could be up against, based on what we experienced then.
But it's still very scary. It's still very chilling. And it's really sad that we can't have a system, where both sides recognize the validity of the people's will, and will stand by it even if they disagree with it.
COLLINS: You're the Secretary of State.
But could Mike Roman be prosecuted potentially for this?
BENSON: Well, that remains to be seen. I think that's certainly what the Special Counsel's filing and, I think, the justice process will play out, in the months ahead.
But I think it's important in this moment, also, a month out, less than a month out from the November 5th election, for all of us, is the American people, to recognize the need for accountability, and the potential for accountability at the ballot box.
Even if -- and when legal accountability plays out, the American people can still look at these facts, and these allegations as well, and make their judgment, and hold people accountable, for trying to overturn their will, their voices. And that's what I believe needs to be front and center in all voters' minds, regardless of political affiliation, in the weeks ahead.
COLLINS: Yes, it's just so remarkable to see that it's a campaign official, when someone's telling them legitimate ballots, they look like they're the right ones for another candidate. And instead of just accepting that loss, that they are, instead, fighting back against it.
Secretary Jocelyn Benson, thank you for joining us tonight.
BENSON: Thanks for having me.
COLLINS: And thank you all so much for joining us.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts right now.
