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Trump in GA After NYC Rally Speakers Spew Racist, Vulgar Remarks; Harris to Speak in Speak in Battleground Michigan; Egypt Proposes 2-Day Ceasefire Between Israel And Hamas; Just Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 28, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:31]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Running out of time to make their cases. Vice President Harris is in the battleground state of Michigan touting the Biden administration's record on manufacturing. She's scheduled to speak any minute.

Meanwhile, former President Trump is in the southern swing state of Georgia. But the racist attacks that were spewed at his rally last night, threatening to overshadow his appearance at a National Faith Summit this afternoon.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And some major news out of the Middle East after Iran vows to retaliate to weekend strikes from Israel. And there are potential new ceasefire and hostage release talks. We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

KEILAR: Two presidential candidates, two very different strategies in this final week to Election Day. That is an understatement. This hour, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to speak in Michigan, her first of three stop in the battleground state today.

SANCHEZ: Former President Donald Trump, meantime, will be in the key swing state of Georgia for a pair of events later today. His campaign is currently trying to clean up after last night's rally at Madison Square Garden that featured Trump loyalists who unleashed demeaning, vulgar, and at times, racist rants against a familiar Trump set of targets, including disparaging remarks about his Democratic opponent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID REM, REPUBLICAN POLITICIAN: She is the devil who ever screamed that out. She is the antichrist.

GRANT CARDONE, PRIVATE EQUITY MANAGER: She's a fake. I'm not here to invalidate her. She's a fake, a fraud. She's a pretender. Her and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Our correspondents join us now with the latest developments. Let's get to CNN's Kristen Holmes first, because Kristen, Trump is set to speak with some faith leaders later this afternoon. What are you hearing from the campaign? And what do you know about whether Trump might address some of these remarks?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well, Boris and Brianna, just want to quickly point out the remark that really has garnered the most attention, which was this racist and vile remark about Puerto Ricans, essentially, the comedian who was the opener, set the tone for the entire night of rallying, came forward and said that there's a floating island of garbage. You might know it as Puerto Rico.

Now, this is something that the campaign itself has really been upset about, particularly Trump allies, the advisers who say that these comments have overshadowed what Donald Trump was doing last night, holding this event at Madison Square Garden. They want the focus to be on Trump's messaging around immigration and crime rather than around these remarks.

And in fact, the campaign actually put out a rare statement distancing themselves from this joke. They said, this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign. Now, I did ask one adviser if there are any plans for Donald Trump to address this. They said as of now, there are no plans for Donald Trump to formally address this, that this campaign statement speaks for itself. But there's a lot of concern about Republicans. This could be harmful politically as well as just being crass. Puerto Ricans make up a huge swathe of voters in several swing states, particularly Pennsylvania, a state that, as we know, might determine the election this cycle.

Donald Trump is going to be there tomorrow, so we'll see if this position on not saying anything changes. Now, as for today, Donald Trump, as you mentioned, is in the critical swing state of Georgia State. At one point, Donald Trump, his Republican allies felt very confident. And I talked to a number of Republican operatives here in the state who say they believe that this state could go either way.

Now, if you talk to Trump's team, they say they feel more confident. but we'll hear how his messaging goes forward today. One thing to keep in mind, as he is in these very various battleground states, one of the things we know Donald Trump's team is trying to do is court women in particular. When you look at the racist, and sexist, and vile remarks that not from Donald Trump, but from that pre-programming that led up to Trump speaking at Madison Square Garden, it's hard to see how you can rectify or how you can close the gap there between those remarks and trying to reach suburban women who possibly already have shied away from Donald Trump because of some of his rhetoric. How you can close that gap seems very difficult before Election Day with just one week left.

KEILAR: Yeah, certainly. Kristen Holmes live for us on the trail from Atlanta. Thank you. And let's go live now to CNN's Eva McKend Reporter who's on the trail covering the Harris campaign in Michigan. Eva, talk to us about Harris's message today and how her campaign is reacting to that Trump rally last night.

[14:05:04]

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, for the Vice President today, it is a big manufacturing push. She's currently in Saginaw where she will visit a semiconductor facility on that assembly line, speaking to workers. Then she'll go to Macomb County to a labor union training facility. And this allows the Vice President to tout the winds of the Biden-Harris administration as she views it when it comes to these types of manufacturing jobs. The CHIPS Act, they argued, fortified those jobs. And then also point to policy areas in her campaign pitch that supports this, like funding for apprenticeship programs, as well as a tax cut for American manufacturers.

And this comes at a time when Democrats in some corners very much want this to be the closing argument, an affirmative case for why she wants to be president. They just see some limitations in focusing so heavily on the former President who has proved impervious these criticisms of him as it relates to fascism and racism. But yet, and still, the Vice President is going to be asked about this. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not new about him, by the way. What he did last night is not a discovery. It is just more of the same and maybe more vivid than usual. Donald Trump spends full time trying to have Americans point their finger at each other, fans the fuel of hate and division. And that's why people are exhausted with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: And Brianna, this comes at a time when more than 100,000 people have already voted early in this state, more than 1 million people already returning their absentee ballots. So they very much want to sees on the level of engagement that they see in this state. She's going to end the day with a big rally here in Ann Arbor. It's part of the When We Vote, We Win concert series. Maggie Rogers will perform. And then we'll see a rare joint appearance between Vice President Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Eva McKend, live for us on the trail. Thank you. Trump's Madison Square Garden rally was controversial even by the extraordinary standard that he has set for what is now controversial in politics. A lot of the controversy owing to that Trump campaign decision, to invite Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian who was well known for -- well, actually, he wasn't all that well known until now. So let's go through who he insulted at the Trump rally and a warning that some viewers may find some of this language offensive. First, Latinos.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY HINCHCLIFFE, COMEDIAN: And these Latinos, they love making babies, too. Just know that. They do. They do. There's no pulling out. They don't do that. They come inside just like they did to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Black people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HINCHCLIFFE: Heck, yeah. This cool black guy with a thing on his head. What the hell is that? A lampshade? Look at this guy. Oh, my goodness. I'm just kidding. That's one of my buddies. He had a Halloween party last night. We had fun. We carved watermelons together. It was awesome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Palestinians and Jews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HINCHCLIFFE: When it comes to Israel and Palestine, we're all thinking the same thing. Settle your stuff already. Best out of three. Rock, paper, scissors. You know the Palestinians are going to throw rock every time. You'll soon know the Jews have a hard time throwing that paper. You know what I'm saying?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And an entire island of American voters where significant numbers of voters in key swing states trace their roots, the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HINCHCLIFFE: I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it's called Puerto Rico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Hinchcliffe defended his joke. And when Vice President Harris's running mate Tim Walz criticized him, Hinchcliffe wrote on X, "these people have no sense of humor. Wild that a vice presidential candidate would take time out of his busy schedule to analyze a joke taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there. I made fun of everyone. I'm a comedian, Tim."

Back in 2017, then President Trump memorably received a lot of criticism following his appearance in Puerto Rico after the catastrophe of Hurricane Maria, where he threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans as relief supplies were being handed out. At the time, of course, many Puerto Ricans were upset with the federal response to the storm. And the Trump campaign, notably, did not defend that particular joke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:10:02]

KAROLINE LEAVITT, TRUMP 2024 NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY: It was a comedian who made a joke in poor taste. Obviously, that joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or our campaign. The crowd, they didn't mind, right? Again, it was a diverse group of people. The joke fell flat but the crowd was there because they know who President Trump is and they know he wants to be a president for all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Hinchcliffe said he made fun of everyone. Not quite. He notably did not roast white people like he roasted non-white people, except for Travis Kelce, Joe Bide, and Bill and Hillary Clinton, who was a popular target at this rally. Here's a radio host named Sid Rosenberg who also appeared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SID ROSENBERG: She is some sick (Inaudible) that Hillary Clinton, huh? What a sick son of a bitch. The whole fucking party, a bunch of degenerates, low lives, jewel (ph) haters and low lives. Every one of them. Every one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The Trump campaign invited Rosenberg to speak despite his long and easily googleable history of racism and homophobic comments, including saying that Venus and Serena Williams are too muscular, disgusting, and would be candidates to pose for National Geographic as opposed to Playboy Magazine. Other speakers took aim at Vice President Kamala Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REM: She is the devil who ever screamed that out. She is the Antichrist.

CARDONE: She's a fake. I'm not here to invalidate her. She's a fake, a fraud. She's a pretender. Her and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: That last one, a businessman invited by the Trump campaign calling the Vice President of the United States a prostitute. Ladies and gentlemen, Trump's closing message of the 2024 presidential election. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss that event and more with the former Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu. He's a campaign co-chair for Kamala Harris. Mitch, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate your time.

You heard the clips from Trump's rally. You heard the defense from the campaign specifically about some of those jokes. I wonder what you think of the warm reception it seemed to get from the audience that was at Madison Square Garden.

MITCH LANDRIEU, (D) FORMER NEW ORLEANS MAYOR: Well, as an American citizen, on behalf of all of my fellow American citizens, yesterday was disgusting. It was really just beyond the pale. But quite frankly, not surprising. The fact that the Trump campaign is trying to distance themselves from this is a joke because a fish rots from the head.

From the second that Donald Trump came down that elevator, calling all Mexicans rapists and robbers to immigrants poisoned the blood of America, to the fact that they're dumping garbage on our country, to the idea of people that don't look like me or vermin, all of those things are seeds in the soil of Hatred that cause us to be divided from each other. Donald Trump knows that that is his method of operation that if he divides us as a country, he wins because Donald Trump, you see, is for himself.

Donald Trump is for a few of his very wealthy friends. Donald Trump is for using power to hurt people rather than help people. So yesterday, as awful as it was, the country just got to see in full view seven hours of that hatred and vitriol. And I guess what I would say is that in a few short days, the American people, the only jury that really matters, the only group of people that can save this democracy as we know it, are going to have to go to the polls and render a verdict on whether you want to go backwards and be in division, and go back to 1798. Those are Donald Trump's words. Or whether you want to follow Kamala Harris into the future with a new way forward because we're just exhausted with this kind of vitriol and hate. We do not have to hate each other to be a great country.

America is a wonderful country. It's the greatest country that's ever been. And it's been because we have worked together. We've tried to find a pathway forward through our difficulty. And Kamala Harris is offering us that.

SANCHEZ: When it comes to Vice President Harris's speech tomorrow, that's set for the ellipse, an obvious reference to January 6th, that's not lost on anyone, I'm curious about what you think the message should be. Because one of the biggest super PACs behind her is warning that based on their research, attacking Trump as an authoritarian, as a fascist is less persuasive than her putting out her own vision for the country when it comes to economic policy, when it comes to how she views certain specific issues. Do you agree with that?

LANDRIEU: Well, first of all, as you know, I was a lieutenant governor for two terms, a mayor for two terms, and a legislator for four, and have run a lot of campaigns. It is absolutely appropriate to define your opponent, especially when your opponent is a threat to democracy, and especially if the people who are making the complaints are the people that that person hired who have unimpeachable credentials.

[14:15:01]

So it's critically important just to remind people that Donald Trump is a felon. He's been accused of sexual abuse. He has now talked about taking over democracy and using the military to hurt people. I think that is an appropriate thing to say to remind people about it, but it is also true. And she has done this. She's doing this as we speak in Michigan, reminding people that the Biden-Harris administration has invested billions of dollars creating manufacturing jobs and bringing jobs back to America.

By the way, the Harris-Biden administration invested billions of dollars in Puerto Rico to help it stand up after Maria and has been there every day for them. And so her positive theory about going forward is something she's going to talk about tomorrow.

When she goes and stands on that ellipse, that is intentional so that they can actually demonstrate the difference between Donald Trump who stood in that place that incited an insurrection against the country, and a Vice President who has spent her entire career defending the people of America. And she does it every day.

The difference between us and them is we have the receipts and they do not. Remember, Donald Trump was president for four years and he was -- when he was president, we had a bad economy, not a good economy. We lost jobs, 2.5 million to be exact, not gained jobs, 16.6 million under Biden-Harris administration plants closed under Donald Trump. They are opening under Biden and Harris, and will continue to do this on the investments of the Harris administration going forward from the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS Act. And she's going to demonstrate that in real time with real jobs and real people whose lives have been changed because of her vision, about how America can move forward.

SANCHEZ: Mayor, I just want to give our viewers an update. What we were seeing there a moment ago were live images from Saginaw, Michigan, of the Vice President touring a manufacturing plant. Again, she is set to make remarks soon, so we will hear from her.

I wonder, as I was listening to your response, if -- and there is the Vice President now, video from moments ago. If you think, Mayor, that voters then or folks that are polled on questions about the economy have it wrong because what we've heard over and over again is that those who've been asked believe that Donald Trump has earned more of their confidence when it comes to handling economic issues. And what you're describing as the tough economy that had job loss and plants closing largely came as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So I wonder if there's a message the Vice President can push through at this late stage that would shake that perception that the economy would be better handled by former President Trump than by Harris.

LANDRIEU: Well, first of all, it is a fact that Donald Trump lost more jobs as president than any job since Herbert Hoover. And the Biden Harris administration created more in four years than most governments did in 16. However, she is laser-focused on bringing down cost, as she has said, with pharmaceuticals, which Donald Trump wants to change, etcetera, etcetera. But what you're watching right now is a fact that they are at a plant that got created because of a piece of legislation that got passed by the Biden-Harris administration. That's number one.

Number two, let me say this, that it is true that the public's perception was a little bit different. But as the poll -- all of the polls show, she has completely -- almost completely closed that gap on who's better for the economy. And she's doing a great job in doing that. Remember, when she entered the race, she was down here, then she went way up here and we came down just a little bit. And in this race, it's going to be neck and neck. There's no question that this is going to be one of the closest elections. The only jury that really, really matters is the American people. And we're going to demonstrate that the new pathway forward is the way to go.

And as the Vice President said, it really is time to turn the page. People are tired. They're frustrated. They're tired of showing up at Thanksgiving dinner, getting a fight with their families about Donald Trump waking up the next day thinking about what the hell did this guy do today, there's another pathway forward. And she's demonstrating that she can help lead us there.

SANCHEZ: Sadly Mitch Landrieu, thank you for joining us. I don't think that the Thanksgiving arguments are going to go away even after the election. But I do appreciate your --

LANDRIEU: Hopefully they'll get better.

SANCHEZ: Well, we'll see about that. Sir, I appreciate you sharing your time with us. Thanks for your perspective.

LANDRIEU: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still ahead this hour on CNN News Central for Madison Square Garden, straight to a bankruptcy hearing. A federal judge now looking into Rudy Giuliani's claim that he gifted four World Series rings to his son.

Plus, Egypt proposing a two day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in exchange for hostages and Palestinian prisoners. Will either side accept?

KEILAR: And as we mentioned, any minute, Vice President Harris is expected to speak in Michigan. And we're standing by for that. These important stories and more all coming up on CNN News Central.

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[14:24:07]

SANCHEZ: Today, a brand new CNN digital series debuts titled American Battleground. It's a deep dive into the final months of the 2024 presidential campaign from CNN's Tom Foreman.

KEILAR: And Tom joins us now. So, Tom, you say the fuse for this explosive Trump rally at Madison Square Garden that we saw last night was actually lit way back in June. Tell us about that.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it was because of the Trump- Biden debate. Trump got what he wanted. He drove Biden out of the race. But that opened the door to Kamala Harris and suddenly all the light came off of Trump. He couldn't buy a headline. She was all over the news. She was rising in the polls. She came up, surpassed him, never beyond the margin of error. Nobody has been beyond that. But she got up in front of him. And, you know, many of the analysts we talked to here said it scared Trump. He was frightened about this. And the response ultimately was to say we have to define her. And the definition came from attack, attack, attack, attack. And now in the final days, that's all we're seeing, is endless attacks.

[14:25:03]

SANCHEZ: Tom, what about the Vice President? How is she adjusted to being thrust into this and running this very abridged campaign?

FOREMAN: Yeah, it's a remarkable thing when you think about it. Everyone focuses a lot on what Trump is doing about it. Imagine this, you're with a matter of months, suddenly you are the candidate, you're a vice president. Both of you know, vice presidents always have a hard time defining themselves because they can't steal the light from the president themselves. So what she's tried to do is move along in this, lay out some policy, do the interviews that the Trump people said she wasn't doing.

She's doing many more of those now than Trump is doing in terms of any kind of an antagonistic interview. And trying to get herself moving forward here, but ultimately trying to hit that balance you were just talking about with Mitch Landrieu from my own hometown of New Orleans. How do you hit the right balance between attacking enough to draw the difference with the person you're running against and at the same time saying, here are my programs I'm putting forward that offer some kind of hope for the future?

In the end, the Madison Square Garden event, exactly what she has been building toward, too, since June in that looking for those moments when Trump himself will show the American people, this is who I am. And she can just say, is that what you want? Do you want four more years of that, that contentious sort of biting environment that was going on there? Some people will like it. Maybe some people think that's the right course. She's betting a lot of people won't.

SANCHEZ: A fascinating race, a fascinating series American Battleground. You can find it on cnn.com right now. Tom Foreman, thank you so much.

FOREMAN: (Inaudible).

SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come, fresh from center stage at the Trump rally to the center of a federal court case today in New York. Rudy Giuliani did not appear -- did not have to appear in person, but he's got a lot riding on today's debt hearing. It's tied to a lawsuit that found him liable for defaming two Georgia election workers following the 2020 election. The former New York mayor and Trump attorney owes election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, an astounding $150 million.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is outside the federal courthouse there in New York. Katelyn, tell us what happened in court. KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: It was almost

an hour in court today. Rudy Giuliani wasn't here in person even though he was speaking of that Donald Trump rally yesterday here in this city, in Manhattan. But what happened in court is a dispute over whether Giuliani will lose the last remaining piece of property he owns.

As far as Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss's team has been able to find the properties that he owns, he's already losing an apartment that he has here in Manhattan that's worth about $6 million in the next 24 hours. Tomorrow is the deadline for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Mos to take control of that property and begin to sell it, along with a lot of other luxury goods. But the property that they were fighting about in court is his Palm Beach condo, a place where he spends a lot of time. He has popped up at Mar-a-Lago advocating for Trump many times. Also in Palm Beach, that condo is worth $3.5 million.

And Boris and Brianna, the display dispute in court is does he actually live there as his primary residence? If he does, he may be able to keep it. If he doesn't, then it's very likely Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss can take that as well and sell it off. Today, the main dispute boiled down to his lawyers or Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss's lawyers saying, we just need to know the date where that became the place he lives primarily. He spent the summer traveling around, even going to the Olympics in Paris to the RNC. He was going to New York. He was staying in New Hampshire. He was there for a short amount of time in Florida over the last several months. They say, this is a vacation home. It's not where he lives.

But then, Giuliani's attorney stood up in court and said, I can't give you an answer right now. Let me lay down a marker on the way humans live their lives. Momentous decisions like that about where someone lives primarily get made over time. So they're going to keep pursuing this. It's a matter before the judge. And it is one of the last things that Giuliani has of significant value that he's still trying to hold onto here. Boris and Brianna?

KEILAR: Yeah, it'll be really interesting to see what happens with that. Katelyn Polantz live for us outside of court in New York. Thank you. Some Republicans are in cleanup mode after speakers at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally spewed racist attacks. We'll have much more on that ahead.

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