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Harris and Trump Barnstorm Battlegrounds; Trump Claims 2024 Being Stolen from Him; Joke Aimed at Puerto Rico Could Change 2024 Election; Trump Speaks in North Carolina. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 04, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And you're looking at live pictures from Raleigh, North Carolina, where any moment Donald Trump will rally his supporters on this last day of campaigning. We'll bring you some of those remarks live in just a few moments.

But in the meantime, joining me now, PBS NewsHour White House Correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez and New York Times White House Correspondent Zolan Kanno-Youngs. They're both CNN political analysts. Guys, thanks so much for being here.

And we were just talking about this Iowa poll during the commercial break, and we could put that up on screen again and chat about it. I mean, I suppose -- I mean, first of all, the Des Moines Register, I always take their polling as being kind of the gold standard in our line of work and maybe it'll be a little off and maybe she won't win, but I always look at battlegrounds and trend lines in the last couple of weeks of the campaign and it just looks like, Laura, that the numbers are just sort of maybe inching in her direction a little bit. Who knows, we'll find out. But when you see something like Iowa, it sort of makes it feel that way.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ EXACTLY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, PBS NEWSHOUR: Exactly. Especially because when you look at the details of that poll, it shows that women over the age of 55 are moving towards her or are voting for her in double digit numbers. And so, that's really what the Harris campaign is betting on, is that women across the board -- across age demographics, it's not just those over the age of 55 and across race and ethnicity, that all of them are going to turn out more for her than for Donald Trump.

And especially in states like Arizona and Nevada, they hope that in addition to that, the abortion ballot initiatives will help encourage more women and more voters to support Harris.

ACOSTA: Right. And in Iowa, there was an abortion ban that went into effect over the summer. I mean, that may be having an effect there that we just didn't pick up on until now.

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Right, right. Look, there's a lot we don't know here. And just when you see a poll like this, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's -- it means that the vice president might win Iowa here. We don't. However, you can pull big picture trends here. And for a campaign and a party that has made reproductive rights such a centerpiece of their messaging, you know, this has got to be positive news for you here, and it may be an indicator that it is moving woman in rural areas across, you know, the span of age as well.

Especially as you have a campaign that's now trying to focus on these battleground states, not just in the cities in them as well, but expanding it to rural counties. This has got to be affirming. And remember, also, we have a gender divide in this election as well. And if this poll is indicating that some of that messaging has energized women in a place like Iowa, that's got to be positive news for the campaign.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, Laura, we were showing this ABC poll, this breakout number from ABC over the weekend that showed how Harris is doing with women. I don't know if we could put that up on screen again. But it shows this extraordinary number in terms of women voting for Kamala Harris among women under the age of 30, that there's sort of -- like -- here it is right there on screen. She's plus 40 among women under the age of 30.

I've covered a lot of races. I've covered presidential races since 2004. I've never seen anything like that before. That is extraordinary. And it makes me wonder, I mean, you know, you look at the Trump campaign, they've really gone after the bro vote and they just haven't really -- did they spend a whole lot of time on women voter? It doesn't seem like they did to me.

BARRON-LOPEZ: It doesn't seem like they have. They haven't necessarily come up with a cohesive message on abortion, on reproductive rights. They've been all over the place, sometimes with J. D. Vance and Donald Trump saying two different things.

[10:35:00]

And then, in addition to that, you have Donald Trump all the way up until, you know, yesterday, where sometimes when he talks about Kamala Harris, or he encourages his audience, when they compare her to a prostitute. And, you know, making sexist remarks about Kamala Harris throughout the campaign.

So, I was just in North Carolina a week or so ago, talking specifically to Gen Z voters on campuses, and I mean, the gender gap couldn't be more obvious. Young women there were repeatedly mentioning reproductive rights over and over again as one of the biggest reasons that they were voting for Harris.

ACOSTA: Yes, and we got to sneak in a quick break. Zolan, I mean, the other factor in all this we don't know about is the Latino vote and what it's going to do and whether that Madison Square Garden did have this galvanizing impact.

KANNO-YOUNGS: And we have a very large Puerto Rican population in Pennsylvania as well. One of the more important states when it comes to the Electoral College. We're going to see in a couple days if that Madison Square Garden event, you know, was a pivotal moment for galvanizing a very crucial voting bloc in this election.

ACOSTA: Interesting guys. All right. Thank you so much. We're going to take another -- sneak in another quick break because there's this rally coming up we're going to watch. I'll be right back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

ACOSTA: Donald Trump is already making the baseless claim that the 2024 election is being stolen from him. Here's some of what he said yesterday in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are fighting so hard to steal this damn thing. Look at what's going on. Look at what's going on in your state. Every day they're talking about extending hours and stuff. What? Who ever heard of this stuff? It's a damn shame, and I'm the only one that talks about it because everyone's afraid to damn talk about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Among Trump's other false claims that voting by non-citizens is widespread, it is not, that election officials are using early voting to commit fraud, there's no evidence of that either. He's claimed there's no verification for overseas or military ballots, there is. But make no mistake, these baseless claims are a major challenge for election officials, especially in the battleground State of Arizona. Its top election officials, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes joins me now.

Mr. Secretary, as always, great to be with you. Thanks for coming on. What are you battling right now in terms of election misinformation?

ADRIAN FONTES (D), ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, Jim, there's all kinds of stuff out there, particularly the notion that early voting is somehow nefarious. We've got a heck of a lot more Republicans using early voting in Arizona, and we kind of always have.

That and you know, some other things that we're currently -- in fact, as of not too many hours ago, working with the Department of Homeland Security and the Critical Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, on some misinformation that has very recently popped. We're going to be attacking all of this and we're going to be attacking it with the truth and the fact that American elections and Arizona's elections have been secured free and accountable for a very long time. they remain so in spite of the conspiracy theories and the lies.

ACOSTA: Adrian, can you fill us in? What is being discussed in terms of what you're hearing from CISA? What are you working on in terms of getting the truth out there?

FONTES: Well, we've got a report to CISA right now. We're going to work with them to get some guidance on how to treat this as far as public disclosure is concerned. So, that should be surfacing in several hours. But the bottom line is this, you know, whenever we see something, we get it out there and we talk about it and we make sure to get in front of it as much as possible.

There are a lot of what -- I think what most people don't understand is that the root of the vast majority of all of the lies and misinformation is our foreign enemies. It's Russia, it's China, it's Iran. They want us to distrust one another. They want us to hate one another as Americans. They know they cannot defeat us economically. They know they cannot defeat us militarily. But the only way they can do it is to turn us against one another. And we've got plenty of examples of this coming from our foreign adversaries. We will continue to fight against them to protect our own democracy.

ACOSTA: All right. And we'll be looking for that official announcement from, I guess, your folks and CISA later today. We'll monitor that. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, we're tight on time because we've got a rally coming up. We've got other guests lined up. We're going to try to squeeze them all in before this rally gets going. But in the meantime, Adrian, thank you very much for your time. We'll be back in touch with you. Thanks so much.

FONTES: Good to see you.

ACOSTA: All right. Good to see you. Coming up, it's the insult that could very well have changed the election. Up next, Veteran Journalist Geraldo Rivera will join us to discuss next and explain his endorsement of vice president Kamala Harris and how a joke at -- or so-called joke at last week's Madison square garden rally might make the difference in this campaign. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

ACOSTA: Welcome back. Could a so-called joke aimed at Puerto Rico changed the outcome of the 2024 election? Recall that last week, a comedian referred to Puerto Rico as a floating island of garbage at Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden. Trump still is not disavowed that insulting comment and veteran TV journalist Geraldo Rivera is now correspondent at large at News Nation, and Geraldo has some thoughts on all of this.

Geraldo, you and I covered a lot of these campaigns. I'm just curious what you think about all this, because, I mean, when this -- these races are this tight, anything really can change the numbers a little bit. We saw that happen with Superstorm Sandy in 2012. We saw in 2016 the Comey letter changing the outcome of that race potentially. And is it possible that this insult was a game changing moment for Kamala Harris?

GERALDO RIVERA, CORRESPONDENT AT LARGE, NEWSNATION: Great to see you, Jim. I believe that it was. My vibe is definitely that this was a profound punch in the gut for the Puerto Rican people specifically, but I think for Latinos writ large. It was so insulting, so low down and dirty. I mean, floating island of garbage. Puerto Ricans are very keen. They love their flag. They love their island. You don't insult it in that kind of gratuitous way. And it really seemed it implied that President Trump, who was the host of this comedian after all was allowing them to disparage very proud people, strong people, people for whom, you know, respect is very important.

[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: Yes.

RIVERA: And when you get -- don't have respect, you don't get the vote. So, I do believe -- you know, there's a substantial pocket of Puerto Ricans in the Philadelphia area, that kind of corridor from Allentown to Philly. I think that Eastern Pennsylvania, particularly, but I think around the country, really, this insult has really resonated, Jim.

ACOSTA: And, Geraldo, what's your sense of the race right now? You've known Donald Trump a long time. What's going through his mind, do you think? Do you think he is grasping the possibility that this might slip away from him? What do you think?

RIVERA: I don't know that he would ever admit that even to himself, Jim. He's a very proud person. He's -- I think part of his strength has been his devotion to his candidacy and then his presidency. And, you know, he's got -- he's assailed from all sides of various legal cases and so forth. I think he sees this as a kind of a last gasp. I don't know whether he is focused on the Puerto Ricans particularly, but I think it could be the mouse that roared.

You know, Puerto Ricans are born citizens. You know, they -- those on the Island, the 3 million plus can't vote for president, but the 5 million plus here in the mainland certainly can, and I -- every indication is that they will be.

In terms of President Trump and these, this 11th hour, I wish he had not gone the low road. I wish he had not, you know, insulting immigrants as vermin and animals, poisoning the blood of the country, you know, genetically predisposed to murder. I mean, there's -- any national group can only take so many, so much. And to -- until you rebel, you just repulse by it.

I mean, even some of the rappers who had endorsed President -- Former President Trump have withdrawn their endorsement. Plus, I mean, it is -- I mean, how --

ACOSTA: Yes.

RIVERA: -- quirky is it that an artist by the name of Bad Bunny maybe in -- when push comes to shove, the most influential of all the endorsers. He, of course, is a Puerto Rican superstar, along with Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez.

ACOSTA: Right. RIVERA: You know, it's -- it is --

ACOSTA: And the list goes on.

RIVERA: -- quite stunning.

ACOSTA: Yes.

RIVERA: And I believe listening to Spanish language media and Spanish oriented media, this is still resonating. It's a week ago in a presidential campaign, that's like a year ago --

ACOSTA: It broke through.

RIVERA: -- and people still, Jim, remember.

ACOSTA: Yes, absolutely. And I'm just curious -- we're watching Donald Trump take the stage in Raleigh, North Carolina. So, we may have to break away. My apology in advance when -- if and when we do that. But your sense of the dark and menacing tone of the final stretch of this campaign for Donald Trump. Real quick thought for me. And then I got to jump into the to the rally.

RIVERA: I worry that he is the cheerleader, a principal cheerleader now for a kind of menacing attitude toward what should be a joyous occasion, a presidential election. And we got to -- you know, to demonstrate our pride in our nation and so forth. But this grievance, you know, this attitude, you know --

ACOSTA: All right. Hold on. I got go --

RIVERA: -- through the press to get to --

ACOSTA: Very disturbing stuff.

RIVERA: Go ahead.

ACOSTA: No, very disturbing stuff. I'm sorry to cut you off. I got to jump in. We're going to listen to the former president. We'll talk to you about it on the other side. Thanks, Geraldo.

TRUMP: Sometimes they wouldn't. But with North Carolina, I always got there because we won every race, every time.

So, essentially, you know, they have an expression -- I hate the expression actually, but it's ours to lose. Does that make sense to you? It's ours to lose. If we get everybody out and vote, there's not a thing they can do. And if we don't, they have to get every person that ever signed anything in that horrendously dangerous party that's going to destroy our country, and it already is destroying our country. We just can't let that happen. We cannot let that happen.

So, here's my only purpose in even being here today, get out and vote. You know that. I'm thrilled to be back in this beautiful state with thousands of proud, hardworking American patriots. That's what you are. You're patriots. You built this country. You built this country. But I'd like to begin by asking a very simple question, are you better off now than you were four years ago?

[10:55:00]

You know, I've asked that question so many times that I've never had one hand go up for the other. With your vote tomorrow, I will end inflation, I will stop the invasion of criminals coming into our country, which I happen to think is the absolute worst thing that has ever happened to our country. I've never seen it. They're putting in murderers, releasing all of their prisoners from jails all over the world, not South America, all over the world into our country. I think it's the worst thing.

You know, in the polling, when I see the polling, I see that inflation and the economy are number one, which is sort of standard. But I really would like to put that because we're going to close up that border so fast, we're going to get those people in there fast.

And she's not going to do it. She couldn't do it if she wanted to. She wouldn't know what to do. They have open borders. And you know what? If things went bad today, you would have -- and tomorrow, you would have open borders the first day of that, and you'll have -- they have 21 million people that they let into our country. Many of these people are murderers. Think of it. 13,099 are murderers. The big drug lords, the prison population from countries all over the world. And if I ran a country, I'd say, get my prisons, open borders. They just walk in. No vetting. Think of it. No vetting.

We have no idea who they are. You're not allowed to ask. You're not allowed to ask. They just walk right into our country and they killed people. You have murders. So, you have 13,099 murders. Many of them have killed far more than one person. Bad things are going to happen. And you have terrorists at levels that we've never seen before. We had terrorists down the lowest. We've -- I had, in 2019 -- and this isn't done by me, this is done by border Patrol, which by the way, endorsed me. They gave me a great endorsement. They said he's the greatest president ever. He's the greatest president. The head guy, boy, Paul, was great. He made a beautiful speech, but he said he's the greatest president our country has ever had. I said, does that include Lincoln, Washington and a couple of others? But it's very nice. But they gave me the strongest endorsement.

And I have to say this at the same little speech, they said, she's the worst thing to ever happen to our country. And it's very hard for them to say that she never made one phone call in four years to the Border Patrol. How we doing? I used to drive them crazy. They probably said, oh, no, it's the president again. Yes, but -- yes, we're fighting our best. Yes.

I used to call -- I used to drive him nuts. When I had nothing to do, I say, call the Border Patrol. And we got -- just drop that chart please, that chart -- my all-time favorite chart. My all-time favorite chart, I love that chart. I sleep with that chart. I kiss it every night before I go, because I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the chart.

If you take a look at the arrow on the bottom, that was the day I left office. That was the lowest illegal immigration we ever had. And I kept it pretty good. And then, you take a look and we had Mexico pay for their soldiers. They didn't want to pay for their soldiers. I said, you have to give us soldiers while we build the wall. And they paid so much money to us. And they said, we're not going to do that. They actually laughed at me when I suggested it. And I said, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to put a tariff of 100 percent on all your cars and everything that comes into the United States.

They said -- you know what they said? Sir, we would be greatly honored to let you have our soldiers free of charge, thousands. How many would you need, sir? I said, as many as it takes. And they were great. They made a big contribution to our security. Let me tell you. But they got to stop with -- now, we're talking turkey.

One of the first calls I'm going to make is to Mexico. You stop letting people come in through our border and come in through your southern border and you stop it. Because Mexico -- and I had a great relationship with the president, but he retired now, he left. He's a good man. He was a socialist. You can't have everything, but he was a good man. But they paid a fortune for the soldiers along the border. We were able to have great numbers. Well-built 571 miles of wall.

I was going to add 200. By the way, far more than I said. I was talking about 200, 250. We built 571 and nobody talks about it. And you know what I did? Because we had a Congress that was not behaving, I said, I don't care. This is an invasion of our country. I'm taking it out of the military. And I took it out of the military because I --

[11:00:00]