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CNN Speaks With Voters In Crucial Swing State Wisconsin; WSJ: The Next President Inherits A Remarkable Economy; Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) On Trump's Comments About Liz Cheney. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired November 01, 2024 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So what Harris wants to do is keep the margins closer here -- a little bit closer like it was four years ago.
Finally, she's going to Milwaukee, a Democratic stronghold and the most populous county in the state. She wants to run up the margins here.
Now, one thing I want to talk about in Wisconsin, and I'm going to use this tool for the first time -- I hope it's more of a magic wall and not a muggle wall here, so I hope it works. I want to talk about how the vote is counted in Milwaukee -- in Wisconsin, I should say.
In Wisconsin, the polls close at 8:00, OK? And you can see four years ago -- we'll fast forward a little bit. You can see 9:00, 9:45, 10:00 it's going back and forth. And then at about 11:00 what happens? Donald Trump starts to go ahead 50 percent to 47 percent. Why? Well, it's because they're counting the in-person Election Day vote largely. In Wisconsin, you can't start counting the mail-in vote until Election Day itself, so it takes some time.
So, Trump was ahead at 11:00 into midnight, past 1:00 a.m. And then just after 2:00, this is when Donald Trump goes on TV and says I won the whole election. I won in Wisconsin. Guess what? He didn't.
Because then what happened -- I'm going to press play here. It gets past 2:00, 3:00, 4:00, but boom! Right here before 6:00 a.m. they count mail-in votes in Milwaukee and in Green Bay -- some more Democratic areas. Joe Biden goes ahead, and it never goes back. And by Wednesday afternoon, CNN and others call the race in Wisconsin for Joe Biden.
So you get a sense of how things can change depending on what vote is counted when. This is something we should all be aware of, Kate, next Tuesday into Wednesday and perhaps even beyond.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And beyond. Bank on the beyond in some regard in some battleground states for sure.
And as John was pointing out both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump both heading to battleground Wisconsin today. And Jeff Zeleny, he's already there and he's hearing from voters about what is driving their vote this election. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVE FLANNERY, WISCONSIN VOTER FOR HARRIS: I'm ready for it to be over.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Dave Flannery is exhausted by the election.
FLANNERY: It's getting more and more difficult to listen to all the vitriol and that sort of thing.
ZELENY (voiceover): From his apple orchard in battleground Wisconsin, he's had a front row seat to the caustic campaign.
When we met earlier this year, Flannery was fed up with the political division and dysfunction.
FLANNERY: What else can you think about it? It's a mess.
ZELENY: How does it get fixed?
FLANNERY: I wish I knew.
ZELENY (voiceover): With the election days away, we paid another visit. He said he's voting for Kamala Harris.
ZELENY: Is it a vote for Vice President Harris or against Donald Trump?
FLANNERY: For Harris. No, let me rephrase that -- both -- both, yeah.
ZELENY: It's a vote against Trump and for Harris.
FLANNERY: Yes.
ZELENY (voiceover): The fight is on for Wisconsin.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are we ready to win?
ZELENY (voiceover): Both Harris and Trump set to mail dueling visits Friday --
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're winning. We're winning.
ZELENY (voiceover): -- for the second time in three days.
CAROLINE QUINLAN, WISCONSIN VOTER FOR TRUMP: I don't want to make any predictions because I think it's that close.
ZELENY (voiceover): Caroline Quinlan does not see a perfect option on either ticket. When we spoke this summer her frustrations were clear.
QUINLAN: Both parties have their extreme side and no one's in the middle. ZELENY (voiceover): From her vantage point in the critical suburbs of
Milwaukee no longer dominated by Republicans alone, she said issues are driving her decision.
QUINLAN: I'm going to vote for Trump. You know, when he talks in the big arena sometimes I'm like I wish he would tone down his rhetoric and everything. But at the end of the day I want a person that's going to fix the economy, border, and then national security.
ZELENY (voiceover): A yearlong conversation with voters paints a more nuanced picture of the electorate. For one, the gender gap is hardly absolute.
BRUCE NEAD, WISCONSIN VOTER FOR HARRIS: January 6, which was a direct threat against our democracy trying to overthrow a legal election. That was it for me.
ZELENY (voiceover): To win, the Harris coalition depends upon people like Bruce Nead, raised in a Republican family whose front yard makes his disdain for the former president clear.
And Tiffany Koehler, a Republican who is casting a rare vote for the Democratic presidential candidate.
TIFFANY KOEHLER, WISCONSIN REPUBLICAN VOTER FOR HARRIS: We used to be the party of limited government. We used to be the party of fiscal responsibility. I know there's a lot of Republicans voting for the vice president because we really want to close this chapter in history.
ZELENY (voiceover): For Trump, the path to victory not only depends on strength in deep red rural areas but whether he diminishes Democratic margins in the suburbs outside Madison.
Brandon Maly leads the Republican Party in fast-growing Dane County.
BRANDON MALY, CHAIR, DANE COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY: People think of Madison as such a traditional liberal bastion, but you get outside of Madison, Dane County is the second most populated county. If he does not get at least 23 percent of the vote in Dane County he will not win Wisconsin. If he gets 25 percent or above, he wins, guaranteed.
[07:35:00]
ZELENY (voiceover): The campaign draws to a close with many wildcards, including third-party candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. whose name remains on the ballot.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., POLITICIAN: I don't want -- I don't want your vote. I want you to vote for Donald Trump.
ZELENY (voiceover): Back at the Apple Holler Orchard, Flannery sees a hopeful light at the end of a dark campaign.
FLANNERY: It's more than about politics. The future of the country is more important than whether you're a Republican or Democrat. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: Now, for Harris, Wisconsin and those other blue wall states remain her best path to winning 270 electoral votes. For Donald Trump, it's something of a tiebreaker. He won Wisconsin, of course, in 2016. He lost in 2020.
And, Sara, both candidates, Harris and Trump, will be campaigning back here in Wisconsin today. They were just here Wednesday as well. That gives a sense of how competitive this state remains. Early vote still underway here. More than one million people have already cast their ballots. But again, Wisconsin and, of course, the rest of the blue wall states, so critical come Tuesday -- Sara.
SIDNER: Certainly with those 10 electoral votes.
Jeff Zeleny, thank you, live for us from Milwaukee there.
On the trail, Donald Trump has been working overtime to reach out to Latinos and clean up the racist comments about Puerto Rico a comedian made at his Madison Square Garden rally. He stopped in deep blue New Mexico yesterday, a state he lost twice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So I'm here for one simple reason, I like you very much and it's good for my credentials with the Hispanic or Latino community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Trump also facing backlash for comments that he'd protect women whether they like it or not, something Vice President Harris has seized on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: He simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to know what's in their own best interest and make decisions accordingly. But we trust women. We trust women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Joining me now, CNN political commentator and former Trump White House communications director, Alyssa Farah Griffin. And Pete Seat, the former White House spokesman for George. W. Bush. Thank you both for being here.
There is so much to get to I sometimes don't even know where to start. But I will start with you, Alyssa, because we just heard Donald Trump in New Mexico, which he claimed he won in '16 and '20, which he did not. But what does this messaging tell you about where he's at right now?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, I do think it was kind of a waste of a campaign day. He's not winning New Mexico. But to even just go before a Latino community and say I need to be here for the credentials -- that's not a winning strategy.
His campaign massively stepped in this dumpster fire of a Madison Square Garden rally. Yes, there was the comedian who made the slur about Puerto Ricans, but Donald Trump's also been calling America a garbage can. And I think that's something that the Harris campaign has seized on -- they're pushing back on. It's a deeply, like, unpatriotic message that he's delivering, and he really has failed to kind of harness this closing message.
She's made it pretty clear. She went to the Ellipse. She talked about the economy, but the threats to democracy.
I could not tell you what Donald Trump's closing message is. It's something between insulting migrants, telling women they don't get to decide what they do with their bodies, and threatening Liz Cheney. That seems to be the closing message for Donald Trump.
SIDNER: And we will get to Liz Cheney comments in just a minute because they are shocking.
Pete, Harris seizing on Trump words there in her message to women. How effective do you think that will be?
PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN FOR GEORGE W. BUSH, VICE PRESIDENT, BOSE PUBLIC AFFAIRS GROUP, FORMER SPOKESMAN, INDIANA REPUBLICAN PARTY (via Webex by Cisco): Well, that's to be seen. Kamala Harris needs young women, especially, to come out and vote for her -- those in the 18- to 29-year-old demographic. That's why she's been leaning in so heavily on the topic of abortion.
And when Trump makes comments like this about I'm going to protect women whether they like it or not, that's his oddly phrased way of saying he is going to represent all Americans, but it's such an easy thing for Kamala Harris to grab ahold of and beat up on.
But I just want to say when it comes to New Mexico, whether he went there for the Latino vote or not, I don't know. But I think the campaign is correct. They said this about California and they're probably saying this about his stop in Virginia this weekend as well.
It doesn't matter where Donald Trump goes, the campaign and the coverage follows him. So whether he's in a battleground state or not there are cameras there. There's reporting that will come from it because he is Donald Trump and he's a nominee for President of the United States. So wherever he goes the coverage follows.
SIDNER: And that is true for him and Kamala Harris -- the same.
J.D. Vance said some eyebrow-raising things on the Joe Rogan podcast -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wouldn't be surprised if me and Trump won just the normal gay guy vote --
JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE" PODCAST: Oh, I'm sure.
VANCE: -- because again, they just wanted to be left the hell alone and now you have all this crazy stuff on top of it.
[07:40:00]
If you are a, you know, middle class or upper middle class white parent and the only thing that you care about it is whether your child goes into Harvard or Yale -- like, obviously, that pathway has become a lot harder for a lot of upper middle class kids. But the one way that those people can participate in the DEI bureaucracy in this country is to be trans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: OK. Alyssa, who was he messaging, and what is the message exactly?
GRIFFIN: What is he talking about? That was the first time I'd heard this -- the latter portion of that. I mean, tell me you have no gay friends without telling me you have no gay friends. The normal gay guys. I'm just -- it's offensive. There's an implication that there's the not normal gay --
SIDNER: Right.
GRIFFIN: -- community. You're winning absolutely nobody with that message.
The latter portion -- he is -- J.D. Vance is basically a creature of the internet, and that's the best I can come up with. I think he needs to touch grass and remember we don't all live on social media and X where people get into these hyperpartisan tribal discussions about DEI and trans issues. That affects such a limited portion of the country.
This is not the closing message, to get back to my original point. The economy, border security -- you know, getting us out of wars abroad. That's what Donald Trump was supposed to be running on, not getting into these really bizarre and very, very narrow issues that move so little of the population.
SIDNER: Pete, I want to ask you both about this. Donald Trump keeps talking about the enemy within. Now he's gone a step further -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Donald Trump is talking about political rival Liz Cheney. He just called for executing her.
Does this move people or what, Pete?
SEAT: I'm sickened by it, Sara, to be honest with you. Since July -- since that first assassination attempt, we have heard Republicans -- my fellow Republicans excoriate Democrats for their rhetoric and saying that the rhetoric was the cause of that assassination attempt, and then the second assassination attempt.
And here you have a former President of the United States and potentially the next President of the United States threatening a political rival in Liz Cheney. If you want to be president, act like you want to be president and actually bring respect to the office.
And I usually don't get that wound up but listening to that just really, really, really bothers me.
SIDNER: I just want to quickly put on the screen Liz Cheney has responded to this -- and if we can put her words up on the screen. She says, "This is how dictators destroy free nations."
He is literally putting that out there and threatening Liz Cheney.
GRIFFIN: It's unconscionable.
SIDNER: What is this message?
GRIFFIN: It's unconscionable. I don't know how Republican leaders, many of whom served with Liz Cheney and at one point considered her a colleague and friend, cannot denounce this.
It is dangerous, it's escalatory. He's also already called for war -- like tribunals against her when he's back as president. It is so unpresidential, reckless, and dangerous, and it needs to be universally condemned.
SIDNER: Alyssa Farah Griffin and Pete Seat, thank you both. Appreciate you coming on. Lots to get to. Lots more to get to and we'll be talking more. We've only got four days left.
All right, John Berman.
BERMAN: All right. New this morning, The Wall Street Journal notes that whoever wins the presidential race -- they will inherit a pretty impressive economy. The broadest measure of the economy is strong. GDP grew at an annualized rate of 2.8 percent in the third quarter.
You'll have to remember back in 2020, Donald Trump warned the stock market would tank if voters elected President Biden. Well, the S&P returns under the Biden administration -- they've been pretty huge.
Let's get to CNN's Matt Egan for the latest on this. Good morning, sir.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, John.
Look, it's been a blockbuster four years for the stock market under President Biden. The S&P 500 has surged almost 70 percent since Election Day 2020.
Now, all of these big gains have boosted the value of millions of Americans' retirement plans, their college savings plans, their investment portfolios. And this stands out to me for two reasons. One, it's coming at a time when many people have real frustrations with the underlying real American economy. It's also the exact opposite of what former President Trump had predicted would happen.
Back in July of 2020, then-President Trump tweeted, "If you want your 401k's and stocks to disintegrate and disappear, vote for the radical left do nothing Democrats and corrupt Joe Biden. Massive tax hikes. They will make you poor, very fast."
Now, that was quite the damning statement from Trump who more than any of his predecessors really looked at the market as a real time barometer of how he was doing. And at the time of that tweet, Trump was enjoying the second-best market performance that any president has had in modern history. But what ended up happening was the Biden market has actually surpassed the Trump stock market.
[07:45:10]
So what we found is that under Biden, the S&P 500 has enjoyed compound annual growth of about 14 percent since Election Day. That is the second best that any president has had since 1945. That's according to CFRA research. And these -- the only one that was stronger, and I think you can see from that chart, was Bill Clinton during the booming 1990s and the dot.com bubble.
Now, these strong gains under Biden -- they reflect the fact that we had low unemployment. We've had this rapid recovery from COVID. And, of course, the boon from AI.
But we should not that the market was really strong under Trump as well. He also had low unemployment for most of his term, very low inflation, and those 2017 tax cuts really boosted corporate profits.
But it is really remarkable to see that the Biden market has been historically strong at a time when a lot of people are frustrated with the economy -- John.
BERMAN: Important to note that, and also important when you look at that chart. Stock markets generally go up. It's an argument -- it's an argument for blue chips right there.
Matt Egan, thank you very much for that -- Kate.
EGAN: Thanks, John.
BOLDUAN: Georgia's longest ever criminal trial is over and rapper Young Thug is free. The details on a plot twist of a plea deal.
And it is November 1, friends, which of course means cue the holiday music. The brand new song dropping today from an unlikely duo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOYZ II MEN, JASON KELCE, TRAVIS KELCE: Singing "Christmas Time (in Cleveland Heights)."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL)
[07:51:10]
BERMAN: New reaction this morning to the moment that Joe Rogan pressed the Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance on Republican-led states restricting abortion access.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGAN: Abortion had always been -- Roe v. Wade had always been the law of the land. And then all of a sudden that was taken away and you have these religious men who are trying to dictate what women can and can't do with their bodies.
VANCE: Yeah, yeah -- no. Look, I mean, again, I understand that -- I understand the pushback against that, but I think you can go -- like with so many other issues you can go way too far about it and it becomes trying to celebrate something that at the very best -- if you grant I think every argument of the pro-choice side it is a neutral thing, not something to be celebrated.
ROGAN: I think there's very few people that are celebrating, though.
VANCE: I agree.
ROGAN: It's just the extreme --
VANCE: I 100 percent agree.
ROGAN: -- weirdos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut who is up for re-election, is with us now.
And Senator, actually, abortion came up in your Senate debate this week where your opponent basically said look, we're in liberal Connecticut here. It's unrealistic that abortion laws are going to change here.
How much of an issue do you think this will be in your state and around the country?
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Oh, I think it will likely be the number one issue. You already look at who's early voting in a place like Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and the numbers are overwhelmingly women and young women who are coming out to say hell no, I'm not going to allow men in Washington to make decisions about my body. And make no mistake, Republicans may be talking today about abortion,
but their party platform calls for a change in the law that would likely make access to contraception and IVF coverage in doubt as well.
But this theme you hear from J.D. Vance is consistent from Republicans. They're trying to downplay the threat.
That's exactly what they did when those Supreme Court justices were coming before the Senate for confirmation when Kavanaugh and Gorsuch were getting confirmed. They said don't worry about it. Roe is settled precedent and it's unlikely it'll ever be overturned. And then what did they do? As soon as they had a conservative anti-choice majority on the court, they overturned Roe versus Wade. And now, in half the states across the country women cannot get abortions and women are dying.
So they are absolutely coming after abortion. They are absolutely going to try to pass a national abortion ban. That is the stakes of this election. So even women in Connecticut are not safe. If your state protects the right to full reproductive health care that might be gone if Republicans win the presidency, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.
BERMAN: I do want to get your reaction to what Donald Trump said about Liz Cheney -- Republican Liz Cheney overnight -- listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face.
You know, they're all war hawks when they're sitting in Washington in a nice building saying oh, gee, well, let's send -- let's send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So what did you think when you first saw that?
MURPHY: I mean, listen, it's no more reckless than anything else Donald Trump or surrogates from his campaign have said. I mean, this is a campaign that has celebrated violence. In that clip he's talking about guns being pointed at a supporter of Kamala Harris. Today he still says that if he's elected, he is going to pardon the vigilantes who tried to storm the Capitol and overthrow democracy. Unfortunately, this is a campaign that often endorses violence and talks about incredibly violent images.
[07:55:05]
You know, it is true that Liz Cheney and Kamala Harris have a lot of disagreements, including on foreign policy. And I think that just underscores how stunning it is that a hardened Republican like Liz Cheney would support Kamala Harris. And it's not because they share views on foreign policy, it's because
Liz Cheney and many other Republicans around the country see Donald Trump as a threat to our way of life. That we just won't be America any longer and that we won't actually get to litigate our differences if Donald Trump comes in and uses law enforcement or the military to punish his political enemies -- his enemies list.
So, yeah, there are strange bedfellows in the final few weeks of this campaign and that's because a lot of Republicans out there -- patriotic Republicans are taking Donald Trump at his word when he says that he's going to undermine our democracy.
BERMAN: So, Senator, there is one number here that's pretty glaring. It's the right track-wrong track number here and it's similar in all polls. This is The Wall Street Journal poll in which just 26 percent of Americans say the country is headed in the right direction. If you look at history incumbent parties do not win with numbers like this.
So I do wonder if Kamala Harris does not win the election what do you think will have been the determining factor here? This right track- wrong track number -- will that be it?
MURPHY: Well, I'm certainly not doing post-election analysis yet but let me say this. There are a lot of Americans out there who are unhappy even though they have a job today. There is a crisis of connection, loneliness -- a real sort of spiritual malaise in this country that we need to think about. And I think it's because a lot of Americans feel powerless. That they have a job, but they don't feel like they're in control of their lives any longer.
That's why what Kamala Harris is talking about in terms of helping more people start small businesses, supporting labor unions that give workers more power. Regulating social media so the parents feel more in control of their children's lives. Those things can make a difference, and I think you'll hear her continue to talk about those things in the closing days of the campaign.
BERMAN: All right, Sen. Chris Murphy from Connecticut. Appreciate your time. Thanks for being with us -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: So, Chicago's new school board president has resigned over what the mayor called deeply disturbing statements made online. Mitchell Johnson was appointed just seven days ago. His resignation comes after local reporting uncovered antisemitic and sexist postings on his social media pages, including a 9/11 conspiracy theory.
Those messages prompted the Illinois governor and nearly the entire Chicago City Council to call for Johnson to go. The Chicago Sun Times reports Johnson has now apologized for his comments.
A new legal challenge from Donald Trump. The former president is suing CBS demanding $10 billion in damages for the network's "60 MINUTES" interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump alleges that the network engaged in election interference with the interview and that the interview intended to "mislead the public in an attempt to tip the scales," alleging they doctored the interview with his Democratic rival.
A spokesperson for CBS says that Trump's claims are false, and they will vigorously defend against it.
And if you're already looking ahead to the holidays, the Kelce brothers -- they're here for you dropping a holiday song today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOYZ II MEN, JASON KELCE, TRAVIS KELCE: Singing "Christmas Time (in Cleveland Heights)."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: I mean, the smooth melodic tones of -- it's called "Christmas Time (in Cleveland Heights," the Kelce brothers' hometown. Jason Kelce called the tune buttery. Can't disagree with that one. Boyz II Men joined them on this.
The song will be on a Phillies Special Christmas, the third holiday album that Jason Kelce is putting together with two of his Philadelphia Eagles teammates for charity.
We checked. I asked. Taylor Swift had no comment. I'm kidding -- Sara.
SIDNER: But Mariah Carey says it is time for Christmas music. She always does this on November 1.
BOLDUAN: Well, I mean, because she's iconic. I mean --
SIDNER: Well, because she's number one every year --
BOLDUAN: Yeah.
SIDNER: -- when it comes to her album.
BOLDUAN: I mean, it's like -- it's like -- yeah. It's like work -- that's not going to -- is anyone working the refs? No. I mean, she's like just -- that's like a -- that is a pop star's -- super star's way of a humble brag.
SIDNER: I just like the onesie he's in. But any who, good times.
BOLDUAN: Is it a onesie or is it just an amazing sweater? I'm into it.
SIDNER: It looks like it.
BOLDUAN: Let's just keep going, Sara. We've got three hours.
SIDNER: We'll take over. Good times. Thank you, Kate.
All right. This morning, Atlanta rapper Young Thug free after more than 900 days in prison. His release comes amid a high-profile plea agreement. Young Thug, whose legal name is Jeffrey Williams, changed his plea to guilty for multiple criminal charges. Prosecutors accuse the rapper of leading an Atlanta street gang that committed murder and other violent crimes dating back a decade.
