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Michelle Obama Gives Scathing Rebuke Of Trump At Harris Rally; Trump Holds Rally In Battleground Pennsylvania; Israel Launched Three Waves Of Strikes Against Iran; Report Reveals Elon Musk In Regular Contact With Putin Since 2022; WSJ: Elon Musk In "Regular Contact" With Putin; How Political Fundraising Is Exploiting The Elderly. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 26, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:02:40]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. And I'm Jessica Dean in New York.
We are 10 days away from election day, and tonight we are seeing Harris and Trump in the final sprint of the campaign. The former president just wrapping up a rally in the must-win state of Pennsylvania where he's been attacking Harris on fracking. Meanwhile, the Harris campaign, pulling out all the stops with former first lady Michelle Obama giving an impassioned speech at a campaign rally in the battleground state of Michigan. She gave a scathing rebuke of Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: But can someone tell me why we are once again holding Kamala to a higher standard than her opponent?
(CHEERS)
OBAMA: We, we expect her to be intelligent and articulate, to have a clear set of policies, to never show too much anger, to prove time and time again that she belongs. But for Trump, we -- we expect nothing at all. No understanding of policy, no ability to put together a coherent argument. No honesty, no decency, no morals. Instead, too many people are willing to write off his childish, mean-spirited antics by saying, well, Trump is just being Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: CNN's Eva McKend is in Kalamazoo where that rally just wrapped up a short time ago.
Eva, we heard the crowd. They sounded pretty ferociously loud. How did you see them reacting to the former first lady's message?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jess, it was a passionate speech and this crowd was fired up in many ways. It was a call to action from the former first lady as she kept repeating do something to Michigan voters, just don't sit on the sidelines. And she spoke about this issue of reproductive rights in a really interesting way, essentially telling women that they had every right to lean on the men in their lives, to not empower someone in her view that would assault their sense of safety. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If we don't get this election right, your wife, your daughter, your mother, we as women, will become collateral damage to your rage.
[19:05:13]
OBAMA: So are you, as men, prepared to look into the eyes of the women and children you love and tell them that you supported this assault on our safety? And to the women listening, we have every right to demand that the men in our lives do better by us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: And Jess, we've been hearing a lot about Democratic jitters, essentially Democrats are very nervous while Republicans are strutting, but I have to tell you that Vice President Harris appeared especially confident on stage tonight in Kalamazoo. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is going to be a tight race until the very end so we have a lot of work to do, but we like hard work. Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work. And make no mistake, we will win. We will win. We will win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: And also key to Harris's closing argument is that the former president is increasingly exhibiting behavior that illustrates that he is ill-prepared for this moment and unfit to lead this country -- Jess.
DEAN: And Eva, what is next for the vice president? Obviously it's a mad dash to the end of this election.
MCKEND: It sure is. She's going to be worshipping at a black church in Philadelphia tomorrow and then she hits back here to Michigan for an event where she'll be joined by her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, in Ann Arbor, Michigan -- Jess.
DEAN: All right. A full schedule. All right, Eva McKend. Thank you so much. We really appreciate that.
Meantime, former president Trump just leaving the stage in State College, Pennsylvania.
CNN's Danny Freeman is there.
And Danny, I know you were there for all of his remarks. What did he say to the crowd? DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, I think that the last 24
hours and certainly this event here at State College was really all about reaching out to young men. Of course, this event was on a college campus here at Penn State, so it was about reaching out to young voters to an extent largely. But really it was focused on young men, not just this event but his actions over the past two days.
Now, specifically with this event, it was about an hour and 20 minutes ago. That's how long he spent speaking on the stage. He just wrapped up a few moments ago. There was much of his normal Pennsylvania type of stump speech, as you noted. He spoke a lot about fracking. He bashed the Biden-Harris administration when it came to immigration. He also actually made fun of Vice President Harris and Beyonce saying that Beyonce did not sing last night at an event that Harris held in Texas, and he was making fun of the superstar singer because of that.
But early on, and this is what it comes back to, again this idea of reaching out to young male voters, he really played to the crowd here admiring the Penn State wrestling team. He was admiring their muscles quite a bit, saying, look at them, look at their muscles all over the place, and then he joked, maybe he'd wrestle one or two of them. The crowd loved it here.
He then invited the Penn State wrestling team up on stage, had one of the members of the team speak out to the crowd. The crowd, of course here the hometown crowd really enjoyed that. And again, that's the through line of the past 24 hours because you combine that in addition to perhaps the biggest headline of the weekend was former president Trump speaking on "The Joe Rogan Experience," Joe Rogan's very famous podcast.
And in that interview, which is very interesting because it was, Jessica, three hours long, it didn't really break much new ground. It was meandering a times. He was free-wheeling. The former president brought up more of these election conspiracies that he has brought up in the past. But it is reaching out to perhaps a segment of young men who are maybe not as plugged into the election, maybe less likely to vote. That's who this campaign is trying to reach out to this particular weekend.
But, Jessica, I'll tell you the interesting thing about everything that we're talking about today as well, Vice President Harris is going to head to Philadelphia tomorrow. Former president Trump is not going to be in a swing state tomorrow. Instead, he's going to be in New York City having that massive rally, certainly this campaign hopes it's a massive rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City tomorrow evening -- Jessica.
DEAN: All right. Danny Freeman for us on the trail in State College, Pennsylvania. Thank you so much for that report.
Earlier tonight, I had the chance to speak with legendary Democratic strategist, James Carville, about his thoughts on the race and why he thinks Democrats need to stop worrying. I want to play you some of that conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: We're now just 10 days out, and this week you wrote an op-ed for "The New York Times" giving your three reasons why you said you're certain that Vice President Kamala Harris will win. "America, it will all be OK," you wrote.
[19:10:01]
Every poll so far has shown this could go either way. Our new CNN poll shows the two candidates locked in a tie at 47 percent and our latest polling average, no clear leader.
James, why are you so confident?
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think I laid it out in the "Times" piece. We have more money, we have more mobilization, we got a lot of things. One of the things that I didn't do because of space limitations that we're seeing this, we have incredibly more surrogates. We have two former presidents, we have every kind of cultural, entertainment, athletic surrogate that you can.
He's got nothing. RFK Jr. OK. Fine. Please put, Red Rover, Red Rover, send RFK Jr. right over. And I am, if anything, more bullish on her chances today than I was when I wrote that. And I think over the weekend, we're going to see some polling that's going to show her in a somewhat improved situation. And the way I see this thing closing is on very favorable terms to her. And every piece of information I've picked up today, both statistically and anecdotally, seems to be pointing in one direction. And I think the direction is she's going to win.
DEAN: And I don't have to tell you. I've seen the documentary, which by the way is great, and I've seen you work those songs. I know you're talking to everybody all the time, so I don't have to tell you that there is a lot -- there are a lot of Democrats and if you're in the beltway, if you're in that corridor, all you hear is they are really, really, it varies from anxious to just throwing their hands up. You know, that they're very concerned she will not win.
One of their criticisms that you hear, and you hear this from voters, too, to be fair, is that she is not clear enough on her policy positions. That they don't understand what she's trying to pitch to voters. Do you agree with that? And do you think that that will matter?
CARVILLE: Look, frankly that's the money question. Thank you so much for asking it. And Democrats are a lot of (INAUDIBLE) out here in Los Angeles, and if you want to see some lame, nervous, panicked people come to the west side of Los Angeles. I was in Manhattan, go to the upper east side of Manhattan. I mean, these people live petrified.
I don't live like that. And by the way, when said, well, you know, she's just not clear enough on her positions, let me say this. Donald Trump is very clear. He says I am going to use the military to arrest my political opponents. And then they dispatched -- Lindsey Graham goes on TV or Mike Johnson makes an utter fool of himself and said, oh, no, that's not what he really means. Then he comes back and says no, I really mean it.
So understand exactly what is going on. He's going to have a rally tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden that is going to mimic a Nazi rally of 20 February, 1939. And you know what the media is going to do? Simple, well, he had a rally that mimic Nazis and Kamala Harris was in Tucson, and had 12,000 people for a rally.
It's not the same thing. And we got surrogates coming out that are going to point this out and everybody -- always people I meet in airports like, quit being so nervous, go out and do your job and let's win this thing because we're going to win. It's just that simple. I feel very, very confident. I would not have done that as you know. You watched the documentary, I'm not a particularly ad hoc person.
And before I arrived at that decision, I talked to a lot of people, I looked at a lot of data, and four days after I wrote it I'm more convinced than I was when I wrote it.
DEAN: what do you think is the bumper sticker message that Harris closes with? We know that she's really highlighting the threat obviously to democracy. She was heavy on the reproductive rights issue, especially last night with Beyonce in Texas.
What do you think is really going to connect and really motivate those people to vote for her?
CARVILLE: It's the Constitution, stupid. We have lived down this Constitution since March of 1789. Trump is telling you that he is going to dismantle the entire constitutional order in the United States. He is telling you that he is going to turn the government over to a pack of theocrats and he's going to turn foreign policy over to a pack of billionaires. You can see the evidence of this every day that you exist.
And do I wish early on that we'd had a little stronger position about helping the middle class? Probably so. But here we go, we got nine days to go and the existence of the Constitution and the system of government that we have had and treasured for so long in this country is at risk. Plain and simple. And it needs to be covered that way. And I am highly critical of 80 percent of the media coverage that tells me that I do not understand their jobs.
[19:15:06]
I understand it clearly. Your job in Birmingham was not to cover Bull Connor and Martin Luther King equally. Your job after Pearl Harbor was not to cover Tojo and Franklin Roosevelt equally. And we have to understand that our existence as a constitutional republic is at severe risk here, and we have to explain it to people in plain unambiguous everyday language that our children are going to accept the consequences of our negligence, and I will take fair coverage that people come out with. So that's what I think we should do between now and election day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: And our thanks to James Carville for that conversation.
The CNN Film "CARVILLE, WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID" airs tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.
We are learning new details about Israel's attack on Iran, raising concerns that the two foes may be moving into even deeper conflict and accusations being raised about America's involvement. We'll have a report from Tel Aviv.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:51]
DEAN: Iran's mission to the U.N. is accusing the U.S. of being complicit in Israel's retaliatory attacks on Iranian military targets. It claimed the IDF used Iraqi airspace to attack Iran and that Iraqi airspace is controlled by the U.S. military.
Our Jeremy Diamond has more on the attacks.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, over the course of about four hours overnight dozens of Israeli military aircraft carried out strikes inside of Iran, including around the Iranian capital of Tehran. We're told that these targets were purely military targets. No oil or nuclear infrastructure targets were hit in these strikes, something that the Israeli government had previously considered.
Instead, we're told that this was missile manufacturing facilities, as well as air defense systems. One Israeli official telling me that multiple S-300 air defense batteries that were located in strategic locations inside of Iran were struck by the Israeli military. And this official believes that this will directly translate into giving the Israeli air force more ability to maneuver over Iranian skies should the Israeli government choose to conduct additional strikes inside of Iran.
For now, there's no indication that they will unless Iran chooses to retaliate and particularly if Iran chooses to retaliate in an escalatory manner. For now, though, the Iranian government appears inclined to downplay the severity of these strikes carried out by Israel, suggesting that the damage was minimal, even as they acknowledged that four Iranian military personnel were killed in these overnight strikes.
And the Israeli government is also working hard it seems to try and avoid driving Iran to feel the need to retaliate further. Israeli government ministers and spokespeople have been directed not to speak about the details of these strikes. Very little limited information has actually emerged about the exact nature of the targets, and also about the amount of damage that is inflicted.
And that's because these strikes I'm told by a source familiar with the Israeli government's thinking were intended to show that the Israeli intelligence and military was capable of striking targets deep inside of Iran. But at the same time, limiting the amount of boasting that is done in the aftermath, at least publicly, by the Israeli government in order to give Iran the kind of leeway to manage the fallout of this.
Now Iran does face a decision because if they don't strike, they certainly risk of facing a perception of being weak. If they do, though, they of course face the risk of escalating the situation further and perhaps drawing Israel directly into war -- Jessica.
DEAN: Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thank you for that reporting.
Still ahead, Elon Musk's secret conversations with Putin. The "Wall Street Journal" reports the two have talked about everything from personal topics, the geopolitical tensions. We'll break it down as the head of NASA calls for an investigation.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:28:17]
DEAN: A new report is raising questions about Elon Musk, a Trump ally of course and megadonor. The "Wall Street Journal" reporting Musk has been in regular contact for more than a year with Russian president Vladimir Putin discussing politics, business, and personal matters.
As CNN's Brian Todd reports, it is raising national security concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The world's richest man, who's become a huge player on the Trump campaign trail, now reported to have had concerning interactions with one of America's biggest adversaries.
Elon Musk, according to the "Wall Street Journal," has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022, a report drawing unease from the head of NASA.
BILL NELSON, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: I think it should be investigated. If the story is true, then I think that would be concerning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
NELSON: Particularly for NASA, for the Department of Defense, for some of the intelligence agencies.
TODD: That's because Musk, as the head of SpaceX, has a security clearance that gives him access to some classified information.
DMITRI ALPEROVITCH, RUSSIA AND CYBER EXPERT: SpaceX is a huge defense contractor to the U.S. government. They're sending astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. They're sending up supply ships to the International Space Station. They're sending into orbits highly classified U.S. intelligence satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office.
TODD: The "Journal" cites a person who's aware of the conversations as saying no alerts have been raised by the Biden administration over possible security breaches by Musk. But the "Journal" also reports that several White House officials said they weren't aware of the conversations.
The "Journal" says in those talks, Musk and Putin discussed geopolitical tensions, personal topics and business. Earlier this year, Musk's social media platform X carried Tucker Carlson's interview with the Russian president in which Putin called Musk a smart person.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I think there's no stopping Elon Musk. He will do as he sees fit.
[19:30:13]
TODD (voice over): "The Journal" report, also raising alarms because of Russia's alleged attempts to meddle in Americas elections because of Donald Trump's open the admiration of Putin.
DONALD TRUMP (R) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Putin and all group -- Kim Jong-un, they're tough guys out there. They're tough and they're smart and they are streetwise and that they're at the top of their game.
TODD (voice over): And concerns that the Russian leader has tried to manipulate Trump.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: What does Elon Musk really doing? Does he have the best interests of the United States in his mind or is he serving as a conduit for Vladimir Putin to Donald Trump in a way that doesn't have to be so public?
TODD (voice over): Separately, journalist, Bob Woodward has reported that Trump has spoken with Putin several times since leaving the White House, which Trump has denied. This report comes as Elon Musk has emerged as one of the most influential players in this election.
TRUMP: And I love Elon by the way.
TODD (voice over): In recent weeks, Musk has repeatedly stumped for Donald Trump in battleground states and has donated nearly $120 million to help Trump get elected.
PRESTON: We've never seen a media baron in this age of social media. Somebody who owns one of the most influential social media platforms becomes so involved with one person.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov has called the "Wall Street Journal" report, "absolutely false." Peskov, says Musk and Putin have had only one interaction that it was before 2022, that it was only on the phone and that they only discussed technology. Peskov has also denied reports that Trump and Putin speak regularly. Elon Musk has not commented on the "Wall Street Journal" report, but has called previous criticism that he's an apologist for Putin absurd -- Jessica.
DEAN: All right, our thanks to Brian Todd for that reporting. And joining us now is former US Ambassador to Ukraine, William Taylor.
Ambassador. Thank you so much for your time tonight. It's nice to have you.
WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER US AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Thank, you Jessica is good to be here.
DEAN: I just want to ask you first, what you would worry about in terms of these national security implications of Musk talking to Putin regularly?
TAYLOR: Jessica, we have one foreign policy at a time and you have to worry that -- there is the worry that if he, if Musk is talking to Putin about these issues, we know that he's got a security clearance as you just reported. He's got access to a lot of classified information and if he's having conversations with the enemy, let's be clear, Vladimir Putin is the enemy at this point, he's a war criminal and he's attacking Ukraine, but he's the adversary as you've indicated.
And if Musk is having conversations with the enemy, talking about classified information, which is a possibility, that's a problem.
DEAN: And just going even more broadly with that, the "Wall Street Journal" also reported, "At one point, Putin asked the billionaire to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader. Xi Jinping."
We know that there are lines to be drawn from Russia China, Iran, North Korea, all four of them, not -- you know, obviously, American adversaries in many ways. What do you make of Musk trying to potentially cozy up to that whole group?
TAYLOR: It's a big problem. Exactly right, again, our foreign policy is to support Ukraine. Our foreign policy is to support Taiwan, and if Putin can ask Musk to adjust or deny Starlink for the Ukrainians over Crimea or Starlink in Taiwan making it difficult for them to communicate, that's a problem, that goes against our foreign policy.
And in order to have a coherent strong effective foreign policy, it has to be unified and it can't have these players playing on their own.
DEAN: Right, as you said, there's one foreign policy at a time. I do want to ask you, too, speaking of Ukraine, the Ukrainian military says North Korean troops have been seen in Russia near the frontlines. They a poised to join Russia's war. It's kind of incredible. What do you make of that development? TAYLOR: It does expand it. The North Koreans of course, have been providing the Russians with ammunition for a long time. We've known this, we've seen that. Millions of shells of artillery which the Russians are using every day against the Ukrainians. That's going on. But this is a new development that is putting troops, for the North Koreans to send troops.
I would imagine this is giving the -- this would be the opportunity for President Biden to take some counter steps. For example, he could certainly, I know he's thinking about allowing the Ukrainians to fire deep into Russia at military targets. This would be a good opportunity for him to make that decision or to invite Ukraine into NATO.
This is a good opportunity with the North Koreans now, changing the game, upping the game, escalating the game, this is a good opportunity to show more support for Ukraine.
[19:05:27]
DEAN: All right, Ambassador William Taylor, as always, thank you.
TAYLOR: Thank you, Jessica.
DEAN: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:40:11]
DEAN: Election officials in many states have ramped up security citing an alarming amount of threats against election workers in the run-up to election day.
Just yesterday, in San Antonio, Texas, Sheriff's deputies arrested a suspect who they say assaulted an election clerk at a polling location.
According to officials, a voter hit a worker after being told to remove his Trump hat before entering the polls.
Joining us now is CNN's Rafael Romo. Rafael, I know you're tracking this. What else can you tell us?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, Jessica, according to officials, the voters showed up at a polling site wearing a red MAGA or Trump baseball cap and the man identified as Jesse Lutzenberger, was told by poll workers to remove his baseball cap while he was at the polling place and he initially complied, but moments later, as he was walking out of the voting area, he put his baseball cap back on.
According to the incident report, when an election clerk told them to remove his hat, he started punching the clerk on the chest and face as other people watched.
Lutzenberger faces a felony charge of assault. CNN has reached out to Lutzenberger and his attorney for comment. When the incident happened, he was with his wife and she told him to stop as he punched the election clerk according to the sheriff's office.
Merrick County elections administrator, Jacque Callanen says there's no place for violence at polling stations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUE CALLANEN, BEXAR COUNTY, TX ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR: So as the lines are getting longer, obviously, people are getting a little bit more testy for standing in a line. We understand that, but the officials are doing a fantastic job and they don't need to be treated like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: The Texas Election Code says in part that a person may not wear a badge, insignia, emblem or other similar communicative device relating to a candidate measure or political party appearing on the ballot or to the conduct of the election in the polling place or within 100 feet of any outside door through which a voter may enter the building in which the polling place is located.
This is something the Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar also wanted to remind voters about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF JAVIER SALAZAR, BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS: Wearing clothing supporting a political candidate, which -- that's electioneering. And it's certainly something that you're not supposed to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: Jessica, in a separate incident, police in Arizona have arrested a man accused of shooting at the Democratic National Committee office in the suburb of Phoenix.
Tempe Police say, 60-year-old Jeffrey Michael Kelly is a suspect in three separate shootings of the DNC office and investigators surveilling him, say they also saw him posting political signs with bags of a white powdery substance attached.
He now faces three felony counts of acts of terrorism and seven other counts related to the shootings. Reached by CNN, his attorney, Jason Squires said there was no evidence at all that he was on his way to commit mayhem, destruction, and death as prosecutors claim -- Jessica.
DEAN: All right, Rafael Romo, thank you so much for that reporting.
And, still ahead tonight, a CNN Investigation uncovers how elderly Americans, including dementia patients are being scammed out of millions of dollars by shady political fundraising tactics.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:00]
DEAN: A CNN Investigation is uncovering the dark side of some election fundraising. Dozens of elderly Americans being exploited, many with dementia, some giving away their life savings.
And while groups tied to both parties were involved, CNN found that far more of the complaints were tied to donations made to Donald Trump.
CNN's Kyung Lah has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BENJAMIN, FATHER LOST LIFE SAVINGS THROUGH POLITICAL DONATIONS: So you made more than a hundred donations in one day.
RICHARD BENJAMIN, ELDERLY WITH DEMENTIA, LOST LIFE SAVINGS THROUGH POLITICAL DONATIONS: My gosh.
KYUNG LAH, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Benjamin family has had this conversation before, 81-year-old Richard Benjamin, just doesn't remember.
J. BENJAMIN: So between these two months, it's over $60,000.00.
LAH (voice over): Richard Benjamin has dementia.
R. BENJAMIN: WINRED. Boy there was a lot of them WINRED alone.
LAH (voice over): Ultimately, he gave away more than $80,000.00 in political donations. All going through a fundraising platform called WINRED. Republican campaigns rely on it to solicit donations, often using misleading ads through e-mail and text messages like "we tried to warn you, but you kept ignoring us. President Trump personally tapped you this is not a drill."
J. BENJAMIN: When we looked at his phone his phone told the whole story because he would get --
MICHELLE GOLDNER, FATHER LOST LIFE SAVINGS THROUGH POLITICAL DONATIONS: Dozens.
J. BENJAMIN: -- dozens of text messages a day referring to him as a patriot and thank you for helping to save America.
R. BENJAMIN: I was dealing with President Trump and so it came up that when I -- when they want to find out what I was doing, that's what I put in.
J. BENJAMIN: He really in his heart, believed that Donald Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. and other politicians were personally reaching out to him.
GOLDNER: He had essentially put himself $50,000.00 in debt after he had given them his life savings.
LAH (on camera): And this is all from $10.00 and $25.00 donations.
J. BENJAMIN: It's really outrageous.
[19:50:06]
LAH (voice over): CNN's investigative team reviewed more than a thousand public reports and complaints and found deceptive political fundraising by Republicans and Democrats has victimized hundreds of elderly Americans misleading them into donating far more than they intended and it adds up.
A sample of just 52 elderly donors, many who suffer from dementia or cognitive decline gave away more than $6 million of their life savings, the majority to Donald Trump and other Republican candidates.
KAREN, MOTHER LOST LIFE SAVINGS THROUGH POLITICAL DONATIONS: She basically drained all the accounts, everything, but $250.00.
LAH (voice over): Karen's mothers Jolene, gave, Republicans nearly $200,000.00. She died earlier this summer from Stage 4 cancer amid cognitive decline.
We met Karen at her mother's home in California. It's empty as she prepares it for the rental market. Karen asked, we not use their last name, fearing retaliation.
KAREN: I have this pit in my stomach, it makes me feel like throwing up thinking that the last months of her life were about her being swindled. It's just -- it's incomprehensible. It really is. It's unconscionable, what they've done.
LAH (voice over): As Karen reviewed her mother's bank records and the text messages on her phone. It became clear how that money disappeared so quickly.
LAH (on camera): She just got another text.
KAREN: Yes, it's endless.
LAH (on camera): This is while we've been here.
KAREN: It's 9:36, 9:44, 9:48, 9:51, 9:53, 9:55, 9:56, 10:01, 10:04, 10:06, 10:07, 10:10, 10:14, 10:16 --
LAH (on camera): I mean it's every few minutes.
KAREN: It's every few minutes.
LAH (on camera): And what does this say.
KAREN: Make this monthly recurring donation.
LAH (on camera): And it's checked already.
KAREN: Yes. LAH (voice over): The box is pre-checked, meaning the campaign can automatically withdraw recurring donations monthly, even weekly. We tried to reach WINRED by phone.
PHONE: Your call has been forwarded to voicemail.
LAH (voice over): Text and e-mail.
LAH(on camera): All right, 4250.
LAH (voice over): And then went to the address that WINRED lists as its headquarters in Virginia.
LAH (on camera): Hi, I'm Kyung Lah from CNN. Could I speak with somebody from WINRED.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're not located in the building on site.
LAH (on camera): WINRED list this address officially with the state of Virginia but they don't actually have anyone here.
LAH (voice over): Though CNN found nearly seven times more complaints from Republican donors, families of Democratic donors have also unwittingly given away their money.
Matt and Dave Weisbart's mother in cognitive decline, donated more than $200,000.00 to Democratic campaigns through ACTBLUE.
DAVE WEISBART, MOTHER LOST LIFE SAVINGS THROUGH POLITICAL DONATIONS: It's theft, it's elder abuse. There's no doubt about it.
LAH (voice over): By talking publicly, they hope one thing might work to get ACTBLUE to return some of their mother's life savings, shame.
MATT WEISBART, MOTHER LOST LIFE SAVINGS THROUGH POLITICAL DONATIONS: The right thing to do, the moral thing to do is to return that money to her. You don't have to. It's not illegal what they did, but it's morally wrong.
LAH (on camera): WINRED did not reply to our request for comment, but the Trump campaign did, saying that it notifies donors before processing recurring donations and has staff on hand and to help with cancelations and refunds.
ACTBLUE did send us a statement saying that it has a surface team to help donors and accommodates as many refunds as possible beyond a 90 day refund window if there are signs of cognitive decline.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Kyung, thank you.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:58:36]
DEAN: Vice President Harris campaigning tonight in Michigan, taking a brief moment after tonight's rally to enjoy a cold one at a local bar with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRETCHEN WHITMER, GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: I've been bugging your whole team, I'm like okay we got to this, this --
KAMALA HARRIS (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, we have microphones in here, just listening to everything.
WHITMER: Oh hi. You bleep my 'F' words.
HARRIS: I didn't realize that. We just told all the family secrets, shit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Look, I've been on the campaign trail, every once in a while you just got to take a break and hit the bar and enjoy a nice Saturday night.
All right, tonight on CNN, catch "Have I Got News For You" with host, Roy Wood Jr. starting at 9:00 PM. Guest this week will be comedian Larry Wilmore and former Congressman Adam Kinzinger. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROY WOOD JR., ACTOR COMEDIAN: Have you ever liked, the new like, any type of like, look-a-like contest or anything?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
WOOD JR.: Anybody else, you all never like?
ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No.
WOOD JR.: No mistaken?
KINZINGER: Tom Cruise, kind of but that's, sick.
WOOD JR.: I don't know.
KINZINGER: I'm not the one who says it.
MICHAEL IAN BLACK: Did you say you're not the one who says it?
KINZINGER: I'm not the one who said it.
MICHAEL IAN BLACK: You just said it, bro.
AMBER RUFFIN: Did you just look at what you look like when it happened?
KINZINGER: Yes, some people think --
RUFFIN: It's not, I mean, some people say I look like Tom Cruise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I keep playing volleyball with my shirt off.
WOOD, JR.: I did, one time though, I did when Isaiah Wood, Jr. look-a- like contest from the Wire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes.
AMBER: Oh, damn.
KINZINGER: He looks good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: "Have I Got News For You", tonight at 9:00 PM, only on CNN.
Thanks so much for joining me tonight. I'm Jessica Dean, I'll see you again tomorrow night starting at 5:00 Eastern.
An encore presentation of "Real Time" with Bill Maher starts right now. Have a great night.
[20:00:37]
