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Inside Politics

Trump Tests Risky Ground Game With Help From Elon Musk; Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), Is Interviewed About NY & CA Could Determine Who Controls The House. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired October 31, 2024 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- of the Trump campaign's unorthodox and, in the view of some Republicans, risky voter turnout strategy.

MATTINGLY: One of the things that's been hard to figure out in terms of ground game in this state is there's just a mass of Republican groups, right?

RICO ELMORE, BEAVER COUNTY, PA REPUBLICAN PARTY VICE CHAIRMAN: Right, right.

MATTINGLY: It's -- it's -- it's the most important state of the election, I think.

ELMORE: Or the keystone.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): The keystone state, now ground zero for both campaigns, home to a rapidly intensifying get-out-the-vote battle, impossible to miss, as Elmore, who has knocked on over 30,000 doors this cycle, added a few more to his total here in Beaver County.

But for Trump, what has long been the primary in-house domain of the campaign, the door-knocking, the ballot-chasing, the voter-targeting and data, now the purview of outside GOP groups and Trump allies that number roughly a dozen.

ELMORE: You have individuals like the Republican Committee here in Beaver County. You also have the -- the early vote action. You also have turning point that you have to PA Chase.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): It's a ground game gamble, an effort now turbocharged by the country's richest man.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Take over Elon.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Elon Musk, who has poured more than $100 million into boosting Trump.

ELMORE: -- in Beaver County.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Elmore is, in some ways, the embodiment of the Trump strategy. He's a councilman and vice chair of the Beaver County Republicans, who also works for one of the outside groups, PA Chase, and has ties with a second outside operation, Turning Point Action. His county GOP office, another window into the integration, it doubles as Trump's regional campaign office.

VIVIAN FUNKHOUSER, BEAVER COUNTY, PA GOP VOLUNTER: I also have a little piece of paper with a QR code on it so that they can go into vote.pa.gov and check the status of their registration. And then if they want a mail-in ballot, I help them with that, too.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): That, that's new.

MATTINGLY: The skepticism, though, on absentee ballots and mail-in ballots was real, I presume, coming into this cycle.

ELMORE: Right, right.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): That skepticism, of course, driven by one person.

TRUMP: Any time you have a mail-in ballot, there's going to be massive fraud.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): A lie with painful electoral consequences for Republicans here.

SEAN LOGUE, WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN: We learned that you can't start an election 700,000 votes down. We learned from the Democrats. The Republicans in the past chased voters. The Democrats in the past chased votes. Those are two very different things.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): In our South, Washington County GOP Chair Sean Logue said Trump's embrace of mail-in voting, belated and tepid as it may be, has had a dramatic effect.

LOGUE: He is our leader. We follow his directives. When he said that it was a scam, yes, people did not do the absentee ballots. But now that he's on board, every single wing of the Republican Party is now on board.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Now, the animating cause for the constellation of outside groups blitzing voters across the state, connected through a central data hub and agreements with the campaign and party, capitalized on new federal rules that dramatically enhanced their ability to share voter data, a strategic convergence driving the push to turn out voters traditional campaigns don't have the bandwidth or money to target.

LOGUE: We've now targeted the Amish, and they're getting registered, and they're going to vote. Hunters in Pennsylvania, hunters traditionally aren't registered to vote. So we've gone out and -- and registered them as well.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Trump's support among younger male voters specifically has been as robust as it has been consistent this year. A group historically ambivalent about voting, now crucial. And that's why Trump rallied here.

TRUMP: We're getting to the end --

MATTINGLY (voice-over): On the campus of Penn State, the state's largest university. And it's also why tailgaters at last week's primetime Pitt-Syracuse football game shared a parking lot and sandwiches with volunteers staffing this Trump campaign outpost.

MATTINGLY: If Trump wins this state, probably the most critical state, you say it's all because of football tailgates?

BOB CRANKOVIC, TRUMP CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: Well, I wouldn't say all because of football tailgates, but I mean, it -- it doesn't hurt.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): An untested approach that eschews central command for concentric circles of outreach and voter contact, one that commingles the campaign and outside allies, Trump's most intense supporters and the lowest propensity voters, volunteers and billionaires with the entire election hanging in the balance.

TRUMP: So if we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole damn thing, right?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Such a great story. I've been obsessed with this whole ground game question and the fact that it is, as you pointed out so well, so different and so risky in a lot of ways, but primarily because it is very, very hard to get these low propensity voters, people who have never been registered, aren't just not interested to get in the fold. That's pretty much how he won in 2016. And they're trying to continue to grow there.

[12:35:01]

I do want to ask you about Elon Musk specifically, because to say that there's controversy around what he is doing here is an understatement, how he's working these organizations, the misinformation that he is putting out on X and so forth in court today for the million dollar giveaways that he is being sued for. What is your sense of him and his role as it pertains to all of this?

MATTINGLY: There are so many levels right now in which Elon Musk is involved in a campaign in a way we've never seen a single individual before. What I know up from the ground game, his team is massive. He's already dropped more than $140 million, according to FEC filings that just came last night, in this campaign since the Super PAC started. They're viewed on the ground as additive. They're not game changers.

The money, though, is game changing, particularly as it's spread across all seven battlegrounds. In Pennsylvania, though, good operation before Musk came in on the Republican side because of Dave McCormick's campaign, the Super PAC tied to it, other groups that have been in there for a while. Musk has added to that.

The big risk, of course, though, is he's sharing all the data. He knows where everybody's working at this point in time. Does he become a problem or does he actually help boost them?

BASH: Phil, excellent piece. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Coming up, Harris versus Trump is just one of the multiple nail biters we'll be following on election night. I'll speak with the Republican in charge of his party's fight to hold the House, next.

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[12:40:59]

BASH: With all of the focus on the presidential election, it's easy to forget that control of both the House and the Senate are on the line as well. Of course, all 435 seats in the House are up. Dozens of competitive races are playing out across the country, and Republicans and Democrats are spending big money in their quest for control. My guest now is at the forefront of that effort. Republican Congressman Richard Hudson of North Carolina is the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, which means he's in charge of the party's effort to keep control of the lower chamber. Thank you so much for joining me.

You were on CNN in August. You predicted Republicans would not only keep control of the House, but you would grow the majority. Now that we're five days out, what's your current prediction?

REP. RICHARD HUDSON (R-NC), CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE: I stand by my prediction, Dana. By the way, great to be with you. Thanks for having me. No, I'm very confident that Republicans will hold the House majority. You know, we're still have a pathway to grow the majority, but, you know, we'll -- we'll see how things play out. There's just a lot of races that are really close, so it's hard to predict.

BASH: So my next question was going to be, how many seats do you think you'll pick up? Do you want to wager a guess?

HUDSON: People keep asking me for a number. I'm not -- I can't give you a number, but I'm very confident we'll hold the majority. You know, as -- as you alluded to, there's only 35 seats out of the whole 435 seats in Congress that were decided by 5 percent or less. According to Cook Political Report, there's 25 seats that are up -- up for grabs. You know, it's a very small battlefield, but all these races are very, very close. So it's -- it's hard to predict what the final number will be, but I'm very confident that we'll hold the majority.

BASH: We'll let's -- because this is such a -- a big discussion, let's narrow it a bit and talk about what Democrats need to do. Democrats need a net pickup of just four seats to take the majority from you. By CNN's count, there are 10 potentially competitive House races in California and six more in New York. And those are two states that I bring up, of course, because they are states that Harris is expected to win easily. How worried are you that some of those competitive seats could cost you the majority? HUDSON: I'm not -- I'm not -- I'm not concerned that we'll lose the majority in those states. I mean, even Governor Hochul in New York just yesterday said there's probably only two Republican seats that they could win and, you know, and the reason is that our incumbents in New York are -- are battle-tested. They've worked their districts very hard. They have very strong brands. They're -- they're excellent members of Congress, so, you know, they're very hard to beat. So, you know, I, you know, I know the Democrats were counting on winning their majority just in New York alone. I think they're going to be disappointed.

BASH: And what about California?

HUDSON: I feel, you know, I feel very good about California. Our incumbents there, again, are battle-tested. Many of them have been through multiple races. Even -- even someone like David Valadao, who's in a majority Hispanic district, a district that Joe Biden carries significantly, he -- he shows over and over that he knows how to win that district. But we also have offensive opportunities in California.

You know, we've got a candidate, Kevin Lincoln, running against Josh Harder in California 9. He's half Hispanic, half African American, very popular Republican mayor of a Democrat city in Stockton. He's running neck and neck with Josh Harder. We've got another seat in Orange County, and -- and a seat a little further south. The -- the -- all three of those are potential pickups for us.

BASH: I want to ask you about something beyond the sort of neck-and- neck races that will determine the majority in the House. I want to ask you separately about something that the House Freedom Caucus Chair, Andy Harris, who is a fellow North Carolinian, said.

He suggested that your state legislature should consider allocating North Carolina's electoral votes to Donald Trump before votes are counted because he claims that Hurricane Helene disrupted voting in the western part of the state so much. Do you think that's a good idea?

[12:45:13]

HUDSON: No. And -- and Andy Harris represents Maryland, but I -- I did see where he made those comments. I haven't had a chance to talk to Andy to -- to figure out the context or what he meant, but -- but I disagree, you know, we're working very hard to make sure that the folks in those 25 hurricane-affected counties in western North Carolina have an opportunity to vote.

Our legislature, I think, very correctly passed a law that said if you live in one of those 25 counties, you can vote in any county in North Carolina because a lot of folks are -- are from (inaudible). I -- I believe we'll have a fair election in North Carolina, and we're working very hard to make sure every Republican, every Democrat, and every unaffiliated voter gets an opportunity to vote.

BASH: And Andy Harris definitely represents Maryland, forgive me, I neglected to say that he was at -- he was talking about something being pushed by one of those North Carolina legislators that you're referring to, Ivan Raiklin. So just -- just to put a sort of finer point on it, you're saying that you do believe that there will be a free and fair election in North Carolina. You're comfortable with that?

HUDSON: I am. And we're working very hard. I know the Democrat Party is working just as hard to turn out their voters, you know, but people are really suffering up there in western North Carolina. A lot of people still cut off. A lot of people won't be able to return to their homes for a long time. And so it's -- it's important that we take these steps to make sure that -- that their vote can be -- can be cast and can be counted.

BASH: And what about beyond North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, just in terms of approach? Do you think that the legislature should be involved? Is there any circumstance where you think those legislatures should appoint their own electors regardless of the way the voters vote?

HUDSON: Yes. You know, I don't -- I don't know how to answer that hypothetical. I mean, we're -- we're about to have an election in four days, in about 12 hours, and, you know, I -- I look forward to -- to seeing the results of those elections. And we -- we are very concerned, I would say, though, about election integrity.

You know, the NRCC has made very big investments in election integrity to make sure that -- that our voters can feel good that their votes will be counted. But, you know, as far as I'm concerned, we're focused on turnout right now.

BASH: I want to ask you about something that the House Speaker said. Mike Johnson told a group of supporters, Monday night, that Republicans will seek, quote, massive reform to the Affordable Care Act if Donald Trump is re-elected. The ACA has apparently never been more popular, according to polls. What does that kind of comment mean for the competitive seats and the competitive races that your Republicans are running, particularly those in swing seats?

HUDSON: Well, I didn't see the Speaker's comments, this is the first time I -- I've heard about it. But -- but I will say that, you know, for most Americans, healthcare is still very unaffordable, whether you're talking about the access to care side or the prescription drug side.

And so there are a lot of things that we can do as a Congress that I think we can do in a bipartisan way to -- to reform our healthcare system, to make it more affordable, to increase access for people. So -- so I -- I agree with the Speaker that we ought to take a hard look at -- at our healthcare policies. I don't think we need one big bill. I think we ought to look at rifle shots of places where we can find reform.

BASH: Yeah.

HUDSON: Things like permanently extending telehealth coverage for people. You know, there -- there are a number of measures that I think Republicans and Democrats can agree on. So I agree we need -- we need some reforms.

BASH: And just -- just one follow up before I let you go. Kamala Harris reacted to what the Speaker said, and she was saying that this is a part of the Republican attempt to get rid of the ACA that has been going on for years and talking about some of the specifics like concern that you all would get rid of the protections for preexisting conditions and so forth. Is that on the table for Republicans if you keep control and if you win the White House?

HUDSON: Absolutely not. I mean, that's Kamala Harris grasping. You know, she is losing this election. All the momentum is moving away from her. And so that's just another desperation move on her part. No one is talking about getting rid of preexisting conditions. Republicans support preexisting conditions. And no one is talking about one big bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act again.

You know, we've gone down that path in Congress. It wasn't successful. You know, I'm a senior member of the Health Subcommittee in Congress, and all of our discussions are about what specific policy changes could we make to make the health care system more affordable, to increase access for individuals.

[12:50:00]

And most of the solutions we have, again, I think are bipartisan. I think we can get Democrats to work with us. No one is talking about wholesale sweeping reforms that would -- would, you know, eliminate the Affordable Care Act. No one is talking about taking away coverage for preexisting conditions. Both parties support that. So anyone who's -- who's saying that they're just trying to scare voters.

BASH: Congressman Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the NRCC, thanks so much for being here. Good luck the next five days.

HUDSON: Thank you.

BASH: Coming up, breaking down the early vote, what tea leaves are there for us to read?

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[12:54:59]

BASH: Five days until Election Day and more than 60 million Americans have already voted. That is about 38 percent of the total turnout four years ago in 2020. Now, 15 million ballots have been cast across the seven crucial battleground states. You can see here how they break down in each of those seven states.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will hold dueling events in two of these states later today in Arizona and Nevada. Now, Republicans account for a greater share of the early vote in both of those states.

Also today, Georgia crossed the 3.5 million voter mark. Pre-election voting ends tomorrow in the Peach State. But get this, nearly half of all active voters in Georgia have already cast their ballot. Thank you so much for joining Inside Politics today. CNN New Central starts after the break.

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