Return to Transcripts main page
The Lead with Jake Tapper
Final Stretch of the Harris and Trump Campaigns in the Battleground States; Wild Remarks During the Close Out of the 2024 Campaign; Judge Allows Musk's $1 million Giveaway; Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) is Interviewed by Jake Tapper. Harris & Trump Barnstorm Swing States In Final Stretch; Officials Ramp Up Security To Secure The Vote Count; RFK Jr.: Trump Admin Would Advise Fluoride Be Removed From The Nation's Water Supply. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired November 04, 2024 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:55:00]
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- Colin Allred were to defeat Ted Cruz in that red state. So, just so many opportunities for Republicans to simply pick up one seat if Donald Trump wins, two seats if Kamala Harris wins. And they have those red states that Democrats are defending, which means its so difficult for them to keep control of the chamber, Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right Manu and Lauren, thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it. In this final day of 2024 campaigning, it's all about battleground Pennsylvania. Kamala Harris just wrapped up her rally in Allentown, and Donald Trump, he just walked off the stage in Reading, Pennsylvania. Both candidates both now headed to Pittsburgh. The advice Trump advisors are giving him as this race winds down, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:59:58]
TAPPER: Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper and we're almost there, folks. It is election eve in America. At this time tomorrow, we will be just one hour away from the very first polls closing in the 2024 election. Right now you're listening, of course, to the sweet, sweet CNN election jam.
It took a lot for us to get here in a truly unprecedented election and by unprecedented, I mean we saw Donald Trump criminally convicted in New York. A stunning presidential debate. A sitting president dropping out of the race. The first black woman is a major party nominee. Two failed assassination attempts. Thank God they failed. A Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity. Brat summer, need I remind you. A campaign stop at McDonald's where the candidate worked there. A lot of Elon Musk. Billions of dollars in campaign ads. Hundreds of rallies. Plenty of endorsements and a few notable non-endorsements.
And that's just the last six months. But now we're here in the final day of campaigning and that means both Harris and Trump are spending all day on the trail. Let's get straight to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez covering the Harris campaign in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. CNN's Kristen Holmes covering the Trump campaign in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he will hold his final event this evening. Priscilla, to you first, how does the Harris campaign feel about their chances in Pennsylvania, which has been razor thin this whole time?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they see it that way, Jake, but the advisors that I've spoken with over the course of the day tell me momentum is on their side and they're projecting confidence about the multiple pathways that they have to 270 electoral votes. But there is no doubt that Pennsylvania is crucial to those pathways. And the vice president in her final hours on the campaign trail has been projecting confidence, but also saying or not saying, former President Donald Trump's name, instead trying to mobilize voters by outlining her own vision.
Now, in talking to campaign officials about why they chose the different stops today, one official telling me, look, they want to cover the gamut of voters that Pennsylvania covers. That includes, for example, Latino voters, those voters in the rural areas, and also those in the cities and suburbs. And just moments ago, we heard from the vice president in Allentown, where she reiterated her support for Puerto Rico, notably in an area with a sizable portion of Puerto Rican voters. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I stand here proud of my long-standing commitment to Puerto Rico and her people and I will be a president for all Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALVAREZ: Now, the vice president there of course capitalizing on the momentum the campaign did see after those comments made after President Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally where a comedian assailed Puerto Rico. Now, after that the vice president's coming here to Pittsburgh before concluding her day in Philadelphia. Now, what is also happening behind the scenes here is an intensive ground game. Campaign officials telling me that they're spending the day knocking on doors and they're really banking on this infrastructure that they built out over the last year to help them mobilize voters.
Another way that the campaign will be mobilizing voters, Jake, is with the vice president tomorrow joining radio interviews as she awaits to go to her election night event tomorrow in Washington, D.C. Jake?
TAPPER: All right, Priscilla. Kristen, what is the Trump campaign watching in terms of their path to 270 electoral votes?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, as we know, obviously the path to 270 falls through a number of swing states. Many of them are states that Donald Trump lost in 2020 but had one in 2016. And when they look at those states, we're talking about Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, they are noting a couple of things that make them cautiously optimistic. The two (ph) big things according to a senior advisor I just spoke to, are early voting numbers and voting registration.
One, early voting. We know that Republicans generally, and this is traditional, this is in the past, show up on Election Day. However, what we have seen is a spike in early voting when it comes to Republicans. That gives hope to the campaign that they'll also see a big surge on Election Day. Obviously, that's a big question mark. Are these people who would have originally voted on Election Day and decided to vote early? Or are these additional voters that they get to have?
The second is voter registration. They have seen a spike in voter registration among Republicans. The other question there is this. Charlie Kirk goes into a place like Penn State, registers 10,000 people to vote. They all register as Republican. The question is, do those people actually show up on Tuesday? That's a big question mark. The big thing to keep in mind here is that a lot of their ground game has been outsourced with a big focus on low and mid-propensity voters. This is a very risky strategy for two reasons.
One, if you're talking about low propensity voters, there is a reason that campaigns generally do not spend a lot of time and resources targeting just these low propensity voters because they don't actually show up to vote.
[17:04:58]
However, talking to these people, the different groups that are on the ground, they say they are already seeing a lot of mid and low propensity voters showing up to the polls for early voting. Again, none of this is going to be clear if this strategy actually works until election day or possibly afterwards, Jakey.
TAPPER: All right, Kristen Holmes in Grand Rapids, battleground, Michigan, and Priscilla Alvarez in Pittsburgh, battleground, Pennsylvania. Thanks to both of you.
This 2024 campaign has been a wild ride full of wild remarks. And these closing days have been no exception. Fresh off his garbage comment debacle, President Joe Biden, during a final campaign stop for his vice president, decided to unleash one last headline grabbing gaffe. He first said Trump and Republicans wanted to give tax cuts to the wealthy. Then he told the crowd, it might be tempting to think of Trump supporters as macho, and, well, that's when things got a little uncomfortable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'll tell you what, man. When I was in Scranton, I used to have a little trouble going down the plot once in a while, from Green Ridge. But I'm serious, these are the kind of guys you like to smack in the ass.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Okay, smack in the ass. It is likely a phrase the Harris campaign would have preferred him to have not used illustrating perhaps why Biden's campaign appearances have been kept to a minimum ever since he himself ceased to be the Democratic presidential nominee. That's a key differentiator here, of course. Biden continues to say wild stuff, but he is no longer running for president.
Donald Trump is, though, and did a rally yesterday. Former president did something he rarely does and expressed regret only. His regret was about vacating the White House after he lost the 2020 election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left. I shouldn't have left. I mean honestly, because we did so -- we did so well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So, Mr. Trump apparently now wishes he had just claimed squatters' rights in the executive mansion. This after he actually made an attempt to retain power despite the deadly January 6, 2021 capital hacks spurred -- attacks spurred in part by his election lies, peaceful transfer of power began. Now Mr. Trump resorting to more baseless election lies in hopes that it will help him get him back into the White House, presumably. At the same time, he has been escalating violent sounding rhetoric.
In the wake of two assassination attempts on his own life, thankfully unsuccessful, Trump suggested that he wouldn't mind a gunman trying to get to him if they were shooting through one particular group of people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I have this piece of glass here. But all we have really over here is the fake news, right? And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don't mind that so much, because I don't mind. I don't mind that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung quickly tried to clean up that statement. He said, quote, "The president's statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the media being harmed. Trump was stating that the media was in danger and that they were protecting him and therefore were in a great danger himself and should have had a glass protective shield. Also, there can be no other interpretation of what was said," unquote. I don't know about that, Steven.
There's another possible interpretation, Trump, whether joking or not, maybe was suggesting that he would be okay with members of the free press being shot, being his human shields. Maybe that's a different interpretation. Let's discuss with David Urban and Van Jones. David, of all things Donald Trump could be saying, why? Why is he closing like this? I know that wouldn't be how you would advise him to be closing. DAVID URBAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: When do I get an easy segment, Jake Tapper? When do I get an easy one, right? So listen, obviously that's not the way you want to close. You want to close, you want to stand up there and say, listen, people of Pennsylvania, people of Lititz, Lancaster County, are you better off today than you were four years ago? No, we are not. That's what you want to hear. That's the kind of chant you want to hear.
You should say, you know, hey, Bob Casey, I'm so unpopular. Why are you still running commercials with me in it the day before the election? You know, those are the kind of things you want to highlight. She broke it. I'm going to fix it. That's what you want to talk about. Yeah, I don't want to be on here talking about having to make up, you know. Steven Chung couldn't even spin that one, right?
TAPPER: No. That was --
URBAN: Listen, it's regrettable. He shouldn't have said it. Stick to the message. The ads are great. The messaging is clear. Are you better off than you were four years ago? No. We're going to make things better. Put me back in power. That's what you should be talking about.
TAPPER: Four years ago we were in the throes of --
URBAN: No, I know, throes of the pandemic --
TAPPER: But five years ago maybe.
URBAN: By the way, I don't mind. I like the Biden. At least Biden's authentic, right? Joe Biden's authentic who he is, right? Like I didn't mind it.
[17:10:00]
TAPPER: I turned it -- well I'm sure you didn't mind it. Van, how do you see these two closing because honestly like I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow or when all the votes are counted et cetera, but Trump doesn't sound like he's closing strong. This is the take.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I don't know what Trump is doing. If he decided, I want to lose this election, I'm going to do everything I can to lose it. He couldn't go on with better stuff to say. He might be in some kind of nightmare. He's trying to let us know he doesn't want the job. But I'd rather talk about Kamala Harris.
And, you know, the closing that she's doing, I think, is positive for the country. Everybody says be negative at the end, close strong. Negative works better than positive. She's choosing to be positive. I think that that's important. But what we're discovering at the grassroots level is that there are some arguments against Trump that haven't yet been made.
If you're trying to get young black guys in the streets of Philadelphia to vote, tell them that Donald Trump is going to make every cop do stop and frisk, which he's committed to do, wants complete immunity and amnesty for every cop no matter what they do, and that he's going to federalize petty street crime. The Trump crackdown, that argument is a tough argument against Trump.
She's not making it, but grassroots people are making it. There are arguments that can be made to move Jewish voters that are tough arguments on Trump for having picked J.D. Vance, who actually voted against aid for Israel. Those arguments are resonating in the Philly suburbs. These are tough arguments against Trump that the grassroots is making even though Kamala Harris has decided to be above it all. But door to door, there are still arguments against Trump that have to be made.
TAPPER: So David, just because you're an expert on Pennsylvania, give me your top two counties that you're going to be keeping an eye on tomorrow just to see what the margins are. What are you really going to be looking at?
URBAN: Jake, you know, look, Philadelphia County has got to be one of the top you look at, right? Because that's where this race is going to be won or lost in terms of numbers. I look at Obama's '08 numbers. I look at Biden's numbers in '20. Huge numbers. Biden outpaced Obama. Got more raw votes. And the Harris campaign needs huge numbers out of the city. They're net numbers. I think Bob Brady, the chair of the Democratic Party, says if we don't get like 500,000 net votes, we're not going to win and that's just factually true.
That's why Kamala Harris is going to all these other places in the state today because she realizes she's going to have to make that up. You know, you can answer me this question, Jake. Is Kamala Harris more popular than Barack Obama was in '08? Is she more popular than Joe Biden was in '20? Philadelphia's own son, kind of Scranton Joe? I don't think so. So they're going to have to get big numbers out of Philly.
So I'd look at Philly, then I'd look at the other end of the state. Let's look up in Erie County, always the bellwether, right? So those are the two I'm paying close attention to.
TAPPER: So I'll just answer your question. She doesn't have to be more popular than Obama. She just has to be more popular than Trump.
URBAN: Well, but you --
TAPPER: And one person you skipped over that, Hillary Clinton actually did better in Philly than Joe Biden did because of all the --
URBAN: Well, net votes.
TAPPER: Yeah, in Philly, because of all the erosion in the suburbs. Okay, Van what state are you going to be looking at tomorrow, Van?
JONES: I'm going to be looking at three states tomorrow, Pennsylvania and then Pennsylvania and then after that Pennsylvania.
TAPPER: We appreciate it. We appreciate the love. We do.
JONES: I mean, it's the whole ball game. Almost impossible for either one of them to win if they, you know, 19 electoral votes, that's a massive chunk of the available votes and I agree with David. Look, Philadelphia is so important for us but the overall -- not just on this one. The overall vote totals have been going down, down, down in Philadelphia. And so we're fighting gravity in Philadelphia, not just Donald Trump, but people -- people like Pastor Carl Day on the ground with his forces trying to make it happen in Philadelphia.
TAPPER: So --
URBAN: And Jake, real quickly, too.
TAPPER: Yeah.
URBAN: In the Philly suburbs, right? Biden one 72 percent of the Jewish vote. I don't think she's going to get 72 percent of the Jewish vote. Just me. I don't know. Maybe I'm crazy.
TAPPER: We'll see. We will see. Both of you get some rest because we're going to be using you a lot tomorrow, I'm sure. David Urban, Van Jones, thanks for both -- both of your appearances today.
So how is Trump's closing message resonating with voters? Is he doing enough to get out the vote in these final hours? I'm going to ask Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw, plus what the FBI wants you to know about fake videos circulating online trying to influence your vote ahead of tomorrow.
And this just in, a judge's decision about Elon Musk and his million dollar giveaway sweepstakes to try to get voters, low propensity voters to the polls. Stick with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:15:00]
TAPPER: Back with our breaking news now. Just in to our "Law and Justice Lead," a Pennsylvania judge has just ruled that Elon Musk's daily $1 million giveaway to voters in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania can, C-A-N, can continue. The Philadelphia District Attorney has argued that this was an illegal lottery that violated state law. Let's go to CNN's Katelyn Polantz. And Katelyn, this is a big win for Musk. What's the significance? What happens next.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, temporary win because it's only going to be one day more until Election Day when he can give out at this $1 million to registered voters. The arguments happened all day long in court. Our Marshall Cohen was there witnessing them.
The D.A. from Philly was arguing that this whole thing needs to get shut down. Musk had given out sixteen prizes so far, $16 million to registered voters to become what they said were spokespeople. The city said it's a grift, it's a lottery, and people who thought they were eligible to win weren't actually eligible to win. So today in court, the judge didn't shut down the sweepstakes or the giveaway that Musk is doing of these million dollars a day. He's going to let it continue for one day more, but there's a lot of questions still around it. Ongoing lawsuit over can he even do this under state law? And then
also there was a Justice Department letter previously to Elon Musk, his super PAC saying, you know, we're not sure if this is illegal. You may want to stop doing this, cease and desist. So more to come potentially, but one more giveaway.
TAPPER: I will say that the way that Musk's lawyers described it, in court sounded very different from how Musk described in terms of who got the money.
[17:20:00]
POLANTZ: It did change, right? And there was some discussion of this, something that was truly random? Should they have used that language?
TAPPER: Yeah, they made it sound like it was supposed to be random. And it turns out --
POLANTS: It turns out they were selecting a person from the group of people. But honestly, his argument in court was largely about the First Amendment as far as our reporting is. It was free speech, he liked to say.
TAPPER: Yeah. Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much. In our "2024 Lead," we're looking ahead. So what might happen if Donald Trump wins the election? We have no idea what's going to happen, but that's certainly one of two possibilities. We're joined by Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas, also a member of the Select House Intelligence Committee. And I want to ask you some intelligence questions in its second, but first a couple political ones.
"The Bulwark's" Marc Caputo is one of the best source people covering the Trump campaign. He had a piece today about Trump's rally yesterday in Pennsylvania. He writes that for 96 minutes, Trump barely looked at his teleprompter, quote, "He darkly obsessed about election fraud, railed against polls showing him down, and savaged the bloodsuckers in the news media, adding he wouldn't mind if the fake news took an assassin's bullet for him. The crowd laughed, but privately campaign staffers groaned. Trump sounded as if he were losing," unquote. What are your thoughts about how Trump is closing here on the stump?
REP. DAN CRENSHAW (R-TX): Yeah, I've been looking. It's easy to find an off-the-cuff remark that's not likeable, and I learned a long time ago not to obsess over all of them. I don't even obsess over all of my political opponents like Biden. I just don't. I think that the general theme of the closing arguments has been pretty cut and dry from Trump.
It's been, look, we're going to fix the border again. We're going to get the economy back on track. In a sense of normalcy, we're going to lead on the world stage with a peace through strength. We had the Abraham Accords. They had October 7th. No invasions of Ukraine under my presidency. There was an invasion under Ukraine by Russia under Biden-Harris presidency. Those are the closing remarks. It's back to a better future. I think that's the general vibe and I think that's what people are getting. I wouldn't understand actually why Trump would be frustrated. The
polling I see and I'm sure you see in the aggregate when it's systemically reviewed, it looks pretty good for Trump. I mean at this time on the last election against Biden, you know, Trump was down like eight points in favorability ratings against Biden. Right now only down one point that's nationally and then when you look at the swing states, you know, he looks like he's up by a point or so in places that he needs to win in like Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia. And then you're looking at a Trump victory here.
TAPPER: So you think there's definitely gonna be a Trump victory?
CRENSHAW: I didn't say definitely, can never say definitely in politics, but if you force me to bet, I'm betting on it just because of the numbers that I'm seeing.
TAPPER: So I know that policy-wise that's something you're excited about because of all the reasons you just iterated, but let me ask you, are you and Congressional Republicans ready to be asked about Trump wild comment of the day every day for the next four years?
CRENSHAW: I think that's going to happen no matter what. It's not like he disappears from the public space. So, yeah, like that's part of it, but it's -- you know, I remember my first two years, and yes, sometimes I had to answer, but I'm not a spokesperson, and I call balls and strikes. That's why, you know, that's why you have me on, Jake, because I am honest about what's going on.
And in the end, what matters to my constituents is the policies, and the policies are simply better. There's a better governing philosophy by the Republican Party, and I think there's a very radical progressive agenda that is nothing like the Democrat Party of the '90s, that has now encapsulated the Democratic Party that I don't think people want.
TAPPER: So let's ask about some policy stuff, especially that related to your presence on the House Intelligence Committee. Over the weekend, the FBI said that a video circulating on social media claiming it had, quote, "apprehended three linked groups committing ballot fraud," unquote, and another one relating to the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, both videos are false.
The FBI statement says these videos are not authentic and are not from the FBI and the content they depict is false. They purport to be from the FBI, but they're not. What more can you tell us about this? Are these coming from overseas? Are they coming from known malign actors, Russia, Iran, China?
CRENSHAW: I can tell you what I've read in the news. I've not been briefed on this. Luckily, I have not been briefed on this because if I had, I wouldn't be able to talk about it at all. But I can tell you what we've read in the news that it does appear linked to Russian actors. And I think the lesson that we take from this is our adversaries want one thing above all.
They want to create discord and they want to amplify the divisions that we already have. The Russians especially want to do this. They've been doing it since the '60s. So we shouldn't be surprised by it. But in this case, from what I've read, it appears to be linked to Russian groups.
TAPPER: I also want to ask you about some disturbing reports of alleged Chinese spying on the presidential candidates.
[17:24:55]
Two sources familiar with the matter, tell CNN the Chinese government- linked hackers have targeted the phone communications of former President Trump and vice presidential nominee, Senator Vance as part of a much broader cyber espionage effort. J.D. Vance seemed to confirm this last week. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Luckily, I'm a pretty boring guy, so I don't think they got really anything.
JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: That's nice.
VANCE: We'll find out.
ROGAN: It's nice to be boring if your phone gets hacked.
VANCE: Yeah, that's right. That's right. Well, it also -- I mean, it's apparently, they couldn't get the encrypted messages that were in sent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So that's him on Joe Rogan. Is there anything you can tell us about this?
CRENSHAW: Again, from what I've read, and I'll expand on it a little bit, this one's a lot scarier. So the first example he talked about was kind of a run-of-the-mill Russian disinformation campaign. They do it all the time. This one is a hack through our major telecom companies. Like that's how they got to these campaign devices, I believe on both campaigns.
Putting that aside, how dangerous it is for them to be meddling in our elections, looking for dirt, looking for something, maybe they don't know what they're looking for, but they're looking for something to embarrass either political candidate, that's pretty dangerous. But it also gets to a much bigger danger, which is their ability to kind of go in the back door of our major telecom companies and screw with our private companies.
This is why under President Trump, CISO was created and DHS. This is an agency that is meant to develop an ecosystem of cyber defense with the private sector because this is something that the Chinese have no limits on what they're willing to do. We do, but they don't. They'll go after civilian infrastructure. They'll go after civilians. They don't care. They view it as all fair game. And so the lesson Americans need to learn is one, be careful what
you're reading, right? It's a high likelihood that somebody is lying to you if it just seems too sensational to be true. And two, and I mean, my message to CEOs constantly, especially those who run critical infrastructure or major telecom companies is you have to be extra, extra careful. You have to be looking for this -- for these kinds of attacks constantly because the Chinese truly have no limits on what they're willing to do to the American people.
TAPPER: Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas, thanks so much. Have a great election day.
CRENSHAW: Appreciate it, Jake. Thanks for having me.
TAPPER: Two prominent Republican women with two drastically different closing messages. Which one will be most effective in these final hours of the election? Our panel weighs in next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:31:32]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ CHENEY, FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSWOMAN: There is only one serious re -- responsible adult in this race. There's just one. Sometimes conservatives will say, well, I'm going to write in an alternative. I'm not going to vote for Trump. But I'm going to write somebody in. And -- and I want to make sure people all across the country understand you don't have that luxury. We have to defeat him. And I can't tell you how -- how proud I was to fill in that, you know, circle next to Kamala Harris and -- and Tim Waltz.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I mean -- if somebody had showed me that clip five years ago. That's former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney today on "ABC's" "The View," a different prominent Republican woman gave a different closing message. Former South Carolina governor and former Trump presidential challenger, Nikki Haley, in a "Wall Street Journal" op-ed, Haley wrote, quote, no politician gets everything right. For those of us clear-eyed enough to see Mr. Trump's flaws and honest enough to acknowledge them, the question is whether we're better off with his policies or his opponents. On taxes, spending, inflation, immigration, energy and national security, the Candidates are miles apart. And Mr. Trump is clearly the better choice, unquote.
Here now is our panel. So, Machalagh, Liz Cheney is out there campaigning with Kamala Harris. And I'm sure helping win over moderate conservative women who are concerned about Trump. I mean, even if it's just one, it's helping. Trump has not accepted Nikki Haley's offer to campaign. Is that a mistake?
MACHALAGH CARR, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF FOR SPEAKER MCCARTHY: It's interesting who is kind of working on the surrogates there, right? So, he does have Tulsi Gabbard out there. He does have, you know, Megyn Kelly is now going to go out there. So, when we talk about kind of who's an effective surrogate. I think what's interesting about this race and -- is how much the American people are kind of tired of being told what to think.
They know where the economy is. They know where we are in immigration. And I don't know that surrogates are really that valuable right now in these last days when they are experiencing kind of the state of the country right now.
TAPPER: Well, you just mentioned Megyn Kelly, formerly of "Fox" and "NBC." Now she has a very successful YouTube channel. She said that she's going to be appearing at a Trump rally in Pittsburgh. And you might remember, Bakari, she said this after Trump's rally in Madison Square Garden a -- a week and a day ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGYN KELLY, HOST, "THE MEGYN KELLY SHOW": You clean up the bro talk just a little so you don't alienate women in the middle of America who are already on the fence about Republicans. We're trying to get him elected. We don't need to rally the base or guys anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So I guess, they're taking her advice.
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I -- I guess. I don't know. I mean, I think all of this is kind of theater. I don't think it matters making Kelly going to wherever she will be to campaign.
TAPPER: Pittsburgh.
SELLERS: Pittsburgh, for -- for -- for Donald Trump. I -- I'm not sure she has the -- the fortitude that you would look to for somebody who's able to penetrate where -- where Donald Trump necessarily needs it. And to your point, I -- I agree with you. I don't think surrogates matter as much. I do think though, when you look back at it and we actually do the postmortem, I think that's what Alex Thompson and those guys do. They do the big autopsies in postmortems. And they dig deep.
One of the biggest faux pas and mistakes of the Trump campaign was selecting JD Vance. And when you look at the fact that he could have chosen Nikki Haley or Glenn Youngkin, this is a totally different race. I would actually venture to say this race is probably over and Donald Trump is probably the nominee because where he is losing, you have a Youngkin or a Haley.
[17:34:59]
You don't have 20-point gender gaps with those individuals. I mean, you have individuals like J -- JD Vance's negatives are so high because of the way he talks about women. You don't have that problem with Nikki Haley. I -- I am from South Carolina. I sat next to Nikki Haley in the General Assembly. I served when she was governor. I saw what she did with Mother Emanuel. I don't think she stands for a whole lot. I think she's decently adiaphorous. But she's a political animal and she is one of the best political animals we have in this country.
TAPPER: On the subject of the gendered gap, Alex. I want to play this prediction from former Republican Bush allied strategist, Mark McKinnon, earlier today on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MCKINNON, FORMER REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think this is the first post Dobbs election. I think there are more women in America. I think more women are going to vote. There's an enthusiasm gap that's like 10 points. We got the granny gap now. Add that all up is simple math. Harris blows the doors off and wins big.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: How -- how -- I mean I know that there are a lot of people wish casting that. Are there people, data driven people who think that that's true?
ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, AXIOS: Yes. Including inside the Harris campaign. I think they are expecting a historic gender gap and they also think that this could be the answer to beating Donald Trump in a way that they couldn't in 2016 and they couldn't in 2020. You -- the biggest voting bloc in this country are white women.
And while we focus a lot on, you know, Harris and black men or Harris and black women or Harris and white men. And, you know, all the bro po -- podcasts that could end up coming to the Liz Cheneys of America.
TAPPER: That's interesting. And I -- I have -- I have had a ban on polls in the last week or so. I don't -- because they're just neck and they're all within the margin of error. But there was one poll that I want to bring up because Donald Trump's been ranting about it. And it was a shock poll over the weekend.
In Iowa show, it's from the "Des Moines Register" which is considered the gold standard in -- in Iowa. It's a no clear leader. But it has Kamala Harris up 47-44. That's within the margin of error. It does not mean, and I don't know anyone who thinks that Kamala Harris is going to win Iowa. But what's interesting about it is the fact that in that poll, Harris has a 20-point advantage with women. And Trump has a 14- point advantage with men.
Maybe you think the whole thing, Machalagh, is nonsense. I don't know. Again, I'm not saying that Donald Trump is going to lose Iowa. But do you think there's any significance in the -- in the crosstabs there?
CARR: You know, I think the polling is really interesting because we don't really know and we won't until it's over how much they've moderated their algorithms to kind of adjust for the last several cycles. But I will say that, you know, you're -- both of these campaigns, both the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign are looking for low to middle propensity voters, voters who aren't always there.
And I think Harris has made the decision that she thinks she can get more low propensity voters that are women. And Trump has made the decision that he thinks he can get more low propensity voters that are men. And so that's kind of where they're driving their bases. And ultimately it's going to be who's going to show up.
TAPPER: And I should -- I should note that Jon Ralston, who's the brilliant guru of Nevada, posted his prediction a few moments ago about his state. Saying the key to this election has always been which way the non-major party voters break because they have become the plurality in the state of Nevada. They're going to make up 30 percent or so of the electorate. And if they swing enough towards Harris, she'll win Nevada. I think they will. Alex?
THOMPSON: I mean, this is the most optimistic I have heard the Harris campaign and all my talks with them just the last 10 days. They really view that the Madison Square Garden was a turning point. Now maybe this is just spin, who knows. But they really feel that Trump basically had an advantage probably going to that last 10 days and just blew it up. You know, we talked about the woman divide. The 31 speakers at Madison -- Madison Square Garden, 25 were men.
TAPPER: Yes. Bakari, you -- you -- you feel good? I don't know how -- how you have felt throughout this election. I know you felt better when Harris got in the race even though you pretended that you weren't worried about Biden because you're being a nice guy, being a nice guy. But then when Harris got in, you were very excited. And -- but you've been worried.
SELLERS: I -- I, you know, I -- I -- I go outside and touch grass. So unlike many Democrats, I'm not a pearl clutcher or worry wart.
TAPPER: You have -- you have two little kids also that --
SELLERS: I do. I do have two little kids.
TAPPER: -- keep you grounded
SELLERS: I -- I do think that -- that this is -- this is Kamala Ha -- Harris' race, the feelings are different, the vibes are different than where they were in 2016. People are going to show up to vote. The question is whether or not they vote in North Carolina and Georgia, in those major cities in those three blue wall states. But I think all -- all things being said, her name is probably going to be Madam President.
TAPPER: All right. Well, that's interesting. And I'd like to say, Alex and Machalagh, you -- you've been new to the -- the panel and it's been great to have you this season. Bakari, your old hat. We love -- we love having you. Just like --
SELLERS: I love Machalagh. Who is this Alex guy?
TAPPER: But it's been great. Where no matter what -- what -- how difficult this election's been, it's been great to have you, too. And -- and Bakari and you also, but you're -- you're like a nice old bourbon. Thanks guys. Appreciate it. Thanks to you all.
[17:39:38]
Police chiefs and election officials are teaming up with new plans to secure Election Day and the weeks that follow. The unprecedented efforts to keep the election safe, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Back to our 2024 Lead, an unprecedented level of security to protect the votes. CNN Sara Murray's in Georgia, Kyung Lah is in Arizona. Sara, Donald Trump continues to allege without evidence that there is massive voter fraud this election, that Pennsylvania is stealing the election, it's -- as an example. What are you seeing there on the ground?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're certainly not seeing evidence of massive voter fraud. You know, there have been a handful of people returning their absentee ballots by hand. That's the subject of litigation right now. And look, before even a single vote has been counted, which is going to happen here at the Fulton County Election Warehouse, we're also seeing conservative agitators posting online that the Georgia secretary of state, again a Republican, belongs in prison.
We've seen the Republican Party claiming that any of these absentee ballots returned by hand over the weekend and today are illegal ballots. Even though a state court judge said that was not the case. We're still waiting on a federal court judge to weigh in. I think what we have been seeing from election officials today is that they realize that there's a lot of skepticism and they need to be transparent about the process. They were walking us through this election warehouse earlier where they were doing some preprocessing of mail-in ballots.
[17:45:12]
They pointed out that there are security cameras inside at different parts of this tabulation center that are going to be running 24/7 in the event that anything may happen. That raises concerns. Again, those won't be live streamed but there are going to be security cameras. And they also noted that, look, when polling places close and they take the memory cards out of those voting machines to transport them here to this Fulton County Election Hub. They're going to be with a -- a police escort to be escorted here to the election hub.
So they do want to send a message to voters. And look, there is a chain of custody. This is going to be secure. We're going to try to count these ballots as fastly and as securely as possible, Jake.
TAPPER: Kyung, you've been covering elections in Arizona since I've known you. Does it look different this year?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATE CORRESPONDENT: Well, very much so. And I'm just going to walk you around because none of this existed, what's around me, this barrier that is blocking the street from cars, this fencing that's trying to keep pedestrians out. What is inside this fencing is a permanent iron fence. And if you look past the building, that brown building, that's where votes are being counted. There are security cameras on top of that building. There are security guards.
When you access the building, if you buzz in, if you are a -- a visitor who is allowed in, you have to go through a magnometer. These are all security changes that didn't exist in 2020. And that's because this building back then. And we were inside as the votes were being counted and tabulated, there were people, armed people that surrounded this building. It was to stop the seal movement.
And so what this county has learned is that the threat of violence is indeed very, very real, drawn and fueled by conspiracies. So, this is what it looks like on the outside. I want you to take a look at this live picture of what's happening inside the building. It is called MacTech. This is the place where ballots are tabulated.
There are 21 live cameras that for a period of time for about 30 minutes. Each live camera, you can click through and check them out. And that is an effort for this county to try to control the conspiracies, try to control the lies. And they are hoping it will then protect the workers who are just doing the hard work of democracy, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Kyung Lah and Sara Murray, thanks to both of you.
Coming up next, a major change, we could see the U.S. Health policy if Donald Trump wins. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:51:29]
TAPPER: There could be a dramatic if not radical shift in public health policy if Donald Trump wins tomorrow. Robert Kennedy Jr. wrote on, X, quote, on January 20th, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease, unquote.
Please note that RFK Jr. is a prominent anti-vaxxer, not a doctor, not a scientist. He --many things he says are disputed by the medical and scientific community all the time. And yet, regardless of his lack of expertise, Mr. Trump has promised to put RFK Jr. in charge of health initiative. Let's bring in CNN's Meg Tirrell. Meg, I honestly have no idea what he's talking about here. Which means I -- I'm ready to be convinced. Why is fluoride added to our drinking water?
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, fluoride can prevent tooth decay. It has been added to drinking water in the United States starting I -- in1945. Now, about 63 percent of the U.S. population has fluoridated tap water from community water systems. The CDC has called this one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century because it makes this kind of prevention of tooth decay so accessible across communities, including disadvantaged ones that might not have access to dental healthcare or fluoridated toothpaste and other kinds of things.
And so, they say this is a very cost effective and very safe and very beneficial thing that they've been doing for decades, Jake.
TAPPER: Well, walk me through some of the claims of side effects in RFK Jr.'s post on Twitter or X, you -- you know, obviously he's not a scientist, he's not a doctor, but -- but where -- where are these claims coming from?
TIRRELL: Well, they're not completely pulled out of nowhere. And there is some reason to look closely at these things. One he notes is it's industrial waste. Well, fluoride can come from manufacturing certain products but it's also found naturally in soil. It's actually found naturally in some water and found in rocks.
And in terms of the health things that he talks about specifically, he starts with arthritis and bone fractures. That is probably talking about something that's known as skeletal fluorosis. That is something that the Cleveland Clinic e -- ex -- explains is due to chronic fluoride overexposure for many years. This is really extremely high levels of fluoride exposure. You might see something like this where you could have something similar to arthritis and to a bone fractures.
Now, IQ loss and neurodevelopmental disorders that has been receiving a lot more attention recently. And recent report from the government found that at levels twice as high as the recommended limit in U.S. water systems. There has been a potential link to lower IQs in children. So that is something that's being looked at, Jake, but again, much higher than what is supposed to be in the water.
TAPPER: Well, are there examples of -- of just massive overdoses of fluoride in water that I just haven't heard about?
TIRRELL: There are in other countries, Jake. There's been studies out of China and things like that from natural fluoride in the water. Here in the United States, no.
[17:54:40]
TAPPER: All right. Meg Tirrell, thanks so much. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Before we go today, it is your turn. If you have not already voted, please take the time to cast your vote, assuming you're an American citizen. According to the pre -- Pew Research Center, about two-thirds of the voting eligible population turned out for the 2020 presidential election. Two-thirds was the highest rate for any national election since 1900.
But still, not to be that guy. That does mean that one-third of voters did not engage in that sacred right which Americans have literally died for and which citizens of countries are denied. The highest voter turnout rate for any U.S. presidential race was back in 1876, back when the only folks allowed to vote were white and black men, 82.6 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in that race between Republican Rutherford Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden.
The Bush-Gore election of 2000 came down to the notorious recount battle in Florida, where George W. Bush won by 537 votes after the U.S. Supreme Court shut down the Florida recounts, 537 out of nearly 6 million in Florida. We say it every time, every vote counts. That includes yours. Please vote. Let's end this hour where we started. Nice. The election jam. You know you love it. Tomorrow's the big night, election night in America. No one covers an election like CNN.
[18:00:15]
Our special coverage will start tomorrow at 4 o'clock eastern. I'll be on my feet for I don't even know how long. The news continues on CNN with Wolf -- Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow at 4:00.
