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Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Is Interviewed About Trump Amps Up Violent Rhetoric, Calling For Liz Cheney To Be Shot; Liz Cheney Slams Trump After He Calls For Her To Be Shot. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired November 01, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:01:36]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. We begin the hour with one of the most disturbing comments a presidential candidate has ever made. This just days before the 2024 election. Former President Donald Trump escalating his violent rhetoric against one of his chief critics, Liz Cheney. Here's what he said last night about the former Republican congresswoman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK. Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained in her face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Cheney is responding to Trump's reckless and dangerous comments, posting this message on social media saying, quote, this is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. Let's go straight to our correspondents out on the campaign trail. Jeff Zeleny is in Milwaukee. Eva McKend is in Atlanta. Jeff, let me start with you. How was the campaign responding to these just unimaginably violent and loaded comments about Liz Cheney.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Jim, certainly out of the norms and out of the realm of what we thought would ever be discussed in American politics, particularly from former President Donald Trump, who had two assassination attempts of his own. But the Trump campaign is pushing back, not necessarily responding to the direct substance of the violence of the rhetoric, but to the broader comment about wars.

And this has been sort of a subtext of his pushback against Liz Cheney overall. Of course, Donald Trump very angry that Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican, is campaigning on behalf of Kamala Harris and leading a movement. We don't know the size of the movement, Republicans for Harris. But the Trump campaign, a spokeswoman is telling CNN this. She said President Trump was clearly explaining that warmongers like Liz Cheney are very quick to start wars and send other Americans to fight in them rather than go to combat themselves. Of course, Donald Trump did not serve in the military. He was indeed of the era where he could have, but did not for a variety of reasons. So that is a bit hollow in and of itself.

But Jim, when you step back, it is unknown if there will be any political fallout from this. The outrage has sort of hit a ceiling, is my sense, when you talk to voters. But that does not make it any less jarring in the course of our history, just a few days before an election to have a former commander-in-chief who's vying to be the next commander-in-chief talking like this about a former congresswoman.

ACOSTA: Right. It's not how presidents talk in this country. I mean, one president, and that is Donald trump. But Eva McKend, let me -- let me go to you. Kamala Harris held rallies in Las Vegas and Arizona yester. We just saw her get on her campaign plane a few moments ago. She did not talk to reporters. She had been responding to Donald Trump and some of the things that he's been saying out on the campaign trail, going out to the cameras and so on.

She didn't do it just a few moments ago. I suspect she might do it later today. What are you picking up on? Do you think we might hear from the Vice President in response to what he said last night about Liz Cheney?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: She may, she certainly has been responding in sort of a rapid response fashion to some of these comments from the former president. But let me just tell you where her focus is right now, Jim, because I was at that Phoenix rally and some of the program was in Spanish as it was very much targeted towards Latino voters.

[11:05:00]

There were consistent calls from the community to recognize the humanity of immigrants. And Harris spoke to that in her remarks as she tried to cast herself as a unifier for this moment. Another key part of the coalition Harris is trying to capture is women. She argued the former president does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to know what's in their own best interest. Take a listen to how she's making this argument out on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My opponent is also making a closing argument to America. It's all about hate and division. And it's not just what he says, it's what he will do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now, Jim, another key feature of her argument is also elevating this issue of restoring reproductive rights.

ACOSTA: All right, Eve McKend and Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Let's continue this conversation with Congressman Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. I guess, do we have the Congressman there? Congressman Castro --

REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX): Yes. I'm here.

ACOSTA: Yes. Thanks for joining us. What's your response to Donald Trump saying she should be fired, that Liz Cheney should be fired upon?

CASTRO: I agree that it's a jarring comment, this idea that a major presidential nominee, a former president, would talk about a political opponent being put in front of a firing squad or setting guns upon that person. And I don't think that it's a coincidence that he's talking about Liz Cheney.

This is somebody who he's very displeased with because she's endorsed Kamala Harris because she bucked him within the Republican Party, which he didn't like when anybody did that. And so, you know, next Tuesday is a chance for this country, for our nation, to put all of this hate and division and chaos behind us and retire Donald Trump from American politics.

We have a chance as Americans to close this ugly chapter in American history of a man who did everything he could to divide us, to sow hatred and division. And, you know, so I hope folks will put country over party and vote for Kamala Harris next week.

ACOSTA: And my colleague Jeff Zeleny was reporting a few moments ago that -- that his sense from talking to voters is that they may have just hit their outrage ceiling. Are Americans too desensitized at this point to Trump's rhetoric, or might this move things at the very end? I was talking to the former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett in the previous hour, and he said, you know what? This might make people change their minds at the last minute here.

CASTRO: I absolutely think that it could, because Americans are not used to hearing their former presidents and nominees talk about political opponents being in front of a firing squad. And just like his very dark, divisive rally at Madison Square Garden where he had somebody go up there and trash Puerto Rico and talk about stereotypes about Latinos and Blacks and Jews and Muslims. I think people hear that and they are exhausted.

People are tired of all the fighting for eight years that this guy has generated. I think that hopefully there are enough Americans, even if they're undecided, who at the end of the day say, I just don't want to go through four more years of that kind of division, that this country's got bigger things to do, that we can unite and that they're going to support Kamala Harris.

ACOSTA: And Congressman, you and I have talked about this a number of times. The way Trump has been making some gains with Latino voters, recent polls have indicated that. But I guess it's up in the air as to what those polls are going to do here in the final stretch and what we're going to see ultimately on Election Day. But the Harris campaign is spending these final days appealing to women, trying to appeal to Latino voters.

And last night, she was joined by Jennifer Lopez, who took aim at that garbage insult at Sunday's Trump rally. Let's listen to that. Talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER LOPEZ, SINGER: He has consistently worked to divide us. At Madison Square Garden, he reminded us who he really is and how he really feels. It wasn't just Puerto Ricans that were offended that day. OK. It was every Latino in this country. It was humanity and anyone of decent character.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Congressman, same kind of question I guess I -- I asked earlier. Is this something that you're hearing, that this may be changing some minds among Latino voters, even if they're -- even if they're not of Puerto Rican descent, of other Latino cultures?

CASTRO: Yes. I think that when that speaker went up on the podium and said that at Madison Square Garden and people realized that Donald Trump's let him put that in the teleprompter. So they knew all about it. It was one of those moments where people realized, well, wait a minute, they let him say that. You know, why would you put this guy up there to trash Puerto Rico? Talk about a stereotype about how Latinos have a million kids. You know, this must be what Donald Trump thinks about us.

[11:10:08]

And in fact, it is. From the time he came on the presidential stage in 2015 and talked about Mexicans as criminals or murderers and rapists, he talked about a Mexican American judge that couldn't do his job because he was Mexican. Again and again, he has used the Latino community and the immigrant community as his number one punching bag, scapegoat and tool for division. So he has really made his presidential career out of beating up on the Latino community.

So what do you think it's going to be like for four years if this man is sitting in the White House and he's talked about mass deportation when we know historically that means that there are going to be Latino American citizens who are wrapped up in that mass deportation. It's going to be terrible for the Latino community.

And I hope at the end of the day, Jim, that Latinos who are thinking about, who are undecided between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, that they will have some self-respect, that they will think about what it means for their community to have the President of the United States always speak so badly about you, trash you every chance you -- he gets and really make his political career having other people dislike you because that's what he's done.

ACOSTA: All right, Texas Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it.

CASTRO: Good to be with you.

ACOSTA: All right. And JD Vance suggests some kids become, quote, trans just to get into college. Those are his comments. We'll talk about that next.

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[11:16:19]

ACOSTA: Back to our top story with just days until the election. Donald Trump taking on Liz Cheney telling his supporters that she should be shot. Joining me now is Trump campaign surrogate, Marc Lotter. Marc, why is Trump saying things like that?

MARC LOTTER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SURROGATE: Well, it's absolutely clear, Jim, that -- that President Trump was talking about how Liz Cheney, the Cheney family are quick to send American men and women into wars and that it's easy to do when you are in an office building in Washington, D.C. with no experience in the battlefield and no experience for what that does to those men and women.

ACOSTA: Well, clearly he was -- he was saying that she should be shot. Let's listen to the sound and -- and talk about on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK. Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained in her face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Guns trained on her face, nine barrels, I mean, Marc.

LOTTER: Yes, but -- but Jim, the rest of that quote --

ACOSTA: He shouldn't be -- he shouldn't be talking -- he shouldn't be talking like that.

LOTTER: But the rest of the quote that's not being played says, you know, it's easy. They're all war hawks when they're sitting in a Washington, D.C. Office building saying, OG, well, let's send 10,000 troops into the mouth of the enemy. He's not talking about firing squad.

ACOSTA: What does he mean about -- I know, but I -- I hate to do this, Marc.

LOTTER: I know.

ACOSTA: But when he says nine barrels, what -- what does he mean by nine barrels? Doesn't -- isn't he evoking images of a firing squad of an assassination?

LOTTER: No, I think he's talking about a foxhole and staring at the face of an enemy where they have guns trained on you. And he said --

ACOSTA: Nine?

LOTTER: -- that she should be there with a rifle and that which is clearly talking about being in battle, being in a foxhole. And it's easy to send America's kids off to war, but when you don't have any experience with it.

ACOSTA: All right, let's just go with your generous interpretation for a moment. Even if what you're saying is absolutely 100 percent true, which I don't think it is, and I have to just tell you, I think that -- that is BS what you're saying. You should not be using language that talks about somebody being shot.

I mean, shouldn't that just be a baseline rule? I shouldn't talk about you being shot. You shouldn't talk about me being shot. Just let's just make it a rule. Don't talk about your political opponents being shot. Don't talk about anybody being shot.

LOTTER: Well, and again, though, Jim and I agree with you on that point, but what I'm saying is he didn't say she should be shot. He said that if she was holding a rifle in facing an enemy that has rifles pointed back at her, she might think differently about committing America's men and women into war zones.

And so --

ACOSTA: Let's play it again. I -- I just -- let's play it again because I, you know, I think you need to hear it again, Marc. Honestly, I think you need to hear it again.

LOTTER: Let's see the whole clip -- let's see the whole clip though.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK. Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained in her face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Marc, Marc. I mean, we could play the whole night with Tucker Carlson with nine, he says, with nine barrels shooting at her.

LOTTER: Correct. In a time of war, if she would -- this is we are talking about and he is talking about a radical war hawk. He finishes the rest of that quote by saying it's easy to sit in a Washington, D.C. Office building and say, I'm going to commit our --

ACOSTA: But he says nine barrels -- he says nine barrels shooting at her. I just don't know why you would say that if you're not trying to conjure up imagery of somebody who is your political opponent being shot. If were to go with your generous interpretation of all of this, which, again, I want to say for our viewers, I don't believe that that is true. I think that that is a lie. I -- I -- I do think that it is a bit much, is it not, for Donald Trump to be calling people out for sending people off to war when they're not willing to go to war? He did not go to Vietnam because he claimed he had bone spurs.

[11:20:19]

LOTTER: But he also served as four years of -- as commander-in-chief, kept our enemies in check, killed and took terrorists off the -- off the battlefield, and actually helped to lead to more peace in the world. So, you know, I get your argument, but when you look at his record, he's the only president this century where Vladimir Putin didn't invade a neighbor. And we were talking about historic peace deals like the Abraham Accords --

ACOSTA: I just -- I just think that --

LOTTER: -- not war in the Middle East.

ACOSTA: Yes. I just think that, you know -- you know, if -- if you weren't willing to go and fight in a foxhole, as you were saying earlier in Vietnam with -- with nine barrels shooting at you and so on, I mean, isn't it -- it's kind -- it's kind of hypocritical, it's kind of weak sauce to say that about Liz Cheney. But you were asking earlier, Marc, and I do want to. This is not -- I don't play requests typically on this program.

LOTTER: I know.

ACOSTA: But you were asking for the fuller Donald Trump. Let's play that. And -- and let's -- let's talk about on the other side. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK. Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained in her face. You know, they're all war hawks when they're sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, oh, gee, will -- let's send -- let's send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, she's still -- he's still saying nine barrels shooting at her. But --

LOTTER: Yes, I think when you look at --

ACOSTA: -- qualms on your part.

LOTTER: I think he's talking about -- he's talking war. He's talking about being in that foxhole facing an enemy. And -- and to your earlier question, Jim, and I agree with you, and that was something that was litigated. It was campaigned upon in 2016. Obviously, you and I were both there for that, and it was discussed about his -- abou this Vietnam service, but now I think his service as commander-in- chief replaces that and his ability to keep us out of war, negotiate historic peace, I think gives him the right to be able to say that because he was commander-in-chief. ACOSTA: Yes. I just -- I just think in this country there -- and this is what separates the United States of America from other countries, we don't talk about our political opponents being shot. We just don't do it. I mean, I guess some crackpot at the end of the bar can do it, but a presidential candidate with days before a campaign, I shouldn't say it. I -- I just -- that's just how I feel. And -- and I guess you don't feel that way, Marc. But as always, Marc, I appreciate your time.

LOTTER: Absolutely. Good to talk to you, Jim.

ACOSTA: Joining me now for more on this CNN political commentator Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, Republican strategist and former RNC communications director Doug Heye. Maria, I -- I, you know, I'm -- my question is, does this change any minds? I -- I -- I think it might. I think it might.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I -- I think it might too, Jim. You had earlier on your show a Republican former governor who thinks that this could be the October surprise and it could absolutely be game changing.

And look, I think what it does is it continues to remind people, maybe shakes, some of those last voters who had Trumpnesia about what another four years of Donald Trump would be like. This is who he is.

ACOSTA: Yeah.

CARDONA: He is not somebody who wants to bring people together. Who -- he is not somebody who wants to give his opponents a seat at the table like Vice President Harris does. He is somebody who will wake up every day and want to figure out what list of enemies he wants to impose his revenge and his vengeance and his retribution.

ACOSTA: Yeah.

CARDONA: That is not what this country wants and that is not what they're going to vote for in on Tuesday.

ACOSTA: What do you think, Doug?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, look, I mean, we can -- two ways to look at this. Obviously, Donald Trump or two different angles, I -- I should say. Obviously Donald Trump uses a lot of incendiary rhetoric. This is nothing new. It's just the latest outrage du jour that we get from Donald Trump.

Politically, I'm not sure if it makes much of a difference. Obviously there aren't a lot of undecided voters there. But states are close. And where I think this could matter, I want to emphasize could is that for the past few days, Democrats have been on defense. They've been on defense about the Mark Cuban comments. They've been on defense about Joe Biden's garbage comment. It's why we're not going to see Joe Biden much for the rest of this campaign. Now it has changed.

And so often this is what happens is Democrats are on defense and you have Republicans out there on attack saying look at how awful the Democrats are and their rhetoric is and it is dangerous and awful. And along comes Donald Trump to change that narrative pretty quickly.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Doug, do you buy and I -- I'll let you jump in, Maria.

CARDONA: Yes.

ACOSTA: But do you buy Lotter's interpretation, what we just heard there, that this was purely a battlefield war metaphor?

[11:25:02]

HEYE: Well, I think this is what Donald Trump does. There's substance to what Marc was talking about, but Donald Trump doesn't speak in very, you know, minute specific details. He is blunt force trauma. And you can take from what Trump said whatever you want to. And I think that's the problem here. And so many Republicans, I saw you had a member of Congress on earlier.

ACOSTA: Yes.

HEYE: This is the problem. When you back up Donald Trump, you have to back him up every way, every day. Donald Trump doesn't give points, he only takes them away. So you have to contort yourself to be OK with what Donald Trump said every day. And you may find a fig leaf, you may find something that you can glom onto, but the reality is it's much bigger than that.

ACOSTA: Yes, I -- I guess, Maria. I mean, when he says nine barrels shooting at Liz Cheney, I mean, you know, I'm sorry, but like --

CARDONA: Yes.

ACOSTA: -- what -- what are we talking about here? We're talking about an execution --

CARDONA: That's a -- yes.

ACOSTA: -- imagery that he's putting out there.

CARDONA: That's exactly right, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CARDONA: Those are the words. You can't redefine those words when those words are coming out of Donald Trump. And it's kind of cringey to see Marc, and I like Marc and I respect Marc, but Doug's right. You have to -- the -- for the people who are defending that kind of remark, it's twisting themselves up in knots. But I do want to respond to my dear friend, Doug, about Democrats being on defense.

If you think that's what the last couple of days have been about, then you haven't seen the news, mi amigo, because the last couple days have been Republicans and Donald Trump on defense ever since the Madison Square Garden hate rally that Trump has described as a love fest. HEYE: Yes.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CARDONA: There is nothing that De -- that Democrats have said where it has actually caused a million or more Puerto Ricanos and Latinos to go out and to talk about their friends and family, to register and vote to go out. And those who did support Trump, who are now saying, F that guy, I am not going to support him. None of my friends and family are going to support him --

ACOSTA: Yes.

CARDONA: -- 500,000 alone in Pennsylvania. That could actually make the difference. So the last couple of days, Donald Trump --

ACOSTA: What do you think Doug?

CARDONA: -- closing -- Donald Trump's closing argument has been Puerto Rico is an island of trash. I'm not a Nazi. Liz Cheney should be in front of a firing squad.

HEYE: Yes, look, actually, I agree with -- with a lot of what Maria said. What -- what we saw on Sunday at Madison Square Garden was appalling and not shocking. And it put Republicans on their heels. Then came Joe Biden to change that conversation. Trump has changed it again. If I'm the Republican National Committee, and obviously I've worked there, my closing message for these last five days is look at the anemic job report that came out today.

I would focus on that and nothing else. Drive that message home. The rest of it is noise. It's awful noise. It's toxic noise. Focus on the jobs.

ACOSTA: And we do -- and we do -- we're -- we're going to talk about the jobs report a little bit later on this program. We do want to point out, just in case our viewers watching right now can't tune in later, a lot of that jobs report was due to the hurricanes.

CARDONA: Yes. Exactly.

ACOSTA: I just do want to say that. That is what the economic experts are saying.

CARDONA: That's right.

ACOSTA: But Doug, Maria, as always, thanks so much. Appreciate both for your insights.

HEYE: Thanks. And next time you take requests, I'm very excited about this.

CARDONA: Thanks so much Jim.

[11:28:07]

ACOSTA: Yes. I know. Yes, I know. You'll want Sinatra. I know. Thanks -- thanks Doug. We'll be right back.

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