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Harris on Campaign Trail and Trump Sits for Town Hall; Twenty Days Until the Election; New Police Video in McAlpin Case; New Evidence in Menendez Brothers Case. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 16, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: And Boeing says themselves that they are an economic generator of $79 billion to the U.S. economy. They sort of produce a downstream effect of one 1.6 million jobs and Boeing themselves are in really dire straits financially. They just took out a loan essentially from several banks for $10 billion. They're trying to sell $15 billion of stock and debt. They just announced layoffs of 10 percent, 17,000 of their employees over the next couple of months. But this is a company that's almost too big to fail. They are one of two suppliers of passenger airlines in the world. They are not going -

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: You put it that way.

YURKEVICH: They're not going to go under. They're the number one exporter here in the U.S. They are in financial trouble, but they're not going away anytime soon.

However, the longer that this strike persists -

BOLDUAN: Yes.

YURKEVICH: You're just going to start to feel more and more - especially in the broader economy -

BOLDUAN: Yes, from suppliers, then it -

YURKEVICH: What this company means.

BOLDUAN: Then it starts trickling down.

YURKEVICH: The - the ripple effect. Yes.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

It's great to see you, Vanessa. Thank you so much for keeping track of it.

YURKEVICH: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, top Democrats expressing worry over how Kamala Harris' campaign in a key battleground state. And Donald Trump contradicting his allies to confirm he is indeed referring to his political rivals as the enemy from within.

New body camera footage shows the moment two police officers punched and tazed a deaf black man. Why that man is now being charged with a crime.

And breaking this morning, Israel says it will launch a retaliatory attack against Iran. And U.S. sources believe it will come before the U.S. presidential election.

I'm John Berman, with Sara Sidner and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEW CENTRAL

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: T-minus 20 days and here is what Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are up to today. Harris is teaming up with more than 100 Republicans for an event on unity and patriotism in a notable Pennsylvania county. She will then speak with Fox News. Can she build bipartisan support?

And what will Donald Trump say next? Very soon he will tape a town hall with Univision. This after his latest town hall saw him further define and defend his enemy from within remarks.

CNN's Alayna Treene is leading us off this hour.

What exactly did Donald Trump say? Because he made a clarification here.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: He did. And, you know, it really was kind of the opposite of what we know some of Donald Trump's Republican allies and members of Congress were trying to do in defending that comment.

So, first of all, this came during Donald Trump's Fox News town hall last night. It's going to air at 11:00 a.m. today. It was an all- female audience, which I think is actually very notable given how much I know from my conversations with Trump's senior advisors that they're trying to make inroads with women voters, particularly as they see that widening gender gap with Harris.

But as for this comment, look, Donald Trump said over the weekend that he thinks our - the U.S.' greatest threat is not our foreign adversaries, but actually the enemy from within. As I said, a lot of Republican allies have tried to defend that comment saying he was referring to protesters when he talked about potentially sending in the military to deal with that enemy from within. They were saying it's the same thing when you see the National Guard go out to try and tamp down riots.

Donald Trump, however, though, made clear he is talking about political opponents. I'm going to read for you some of what he said. He said, quote, "it is the enemy from within and they're very dangerous. We have China, we have Russia, we have all these countries. If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis, these people, they're so sick and they're so evil."

So clearly directly referencing the Pelosis there. It's clear he's talking about Democrats when he says this.

Now the other thing, I think, just to add to this, is that we know that Republicans have been consistently arguing that the Democrats' rhetoric, particularly calling Donald Trump a threat to democracy, they are blaming that for the two assassination attempts on Donald Trump's life, saying that Donald Trump never uses the same type of language. I think it's clear here that this is very dangerous language.

Now, one other notable thing from yesterday. We saw Donald Trump speak at the Chicago Economic Club. He did an interview with "Bloomberg News." But a striking moment from then is, when he was pressed on whether he would accept the election results in November. And Donald Trump, once again, refused to say that he would do so.

He also really tamped down what had happened on January 6th in 2021.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People were there. People were there. And I'll tell you what, they never show that. The primary scene in Washington was hundreds of thousands. The largest group of people I've ever spoken before. And I've spoken before (ph). And it was love and peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Love and peace. I think, you know, from us who, I mean, I was on the Capitol - at the Capitol on January 6th. I know it was not love and peace that day. So, he's kind of, you know, a little bit of revisionist history there. And also he falsely claimed, of course, that there was a peaceful transfer of power. As we know, there was not in 2021.

And also one other false claim I just want to fact check there is he said there were hundreds of thousands of people who stood before him when he made those remarks. That is not an accurate number. There were less people there.

[09:05:03]

But again, I think it just shows that we don't know what's going to happen on November 5th, or if there could be more challenges to what happens with the results. So, I think, you know, keep that in mind as we hit this final stretch, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Alayna Treene, thank you so much for that report.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: This morning, Kamala Harris is in battleground Pennsylvania and working to win the favor of Republicans in one critical county, Bucks County. How? By trying to show those Republicans that Republicans support her. More than 100 Republicans backing her candidacy will be joining Kamala Harris on the campaign trail today. The goal of this political show and tell seems pretty obvious, to kind of give the other conservative voters in that county in that - in Pennsylvania permission to vote like them, to turn away from Donald Trump and support Kamala Harris. Will it work?

CNN's Eva McKend is tracking all of this for us. She's joining us now.

What is this going to look like today, Eva?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, we'll continue to see Harris really lean into what the campaign would describe as a patriotic message in this appeal to Republican voters. The vice president plans to blast Trump for previously calling for the termination of the Constitution. She'll also warn of the threat a second Trump term poses in her view, and slam her rival for his comment on the military, that they should handle the enemy from within.

And at this point, we have a sense of what this campaign argument sounds like. She aimed to draw contrasts with the former president in a conversation last night with Charlamagne tha God. Take a listen to the exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's two very different visions for our nation. One, mine, that is about taking us forward and progress and investing in the American people, investing in their ambitions, dealing with their challenges. And the other, Donald Trump, is about taking us backward.

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Donald Trump (ph) is about fascism. Why can't we just say it?

HARRIS: Yes, we can say that.

CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Yes. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: And, Kate, she'll be joined at today's event by Republican former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, as well as former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, among other Republicans.

In terms of her week ahead, she heads to Wisconsin after Pennsylvania. Then she ends the week in Michigan and in Georgia.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Good to see you, Eva. Thank you so much.

John. BERMAN: All right, with us now, former Obama 2012 campaign manager,

Jim Messina, and former press adviser to then House Speaker John Boehner, Maura Gillespie.

Great to have you both here.

Twenty days left. This is about choices. With 20 days left, you've got to make choices as a campaign.

And, Jim, I want to focus on what the vice president is doing today, appearing with more than 100 Republicans, giving a speech about patriotism in Bucks County. "Politico" is reporting today there are some Pennsylvania Democrats upset that she's not more focused on turning out Democratic voters, maybe black voters in Philadelphia. So, what about that choice? Is she making the right one there?

JIM MESSINA, FORMER OBAMA 2012 CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I think it's a silly choice, John. We can do both. We can walk and chew gum. We can turn out voters and talk to swing voters. And winning campaigns do both of those things.

If she wins Bucks County or even breaks even, she's going to win Pennsylvania. Do we need to turn out the vote in Philly? Of course we do. And we will. And she's focused just on that. But we also have to talk to swing voters. Whether we like it or not, we're in a tied race. And a tied race means you turn out your voters and you talk to the swing voters. And having over 200 Republicans with her today builds a permission structure for these swing voters to say, you know, there's a home for me in the Harris coalition too.

BERMAN: So, what do you think about that, first of all, Maura?

MAURA GILLESPIE, FORMER PRESS ADVISER TO THEN-HOUSE SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: I think that's the strategy she's go - she's going with because there is an entire group of voters that Trump has largely ignored, which are those who aren't super keen on him based on the fact that he did not have a peaceful transfer of power, he tried to upend our democracy. So, targeting them is an effective strategy for some of those swing states, like Pennsylvania, like Wisconsin and places like that. So, I do think it's thoughtful.

But I also think Republicans that are going there today need to flip the question. What does it say to you, as a Trump voter, that so many Republicans, people who used to work for him, people who worked with him, are saying he is not fit to serve in the White House? What's their answer to that?

BERMAN: And you both think there are gettable Haley voters in Pennsylvania? Maura, you first.

GILLESPIE: I do think there are. But I also think that there are ways to say, you don't have to vote for Donald Trump to stay a Republican. And giving them a permission structure like, you know, we talked about here is important because, again, you're - you're asking people to split ticket vote or just not vote for president and vote for Republicans down ballot. BERMAN: And, Jim, every quickly on that question, you think there are

significant Haley voters that are genuinely gettable, Republican voters?

MESSINA: Absolutely. And in a race that could be decided by thousands of votes, every vote counts here. And there's absolutely voters who are sitting there trying to make their decision exactly like Maura says.

BERMAN: All right, about choices. One of the things Donald Trump is doing differently than certainly 2016, people forget this, but in the final couple weeks before Election Day, his campaign kind of put him in a box.

[09:10:04]

He started giving teleprompter speeches. You know, Kellyanne Conway worked to sort of control him. That doesn't seem to be happening this time. He's talking about the enemy from within. He's, you know, yelling at a "Bloomberg" economics reporter during an interview there. How much of an impact, Maura, might that have?

GILLESPIE: So, he's going back to the 2016 playbook and -

BERMAN: Well, it's not the 2016 playbook though because he's not - is he - it doesn't seem to me that he's trying to control or focus his message.

GILLESPIE: I don't think he is at all, but I also do think that that was a very - that was a blip on the radar of him trying to control himself, which we saw a little bit here in this campaign. There were moments where he was on the teleprompter trying to read his speeches as his team wanted him to. But time and time again, Donald Trump is out for number one. And that's just himself. He truly is going to do whatever it is that he feels will get that current audience, giving him, you know, cheers. And he got some yesterday at the economic forum with Bloomberg. He got some cheers. And the, you know, host their got some boos. Like he - that's where he thrives. He loves that. It doesn't matter the fact that what he's saying is nonsensical. He likes have that adoration.

BERMAN: And do you think, Jim, that that will have an impact? Do you - because the Harris campaign, I think, clearly does. And we'll talk about the choice they're making with this in a second. But from a Trump, from the Trump standpoint, do you think his campaign would care to have him reined in more?

MESSINA: Oh, my gosh, yes. As a former presidential campaign manager, I can tell you, his campaign team is probably throwing their desks out the window every time he goes off script and talks about January 6th. We just had a 2022 election where almost every January 6th defender lost their election. And now we're sitting less than three weeks out and he's steering the conversation back to it. On the same day, Kamala Harris is giving a speech on the Constitution. That's just a disaster for the Harris campaign - or, sorry, for the Trump campaign. BERMAN: Well, look, it may be the - it may be the Harris campaign is giving the speech on patriotism because of what Donald Trump has been saying, which does get to this question. And I know, Jim, you don't think there are choices. You could do both.

But, generally speaking, you get one or two soundbites a day from a campaign that make newspaper headlines and get played the next day. Harris, today, giving this speech, which I think will be about Trump. Do you feel they're making a choice to talk more about Trump than they are about themselves, more about Harris?

MESSINA: Look, every single day - we're now in early voting period and voters are voting. And giving them information about Donald Trump is part of the choice. They run a largely positive campaign, kind of building in her narrative, and now it's time to drive the choice in this election, and the choice is going back to the failed policies of Donald Trump. And that's what you're going to hear the Harris campaigns say every day for the next three weeks.

BERMAN: Instead of, Maura, you think, the joy campaign she was trying to run, instead of focusing on proposals from her and her campaign?

GILLESPIE: I do think you're going to hear more about Trump because the reality is the polls are showing that it's very, very close. But I also think that the more we're hearing about Trump talking about January 6th, trying to rewrite history and saying that he did have a peaceful transfer power, but then also not committing to having a peaceful transfer of power, I do it is not just hyperbole, it's not fear - you know, being - you know, trying to get everyone afraid. This is the reality we're in. Donald Trump is saying what he wants to do. And I think we need to take him seriously.

And his position about being in the White House again is not good for this country. But in that same - main, Republicans down ballot do need to separate themselves from what the president is doing and saying. And they have learned, to Jim's point, they hate when he talks about the 2020 election was stolen or January 6th being a peaceful, great day with lovely people. That's not good for Republicans down ballot. And when the Senate is such a viable option and the House could, you know, grow its majority, they really need to separate themselves.

BERMAN: It's also not true, right?

GILLESPIE: Absolutely. I mean they need to separate themselves because that's not helpful to them. That messaging is not helpful to them.

BERMAN: Jim, is there anything the Harris campaign is not doing that you think they should do or do more of with 20 days left?

MESSINA: No, I think they're running a very disciplined campaign. I think one of the big things we've learned is Kamala Harris is ready for this moment. She has a campaign built around this question you asked me, can you turn out voters and can you persuade voters? That's what you have to do to win a presidential election. And I think they've really built a campaign to do that.

BERMAN: You need to do both, but getting the proportions right sometimes can make all the difference.

Jim Messina, Maura Gillespie, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, a violent arrest sparking outrage this morning. New body camera footage showing Phoenix police repeatedly punching and tasing a deaf black man with cerebral palsy while he's lying face down on the ground. Details on that coming up.

And new evidence in the Menendez brothers murder case. The handwritten letter that could lead prosecutors to reconsider their sentence.

And new details on Israel's timeline to retaliate against Iran's October 1st attack. Those stories and more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:19:23]

SIDNER: New this morning, newly released body camera footage shows two Phoenix police officers shouting orders to a man who turns out was deaf as he's lying face down on the ground. One officer reportedly punched 34-year-old Tyron McAlpin and another officer tased him.

Now, McAlpin is facing two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of resisting arrest.

CNN's Josh Campbell is here with the very latest on this.

This is really disturbing video. And there are a lot of questions as to the timing of how quickly officers got out and jumped on this man, who turned out to be deaf

[09:20:01]

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. This happened so fast. This incident in August actually started when a man at a gas station told police that he was assaulted by someone who was allegedly trying to steal his bike, steal his cell phone. He then points across the street. You can see the image there from surveillance footage of McAlpin walking through a parking lot.

But pay attention to that door of that truck. You see the officer barrel out of that vehicle and made contact with McAlpin. Again, he's deaf, so he couldn't hear the commands to stop.

I also want to play the vantage point of the police body camera footage from that officer. I'll warn our viewers, this might be disturbing. The officer rolls up, he tells McAlpin to stop, and then this happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tase him, tase him, tase him. Put your hands behind your back. Put your hands behind your back. Hands behind your back (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Put your hands behind your back!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, officers then used a Taser against him at least twice. He was transported to a hospital for precautionary measures. Those officers also injured in that scuffle.

Now, as you mentioned, McAlpin's has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault. The third charge of theft was from this original alleged incident. That was dismissed. But the sheer speed with which all this transpired has caused outcries there in the community.

This, of course, also comes as we've reported on a Justice Department scathing report accusing Phoenix police officers have disproportionately enforcing efforts against minorities and people with disabilities. And it's worth pointing out as well that the issue of training also at the forefront here, or the lack thereof.

Take a listen here to those officers who were in court describing what type of training they received in dealing with people with disabilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Light training with people who are hard of hearing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Can you tell me more about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was about seven years ago. I don't remember much of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you received any training in dealing with members of the public who have disabilities?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe briefly, but nothing that I recall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: So, neither officer there saying they even remembered receiving any type of training.

Finally, it's worth pointing out, the union there, the police union, put out a statement saying that the public shouldn't rush to judgment. They say, in their view, this was officers that were in fully marked vehicles who were then attacked.

Finally, it's worth pointing out that the Phoenix Police Department has an internal investigation underway, and the chief prosecutor there in Maricopa County says because of the attention this case is receiving, she will personally be reviewing the case, Sara.

SIDNER: Wow, lots to review there looking at those videos, really disturbing. Josh Campbell, thank you so much. I appreciate your reporting.

John.

BERMAN: All right, we are standing by as the family of Lyle and Erik Menendez is set to hold a press conference on new evidence that they think could set the brothers free.

And one has a big appetite, one's a bit of an introvert, one is a Sagittarius, one likes getting drunk in the rain. The pandas that could radically alter your Wednesday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:45]

BOLDUAN: So, we are expecting to hear from the family of Erik and Lyle Menendez today. The two brothers are currently serving life sentences for killing their parents. This was back in 1988. Their case made national headlines then, and their story has now become even more famous after becoming the focus of a Netflix documentary and a Ryan Murphy series based on their lives.

And now the Los Angeles district attorney has just released new evidence that could lead to a review they're sentences.

CNN has obtained the letter from Erik Menendez that their attorneys argue corroborates the allegation Erik was sexually abused by his father.

Joining us right now, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson for more on this.

This new evidence, this piece of evidence is what people have - are most focused on and most talking about, this letter that Erik wrote to his cousin. And in it he alludes to the alleged sexual abuse from their father. I'll read for everyone part of the letter.

"I'm stuck here alone. I've been trying to avoid dad. It's still happening, Andy, but it's worse for me now. I can't explain it. He's so overweight that I can't stand to see him. I never know when it's going to happen and it's driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in."

How important is this, Joey?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: So, it's significant, and here's why. Just in terms of a timeline, we know it happened in August of 1989. They're arrested, of course, several months later, in March, OK.

But the reason I mentioned that, Kate, is because the letter was allegedly written, and it was written several months before the murder in 1988, December of 1988.

Now, the first trial we know was a mistrial. And it seemed to be that the men on the jury were not buying the issue of sexual abuse. The women were. However, with respect to the second trial where they were convicted, the judge did not let in a lot of evidence with regard to sexual abuse.

BOLDUAN: Right.

JACKSON: Why is that critical? They were arguing self-defense. And they were arguing, the brothers, that they feared for their life. As a result of this sexual abuse over the years, it built up to the notion, hey, our parents are going to kill us. We have to kill them. To the extent that this information about sexual abuse was excluded -

BOLDUAN: Right.

JACKSON: Taken off the table from the second trial, now the DA says, wait a minute, if we would have allowed this evidence in the second trial, would it have made a difference to the outcome?

[09:30:02]

That's what they're examining. That's why it's so critical, Kate.

BOLDUAN: So what then is the central question now? Because