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Harris Visits North Carolina As Donald Trump Holds Rally In Solid-Blue California; Harris Releases Medical Info: Doctors Say VP Is In Excellent Health; NYT: Hamas Tried To Persuade Iran And Hezbollah To Join October 7 Attack, Iran, Hezbollah Deny; Floridians Begin Long Recovery From Deadly Storm; Harris Releases Medical Info: Doctor Says VP in "Excellent Health"; Obama: Black Men Going For Trump Over Harris "Not Acceptable"; Georgia Group Pushing Election Misinformation Gains Influence With State Election Officials. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 12, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Jessica Dean in New York. We are exactly 24 days from Election Day in America.

Vice President Kamala Harris has arrived in North Carolina with plans to step her outreach to Black voters as the campaign continues to hone in on swing states that will decide this election.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump is opting to spend crucial time in a solid blue state for presidential politics for a rally in California's Coachella.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is there.

Kristen, big crowd behind you. What are we expecting to hear from Trump?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and also a big crowd to the side of me as well. I mean, the big hope here for Donald Trump was to draw as many people as possible, even though it is a blue state. Remember, one of the things that he's trying to do is turn out the popular vote, even though we know, of course, that doesn't matter in the end, and there is no real -- it is really zero percent chance that he could win a state like California.

But part of what I'm told he's going to talk about today is the fact of Kamala Harris's record. He has gone after her for the state of California, blaming her for crime in various areas. He'll go after Gavin Newsom and we talked to senior advisors about why he is here in these critical final days. They say they believe it doesn't really matter where he goes to give his message.

We asked why he wasn't in swing states, they said that this is a national media campaign that when he does these kind of events, when he's found the stage, that the national media will cover it.

But in addition to that, they're really trying to reach low propensity voters ahead of November, meaning people who don't generally engage with politics in the typical way that others do. They believe that clips from these kind of events can reach these people on podcasts or social media, and might even have more reach than, say, a traditional rally in a swing state.

Now, that's not to say that he's not going to these swing states. We know he was in Nevada yesterday and today, he'll be in Arizona tomorrow, but they don't really feel like he has to do just that.

Now, when we talked to a number of Republican operatives who disagree with this, they think the race is just simply too close, that he should be spending every waking moment in one of these critical battleground states, like Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, as he is tomorrow, but they say again, this is a new strategy that they are taking. We'll see if it pays off, but we really won't know until November.

Now, Jessica, one of the things that we're going to listen to carefully here is he continues that really dark rhetoric when it comes to immigration and the economy. I'm told by people close to him that he's going to double down on that messaging ahead of November. He believes, Donald Trump, that it helped propel him to the White House in 2016 and it could help him again in November.

DEAN: All right, Kristen Holmes for us there laying out this new strategy in Coachella. Thank you so much for that reporting.

Joining us now, Republican strategist and former spokesperson for the Doug Burgum presidential campaign, Lance Trover, also with us, CNN contributor and "New York Times" journalist and podcast host, Lulu Garcia-Navarro. Great to have both of you here with us. Thanks so much for being here.

This week, we really saw a number of notable Democrats raising concerns about whether the Harris campaign may be losing some momentum. Harris addressed those concerns last hour. I want to listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's no question I say it in my rallies, this is a tight race. It is a margin of error race, and that's why I'm out here and will continue for the next 24 days to be traveling around our country, talking with folks about the issues that matter most to them, and offering them what I believe to do, solutions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Lulu, is this panic among Democrats kind of expected? What do you make of this?

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's funny, whenever I talk to Democrats, they always talk about how the Democratic Party always freaks out right before an election. One could say that it is a typical thing for the Democrats to feel this way. And I think ultimately, anyone who tells you that they know what's going to happen in this election really is making it up, because the polls have been all over the place.

It is going to be a margin election. It is extremely close, and it is going to depend on who shows up to these polls. And these polls have been showing different things at different times.

You know, Pennsylvania alone you saw -- you've seen Harris up and Trump up; in Arizona, the same things have been swinging pretty wildly.

The fact is that everyone at this point has to be on their A game. That's Donald Trump, that's Kamala Harris, and that's why you see them just, you know, pushing out to in as many places as they possibly can.

DEAN: Yes, and Lance, this is an extremely tight race. I think we can all agree on that. We saw a new CNN polling average now with this new data from "The New York Times" today. In Pennsylvania, it shows Harris with 48 to Trump's 47. Today, Trump was in California. He was in Colorado yesterday. We just heard from our colleague, Kristen Holmes about this strategy, that he can go wherever, but that the message is still going to make it to the people in battleground states, that he can have this rally in California, but it's still effective.

Do you agree with that strategy?

LANCE TROVER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes. Look, it's Donald Trump. I mean, he can go -- I completely agree with that strategy. He can go anywhere, the media is going to cover him. He takes advantage of a billion dollars in free media every single day.

But you know, he's clearly in the driver's seat when it comes to polling right now. You've heard David Axelrod and others talk about that, and I've got kind of a hot take tonight, maybe it's more of a hot question.

[18:05:10]

I'm beginning to wonder whether the Democrats are kind of freaking out? Are they also asking themselves that maybe they shouldn't have done the switcheroo a few months ago to Kamala Harris? Because if you think about what the discussion has been this week, it has been that she is not meeting Latino voters that the way Joe Biden did. She's not getting Black men the way that Joe Biden did, and she's not getting the critical numbers in blue collar and union households the way Joe Biden did. If you put all that together, that means she's not going to win come November 5th.

So I also wonder if there's some grumbling thinking, should we have not done the switcheroo a few months ago and stuck with Joe Biden? I think that could be a question that comes forward if she continues to plateau out over the course of the next couple of weeks.

DEAN: It's interesting you say that, though, because Biden was underwater even worse than she is on his numbers in 2020. Lulu, what do you say to that?

NAVARRO: I mean, what I would probably say to that is also Donald Trump has some softness that is very concerning, too. I mean, if you think that you know Harris' support among her base, the Democratic Party's in the 90s, Donald Trump's is in the 80s. There's still a lot of disaffected Republicans who are on the fence about voting for him. They might come home come November, but they very well may not.

And so everyone, again, is trying to figure out who they can get to the polls. Who are going to be the people that are going to reliably show up and vote for their candidate? And we really don't know if there are, you know, who these new voters may be, how they're going to vote.

I mean, I think that it comes down to, as everyone's been saying over and over again, a few hundred thousand people in a very few states. And so those are the people that matter. California, I'm so glad Donald Trump is enjoying a sunny vacation. I'm not sure it's the right tactic.

TROVER: Yes, and I'm not suggesting the race is not going to be close in any way, but I mean, you've seen other people in the Democratic Party raising these questions and raising these issues, and it is a fact that she has plateaued. And if you look at both, if you talk to pollsters internally and both publicly, it's clear that he's in the driver's seat at this point, and we're now three weeks out of the election.

I mean, this cake is pretty well getting baked, and so that's why I'm saying, you know, I'm beginning to wonder if, maybe -- maybe, are they questioning whether they made the right decision.

DEAN: I want to ask you about something --

NAVARRO: There will be a lot --

DEAN: Go ahead.

NAVARRO: -- of time for that.

TROVER: Indeed.

NAVARRO: There will be a lot of time for that.

DEAN: A lot of postmortem.

I want to ask about the vice president releasing her health records today. Her doctors saying she's in excellent health. We have a release from the Trump campaign saying they don't plan on releasing anything beyond these updates that they pointed to following the assassination attempts from Ronny Jackson.

Lulu, do you think this is something that sways voters at all?

NAVARRO: I mean, it should. I think one of the big things is that, since Biden dropped out of the race, now former President Trump is going to be the oldest candidate ever to run, and if he wins, the oldest sitting president ever to be in office. And so we have seen decline happen. I mean, it is not because of Trump, it is just that age affects everyone the same way. There is only one way that it that you end up and that's downhill. And so not releasing his records is not something new for former President Trump. He wasn't very forthcoming while in office, but I do think it's something that is important for the American people to see.

DEAN: Lance, do you think that former President Trump should release his records?

TROVER: I leave that up to each individual campaign in terms of what they want to do. I mean, it says to me is that the Harris campaign trying to bait the Trump campaign a little bit.

Look, I think voters take a look at the candidates and how they are in public and what they do. I mean, obviously Joe Biden had some difficulties these last couple of years, to say the least, and voters took a look at that, and they looked at the debate, and didn't like what they saw, and that reflected that.

So I think, I think it's not a big deal to voters at all right now. I mean, to the voters right now, I was just actually in Southern California, and even out there, the questions are, high price of gas, high cost of living, the immigration issue, everywhere you go, that's their top concern. The health stuff is just to me, not really on their radar right now.

DEAN: Yes, interesting though, that he will be the oldest nominee and it was the health thing -- it was all -- it was very much pointed with President Biden.

Lulu, I do want to talk to you about you sitting down with Trump's running mate, Senator JD Vance this week. We have a quick clip that we can play.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAVARRO: Do you believe he lost the 2020 election?

SEN. JD VANCE (R-OH), 2024 VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think that Donald Trump and I have both raised a number of issues with the 2020 election, but we're focused on the future.

NAVARRO: Senator, yes or no? Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?

VANCE: Let me ask you a question. Is it okay that big technology companies censored the Hunter Biden laptop story?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: He did not want to answer that it seemed, Lulu.

NAVARRO: He did not. And the reason I pressed him on that repeatedly in a very long interview, is because ultimately, there is one question that is very important also to voters, and that is democracy in this country. [18:10:08]

And there is just two answers, yes or no, to that question, and that's why it is important to get someone like Senator Vance on the record, because he will be a heartbeat away from the presidency should Trump win this election?

DEAN: Lance, why is it -- why is this a difficult question for Senator Vance? Why can't he just say yes or no?

TROVER: Look, I leave those questions. First off, let me just say Lulu, I just watched the interview. I thought it was a fantastic interview. I think everybody should watch it. You asked some very good, pointed questions, and we learned a lot about him. I learned a lot about JD Vance so --

And anytime you can bring the Big Lebowski into an interview, I'm sold immediately. So everybody should check it out.

Here's my take on this, look, I mean, voters, I agree with you. It is an important issue. I'm not suggesting that it's not, but anybody who considers this as their number one topic or vote, they know how they're going to vote on this.

And from a strategist perspective, I saw a candidate who was just really on message, and it allowed him to talk about the future, and every time that it goes back to 2020, it allows him to say, I'm focused on the future and that's just a message that a lot of people want to hear again, not disparaging the question, I think it's a very serious -- I think it's an important question.

NAVARRO: But President Trump --

It is, but ultimately, the problem with it is that it's President Trump who keeps on dragging things back to 2020, that is a message that Donald Trump has made central to his campaign, and that has put his running mate, Senator Vance in a difficult position, because you've seen him privately say that he does think that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, but publicly he cannot say that, because he has an audience of one.

DEAN: I want to talk a little bit about Harris going on some of these podcasts, some talk shows. We've seen her trying to get out there and reach voters in different places. There was a moment during her appearance on "The View" this week that was interesting. I want to play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNNY HOSTIN, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": If anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?

HARRIS: There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of -- and I've been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: Now, she did go on to say that she is considering appointing a Republican to her Cabinet. A recent poll from ABC News and Ipsos shows 74 percent of Americans want to see Harris go in a new direction apart from Biden.

Lulu, is that a missed opportunity by her to just say, yeah, here's maybe one or two things I would have done, or we would have done differently, I wish.

NAVARRO: Sure, it's a missed opportunity. I mean, the fact that the clip gets -- keeps getting played over and over again.

One of the things that she has been trying to do is say that she is the future, that she is different than both Donald Trump and President Biden and so it really was a missed opportunity for her to articulate her own vision for this country and where she would take it, and so it's surprising that she wasn't prepared for a question like that.

DEAN: And Lance, I'll give you the last word on this. I just -- along those lines, it is striking to me that here we are three weeks out, and both Trump, a former president, and a sitting vice president are both trying to make the case that they are the future, which is interesting, they're turning a page.

TROVER: Well, I think that's why this comment that she made this past week is so devastating for her campaign, because the theory of her case is turn the page and move forward. The Trump campaign is out there saying, no, no, no, she's part of the Biden administration. Seventy percent of this country, you cited the polls, everybody wants a new direction. They think we're going in the wrong direction.

So to sit there and say that you wouldn't change anything over the last four years, it is really not a good thing, and I'm guessing you're going to see that in every swing state on every TV for the next three-and-a-half weeks.

DEAN: All right, Lance Trover and Lulu Garcia Navarro, thank you to you both and Lulu again, a reminder for everyone to catch her interview with Senator JD Vance. Thanks so much.

And it's a tight race between Trump and Harris in Georgia, and misinformation could play a bigger role this time around. We're going to talk about that.

But first up next, we're going to have new reporting from "The New York Times" that Hamas tried to persuade Iran and Hezbollah to participate in the October 7th attack on Israel. One of the reporters who broke that story is joining us to talk about it.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:19:04]

DEAN: New reporting tonight from "The New York Times," Hamas plotted the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel for more than two years and tried to persuade Iran and Hezbollah to participate. "The Times" is citing the minutes of secret Hamas meetings found on a computer and seized by the Israeli military in Gaza in January. Iran and Hezbollah have vigorously denied these claims.

In a statement to CNN, Iran's Mission to the United Nations, said: "While Doha stationed Hamas officials have themselves stated that they too had no prior knowledge of the operation, and that all the planning, decision making and directing were solely executed by Hamas' military wing based in Gaza, any claim attempting to link it to Iran or Hezbollah, either partially or wholly, is devoid of credence and comes from fabricated documents."

Ronen Bergman, one of "The New York Times" reporters who broke this story, joins us now from Tel Aviv.

Ronan, thanks so much for being here with us. I just want you first to walk us through this report and what points toward an attempt by Hamas to coordinate with Iran.

[18:20:07 ]

RONEN BERGMAN, REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": So we're talking about 10 documents, 10 minutes of meetings that took place between July 21 to August -- 7th of August, 2023, so exactly two months before the war started, before the Hamas attack on Israel.

This is the only forum, it is called a small (ph) military council, so basically, the supreme form of Hamas, chaired by Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza and the mastermind behind the attack. This is the only way they spoke freely, because they were sure, and with all good reason, as proven because Israel intelligence only got these after the attack. They were sure that nobody is listening, and they spoke freely about the decision making, the conclusions, the preparations and their attempts to bring in, to convince Iran and Hezbollah to participate.

And with my colleagues, Patrick Kingsley at Adam Rasgon, we examine these protocols, verified and vetted them, and then one of the things that we -- that clearly comes out of the protocols is that the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar is saying, If we attack by ourselves, we could cause significant damage to Israel, but if we attack with the whole front, so the Axis of Resistance -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, the militias in Iraq -- we could collapse Israel instead, or at least take Israel many years backwards.

And they're trying to convince them, first in 2022 and when they were not successful, they delayed it to 2023. A series of meetings in Beirut between a hiring official from Hamas, his name is Khalil al- Hayya, the deputy of Mr. Sinwar and a senior Iranian official, they discussed the details of the plan and what Hamas asked the Iranians and Hezbollah to do, for example, to bomb, to attack some sensitive sites at the beginning, at the first hour of this surprise attack.

DEAN: And according to your reporting, Hamas had been avoiding major escalations with Israel since 2021 to try and lull Israeli leaders into this false sense of security and that Hamas initially planned to attack in the fall of '22, but delayed to try and persuade Iran and Hezbollah to take part.

Were there any indications in those documents that Iran had any hand in helping Hamas prepare for those attacks? I know Iran has denied that.

BERGMAN: Yes. Well, we know what the Iranians, of course, talk about this, about the massive help in financing Hamas, supplying them with knowhow, sophisticated military equipment and others. What these protocols reveal is that, unlike the claim from Israeli intelligence that this was a well-kept secret between only six people in Gaza, which of course, makes the Israeli intelligence failure slightly lighter or smaller, the Hamas shared this secret of the coming attack with Iran, with Hezbollah.

They understood from Iran that Iran will help if Hamas attacks, though not the promise to join them in the first minute, as it did happen, Hezbollah joined the war on October 7th, but they also shared these secrets with people from the political bureau of Hamas.

You said something about the nature of the deception, Hamas orchestrated a very sophisticated campaign of deception to convince Israeli leaders, as they say in the protocols that Hamas is interested in economic welfare, in prosperity, and in calm, while in fact, they were planning what they call the big project, that's their code name for the attack.

So for example, they make sure -- they made sure that they do not join rounds of fighting between Israel and the other Palestinian jihadist movements, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, because they wanted to show Israel that they don't want war, and when you look at Israeli Intelligence document, you see that they fully fall into the trap.

The Israelis believed that Hamas is deterred. They believed that Hamas doesn't want and cannot execute such an invasion. They didn't understand that they are just following a script written for them by Yahya Sinwar and his lieutenants.

DEAN: All right, Ronen Bergman, thank you so much for being here to talk about your new reporting with us.

[18:25:11]

We really appreciate it.

BERGMAN: Thank you.

DEAN: Just hours before President Biden is set to visit Florida, he is making it easier for residents to start the rebuilding process. We're going to have more on that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: As people start rebuilding, one major obstacle is a big shortage of gasoline and diesel in Florida. People are waiting in long lines and GasBuddy says nearly one in three stations in Florida is actually out of gas right now. Governor Ron DeSantis says officials are trying to distribute the fuel as quickly as possible.

So far, at least 17 people were killed by Milton. We know power is slowly being restored, but 1.2 million people still don't have power. Some areas face dangerous flooding with rivers swollen by the record rainfall.

[18:30:16]

We also know more than 1,200 people have been rescued since Milton made landfall across the state. President Biden has issued a major disaster declaration for Florida, which will provide federal funding for people impacted by the storm.

So many people picking up the pieces there in Florida, fixing homes hit by floods, wind, tornadoes. CNN's Randi Kaye is in Siesta Key with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE GARRETT, HOME DAMAGED BY HURRICANE MILTON: The storm surge was enough to make us concerned. We didn't know where it was going to land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Pastor Charlie Garrett's family has lived on Siesta Key, where Hurricane Milton made landfall since 1948. He and his wife, Hideki, share this property with his father, who lives in the front cottage. All of them evacuated for Hurricane Milton, along with their eight dogs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRETT: We've lost trees all the way back on the property, on the side. They're all down. And then all of a sudden, the wind started coming from the other direction. And it was as bad as I've ever been in. This was as horrific as anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice over): Charlie says the house flooded with about 3 feet of water, just like it had a couple of weeks ago during Hurricane Helene. They didn't evacuate then.

KAYE (on camera): People say, well, are they going to run or are they going to rebuild? Which one is it for you? You're going to run or rebuild?

GARRETT: We're - no, we're staying. Yes, we've been here all these years and I'm going nowhere. Dad has had enough and he's moving off the island. It's just not worth saving the house, probably.

KAYE: Why do you stay?

GARRETT: Helene went all the way up to Ohio and it destroyed entire towns. Where are you going to go? Right? I mean, this is where I grew up. There's nowhere safe on this planet. Wherever you go, there's something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice over): He's working round the clock to clean up his yard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRETT: Sofas, there's all kinds of stuff, garbage cans. All these garbage cans I'm using, they all came from somewhere else. They're not mine. Everything I had during Helene is out in the bay. It's all gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice over): About 170 miles away from Siesta Key in Palm Beach Gardens on the east coast of Florida, more destruction. An EF3 tornado, packing winds of 140 miles per hour, chewed through this community as Milton approached Florida. It is the strongest tornado from a tropical system in Florida in more than half a century.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (on camera): This house was actually the first home that was completed in this community and now it's condemned. Here's the sign marked unsafe. They lost their roof. These are just some of the tiles here on the ground right on their driveway. They lost their windows. They lost their front doors. And now there is literally a hole in their house. You can see right through it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN WATTS, HOME DESTROYED BY TORNADO: It was in the center of the house, like they always trying to do, center of the house, multiple walls around us. And we don't need the stairs.

KAYE (on camera): Will you rebuild?

WATTS: Yes.

KAYE: You'll stay put?

WATTS: Yes, ma'am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice over): Down the street, this woman was huddled in a closet under her stairwell with her family and a friend who evacuated from Sarasota, thinking they'd be safe here. That's when she got a terrifying text from a neighbor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNA STROUD, HOME DAMAGED BY TORNADO: Someone says, oh, my god, I see it. And I'm like, you see it? And they said, yes, it's coming from Publix and it's coming right for us. We definitely hear it coming through and the shaking. And then we also felt the wind. And when we felt the wind, you know, we knew we were compromised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice over): Her home is badly damaged, but not destroyed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (off camera): Do you consider moving or are you going to rebuild?

STROUD: Well, we will rebuild.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice over): Back in Siesta Key, Charlie is leaning into his faith while keeping an eye on Mother Nature.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRETT: As long as I have that faith that Christ came out of the grave, nothing can harm me.

KAYE (on camera): You feel like God would keep you safe here?

GARRETT: No. If I stayed here and I died, it would have been my fault. It's a world of disaster. And so we make choices and those things happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE (voice over): Randi Kaye, CNN on Siesta Key, Florida.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

DEAN: This week, President Obama told black men it's, quote, "Not acceptable to sit out this election." Some Democrats right now are worried about the Vice President's standing with black male voters. What more can the campaign do? We're going to talk about it next. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:38:51]

DEAN: The White House is releasing a detailed new report about the health of Vice President Kamala Harris, and the campaign is using the moment to highlight Trump's unwillingness to share information about his own health. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta details what we learned from the Harris report.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What we were provided with is about a page and a half letter, which is pretty standard for presidential candidates and presidents when it comes to their health history. The headline is the Vice President is a 59-year-old healthy woman who is able to fulfill the demands in the office of the presidency. This particular letter is signed by Joshua Simmons, who is her doctor and a colonel in the U.S. Army.

Just a couple of notable highlights: Again, keeping in mind that these are minor things, that she is healthy, she has allergies, she has hives associated with those allergies, she wears contact lenses. Most notably is that she has a family history of colon cancer. Her mother died around age 70 of colon cancer. And they make note of this, saying that she is getting preventive care recommendations, including colonoscopies and annual mammograms.

I think they also spent a lot of time in this letter talking about what the Vice President does not have.

[18:40:03]

She does not have a history of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, lung disease, neurological disorders or cancer. They give a lot of the numbers of a recent physical exam, which was done in April of 2024. They talk about things like her blood pressure, but also any medications that she may be taking. She is taking things like vitamin B12, vitamin D, which they find all those to be in the normal range.

So this is a pretty standard letter. There are no particular concerns when you see a letter like this. And again, coming from her doctor, talking about her most recent physical exam, the headline being that she is in excellent health and possesses a physical and mental resiliency, they say here, required to execute the duties of the presidency. Back to you.

DEAN: Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much.

Democrats start to hit the panic button. That's the headline from a piece this week in The Hill written by my next guest, Amie Parnes, joining us now.

Amie, great to have you.

AMIE PARNES, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, THE HILL: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Yes, you've written a few pieces this week around this theme, including whether Harris has a gender gap problem with male voters. Listen, this whole week we heard a number of Democrats starting to panic. What are you hearing in talking to people?

PARNES: Well, they are. There is a very palpable shift in the way that Democrats have been talking to me since the convention. I think they came out of it, Jessica, very excited. You know, there was a lot of energy.

I was in the hall during the convention. I could feel it. People were really excited. They thought this is it. We're going to win. It's shifted. I've proactively received a lot of calls from Democrats who really aren't the nervous type saying I'm nervous and here's why. And I've gotten a lot of those. I've sensed that shift kind of happening in the last week or so because they see how deadlocked and stubborn these numbers are. And they're trying to see how they can shift this race.

They think they should be so much farther ahead, even though Kamala Harris has said from the beginning that she is the underdog. They're saying, look, we're running against a convicted felon and we're not gaining traction. And we need to figure out what we can do in the final weeks of this campaign.

DEAN: Yes. Is that what it is? Because I'm curious what they're pointing to, because frankly, the data and the polling is - I mean, there's swings here and there, of course, and things are up and things are down, but this continues to be a margin of error race is kind of the broad point here. What are they pointing to? Is it that you think that it's just getting closer and they thought they would be farther ahead at this point?

PARNES: I think they did think they would be farther ahead, but I think they're pointing to, you know, a lot of people I talked to this week thought that she did fine on her "60 MINUTES" interview, for example, but that she could have sold and made the case even stronger on the economy and on immigration. And they think that she's still kind of testing a message and she shouldn't be there right now. She should be in the selling phase. This is the final weeks of the campaign.

So they're pointing to that. They're pointing to men. They're pointing to the fact that the race isn't moving, that nothing is really picking up in favor of her. So they want to kind of shift gears. And a lot of people have said maybe she needs to sit down and do more serious interviews or do a town hall or two or three to show that she can kind of solidify those voters who are still questioning what she stands for and what she promises ahead because elections are about the future.

DEAN: And, Amie, while you were talking, we were looking at some video from just moments ago. Vice President Harris is in North Carolina, of course, one of the battleground states meeting with voters there and specifically with a group of black men there. Of course, former President Obama had a very sharp message to black men about this election. I want to play a clip from what he said earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're thinking about sitting out or even supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you? Because you think that's a sign of strength? Because that's what being a man is, putting women down? That's not acceptable. And you all know some of those rhetoric (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Amie, what did you hear from Democrats in reaction to what the former president said? PARNES: They were so happy that he was voicing concern about this, that he was sounding the alarm. They say that he is the perfect surrogate to make this case, that he needs to be out there doing more of that. And that this was kind of a clarion call to his party, you know, that he understands what they need to do. You know, he built this Obama coalition. He knows where Kamala Harris needs to be.

[18:45:01]

And he knows that those numbers need to tick up just a little bit if this is a game of, you know, if this is an election of the margins. You know, even one or two points with this demographic can help.

And so a lot of Democrats I spoke to since he made those remarks were so pleased that he did that. And they think that he can be effective and that Michelle Obama can also be effective in kind of getting these people out to vote. And I think that's the point, that a lot of people - there's all this fear going on right now, but that President Obama can kind of make the case for this fear and kind of speak to these people in a way that, you know, a lot of people could not do.

DEAN: I'm curious, too, what your sense is, because I know you've covered this, too. How much does the ghost of 2016 linger for these Democrats that you're talking to?

PARNES: Oh, it lingers. It lingers a lot.

DEAN: Yes.

PARNES: And I hear that in every conversation that I have, you know, that we need to learn our lesson. You know, even with men, I'm hearing we need - this is going to be a conversation that goes well beyond the 2024 race. We have a man problem. We need to figure out what went wrong in 2016 and beyond and how we fix this problem.

But yes, a lot of this fear is, of course, dating back to 2016 when Democrats thought that they had this in the bag and then Trump came out and won. And they look at Hillary Clinton's numbers and they say Hillary Clinton was ahead with certain demographics at this point going into that election and she said she lost, of course, and they don't want Kamala Harris to be in that boat.

And there is misogyny. A lot of I'm hearing from Democrats that they're worried that misogyny is playing a big factor in this race. And so that's another reason why they're happy that President Obama, the former president, came out to talk about this even more so.

DEAN: Yes. Well, it will be interesting to see what the next three weeks hold.

Thank you so much, Amie. Good to see you.

PARNES: Thank you.

DEAN: The race for the White House could come down to a handful of votes in key states like Georgia and misinformation could play a role here, that's next. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:51:49]

DEAN: Just as in 2020, Georgia could play a pivotal role in the upcoming election, with polls showing Harris and Trump in a neck-and- neck race. But election officials are warning chaos could break out because of some new rules linked to a controversial group. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan takes a closer look at how misinformation is being weaponized in the Peach State.

(Begin VT)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: How does it feel to be labeled a conspiracy theorist, as I'm sure you have been?

SALLEIGH GRUBBS: Am I? That's news to me.

If you are for free and fair elections in the United States of America with only citizens voting, I want you to make some noise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Trump supporters like Salleigh Grubbs are making last-minute changes to election rules in Georgia on things like how ballots are counted and how easy it is to challenge the election results.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Before the 2020 election, you weren't necessarily involved at a political organizing level at all.

GRUBBS: No.

O'SULLIVAN: What changed?

GRUBBS: It's because of the ballot shredding that happened at Jim Miller Park.

O'SULLIVAN: Ballot shredding?

GRUBBS: Mm-hmm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): As Trump's election denialism gripped Georgia in November 2020, Salleigh got caught up in a conspiracy theory of her own.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GRUBBS: November the 20th, Friday morning.

I got a phone call from a friend and said they're shredding things. You know, you need to get over there.

I'm watching all of these ballots being shredded now. Un-ba-lievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): They jumped in their cars and chased the truck. Salleigh said it was like a scene from "Thelma & Louise."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN: What did you see? You saw ...

GRUBBS: I saw big containers, big bins of things that said official absentee ballot, wheeled over to a shredding truck, sucked up into the truck and shredded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): The story went viral. But county and state election officials, even the shredding company itself, said that no ballots were shredded. Only things like envelopes and mailing labels were destroyed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRUBBS: If we can get lottery tickets right, we should be able to process ballots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Salleigh was directly involved in changing a rule to give local election officials the power to delay certification of the result.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABRIEL STERLING: She is a highly motivated individual who has taken advantage of the laws as written. If you're relentless, you can get to places and get things done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Gabriel Sterling is one of the top election officials in Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STERLING: Most of the stuff they do is just adding extra stress to our county workers more than anything. If Trump wins the state, everything will be roses. If he loses the state by a small amount, which is a possibility too, then this is just laying the foundation for the conspiracy theories of how the election got stolen this time. (END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): One of the last minute changes here involves an additional count of ballots by hand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH KIRK, ELECTION SUPERVISOR, BARTOW COUNTY, GA: And I want to be clear, I don't have a problem with hand counting ballots.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

KIRK: There's different times to do that, there's different reasons to do that and the process we normally go through is called an audit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Joseph Kirk is the election administrator in the county next to Salleigh's.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRK: We do it after the election in a controlled environment where it's easier to observe, easier to monitor the process and my folks have a chance to rest first. We're just giving folks a chance to make a mistake. We're just having very, very tired, in many cases, senior citizens try to hand count stuff in front of people, which can be nerve-wracking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'SULLIVAN (voice over): Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:55:09]

DEAN: Donie, thank you. We've been talking a lot about Vice President Harris' struggles with black male voters. Why is that? We're going to run the numbers coming up right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:59:58]

DEAN: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York. And we are 24 days away from Election Day with this race coming.