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Harris In Michigan After Surprise SNL Appearance; Trump Campaigns In Must-Win State Of Pennsylvania; Biden Makes Final Campaign Push For VP Harris; New Poll Shows Harris Holding Trump In Iowa 47 Percent To 44 Percent; Trump "Focused" On The Election After RFK Jr. Fluoride Comments; Trump, Harris Campaigns Have Lawyers. New Iowa Polls Shows Harris Leading; Trump Bash "Fake" Economic Numbers; Combatting Misinformation; Georgia Officials Combat Election Disinformation. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired November 03, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Look at Arizona, though. It's the only battleground state where there is a clear leader, and that's Donald Trump. He is edging out Harris 48 to 44.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: We're also seeing an interesting twist in the Hawkeye state. A new poll in Iowa shows no clear leader there with Harris holding Trump at 47 percent to 44 percent, but that same poll had Trump up over Harris by four points as recently as September. Trump carried Iowa in both 2016 and 2020.

Now, today, it is a battleground barnstorm. Harris will be in Michigan, while her running mate Tim Walz is visiting Georgia and North Carolina today. Trump will be in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia, while J.D. Vance will be in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, then New Hampshire.

BLACKWELL: Harris took a short break from the campaign trail last night, made a stop in New York City for an appearance on Saturday Night Live. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kamala, take my palmala.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The American people want to stop the chaos.

KAMALA HARRIS (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And end the dramala.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a cool new step-mamala. Get back in our pajamalas and watch a rom-comala.

(LAUGHTER) HARRIS: Like Legally Blonde-ala.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And start decorating for Christmas, fa-la-la-la- la.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because what do we always say? Keep Calm-ala and Carry On-ala.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WALKER: Just a bit of advice from Kamala to Kamala. Afterward, Harris called the appearance, quote, "fun." Now, former President Donald Trump did not make an appearance this year, but he did host a show back in 2015 ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

BLACKWELL: This capped off a busy weekend for both campaigns as they each spent time in Georgia and North Carolina.

WALKER: Plans, policies, and digs at each other, all up for discussion. Take a listen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We have three days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime, and we still have work to do. We still have work to do. And we have an opportunity in this election to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other. We're done with that. We're done. We're exhausted with it.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, I went to Iowa, and I had 48,000 people, and she had about 300 people. And then we went to another one in another state, we had 49,000 people. She had 243 people.

And I kept saying, why are we going to lose? Why? Why? How -- why are we going to lose? And we didn't lose. You know, we ended up winning and we ended up winning the presidency, right?

HARRIS: Well, listen, I know grocery prices are still high. The folks who are watching this interview right now know groceries prices are still high. We need to bring them down. We need to deal with the cost of housing. We have a supply shortage.

Part of my plan is not only to work with the private sector to cut through the tape so we can build more housing in America, but also to get first time homebuyers to $25,000 down payment assistance so they can get -- just get their foot in the door.

TRUMP: And these horrible people back there said, well, Trump is soft with women. I don't believe I'm soft with. They said Trump is soft. He's very good with men. I don't know. Thank you, men. Thank you, men. No, I'm through the roof with men. She ain't catching us, men. Let me tell you. No, I'm great with men, but I'm sort of like soft with the women's stuff.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WALKER: Well, the presidential race hinges on razor thin margins as polls continue to show a very tight race.

BLACKWELL: Later this morning, former President Trump will rally again in Pennsylvania. Of course, you know, by now that is a crucial state for Democrats. And if Trump were to pick it off, he'd be well on his way to 270.

Joining us now from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is CNN's Danny Freeman. Danny, a few more hours until Trump arrives. Paint the picture for us.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Victor. We're in Lancaster County. Like you noted in a couple of hours for President Donald Trump is going to be here. Let's call it an airport breakfast rally. That's really what we're gearing up for because the former president is expected around 10:00 a.m.

And listen, in this final 48 hours before Election Day, here's some things that I'm specifically looking for from this his first stop of the day. First of all, I'm looking for some of the enthusiasm levels in the crowd. It's an early morning rally. There are definitely a lot of cars here already. People lining up to get in.

But this particular county is a red county. It's a county that former President Trump won both in 2016 and 2020. So if former President Trump hopes to win the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, he really needs to drive up the numbers in some of these types of more rural counties.

The second thing I'm looking for, Victor, is to see if former President Trump continues to stoke more fears of election fraud. Lancaster County actually has had the spotlight on it for about a week and a half now, since the Board of Elections came out and announced it was looking at about 2,500 voter registration applications because they suspected there might be some fraud in those applications.

[07:05:20]

The county for its part said that they're still investigating and they've not put a specific number of applications that they found to be fraudulent, but they said this is also an example of the system working here in this county. Nevertheless, former President Donald Trump has used this incident to, again, stoke fears of election fraud. So we're looking to see if he brings that up from the podium today.

And then the last thing, Victor, now that I'm looking for is, again, you played it in the beginning, does former President Trump have a message for women in this particular rally? We keep looking at these polls. I believe you have the poll of polls of not just Pennsylvania but all the battleground states. It is a dead heat right now, Victor and Amara.

We know this, but then also there was that surprising Des Moines Register/Iowa poll that came out yesterday that showed Vice President Harris actually leading former President Trump in a state that he won twice before. But the -- perhaps canary in the coal mine for former President Trump's campaign in that Iowa poll is the weakness specifically with women.

And then you heard former President Donald Trump speak about that last night at his rallies. So that's what I'm looking forward to see if he comes up with any sort of last minute message to appeal to these voters who, at least according to some of these polls, seem to be drifting towards Vice President Harris.

Now, Victor and Amara, what I will say is that this is just stop one of a very busy swing for former President Trump today. He has this stop in Pennsylvania. Then he also is going to North Carolina late in the afternoon, and then he will finish the evening in battleground Georgia. You can tell with all of these stops that we are truly in the final stretch of this campaign.

Victor, Amara?

BLACKWELL: Swing state hopscotch for the next 48 hours.

Danny Freeman, thanks so much.

Now President Biden is making his final push for Vice President Harris. He spoke to voters in his hometown. He did not hold back. He suggested that he would smack, his word, macho guys referring to former President Donald Trump.

WALKER: CNN Senior White House Producer Betsy Klein is following this. Hi there, Betsy. So what should we take away from this final stump?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, Amara and Victor, as you mentioned, it was vintage Biden on Saturday and a homecoming of sorts for the President as he returned to Scranton, where he spent so much of his childhood and also closed out his 2020 presidential campaign.

This was likely the final political appearance he is making for the 2024 cycle and a rare one at that. Biden, by our count, has just done seven campaign appearances since he dropped out of the race back in July. And that is by design, in part, to give Vice President Harris some space and distance to define her candidacy and also because he remains unpopular and prone to gaffes, as we saw just this week when he appeared to call supporters of former President Trump garbage, clearly an unwelcome distraction for the Harris campaign.

But President Biden on Saturday talking to union workers and those who might be undecided about Harris. He said that she shares his values and also made this very personal appeal. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, we've asked a lot of each other, you and I, unions and me, I asked for one more thing. I'm asking you for your support for Kamala and Tim Walz. I'm not just asking for me, I'm going to be gone.

I'm asking you to do something for yourself and the families, for the people you grew up with, the neighbors you come from. That's what the hell (ph) we're about.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

KLEIN: Now, so much is at stake for President Biden on Tuesday with this election because former President Trump has vowed to dismantle key Biden accomplishments if he is elected to a second term. And President Biden pointed out, he warned on Saturday that Trump would get rid of the Affordable Care Act, that he would dismantle the Chips and Science Act, that domestic manufacturing bill.

He also encouraged attendees to consider the question, what would happen if you trade in my administration for his? And crucially, he implored those in attendance to call their family, call their neighbors, call their friends in these final critical days.

BLACKWELL: Betsy Klein in Washington, thanks so much.

Joining me now is CNN Political Analyst and Political Anchor for Spectrum News, Errol Louis. Errol, good morning to you. Happy election eve.

Let's start with this new poll from the Des Moines Register showing that there is no clear leader here, but a poll that found a four-point advantage for Trump several months ago now shows a three point advantage for Harris, but that's within the margin of error, so we see that as no clear leader.

Trump won Iowa by comfortable margins in 2016 and 2020. What's your reaction and analysis of what we're seeing now?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor. The momentum and the change is what really got everybody's attention.

[07:10:01]

Your viewers should know that this is not just any old poll. This is considered a platinum standard of polling. It's only for Iowa. They are very meticulous. They have an excellent track record over the last 20 odd years. They've only missed a couple of times, and they're usually within 2 percent of the final vote. So this is considered extremely reliable.

What's really remarkable here, if you look through it victories that it shows that independent women who are neither terribly partisan, not too much Republican, not too much Democrat are breaking towards Harris. And that trend that probably has the Trump camp most worried.

If independent women in the Midwest, in a reliably Trump region are breaking towards Harris, it might not just be Iowa. It might also be Michigan. It might also be Wisconsin. It might also be Pennsylvania. And so this is really seen, it's kind of electrified a lot of the political world overnight as a harbinger of Harris doing very, very well in the Midwest.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Wisconsin's right next door. I've got a Trump supporter who's going to be up a little later this morning. I asked him about what that pretends for that swing state.

Let's talk about what the former president was talking about yesterday. And he's been -- his campaign and allied campaign and Super PACs, I should say, have spent tens of millions of dollars on and that's transgender athletes. He had some members of a women's swim team up on stage yesterday.

We know that the top of the ticket is focused on that, on the Republican side. Are we seeing that in the statewide races, the congressional races? Are they spending as much money and time on this?

LOUIS: Well, you know, what's really telling about this, Victor, the answer is no, by the way, because remember, this was supposed to be an election about the economy and about border security and migrants. And yet here they are in their closing hours, pivoting off to these other sort of strange sort of side issues, and that's because their internal polling probably shows them that their arguments for the economy and their arguments about the border are not taking hold with the populations that they most need at this point.

And so they're sort of raising these scare questions about, you know, people eating pets and, you know, transgender issues and who's in the locker room with your daughter and things like that. It really looks more like a Hail Mary pass than anything else. It's certainly not a disciplined campaign operation that led them to this.

BLACKWELL: The Harris campaign while she was speaking at several rallies over the last several days, twice yesterday, she was interrupted by protesters, hecklers who are pro-Palestinian. When the President was at the top of the ticket, he didn't go to Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Hamtramck.

She has not since she's been at the top of the ticket. Do you think that they should have gone to engage further with the Muslim American and an Arab American population, considering what we're seeing from former President Trump?

LOUIS: It's a very, very difficult question. It's a very emotional hot button issue for a lot of people who have family in the Middle East. And at the same time, you have to keep in mind, you know, Kamala Harris has not had a lot of time at the top of the ticket.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

LOUIS: So she's had only a few months. Let's not kid ourselves either, though. She certainly has sent emissaries to try and negotiate with and strike deals with and connect with and engage with a lot of populations that were skeptical about her candidacy, especially on this issue.

It doesn't look like there's a successful resolution that has worked for some of the activists. But then there are others who I think are going to probably hold their nose and do what all of us have to do, which is make a choice between two very imperfect candidates. And I think to the extent that Harris has a case to make, she'll probably do just fine in Michigan.

BLACKWELL: Yes. She certainly has met with representatives of the community, but hasn't gone there herself to some of those cities. Let me ask you now that we talked about the principles. RFK Jr. the former President Trump has said that he will let him, quote, "go wild on health."

This is what RFK Jr. tweeted out yesterday. "On January 20th, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, I.Q. loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease." Does Kennedy in charge of or going wild on health, move voters?

LOUIS: I sure hope not, Victor. I mean, he -- I mean, just that phrase you read there. He spouts so much misinformation every time he opens his mouth. And we're talking about debates that are more than a half century old. This is one of the most studied issues in public health. It is also one of the greatest successes in public health.

For him then to just jump in the middle of this, very much the way he does with the vaccine question and so to say, oh, everything's up for grabs. And for Donald Trump to say, yes, sure. Let him go wild. Very, very irresponsible.

[07:15:11]

Won't get him any votes whatsoever. I mean, you know, the conspiracy theory vote I think is already locked down for RFK and they're going to do whatever he says. That's why he's at 2 percent or 3 percent in most polls.

Beyond that, it's really just, I think, a warning to the rest of us that, you know, that the days of the pandemic are not necessarily fully behind us, that there will always be people out there urging really dangerous, ill-advised action when it comes to public health. Something for all of us to be aware of.

BLACKWELL: All right, Errol Louis, good to see you. Thanks so much.

Be sure to tune in for CNN special coverage of Election Night in America. It starts Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

WALKER: All right, still to come, it's likely we may not know the results of the presidential election for a few days after Election Day. How the legal teams for both Trump and Harris already are preparing for a post-election courtroom battle.

And police in Orlando are searching for what led to a Halloween shooting that left two people dead in a crowded night light district. The details are coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:57]

WALKER: Donald Trump and his supporters have laid the groundwork to dispute the results of the election again. Both Trump and Harris campaigns have assembled teams of lawyers ready to take on any election-related courtroom battles.

Joining me now is CNN Contributor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy. She is a professor at Stetson University, Stetson University School of Law, and a Brennan Center Fellow. She also serves on the Board of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, and she served as an unpaid campaign finance policy adviser for Biden's 2020 race.

Ciara, good to see you this morning. Republicans have been involved in more than 130 lawsuits in the lead up to Election Day. What are these lawsuits about?

CIARA TORRES-SPELLISCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's been litigation around this election, basically, for the past four years, whether a layperson noticed or not. And that was generated because after the 2020 election, most states change their election laws.

So we changed our election laws in 2020 to make it easier for voters to vote, especially during the pandemic. And then many states rolled back those accommodations for voters and changed their laws. And then some states, like my own state of Florida, rolled them back even further and made it harder to either register to vote or to vote.

And so some of the litigation that we've seen, especially in this year, I mean, it's everything from who can register, who can vote, what votes count, when are offices open, which voting machines are being used? It is basically the waterfront.

WALKER: Wow. OK. So then what about the Democrats and, you know, how are they preparing to combat these lawsuits? I mean, are they going to largely have to be reactive?

TORRES-SPELLISCY: So, Democrats have been suing too. Some of them have been suing to get some of the more regressive laws either rolled back or clarified and the -- both sides have lawyered up. So on the Republican side, we have Janine Brasso (ph) and David Warrington.

On the Democratic side, we have Bob Bauer and Marc Elias. Marc Elias, in particular, has a very long record of winning election law lawsuits. It's, I think, one of the reasons that he lives rent free in Steve Bannon's head.

WALKER: So if Trump loses, then, Ciara, what kind of lawsuits do you expect to see?

TORRES-SPELLISCY: I think, sadly, we might see a repeat of some of the lawsuits that we saw after 2020, which were completely frivolous. You challenge the vote in a particular city. You challenge the vote in a whole state. I mean, there were lawsuits after 2020 that attempted to throw out the vote of, like, all of Pennsylvania.

And I hope we don't see that again. And I would sort of caution my fellow election lawyers, like no client is worth your law degree. You can lose the ability to practice law if you keep on filing frivolous lawsuits. You can be sanctioned, you can be disbarred. And we saw that after 2020, and I hope we don't see that again in 2024.

WALKER: In 2020, though, I mean, the system did work though, right? I mean, there were, you know, dozens of lawsuits challenging the presidential election. I think there were more than 30 local officials who refused to certify the election. But all of these efforts in the end did not succeed.

TORRES-SPELLISCY: This is true. I have to give it to local election officials all over the country who stood up to enormous pressure and I also have to give it to the courts. While plenty of people have been sort of, I don't know, fooled about the 2020 election, judges around the country, whether they were state judges or federal judges, were not fooled. And I hope that they are as good this time around as well.

[07:25:15]

WALKER: Yes. And if they were Democratic appointed or Republican appointed, it didn't seem to have mattered as well in their rulings.

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, thank you for your time now.

BLACKWELL: Now, fewer than 48 hours until the polls open on Election Day, and there are new numbers out just this morning showing how tight this race for the White House is. We're going in-depth on the final hours of the election with our political panel straight ahead.

Plus, the new ruling impacting how some voters in Georgia can cast their ballots.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Two days now until Election Day in the battle for the White House is a dead heap between Vice President Harris and Former President Trump. Look at these final numbers between the candidates from New York Times and Siena College, no clear leader in six of the battleground states. We do have one state, Arizona, that shows Trump up.

Joining me now to discuss, Democratic strategist Tharon Johnson and Republican strategist, Ryan Mahoney. Welcome to you both. OK. So, we've known the race was very close for a long time. The surprise this weekend is Iowa and the new poll out from the Des Moines register. Let's put that up. We have those numbers. It shows that according to their poll, Harris has a three-point advantage, but it's within the margin of error. So, it's no clear leader there. Are you concerned about Iowa?

RYAN MAHONEY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No. I mean, I think polling is a snapshot of this moment. You have to look at the last four or five polls that have come out. It shows a really good trend line for Trump. And when you look at early voting too, who's getting out and casting ballots, strong Republican turnout as well. So, it's interesting. I don't think it's an indicator.

BLACKWELL: Well, let's say this, Trump won 2016, 2020 comfortable margins.

MAHONEY: Sure.

BLACKWELL: The September Des Moines register poll had him at, I think, four points ahead.

MAHONEY: Sure.

BLACKWELL: If it's a snapshot in time, two days before the election, you're still confident?

MAHONEY: Still confident. Now, I don't think he's going to win with the same margin that he had in 2020. That's for certain. And it -- but it shows across the country that the margins in Republican states are shrinking. I think this is way more competitive than, honestly, any Republican strategist wants to tell you.

BLACKWELL: What do you think?

THARON JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND CEO, PARAMOUNT CONSULTING GROUP: Well, you remember the Biden-Harris campaign invested a lot of their money and resources in the Midwest, this blue wall that they wanted to create. And so, what you did, you saw people breaking her way, but more importantly, independent women, you guys covered that in your segment earlier.

And so, we've always known that if Kamala Harris, since July 21st, can get her message out to the people about the future, that's a good sign. But the Republicans are very worried because Donald Trump should not be defending Iowa right now. He should be in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan and trying to win. So, the fact that he's defending states that he's won twice, it's a really, really good sign for the Harris campaign.

BLACKWELL: Yes. For all the guff that he gave Hillary Clinton recently about not going back to Wisconsin in the general election, he hasn't been back to Iowa since the caucuses.

MAHONEY: Right. Well, I mean, I think the calendar reflects the strategy, and I don't think he's going to defend Iowa.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about Michigan. And the vice president going to be there all day. She's got four stops across the state. She was heckled by some pro-Palestinian protesters yesterday. She did not go to these cities. She didn't go to Dearborn. She didn't go to Dearborn Heights, Hamtramck. Should she have engaged more publicly, directly, herself with the Arab American and Muslim community considering their concerns about U.S. support for Israel? JOHNSON: Well, surrogates, campaign officials, people who actually has the vice president here has been in really robust conversations with Muslim Americans and Arabs in Dearborn. However, you know, it's -- she's not been in the race as long as Trump, and Trump has a sort of reputation for going to a lot of these places, not really offering solutions, but listening. And I would really have -- very proud about Kamala Harris and how she's been able to listen to people on the campaign and she does hear the concerns.

And then, look, she's come out and said, we need a ceasefire. She's come out and said, we need more humanitarian aid. And she's come out and basically said, look, it's a war that needs to end versus Donald Trump, let's now remember, was a person who was the architect of an illegal anti-Muslim ban that he not only orchestrated but was very proud to talk about during this campaign.

BLACKWELL: Ryan, let's talk about the economy, because we got the jobs numbers out on Friday. 12,000 new jobs created in October, 100,000 below the expectation or the projection. Here's what Former President Trump said about those numbers and the state of the economy. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These are depression numbers I hate to tell you. Don't worry, I'll fix it. That's probably a fake number too. We probably went into negative numbers, which hasn't happened in generations. No, she's a total fake. If Kamala wins -- and she's incompetent, which is perhaps worse. If Kamala wins, you are three days away from the start of a 1929 style economic depression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: I don't know many economists who would call adding jobs, depression numbers, the Dow's over 42,000, unemployment at 4.1 percent. Inflation is near the Fed target, it's at 2.1 percent now. Is the economy as potent an argument today as it was five months ago, six months ago?

MAHONEY: Sure. I mean, the dynamics of this race have changed dramatically. This is a very volatile race, but the key issues, economic security, personal safety have remained the same. And I think what's important to note, especially amongst us who spend all of our time in politics is facts and feelings are two different things in electoral politics. People feel like the economy is in shambles.

[07:35:00]

JOHNSON: Well, the one thing that the Harris campaign is talking about, and Ryan knows is, we're both small business owners. And so, you see the laser light focus on her making sure that small business owners, female business owners, but also, she's talking about strengthening the middle class.

Donald Trump is not talking about strengthen the middle class, helping working class Americans. He is going to introduce corporate tax breaks for the wealthiest of America. A lot of his billionaire friends. And to me, while inflation, you're right, Victor, on point -- I'm glad you pointed out, it is stabilizing. But every economist that we talked to said that we avoided a recession and we're headed in the right direction.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you, the overall question here is that 26 percent, according to the latest Gallup poll, shows that that is the number of people in America who believe the country is on the right track, which is 26 percent. Harry Enten tells us, our data guru, that in the history of American polling, a party has not held on to the White House with so few people thinking the country is on the right track. Why would this time be different?

JOHNSON: Well, that's why you heard Kamala Harris start talking about a change election. She talked about bringing new leaders to the forefront. While she's embracing what she's been able to do under this Biden-Harris administration, she's her own woman, she's her own leader.

And so, she's talking about the future, bringing us together. She's very specific in her policy plans. And so, while a lot of American people right now hurting, they have a disbelief in the ability for government to help them, but they got to choose between these two people, right? And I believe that Kamala Harris has closed her campaign strong, Victor. You see Republicans abandoning the Republican Party and coming over to her campaign, and that's a great sign of momentum going into Election Day.

BLACKWELL: Polls show the battlegrounds are tight. Ryan, Tharon, thank you.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

MAHONEY: Thank you.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Still to come, the new word of warning about online misinformation from top election officials in one of the battleground states. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

WALKER: And here are your headlines this morning. Investigators are searching for a motive at a deadly Halloween shooting in Orlando. Police say a 17-year-old opened fire at two different times on a crowd killing two people. Authorities are considering whether to charge the suspect as an adult. The shooting happened just a block from the site of the deadly Pulse Nightclub mass shooting that happened in 2016 when a shooter killed 49 people.

A surfer is in serious condition after a shark attack on a Maui beach. The 61-year-old managed to swim himself to shore after the shark bit off part of his leg early Friday morning. His leg was severed just below the knee. The incident comes four months after the legendary surfer and lifeguard, Tamayo Perry, was killed in a shark attack in Hawaii in June.

A Georgia judge just dealt a blow to Republicans days ahead of the election. A GOP lawsuit tried to block Fulton County from opening election offices over the weekend to let voters hand in their mail ballots in person, but a judge said state law specifically allows the hand return of mail ballots until polls close on Election Day. Fulton County includes Atlanta and is home to 11 percent of the state's voters.

BLACKWELL: Also in Georgia, elections officials are battling misinformation spreading on social media. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger recently released a statement debunking a viral video circulating online that appeared to show a Haitian migrant with multiple Georgia I.D.s. U.S. Intelligence officials blame Russian influence actors for creating that fake video and also issued a stark warning that more is coming.

CNN's Rafael Romo is with me now. So, what are they doing to stop these videos, this misinformation that's coming?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They came out immediately and denounced it on social media, on statements. But one wonders if it's going to be enough, given that many people have reported those videos. And, Victor, let me tell you, there's been at least two incidents in the last three days regarding election disinformation. And according to U.S. officials, both are tied to Russia.

The most recent one pertains to videos circulating on social media claiming the FBI had apprehended three linked groups committing ballot fraud and another one relating to second gentleman Doug Emhoff. The FBI is now saying in a statement that these videos are not authentic, are not from the FBI, and the content they depict is false. A U.S. official later told CNN that FBI investigators believe the videos are of Russian origin.

And this comes on the heels of another video that surfaced on Thursday purportedly showing a Haitian immigrant claiming he voted several times for Vice President Kamala Harris. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told CNN Friday night the video is obviously fake. Raffensperger later said the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Georgia State officials that the video originated in Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: We looked at it and very quickly we realized it was fake. And then, very quickly, we came to the conclusion it probably, you know, came from a Russian origin.

Today CISA talking to Department of Homeland Security, confirmed that it was -- you know, it came from Russia. But there aren't -- people don't come here and get papers, citizenship papers in six months. And in Georgia, we have a robust citizenship verification. And you don't get your driver's license, you certainly don't get two driver's licenses with the same name.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: In addition to the FBI, the U.S. Intelligence Community has released a joint statement saying Russia is behind a series of recent election disinformation videos and warned that more fake videos are on the way.

[07:45:00]

This judgment is based on information available to the Intelligence Community and prior activities of other Russian influenced actors, including videos and other disinformation activities. The statement from U.S. intelligence says this is not the first time it has happened. U.S. officials also say Russia was behind efforts to meddle in American democracy in at least the last two presidential elections.

But, Victor, here's the challenge, that video about the Haitian immigrant, it had been reposted half a million times before the original owner of that video or the guy who reposted it originally deleted it. So, that gives you an idea how challenging this is.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And of course, the concern is not just until Election Day, but the days and weeks after the election, more misinformation. Raphael Romo, thank you.

WALKER: All right. Just ahead, reports of tornadoes and flash flooding in some parts of the country. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has a severe weather forecast after the break.

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[07:50:00]

BLACKWELL: Storms are firing up across parts of the Central U.S. this morning.

WALKER: CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking it all. Allison, the storms have left more than 100,000 people without power this morning.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. More than a dozen total storm reports, five of those tornadoes, and it's still ongoing. You have an active tornado watch right there in that red shaded color, that goes until 9:00 a.m. Central time today as this strong line of thunderstorms continues to make its way eastward.

Now, it's not just today. You're also going to see the potential for severe weather tomorrow, and it actually gets a little bit stronger and a more larger threat as we go into Monday as that system as a whole begins to not only expand, but begin to push eastward.

And here's a look at that system as we go through the day today. You've got that line of showers and strong thunderstorms that will really start to take shape late this afternoon, continue spreading eastward as we go into the evening, and then especially into Monday. But you also start to notice it spreading into other states.

Then by Tuesday, Election Day, you also start to see more of those storms beginning to spread into some new states. In all, it's not a very fast-moving system. That means it's got a lot of time to dump a tremendous amount of rain. So, some of these areas are going to pick up six, eight, even as much as 10 inches of rain before this system finally exits. That means there is the potential obviously for flooding. So, you have multiple days here where for excessive rainfall.

Today and Monday, the higher risks, but there is still a lingering threat for flooding once we get into the day on Tuesday. So, that begs question for Election Day, what does the weather actually look like? You've got rain and thunder storms across portions of the Midwest as well as the Great Lakes, especially swing states, maybe like Michigan and Wisconsin, but that front stretches all the way back down into the deep south. So, you've also got rain in the forecast for states like Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi as well on Tuesday.

BLACKWELL: Allison, thanks. 76ers' star Joel Embiid is being investigated by the NBA after he reportedly got into a physical confrontation with a local newspaper columnist.

WALKER: Yikes. Coy Wire is here. So, this -- obviously, he was not happy about an article that was written about him.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. it's an unfortunately reality, right? Star athletes, celebrities having their personal lives becoming part of public discourse. And according to the Associated Press, Embiid confronted and shoved Philadelphia inquired columnist Marcus Hayes in the locker room about his article from October 23rd in which he criticized the former MVP for missing games due to injury, for his conditioning.

The article says in part that Embiid, quote, "Often says he wants to be great to leave a legacy for the boy named after his little brother, who tragically died in an automobile accident." Then goes on to. say, "Well, in order to be great at your job, you first have to show up for work," unquote.

Per the A.P., Embiid told the reporter quote, "The next time you bring up my dead brother and my son again, you're going to see what I'm going to do to you and I'm going to have to live with the consequences," unquote.

There was another incident yesterday involving a high-profile athlete, future NFL Hall of Famer, Jason Kelce, after making a TV appearance for ESPN at the Penn State-Ohio State game, confronted a man filming him, using a homophobic slur about his brother, Chief star, Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift's boyfriend. Kelce grabbed the man's phone and smashes it here on the ground. Another video then appears to pick up audio of Kelce using that same slur in response while confronting the man. CNN reached out to Kelce's agent for comment but has not yet heard back.

Now, as for the game itself, number four Ohio State taking down number three Penn State 20 to 13 in front of a record crowd of 111,000 plus in Beaver Stadium. Downingtown native, right down the road, Will Howard, Ohio State's quarterback, throwing for both of the Buckeye's touchdowns. He said he wanted to go to Penn State his whole life, but they didn't think he was good enough. A bit of redemption for Howard. Both teams now seven and one and this.

One of the best stories in college football. Army, a perfect eight and 0 after beating rivals Air Force 20 to 3. One of just five remaining unbeatens Jeff Monken's Black Knights haven' trailed for a single second in any game this season. North Texas is next. Notre Dame on the 23rd.

Now, to one of the best celebrations of the season. FCS team in San Antonio incarnate word facing Houston Christian. Zach Calzada throws a 50-yard touchdown to Jalen Walthall who goes head over heels, a headstand, Sally, like we've never seen before. We're talking headstand with no hands, Victor and Amara. How about that?

WALKER: Wow.

WIRE: Official wasn't head over heels, though. He got a penalty for it. Many not happy that the official threw the flag there. Now, that is awesome.

[07:55:00]

WALKER: I can't even do a cartwheel. So --

BLACKWELL: It's worth the penalty. I mean, if you do a headstand with no hands or headstand --

WIRE: I mean, come on.

BLACKWELL: -- take it.

WIRE: Yes.

WALKER: That's pretty amazing.

BLACKWELL: All right. Coy, thanks. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you back here next weekend.

WALKER: Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up next.

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