Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Trump Attacks Accuser, Harris Preparing for Trump to Lie and Attack her on the Debate Stage; Trump Shares Conspiracy Theory about Fraudulent Mail-in Ballots. Door County, WI Has Backed The Winning Presidential Candidate Since 1996; Trump Renews Attack On Accuser, Jessica Leeds; How The First Kennedy-Nixon Debate Set The Stage For Presidential Debates Now; Award-Winning Actor James Earl Jones Dies At 93. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired September 09, 2024 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: ...and "The Lion King". The stage though, was his first love.
Jones, won a Tony Award in 1969 for "The Great White Hope."
JAMES EARL JONES, HOLLYWOOD ACTOR: Your wish coming true, huh?
JANE ALEXANDER, HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS: Never this --
WAGMEISTER: Nominated too for an Oscar in the movie version. Jones was part of an elite acting group. He won an Oscar a Grammy, three Emmys, and three Tonys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, had he done it all in life?
JONES: I'm not sure if I want to do at all because, you know, I death is okay. It is something that happens to all of us, and that's kind of glorious, isn't it?
WAGMEISTER: Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: And, thanks so much to all of you for being with us tonight. Anderson starts now.
[20:00:44]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, down to the wire on the debate. How both candidates are preparing for their first ever face to encounter and the stakes could not be higher.
Also tonight, on Friday, Trump said Jessica Leeds, who accused him of groping her, she would not have been the chosen one. Leeds joins me tonight to respond.
Later, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin on the first televised debate, the presidential debate, the inside view she had of it and the lessons that holds for tomorrow. Good evening. Thanks for joining us.
Take a look. This is the first picture just released by ABC News from inside the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, 25 hours from now it happens. The first and so far only scheduled debate between Vice President Harris and former President Trump, not just their first debate of the campaign, it'll be the first time they've ever actually met.
Vice President Harris arrived late today after what the campaign said it was a long weekend of debate prep and campaign appearances in Pittsburgh and a conversation with nationally syndicated radio personality Rickey Smiley, which aired this morning.
In it, she laid out her plans for helping small businesses if elected and talked about what she's expecting tomorrow night.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He plays for this really old and tired playbook, right? Where he -- there's no floor for him in terms of how low he will go and we should be prepared for that, we should be prepared for the fact that he is not burdened by telling the truth..
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COOPER: The campaign today also unveiled an ad which will be airing tomorrow in Philadelphia, as well as the Mar-a-Lago area, featuring unflattering clips from Trump's own former top officials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His defense secretary.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Do you think Trump can be trusted with the nations secrets ever again?
MARK ESPER, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY OF UNITED STATES: No. I mean, it's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nations security at risk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): His national security adviser.
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Donald Trump will cause a lot of damage. The only thing he cares about is Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, new polling from "The New York Times" with good news for the former president though, his 48 to 47 percent advantage among likely voters is within the poll's margin of error, meaning no clear leader. "The Times" describes it as the first lead he has had in a major nonpartisan national survey in about a month.
Additionally, 28 percent of likely voters say they need to learn more about candidate Harris, which certainly raises the stakes considerably for the former vice president tomorrow night. If as the polling suggests, she will be making a first impression on so many voters.
Now, in that same polling, just nine percent said they need to learn more about the former president. Trump spent much of the weekend on familiar ground suggesting, yet again, with no evidence yet again, that this election will not be free and fair and threatening campaign and election officials.
Quoting from his social media post, "When I win, those people that cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include long-term prison sentences. So that his depravity of justice does not happen again".
He went on, "Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our country".
He also had this to say about his plans for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In Colorado, they are so brazen they've taken over sections of the state and, you know, getting them out will be a bloody story, should have never been allowed to come into our country. Nobody checked them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: A lot to talk about tonight, CNN's Priscilla Alvarez starts us off. She has been traveling with the vice president, is at the debate site. So, what more do we know about how the vice president is prepping?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, one source describing this to be as robust debate prep. Of course, the vice president has started those debate preparations last month, but she hunkered down with her inner group of advisers over the last few days in Pittsburgh.
Now, it's down to the wire. Sources telling CNN that her debate team is preparing her for potential insults, name calling, and derogatory comments from the former president. But they also want her to stay on message and stay focused.
You mentioned there are some of the polls and voters wanting to know more about who she is. Well, one, Harris ally telling me earlier today, the vice president is keenly aware of this.
She also sees this as an opportunity to introduce herself or re- introduce herself to voters and her own vision for the country, knowing that she needs to reach those persuadable voters, those undecided.
[20:05:12]
So, this is going to be another opportunity that they're going to use to try to do exactly that. But of course, all of this is going to culminate in that first face-to-face encounter, one that aides and allies say she has been waiting for, for a long time -- Anderson.
COOPER: Priscilla Alvarez, thanks very much.
Now to CNN's Kristen Holmes in the Trump campaign. What are you learning about the former president's strategy for tomorrow night?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, if you talk to the Trump campaign, they say everything Donald Trump does is debate prep, whether it be taking questions at the New York Economic Club or sitting out for a town hall.
But that also means no actual debate prep in terms of mock debates. No one is sitting and playing the vice president. No one is sitting in playing the moderator.
We do know, obviously we've reported that he has these policy sessions in which he talks to his leading advisers about various policy and how to pivot away from specific questions to the topics they want him to focus on, like immigration, like inflation and the economy, like crime.
And whether or not that works, we'll see on the debate stage on Tuesday, but I can tell you this, talking to a number of his allies, the big concern they have is not what he says about a policy, but it's whether or not he lets Kamala Harris get under his skin and whether or not he lobs those personal attacks.
They want him to stay away from all of that. They are very keenly aware of, obviously of his tone and temperament and think that it could be bad if he has any reactive moments to Kamala Harris.
They have stressed this to him. They are just hoping that Donald Trump, who shows up on Tuesday abides by this, listens, and stays calm.
COOPER: All right. Kristen Holmes, thanks very much.
We touched on the former president's renewed implication of election conspiracies at the top of the program.
In another example, he focuses on Pennsylvania and I'm quoting his posting now.
An interview by Tucker Carlson of an election expert, indicates that 20 percent of the mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania are fraudulent.
Here we go again. Where's the US attorney general and FBI to investigate? Where's the Pennsylvania Republican Party? We will win Pennsylvania by a lot unless the Dems are allowed to cheat. The RNC must activate now.
Perspective now, joining us former Virginia Republican Congressman Scott Taylor and Ashley Etienne who served as communications director of Vice President Harris and former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, who served on the January 6 Committee and has endorsed Vice President Harris.
Scott, I mean, he's lying about this in Pennsylvania. There's no widespread election voter fraud. There's no evidence of it in mail-in ballots. People just discount this, at this point it's just like, oh, this is what he does. But is this acceptable? I mean, he's basically -- I mean, do you think this is acceptable?
SCOTT TAYLOR, FORMER US REPRESENTATIVE: Listen, Anderson, there are a lot of folks out there, literally millions of Americans who had a big problem with 2020.
COOPER: Well, I know, but Scott, just factually they don't have any evidence, like courts looked at it. I know a lot of people because it's promoted on a lot of networks and a lot of radio networks. But just saying a lot of people feel this doesn't make true. I think, you know, it's not true, I assume, but there's no evidence.
TAYLOR: Look, as I said before, there are tons of irregularities in the 2020 election that never happened before, right? There are people who have problems with it and that's something for you to investigate --
COOPER: What are the tons of regularity?
TAYLOR: -- and I think it's a good topic.
COOPER: What are the tons of irregularities?
TAYLOR: Sure. Suspension of state laws that didn't happen before COVID, drop boxes that are unsecure, there's tons of things out there that changed in 2020 that are still there now.
I think this is -- as I said, look, I ran in 2020 and I lost in 2020, but there are many people, too, including folks in my family who had issues with the way the 2020 was handled, had issues with Zuckerbucks, for example, hundreds of millions of dollars being sent through non- profits to do get out the votes --
COOPER: Right, there's people who think the earth is flat. Again, there's people around the dinner table who think the earth is flat, it doesn't make it real.
TAYLOR: Anderson, those -- what I just mentioned to you, those are facts.
COOPER: Anyway, Congressman Kinzinger, I mean, is this normal? I mean, it's amazing to me how this is now just like, oh, of course, he's tweeting out this stuff about this to denigrate the election.. ADAM KINZINGER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, it's disgusting and man, Scott, I love you, but come on dude, our words have an impact on this country.
The country that you and I both fought for, people look up to people, even besides Donald Trump, for a taste of what's going to happen this election when Donald Trump is saying this is exactly what he did before 2020.
When he is saying that the election is going to be stolen, all he's doing is setting up so that when he loses, if he loses, he can then turn around and say, see, I told you it was going to be stolen. It's going to be stolen.
Let's be clear about drop boxes too, what drop boxes are not is a box that you open up, there's just a ton of unlabeled ballots with votes on it and you throw them through a voting machine. You have to put your name on your ballot, you sign it.
When it goes into the Secretary of State's Office or whoever is counting, they can compare and see that this person vote on by mail-in ballot or any other way, if not great, if it's legitimate it counts and if you show up then vote on election day, you'll be denied because you voted in this drop box.
[20:10:15]
All of the Secretaries of State that ran this, say this is secure. In fact, the Trump campaign should be encouraging people to vote early and vote conveniently --
ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR OF VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS: Can I jump in --
KINZINGER: -- but instead it's more important --
TAYLOR: I agree with Adam --
COOPER: Ashley, let me get to you -- I mean, what's interesting is that --
ETIENNE: Yes, if you don't --
COOPER: -- there are actually -- there are people who committed election fraud and they are attorneys allegedly working for the former president who actually, you know, orchestrated a plan to get voting machines, take them to hotel rooms and break into them and they are being prosecuted right now in states throughout the United States.
ETIENNE: Absolutely and those people have -- some of them have pled guilty and the others have been indicted, and those staffers as close to the former president, one of whom was actually his former chief of staff.
But, Anderson, the reason wanted to jump in here because you talked about evidence of cheating and there is actual evidence of trying to cheat the election. It was President Trump. He called Georgia Secretary of State and asked for 11,000 votes.
You could actually cue that video. There's audio of it. He doesn't even deny it. He was impeached the first time for attempting to try to cheat the election. And then to your point, he launched a national scheme to actually do that. And when he did not odd succeed, what did he do? He threw an entire tantrum and incited an insurrection, a deadly insurrection at the US Capitol.
So, the only evidence of trying to cheat the election to your point is coming from Donald Trump and I'm not sure how Republicans can defend his actions and call themselves patriotic. I think that is really what's confronting them now, it's the truth is in front of them.
TAYLOR: Come on.
ETIENNE: They're denying it to the former Congressman's point and we need to actually just be honest with American people. It is Donald Trump who consistently tries to cheat the election.
COOPER: Scott, if you want to respond.
TAYLOR: Man. Yes. I mean, of course, let's not question each other's patriotism. That's ridiculous and absurd.
But the reality is there are folks who have issues with this. They want to have a safe and secure election just like anyone in the former president is highlighting that --
COOPER: But, but --
TAYLOR: -- and we're talking about the same things --
COOPER: -- every time you make the argument --
TAYLOR: -- listen up, listen up --
COOPER: -- but every time you start your argument with there are people who believe this, it weakens your argument. I mean, that's like classic high school debate stuff. Like if that's your thesis, there are people who believe this --
TAYLOR: Anderson, with all due respect then that would be the same on the Steele dossier, Hunter Biden's laptop, lab leak theory dismissal, Jussie Smollett and so on and so on --
COOPER: Come on.
TAYLOR: -- on this network, to be honest, I mean, you guys don't have the facts correct there, right? And people believe those things, with all due respect.
KINZINGER: Well, that was not attempting to overthrow an election though --
COOPER: There's also things that are proven wrong and people that say what is proven wrong -- KINZINGER: -- that is completely different.
TAYLOR: Oh, really, Adam? This Russia, Russia wasn't, and the Hunter Biden laptop wasn't attempt of the --
KINZINGER: You know, hear and say --
TAYLOR: -- interfering with the election, of course it was, you know that --
KINZINGER: -- United States saying an election is going to be stolen and lying about it is the equivalent of the Steele dossier, which was disproven after the election, it was not used in 2020 and even the Hunter Biden stuff, who was not running for president, he's never run for president. He's not attempting we go into the Oval Office, but he's an obsession with people.
COOPER: Ashley, I mean, do you see this as the president basically just trying -- the former president, just trying to kind of throw everything against, see what sticks. There's election fraud, there's all this stuff or is it kind of preparing the way for if he loses, challenge it.
ETIENNE: I mean I think it's a D -- all the above. I think he's trying to muddy the waters. I think he's trying to confuse the issue. I think he he's misleading the public, obviously, because as I said, it was him who actually made the phone call trying to get 11,000 votes when he didn't win Georgia.
So, but he's also setting up a dynamic and excuse for when he loses. So I think all of these things are true, but I think what's most disappointing is that some people keep perpetuating all of these lies that Donald Trump put out there, that he puts out there.
I mean, they're not telling the American people the truth, which is there was, there was a failed attempt and it was at the hands of Donald Trump.
COOPER: Congressman Kinzinger, you're former House GOP colleague, Liz Cheney announced she's going to be voting for Vice President Harris. I just want to play a little bit about her talking about coming to that decision. And then we're also what Sarah Sanders, the Arkansas governor said in response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ CHENEY, FORMER US REPRESENTATIVE: -- a vote I ever cast was for Ronald Reagan in 1984. I've never voted for a Democrat and it tells you, I think the stakes in this election.
Donald Trump presents a challenge and a threat fundamentally to the Republic.
[20:15:03]
SARAH SANDERS, ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: I'm not trying to be rude, but you don't get to call yourself a conservative or a Republican when you support the most radical nominee that the Democrats have ever put up.
Frankly, I don't think this is news. It should come as no shock that Liz Cheney is not supporting the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Congressman Kinzinger, you've endorsed Vice President Harris. Do still consider yourself a Republican?
I do, because look, I mean, honestly, the party left me. You look at what I believe, the things I still espouse, like there's nothing different than when I was in Congress.
I mean, you know, age moderated, doing a few things a little bit, but I didn't change. So you have to ask yourself, why is it that Liz Cheney and myself are not welcomed by the Republican Party? Is it because we all of a sudden changed to what we vote for, we want higher tax or something. No, it's because we did not bow the knee to Donald Trump.
So, that is the litmus test of being a Republican is can you defend Donald Trump and will you, no matter what? And if you're unwilling to do that, evidently the party doesn't want you and Donald Trump even said he doesn't want Nikki Haley voters.
So, this is an issue for the party, not for me. I can look at myself in the mirror quite happily.
COOPER: Congressman Taylor, do you think that Cheney -- the Cheneys, both of them endorsing Harris, do you think that matters at all? I mean, do you think it has any impact given the way the Republican Party is now? Where its moved?
TAYLOR: Look, you know, both Liz and Adam and former Vice President Cheney, like, I have nothing but respect for all of them and I served with Adam and served with Liz and I appreciate what they've -- I have no -- I don't question the authenticity of their decision to vote for whoever they want, and I respect their choice.
I deeply disagree with them, and I don't believe that it's the right thing to do for them to do that. I will say I think that there is a realigning both domestically in politics as well as around the world. But the party has changed and that's not unnatural.
That's happened many times throughout our history, quite frankly, with the realigning of politics and you see that happening in real time. And I think that for a lot of folks that are in the bubble, a lot of folks that are in DC, it's challenging for them, for this type of change. But I don't think it really moves the needle to be honest with you.
COOPER: We're going to take a quick break. We'll have more ahead. I want to focus more on the debate, namely tactics and preparation, how they might shape what voters see tomorrow night.
Later, Jessica Leeds, what she says about the former and president's renewed attack on her on Friday and what he said about her groping allegation that she "would not have been the chosen one".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:21:24]
COOPER: Just over 24 hours, Trump and Harris will meet on the debate stage. We're talking tonight about how the two candidates have been getting ready for their first debate and how things might play out on stage.
Here's what the former president told Sean Hannity last week about his debate plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: A debate is interesting. You really, you can go in with all the strategy you want, but you have to sort of feel it out as the debates taking place. I've seen it. You go in there and you have a strategy.
Mike Tyson made the statement everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Back now with our panel. Ashley, do you think Vice President Harris, I mean, she's never met Trump. She never been on a one-on-one debate with him. He obviously has done this many times. Do you think she's at a big disadvantage?
ETIENNE: Absolutely not, there's a lot of footage that she can study in that I'm hearing that she is studying about the of the former president debating.
There's very little on her. So I think she actually has an advantage there. And you know, here's the reality is, Donald Trump is a one- trick pony.
I mean, that's why he's hit a ceiling in the polls. That's why the Republicans are in all-out panic mode because they want him to be something that he's not.
So, the pressure in this debate in my opinion is on Donald Trump because she's got room to grow to your point earlier, there's 28 percent of the American public that don't yet know her, so she's got room to grow. There's very little percent of the country that doesn't know Donald Trump and he cannot pivot, he can't present another Donald Trump and it is proving the point that people are over a third season Donald Trump, they don't want it any longer.
So he's got the pressures on him tomorrow night to show the American people something different. And I don't think that he can.
COOPER: Congressman Taylor, what are you going to be looking for tomorrow? I actually take the opposite obviously, of course. As Ashley, I think the opposite end of the spectrum, I think the pressure is actually on Kamala Harris. I believe, and I said this on the network a few weeks ago. I think that she's actually peaked, I think when she came in, obviously, there was Dem excitement replacing President Biden. You had the massive amounts of positive media coverage. She had the DNC.
Now, people -- they're going to see her and she has a she has a big challenge because she's essentially going against herself. She's going to try to present this new Kamala Harris that is different from the one from a month ago.
And I think that's going to be really tough and I think president Trump is capable enough to show that contrast then be able to go around her and show that she's not a new Kamala. I mean, she's part of the old, right. I mean, she's coming from the administration for almost four years.
She's the ultimate insider. She was -- she didn't win an election as an outsider. Of course, she's -- was part of the palace coup if you will.
COOPER: Congressman Kinzinger, Congressman Taylor raises an interesting point which is that Kamala Harris has changed her position on things, fracking most notably, but I'm wondering if that has as much impact as it might have had in prior years because, has Trump changed the game on that?
I mean, he has obviously changed his positions so much even just now, last couple of weeks and suddenly on IVF and, you know, legalized marijuana and a whole host of things. So, do the same rules apply?
KINZINGER: So, I'm glad you brought this up because this was going to be my point, which is, I do think there's a little more pressure on Kamala mainly because the double standard that exists, it's a reality.
I mean, Donald Trump gets away with literally anything he's thrown so much garbage at the wall that people are just fatigued with it and he can say whatever he wants and they're going to be watching like a hawk what Kamala does.
So, yes, she's changed her positions, which is smart by the way, she was vice president for four years. You see things a lot differently after being vice president. I'd much rather have somebody that says, now I actually think this is the better way to do it because of the position I've sat in.
[20:25:11]
But yes, I don't think it's going to matter. Literally, I don't think people are going to say, well, she shifted her position, so I'm going to go with Donald Trump because let's be honest and I'm not saying this even as a gratuitous attack, Donald Trump changes his position on everything based on how he feels in the morning, or literally, Anderson, we were told this when we are trying to convince him to stay in Syria and protect the Kurds, whoever speaks to him last is whoever he ends up making a decision with. But your disadvantage is simply that people hold her to the standards they would hold a normal person and they hold Donald Trump by a complete different double standard, which is unfortunate, frankly, but it's just bad.
COOPER: Ashley, so far, the Harris campaign, the former vice president, certainly, Walz with the whole weird thing. They have figured out a way to sort of get at Donald Trump that nobody -- you know Marco Rubio, tried with little hands, a lot of people have sort of debase themselves trying to figure out how to counteract the talents of the former president, certainly on a debate stage.
Kamala Harris has done that in a way that nobody else has. Do you think she continues that? I mean, does she, you know, she's resisted getting drawn in to a number of the things that he has raised. She just recently turned Black, things like that. She's sort of shrugged it off her shoulder. Do you think that's the strategy she continues face-to-face?
ETIENNE: Yes. I think that's absolutely it. You ignore him, but I think she's going to strategically figure out to get under his skin, how to needle him on things that actually matter.
But here's the -- and this is why I think the mics being turned off works to her advantage is because you can't get into a pissing match with Donald Trump. I hope, I can say that on your show, Anderson.
COOPER: Oh, you just did.
ETIENNE: Because he's perfected the art. He has actually perfected the art, it's not The Art of Deal, see art of the pissing match and he's perfected it.
And it reminds me of my favorite Mark Twain quote, "You cannot argue with a fool because an independent observer won't be able to know the difference between the two of them".
So, I don't think she's going to get in the mud with Trump. I think she's got her most important audiences, those undecided disaffected Republicans, those Independent voters that still yet don't know her.
So, she's going to rise above it is what I'm hearing. And she's going to actually try to lay out in convey a vision for how we take a miracle forward, which is one of her greatest contrast against Donald Trump.
COOPER: Ashley Etienne, Scott Taylor, Adam Kinzinger, thank you. Appreciate it.
Meanwhile, in the battleground state of Wisconsin, the CBS-YouGov poll released over the weekend shows Harris and Trump are neck and neck. Harris is at 51 percent, Trump 49 percent, a two-point gap falls within the poll's margin of error, indicating no clear leader. That's why we sent our Gary Tuchman to small Door County in Wisconsin, which has backed the winning presidential candidate for nearly three decades. He spoke to voters there to see where they stand in the 2024 race.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Violinists serenade this farmers market in the small town of Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, which is located in the state's eastern most county. A county that seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to presidential politics.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Who are you voting for in this election coming up between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, Kamala Harris.
TUCHMAN (on camera): In 2020, between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who did you vote for?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Biden.
TUCHMAN (on camera): And in 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, who did you vote for?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did vote for Donald Trump.
TUCHMAN (voice over): What this violinist did is what Door County did. Donald Trump won the county when he win the presidency, he lost Door County when he lost the presidency?
But that's just a part of the story about this bellwether county that sits on a peninsula. The voters here have backed the winning presidential candidate in the last seven elections since 1996 and have only missed twice in the last 60 years.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Who do you plan to vote for in this election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Harris.
TUCHMAN (on camera): In the last election in 2020 between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who did you vote for?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Biden.
TUCHMAN (on camera): The election before that in 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, who did you vote for?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump.
TUCHMAN (on camera): So you've switched around?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Just like this county does?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. TUCHMAN (voice over): Door County has been one of the most politically accurate counties in the whole country. But because it's in the battleground state of Wisconsin, it's getting extra attention.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Do you who you're going to vote for in November for president?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll vote for Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will vote for Kamala and Tim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kamala Harris.
TUCHMAN (on camera): You are the Door County Democratic Party Chair.
KRIS SADUR, DOOR COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR: I am.
TUCHMAN (on camera): What's the vibe on the ground right now to you?
SADUR: Oh my gosh, the vibe has never been stronger.
TUCHMAN (on camera):You're the Door County Republican Chair?
STEPHANIE SOUCEK, DOUR COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIR: Yes. Correct.
TUCHMAN (on camera): What's the vibe you have in the ground right now for what happens in this county on election day?
SOUCEK: It's really intense and there's a lot of people. For our side, we have a lot of new people coming in, a lot of people wanting to get involved.
SADUR: We've gotten 300 new volunteers since Kamala Harris announced that she was running for president, 300 people in this little county of 30,000 people.
SOUCEK: There's a lot of energy right now.
TUCHMAN (voice over): You do feel the energy. Plenty of signs, voters here are engaged and no problem getting them to talk about the race and the issues.
[20:30:20]
Jjjj
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:30:00] KRIS SADUR, DOOR COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR: -- since Kamala Harris announced that she was running for a president. 300 people in this little county of 30,000 people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a lot of energy right now.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You do feel the energy. Plenty of signs voters here are engaged, and no problem getting them to talk about the race and the issues.
TUCHMAN: Do you know who you're going to vote for in November for president?
JOHN CONTRATTO, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN RESIDENT: I do.
TUCHMAN: And who's that?
CONTRATTO: Kamala Harris.
TUCHMAN: And how come?
CONTRATTO: Because I feel she's reliable, trustful, and she's for women's rights, and I think that's one of the big issues right now is women's rights.
TUCHMAN: You're ready to vote for Donald Trump. What do you think the most important issue in the election is?
ZACH CHRISTIANSEN, DOOR COUNTY, WISCONSIN RESIDENT: I would say just, like, foreign policy, border, southern border. That's probably the biggest thing to me.
TUCHMAN: Door County is a very picturesque place, enchanting to residents and tourists alike. But whether it maintains its propensity for proficient political prognostication remains to be seen.
SADUR: I'm predicting that we're going to win Door County.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's good to be confident, but don't get cocky. So I'm hopeful, but we have to make sure we work hard to, you know, make it happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (on-camera): So what's the reason, Anderson, for this streak here in Door County? Well, there's no definitive answer. We do know that there's some luck involved. A lot of these elections have been very close. And we've also heard from people here in this county, but it has a lot to do with the variety of people who live here.
The population ranges from farmers who lived here their whole lives to people from Milwaukee and Chicago and other big cities who come here every summer, love it, and then move here permanently and go on the voter roll. So the combination of different people with different political ideas may indeed lead to very close, dynamic election results. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Wow.
TUCHMAN (on-camera): Anderson?
COOPER: Looks like a nice place. Gary Tuchman, thanks so much.
Programming reminder, the debate is tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. You can catch the ABC News presidential debate simulcast plus post-debate analysis right here on CNN.
Coming up Friday, the former president verbally attacked Jessica Leeds, one of the women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. He denied her allegations and added she would not have been the chosen one. Tonight, Jessica Leeds joins me to respond.
Also, remembering actor James Earl Jones, his titanic presence on stage and screen and that incredible voice, which helped make this network famous and made Darth Vader, Darth Vader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:36:26]
COOPER: ?Last Friday, the former president spent more than 43 minutes in front of cameras attacking the accuser, witnesses, and even his own attorneys involved in the defamation and sexual abuse lawsuit that he lost last year in civil court and has just appealed. The civil suit, as you probably know, was brought by author E. Jean Carroll. The jury awarded her $5 million.
Now among those he attacked on Friday was a woman named Jessica Leeds, a witness in Carroll's suit who has accused Trump of groping her in a flight in the 1970s. Trump on Friday once again denied the accusation and said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly, I know you're going to say it's a terrible thing to say, but it couldn't have happened. It didn't happen. And she would not have been the chosen one. She would not have been the chosen one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Today, Jessica Leeds responded in her own appearance outside Trump Tower.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA LEEDS, TRUMP ASSAULT ACCUSER: I'm here today to tell my story yet again because I believe it's important to remind the voters of Trump's disrespect of women. He insulted me 50 years ago and continues to attack me today.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: And Jessica Leeds joins me now. Thanks for being with us. Obviously, this is not the first time that Trump has denied the accusations, insulted you along the way. Were you surprised that he brought this up again less, you know, than a few months before the election?
LEEDS: Yes, I was surprised once again to hear my name coming out of his mouth, right. Yes.
COOPER: Did, you know, he said of you, he said, you know, that it didn't happen, it couldn't have happened, it didn't happen, and that you would not have been the chosen one. And he repeated that, you would not have been the chosen one. When you heard that, what did you think?
LEEDS: I laughed out loud. I couldn't believe that he was using that word like some sort of cult figure. I personally believe he has convinced himself to that it didn't happen. He is a predator of women. I was not the first. Of course I was not the last, but there have been enough so that he doesn't remember.
COOPER: You had said that -- I mean, initially, I mean, you're -- what you have said all along is that he groped you on this flight, out just -- you were sitting on the -- on this flight next to him out -- just out of the blue, and that later on, you actually ran into him again. I think it was a charity event, you were kind of at a booth with the tables, and he -- you say he recognized you --
LEEDS: Yes.
COOPER: -- and used a very derogatory term -- I mean, he -- you say he saw you, and he said to you, like, you're that --
LEEDS: Lady from the --
COOPER: Right.
LEEDS: -- airplane. Yes. That's what kind of, no, the violence of the attack. I would never forget that. But that was quite a experience because it was in the middle of a gathering of people all, dressed up, tuxedos, lovely ball gowns. There were the designers.
COOPER: It was like a charity event.
LEEDS: It was a charity event. Bobby Shore was playing. It was a New York scene.
[20:40:03]
In comes Trump with his wife and I recognized him. I had recognized him from newspapers and whatnot before. And I'm thinking, oh, you jerk. And I remember putting his number, ticket number out towards him. And he looked me straight in the eye and he says, I remember you.
Now, he doesn't remember. That was what, 50 years ago. And I can understand, as I said, that he in his own mind, all of these events because he doesn't want to own up to him have just kind of merged into --
COOPER: One of the things he said on Friday, he said, "Now I assume she'll sue me for defamation like I got sued by E. Jean Carroll." Are you considering filing a lawsuit?
LEEDS: The technical term is we're leaving all of our options open. But, no, my goal in, when I was asked to testify at E. Jean's trial was to establish that this is his behavior, longstanding. And I'm have nothing to gain from it. So --
COOPER: He didn't attend that trial. He wasn't there --
LEEDS: No.
COOPER: -- when you testified.
LEEDS: No, no.
COOPER: Do you think that was a mistake?
LEEDS: Again, no, I don't think it was a mistake.
COOPER: Or do you think it was a sign of him just -- I mean, how did you interpret him not being there?
LEEDS: Well, he's got problems in terms of, he'd likes to be known as a ladies man. He wants -- he likes to have attractive women around him. And the main reason that he keeps saying I'm not as type or the chosen one is because he can't recognize that this 82-year-old lady was pretty enough in 1997 -- in 1979.
That's what -- and that's why I gave the times -- I knew that then years ago. That's why I gave them a picture of what I looked like at that point. Because he can't see himself. He doesn't recognize himself as getting old, but he's getting old.
COOPER: Do you think about this a lot? I mean, does this still hurt you?
LEEDS: I was -- like most people who have tragedy happen in life, you compartmentalize, you put it away, you put it someplace where it's not going to stop you from living your life. I really didn't think much about it until 2015 when I realized he seriously was running for president.
So I literally started telling everybody who would listen to me. The people at work, the kids at work, the -- my neighbors, my family, my poor son. It was -- whoever would listen to me. And then when it got to the actual campaign and Trump had the debate, it's so infuriated me.
COOPER: Yes.
LEEDS: It just made me so angry that's when I wrote the letter.
COOPER: Jessica Leeds, thank you for being with us. Appreciate it. LEEDS: You're welcome. It's good to see you.
COOPER: Up next, from the first JFK-Nixon debate in 1960 to the Harris-Trump debate tomorrow night, I'll talk with my favorite guest, Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:47:58]
COOPER: On the eve of tomorrow's debate, we're looking back to the 1960s, Senator Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon in the very first televised presidential debate. Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin knows it well. She chronicles it in her new book, "An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s." And her husband, Dick Goodwin, helped prepare JFK for that night.
Doris Kearns Goodwin joins me now. Doris, what are you going to be watching for tomorrow night in terms of short term impact? And what do you think is going to matter to historians 50 years from now?
DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Yes, when I think about a biographer 50 years from now, they're going to want to know what these couple days were like for each of the candidates. How did they prepare for it? Because those are the details that make it come to life, that the kind of person it is.
I mean, as we've been reading that Harris has been preparing for days and watching all of the old Trump debates. And then she was slammed by Trump for having locked herself in and prepared too much. And he feels like he can be easy with her because he's got a great experience.
But that same echo -- this is why I always go back to history, right? The same dynamic was there in 1960 where Nixon was sure he was the better debater. He didn't prepare for it. He was campaigning until the day of it. He was in seclusion on the day of it.
And JFK prepared for days and days and days, even to the extent where they were each given a chance to go to the TV studio to look at the backdrop. And Kennedy's people went, and they saw that it was a gray backdrop, so they made sure he had a blue suit on. Nixon didn't go, so he wore a gray suit and sort of melted into the backdrop.
You know, but more importantly, Kennedy had 105 bad (ph) cards. He had memorized anticipated questions and anticipated rebuttals to Nixon, and he sat on his bed the morning of the debate, flipping them off to the floor, as he memorized each one.
COOPER: Yes.
GOODWIN: And he was so relaxed that he took a nap in the afternoon. And by the time he got to the studio, he knew, he knew what he had to know, whereas, Nixon came in without having thought about it that much, thinking, I just know this stuff because I'm the vice president.
COOPER: Wow. GOODWIN: And your husband, Dick Goodwin, was actually involved in the debate prep for Kennedy. They -- Kennedy and Nixon were relatively friendly from their time serving in the House together.
[20:50:10]
GOODWIN: They had been indeed. And there wasn't a great acrimony, even at that point in time. My husband was part of a team of three with Ted Sorensen and a guy who did research named Mike Feldman, and they didn't have a stand in at that time for Nixon. But they had something called the Nixopedia, which was every statement that Nixon had ever made, huge binders.
And Dick as the younger speech writer had to carry that around from place to place. So they just really imagined what he would come back with. And they had an answer for it, because they knew that he had to have facts. That's what's interesting.
In 1960, what mattered is you had real facts so that JFK could look like he was experienced, look like he knew what he was talking about. And Nixon just winged it.
COOPER: Vice President Harris said today she expects the former president to attack her racial and gender identity tomorrow night. I mean, if that happened, I wonder how sort of history will view that.
GOODWIN: Oh, I think that if she's prepared for that, that could be one of those moments when she can turn things around. I mean, it seems to me surprising that he would do that. But maybe he will knowing his impulsivity. And I can well imagine that her whole lifetime has prepared her for that.
I mean, think about, it was the debate which she had with Biden beforehand when he was talking about dealing with the segregation of Southerners and talking about busing. And she was very prepared for that, obviously. She said, you know, I was that little girl on the bus, but they already had t-shirts. I was that little girl on the bus --
COOPER: Yes.
GOODWIN: -- going to an integrated school. So I'm sure that he's got to know that if any subject she's prepared on, it will be that and she could really turn that around.
COOPER: I want to ask you about your new book, "The Leadership Journey: Four Kids Became President." You wrote it for older children and I love this idea because I mean I do think it's so important. You know history is not being taught as much in schools.
You know, I've talked about this before, getting kids interested in history and seeing kind of the ripple effects of it in their own lives. The former president came down that escalator in Trump Tower 2015. So nine years ago. If you're 12 or 13 years old Trump politics, it's kind of all you know. GOODWIN: Yes, it's just heartbreaking to me that history is being diminished in schools and that these young people have lived through a really difficult time of polarized politics where they're not heroes in our current moment for them to look for.
So what I was able to do was to go back to my four guys, the guys that I've lived with my whole life, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and LBJ, all of whom lived in turbulent times. But all of whom came through those times, and the book starts with stories.
I mean, history should be about stories. It's about people. Stories of them when they were young. So you watch them become leaders, because they can't just become an icon. They can't become somebody on Mount Rushmore. They have to evolve into leaders. They acknowledge errors, they learn how to accept loss with grace, and triumph and -- triumph with modesty.
And I think a young person can really see, I can develop leadership of my team, of my school, of, you know, of my country eventually, if I learn these qualities which are empathy and humility and resilience and ambition for something larger than yourself which is probably the most important thing.
COOPER: Yes. And, I mean, we all need heroes and especially kids and to be able to have look back in our own history and see and have these remarkable heroes and relate to them as they were as children in their journey.
Doris Kearns Goodwin, thank you so much for your time. The new book, "The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President," goes on sale tomorrow.
Still ahead, we remember the life and legacy of actor James Earl Jones.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:57:58]
COOPER: Actor James Earl Jones possessed one of the most iconic voices ever recorded and enjoyed generations of success on stage and film and TV. He died today at the age of 93 surrounded by his family.
Our Randi Kaye remembers the legacy he leaves behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tonight, he owns the most famous voice in America.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That most famous voice belongs to none other than James Earl Jones.
JAMES EARL JONES, ACTOR: This is CNN.
KAYE (voice-over): For decades, Jones was the voice of CNN. He first recorded those three words, "This is CNN," in 1989, to mark CNN's upcoming 10-year anniversary.
JONES: It was so short, I mean, it took five minutes, right? And I forgot it.
KAYE (voice-over): But perhaps his most famous line is this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I am the father.
KAYE (voice-over): Darth Vader was originally played by a different actor. But the way Jones tells it, director George Lucas decided he needed a more sinister voice.
JONES: He called me and said, you want to do a day's work? And I said, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A day's work?
JONES: Two and a half hours, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's all?
JONES: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the Darth Vader language is in two and a half hours?
JONES: Yes. A few thousand dollars, and then I went home.
KAYE (voice-over): How'd he master Vader's voice?
JONES: The key to Darth Vader is a narrow band of expression. No inflections. He's not human.
KAYE (voice-over): His movie credits extend well beyond "Star Wars." You Jones also appeared in "Field of Dreams," "The Lion King," and "Patriot Games," to name a few. All of this from a man who struggled as a child to speak. He opened up to Larry King in 1993 about his childhood stutter.
LARRY KING, TV HOST: You were a stutterer?
JONES: Yes, a stutterer, a stammerer. I still am, and you'll hear me tonight, sir, I'm sure. I just, you know, I fake it.
KING: You know, you --
JONES: Come on.
KING: And so you stayed silent?
JONES: It was so embarrassing and painful just to talk, you know, because the kids in the back row would laugh and it was painful for the stutterer. And I just decided to go mum.
KAYE (voice-over): In fact, Jones hardly said a word from age 6 to age 14. But after a teacher helped him write and read poetry -- JONES: He discovered I wrote poetry and he got me to read my poetry in
front of the class and when I did, it didn't stutter.
KAYE (voice-over): Jones eventually found his distinctive thundering voice and those vocal chords of his launched a career he'd never imagined. Not just Hollywood, but Broadway too. He won three Tony Awards, including one in 1969, for his role in "The Great White Hope."
JONES: This is your wish coming true, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never this. Never this, John.
KAYE (voice-over): He may not have done it all, but for James Earl Jones, he'd done enough.
JONES: Death is OK. It is something that happens to all of us.
KAYE (voice-over): James Earl Jones was 93.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: An extraordinary life.
The news continues. The Source for Kaitlan Collins starts now. See you tomorrow.
