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Trump Ramps Up Enemy from Within Rhetoric on Campaign Trail; U.S. Sending 100 Troops, Anti-Missile System to Israel; Florida Death Toll from Milton Rises to 23. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 14, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: 22 days left in this election, which means politics is everywhere. Donald Trump ramping up rhetoric against immigrants, Kamala Harris making a new plea to black voters after seeing warning signs ahead.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, Hezbollah drones break through Israeli defense systems, killing four soldiers and wounding dozens.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And Jimi Hendrix fans have a chance to get their hands on some never before released tracks and other amazing memorabilia from the legendary guitarist that promises to transport you back to a pivotal time in music history.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

It is just 22 days until Election Day in America, friends. With little over three weeks out, a new CNN poll of polls is showing likely what you are probably feeling, that there is no clear leader with just a slim three points, separating Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump among likely voters.

Today, Donald Trump is heading to what could be the election defining state, commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where the former president is expected to hammer home his economic policies. Over the weekend, he leaned in once again to some of his darker campaign rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's the enemy from within, all the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country, that's a bigger enemy than China and Russia.

I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. It should be very easily handled by -- if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Kristen Holmes tracking all of this for us. Kristen, it's good to see you. What should we expect then in Pennsylvania today if we saw this weekend?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Kate, I mean, Pennsylvania, yes, it's billed as an economic speech, but every single speech that you're going to hear from Donald Trump from here on out is going to touch on that dark rhetoric around immigration. I traveled with him over the weekend, I was both in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday, and in California with him on Saturday, where we heard this really ramping up of just how dark it was going to get ahead of the election.

When I talked to the people close to Donald Trump, they believe that this messaging is working. One of the things I'm sure you're going to talk about later this hour with your panel and with these political experts is that polling that we have started to see coming out the last several days. It's in every single newsletter this morning, this idea that the race is tightening and it's possible Donald Trump is chipping away at any kind of lead that Kamala Harris had.

The reason why it's important to look at that polling and to understand what is going on here is the fact that this is why Donald Trump is doubling down on this divisive rhetoric. They believe that this is working for him. The former president believes that talking like this about immigration, about migrants, is what helped get him into the White House in 2016, and they believe it's going to help him get back into the White House this November.

So, don't expect any kind of walking back from these remarks, instead, imagine him to be doubling down on this, intensifying that rhetoric. And one thing to point out here, and I know this is something that we've long discussed, about Trump's ground game, they believe that the way that Donald Trump wins is by reaching out into these what they call low propensity voters, people who don't often head to the polls.

They believe this kind of messaging resonates with those voters. In the past, during past cycles, that group of voters has shifted left, has leaned left, they believe that group of voters now leans right. So, they are reaching out into these communities trying to find these low propensity voters, and they believe this kind of rhetoric actually works with those voters.

So, again, as much as we continue to show these remarks, to show how divisive they are, they believe it's working for them, and they might not be wrong given the polling that we're seeing.

BOLDUAN: Good point. Great reporting, it's always good to see you, Kristen. Thank you. John?

BERMAN: Well, enemy within is rhetoric with a pretty dark history, I do have to say.

New this morning, Harris campaign is unveiling a new economic plan and a push to appeal to black male voters. The campaign says its opportunity agenda, as it is called, includes a focus on mental health and forgivable loans for black entrepreneurs. And it comes as Harris is raising new questions about Donald Trump's health and mental acuity.

[07:05:00]

CNN's Kevin Liptak is with us this morning with the what and the why. Good morning, Kevin.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And it's a relatively sweeping plan. And I think combined with her campaign travel this week, it does give you a sense of how urgently the Harris campaign views this task of trying to shore up support and enthusiasm among black men.

Now, the plan is called the opportunity agenda for black men, specifically. It's, at its heart, a plan to design create wealth for black men, help them start businesses, help them protect their assets. It includes a plan to put out $1 million to $20, 000 loans. It includes a plan to invest more in apprenticeship programs, hire more black teachers. There's a health initiative for ailments that specifically affect black men. And she's reiterating her support for legalizing recreational marijuana and helping black men become part of the nationwide cannabis industry.

So, taken together, it is quite a sweeping proposal and it does come, as Democrats warn, about a slide in enthusiasm among black men specifically. This is something we heard Barack Obama warn about last week. And certainly the campaign views this now as an imperative. And you see that in her campaign travel.

Today, she'll be in Erie, Pennsylvania. She'll be visiting a black owned small business. Tomorrow, she's in Detroit. She's participating a hall hosted by Charlamagne, tha God, he's the host of the Breakfast Club, a radio show very popular among black millennials.

The fear is not necessarily that Kamala Harris is going to lose among black men. The fear is that polls show her underperforming compared to previous Democratic candidates, and in a close race, any kind of erosion could affect the outcome.

BERMAN: You know, Kevin, I mentioned that Harris seems to be going after Donald Trump in a new way, questioning his transparency on health.

LIPTAK: Yes, and this comes after she released her own health records over the weekend, a letter from her doctor. It was relatively, you know, uninteresting. She is a healthy woman. They say that she's fit to serve. She was really doing it as a way to highlight the fact that Trump himself has not released his own health records. And she really went hard after him yesterday in North Carolina, calling on him to release his own information. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He refuses to release his medical records. I've done it.

He is unwilling to do a 60 Minutes interview, like every other major party candidate has done for more than half a century. He is unwilling to meet for a second debate. It makes you wonder, why does his staff want him to hide away?

One last question, one last question, are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So, you really see her trying to turn the tables on Trump there who had long accused President Biden of hiding away. She's really trying to present herself as the candidate of change and Trump as sort of an old relic. That, at the end of the day, is going to be her closing argument, and you can see her starting to present that now.

BERMAN: Yes, it was a notable piece of new language from the stump. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for your reporting this morning. Sara Sidner?

SIDNER: I am back and happy to be here with you, John Berman.

All right, new this morning, Israel's army chiefs visiting the military base that was targeted in a deadly drone attack. What we now know about the investigation into how Hezbollah got past Israel's defenses.

Plus, more than 400,000 people are still without power in Florida this morning, as President Biden announces hundreds of millions of dollars more in aid.

And CNN gets an exclusive look as China prepares to send two new pandas to the United States.

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SIDNER: This morning, Israeli authorities trying to figure out how Hezbollah drones got through its defense system and hit an army base near Haifa. And at least four soldiers have been killed, dozens others wounded. It's one of the deadliest strikes on Israel in more than a year. Hezbollah says, it's payback for Israel strikes last Thursday in Lebanon, and it comes as the Pentagon says it's sending a powerful anti-missile system to Israel and about 100 U.S. troops to beef up its air defenses.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Jerusalem for us. Lots of questions as to how this attack happened without being thwarted from Israel's defense mechanisms. What do you know this morning?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, this appears to be one of the deadliest attacks on Israel since the beginning of this war more than a year ago. Four Israeli troops were killed in this drone attack fired by Hezbollah that has struck an Israeli military base about 40 miles south of the Lebanese border. An additional 61 Israeli soldiers were injured in this incident, at least eight of them in serious condition, according to Israeli authorities. And indeed, the Israeli military and its defense minister are vowing that they will investigate this incident, because it appears that at least one of these drones fired by Hezbollah reached this base undetected.

[07:15:08]

There were no air raid sirens that went off and it certainly was not intercepted, obviously, by Israeli air defense systems, leading to major questions about exactly how this could happen.

Now, we do know that Hezbollah has said that they fired multiple drones, that they said, evaded Israeli air defense systems, in part because they fired multiple rockets at the same time. Now, as all of this is happening, the United States is also providing Israel with an additional air defense system, not necessarily to guard against those drones being fired by Hezbollah, but instead to guard against ballistic missiles being fired by Iran following that barrage of ballistic missiles fired by Iran at Israel a couple of weeks ago that struck multiple Israeli air bases. The U.S. military now providing Israel with the THAAD system, this is an advanced anti missile system. And in addition to that, they're also sending about 100 U.S. troops to Israel. to operate that system.

And it's notable, of course, because it comes at a moment of extremely heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, as Israel and the United States have been closely coordinating on what Israel's military response will be against Iran. We know that Israeli officials have made clear that there will be a very significant Israeli military response to that barrage of ballistic missiles that Iran fired. We don't yet know the timing or the scope of that, but, certainly, the United States is States here taking steps to protect Israel in the future from further retaliation by Iran.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about what is happening in Gaza, because, of course, the strikes are continuing in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis continuing there. We understand that there was a hospital compound hit by Israel in this latest barrage. What can you tell us about that?

DIAMOND: Yes, that's right, Sara. Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, that's in Central Gaza. And, of course, we know that so many of these hospitals not only are medical facilities, but they have also become the homes for thousands of displaced Palestinians. And indeed the courtyard of this hospital that was struck yesterday by the Israeli military was being used by Palestinians displaced to stay in that area. At least four people were killed, several others were injured. We see these images of the whole area just absolutely in flames following this Israeli strike.

The Israeli military, for its part, says that it was carrying out the strike on a Hamas compound, that it says was being used within that hospital courtyard. We, of course, can't independently verify that information. But there's no doubt that there were also civilian casualties as a result of this. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, saying that the majority of women and children injured in this strike were what -- were women and Children. Sara? SIDNER: And we are certainly no closer to a ceasefire now. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for your reporting there from Jerusalem for us. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Hundreds of thousands are still without power in Florida and the death toll from Hurricane Milton is rising.

And a manhunt underway after two men who police say attacked a couple inside their home, at least one of them is on the run. How they got in, posing as utility company workers. We've got the story ahead.

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[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, 23 people are now confirmed dead after Hurricane Milton just tore through Florida and hundreds of thousands of people are still without power. Residents are also facing fuel shortages. Still long lines for gas, long lines at gas stations, as you can see, this is this is one just near Tampa from over the weekend.

Also over the weekend, President Biden traveled to Florida and there he announced more than $600 million of federal assistance for the areas impacted by Hurricane Milton and also Hurricane Helene before that.

Let's get to CNN's Isabel Rosales for the very latest on all of the recovery efforts and trying to get the power back on, make sure the water is okay, everything that's needed right now, Isabel, that you saw very clearly firsthand when you were down there, what's the latest?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, it is a daunting task right now for Floridians to be able to turn the page on this to recover to clean up. A lot of them are lacking the fuel to be able to do that, the electricity to be able to do that. And they're still hampered by these roads blocked by falling trees and flooding.

Let's talk about flooding because that's become a major issue. There is ongoing flooding still that is slowing down recovery. We saw Milton dumping 16 inches of rain over Hillsborough County. Sheriff Chad Chronister over there saying that the water is not receding as quickly as they would like, so still active rescue operations. And we're seeing active also flooding warnings in rivers, like the Alafia River. That's in Valrico and Lithia, the Hillsborough River, and the Withlacoochee River over in Pasco County and many others.

Let's get into the fuel because this is a major issue. Again, turning the page and making sure we get back to daily live in Florida. Fuel suppliers, they are working around the clock to get these gas stations up and running, to get the infrastructure up and running. When it comes to Florida gas stations with no fuel, according to GasBuddy, a tracking website, we're seeing that just under 30 percent of them have no fuel. In hard-hit Tampa and St. Petersburg, that's over in Pinellas County, that's where we're seeing the largest outage, 77 percent of gas stations out of gas.

Now, Kevin Guthrie, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, says that Over 37 million gallons of fuel has been delivered to Florida ports.

Now, let's get into debris removal. That is something that Governor DeSantis is called a major priority, that it's happening 24 hours a day, 7 days out of the week, and that a lot of the red tape has been eliminated. So, size and weight restrictions on those vehicles taking care of all of this massive debris, a lot of it from Hurricane Helene, actually, that double punch that Floridians experienced.

Here's what else he had to say at a press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We have been approved by the president for 100 percent debris removal reimbursements for 90 days. So, we should take advantage of that. That makes it really, really positive to be able to do.

[07:25:02]

But if you wait, if it takes a year, then you're not going to get the bang for the buck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And electricity is slowly being restored. I just checked poweroutage.us, and it's 400,000 customers without power in the state of Florida. Most of these electrical utilities and companies are estimating that most people in these hard-hit areas will have electricity restored by midweek. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. At the height of it, it was somewhere around three million people without power progress, but still people still without power today. Thank you so much, Isabel. John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning we got a little business news or business mixed with politics. That line chart right there is Donald Trump's social media company. The stock, it just had its best week in months. It closed Friday, you can see they're just under $25 a share, which is still nowhere near its peak back in March, when it first went public. But it is more than double what it was just a few weeks ago.

Now, the financial journal, Barron, says that Trump Media often trades as a proxy for his chances of winning the election. So, when you see the stock price go up, it means that people think he has a better chance of winning. His stake is now worth just under $3 billion, more than it was a few weeks ago, but a lot less again than it was in March.

All right, this morning, the new threat by Donald Trump to use the military on U.S. citizens.

And we are standing by for two giant pandas to arrive in Washington. CNN has exclusive breaking news coverage of this essential panda watch.

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