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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Is Interviewed About Trump Descends On Aurora, Colorado With A Visceral Contempt For Immigrants; Screenwriter On Bringing Trump's Origin Story To The Screen; 17 People Dead, 2 Plus Million Without Power After Hurricane Milton. Aired 5:00- 6p ET

Aired October 11, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: -- why the waters are still rising. And FEMA's new plan to combat fraud and scams and get people the help they need. Plus, the movie the Trump campaign calls election interference, the highly anticipated film "The Apprentice," comes out today in the United States in theaters. I'm going to speak with the creator who tried to capture the younger Donald Trump and interpret his personality flaws and all

And leading this hour, we need to cue some music. You know what I want. Thank you. Election music. Now that we're just a scant 101 days before Inauguration Day, we're drilling down on where the 2024 race actually stands. Moments ago, Donald Trump wrapped up his rally in Aurora, Colorado, pushing fears of gangs taking over American cities such as Aurora. It's a campaign issue he believes is working. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is also trying to win votes out west. She's campaigning in Arizona today. Let's get straight to CNN's Eva McKend.

Eva, it might seem to some as though Harris is more focused on media blitz, events targeted towards specific voter groups, rather than barnstorming rallies in swing states.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, I would say that it's really both. I've been at those rallies where it's packed to the rafters, and then these more intimate events as well. We saw her today in Arizona talk about how, if elected, she would create a bipartisan council of advisers. This seemed to me to be a clear attempt to pick up those Nikki Haley voters and Republicans who just won't vote for the former president, and as Harris works to rebuild the multiracial coalition that led, in part, to President Biden's victory in 2020. She's also in spaces where she can reach black men.

She'll hold a town hall with Charlamagne tha God on Tuesday in Detroit. The radio host reacting today to Trump's comments about the city and asking listeners to submit their questions. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLAMAGNE THE GOD, HOST, "THE BREAKFAST CLU": Kamala Harris is a woman of color, black and Indian. When Trump says the whole country is going to be like Detroit if she becomes president, he's telling folks that they need to fear America becoming too black. I want local voices from Detroit and voices from all the battleground states to get the opportunity to ask Vice President Kamala Harris some questions. I know we got some pressing issues to talk about. The future of the nation is decided by who we elect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: And Jake. I'm told by a senior adviser that that event will focus in part on the economy and address obstacles to creating intergenerational wealth in the community. That's not the only event focused on black men in the coming days, surrogates for the campaign will be part of a brothers and bruise event tonight in Atlanta, and on Saturday, the campaign's HBCU homecoming tour will host tailgates at Lincoln University in Philadelphia and at Fort Valley State University in Georgia. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Eva McKend, thank you so much.

Let's talk about all this with our panel. And Ashley, a new set of state polls from the Wall Street Journal released today finds the presidential race mostly deadlocked among registered voters in seven key states. Fifty percent of voters in the states see Trump handling the economy better than Harris. Forty percent say Harris would handle the economy better than Trump. Since we keep hearing that the economy is the top issue for voters, how do you expect that disparity, given the fact that the election is actually neck and neck, even if who would be better on the economy is not neck and neck, Trump is clearly in the lead.

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I've often said that voters are not a single issue voter. For a long time, people thought that it would -- it's the economy, stupid, right? That's the line. Or in 2022, folks thought that it was all going to be about abortion, and it really was. You saw that red wave that didn't manifest.

So I think this election cycle, even though she's trailing, and how voters are experiencing her versus Trump, they're also thinking about democracy. They're thinking about reproductive justice, they're thinking about the economy, they're thinking about the border, they're thinking about international issues. There's so many dynamics that are play now that this is one issue that is keeping the race neck and neck, which means if she can use these next 25 days and really get clear and salient on her economic message, she could pull ahead.

TAPPER: So let's talk about a specific group of single issue voters, because while it is true that only 18 percent in the same poll said that abortion was their number one issue, 28 percent of that group said they feel so strongly about the issue, they can't vote for a candidate disagrees with them on the issue. This doesn't mean it - we're not differentiating between people who are very, very anti- abortion and people are very, very pro-abortion rights. Only a combined 17 percent of voters felt that way about the economy and inflation for voters who said that that was their number one issue. Does that surprise you? MACHALAGH CARR, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, SPEAKER MCCARTHY: No, I think that's -- I think that's exactly right. And when you look at where the states this could really matter like I think there was a poll today, Real Clear Politics came out and said that Nevada now looks red, and it been in the blue category for a long time, but we're talking still within the margin of error, right?

TAPPER: Yes.

CARR: In a state like Nevada, the right to abortion is enshrined in the constitution, so the voters there aren't kind of making that decision based on that issue. Now that Dobbs and it's back to a state's issue, this kind of metric really varies between the states.

[17:05:05]

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: When you run a presidential campaign, it's much different than your local congressional race. I ran a presidential campaign, and I was blown away by how much momentum matters at the end, there's folks that care deeply, like you said, about these issues, and we've all seen that. And the folks that care about it, they're already going to vote, and they've already picked a side. You all talk about this a lot. A lot of folks talk about this small little piece, but that's almost non-existent now, and it's about who can get out the vote that they think.

That's why she's going to these places where these black men are in Detroit, that's why she's doing Charlamagne, because now the folks that should be with her, she wants to motivate them to get out because at the end of the day, the presidential election comes down to who you like and who you trust to run the country.

TAPPER: But also, I mean, as Eva was noting her -- she made another appeal there. She did it on "The View" when she said that she would put a Republican or cabinet, would that -- that's a way she's different from Biden. Biden does not have any. And also, she said today that you would have a bipartisan advisory group. This is her directly going after the Nikki Haley, Liz Cheney voters.

ROCHA: Exactly. Right.

TAPPER: Do you think it's effective?

ROCHA: It is in places like Arizona that matters so much, where you have the McCain history, where there's lots of folks that I used to debate with as a Republican about what's your philosophy on economics. Let's talk about the best for the American people. And let's argue that out those folks don't align with Donald Trump. They think that he is crazy, and they are looking for something that's just got a lot more common sense.

TAPPER: So listen to this. This is former President Obama at a pit stop for Harris in Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh Harris campaign office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, 44TH U.S. PRESIDENT: Speaking to men directly. Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for them. These aren't ordinary times, and these are not ordinary elections. You're lucky Michelle's back (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: No, OK, first of all, I assume any black men in that office is voting for Harris, because it's a campaign office.

ALLISON: Yes.

TAPPER: And there's probably no other human being could lecture black men like that than Barack Obama. But do you think it's effective?

ALLISON: Or a black man's mother. That's probably the first -- that would be --

TAPPER: I mean, as a group.

ALLISON: Yes, yes. No, I know, I know.

TAPPER: On a national level.

ALLISON: Yes, I know.

TAPPER: Certainly on an individual level.

ALLISON: Yes. I think that he feels very -- he's terrified, like so many Americans are right now what is at stake. And so he is expressing that by saying, I really want to draw the contrast.

What I will say, though, is that he is right. I mean, we've never had a female president before. There's a reason why that is. There are some -- you know, we've had many qualified women who could be president on the Republican side and the Democratic side, and yet the country has not found a pathway for. So he's saying, if there's some undertones of questioning, if she's tough enough, if she's strong enough, if she's smart enough to be the commander in chief, let's unpack that so that we can then get to the issues about that will really improve the quality of your life.

TAPPER: I want to -- we just got this in, Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, refusing five times to say if he believes former President Trump lost the 2020 election, which Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, this was during an hour long interview with "The New York Times." So it wasn't the only issue being discussed, but here's a taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, "THE NEW YORK TIMES" HOST: Do you believe he lost the 2020 election? SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think that Donald Trump and I have both raised a number of issues with the 2020 election.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Senator, yes or no, did --

VANCE: OK.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: -- Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?

VANCE: Let me ask you a question.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Senator Vance, I'm going to ask you again, did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?

VANCE: Did big technology companies censor a story?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So what do you think?

CARR: Look, we have got to move on from this as a country. When the Democrats objected in 2001 to a Republican winning, that was not the right thing to do. It wasn't right in 2005 when the Democrats objected or in 2017 when the Democrats objected.

TAPPER: But I should know the Democratic nominee never did it, and there was never any violence about it.

CARR: Right, there wasn't violence. And it was iterative, and one thing led to another to another, and now you have the person who would be chair of the Rules Committee and the person who would be chair of the Oversight Committee if the Democrats take back the House not promising to certify the election. And I don't know where Vice President Harris stands. I don't know if she's been asked this question. Luckily, we've amended the Electoral Count Act to kind of help remind members of Congress that it's not really their role, that their role is in the counting, and I think that's where we should leave it.

ROCHA: Democrats have never or would never stand in the way of certifying election. I'm telling you right now as a Democratic operative, if we lose, we won't be happy we lost but we're peacefully turn over this election.

The other thing, going back to what we just talked about, is that there's one thing clear, and that's why you're seeing all this emphasis. You see it with Latino men like me, you also see it with black man is that the party, my party, knows that we have to have a robust turnout in Philadelphia, Milwaukee and in Detroit if we want to win this thing. Kamala Harris is doing exceptionally well with white, educated voters. But the problem now is a little bit of slippage, it could be because she's a woman, there could be lots of things. But what we have to do is now go get that vote and turn it out.

[17:10:00] And what you just saw with the vice president is him scared to death to say something about the election because of his boss man.

ALLISON: I mean, the way to move forward is to tell the truth, like the truth shall set you free. And Donald Trump lost the election, and the fact that his nominee is too afraid to say that speaks volumes. There is no indication, and I believe we should do some read, but I'm 99.9 percent sure Kamala Harris said that she will accept the results of the election as well as Joe Biden. It is Donald Trump, the leader as a Republican Party who is the only one that has tried it, though insurrection in this country, and does not accept the results of these election. You might not like the results, but we've accepted the results as Democrat.

TAPPER: All right, thanks to our panel. Have a great weekend, everyone.

In just a few minutes, Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado will be here to talk about Donald Trump in Aurora, talking about Venezuelan gangs taking over Aurora, Colorado. Plus, a striking view of the aftermath of Hurricane Milton in Florida. CNN's Isabel Rosales and her team alongside rescue crews on a boat just outside Tampa. That's not normally what that area looks like. Some of her reporting is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:12]

TAPPER: In our national lead in Florida, the death toll from Hurricane Milton paths -- Hurricane Milton's path of destruction currently stands at 16. More than 2 million people in Florida remain without power. Rescue teams are working as fast as they can to get trapped residents out of their flood ravaged homes. And this already chaotic situation may only get worse, because flood waters are expected to rise tonight. CNN's Isabel Rosales is in the Tampa area where the dangers left behind Hurricane Milton are far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RALPH, GENITO, FORCES TO EVACUATE HOME AFTER THE HURRICANE: I feel everybody has been through the same thing, really do. I do. Never expect to happen to me. Nobody, nobody expects it to happen to them.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Hurricane Milton barreled out of Florida Thursday morning, Ralph and Tina Genito felt they had survived the worst of it, but late Thursday night, their daughter urgently woke them up, telling them, get out.

GENITO: We left last night at 10:30 with three foot of water outside. So, my daughter says it was going to come up even higher.

ROSALES (voice-over): Milton's torrential downpour dumped 10 to 18 inches of rain around the Tampa Bay area, and as a result, rivers and reservoirs overflowed, and the danger not yet over. As the rivers forecast across as high as 25 feet Friday night, a major flood stage. GENITO: This area is not supposed to get this way. It's not supposed to. We're the last road supposedly the floods, but now it's beyond us all the way to Lithia.

ROSALES (voice-over): Long after the storm was gone, Ralph and Tina unexpectedly forced to evacuate, stopping whatever they can carry into trash bags.

GENITO: It'll be a long road, everybody knows it too.

ROSALES (voice-over): CNN surveying the devastation first-hand by airboat with Hillsborough County's sheriff. His message crystal clear.

SHERIFF CHAD CHRONISTER, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA: Please get out now. You know, we're -- we have some people here that we're rescuing that thought it would be OK. The water is not going down. The water is only going to increase. So, if you're on the fence on whether you should leave or not leave, please, let's keep everyone safe. Let's leave now.

ROSALES (voice-over): There's so many people now burdened with the thought of recovery, never predicting they would need a post storm evacuation. Florida Senator Rick Scott visiting the hard hit area Friday to assure the community, local leaders are doing everything they can to help with that recovery.

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): I'm here to make sure the federal resources are here. Takes you as an individual, takes local and state and federal to work together. So, I'm here to make sure that we're going to do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES (on camera): And, Jake, right now you would think that I'm, I don't know, in the Everglades on a pond somewhere, but this is a neighborhood. I mean, look at the head. Look at these houses completely underwater. These are power lines. Look at this big tree limb that has broken down the power lines here.

It's insane seeing this. I mean, water reaching to hip to chest level. I've seen mailboxes with mail in it completely underwater.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has been out here all day, loading people onto air boats exactly like this, helping them to get out, in some cases, to go back in, so that they're able to get their memories, their clothing, food, and to bring them back onto dry land. A lot of them don't know where they're going to sleep tonight. The sheriff's office is working to connect them with shelters until they can figure out the next steps.

And of course, you heard my interview there with that couple. They were one of the lucky ones. They have flooding insurance so they will be able to figure out the next steps. But so many other people are not under the same circumstances.

I also spoke just in the past 30 minutes, with a man named John who lives out here, and he really wanted to express to me how tired he is of the politicization of just the politics of everything both sides angry at each other. He is urging Congress to act and to give supplemental funding over to FEMA, something that the director, Deanne Criswell, has been asking for because he says they're definitely going to need this for future storms, even we are not out of hurricane season, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Isabel Rosales in the Tampa area of Florida, which does not look like Tampa, thank you so much.

Hurricane Milton has come and gone, but as Isabel just noted, the floodwaters remain a major threat. Officials are anticipating more emergency rescue calls and are urging residents to get out now. And I want to bring back meteorologist Chad Myers, who we've been with all week.

Chad, explain why these flood waters are still rising.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Because the rain fell in the middle part of the state. The state is very flat, and it's going to take a long time for that foot of water that covered counties to finally get back into the ocean. Had all of this rain fallen, really, on the beach, it would already be in the ocean or the Gulf. But that's not how it happened. We're not seeing salt water flooding still going up.

This is fresh water flooding. This is the rainfall that we talked about all night, as this storm was just raining and it would not stop. So if you put rain on top here, and you're still talking about maybe 100 feet of elevation, that has to get all the way down even toward Tampa Bay or go the other direction into the Atlantic Ocean. And so we're still seeing these rivers rise. Some of them rise, the closer you get down closer to the coast now we're seeing that rise.

[17:20:26]

In the middle, starting to see a little bit of a fall, and that's what we'd expect. But it takes a long time for this water to drain in Florida. Didn't take a long time for it to drain to North Carolina because of the topography, but we don't have topography here, we have a very flat state. So it's going to take a long time for this water to actually recede, longer for that water to be in the homes before they can be repaired, before you can get the drywall out of the house, before the mold starts to grow here in these houses that are already wet, and it will take weeks before we can actually get into some of these. Here's some Mike's weather page video here.

Boy, this water doesn't look good, does it? I mean, that is certainly -- I know it's fresh water, but that doesn't look fresh. Please don't go into the water if you don't have to. Get into it only if you're getting out of it on the other side of something.

Jake, will have some fall, some rain, but most of it will be on the south, well down into South Florida. That's where the heaviest rain will be. We're not even going to get any relief in the parts of the rain belt where it was for the last couple of days. And here's a look, yep, that's Tropicana Field. Not supposed to look like that, Jake. TAPPER: No, it's not. Chad Myers, thanks so much.

An important reminder that those flood waters are full of toxins and bacteria. They are not to be weighted in unless you can avoid it.

Donald Trump is in Aurora, Colorado. He just announced what he says will be his plan, if elected, to get rid of gang members who come into the United States illegally. We're going to talk to Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:26:26]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm announcing today that upon taking office, we will have an operation Aurora at the federal level to expedite the removals of these savage gangs, and I will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That was former President Donald Trump moments ago in Aurora, Colorado, with only 25 days left until Election Day. Immigration is Trump's message driving home specifically what he claims is happening in Aurora.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But Kamala has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons of the Third World. They come from the dungeons, think of that, the dungeons of the Third World, from prisons and jails, insane asylums, and mental institutions, and she has had them resettled beautifully into your community to prey upon innocent American citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: While local police in Aurora have, without question, encountered some gang activity tied to a Venezuelan group in Aurora, a criminal group, the police say this notion that the city is being overrun by gangs is simply false. Joining us now, Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado.

Senator, your response for -- to what we just heard from President Trump.

SEN.MICHAEL BENNET (D-CO): My response is that he's just a liar, and he came here to demonize immigrants. He came here to divide us, because that's his only playbook. As you said, the police have said that what he's saying is a lie. The FBI has said what he's saying is a lie. And yet he comes and persists, not because he's interested in the truth, but because he thinks he's going to score political points.

To be really honest with you, Jake, I'm sorry to have him here in Colorado on one level, but on another, happy that he was here because there's no way he's going to win the state of Colorado. And so from a political point of view, I think this was a complete waste of his time.

TAPPER: You wrote an op-ed in the Denver Post, and you argue, quote, "President Trump's decision to descend on Aurora and play immigration politics is reason enough he should never be president again. Fortunately, Vice President Kamala Harris understands that we do not have to choose between our heritage as a nation of immigrants and our commitment to the rule of law," unquote.

So President Biden, as we know, tasked Harris with overseeing efforts with Central American countries to try to stem the flow of migrants to the U.S. southern border. This has been a record breaking period for illegal immigration, for undocumented migrants crossing the border. Are you happy with the job that's been done?

BENNET: I think we need to do a much better job. And you're right, I was part of the Gang of Eight in 2013 that wrote the last comprehensive immigration bill to pass the Senate. And we should remember that that Bill had $40 billion of border security in it. Every Democrat voted for that bill. That's far more border security than Donald Trump ever, ever spent on building his wall that he said Mexico is going to pay for.

And in the intervening years that Donald Trump has played politics with this, matters have gotten worse in a lot of respects because there are transnational gangs not in Aurora but in in Central America and in other places that are making billions of dollars smuggling people to the border of the United States. And that's why we have, as Americans, have to create a solution here that secures our border, that creates a pathway for the 11 million people that are here that deals with the visa issues that all have to be dealt with, and we can do all of that.

My point is that Donald Trump's fixation on his hatred for immigrants from the moment that he rode his escalator down at Trump Tower and called immigrants, Mexican immigrants, rapists, you know, as he came down those -- those, so. And now is lying about what's going on in Colorado, which he called an occupied state today, none of that, Jake, is helping us fix the problem.

And I think Kamala Harris wants to fix it. I think she needs a Congress that will fix it. I believe that when Lindsey Graham and John McCain were leading the Republicans on the Gang of Eight, they mistakenly believed that unless they helped fix the immigration system, they would never be able to elect a Republican president.

Now we've learned that you can elect a Republican president who lies and lies and lies about these issues, but we've now reached a point where our economy is being weakened because of Trump's rhetoric.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Let me ask you --

BENNET: And because of our inability to fill jobs all over the state of Colorado, which he says is occupied when we actually need labor -- TAPPER: Right.

BENNET: -- on our farms, in our ranches, and in our -- and in -- our -- our other businesses, and we can't do it because we haven't fixed our broken --

TAPPER: So senator, let me ask you, so the -- the Venezuelan gang members in Aurora, I understand that they are, according to police and according to the mayor, who's a Republican, they're -- they have not taken over the city. They have not taken over buildings. Are they undocumented? And sure -- I mean, do you understand why there might be voters in Aurora who think, look, Trump's not telling the truth about this, but this is still an issue. This is still a concern, and we are not doing enough.

BENNET: I'm not -- I'm not saying it's not an -- Jake, I -- I'm not saying it's not an issue. I've devoted --

TAPPER: Yes.

BENNET: -- a lot of my time in the time that I've been in the Senate to the question of securing the border, I helped write those provisions, you know, those $40 billion that we talked about. You know, I'm not in the Freedom Caucus that voted -- that made it impossible for the House of Representatives to vote that bill. I'm not Donald Trump, who made it impossible for us to pass the bipartisan bill that James Lankford worked on.

I don't need Donald Trump to come here to write about what the gang issue is in Aurora, to know that we have gangs all over our country.

TAPPER: Yes.

BENNET: But the reality is here I -- to my knowledge, a number of the people that he's talking about have already been arrested in Aurora, and I don't know whether they've been deported or not, because I don't know what their -- their status is. But if they should be deported, they should be deported. My point is that he is -- he is ringing a five alarm fire bell, but it's like the arsonist who shows up to -- to put the fire out.

TAPPER: Yes.

BENNET: It's insane.

TAPPER: Let me just ask you quickly, sir, you were notable for being the first senator to express fears that then nominee, or would be nominee President Biden would not win. And I'm wondering how you feel about the state of the race right now, not in Colorado, which is essentially a blue state when it comes to the presidential race. But do you think vice president Harris is doing enough to win this election?

BENNET: I think it's really important -- I think she's doing enough to win the election. But the election is really, really close. And I think, Jake, I've spent time just this week in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire. I was talking to my friend, Jon Tester, yesterday in Montana. We have got to make sure that we are -- we are prosecuting the economic message for Democrats in all these states, so that they hear what we are going to offer and how different it is from the trickle down economics that Donald Trump is bringing.

Even when we're talking about an issue like immigration, I think we need to remind the American people of the importance of these issues to driving our economic growth, because ultimately, in order to save our democracy, we've got an economy -- we need an economy that when it grows, it grows for everybody, rural and urban.

TAPPER: All right.

BENNET: And for folks in the Midwest, as well as out here in Colorado, I think that's the message that Vice President Harris needs to bring in these states. And we need to make a strong closing argument if we're going to win this election. It is tied.

TAPPER: All right.

[17:34:59]

BENNET: This race is tied. And when one of those candidates is somebody who during the, you know, the pendency of a hurricane, or, you know, in the aftermath of a hurricane, thinks the best use of his time is to come out here and lie about what's going on in -- in, you know, Aurora, Colorado, I think that is disqualifying for, you know, his ability to win. And we got to get out there and make sure she's elected.

TAPPER: All right. Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, thanks so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: The 2024 race collides with our Pop Culture Lead today as we take a look at the controversial film that the Trump campaign does not want you to see, "The Apprentice" named not for the former president's reality T.V. show, but rather his relationship with notorious attorney and political fixer, Roy Cohn. Cohn, the former acolyte of Joe McCarthy, taught the young New York real estate developer the playbook that Mr. Trump would go on to use in his career and his run for the White House. Here's a part of the trailer for the film, which opens today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't always win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It his rules.

[17:40:00]

The first rule is attack, attack, attack. Rule two, admit nothing. Deny everything. Rule three, no matter what happens, you claim victory and never admit defeat. You have to be willing to do anything to anyone to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And joining me now is Gabe Sherman, the screenwriter of "The Apprentice." He's also a special correspondent for Vanity Fair. Thanks so much for joining us.

GABRIEL SHERMAN, SCREENWRITER, "THE APPRENTICE": Thanks Jake.

TAPPER: Congratulations on the film. So I -- in the interest of fairness, I want to read part of a statement given to CNN from the Trump campaign about the film's release, quote, this is election interference by Hollywood elites right before November. This, quote unquote, film is pure malicious defamation. Should never see the light of day, and doesn't even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire, unquote. So --

SHERMAN: That's not two thumbs up is what they're saying.

TAPPER: I guess not.

SHERMAN: So.

TAPPER: Yes. But -- but it is being released right before the election. So what -- what -- what, forget all the hyperbole there, and just what about the idea that it's not fair to release a film like this right before the election?

SHERMAN: Well, Jake, I've been working on this movie. I wrote the first draft of the screenplay seven years ago, and as anyone knows, in -- in Hollywood, the -- the gears of show business turn very slowly. And we've been trying to get this film off the ground for years, time and time again, and just the stars align that we got the financing last year. We shot the movie earlier this year in -- in Toronto. And so just the time -- we had no idea that Trump would be running again. I mean, when we started making this movie, it looked like Trump was, you know, indicted multiple times, that he was done.

TAPPER: Yes.

SHERMAN: So, I mean, the idea that this release schedule was timed to the election is just coincidence.

TAPPER: The -- the director of the film has said he doesn't think, quote, this movie is -- this is a movie that Trump would dislike. Is -- is -- is that true do you think?

SHERMAN: I mean, that's -- that was the intention when I wrote it. You know, I wanted to really try to capture young Donald Trump. This movie takes place in the 1970s and 1980s. It explores his relationship with his mentor, Roy Cohn. And I wanted to sort of show how this young man was created and molded by this, you know, larger than life, iconic and also infamous political character, Roy Cohn. And so it's not a hit job. I mean, obviously there's -- there's flaws. And Donald Trump does think that many people find unlikable. But it's not intended as an attack. It's trying my interpretation of him as a young man coming of age.

TAPPER: So there is a disclaimer in the film telling viewers that some of the events have been dramatized, fictionalized for dramatic purposes. How much of the film do you think is true? Are there big moments that you think have been heavily fictionalized?

SHERMAN: Not really. I mean the entire structure and chronology of the film from the mid-70s to the mid-80s, is based on real events. Now, the conversations themselves, you know, obviously I wasn't there. People weren't there for the private moments between Donald and Roy, and that's my artistic license as a screenwriter. This is a fictional film based on real characters.

TAPPER: The film is getting praised from at least one Trump ally, Roger Stone, who's also a minor character in -- in the film.

SHERMAN: Yes.

TAPPER: He said -- he posted on Twitter quote, I knew Roy Cohn. Roy Cohn was a friend of mine. The portrayal of Roy Cohn by actor Jeremy Strong in the new movie "The Apprentice" is uncanny in its accuracy. Do you think Donald Trump would be who he is today if he had not met Roy Cohn?

SHERMAN: I don't think so. You know, there are plenty of very wealthy sons of New York City real estate developers who become maybe power brokers on the local stage, but they don't become the president of the United States. And Roy Cohn taught Donald Trump the three lessons that he uses today, attack, deny and never admit defeat.

And when I wrote the script seven years ago, this was way before January 6th. And what did he do with the 2020 election? He denied that he lost. He claimed victory. I mean, this playbook that Roy Cohn taught Donald Trump really explains how he became who he is today.

TAPPER: All right, the film is "The Apprentice" the screenwriter, Gabe Sherman, thanks so much for being here.

SHERMAN: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: Appreciate it.

SHERMAN: Take care.

[17:43:57]

TAPPER: We are going to Western Florida next for almost two full days after Hurricane Milton made landfall, search and rescue efforts are still happening. A man helping to lead one operation will join me. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: We have an update now in our National Lead, the death toll from Hurricane Milton has just risen to 17. Today, search and rescue operations are still ongoing. Let's bring in John Wisdom. He's the program manager of Florida's Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 6. John, thanks for joining us. Tell us about some of the rescues you've been a part of so far.

JOHN WISDOM, PROGRAM MANAGER, FLORIDA TASK FORCE 6: Well, we've been in theater ready to respond since early Wednesday, when we set up our preparations. Obviously, activities picked up Wednesday evening. And we've been progressing up Florida's West Coast based on recon that's been gathered and delivered to us by our command, responding to the places that are in the most -- most need.

So far I do believe that for our interactions that we've had, obviously we've lost some life, as you just mentioned, I believe that the evacuation orders that were heated by Floridians ahead of the storm have paid off dividends, because our -- our rescue action has been rather limited compared to what it could have been.

TAPPER: How many operations has your group been on? And -- and are there any memorable rescues?

WISDOM: We do have a memorable rescue from the first night that we were involved with, there was a gentleman who actually was on live T.V. with a local channel talking about his situation. And my staff who happened to be in our command room watching that channel, trying to stay informed on the local pulse, and we saw that interview and decided to take action right away. I believe within about a 15-minute period, we had high water vehicles in the squad from Florida Task Force 6 at that man's door, and were able to get him his wife and their pet to a shelter.

TAPPER: You've gone out after several past hurricanes, making rescues. How -- how does Milton compare?

[17:50:03]

WISDOM: Milton is significant. Fortunately, we're very familiar with the effects of hurricanes in Florida this year with the three that have come at us rather rapidly in a short amount of time. My team's been out since the 25th of last month, with a very short break in between before Milton. And they -- the symptoms of each storm are rather similar. The surge is there, the surge is high, the winds are there, the winds are high, and we've seen it both times with equal significance.

TAPPER: All right. John Wisdom, thank you so much, and thanks for what you do and you can help in the wake of Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene, CNN has compiled a list of organizations, vetted organizations, offering ways you can give, you can find that list at cnn.com/impact, cnn.com/impact. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:54:57] TAPPER: How does one go from a policy job in the Ford and Carter administrations to a job in your own kitchen that actually ends up being a much bigger deal? Well, the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, literally wrote the book on that subject. Her new memoir, "Be Ready When the Luck Happens" explains how her life changed one day, while sitting at her desk in the White House. She came across an ad for a specialty food store called the Barefoot Contesta -- Contessa, then she bought that store despite zero formal culinary training, and let's just say it worked out for the past 25 years through T.V. shows, cookbooks, Ina Garten has become a legend, an icon, teaching Americans how to cook delicious, comforting home meals.

And Ina Garten, host of Barefoot Contessa, is here with us now. Thank you so much for being here. And congratulations on your memoir, your 14th book.

INA GARTEN, HOST, "BAREFOOT CONTESSA": Yes.

TAPPER: But the first one that's not a cookbook.

GARTEN: That's exactly tight.

TAPPER: We should note that this is not your first time in Washington, D.C.

GARTEN: No.

TAPPER: You wrote about -- you had a job in the White House, and you write about it in the memoir, saying, I realize that despite my working on multibillion-dollar federal budgets, nothing ever seemed to get done. And when it did get done, somehow the next year, it got undone. That is a nice summary of our federal government. Where do you think you would be today if you hadn't seen that ad for the Barefoot Contessa store in the Hamptons that -- that set you on this incredible path, do you think you'd still be working in government here?

GARTEN: One of the things I realized when I was working at OMB is that I remember thinking to myself, if -- if they offered me the head of this organization, would I be happy doing that? And I thought, no. So I thought, well, what am I working for? So I think I -- I always knew that I'd either be in the food business or in real estate development, you know, doing houses, and I don't know things like that. I love renovating houses in Washington. So I knew it was one of the other but I -- it turned out to be the food business.

TAPPER: All right. So your first cooking show did not air until you were in your 50s --

GARTEN: That's right.

TAPPER: -- in 2002. You've always convened the se -- the sense of authenticity. But I guess the two questions I have are, one, were you nervous about showing yourself to the world, trying something so new? And -- and two, what's your message to people out there who maybe are in their 30s or 40s and feel like they're stuck doing something, because that's the decision they made when they were 26 and they feel like they can't pursue their dreams?

GARTEN: I mean, your first question is, was I nervous? I'm still nervous doing T.V. I mean, I think that nervous energy is actually good on T.V., because it makes you show up. You don't just phone it in. And I you know, here I am, 25 years later, still feeling that way, which is fine. I mean, I think to people that -- that when I look back, writing the memoir made me realize that I had actually taken enormous chances, and I was surprised how courageous I was, where I would literally jump into an abyss having no idea where I'm going to land.

And those are the things that have really made my life. They -- they've made my career. And -- and as long as you know that you can land safely and you have maybe an exit strategy, if it doesn't work out, just try things.

TAPPER: Do you think that you knew at the time how courageous you were being?

GARTEN: No. Absolutely not. I just -- I saw working in the government as an -- as a dead end for me. And I thought, well, here's an option. Maybe we'll try this. And I -- I think people feel like they need to know where they're going. And -- and all you need to do is just start. And I mean, I -- I see it as -- as somebody described as -- as you jump in the pond, you splash around, maybe it's not the right pond, but when you're in the pond, you see something over there, and you go, that's kind of interesting. Maybe I'll investigate there.

And then you hopefully end up in a stream where the stream is carrying you along. That's where you need to be. And it's not about going from here to there. It's about figuring it out along the way.

TAPPER: So can I ask you one last question before you go, which is, do you prepare a specific meal for election night, for when you're watching the returns come in, like?

GARTEN: I'm working on it. And it's going to be total comfort food.

TAPPER: Comfort food.

GARTEN: I think it gets breakfast for dinner.

TAPPER: Yes.

GARTEN: That's what I think.

TAPPER: So like pancakes, like?

GARTEN: I -- I was thinking waffles and like really good, thick cut bacon, and I mean things like that that just make people feel really good.

TAPPER: I have to tell you, I don't think we're going to know the winner that night. So you might want to prepare, like a week's worth of food.

GARTEN: I can do that.

TAPPER: The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garden, is here. It's such a -- it's such a treat. Thank you so much for being here.

GARTEN: It's so nice to be here. Thank you Jake.

TAPPER: Really appreciate it. Congratulations again on the book.

GARTEN: Thank you.

TAPPER: Talk about timing, as Hurricane Milton ripped through Florida early Thursday morning, a woman in Polk County, just outside Orlando, went into labor. The ambulance was not able to get to her, but thankfully, a local sheriff's office sent deputies who got her to the hospital in time to give birth to baby Jade. What a journey for everyone involved. Welcome to the world little Jade.

Coming up Sunday on State of the Union, Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Republican Congressman Byron Donalds of Florida, plus longtime Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, that's Sunday morning at 9:00 Eastern and again at noon, only here on CNN.

[18:00:11]

If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcasts. The news continues on CNN. Alex Marquardt in the Situation Room. I'll see you Monday.