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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Harris and Trump Campaign in the Battleground States; Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) is Interviewed by Jake Tapper; President Biden Cast His Early Vote; CNN Coverage of the 2024 Election and What to Expect. Giuliani Ordered To Turn Over NY Apartment, Possessions; Michigan Race Could Be Key To Control Of U.S. Senate; Health Officials Clear McDonald's Quarter Pounder Beef Patties. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired October 28, 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]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper. We are just over one week until Election Day when the polls close and both Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump are fighting for every last vote in the key battleground states.
Moments ago, we just saw Donald Trump speaking at a religious event in Powder Springs, Georgia outside Atlanta. He got another event in the Peach State tonight. You'll remember Trump barely lost Georgia in 2020 and of course was later captured on a recording pressuring state officials to illegally overturn Biden's victory.
Across the country, we expect to see Vice President Harris in just a few minutes in Saginaw, Michigan, about 90 minutes northwest of Detroit. This is one of three events the Vice President is holding in Michigan today, one of the blue wall states that sent Biden to the White House and may be crucial for Harris' victory as the Harris campaign tries to turn out the vote in the Great Lake State.
There have already been more than 1.7 million pre-election ballots cast there so far. CNN's Eva McKend is in Ann Arbor, Michigan where Vice President Harris is moments away from holding her second of three campaign events in the state. And Eva, today Harris is focusing on what voters say is their number one issue, the economy.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake, what we are seeing from the vice president is a big manufacturing push. She was in Saginaw at a semiconductor facility visiting with workers on the assembly line talking about what she characterizes as wins of the Biden-Harris administration as it relates to the CHIPS Act, which they argued fortified those types of manufacturing jobs. And this is also included in her policy vision.
The opportunity economy includes strengthening American apprenticeship programs as well as tax credits for American manufacturers. Now she's in Macomb County and in Macomb she will visit a labor union training facility. And listen, this is what Democrats in some corners say they want to see. They want her to close in on this type of argument, an affirmative case for why she wants to be president. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I believe that as we think of industries of the future and the future of America's workforce, we need to get in front of this idea that the only high skilled jobs require a college degree. It's just not true. And in fact, when I become President of the United States, one of the things that I plan on doing immediately, people ask me, what are you doing on day one? One of the things immediately is to reassess federal jobs, and I've already started looking at it, to look at which ones don't require a college degree because here's the thing, that's not the only qualification for a qualified worker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: And after Macomb County she'll head here for a big rally in Ann Arbor. You know they're calling this, Jake, When We Vote We Win. It's a concert series. Maggie Rogers will perform. And then we'll have a rare opportunity to see the vice president on stage with her running mate. They will appear jointly this evening. Jake?
TAPPER: Earlier today on her way to Michigan, Vice President Harris responded to the rally that former President Donald Trump held at Madison Square Garden last night. What did she have to say?
MCKEND: Yeah, Jake, I think that you were talking about comments that she made earlier today as it pertained to the former president's Madison Square Garden rally over the weekend. Take a listen to what she had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: My opponent spends full time talking about just kind of diminishing who we are as America and talking down at people, talking about, I don't know, that we're the garbage can of the world. We're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: And so you see the vice president also wants to make this character driven argument really show a contrast between her and the former president. It's just that the challenge for her is that the issues that resonate with voters more are not that, not talking about Trump, but instead a lot of what we see from her today, talking about the economy. Jake?
TAPPER: All right, Eva McKend in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Thanks so much. Here now, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, Democrat from Michigan and supporter of Vice President Harris. So Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. So you were one of the Democrats sounding the alarm eight years ago about Hillary Clinton's chances in Michigan. Back in 2016, you were of course proven correct. Are you as concerned today about Vice President Harris's chances in Michigan?
REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): So I'm going to answer that differently. I don't believe either candidate has won Michigan. But in 2016, nobody believed me.
[17:04:55]
There is an acknowledgement by both campaigns how tight this presidential race is nationally, and we are one of the competitive states. I really do believe at this point, we don't know who's going to win Michigan, and it's going to be about voter turnout. And we are fighting for every vote right now and having everybody know their vote matters.
TAPPER: So a little hot mic moment in Michigan over the weekend. Vice President Harris was campaigning with your governor, Gretchen Whitmer. They were getting beers at a restaurant in Kalamazoo and they were caught on a mic. Let's listen in and if you don't understand what they're saying, I will tell you exactly what they said after we listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRETCHEN WHITMER, GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: I've been bugging your whole team. I'm like, okay, you gotta do this, this and this.
HARRIS: So, what I heard is we need to move more ground among men.
WHITMER: Yeah.
HARRIS: Oh, we have microphones listening to everything. I didn't realize that. Okay.
WHITMER: You'll bleep my f-words?
HARRIS: We just told all the family secrets, shit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So that was actually pretty clear, but in case you couldn't hear it, Governor Whitmer says, I've been bugging your whole team. I'm like, okay, you got to do this, this and this. Harris responds. So what I hear is we need to move more ground among men. Then they realized that they're being recorded. Is that right? I mean, is there a real problem with men in Michigan?
DINGELL: So I would tell you it's two places and she's doing exactly what she needs to do today. She's got to talk to the union workers. She's got to get in those union halls. But I'll tell you something, she's doing better than Hillary did in 2016 because she knows that they need to see the real Kamala Harris. That's what I want them to see.
And we've got to do the comparison between the two candidates. And there has been an issue with young African-American males. But I think a lot of people are talking to people, talking to them, telling them the truth and got to motivate them to turn out. This is a turn out election.
TAPPER: So in 2020 Biden beat Trump in Michigan by 154,188 votes, but who's counting? This year in Michigan's Democratic presidential primary, more than 100,000 voters protested Joe Biden by backing uncommitted. We think most of those were probably a protest of the Biden administration supporting Israel in its war on Gaza.
On Saturday at a rally in Michigan, former President Trump invited several Muslim leaders in Michigan on stage with him, highlighting how pivotal the Arab-American and Muslim-American vote could be in Michigan. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Muslim and Arab voters in Michigan and you know they're going to be the -- they could turn the election one way or the other.
IMAM BELAL ALZUHAIRI, ISLAMIC CENTER OF DETROIT: We as Muslims stand with President Trump because he promises peace. He promises peace not war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: What's your reaction to that?
DINGELL: Okay, so I want to say every vote matters. So no matter who you are, where you are, and your vote matters, and that this community is clearly a community that's hurting. One, the mayor that endorsed him, Bill Bazzi, a friend, but a Republican. Two, the picture that was shown with all the imams, they were invited to a meeting. They've asked both campaigns for meetings. She's met with imams as well. And when they realized that they were a photo op, they walked out. One, imam went on stage.
Look, people, they're going to be some -- they are going to vote for Donald Trump. There are going to be some that don't vote or vote for Jill Stein. And there are many that are going to vote for Kamala Harris. They're not monolithic like no group is. But they're hurting. We need to understand the Jewish community, the Arab-American community, they're all hurting.
And in many ways, the Mideast war has come to the ground on Michigan. But everybody's vote matters right now. And the Arab-American community needs to be reminded and cannot forget. He wants to ban Muslims. He wants to deport Muslims and he wants to start internment camps. And that's what we are busy talking to every voter. He's telling you what he's going to do. Believe him.
TAPPER: Internment camps?
DINGELL: Yes, he has talked internment camps. You know what, Jake? You may have to visit me on one. I get worried enough when he talks about what he's going to do to his political enemies. But he has talked about them in this -- with different groups of people.
TAPPER: Well, I've heard him talking about rounding up undocumented migrants, and obviously for that you would need some sort of camp. But what do you mean internment camps for Muslims and Arabs? DINGELL: He has spoken about that in different audiences. I don't
have the exact citation right here, but I'll find it for you. And he's been very clear. And I've said to the community, wait, I'll never forget when he -- the first -- he kept his promise that he was going to ban Muslims. Do you remember Detroit? The airport was shut down not because there was an organized rally, but because people came from around this state because this community was their friends and they weren't going to see something like that happen. We're so torn apart now in ways I've never seen it.
[17:09:57]
That won't happen again. We've got to find ways to bring people together. He's done a great job of continuing to divide us and I don't want to see. We are the United States of America, not the divided garbage country. I'm proud to be an American. He needs to remember he should be.
TAPPER: Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, good to see you. Thank you so much.
DINGELL: Good to see you.
TAPPER: A Democratic official in a key swing state says there's a secret group of voters backing Kamala Harris' election. Who are these secret voters? That's next.
Plus, just a few months ago, he expected the cast to vote for himself. But today, President Joe Biden went to the polls in Delaware to choose his successor. Hear what he told reporters after voting. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: And we're back with our "2024 Lead." And in just moments, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to speak in crucial battleground Michigan while Donald Trump is preparing for a rally in a different battleground Georgia at the top of the hour. My panel of political experts are back. We were talking earlier about Trump's rally last night in New York City today.
[17:15:00]
Trump's running mate Senator J.D. Sand -- J.D. Vance rather address the backlash to quote "jokes" unquote made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I haven't seen the joke. You know, maybe it's a stupid racist joke, as you said, maybe it's not. I haven't seen it. I'm not gonna comment on the specifics of the joke, but I think that we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America. I'm just -- I'm so over it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: What do you make of that?
JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's the best spin they can come up with, I guess. But again, what, three weeks ago, J.D. Vance was appalled and shocked and offended by Governor Gretchen Whitmer doing that weird communion thing with a Dorito.
TAPPER: They say it wasn't actually communion. It was based on a TikTok trend. Yeah.
GOLDBERG: Right, it was another jokey thing --
TAPPER: Yeah.
GOLDBERG: -- that he found great offense with. This is the problem, and this is why a lot of people just hate political fights --
TAPPER: Right.
GOLDBERG: -- is that people get very offended when it's their side in trouble and say lighten up when it's the other side. And it's a nonsense argument. And it was, look, political -- it was just basic political malpractice to have that comedian go do that stuff. They knew who he was. It's like Aesopian, he knew the scorpion's gonna sting. They knew he was gonna do that kind of shtick.
And apparently, they're just a bunch of people somewhere, like in a control room somewhere, plotting messaging, and it's like Beavis and Butthead. And they just giggle at this kind of stuff and they think it works for them.
NAYYERA HAQ, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CABINET AFFAIRS, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Well, there is clearly an audience for it, and I remind people that if you go for the checklist of what makes an authoritarian, 40 percent of Americans like what that is. This is not something that is new or comes from nowhere. Plenty of people who have survived as minorities or even thrived as minorities in the United States are keenly aware where the racism exists.
It's the openness. It's the fact that it's a massive stadium that changes the tenor and tone. And I will say this about comedy. It's also understood that comedians are meant to challenge power and punch up, not down. That's part of what makes this entire situation not funny and just deeply real about the direction our country is going.
GOLDBERG: I just think comedians are supposed to be funny. I don't know --
HAQ: But there's that.
GOLDBERG: -- I don't know about challenging power.
HAQ: And there's that.
TAPPER: But even in -- look, there's obviously a long tradition of edgy insult comedians in the United States. This is not the first one to make racial jokes. I'm not defending them, I'm just saying, but why have him open for a presidential campaign rally eight days before the election?
MARC LOTTER, CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, AMERICA FIRST POLICY INSTITUTE: Well, and that is the question.
TAPPER: Yeah.
LOTTER: I mean, you're eight days out. I think most of the metric show that you're either slightly ahead or you're in a in a dead race tie. This is not the time especially when you have many in some media circles and obviously in opposition that is looking for any --
TAPPER: Sure.
LOTTER: -- kind of opening because the only thing they have is grievance so they have to find it and you just gave it to them with a guy that was -- even if you censored it and even if you took the jokes out, all it takes is one ad lib joke and here we go again.
TAPPER: So, it's no surprise the final days of campaign is going to be spent mostly in these seven states. Trump's in Georgia, Harris is in Michigan. Harris also made several stops in Pennsylvania, specifically in my hometown of Philly on Sunday. This is what she had to say while talking to voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Victory runs through Philly, runs through Pennsylvania. You all have been doing such extraordinary work, and truly the path to victory runs through Philly, and it runs through Pennsylvania, and it runs through all of you.
UNKNOWN: Yes! Woo!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I like the hot mic moment better than that. But do you agree whoever takes Philly -- well, whoever takes Pennsylvania is going to win?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's what everyone says, that Pennsylvania is sort of the big prize, right, for either campaign. And so I think she's very smart to be talking to people in Philly, but clearly that's not the only place that she's going.
But here I think is the important part about what she's doing. She's talking to voters about what they care about. She's talking to voters about economics. She's talking to women voters about reproductive rights. She's talking to them about solving their problems. She's talking to them about her to-do list while Donald Trump has an enemies list.
And I just want to say one thing about the joke. Everyone seems to be focused on the joke and we all know why. We talked about this at the last panel. Incredibly offensive. But it wasn't just that one joke, Jake.
TAPPER: There were a lot of them. Yeah.
CARDONA: There were other speakers in that rally. Didn't seem to be joking to me. They called Hillary Clinton the B-word. They alluded to Kamala Harris like she was a whore. They talked about Latinos as being breeders in a horrifically offensive sexual context. This is what Donald Trump rallies do. This is what their people believe. This is what his allies and his circus talk about.
And I get that they want to tie down their base, but that in no way from a strategic standpoint is going to add to the voters that they need. It's going to alienate women, Latinos, minorities, other people, the people that he needs to add in order to win. That was just something that is gonna shoo them away.
TAPPER: I want to play some sound of President Biden after he cast his vote, he said, for Kamala Harris today. We assume that that is right.
[17:20:00]
LOTTER: Secret ballot, baby.
TAPPER: He's going to Pennsylvania later this week. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Will you be on the trail with the vice president this week, sir?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I've been on the trail. We talk all the time, and they're asking me where they think I should be to help them most. I'm going to be in Pennsylvania, going to head to Scranton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: There is talk about whether or not the Harris campaign is deploying President Biden enough. Obviously, his popularity with the electorate in large is wanting, shall we say. What do you think?
HAQ: Oh, they're probably deploying him as just the right amount that's necessary for places like Scranton, Pennsylvania, since he was --
TAPPER: To his own parish.
HAQ: Right. And since he was deployed out of the broader election cycle, right? And he is continuing the functions of democracy, of being president of the United States, and that has been made very clear that that is his role in the last eight days.
TAPPER: Yeah.
GOLDBERG: Yeah, it reminds me a little bit of that scene in Spinal Tap, you know, where they're talking about how they're not losing audience, it's just getting more selective, right? They're picking places where Biden can do no harm. And I think they're on tender hooks about it.
TAPPER: Boston gig has been canceled. Don't worry, it's not a big college.
GOLDBERG: That's right.
TAPPER: Thanks all. Rudy Giuliani back in court today as a judge decides just how many of his many valuables, he must turn over to the two election workers the court ruled he defamed. So what happens to his multi-million dollar condo in Florida? What about those World Series rings that he worked so hard to earn? CNN's team was in the courtroom, has the new details. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:25:00]
TAPPER: We're back with our "2024 Lead." A week from tomorrow CNN will be in special coverage for election night, and there are a few things that you should be prepared for. It is, first of all, possible that there will be states we might not be able to call that night. That's because for many states it takes time for them to tabulate all the ballots and this has been historically at least according to polls a close race.
It is also possible that former president Donald Trump will declare victory early before many crucial battleground state ballots have been even counted. We believe that that's possible because he did it four years ago. That was in fact a plan. It wasn't off the cuff. Remember former Trump aide Steve Bannon discussed this plot just three days before Election Day in 2020 as "Mother Jones" magazine later reported.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE CHIEF STRATEGIST: And what Trump's going to do is just declare victory, right? He's going to declare victory. But that doesn't mean he's the winner. He's just going to say he's the winner.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TAPPER: And Trump did exactly that at about 2:30 Wednesday morning on November 4th before the race was called, before ballot counts were even finished in critical battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan. Trump premature -- prematurely claimed that he won the election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We were winning everything and all of a sudden it was just called off. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. So, we'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop. (END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Voting, of course, had stopped. The counting was still going on, but the voting had stopped and Donald Trump had not won. These are all the projections that came after 5:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 4th. At 12:05 the next day, Maine was called for Biden. At 1:50 p.m. the next day, Wednesday, Wisconsin was called for Biden. At 4:15 p.m. Wednesday, Michigan was called for Biden.
But still there was no clear winner because we did not know who won Arizona or Georgia or North Carolina or Nevada or Pennsylvania. It wasn't until Saturday, November 7th, four days after Election Day at 11:24 in the morning East Coast time, that Pennsylvania was finally called for Biden and that delivered him the 270 electoral votes needed to be president. And there were still five more projections to be made in several swing states, at least one of which Trump won.
Hours after the presidency was called on November 7th, Nevada was called for Biden by a very narrow margin, more than a week after Election Day, Alaska was called on November 11th. Arizona was called for Biden on November 12th. On November 13th, Georgia was called for Biden. North Carolina was called for Trump during this same time frame.
The Stop the Steal Movement that had been pushed by Trump's allies such as Roger Stone and Steve Bannon really took off among many of Trump's supporters. They protested at state capitals and had voting centers demanding that there be a recount. They believed a lot of lies that the election had been stolen from Trump. And as we know, the Stop the Steal Movement led to one of the darkest days in American history, the U.S. Capitol insurrection on January 6th, 2021.
Fast forward to this election cycle. Former President Trump says he's only going to accept the election results of its, quote, fair and legal. And he's continuing to cast doubt about the election results, including just yesterday at that rally in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We must defeat Kamala Harris and stop her radical left agenda with a landslide that is too big to rig. We have been fighting against the most sinister and corrupt forces on earth. With your vote in this election, you could show them once and for all that this nation does not belong to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: But one week from tomorrow, I just want you all to be prepared. It could be a long election night that lasts for a week. We could know that night and it could go for Trump. It could go for Harris. I have no idea how it's going to turn out. That depends on the actual votes and we're going to cover the election no matter who wins whenever we project, we project and then we will bring that to you.
[17:30:00] But it's not based on any candidate and it's not based on any artificial timetable. Turning now to one of the people involved in many of Trump's plans in 2020. Will disgraced former Trump attorney, Rudy Giuliani, have to part with his Palm Beach condo and World Series rings? That's what a New York judge is considering today in a hearing over how two Georgia election workers that Giuliani defamed, according to a court, will be compensated. Giuliani repeatedly accused Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of election fraud in 2020. They had not committed election fraud. It was all a lie. The two women say they received death threats as a result of those lies.
Giuliani has already been ordered to hand over by tomorrow his $6 million New York City apartment, about $2 million allegedly owed to him by the campaign of Donald Trump, a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey and 26 watches, among other items. CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins us right now with CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. So, Katelyn, you were in court for today's hearing. What happened?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Jake, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, they are still chasing Giuliani for more of what he's worth. They want all of the about $10 million they think he has in his possession. They're already getting quite a chunk of it. But that Palm Beach condo is at issue. That was primarily what was discussed in court. It's worth about $3.5 million.
Giuliani is currently living there. He says it's his primary residence. They say it may be a vacation home. It certainly looks like he didn't stay there very much. And even when he was just in bankruptcy a couple months ago, he was claiming New York was his primary residence. And so there is a question of whether he's going to be able to keep control of that Palm Beach condo as his sole home.
Even if he's staying in other places right now, he can't do a lot with it except stay there. The judge is going to work that out in the next couple of weeks. And then the other question, Jake, what about those World Series rings? Giuliani has four, three from the 90s, these are Yankees championship rings, and then one from 2000. He kept wearing the 2000 ring that was from the Subway Series. The other three he gave to his son, Andrew Giuliani, or so they say in court. That is all going to be determined by the judge as well.
What was discussed, though, in court was the answers that Giuliani needs to give, where his tax returns showing he gave this as a gift, the rings. And then the Palm Beach condo, when did he actually start living there? All of that still totally inconclusive. Jake?
TAPPER: Elie, can Giuliani appeal this?
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, he's certainly going to try, Jake, but I give him next to zero chance of success. Now, first of all, Giuliani is already in the process of appealing the judgment against him and the verdict for $148 million. But if you remember, Giuliani essentially conceded that he was liable. He said, I do not contest the fact that my words were defamatory. And then the verdict came down for the amount of $148 million. So he doesn't have much to appeal there in terms of the verdict itself. Now, separately, his lawyers have said he's going to try to stop the district court judge from doing exactly what he was doing in court that Katelyn just described, which is seizing certain assets and turning them over to the plaintiffs in this case. The problem, though, is the district court already rejected that motion.
This kind of thing, how you pay off a debt, is uniquely within the province and the discretion of a trial court judge. So I don't think Rudy is going to have much of a leg to stand on here.
TAPPER: Elie, he's also at least some folks think that he's tried to work around this judgment by giving as a gift all this stuff to his son, Andrew?
HONIG: Yes. Remember the bankruptcy judge, Rudy's been thrown out of bankruptcy court. But the bankruptcy judge found that Rudy was playing all sorts of games with his assets. There is a legal doctrine called fraudulent transfer that says basically, if a person is trying to get rid of their assets to avoid paying a judgment, then that transfer is no good and it goes back to the plaintiffs. And here these transfers are happening after Rudy's already bound -- found liable. So it's hard to think of a clearer instance of a fraudulent transfer than what we have right here.
TAPPER: So, Katelyn, what's next for Rudy Giuliani?
POLANTZ: Well, he's going to be deposed. His son is likely to be deposed. They have a lot more information they have to turn over that Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss say they just aren't getting. And then his -- the lawyers for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, they say they are making preparations to take his stuff, including the condo uptown in Manhattan. The deadline is tomorrow for that all to be turned over to Giuliani even while the Palm Beach condo, the World Series rings are in court being litigated over. There's a lot of other information or property that Giuliani has to give to these women very, very soon.
TAPPER: I wonder how much they want for that DiMaggio jer -- jersey, that seems pretty sweet. Katelyn and Elie, thanks to both you. Appreciate it.
HONIG: Thanks Jake.
[17:34:40]
It's not just the White House on the ballot, of course, control of both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senator up for grabs. We're breaking down some of the key races you should be keeping an eye on. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In our 2024 Lead, while the race for the White House dominates the headlines, there is also fierce battle for control of the U.S. Senate. And CNN's Manu Raju is here to highlight some of the races to watch. Manu, Vice President Harris is moments away from speaking in Michigan, which is not only a critical battleground for the presidential race, there's a very tight Senate race.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it. That's Elissa Slotkin, the Democratic congresswoman against the former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers in a race that really is within the margin of error that could very well be driven by the top of the ticket. We have seen that both candidates align themselves with the top of their ticket, including Rogers, who in the aftermath of Trump's loss in 2020, became really a sharp critic of Trump, especially in the aftermath of the January 6th, 2021 attack.
He has now shifted. He's now aligned with Trump. He won Trump's endorsement in the primary and is stumping with him across the state right now. So just a couple weeks ago, I caught up with Rogers in Michigan and I asked him about his evolution on the former president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: The criticism you'd get is that you evolved on Trump for political expediencies to align yourself because you need to win this state.
[17:40:04]
MIKE ROGERS (R-MI), SENATE CANDIDATE: I think that's nonsense. Look at the issues. I wouldn't line up with Kamala Harris on anything, nothing. Issues change. Does she agree with everything with her party? Maybe she does. She certainly voted that way. She voted 100 percent with the Biden-Harris agenda.
REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI), SENATE CANDIDATE: Mike Rogers can't disagree with Donald Trump. In fact, he used to be a critic of Donald Trump. Everyone who used to be thoughtful and independent just either has to get with Trump and salute and do anything he says or they can't be in politics. And it's sad to see. It's like watching the last buffalo die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, this campaign is really focused on some issues that we've seen in other races across the country, abortion, immigration. But there are also Michigan specific issues, including Elissa Slotkin's votes on dealing with electric vehicles, that's something that she's had to go up on response ads on T.V. to defend herself against an onslaught of Republican attacks. And also the Gaza war, something that really frays the Democratic coalition in particular in a state with the really the biggest Arab population of any of the battleground states. And that's something that both Harris and Slotkin will have to contend with come November. Jake?
TAPPER: Yes. Although I think Slotkin in the Democratic primary won Dearborn quite handily, if memory serves. What are a few other key Senate races what -- we -- we should be keeping an eye on?
RAJU: Yes. Democrats really have a tough map ahead of them to keep the United States Senate because they are defending red states and purple states across the country. Look at Montana and Ohio, two states that Donald Trump won easily and very likely is going to win easily once again in November. Two Democratic incumbents there need to hang on, Jon Tester in Montana, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, but also in Michigan and Wisconsin.
And not just Michigan, Wisconsin also Tammy Baldwin, the Democratic senator there, in a difficult race in a neck and neck race against Republican businessman Eric Hovde. And Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick against the -- who's the Republican against the incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey. But there are other states too, Jake, that Democrats are spending money to try to hold onto their seats, including in Nevada, including in Maryland. Very few pickup opportunities.
Texas is a difficult state for them to pick up to defeat Ted Cruz. There is a potential of an independent candidate in Nebraska, Dan Osborn, potentially could pull off an upset against Republican Deb Fischer. There's one poll that has them neck and neck out earlier today, but that is still seen as quite a reach to knock Fischer out -- out of her seat. So Democrats really, Jake, have to run the table in order to simply keep the Senate at 50-50 over the next two years.
TAPPER: Right. You didn't even bring up West Virginia, which is going to go from independent former Democrat Joe Manchin almost for sure to the Republican. Manu Raju, thanks so much.
Let's bring back our panel talk about the races going on. Nayyera, I mean what -- so Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Jon Tester in Montana, those are tough races because those are such red states. But in the battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, what we have here are the Democratic incumbent Senators Baldwin and Casey. Both of them are running ads talking about how they were able to work with the Trump White House. That doesn't seem like a good sign for Kamala Harris in those states. Or do you disagree?
NAYYERA HAQ, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CABINET AFFAIRS, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Well, I have seen split ticket voters even in Maryland where you see the sign saying Harris-Walz because those families can't stand Trump. But then they'll vote for Larry Hogan --
TAPPER: Larry Hogan, sure.
HAQ: -- who is the, right, former beloved governor now running for Senate. So split ticket voting is going to be a challenge. This is in the down ballot. I will say though that the -- what you're seeing those Democrats do is trying to thread the needle between what the base will understand about national issues like abortion that are bringing out people in record numbers, even issues like climate change for younger voters. That's what's bringing them out for Democrats writ large.
And so how do you build a coalition when you are not able to bring out the base but also need to try to find some of these swing voters? It's much harder in the states than it is nationally.
TAPPER: And Democratic Senate candidate, Elissa Slotkin, of -- of Michigan expressed her optimism about this election. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SLOTKIN: I think we have going on right now in the state of Michigan what I call the secret women's vote. We have women in red areas who are not telling their husbands how they vote, who are not talking about with their friends and family, but are who are going to vote for Democratic ticket.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, I would make fun of any secret vote except that there has been in every -- in every state since Roe v. Wade was overturned any time that the issue of abortion rights has been on the ballot, including in places like Montana, like Ohio, there has been a groundswell of support for the pro-abortion rights side.
MARC LOTTER, CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, AMERICA FIRST POLICY INSTITUTE: Yes, it's going to be very interesting to see if this continues on because you've seen a lot of states who have even gone backwards in terms of more to a leftward position on abortion on these referendums.
TAPPER: Yes, yes.
LOTTER: But is it going to translate obviously at these congressional races and things like that. It's -- it's interesting. After years of talking about the hidden Trump vote, and now it's shifted to the left, and now it's a hidden women's vote. So it will be interested to see if it comes out. I still think that, yes, it -- it matters for a certain demographic or certain people on both sides.
[17:45:17]
TAPPER: Yes.
LOTTER: They're very pro-life and they're very --
TAPPER: Sure.
LOTTER: -- pro -- pro-abortion voices. But I do think there's a lot in the middle that are voting on other issues.
TAPPER: Back to Marc's favorite topic, the Madison Square Garden rally and the joke. Now, CNN has now learned from a Trump campaign adviser that they did flag and say no way to one joke by the comedian in which he was allegedly going to call Vice President Kamala Harris the C word, not communist, but the other C word. The campaign said it was, quote, in poor taste and they nixed it from the set. I don't understand. So they had a say over the set or they didn't have a say over the set?
HAQ: That's a really not helpful clarification at this point. You're like, oh, so that was the one that was most offensive to you. But by all --
TAPPER: The Puerto Rico jokes were OK? HAQ: Right. And, you know, I guess the black jokes, we've all heard those are stereotypical jokes from forever.
LOTTER: That joke wasn't in the prompter and it wasn't in.
TAPPER: No, no. They -- they are -- they -- to be clear, they are saying that the offensive jokes were all adlibbed or not in the prompter, but they are saying that they did nixed this one joke.
HAQ: Once you're at that point, once you're at that point, you've kind of lost --
TAPPER: Well, there is that at Marc's point --
HAQ: -- the conversation, right. Not only explaining the joke, you're explaining what your big rally was all about. That ultimately everything that was said on that stage was met with lots of applause and laughter. So there's clearly an audience for what many people do considered to be violent and offensive.
TAPPER: Well, you were there. Did people like those jokes? I don't know.
LOTTER: There was -- there were a few -- there were no gasps, but there were a few awkward pauses. Again, this was very early in the program, probably three or four hours before the president went on.
TAPPER: Right.
LOTTER: Or the former president. So the -- the crowd was still filing in and there was -- there was obviously people that were, you know, found some of it funny. There were some funny moments. But, you know, there was a couple of like double takes, like, you know, that kind of thing, that kind of moment. Again, it reminds me -- it reminds me of a convention where like on both sides, every word that comes off of that -- of -- of that podium, you got to -- is reviewed.
TAPPER: We got to make sure. I mean --
LOTTER: And then but --
TAPPER: Yes.
LOTTER: -- this one was obviously adlibbed.
TAPPER: Let me say, I don't think that you would have laughed at those jokes. I'm sure you didn't laugh at the jokes and I'm sure your former boss, Vice President Mike Pence would not have laughed at those jokes. But that's -- it's just not what you want in eight days before an election.
HAQ: Again, eight days before an election. All I can think of is like you're really doubling down on some strategy of making sure you get out the people who are already really, really with you. And often that's what people do. And so I guess it's the -- you've just given up on the idea of any persuasion or it's just that -- that number, while it exists and it's potent in American politics, in American history, that I -- those -- those types of ideas, it's not -- it's not enough to win.
TAPPER: All right, thanks to our panel.
New details in the E. coli -- E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's. What the company now says is not to blame for the illnesses. Stay with us.
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[17:52:06]
TAPPER: Health Lead now, the quarter pounder is coming back to McDonald's restaurants this week after the chain pulled the burger from the menu in at least 900 McDonald's locations. A new report released just moments ago from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service says the beef is not the probable source of the E. coli outbreak. Joining us now, CNN's Meg Tirrell. So, Meg, what was the cause of the outbreak?
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, they are still determining the official cause of the outbreak. But they're really seeming to home in on these fresh slivered onions that McDonald's uses on the quarter pounder. And that statement just out from the Department of Agriculture echoes what we heard from McDonald's late yesterday where it said it had ruled out the beef patties. Essentially, they had looked at testing from the Colorado Department of Agriculture, which said it found no traces of E. coli in beef patties.
And so it's asking their suppliers to provide new supplies of beef patties. And they're going to be bringing the quarter pounder back into all of those affected restaurants over the course of this week. But they will not have the fresh slivered onions on them as this investigation continues into those.
McDonald's says, quote, the issue appears to be contained to a particular ingredient and geography. And they say they're very confident that any contaminated product related to this outbreak has been removed from the supply chain and is out of all McDonald's restaurants. Jake, this has stretched to about 75 cases now, 22 hospitalizations and one death. So McDonald's is trying to reassure folks that their food is now safe to eat, including the returning quarter pounders. Jake?
TAPPER: All right, Meg Tirrell, thank you so much.
[17:53:34]
The size and scope of the backlash that the Washington Post is facing over a single but very controversial decision is next.
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TAPPER: In our Pop Culture/Media Lead, brand new reporting in the wake of the "Washington Post" editorial board announcing that it would not endorse either Harris or Trump in the presidential race. NPR's David Folkenflik is breaking the story. David, tell us what you learned.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, NPR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's extraordinary. In the three days since the first wrote about the decision by owner, Jeff Bezos, to block a planned endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris by the "Post's" editorial board. You've seen a series of resignations, two columnists resign, two editorial writers resign.
But -- and you've also seen this sort of revulsion or outcry on social media. Well, it turns out to be real that over 200,000 people have canceled subscriptions to the "Washington Post" in just three days. And that figure is rising, I'm told. You know, that reflects about 8 percent of the posts call it 2.5 million subscribers if you combine digital and print subscriptions. And it's an astonishing reaction.
You know, usually you see a protest like this rise to the level of a few hundred or at times in a moment of great outcry to a few thousand. This is, of course, you know, 100 times greater. And it's something that really will batter that newsroom and its morale after a series of deflating moves, not least of which because that newsroom has been involved in cov -- covering so many instances of wrongdoing and alleged illegalities by former President Trump and his circle of associates.
But also that editorial page, which is run separately, has made such a clarion call of the idea that Trump is himself a threat to the American democratic experiment. And yet here they are just days before this razor's edge election, saying we're not going to make an endorsement at all.
TAPPER: And -- and didn't somebody -- didn't some of the company -- a co -- a company connected to Bezos, not a "Washington Post" company, but a company connected to Bezos meet with Donald Trump like right after that decision?
FOLKENFLIK: That's right. So Blue Origin is his space company that has a $3.4 billion contract with NASA. They met, I -- I believe, in Texas just a few hours after this was revealed, after NPR revealed it and then the "Post" confirmed it in a -- in a published article by the publisher and CEO, Will Lewis. Let's not forget Bezos has other business interests as well, with major business before the federal government, not least, for example, cloud computing services, which Amazon alleged in a lawsuit that Trump had essentially intervened to block a $10 billion contract. So Bezos has interest there that some people are saying may have influenced his decisions.
[18:00:12]
TAPPER: Wow, 200,000 cancellations is huge. David Folkenflik with NPR, thank you so much for bringing us that breaking news.
The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.
