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Trump Returns To Site Of First Assassination Attempt In Butler, Pennsylvania; Elon Musk Speaks At Trump Rally In Butler, PA; New Airstrikes Seen In Southern Beirut; New Blasts In Beirut After Israeli Military Warns Residents In Southern Beirut To Evacuate Immediately; "Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid" Premieres Tonight At 7PM ET. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 05, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:56]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: CNN NEWSROOM, and I am Jessica Dean in New York.

You are looking at former president trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of his first assassination attempt on his life. Let's listen in to what the former president is saying.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I love that -- I love that chart. I love that graph. Isn't it a beautiful thing? But also beautiful because look at the number. That's the day I left office. It was the lowest Border Patrol, the lowest it has ever been, illegal immigration. Today, it is out-of-control, but I love it for other reasons, too. You know that.

So thank you very much. And I thank Lee and what Lee has done with that song and it is such an honor to have it.

I want to just let you know that tonight I returned to Butler in the aftermath of tragedy and heartache to deliver a simple message to the people of Pennsylvania and to the people of America.

Our movement to make America great again stands stronger, prouder, more united, more determined and nearer to victory than ever before. We are going to make America great again.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We're going to win the election -- going to win the election, and to all Americans, whether you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, conservative or liberal or you have no label whatsoever, it makes no difference, our movement, it belongs to you. It belongs to our country. It belongs to our country.

And together, in just one month, we are going to usher in a new golden age of American security, prosperity sovereignty, and freedom for our citizens of every race religion, color, and creed.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Exactly 12 weeks ago this evening, on this very ground, a cold- blooded assassin aimed to silence me and to silence the greatest movement, MAGA, in the history of our country, MAGA. We love MAGA.

For 16 harrowing seconds during the gunfire, time stopped as this vicious monster unleashed pure evil from his sniper's perch not so far away, but by the hand of providence and the grace of God, that villain did not succeed in his goal, did not come close.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: He did not stop our movement. He did not break out our spirit. He did not shake our unyielding resolve to save America from the evils of poverty, hatred, and destruction. Yet we are here this evening in record numbers. This is a big crowd.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: This is a big one.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: This is a big one.

Not only to mark the triumph of American spirit, but over and you know that, this is really truly, in the truest sense, spirit over evil and adversity, but also to pay tribute to some of the best and bravest we have ever known.

This field is now a monument to the valor of our first responders, to the resilience of our fellow citizens, and to the sacrifice of a loving and devoted father, a really great man. You know that.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Forever afterward --

(PEOPLE chanting "Corey.")

TRUMP: Forever after, all who have visited this hallowed place will remember what happened here and they will know of the character and courage that so many incredible American patriots have shown and know and they know it at a level never seen before, probably.

[18:05:10]

First, I want to thank the men and women of the US Secret Service who threw their bodies on top of mine.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Without even a thought for their own lives, they were -- they were on top of me so fast. They were on top of me and there was not even a moment of doubt in their minds. You watch those tapes, not even a moment of doubt. I want to thank Secret Service, they are great, great people. They are great people.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And in that moment, those agents displayed a devotion to duty that cannot be described and they did it yet again less than three weeks ago, when they really did a fantastic job, another attempt, it was another attempt.

We have an evil world. We have a very sick world. My gratitude to them is beyond measure. We also owe a tremendous debt of thanks to the Secret Service counter sniper and a local police sniper --

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: -- who returned fire within seconds and stopped the shooter quickly and saved many lives. If he didn't stop, he saved many lives. He had a lot of bullets, a lot of ammunition up there with him, and we are -- I mean, just amazing when you think. They say -- they did it so quickly without any knowledge of what was going on, boom, and had that not happened, it would have been a very different story. It would have been many, many potentially many, many people.

I also want to express our thanks to the Butler Township Police Department, incredible people.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: The Butler Sheriff's deputies, Pennsylvania State Police and all of the other law enforcement heroes, as well as the emergency personnel and doctors, the medical teams at Butler Memorial Hospital, Allegheny General Hospital who rushed me and rushed some of these very badly wounded people. They were wounded -- a lot of -- a lot of badly wounded people, and in particular, two people, two people.

And I tell you, they were very brave and great people. They were big Trump fans, and they still are. That means something. That was -- that was pretty amazing.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: You know, when I got up, I asked whether or not anybody was killed. I assume that there would be a lot because I heard the bullets winging right over my head, they said probably three. The doctors did such an incredible job it was one, one great gentleman, but the other two have been amazing actually.

They've gone through it. They've gone through a lot and when the crisis struck, they did really Pennsylvania Proud. You've heard that expression, Pennsylvania Proud. It is a great place.

I went to -- I went to school, I went to college in Pennsylvania. It is a great place. The people are incredible.

Also, and I have to say after returning to the field tonight is one of the really brave Americans who was hit by the assassin's bullet, US Marine veteran, David Dutch.

David, thank you. Thank you, David.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you, David and David, we are thrilled to see your recovery is going well. Great doctors up here. I have to tell you, great doctors. Your courage is really an inspiration to us all, so I want to thank you very much, David.

A great, great gentleman. Great, great gentleman.

I want to send our love to someone who could not be here because he has just gone -- undergone a major surgery related to the shooting, a man who was really badly wounded, like David, James Copenhaver, because James is a wonderful man, a big Trump fan.

And Mr. Copenhaver is out there, watching us right now but he is in a hospital where they did some additional work but he is in great shape. He wanted to be here so badly, but he is in great shape and we appreciate it and we are looking to his full and complete recovery.

He will have a complete recovery.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much.

And of course, there is one more hero who could not make it back here tonight because he is no longer with us. Right? You know who that is, right, Corey, our beautiful Corey.

Corey is not with us tonight and he should be and we all miss him. He has become somewhat of a folk hero, I have to tell you. Who is with us is his beautiful wife and daughters and relatives, sister --

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

[18:10:08]

TRUMP: Please, where are you? Where are they sitting?

There they are. There's a lot of people. It's not easy to find people in this audience. It goes back further than you can see.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Great family. A great, incredible family. And he loved you a lot and you know his wife said something very beautiful. The public, a lot of people, all of us, a lot of people have been very generous and she said, I'd rather have my husband. That's a good thing to say. That's a good thing to say, I'd rather have my husband.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Corey Comperatore was an incredible husband and father, a devout Christian, a veteran and a proud former fire chief, very respected within the town. Everybody knew him.

Few men volunteered to run into fires, but Corey was one of those who did. He ran into fires. I spoke to people that were him. This guy would do anything. He was brave, right? Brave guy like you.

And he was also a protector who put his life on the line for others and he loved doing it and when the sound of gunshots pierced the air on that July evening, Corey leapt into the fire, one more time, and his last seconds on this Earth, he threw himself on the top of his wife and daughters. He didn't want them hurt.

He threw himself. He said -- he knew what was happening. He didn't want them hurt and he was hit hard.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: He was hit hard and he gave his life to shield their lives.

Every father and husband in America hopes that if the time came, we would have what Corey had, tremendous courage, tremendous guts, and he wanted to protect his family and he did protect his family.

At this time, it is 6:11, twelve weeks to the minute that the shooting began. I would like to ask everyone to join me in a moment of silence.

(BELLS TOLL)

("Ave Maria")

[18:15:14]

TRUMP: Now, that is what you call a voice. One of the greatest opera singers in the world, and Christopher Macchio who is a truly a great talent, is going to be back when I leave and I am going to stay backstage watching every song he is going to sing, three or four great songs, "Nessun Dorma" and others. And so I wouldn't leave your seat too fast when we are finished today.

But this is in honor of three great people -- actually three great and in particular Corey and we appreciate it, but that is a real voice, isn't it? Huh? That's not --

What do you think, Mr. Future Vice President? Pretty good, right?

I don't know if you could do that, JD, I don't know. I don't think JD can do that.

In the face of murderous hate, Corey answered the most selfless kind of love. We are joined this evening by Corey's incredible widow, Helen, his two precious daughters Kaylee and Allyson, and his sisters, Kelly and Dawn, thank you so much. Thank you so much.

This is an incredible tribute.

This is a tribute like no other, and he deserves it. To Helen and the entire family, I can only begin to imagine the depths of your grief, but I want you to know that just like you, we will carry his memory in our hearts for as long as we live. Everybody in this stadium and everybody that was there on that tragic evening, we are thinking about Corey. We think about him a lot.

And I know he is looking down on us right now from heaven, smiling at his beloved wife and daughters and his mother, Karen, and his entire family, his entire family, and he is with you and he is going to be with us for a long time because, you know some people just don't die in vain and what he has left behind is incredible.

And so God bless you, Corey. God bless you. Thank you very much. God bless you story.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: You know, I just want to tell a little story, Helen told me that on the day that they came to the rally, Corey was really excited because somebody gave him great seats right up front here with the people from North Carolina, the Ladies from North Carolina there. This is their 227th rally. I don't know what's going on with them. Those beautiful ladies, but they always seem to have good seats.

But Corey had the best seat in the house, and he was telling his wife and family on the way over in the car, he said, I am telling you, he is going to invite me up on the stage because I do that sometimes, I take people, we invite them up on the stage and she smiled, thinking, it will never happen.

And little did anyone realize that Corey would be on the stage three months later in an almost immortal position and that is where he is today. He is on the stage in a -- I think -- and not almost, I think it is a truly immortal position.

So the love that he showed on that day and throughout his life is the love that sustains the entire movement, love that our families have and the love of our communities and love of our country. It is a force more powerful than any hatred and malice, because even in the darkest hours, it shines forth as a guide and it guides us like nothing could ever guide us. It guides us really like a candle in the night.

And so, it is love like Corey's that is joining us to save our country, that's going to heal our country, and that is going to reunite our country as one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: So, what our opponents have never understood is that this movement has never been about me, it has always been about you. It has been about a lot of people, millions and millions of people, the biggest ever in the history of this country, maybe anywhere and everyday people who are the heart and soul of our country. They love our movement. They love our country and they know they are doing right. Your hopes are my hopes. Your dreams are my dreams. And your future is what I am fighting for every single day.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

[18:20:07]

TRUMP: And now, I have a great companion in JD Vance. How good was he the other night? How good?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: He was great.

(PEOPLE chanting "JD.")

TRUMP: He was great.

But from the very beginning of this journey, I've been on a mission to rescue our country from a failed and very corrupt political establishment, very corrupt. We have to change it. We have to change it. We need also a very free and open press and to give it back to the country you believe in and I believe in. It is a country that we were born in and the country that you deserve. You have to -- you deserve this.

And that mission, I will never quit, I will never bend, I will never break, I will never yield, not even in the face of death itself.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And I believe that every citizen deserves an America with a grand -- very, very grand ambition, great opportunities and limitless -- we just want limitless potential.

We want an America where you can get ahead and be proud of life and provide for your family and a really decent way where we don't have crime.

We have a fabulous military to protect us from evil. We have -- everything has to be the best. We have to have the best schools. We have to have strong borders. We don't want bad people coming in and hurting us.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We don't want to have -- we don't want to have open borders, do we?

You deserve a government that protects and respects its own citizens, that defends your sovereignty, your security and your dignity and your freedom.

You deserve a nation that builds things, again makes things better, that aims for the stars once more and that once again commands respect and we want to get respect like we had it four years ago. The entire world respected us. They respected us.

They respected us more than they've ever respected us. And now, they laugh at us. We can't have them laugh at us, can we?

(PEOPLE answer "no.")

TRUMP: Above all, you deserve leadership in Washington that does not answer to the lobbyists, to the bureaucrats, or to the corrupt special interests, but answers only to you, the hardworking citizens of America, of which there are a lot of them. We have a lot of them.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We have a lot of them.

Over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me, impeached me, indicted me, tried to throw me off the ballot, and who knows, maybe even tried to kill me, but I've never stopped fighting for you and I never will, I never will.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Never going to stop stood.

(PEOPLE chanting "Fight, fight, fight.")

TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you.

And in turn, you have always stood with me. You have always stood with me, no matter what. You saw what was going on. You saw the hoaxes and the scams. You saw everything that went on.

We are a team. We are a great team, I think. We are probably the best team ever in the history of our country if you really think about it.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We fought together, we have endured together. We have pushed onward together and right here in Pennsylvania, we have bled together. We've bled. We've had three people that really got hit hard. Two of them made it, great doctors, great doctors.

They weren't supposed to make it. I wasn't supposed to make it, people said.

Our great -- my great doctor at Butler said, sir, you're the luckiest man alive. This would be a good time for you to go out and buy a lottery ticket. I've never seen anything like it.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: I almost went out and bought a lottery ticket. I'll take it.

And 31 days from now, here in this great Commonwealth and all across our land, we are going to win together. We are going to vote together. We are going to win the greatest election in the history of our country.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Maybe the greatest election of all time.

(PEOPLE chanting "Four more years.")

TRUMP: After we all have been through all of this together, we have -- nobody's gone through what we've gone through. Nobody.

Because I go through it. You're going through it, too. But there's never been anything like this. You know, I always say there is an enemy from within and there is an outside enemy and if you're smart, the outside enemy is not going to be a problem.

[18:25:05]

Russia, China, North Korea -- we are not going to have a problem if you have a smart president. If you have -- if you have not such a smart president, then it is a problem.

But we have an enemy from within, which I think is much more dangerous than the outside enemy. We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in the history of our country. We can make these the four greatest years. We will turn it around so fast that your head will spin.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: With victory on November 5th, we are going to redeem America's promise and unlock the extraordinary future that is just within our reach. It is now within our reach. Think of it, one month from today, one month. We've got to get there. We've got to get there.

They'll drop all sorts of bombs. They'll be hitting you, JD. They'll be hitting me. These people, they'll hit and hit but I think we've almost become immune to it, haven't we?

We've become -- we've become immune to it. You got a little dose of it, a couple of little doses.

No, that's the only way. That's the only way they can even think about winning with open borders. Who wants open borders? Who wants men playing in women's sports?

(BOOING)

TRUMP: Who wants sex change operations for illegal aliens --

(BOOING)

TRUMP: -- in holding bins? No, I don't think so.

We will begin a new era of soaring income, skyrocketing wealth, millions and millions of new jobs, and a booming middle class. We are going to boom like we've never boomed before. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And we are going to unleash a manufacturing renaissance right here in Pennsylvania, including fracking like we've never fracked before.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We are going to have frack, frack, frack.

You know our opponent said, there will be no fracking, no fracking. We will never frack. We will never frack.

Then about she started seeing poll numbers, by the way, and by the way, speaking of poll numbers, do you mind if I mention poll numbers? Because I only mention them when they're good. I never mention them.

But one that has hit me really amazingly, Rasmussen, very highly respected poll. JD, it just came out. I don't think you heard this one, but this is a shocker.

You know, they always say the Democrats will win the Hispanic vote, but we've been creeping up rather rapidly --

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And Rasmussen is one of the most respected polls. I mean, Republicans would get four or five, six, nine, 10 percent. They just came out with a poll, 62 percent for Trump.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Think of that. Think of that.

And 34 percent for Kamala.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: I don't usually use her last name because nobody knows who I am talking about. I go, Harris, Harris. They say, who is Harris? It is happening all the time. Who is Harris? And we can't find out who she is because if we do, our country is going to be in big trouble.

We will live in a very beautiful city or town that are safe and clean, with borders that are sealed and secure and again, we want people to come into our country. We all want that. We need that.

But you know what? We want them to come in legally. They're going to come in legally and love for our country.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And America will once again be strong and confident and free. We are going to have that. We are going to have it strong, confident and free. That's why I am here today. You know, I could right now be having a beautiful life. I don't have to be here. I could -- instead -- I could be on a gorgeous beach someplace. I have such nice property. I could be -- I could be in Monte Carlo as an example. But I'd rather be in Butler with you

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I would rather be in Butler, and I think JD rather be in Butler, JD?

(PEOPLE chanting "We love you.")

TRUMP: No, I'd rather be here. Because we are doing something.

You know, they've get a lot of rich guys that go, nobody cares about them. I had one about a month ago, a very, very rich guy. And he called me up. He said president -- I've known him for a long time. I don't say how long because I don't want my wife to hear that number. It is a long time.

But he is very successful and he said to me, sir, could you do me a favor? The guy is worth billions of dollars. He said could you do me a favor? I can't get into a restaurant, do you think you could call them to get me in?

And I said, what the hell is the good of being rich if you can't get into a restaurant? Right? And I called the maitre d'. Hi -- I am a little embarrassed hi, this is Donald Trump. I recognize your voice. I said, would you do me a favor? A friend of mine is on line about a mile back. This is a very successful restaurant -- and he has got his wife, I described the wife. Could you possibly go get them? Could you go get them and bring them, and then he did.

[18:30:32]

And my friend called me up the next day. He said, "Thank you very much. Thank you." Oh, doctor, please, doctor in the house, thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, doctor. Yes, thank you. Take your time, doctor, please. We have plenty of time, right? We got a lot of time.

You doing okay? Take your time. We've got to protect our people, right? Take your time.

I'm sorry, doctor. Go ahead. That's all right. That's all right.

People come out two, three days ago and then they get it. It's a - it's an amazing thing. It's an amazing thing. We appreciate - everybody appreciates it. Yep, take your time.

That's great. That's great.

Do we have the greatest people in the world? We have the greatest people in the world. First responders, thank you very much. DEAN: And you're watching a rally with former President Donald Trump back in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first assassination attempt against the former president. We're told that someone in the crowd has asked for a medic. That's who they're all looking toward. And a doctor is said to be tending to that person.

While that's happening, I want to check in with CNN Political Reporter, Alayna Treene, who is there in Butler.

Alayna, just set the scene for us. I know they're waiting on the medic to treat that person there in the crowd. But again, seeing the former president back at the site of where a gunman tried to take his life back in July.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right. Donald Trump did pause his remarks because someone had - actually, the people around this person in the crowd had been flagging down the medics running over to give this person medical support. It's unclear what the state of them is, but they have - the medics did run over there to help them.

This is actually not that uncommon, Jessica. A lot of times at Donald Trump's rallies, people, you know, it can be really hot, particularly when you're outside. People faint, people have medical emergencies. However, I do think, you know, you could kind of feel everyone catching their breath or hold their breath for a moment when you started to hear people flagging - asking for attention, flagging these people down. Because, of course, just 12 weeks ago at this exact same venue is when those bullets were fired.

And so I think some people got a little nervous. But then it became clear that someone just needed medical help. Donald Trump is still not speaking. He's been waiting for them to help this person before continuing on with his remarks. And as you can see, I'm not sure if you can - if you're picking up on this on the audio, but a lot of people singing and chanting behind me right now in the crowd as they wait for this person to receive help.

But I do want to just take a step back and kind of give you a sense of what Donald Trump has been saying so far, because we're a little bit into his remarks now. At one point, actually, at 6:11 PM, that is the exact moment, 12 weeks ago, to the day that the gunman had begun shooting into this rally venue.

[18:34:59]

Donald Trump asked for them to take a moment of silence. He actually had a man - he's had this man come and perform at other rallies as well. His name is Christopher Macchio sing in opera style during that. But it was a moment of silence for the victims, particularly Corey Comperatore, the man who was killed here back in July. There's been a lot that the Trump campaign has done here and other rally attendees to honor him tonight.

One moment as well, it was kind of a lighter moment. Donald Trump, there's still these two screens behind me, same setup that they had back in July. And at one point, Donald Trump put up that chart that he had put up back in July as well, that he now credits with saving his life. And he was looking back at the chart, and that's when the bullets had come.

He put that up and said, you know, he said this at many rallies again since then as well, but he said that chart saved my life. And it was kind of a lighter moment here this evening. Now, I think any moment now you're going to hear Donald Trump resume his speech. We kind of have moved beyond some of, you know, the thanking law enforcement, thanking Secret Service, thanking people in the crowd, honoring the victims and back into more of a political speech.

So Donald Trump has been kind of going between the two, between wanting to, you know, have this be a remembrance event in memory of the people who were hurt. But also, of course, we are now 31 days until Election Day, and this is also very much a political speech. So he's kind of towing the line on that as well, Jessica?

DEAN: Certainly. All right, Alayna Treene, stand by. She's there in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the former president is speaking.

I do want to go to our political panel, CNN Political Commentator and Democratic strategist, Maria Cardona, is with us, as well as Republican strategist and former spokesperson for the Doug Burgum presidential campaign, Lance Trover. Good to see both of you.

Lance, I want to start first with you as we're watching these remarks from the former president. He did pay tribute to the man who lost his life. He also kind of marked this occasion. It was interesting to also hear him say that our movement stands stronger and more united. We had heard about it after he was shot that that he wanted to be more unifying. We saw that, you know, he then went into the convention and then we saw the old Donald Trump saying a lot of the things we've come to hear from him.

What did you hear tonight and what do you make of his remarks?

LANCE TROVER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Alaya really hit on exactly what was going on here tonight. I do think they wanted to honor the life of Corey. He wanted to honor the Secret Service agents who, you know, went on top of him that day. And I think overall dishonor everybody who was involved in that day.

But this is also about protecting strength. That is what they want to project. If you look at the polling, people look at Donald Trump's presidency quite fondly. And one of those things is they thought he was strong. They thought he was strong on the economy. The prices were lower. They also thought he was strong on foreign policy.

We see the bombings going on in Lebanon tonight. The Middle East is mired in war. We have a war with Ukraine and Russia going on. And so I think they wanted to project a modicum of strength here. And that plays into, well, his strength with voters because they look fondly on his presidency.

And I'd say this is really a capstone to a good week for the Trump campaign. I mean, you start last Sunday where you showed Latino voters were moving away from Kamala Harris and into the Trump campaign. JD Vance had a - hit a home run on Tuesday night with his VP debate performance. We saw the firefighters decline to endorse anyone. That's a major victory and a reminder of the blue-collar workers that are moving into the Trump campaign. We see stories out today about Kamala Harris struggling in Michigan and many Democratic insiders think she's running too much of a Rose Garden campaign. So I think if you're the Trump campaign, you're - this is a capstone to a pretty good week.

DEAN: And, Maria, I want to ask you, we did hear him, at one point, he said - he was talking about America's enemies. He was talking about Iran and China. But then he said that there was a really threatening enemy from within. Again, looking inward at Americans. What did you think about that?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that, you know, after he did all of the niceties, which is great, honoring the person who lost their life during the attempt, during the attempt and the Secret Service and the families who have gone through some difficult times since that, he went into, you know, normal or frankly, absolutely not normal, Donald Trump, sadly, right? He went into attacks, and insults, and conspiracy theories and lies, lies, lies.

And so what he was talking about when he was talking about the enemy from within, he's talking about his opponents. He talked about Kamala Harris. He talked about the people who, in his mind, went after him because he's a 34 times convicted felon. And I think what that does is, sure, it will completely talk to his base, reassure his base.

[18:40:03]

His base loves him. They're there today and nothing will keep them from him. But it serves to alienate the suburban voters, the independent voters, women, voters of color that actually see him as completely unfit and a danger to our democracy and a danger to the very communities that make up that coalition.

And, you know, while Lance might mention, you know, a lot of these stories that make the Trump campaign supposedly feel good, Kamala Harris is still ahead in the national polls. She's still ahead in a lot of the battleground states. The economy and on immigration, she is closing those gaps. She is even on inflation in terms of who can deal with that. And the focus on middle class and working class voters is a huge advantage for her right now.

DEAN: All right. Maria Cardona and Lance Trover, good to hear from both of you on kind of this moment in time. Thank you very much for your thoughts on that. And Alayna Treene is there in Butler, Pennsylvania. She's going to continue to monitor the rally. Alayna, thank you so much for your reporting.

In the meantime, we have breaking news from the Middle East. And still ahead, we're going to take a look at these large blasts in Lebanon as Israeli forces launch a new wave of strikes in Beirut. That's when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:46:07]

ELON MUSK: As you can see, I'm not just MAGA. I'm dark MAGA. Well, first of all, I want to say what an honor it is to be here. And, you know, the true test of someone's character is how they behave under fire. And we had one president who couldn't climb a flight of stairs. And another who was fist pumping after getting shot. Fight, fight, fight - blood coming down the face.

Now, America is the home of the brave. And there's no truer test than courage under fire. So that - who do you want representing America?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump.

MUSK: Yes, absolutely. And, I think this election, I think it's the most important election of our lifetime. This is no ordinary election. The other side wants to take away your freedom of speech. They want to take away your right to bear arms. That they want to - it's - we're - they want to take away your right to vote effectively. You've got 14 states now that don't require voter ID.

California, where I used to live, is - just passed a law banning voter ID for voting. How - I still can't believe that's real. So how are you supposed to have a good, a proper election if there's no ID? It's just meaningless. And free speech is the bedrock of democracy. And if people don't know what's going on, if they don't know the truth, how can you make an informed vote? You must have free speech in order to have democracy. That's why it's the First Amendment.

And the Second Amendment is there to ensure that we have the First Amendment. President Trump must win to preserve the constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America.

ALL: We want Trump. We want Trump. We want Trump. We want Trump.

MUSK: Yes.

ALL: We want Trump. We want Trump. We want Trump.

MUSK: This is a must win situation - must win. So I have one ask for everyone in the audience, everyone who watches this video and everyone in the live stream, this one request, it's very important, register to vote, okay? And get everyone you know and everyone you don't know, drag them to register to vote. There's only two days left to register to vote in Georgia and Arizona, 48 hours. Like text people now, now, and then make sure they actually do vote. If they don't, this will be the last election. That's my prediction. Nothing's more important. Nothing's more important.

[18:50:04]

So get everyone you know. Everyone - so speaking to people out there, everyone in the crowd, I think is already convinced, but for people out there that are watching the video, watching the live stream, you need to get everyone you know, everyone at work, your friends, family, text groups, your social media, everything, get them to register to vote right now. Only two days left for Georgia and Arizona. Only a couple of weeks left in Pennsylvania.

And if they're not registered to vote, it doesn't matter at that point. Register to vote. I'm being repetitive for a reason, okay? So nothing is more important. And a lot of people think maybe their vote doesn't count. Well, it does. Okay? It does. It matters. And this election could be decided by a thousand votes, 500 votes, a tiny margin.

So get everyone you know to register to vote. I believe it's swapthevote.com. I believe that's the site. If you - and double check that your registration is good. Don't take it for granted. I'm just being repetitive about this point because it is one takeaway more than anything that will matter is getting those registrations and then getting everyone you know to actually vote. That is what will decide this election, especially in Pennsylvania, so ...

DEAN: Okay. You were watching Elon Musk there for the first time, stumping with former President Donald Trump, urging people to register to vote. Worth noting, he did say some things that are not true. He accused Democrats of wanting to take away people's right to vote. He wanted to - he accused them of taking away their freedom of expression and taking away their right to bear arms. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have said multiple times they do not want to take people's guns away.

He also said that he believes President Trump would be the person that can preserve the Constitution and American democracy. Worth noting that the former president is, of course, facing numerous indictments for trying to overturn the 2020 Election, which he still does not accept as a legitimate result. So that's what we were watching there.

We are also following breaking news out of the Middle East as Israel launches more strikes tonight at Lebanon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Foreign language).

DEAN: CNN International Correspondent, Jomana Karadsheh is witnessing the bombardment there in Beirut. She has been there for the last several hours watching this unfold. Jomana, set the scene for us and tell us what you've been witnessing.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, we've just heard yet another blast in the distance coming from the direction of the southern suburbs of Beirut. As you and I have been speaking for nearly three hours now, we have seen this continuous, pretty much sustained bombardment of the southern suburbs tonight. We are hearing from the Israeli military, the Arabic spokesman for the IDF in a post on X saying that the IDF is currently targeting Hezbollah terrorist targets in the Beirut area.

No specifics there, but, you know, this is an area of the capital. It's a part of Beirut that is very heavily populated. We have seen a mass exodus from this part of Beirut where Hezbollah has a strong presence in recent days as we've seen these intensified strikes. But at the same time, you still have a lot of civilians in there. So it's unclear right now if there are casualties. And we're speaking and I can still hear some more blasts. I mean, this has been constant for nearly three hours right now. And this began with a warning from the Israeli military, also in a post on X, several others followed saying that they are going to be striking a number of neighborhoods and have asked people to move away from certain buildings in these neighborhoods this coming really late at night, so unclear if people got those messages.

But since we have seen these sustained strikes on the southern suburbs and in at least two of those strikes, we have seen what appears to be secondary explosions. It appears to be a very long night for the residents of Beirut.

DEAN: Yes, it certainly does, Jomana. And I know you and your team are - go ahead.

KARADSHEH: And we're hearing some more, I'm not sure if you heard that as well, Jessica, but it does seem to be a long and terrifying night for the residents of Beirut.

DEAN: All right. And, of course, you and the team stay safe. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you so much for that reporting. We're going to have more when we come back.

[18:55:03]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:58:27]

DEAN: A new CNN film premiering next looks at 18 months inside what most - may be the most consequential election in U.S. history, all from the viewpoint of James Carville, one of the most influential voices of the Democratic Party. And joining us now, the director of "Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid," Matt Tyrnauer.

Matt, thanks so much for being here with us.

MATT TYRNAUER, DIRECTOR, "CARVILLE: WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID": Thank you.

DEAN: Walk us through what you hope viewers take away when they're watching this documentary.

TYRNAUER: I think it's a very hopeful message. James Carville is the happy warrior of American politics. He taught Democrats how to win again in 1992. He's been a household name ever since. And he inserted himself into this election cycle as a leading voice, really begging, beseeching President Biden to step aside. And ultimately, Carville, I think, along with Nancy Pelosi, moved the needle in the cycle.

DEAN: And were you already planning on focusing on him and then that all happened or how did this come about with the timeline?

TYRNAUER: This is what I call filmmakers' good luck. I had started this movie more than two years ago. And this cycle is very particular. Obviously, it's historic and unprecedented. And Carville became an insurgent, a true insurgent. I think he's the, in fact, elder statesman of the Democratic Party, it turns out. And he, long before anyone else reading polls, saw that President Biden had a big issue with his age. And he started ringing the bell a year ago and I started covering that.

[19:00:02]

And it really becomes the core of the arc of the film, along with a look back at an American original and his life in ...