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Harris Launches Media Blitz With Election 29 Days Away; Legal Battle Over The Right To Post Ballot Selfies; Bills QB Josh Allen Returns To Game Despite Hard Hit. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired October 07, 2024 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:32:16]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: An all-out media blitz with really no time to waste, we should say. This week, the Harris campaign is noticeably ramping up her media appearances with just 29 days to go until Election Day.

Tonight, Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, appearing on CBS's "60 Minutes" for a taped interview and followed by several interviews here over the next couple of days.

And then, according to new findings from The Breakthrough -- it's a polling project that tracks how the public is following election news -- the vice president's media flurry comes at a critical time.

The latest data shows that the share of Americans hearing anything at all about Harris has dropped each week since her debate with former President Trump.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Now this is really fascinating. The tone Americans use in describing what they've heard about the vice president has reached the lowest point of her campaign.

And the word "lie" was the fourth-most mentioned word that some Americans associate with Harris after "border," "polls" and "campaign."

Responses calling Trump "a liar" are also steadily near the top of his list. About 8 percent in the latest data use the word "lie" or "liar" in relation to Trump. That figure has frequently been in the high single digits.

Let's discuss with Meghan Hays, a former Biden White House director of message planning, and Erin Perrine, a Republican strategist for Axiom Strategies.

Thank you both for being with us.

Meghan, first to you.

I'm wondering what you make of that 6 percent associating Harris with the word "lie" or "liar?" MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING:

Yes. I mean, I think that this is just what happens in the course of the campaign. The negativity on both sides starts to ramp up, especially towards the end when they're out there more so.

I don't put too much stock in it. I think that the vice president is doing what she needs to be doing, meeting voters where they are with its local media, with its recent media blitz.

I do think she could be probably doing a set more, or in doing some more local interviews but I'll leave that to the campaign. But I don't put much stock in the words that people are associating with each.

I think this is normally their bases being polled here and really coming through.

KEILAR: OK. I wonder what you think, Erin, sort of more writ large, but also about the fact that 15 percent of Americans associate words related to immigration with Harris, which is the highest since she got into the race. And that it's fading for Trump.

ERIN PERRINE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGISTS, AXIOM STRATEGIES: That could be that the fact that the negatives could be getting higher for her on immigration.

And so the messaging and the television ads you've been seeing from the Trump campaign, painting her as the border czar, talking about the failures of the southern border are starting to stick with her.

And more so, the vacuum of conversation from Kamala Harris with the American people through local interviews or national podcasts or otherwise is leading to what you're seeing in the polls.

The American people were telling very clearly, we want an answer about what you believe and what direction you want to take this country.

Kamala didn't do that until they we're hoping that this kind of meteoric rise she saw would be enough to kind of keep them going if they played a very careful campaign.

[14:35:07]

That careful campaign strategy has allowed this race to remain neck- and-neck. And so now you're seeing a shift in the media strategy by them to try and move these polls a little bit.

Because something, he almost got an electric part of the heart of the election again to get people to wake up and realize we're 29 days out. They got to start making decisions because it is neck-and-neck.

SANCHEZ: The part of that jumpstart to the campaign in this media strategy is the appearance by Kamala Harris on "Call Her Daddy.

We have a clip to play for you. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALEX COOPER, HOST, "CALL HER DADDY" PODCAST: I saw the governor of Arkansas said, my kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble. How did that make you feel?

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who, one, are not aspiring to be humble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Before we get to the substance of the question, I just want to clarify. I chuckled because I wanted to make sure I got the podcast --

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: -- because they didn't --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: -- earlier.

SANCHEZ: And you can get some blowback on social media.

But, Erin, what do you make of that being part of the discussion? It's not necessarily a discussion that could be had just anywhere. She's obviously targeting very specific voters.

PERRINE: Yes. We have seen where Kamala Harris has done very well with a young female audience, especially with young female voters. And we've seen where Trump has begun to make up ground with young male voters.

Being able to talk to voters, to Meghan's point, where they are, where they are right now with this podcast, that was an incredibly humanizing answer from her, and one that was very good.

I love the line, "some women aren't trying to be humble." Yes, let's go for it. That is something that's going to draw an audience in and give them something to stand up and fight for, for her.

She humanized herself in a way. You didn't hear any real new answers from her anywhere in podcast. I listened to it this morning while I was out swinging the golf clubs, torturing myself again.

(LAUGHTER)

PERRINE: But when you see that, this was her showing more of her personality. And at this point, that can really help her drive the message that, hey, I hear you and I want to be part of what's going to make a difference.

KEILAR: And, Meghan, she is -- I mean, she's really in all -- all of the places, very different venues, media-wise, that she is going to be doing interviews.

Is it -- do you wish she'd done this before? Do you think now is the moment? Why?

HAYS: I mean, I think they're looking at polling and they're making calculations, just like everyone who has sort of, to Erins point there, trying to jumpstart, electric youth to the campaign and sort of get it going.

You know, they're doing what they think is the best strategy. I think she should probably you have done it probably a little bit sooner, but better late than never.

I do think she's picking some interesting places that reach a vast audience, a wide variety of people, and different bases. And I think that's really, really smart of the campaign to do this strategy.

It's also probably the first presidential campaign that we're able to do such a strategy with podcasts, with some different media that's not just mainly extreme media, which is really exciting and meets, again, voters where they are.

SANCHEZ: To your point, Meghan, about reaching wider audiences, Governor Tim Walz, Harris' running mate, did this interview on FOX News Sunday over the weekend. Should Harris go on FOX News?

HAYS: I am of the mindset that you should leave no stone unturned. So, yes, she should go on FOX News. Yes, she should do local media. She needs to be out to every place.

Because there are a lot of undecided voters that watch a lot of different channels and listen to a lot of different things. Not everyone is able to go to an event in the battleground states.

So you need to reach these people on radio. You need to reach them on podcasts. You need to reach them on FOX, on CNN, on NBC. They should be blanketing the airwaves with their voice and their message.

Because that's the only way that you are going to get some of these undecided voters. And with the election so tight, every vote is going to matter.

SANCHEZ: Erin, quickly to you, Harris on FOX News?

PERRINE: I agree. She should be doing every -- any and everything she can at this point.

And I will say, because you've seen the shift in how people are able to consume media and where they're getting their news, it's going to be a really interesting case study when this campaign is over for political folks like myself to see, did the "Call Her Daddy" podcast make any difference in moving younger voters towards Kamala?

There are different pockets out there. It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out when it's over.

SANCHEZ: Erin Perrine, Meghan Hays, appreciate the perspective. Thanks for joining us.

PERRINE: Thank you.

HAYS: Thank you.

[14:39:15]

SANCHEZ: Happening right now, a North Carolina court is hearing a case concerning what voters can and can't do at their polling place, including take selfies. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: We're just 29 days away from Election Day, and the question whether voters can take selfies with their ballots is, again, at issue. Many states have laws about taking pictures inside polling places.

KEILAR: That includes North Carolina, where a voter is refusing to take down her ballot selfie and she's now taking her case to federal court.

CNN's Paula Reid is here with details on this.

All right. What is it issue in this case, Paula?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's a great question. Do you have a constitutional right to take a selfie with your completed ballot?

Now, the case before the court today centers around a woman named Susan Hogarth. And she took a selfie with her completed ballot in North Carolina in the primaries back in March.

A couple of weeks later, she got a notice from the Board of Election saying, take that down or you are going to be facing a misdemeanor. So she refused. And that's how this all ended up in court.

But I'll note that photography, videography is banned around those polling locations in North Carolina. They also ban photographing a completed ballot.

Now they have argued in court that one of their concerns is that this could prove as a receipt in ballot-buying schemes.

[14:45:09]

Now across the country, you've seen this issue bubbling up. Many states have actually made it legal to take a selfie with your ballot.

The Board of Elections gave us a statement, the Wake County Board of Elections, saying, quote, "We don't comment on pending litigation or election law. Our job is to follow the laws. And we will follow any new guidance if issued by the courts."

I will say I was actually at the Wake County Board of Elections last week as they started counting mail-in ballots. They take their jobs very seriously. I have no doubt that it will the courts overturned this, they will heed that.

But also note that Ms. Hogarth, she's asking for this to be resolved before November. She's a Libertarian candidate for a state office and she wants to take another selfie for a new ballot.

KEILAR: I get it. I mean, I don't know that I would --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: -- take one, but it's just -- it's -- in this day and age, it's almost strange.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Although, I guess --

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: I didn't know there were that many states that ban it.

REID: Well, they tried. But, for example, in Indiana, they tried to ban it and that was found unconstitutional.

And we're here in federal court down in North Carolina. So depending how far this gets in the judiciary, the decisions could potentially impact other states.

But look, I agree with you guys. I probably wouldn't do it. But I think it's a legitimate legal question, if the government can restrict you from sharing that.

Certainly not something that Founding Fathers contemplated, but it's your vote, it's your choice, it's your photo.

I think North Carolina is going to have a tough time establishing that there are widespread voter-buying schemes that are being somehow completed through selfies. But we'll see.

SANCHEZ: And given that George Washington took so many.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Yes. I wish they could get rid of some other kinds of selfies that are --

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: -- I will say.

Paula Reid, thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

REID: -- have a right to do that? The Constitution, it's very broad, First Amendment.

KEILAR: All right, there you go.

Paula. Thank you.

Next, see the hit that left the Buffalo Bills' QB Josh Allen flat on the field suffering from an apparent head injury. Some former NFL players are now asking why he was cleared to play just minutes later.

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[14:51:29]

KEILAR: The NFL is again facing questions over its handling of head injuries after what happened to Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen yesterday.

Just watch this, as his -- his head appears to bounce off of the turf as he's being tackled midway through the fourth quarter. His body went limp. He stayed down for nearly a minute before leaving the field on his own.

SANCHEZ: Yes, he was taken to a medical tent for evaluation, but then, just one offensive play and three-and-a-half minutes later, Allen was back in the game.

The broadcast appeared to show a member of the Bills staff offering him a smelling salt before he ran back onto the field.

Allen was asked about the hit postgame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH ALLEN, BUFFALO BILLS QUARTERBACK: Big shot to the chest and rolled Michael there. They flagged me for hitting my head, but felt I could go back in again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with neuroscientist, Chris Nowinski. He's the founding CEO for the Concussion Legacy Foundation.

Chris, could you explain what we're seeing during that hit, portion by portion of his physical response?

CHRIS NOWINSKI, NEUROSCIENTIST & FOUNDING CEO, CONCUSSION LEGACY FOUNDATION: Yes, Boris, the more I watched this video, the more I'm troubled about what happened.

Because, as Josh Allen was going down, you see he's raising his left arm to protect his head, which is a very natural movement when you're falling like that.

And then after his head bounces so high off the ground, that arm goes limp and you see his wrist catch against the ground, which can break your wrist. It's something that any athlete, if they we're aware, would avoid.

So I really do think he was unconscious there for a moment after that hit. So the idea that he went back in, you know, there's a lot of levels of why this is a problem.

If -- even if they missed the fact he was briefly unconscious, the fact that he wouldn't stand up for a minute should be a red flag that to send somebody off into the locker room to be fully evaluated.

And then you start to think, well, maybe Josh Allen jumped back in after 3.5 minutes, he didn't even realize he was knocked out because it was so brief. And when you're knocked out, you don't know it.

And so ethically, the idea that he was trying to be a hero and no one told them, hey, dude, you we're knocked out, your teammates had to roll you over, really makes you wonder, you know, what happened here. And this does need to be investigated.

KEILAR: OK. So then talk to us a little bit about the quick return just several minutes after the hit, whether that is sufficient time to conduct a thorough evaluation for a concussion.

And also this video here, what appears to be someone offering him a smelling salt. What do you think of that?

NOWINSKI: Yes, I think -- so note -- if you're playing in world rugby, there'll be a minimum 10-minute evaluation on the sideline, because everybody says concussions no -- symptoms often don't happen right away, and they're only revealed over time.

And so it might take five or 10 minutes as you start feeling it. Oh man, I had double vision, I have a headache, all these things. So when you're rush somebody back, you're always rolling the dice, every single time.

There is a system that the NFL Players Association, the NFL has agreed to because players will also be punished if they're perceived to have a concussion when they don't. But it's a very risky situation.

The optics of being handed smelling salts, walking out of that tent is an absolute disaster, and it should not happen. This happened with Dak Prescott a few years back. We talked about whether these should be banned from the sideline.

And it turns out that way too many players are taking all the time, whether or not they'd been hit in the head. But the idea that it's anywhere near the blue tent where someone's being evaluated for a concussion is terrible.

[14:55:08]

So I hope we never see that again. I hope to see a rule change that comes with that.

And then the question becomes, what happened here? I worried that it was because it was the fourth quarter to close game and that's why he went back in.

This was earlier in the game, the beginning of the game. You know, the question, shouldn't players be breaking protocol or being put at risk like this? I don't think they should.

I mean, think about Tua Tagovailoa. He was put back in when he shouldn't have been. And now we're talking about whether he should retire.

Josh Allens is the franchise quarterback. So to be rolling the dice like this doesn't make any sense to me, as a neuroscientist or as a football fan.

SANCHEZ: No indication yet that he is set to sit out their game next week, one of a number of stories to keep an eye on in that regard.

Chris Nowinski, thank you so much.

NOWINSKI: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We're following breaking news out of Florida where urgent preparations are underway as Hurricane Milton strengthens to a category five, the strongest storm so far this year, one of the 10 strongest ever in the Atlantic basin.

Another hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts after a short break.

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