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CNN International: Harris To Give Speech Where Trump Goaded Supporters On Jan. 6; Harris, Trump Target Battlegrounds With One Week Left; Trump: "I'm Not A Nazi. I'm The Opposite Of A Nazi". Aired 11a- 12p ET
Aired October 29, 2024 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LYNDA KINKADE, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom, the final sprint with just one week to go until the U.S. election, Kamala Harris is gearing up to deliver her closing argument in Washington, hot on the heels of what her opponent is framing as his Trump will fix it message, a prebuttal to Harris' speech. Plus, Israel's move to ban the UN Agency for Palestinian refugees is met with global condemnation. We're live in Jerusalem with the latest. And the Dodgers are now one win away from becoming World Series champions. But, could the Yankees stage a comeback? World Sports' Coy Wire will join me.
Well, the countdown gathers pace one week before Election Day. The Harris and Trump campaigns are criss-crossing battleground states, ramping up their attacks on each other. We are standing by right now to hear from Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago for a speech that his campaign has dubbed the "Trump will fix it" event. One campaign official tells CNN that this should be seen as a prebuttal of Kamala Harris' speech later today.
Well, in a few hours, the Vice President will lay out her closing argument. Harris will speak at the Ellipse, the very spot where Trump told his supporters on January 6 in 2021 to fight like hell, setting in motion the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. The Vice President is hoping to strike a balance in her speech, warning that Trump is a threat to democracy, while also putting across her optimistic vision for the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- and also talk about the contrast, because my opponent spends full time talking about just kind of diminishing who we are as America, and talking down at people, talking about, we're the garbage can of the world. We're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KINKADE: Well, Trump is headed to Allentown, Pennsylvania today, a
majority Latino city with a sizable Puerto Rican population. Well, noteworthy because his campaign is struggling to contain the anger sparked by so-called jokes about Puerto Ricans told by a warm-up act at his rally on Sunday in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID REM, FRIEND OF DONALD TRUMP: She is the devil, whoever screamed that out. She is the anti-Christ.
GRANT CARDONE, BUSINESSMAN: She is a pretender. Her and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.
TUCKER CARLSON, MEDIA PERSONALITY: Kamala Harris, she has just -- she got 85 million votes because she is just so impressive as the first Samoan-Malaysian, low IQ, former California prosecutor ever to be elected President.
TONY HINCHCLIFFE, COMEDIAN: I don't know if you guys know this, but there is literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it's called Puerto Rico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, let's bring in CNN National Politics Correspondent Eva McKend, who is covering the Harris campaign. Good to have you with us, Eva. So, we are, of course, waiting to hear from Donald Trump any moment, who will deliver this prebuttal speech ahead of Kamala Harris' speech tonight. What can we expect for her -- from her when she speaks at the Ellipse in Washington?
EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, the goal of this speech is to get voters to imagine who they want to see in the White House in just three months. It's an opportunity for her to draw contrast in stark terms, but also to lay out her policy vision for America, and for her, who has run this truncated campaign, they've been constantly looking for how they can make the most of these big moments, and a speech in Washington at the same site where the former President had his now infamous January 6 speech is bound to garner a lot of attention.
One of the themes she has landed on is that the former President has an enemies list, while she has a to-do list for the American people. She is going to talk about home ownership, lifting up our small businesses, lifting up families and children, and stepping away from this discourse that she argues that Trump is so wedded to in which he trashes people all the time. But, what we see from her is this effort to strike a balance between dire warnings about her -- the former President, calling him a fascist, and also, at the same time, trying to make sure that she maintains a forward-looking optimistic tone for the country. Take a listen to how she is thinking about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: As I've said many times, I'll say tomorrow night in my speech, there is a big difference between he and I. If he were elected, on day one, he is going to be sitting in the Oval Office working on his enemies list. On day one, if I am elected President of the United States, which I fully intend to be, I will be working on behalf of the American people on my to-do list.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:05:00]
MCKEND: So, in short, Lynda, it's going to be about reminding voters of Trump's chaos, crystallizing key arguments like reproductive freedom and pushing for this opportunity economy, being hopeful and optimistic, not focused solely on January 6, but certainly alluding to that. But, listen, the Vice President going to have this speech today in Washington, while her running mate remains in the battleground states, campaigning in Savannah and Columbus, Georgia. Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. So, of course, so many voters, Eva, have been asking for more details on policy, given we had so much attacks back and forth on personality. What more detail are we expected to hear on those key issues?
MCKEND: Well, we got a little bit of a preview during her stop in Michigan yesterday. She visited a semiconductor manufacturing plant, a labor union training facility, and it was there where she talked about strengthening apprenticeship programs, giving tax credits for American manufacturers. So, she has slowly been rolling this out here. It's not a long academic argument, but neither is the former President making that sort of case. But, she is talking about policy pretty consistently, and I suspect that that is going to be a large part of the push tonight as well.
KINKADE: All right. Eva McKend for us in Washington, and we will be watching. Thanks so much.
Well, I want to turn now to our panel, CNN Political Analyst Jackie Kucinich is with us. She is the Washington Bureau Chief for The Boston Globe. We're also joined by White House Correspondent and Managing Editor of Politics at TheGrio, Gerren Keith Gaynor. Good to have you both with us.
GERREN KEITH GAYNOR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THEGRIO: Glad to be here.
KINKADE: So, Gerren, I want to start with you. If you can talk to us about the symbolism, Harris speaking at the Ellipse tonight, the White House behind her, the same place where Trump made his speech, encouraging his supporters to march on the Capitol after losing the last election. Gerren, can you hear me? Can you talk to us about the symbolism of tonight's speech?
GAYNOR: Absolutely. I mean, it goes without saying that not only is this the backdrop of the White House is where the Vice President is -- wants to be on January 20th, sworn in as the first woman, first a black woman, and first South Asian President, but it's also obviously the place where former President Trump had his stop to steal rally and had his supporters go to the Capitol, and it's worth noting that the former President is still facing criminal charges for his actions related to that day.
And so, this is going to be the final stretch for the Vice President, giving her closing arguments, if you will, for prosecuting the case against Trump at the ballot box. And it remains to be seen whether this conversation of democracy is really resonating with voters. There is a survey from Black Voters Matter that showed that young black voters in particular don't resonate with that. They care more about the economy and immigration. And so, you've noticed that the Harris campaign has used different language, like freedom, to communicate the threats of what Democrats see as the threats to democracy.
But, she has to strike that balance between talking about democracy and the threats of democracy if Donald Trump returns to the White House, but also laying out her vision for what she calls this new generational vision for America.
KINKADE: Gerren, thanks for that. Just going to interrupt you for a moment. We're going to go to Mar-a-Lago. Trump is speaking any moment. We've got our reporter there, Alayna Treene, in Palm Beach. Just what can we expect from Trump when he speaks there shortly?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Lynda, I think the big question on everyone's mind is whether or not he is going to address, apologize or condemn some of those racist and sexist remarks that he had made, or not, he -- excuse me, that some of the speakers, the preprogram speakers at his rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday had made. We have not heard Donald Trump address those head on yet or apologize, despite him receiving a lot of backlash, the campaign, I should say, receiving a lot of backlash for this and wanting him to come out. We've heard from the Archbishop of San Juan Puerto Rico as well as other top Republicans calling on Donald Trump to say something directly about this.
Now, the key line of issue -- the key line that they have taken issue with was what they had heard from the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe on Sunday when he referred to Puerto Rico as a floating island of garbage. Now, I will say, that plays into where Donald Trump is going to be today, because he has a pair of events in Pennsylvania, one of which is in Allentown. Now, Allentown is actually home to a huge population of Puerto Ricans, and also Pennsylvania overall, of course, a crucial battleground state, also has more than half a million Puerto Ricans in the state. And so, all of this, I know, is weighing on Donald Trump and his campaign's minds, as they look ahead to this final stretch before Election Day.
[11:10:00]
Now, also yesterday, Lynda, we had heard Donald Trump himself kind of defend himself from what he said were remarks coming from people on the left. He has called himself the opposite of a Nazi, and then also referred to Kamala Harris as a fascist. I want you to take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATE: The newest line from Kamala and her campaign is that everyone who isn't voting for her is a Nazi. I had a great father. He is a tough guy. He is always saying, never use the word Nazi, never use that word, and he'd say never use the word Hitler. Don't use that word. And yet, they use that word freely, both words. They use it. He is Hitler, and then they say he is a Nazi. I'm not a Nazi. I'm the opposite of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TREENE: I think one thing is clear is that this type of language and the fact that Donald Trump is having to say those words to try to say, I am not a Nazi, this is not what his campaign wants him to be focusing on with just seven days left until Election Day, and really, this period is supposed to be about delivering his closing argument to voters. That was what I was told from Donald Trump's senior advisors that his Sunday speech was going to be about to be kind of, how could Donald Trump leave a final impression on Americans? And this isn't exactly what they want to be talking about.
And just one other thing, because I do believe he is actually -- we're hearing that he is going to be coming out shortly, and one thing that I think Donald Trump will do at this press event here in Mar-a-Lago is really try to draw a sharp contrast with Kamala Harris, because she is actually giving remarks on the Ellipse later today, something that Donald Trump himself had done four years ago on January 6, 2021, right before that attack on the Capitol. When I talked to Donald Trump's team, they said that's really what his goal is with this, to try and draw a sharp contrast with Harris a week before Election Day, and recognizing that he wants to give a speech on his home turf with the trappings of Mar-a-Lago, just as she is doing so on the Ellipse. Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. Good to have you there for us, Alayna Treene. We will come back to you and listen in when Donald Trump does indeed speak. Thanks so much.
I want to go back to our political panel now, Gerren Keith Gaynor and Jackie Kucinich. Good to have you both with us. Thanks for standing by. Sorry about that interruption.
Jackie, if I can go to you, Harris' team says this will be her closing argument, not only highlighting the difference between her and Trump, but also outlining her vision on economic policy, reproductive rights. What are the expectations, and what does she need to do to drive home her message, especially to those undecided voters?
JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE, & CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So, one of the reasons they were talking about democracy is they were seeing that it could potentially make inroads with those wavering Republican voters who Harris has really reached out to. But, as was said earlier, she is really trying to strike a balance between reaching out to those voters, adding them, and keeping some of the younger, more diverse voters engaged. She is also -- we also can't look at this in a vacuum, right? She has been traveling to these swing states. She was recently in Michigan, talking about manufacturing, really a part of the Biden administration's agenda that she has embraced and pushed. So, it -- I think hammering that home, and you know what she is looking forward to implementing, will be a focal point.
That said, Trump is not doing her nothing but favors when he is talking, when he is having to say the words, I'm not a Nazi. It's not exactly the closing message that I think Republicans had envisioned a week before the election. It's not great.
KINKADE: Yeah. Exactly. It certainly seems to have backfired.
I want to ask you about that, Gerren, because Trump's New York rally has been described, even by a pro-Republican commentator, as brotastic. Others simply called it vile and racist. Harris has hit back with an ad about Puerto Rico. I just want to play that ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HINCHCLIFFE: A floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean, I think it's called Puerto Rico.
TRUMP: Puerto Rico.
HARRIS: I will never forget what Donald Trump did. He abandoned the island and offered nothing more than paper towels and insults. Puerto Ricans deserve better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: I mean, they quickly put out that ad to capitalize. No surprise, Trump is now reportedly worried that this will overshadow his message.
Gerren, just how much will this backfire, and do you think he'll apologize to the people of Puerto Rico?
GAYNOR: This definitely gave the Harris campaign a layup, if you will, in the final days of this election. And I don't think that this is going to give Donald Trump any favors with black and Latino voters. Obviously, the issue of racist rhetoric coming from the Trump campaign and coming from Trump himself has been an issue that Democrats have been trying to point voters to.
[11:15:00]
And obviously, Puerto Ricans, there is a large population of Puerto Ricans in several battleground states. And will the President apologize for those remarks this morning? I think it's unlikely, but I am listening to see if that actually does happen. But, this is certainly something that Democrats feel that Donald Trump has given a permission structure for in terms of his supporters and calling out her -- calling out the Vice President, calling her lazy and having a low IQ, which many people see as directly racist and sexist against a woman who Democrats say is one of the most qualified candidates for President in U.S. history. She has served in all three branches of government. And certainly, this is not definitely a good -- it is not a good look for the President, I will say that, the former President.
KINKADE: Yeah. Exactly.
Jackie, I want to ask you about The Washington Post. The owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos, didn't want his paper to endorse a candidate. Critics say Bezos wants to stay in favor with Trump, should he win, especially given his business interests with Amazon and Blue Origin. Talk to us about the backlash there.
KUCINICH: So, I mean, I should say I used to work at The Washington Post. So, full disclosure. But, what we're seeing is a lot of people canceling their subscriptions, which is a real shame, because this -- what the owner does really is hurting the journalism that we all know and admire from afar, because they do -- really do good work over there. And -- but, still, you're seeing Jeff Bezos try to make amends by publishing this OpEd, saying, Oh, it was just a coincidence that Trump met with some folks from his Blue Origin organization on the same day that this OpEd came out. It certainly hasn't quelled the uproar, and it is a shame that The Washington Post reporters and staff there is bearing the brunt of a decision of their owner.
KINKADE: Yeah, exactly, three board members reportedly quit, as well as, apparently, 200,000 subscribers ending their subscription, which is a real shame.
Gerren, a great deal has been said about how this election is a fight for democracy. Democrats saying that Trump is a threat. Is that message resonating with voters?
GAYNOR: It's hard to tell. I referenced that survey from Black Voters Matter, showing that for young voters of color, in particular, is not necessarily resonating. People care really about the economy. They want to know how Donald Trump or Kamala Harris are going to make their lives better. And the Vice President has been traveling across the country and battleground states, trying to pitch her economic vision to voters, but yet, the message keeps coming back that they want to know more about her and what her vision is. And so, it's unclear if that's really breaking through.
But, the issue of democracy, I don't think is really landing with voters, because they're more concerned about their pockets. And I think what Democrats have to do is connect the issue of democracy with the issues of the economy and abortion rights and other freedoms that are important to them, and connecting the dots that, having the ability to vote, having the ability to demand something from a candidate, is a part of democracy, and I'm not sure that that's really resonating with voters.
KINKADE: Right. Interesting.
Jackie, I want to ask you about Steve Bannon. We know that at least 13 Trump associates have been convicted of a crime since Trump's term in office. Steve Bannon, of course, was a former aide released from prison today. Do you think that will simply remind everyone about what happens to those in Trump's inner circle?
KUCINICH: What do you mean?
KINKADE: In terms of -- there has never been a President where you've had so many people from their inner circle ends up convicted of a crime.
KUCINICH: I -- potentially, I know that Steve Bannon is back at it at his podcast, and has promised to continue to move. So, discontent against Kamala Harris and among Trump supporters, really rile up the MAGA base. That said, I think at this point, if -- I don't know that you're changing your mind by releasing Steve Bannon and having him back out and talking. I think, at this point, people are really looking at other issues. And if they were concerned about someone like Steve Bannon, they're probably voting for Kamala Harris at this point.
KINKADE: Yeah. Exactly. We're just looking right now at live pictures of Donald Trump walking into Palm Beach, his Mar-a-Lago estate, where he is expected to give his prebuttal speech ahead of Kamala Harris' speech later tonight at the Ellipse. That, of course, is the site where Donald Trump gave his speech on January 6, the day of the insurrection.
[11:20:00]
Today's speech comes, of course, after his New York rally, which was heavily criticized.
Jackie Kucinich, Gerren Keith Gaynor, thanks so much to both of you.
I want to listen in now to Donald Trump.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
(CROWD CHANTING USA, USA, USA)
TRUMP: Such great spirit. I want to start by saying it's going very well. There are some bad spots in Pennsylvania where some serious things have been caught or in the process of being caught, but the election itself is going very well. We're leading, I believe, in all seven swing states. So, I appreciate everybody's work, and the spirit is unbelievable. I don't think there has ever been anything like it in our country's history, frankly, because we want to see our country get better, and that's why we're here just to do a statement, and it's an honor to have some of our friends here.
In less than four years, Kamala Harris has obliterated our borders, obliterated. We've never had a situation like this. Decimated the middle class, and runaway inflation has caused problems the likes of which we never thought possible. Bloodshed, squalor to our cities is common, and they've unleashed a war and chaos all over the world. You take a look, everything is blowing up or getting ready to blow up. No respect for our country anymore. No respect for our leadership. No person has caused so much destruction and death at home and abroad, should ever be allowed to be the President of the United States. Can't have that. Can't have that. So, I'm running on a plan to save America. We're going to save
America. We have no choice. It's the greatest there is. We love it, and we're going to save it. We have no choice. And it's going to be saving it from the incredible destruction that's been caused by crooked Joe Biden and Kamala, and she is responsible, because he wasn't responsible, and she never said that. He didn't know too much about what was happening. Maybe that was exposed during the debate. And yet, still, the way they took that away from him was not right. It wasn't right. It shouldn't have happened that way.
They walked in. They said, we're taking it away. They took -- they stole the presidency of the United States. You can call it a coup. You can call it whatever. But, they stole. They went in like taking candy from a baby, and can't have that, and she is running on a campaign of demoralization, and really a campaign of destruction. But, really, perhaps more than anything else, it's a campaign of hate. It's campaign of absolute hate. And I said yesterday that she is a vessel. She is a vessel. It's a very big, powerful party with smart people. I have to be smart, but it's vicious.
They're vicious, and they're perhaps even trying to destroy our country, because who would want open borders where millions of people can flow in from prisons and from gangs, gangs, the worst gang members anywhere in the world? Who would want this for our country? Who would want all of these transgender operations all over the place, like at will, even if you're in detention? I want a transgender. These are things she has told. Who wants to defund the police? She has wanted her whole career to defund the police. She only changed recently. She changed on 15 different items, fracking. She was against fracking at the highest level. Wouldn't even think about. Now, all of a sudden, no, I'd like fracking very much, but they change after the election in about two minutes. And I think Pennsylvania understands that.
After two assassination attempts in just over three months, her lies and her slanders are very shameful and really inexcusable. And I can say that if I were President and somebody was being threatened, openly threatened, like they've threatened me, I would say, if you do that, even if this was an opponent, an opponent who I disliked, if you do that, we will obliterate your entire country, and it would all stop.
[11:25:00]
But, they wouldn't make that statement. They won't make that statement. And essentially, that statement has been made by other presidents, even concerning their opponents, as you know. Today, we're going to talk about the real character of Kamala and a person who has no remorse for the anguish she has inflicted upon families all across America.
On the contrary, I have to tell you, Kamala intends to conflict and keep this misery going, and she is going to keep it going as long as she can because that's the only way she can get elected. She is going out and only criticizing, talking about Hitler and Nazi, because her record is horrible. Her borders are the worst in the history of the world. There has never been a border in the world like this. I always say, in third world countries, banana republics, they'd fight them away with sticks and stones if they had to. We let them come in, come on in, knowing, in many cases, they're murderers. They're drug lords. They're traitors in so many ways to our country. If they were involved in our country at all, even then they're coming back in. People that left because they were traders are coming back in. Everybody is coming back in.
And it's at a level that we've never seen before. Criminals off the streets, and you know, other countries from where they're coming are now setting records, good records for them, where crime is down 70 percent and 75 percent because they're taking the criminals off the street. They're emptying their jails into our country. And they're not finished yet. They've got -- I'm amazed. I thought they would have done it by now, but they're -- if you take a look at Venezuela, their crime is way, way, way down. Then you go to Caracas, and you wouldn't recognize that you can actually walk the streets without being shot or killed or mugged. It's becoming a safe city because they've taken all their criminals, most of them. The rest are coming. They're all coming.
They've taken their drug dealers and they've put them into the United States of America. Thank you very much, Kamala. I appreciate it. But, she continues, and she will continue this misery, and her policies have caused such harm and such pain, and the three great people up here with me are going to just discuss that for a little while about what's happened to them, how their lives have been shattered.
I'd like to begin with the story of one mother whose life Kamala has utterly destroyed, destroyed this life. And we're talking about thousands, thousands of people in very similar situations every day under Kamala, open border policies. She -- and if you remember, Joe Biden appointed her as the border czar. She doesn't want to use that term, but let's say we'll just use a different term. She was responsible for the borders. Totally responsible. She never made one call to Border Patrol.
Two weeks ago, the Border Patrol endorsed me with the most beautiful endorsement I think I've ever gotten. And in all fairness, they've endorsed me every single year, but they've endorsed me again, and they are endorsing me, saying I was the best President we've ever had and the best President by far on the border. They said that, and this is not easy for them to say. They said that she was easily the worst person ever to work with them on the border, most incompetent, the least caring. Think of it. Not one call in almost four years was made to Border Patrol. Like, how are we doing? I used to call all the time. I'd say, how are we doing, fellas? How is it going? Is it going well? And they're great people, men and women, Border Patrol, great people. They want to do their job. She didn't call them once.
She released the two men who murdered this woman's very precious daughter. Everything you need to know about what happened and the character. The character of Kamala Harris, you'll know from just watching this video. We had it done yesterday. It's very, very quick, very easy to do, but it was very heartbreaking. We showed it in a room full of people, and everybody was just -- everybody was crying. Some pretty -- some people were crying. Please take a look.
[11:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXIS NUNGARAY, MOTHER OF JOCELYN NUNGARAY: Sunday night, I asked her to not stay up super late because of her coming to work with me in the morning first to do her summer school. She said, OK. And I told her, good night and I love you. I went to bed not realizing that that was going to be the last time I saw her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: You've just been listening to Trump at Mar-a-Lago estate. He is there, of course, delivering his rebuttal address ahead of Kamala Harris' speech at the Ellipse, which is set to happen later tonight. Donald Trump was saying that Kamala Harris should never be allowed to be President. He claims that bloodshed and squalor are coming to the cities of America.
Well, Julian Zelizer is with us. He is CNN Political Analyst, and Historian and Professor at Princeton University. You've just been listening in to, Julian, Trump painting a pretty dark picture of the U.S. right now and in the future, claiming that he would be the one to save America, that we have no choice. What did you make of those comments so far?
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, & HISTORIAN & PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Well, he is consistent. This has been his central theme, immigration, the danger that undocumented immigrants pose to the country, and a very bleak picture of where we are. And he keeps coming back to this. This is in the context of a very controversial Madison Square Garden rally advertising that Elon Musk has put on. And so, this is his effort to push back against some of the fallout that has come in the last few hours and days from everything he has done.
KINKADE: He went on to say that her borders, he claimed Kamala Harris' borders, are the worst in the history of the world, and that they are knowingly letting in murderers, drug lords, traitors. What did you make of those sort of comments? What is -- what's the border like right now in terms of immigration compared to historically what we've seen?
ZELIZER: Well, it's better than it even was a few years ago. The numbers have diminished. The administration, the Biden administration, has actually been quite tough in the last few months, and tried to correct issues that have emerged. There are problems on the border. I think that's undisputable, and cities and other areas are wrestling with the influx that has happened. But, many don't think this is a crisis situation, and there are other moments in American history where this issue has been paramount as well. It doesn't really match the kind of rhetoric that we're hearing from the former President, and I think that's a big issue. It's not simply, how do we have a better immigration policy? But, I think the pushback is talking about both legal and undocumented immigrants with the kind of rhetoric that he uses, which is quite explosive often. KINKADE: We also heard him express his frustration that he is not facing up against Joe Biden this election. He said they stole the presidency of the United States. So, that's -- he -- the fact that he is speaking about Kamala Harris in this position as his opponent right now, certainly not happy about that. What did you make of those comments? He said they went in like they were taking candy from a baby.
ZELIZER: Yeah. I mean, A, he still -- he holds grudges, and he doesn't let go of former opponents, even though he is facing off against Vice President Harris, and raising questions about the election is something he doesn't stop doing, because essentially, there is a strategy of not only raising questions that have been shown not to be true about the last election, but I would suspect setting up challenges that we're hearing about for this upcoming election that's now going to take place, from lawsuits to the rhetoric itself. So, I think it should be taken quite seriously, even though the specifics often are kind of hard to put together. The overall strategy is one that was at the center of January 6th, and is very much a risk going into next week.
KINKADE: Exactly. Julian Zelizer, we're going to take a quick break. If you can just stand by for us. We'll be right back in just a moment.
You're watching CNN. Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
Kamala Harris is preparing to deliver what her team has called her closing argument to voters in what could be the most important speech she gives in the final week of this campaign. She will speak at the Ellipse in Washington later today, the same park near the White House where Donald Trump held a rally on January 6th in 2021 goading his supporters to head to the U.S. Capitol where the election results were being certified. This was his message to them that day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Most people would stand there at nine o'clock in the evening and say, I want to thank you very much, and they go off to some other life. But, I said, something is wrong here. Something is really wrong. Can't have happened. And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, I want to bring back Julian Zelizer. He is a CNN Political Analyst and a Historian and Professor at Princeton University. Good to have you back with us. So, of course, there is no doubt that Harris' team would have spent
time weighing options ahead of today's speech. They chose the Ellipse, the same place where Trump spoke ahead of the insurrection. Why choose that location?
ZELIZER: Well, I think many Democrats feel that January 6 was one of the bleakest moments in recent American history and much of American history, and they want to remind voters what's at stake here that that moment was part of the last administration, and it's something that the former President Donald Trump has not apologized for or separated himself from. And so, she wants to remind voters, on the one hand, that what she is doing and what she promises is a move to strengthen democracy, rather than to weaken democracy. And the second part of the message, which is important for her to convey, is that once she has done this, she wants to fight for the middle class.
And so, I think choosing this very symbolic, potent place allows her to convey that closing argument, and to contrast the promise of the future that she wants to offer with the much bleaker view of the country that he has been talking about in recent weeks.
KINKADE: And even right now, he is speaking at Mar-a-Lago, delivering a very bleak message, not only of the state that the U.S. is in right now, but how it could look under a Harris presidency, saying bloodshed and squalor will be coming to our cities. Talk to us about the contrast that we'll see potentially tonight from Harris and what she has to do to win over some of those undecided voters.
ZELIZER: Well, I think the Harris campaign feels that protecting the democracy is something that matters to a lot of voters who in these last few days have not yet decided, or even some Republicans who might privately not want to vote for the former President again. And the argument is, you can disagree on policy. You might have differences of position on ideology. But, as Americans, we all can agree that voting and the transition of power are essential parts of the democratic process, and they must be sanctified, and the way to do that is not to vote for a candidate who was involved in January 6.
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And so, I think that's the message she wants to convey, and she thinks that goes beyond the core Democratic base, and there is some polling to suggest she is not wrong.
KINKADE: And Julian, to that point, the polls show that most voters are really concerned about Trump not conceding defeat, should he lose. Almost 70 percent of voters are worried that he won't concede defeat if he loses. On top of that, we have seen several ballot boxes that were set alight, over 100 lawsuits already in play about the integrity of this election. How dangerous is all of this, just one week to go?
ZELIZER: It's very dangerous. These should not be the kinds of issues we're even thinking about going into an election. We haven't. This is not normal. This is really a product of the last few years. The uncertainty that the democratic process will be smooth, that it will function well, is now serious. It's a serious concern with a serious history, and it shouldn't be. We have a lot we're divided on. We have a lot that we debate, but we need the democratic process and the democracy to function. So, we shouldn't take this lightly. I don't think we should just dismiss it as yet another story. It's actually the central story.
And I think for all the debates on immigration, the economy, reproductive rights, I do think right upfront is, the debate over. What do we need to do to make sure these are not concerns that the next generation or our generation has to think about going into an election?
KINKADE: Yeah. Exactly. Julian, if you could stand by for us. I just want to go back to Mar-a-Lago and listen in a little more at what Donald Trump is saying.
TRUMP: So, today, I'm announcing that for the first time under my administration, we will be seizing the assets of the criminal gangs and drug cartels, and we will use those assets to create a compensation fund to provide restitution for the victims of migrant crime, and the government will help in the restoration. The government will help in the restitution, but something has to be done, and we're going to get it done.
Kamala has also caused untold misery through her destruction of our economy. Our economy is not -- this is just -- it's like a fake economy. Some of the best people on Wall Street are saying the economy is only good, because I think, I don't want to say this, because other people have said it, that's not me saying it, but they think Trump is going to get elected. That's the only reason our economy is good. That's the only reason the stock market is up. Scott is here, I think, some place, and he is one of the most respected people on Wall Street. He has been -- he has actually made a very big point of it that the stock market is only doing well because of the fact that they think Trump is going to win the election. So, we'll see.
But, Kamala cast the deciding votes that caused the worst inflation in our lifetime, maybe the worst inflation we've ever had, because I don't think they're -- I mean, I know for a fact they're not adding all of the numbers. If they did, I think it's the worst inflation, probably in the lifetime of the country, and it is costing typical American families over $30,000. Nearly half of Americans now say they're broke. Think of that. Half of Americans are saying they're broke. They have no money. Two thirds say they're living from paycheck to paycheck. And that's a record. Never -- we've never had that. To that extent, we've never, ever had that.
Millions of Americans are lying awake at night, worried about how they pay their bills because Kamala wrecked their family finances, and she has done that. She has done nothing good. They have done nothing good. And I speak of Kamala, but it's partially Joe, but Joe is out of it. Joe is sort of out of it. He has been out of it for a long time. Now she wants to raise taxes for the typical family by $3,000 a year. She has got no empathy for the hard-working Americans whose dreams she has killed, and said recently that there is not one thing that she would do differently from Biden. That's only because she choked. I'm sure she could have come up with a couple of things if she really thought about it, because there has been so much destruction caused by the Biden administration.
One of the things that people don't talk about and the news never talks about, they don't talk about, as an example, Afghanistan.
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But, this is something that's incredible, because when you think of the numbers, 325,000 children are missing, dead, sex slaves or slaves. 325,000 children who came in through the open border are now missing. Many of them are dead, and nobody talks about it. I said, this must be a mistake. This can't be possible. When I read it first, when I read it, I said, this can't be. You're talking about take your largest stadium and fill it up many times. That's what the kind of numbers are. Here today is Michael Copy (ph), a small business owner who runs a dry cleaner and he is struggling to get by because of what Kamala has done to his business. They've destroyed small businesses.
KINKADE: You've just been listening to Donald Trump speaking right now at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida. This is his rebuttal speech ahead of Kamala Harris' speech, which is set to take place at the Ellipse later tonight, the place where Donald Trump spoke ahead of the January 6 insurrection.
Alayna Treene is at that speech right now listening in. Alayna, you've just been hearing Donald Trump speak about the border, saying that Kamala wants to -- Kamala Harris wants to raise taxes for typical families. Just fact-check some of what he had to say for us.
TREENE: Yeah, and I'm going to be very quiet, Lynda, I apologize, since this event is going on behind me and it's -- I don't want to interrupt. But, no, look, I mean this event, as you said, was supposed to be his prebuttal to what Kamala Harris is doing, the speech that she is giving later today on the Eclipse. So far, this has been a pretty standard Trump speech, for someone who has gone to dozens of rallies, and particularly those in recent weeks. This is exactly what you have heard from Donald Trump. He is talking about the economy. He is talking about inflation. But, he keeps saying that, even though others are telling me that that is the -- that the economy should be the number one issue, or is the number one issue with voters. I actually think the border is more important.
He has been talking a lot, though, about immigration, again, something he has done increasingly in recent weeks, and he is really blaming Harris heavily for what he said are criminals coming over the border and flooding into this country. He overexaggerated, in some cases, I think, falsely stated the state of affairs on the southern border.
But, I do want to say, he actually introduced something new that he would do, that he said he would do if he is elected. He said that for the first time, under his administration, that they would be seizing assets from drug cartels and use those assets for restitution for victims of migrant crimes, essentially saying that they will use government money, but also any money they can get from seizing these assets that he is speaking of to pay victims of migrant crime. And I'll keep that in mind, Lynda, because this is something we've seen. It's kind of an underlying theme of a lot of what Donald Trump has done and his messaging on immigration, really, throughout this entire cycle.
They've really found specific cases of victims who, whether they were murdered or have had other crimes committed against them, really highlighting those stories, particularly if they from alleged crimes of immigrants who have come over and into the country illegally. But, all to say, he also did bring up the comments about there has been a lot of talk about whether or not Donald Trump meets the definition of a fascist he brought up on stage and he thinks Kamala Harris keeps calling him Hitler. Not true. Harris has not called him Hitler, but she did tell CNN that she believes Trump is a fascist. He said she is only using that type of rhetoric because she is not winning and she has nothing else to run in.
So, he is continuing, again, to say a lot of the things we have heard. I think one key question I still have is whether or not he takes questions. These were remarks to the press. Unclear if he is actually, though, going to answer some of the press' questions, and if he does, I think that's where you may hear him address some of that rhetoric from Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Lynda.
KINKADE: All right. We will be listening in. Thanks Alayna Treene for joining us. We'll let you get back to Donald Trump there at Mar-a- Lago.
We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back with much more. You're watching CNN.
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KINKADE: Welcome back. Right now, Donald Trump is speaking at his resort in Mar-a-Lago in Florida, his rebuttal speech ahead of Kamala Harris' speech tonight at the Ellipse, which is the place where Trump spoke ahead of the insurrection on January 6.
I want to welcome back Julian Zelizer. Julian, Donald Trump said Kamala Harris has caused misery, the destruction of our economy. Interesting to note, though, that Moody's Analytics, Goldman Sachs and of course 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists say that under the economic policy of Donald Trump, the U.S. will be much worse, and that his policy will actually reignite inflation. What did you make of his comments, blaming Kamala Harris?
ZELIZER: Well, he blamed her, and also then said it's only doing well because people anticipate he is going to be President. So, there is a contradiction. I think he is wrestling with the fact there is problems with the economy, but there is a lot of good elements of the economy right now, including low unemployment and inflation has fallen. And so, I think that's a challenge he has with selling this message.
KINKADE: He did also provide a policy update, saying that he'll seize assets of criminal gangs and drug cartels and create a fund for victims of migrant crime. We haven't heard any other details on that, but just that announcement. What are your thoughts?
ZELIZER: Well, I don't know the details of it, and he says many things during the campaign, during his rallies, during press conferences, which are not always through or not always actually going to happen.
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And so, I think we have to take all of that with a grain of salt. The central message is a very bleak picture. And not only that, there is an immigration problem, but there is a problem with immigrants, and I think that's what causes many people to be troubled by the way he has inflated the rhetoric about this issue.
KINKADE: All right. Julian Zelizer, good to have you with us. Donald Trump is still speaking in Florida right now. We will be listening to Kamala Harris when she speaks at 07:30 p.m. Eastern tonight at the Ellipse. This is the place where Donald Trump spoke ahead at the January 6 insurrection. We will bring you that on CNN.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Stay with CNN. One World is up next.
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