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Puerto Rican Joke at Trump Rally Backfires in Huge Response; Trump Sows Doubt about 2024 Election: 'They Cheat'; Vance Denies Trump Vowed to Use Military on Americans. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired October 28, 2024 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Monday, October 28. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.
[06:00:10]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The day I take the oath of office, the migrant invasion of our country ends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Full house. MAGA packs Madison Square Garden for a rally that was full of racist and vulgar remarks.
Plus, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HINCHCLIFFE, SPEAKER AT TRUMP RALLY: There is literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yes, I think it's called Puerto Rico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Swift backlash. A Trump rally speaker risks alienating a key group of voters.
And this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We are here, because we are fighting for our democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Eight days to go. Voters are weighing in now about what they think will happen after all the votes are counted.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), 2024 VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Did he say that he wants to use the military against those people? He --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: On defense. J.D. Vance trying to clarify his running mate's comments about the enemy within.
All right, 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at New York City. That's where Donald Trump had a homecoming of sorts during a six-hour-long rally last night at Madison Square Garden, apparently fulfilling a lifelong dream for him.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
It is the last full week of campaigning before election day, and the choice that America's facing could have hardly been on sharper display than it was last night at Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden.
"The New York Times" called it, quote, "a release of rage, a vivid and at times racist display of the dark energy animating the MAGA movement."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID REM, SPEAKER AT TRUMP RALLY: She is the devil, whoever screamed that out. She is the Antichrist.
SID ROSENBERG, RADIO HOST: The whole (EXPLETIVE DELETED) party, a bunch of degenerates; low lives. Jew haters and low lives. Every one of them.
GRANT CARDONE, BUSINESSMAN: She's a pretender. Her and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.
ELON MUSK, BILLIONAIRE: (YELLING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Yes, that was billionaire Elon Musk screaming. We didn't even show you Tucker Carlson calling Kamala Harris low I.Q., among other insults.
But out of all that, it was this joke -- joke -- that really stood out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HINCHCLIFFE: I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yes. I think it's called Puerto Rico.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: "A floating island of garbage." It's about 3.2 million people that he's talking about there who live in Puerto Rico. There are over 1 million Puerto Ricans who live in New York where this rally was held.
And perhaps most relevant to this presidential campaign, there are about half-a-million Puerto Rican who live in Pennsylvania. They are American citizens. They vote.
Perhaps that's why the Trump campaign did something that they almost never do. They quickly disavowed a statement that was widely perceived as offensive. Quote, "This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign," end quote, a spokeswoman told CNN.
The Florida Senator Rick Scott, a Republican running for reelection, wrote this on X: quote, "This joke bombed for a reason. It's not funny and not true. Puerto Ricans are amazing people and amazing Americans."
There are about 1.1 million of them in Florida who could vote for or against Scott.
Famous Puerto Ricans, Bad Bunny, J.Lo, Ricky Martin, millions of social media followers among them, quickly posted pro-Harris videos as Harris herself had campaigned at a Puerto Rican restaurant earlier in the day.
And here was her running mate, Tim Walz, with Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I mean, it's like super upsetting. Obviously, it's super upsetting to me. My family's from Puerto Rico. I'm Puerto Rican.
I need people to understand that when they -- when you have some A- hole calling Puerto Rico floating garbage, know that that's what they think about you.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), 2024 VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There are hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rican across -- in battleground states that need to send them a message on this. Need to send them a message.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I want them to, like --
WALZ: You've got to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: It's worth noting that, while we showed you that joke about the pile of garbage that that comedian made, he also said something else about Latino voters that I can't play, because I know a lot of you are probably at the breakfast table with their little kids. And if we played it, you'd have to shut us off, because it was so incredibly crude that we're just -- it's a family program, and we're just not going to do it. Joining us now to talk about all of this, David Frum, staff writer at
"The Atlantic"; Meghan Hays, former director of message planning at the Biden White House; and Matt Gorman, former senior adviser to Tim Scott's presidential campaign.
Welcome to all of you. Thank you for being here.
[06:05:03]
So, obviously, the -- the comment that this comedian made about Puerto Rico is something that -- Matt, we don't see the Trump campaign back -- backpedal very often.
MATT GORMAN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISOR TO TIM SCOTT'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: No.
HUNT: But they are backpedaling from this.
GORMAN: I took note of that. Absolutely. And I think that -- I'm glad they did. And you saw a lot of Republicans do. Nick Esposito (ph), who's a congressman from around that area, right outside of Long Island or Westchester, do the same sort of thing, who's Puerto Rican, too.
And I think, broadly, this is why comedians and politics do not mix. It's not the same incentive structure. Like, we -- I've seen this so many times over the years. And this is why you'd be so careful with this sort of thing.
Comedians want laughs. Politicians want votes. That's not usually in alignment in a lot of respects. And you saw why in this sort of thing.
And, you know, if you're Trump's campaign, it unfortunately, overshadowed a lot of this for them as they go into this last week.
DAVID FRUM, STAFF WRITER, "THE ATLANTIC": Yes, and it was a problem for the campaign, because this joke of rage, contempt, and hate terribly distracted from the campaign's message of rage, contempt, and hate.
No, this is ridiculous. This is -- this is the message. This has always been the message. Rage, contempt, hate. Police women, expel people who are different from you. Be angry at the world. Denounce criminals from the mouth of a convicted criminal himself. That's the message.
There's not some other Trump campaign that is about accelerating depreciation rates or about accelerating economic growth. Their economic ideas are moronic and anti-social. Their immigration message is completely -- trips over its own feet. This is what they are.
And so, I think this -- this rally was a true public service. Show America what is the choice. That's it. What you saw there was not a distraction. It was the truth.
HUNT: I mean, I will say when I watched -- when I watched the pieces of this rally last night and, again, coming in this morning, I mean, there's a reason I wrote at the top, this -- this choice could not be more stark. Honestly. I mean, you could see it.
And David is correct that this is what -- I mean, the Trump team is not distancing itself from all the other things that were said at the rally, because they believe it.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING AT THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE: But also, it's working, right? Like 47, 48 percent of the people are voting for Donald Trump. They are neck and neck in the polls. So, clearly, their message is working.
I'm hopeful that comments like this about Puerto Rico will change people's minds that are Puerto Rican in some of these battleground states, that they'll start to realize maybe this isn't who they want to vote for, if that's where they're going to go. Or it will get people to stay home.
But clearly, there is a message that is working and resonating, and he has capitalized on that, which is really, really uncomfortable. And I think disconcerting for most Americans.
HUNT: Meghan, can I ask you one thing that has been standing out to me about, you know, Barack Obama? Former President Obama has been out on the campaign trail. And we highlighted this on the show on Friday.
He -- he keeps saying, I don't understand how people could think -- that people want change. I don't understand how they could think that Donald Trump could be the change that could help them.
That sort of hit my ears like we've had a lot of years of this, and you're right. There are a lot of people to whom this appeals. I mean, what is it that Democrats are not understanding?
HAYS: We are living in two different realities here. And I think that people are getting their news from certain sources and certain -- and that they live in that reality. And then other people live in a different reality.
And I think that -- I mean, there was a quote in "The New York Times" where someone was saying, we can't even help people in our own country. Why would we help immigrants? And it's like Donald Trump's not going to help those people either. It's like, what are you -- what is the disconnect here?
And I'm -- I mean, I don't understand what people's, like, discontent with the process is.
GORMAN: I saw it put very succinctly online late last night. It was a video on television, as he put it. And I think a lot of Democrats wrongly assume that Trump voters are like Trump in attitude and that sort of thing. And it's not the case.
And so, I think that is where they kind of get a little bit -- kind of twisted, a little bit. HUNT: David, is it true that if the Republicans had nominated someone other than Donald Trump, they would just be running away with this election?
FRUM: Donald Trump, in his two outings -- he's run for president twice -- got less of the vote than Al Gore, less of the vote than John Kerry, less of the vote than Mitt Romney, less of the vote than Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump is the biggest consistent loser of 20 -- of presidential politics in the 21st Century. So, yes, people -- Americans reject this.
And I think you're absolutely right about Trump voters. There was a story that went round last week about Donald Trump lending his plane to fly Nelson Mandela to the United States. The story is completely fictitious.
In fact, Trump's air -- he owned an airplane company at the time. It was on the verge of bankruptcy. They needed money from anyone they can get. And they chartered flights inside the United States to Nelson Mandela's group at the market rate. They did no good deed.
So, why did that story circulate? Because I think it's upsetting to a lot of Trump voters to face who this guy -- that he has never done a good deed in his life. He's never done a charitable act in his life. He's a monster in every way. That people are uncomfortable doing that.
Now, there's some who like it. There's some who enjoy the cruelty and the brutality.
HUNT: At least what was on display at the Garden.
But I think you're absolutely right.
FRUM: But most --
HUNT: That doesn't represent every Trump voter.
FRUM: Most just deceive themselves, or are willing to be deceived, and believe in a patent untruth. Like he gave a plane for free to Nelson Mandela, which he did not do.
[06:10:06]
Because otherwise, if he's really what he is, and you vote for him, then who are you?
HAYS: But there's also people who are voting for him, or voting Republican, because they believe in conservative Republican ideas, and they -- they are holding onto hopes that their taxes will be lower, and it's better for them financially.
And I think that's where a Liz Cheney is helping people kind of make the cross-over to vote for Democrats. And not everyone is this -- has hateful speech like this. I definitely agree with you. But there are people who are voting for him that disassociate with Donald Trump but agree with Republican values. And that's why they're voting for him.
GORMAN: A hundred percent.
FRUM: Except he's rejected all of them. Look, I've been involved in Republican politics since the 1980 campaign. What -- what did we believe in?
Impartial free markets, free trade, standing up for allies, defying dictators. Point -- on every point, Donald Trump has reversed 40 years of Republican political thinking.
The distance from Donald Trump to Ronald Reagan is the same distance in time, 40 years, as the distance from the segregationist Democratic Party of the 1920s to the civil rights party of the 1960s.
And this is as big a reversal. Everything you believed in, if you came into Republican politics in the 1980s, has been thrown out the window. You owe this party nothing.
GORMAN: A lot of that's a reaction to the Bush years. And I say this as a Bush fan, right? I think what you saw is folks like -- J.D. Vance espouses this, too, the fact that they didn't view free trade as helping them. The fact that they -- you had the Iraq war. A lot of this --
FRUM: Which he -- which he supported when he wrote --
GORMAN: A lot of this is a reaction to those years.
FRUM: Which J.D. Vance supported when he wrote for me.
GORMAN: It's not some sort -- it's not sort of, like, total 180. It is in total reaction to those years.
HAYS: And they also believe more in Republican economic values, because they think that the Democrats are -- have gone too far to the left.
GORMAN: Absolutely. Yes.
HAYS: So that is -- that is why we are here. Because you have this group of people who are hateful and all the things that identify with Trump. And then you just have conservative Republicans.
And again, that is why it is so important for the Democrats to continue to have Liz Cheney and other Republicans out there who will give them a permission structure to say, we know you don't agree, but we know you don't agree with this. And you want the rule of law.
GORMAN: And that's why, look, Future Forward is screaming from the top of their lungs, the Kamala Harris super PAC saying, stop talking about this fascist stuff. Contrast an economic plan.
HAYS: Yes.
GORMAN: Because the fascist stuff is not working. And that's why you see a lot of this. Like it is -- they couldn't be more clear.
HUNT: All right. Almost. We've got one more Monday before election day, and this is where our conversation is. We've got a big choice ahead of us.
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, what happens after the election? Voters weigh in about how they think things will pan out, depending on who wins.
Plus, Trump claims to have a secret to winning the White House. What might that be? We'll talk about it with Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman.
And what former national security leaders think the next president needs to do to bring back the military's tradition of political neutrality.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would tell whoever wins, they've got to go and reach out to the party that was defeated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:17:40]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you commit to making sure that there is a peaceful transfer of power after the election?
TRUMP: We're going to have to see what happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: We all saw what happened after that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The transition of power in 2021 was anything but peaceful. And if Donald Trump loses the election next week, many Americans say they fear history could repeat itself. Here's this new poll out this morning, a CNN poll of registered for
voters. Nearly seven in ten believe that Donald Trump will not accept the election results if he's defeated again. Seventy-three percent say Vice President Kamala Harris will accept a loss.
The former president has been sowing doubt about the upcoming election for months now, including these comments, just last week in an interview with FOX News Radio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX NEWS HOST: Out of the seven battleground states, what worries you the most?
TRUMP: Cheating.
KILMEADE: Which one, though? Which state?
TRUMP: All of them. I mean, they cheat. All of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: "All of them."
David, look, I will say, if my sources are to be believed -- and this is again -- this is the challenge that I have, because in 2016, all my sources thought the same thing. And in the last midterm election, most of my sources were on the same page, and everyone was wrong, all at the same time.
So, I will just say that all of these people right now are saying that Trump may be on track to win this. And perhaps this question will be moot.
But it is moot, because people do think, if that's the case, Kamala Harris will accept the results of the election.
But it's -- I mean, I think it's worth stopping to note that we're at a point where we need to ask people this question.
FRUM: Well, all these newspapers that did their endorsements. Everyone understands that, if Kamala Harris wins, she will not retaliate against media that endorsed Donald Trump. And if Donald Trump is elected, he will retaliate. Everyone understands that.
Everyone understands if there -- if there is a transition away from Biden and Harris, it will be peaceful. And when there was a transition away from Trump, it was violent.
But there's one more thing that needs really to be stressed. I mean, I used to do -- I don't do it anymore -- TV on inauguration mornings. And there's three hours of TV to fill, and there's nothing to say. And it's often blinking cold, and you're sitting there in the --
[06:20:02] And so, what you go on and on, and on and on about is America's ancient tradition of the peaceful transition of power. So that tradition of peaceful transition is now zero years old.
In 2019 Moldova and the Democratic Republic of the Congo had peaceful transitions of power. Their traditions, the Moldovan tradition of peaceful transfer of power, is longer than the American tradition. The Democratic Republic of the Congo's tradition of the peaceful transition.
Because -- that clock reset to zero because of Donald Trump and his violent transition of power in 2021.
HUNT: I mean, Matt, do you have any thought that, if Trump's -- if the -- if the numbers, the votes are counted, and it says that Harris won, that Donald Trump will concede?
GORMAN: I certainly hope so. Look, I don't know. I certainly hope so.
I think that is -- it's going to be interesting to see. And I am so curious to see, over the course of not just where we are in election night, but election week, right, because wasn't it calling on the Saturday after?
HAYS: Saturday.
GORMAN: Right. What those days are like. Because as we saw, we saw the first inklings of, like, some sort of that immediately after election night, around midnight, 1 a.m. on election night. And what that looks like and also how it's handled right now, because it was very new back then.
But again, his off theory. We will see what happens.
FRUM: But we know. Donald Trump told us this, and you're going to do a segment on this.
So, Donald Trump at that rally made reference to, I've got a secret weapon in Congress. So, what he's hoping to do in 2024, as he hoped to do in 2020, is disrupt the election enough that you can throw the election to the House of Representatives, where he's hoping that Republicans will, over the will of the American people, deliver a vote to him the way it was done in the 18th Century.
That's his backup plan, and he's hinting at it. And the question is, will Republicans in the House go along with this scheme to overturn an election in the House of Representatives?
HAYS: Haven't they also filed, like, hundreds of lawsuits? Like, there's already things being done, in preparation for this. And, like, we're still waiting for him to concede for the '20 election, right? He's still walking around saying he won that election.
FRUM: He expects to lose the popular vote for the third consecutive time.
GORMAN: I don't know about that now. I don't know about that now.
FRUM: And he's plotting -- well, his plot -- his plot is to use fair means and foul; litigation and potentially violence, and potentially, the scheme of the House of Representatives to defeat the vote of the American people. That's what he's thinking about.
GORMAN: I'll say this. You look at Harry -- Harry Enten says this, and NBC News says that he is in a better place right now to win the popular vote than he has ever been.
HUNT: Yes.
GORMAN: And so, I would not go that far yet.
HUNT: And again, this is -- you are saying - I am hearing from all sides of the aisle that Donald Trump is in this better position than he's been.
GORMAN: We'll see.
HUNT: We'll find out. Is everyone wrong again? I don't know.
GORMAN: We'll see. We'll see. It doesn't.
HUNT: But that's what they are saying.
GORMAN: Because we have nothing else to talk about for ten days. Like, we were talking about this before. Like, we don't -- there's nothing new, so we're just trying -- you're trying to discern the best you can.
HUNT: Yes. All right.
Well, straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, politics and pigskin. Why you're seeing more Kamala Harris and Donald Trump this week if you were an Eagles or a Steelers fan.
Plus, vice-presidential hopeful J.D. Vance is trying to clarify Trump's "enemy within" remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: Donald Trump never said Americans, writ large. You keep on putting words in his mouth and my mouth.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Are they -- are they not Americans?
VANCE: Far-left people who commit acts of violence, who riot?
TAPPER: Now you're doing a very narrow definition of what he said, which is not what he said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:25:20]
HUNT: It's the comments that convinced former Trump, chief of staff John Kelly to publicly call Donald Trump a fascist and warn against reelecting him.
The former president vowing to use the U.S. military and National Guard on, quote, "the enemy within."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think there -- and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military. Because they can't let that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Trump has referred to Democratic members of Congress, Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, as the enemy within. Our Jake Tapper asked Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, about those comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: We're talking about Donald Trump and what he said.
VANCE: Yes.
TAPPER: Donald Trump says --
VANCE: And you'd much rather talk about what Donald Trump allegedly said --
TAPPER: I'm talking about what he said publicly.
VANCE: -- than what Donald Trump did in office.
TAPPER: I'm talking about what he said publicly.
VANCE: What he did in office, Jake, is 1.5 percent inflation.
TAPPER: What he said publicly, he wants the military to go after the enemy within, which is the American people.
VANCE: He did not say that, Jake!
TAPPER: The enemy within?
VANCE: He said that he was going to send the military after the American people? Show me the quote where he said.
TAPPER: He said he was going to -- he said the enemy within.
VANCE: He said far-left lunatics. He's talking about --
TAPPER: Like the Pelosis. VANCE: -- people rioting.
TAPPER: And Schiff.
VANCE: He's talking about people rioting after the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: OK. So, just to, like, underscore what Jake was doing there, let's just watch again. Again, the comment that we played earlier in the script. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics.
And I think they're -- and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military. Because they can't let that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRUM: On his social media platform, Donald Trump has called for military tribunals and execution of former Congresswoman Liz Cheney and former General Mark Milley.
You don't have to pull out one proof quote. There are hundreds. And they're background quotes, where he would routinely talk to his attorney general, Bill Barr, about arresting and executing critics.
So, it's not -- you know, you have -- that's one example. There's so many. That's Donald Trump's fantasy of what he would like to do with the presidency.
Now, there are many institutional constraints on the president actually sending out the military to round up and kill people who criticize him. And probably, the military would regarded it as an -- as an illegal order and probably not do it.
But it's interesting directionally. How does Donald Trump's mind work? What does he think the president is?
Here's the thing that I -- if you go to the poorest town in the United States and go to the meanest street, and find the most desperate hobo, and you're president of the United States, that person is your boss.
But Donald Trump thinks that he is the ruler, and these institutions answer to him.
[06:30:00]
