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Isa Soares Tonight
U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighter Jets Arrive In The Middle East From Germany; Israeli Forces Storm Kamal Adwan Hospital In Gaza; Trump Speaks On Illegal Immigration In Texas. Trump Speaks On Illegal Immigration In Texas; Harris, Trump Compete For Make Vote; Florida Mother Sues A.I. Company Over Teenage Son's Death. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired October 25, 2024 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and welcome everyone, I'm Isa Soares. We begin this hour with news just into CNN. U.S. Air Force fighter
jets have been arriving in the Middle East from Germany, and that is according to U.S. Central Command. And this comes as the region braces for
Israel's promised retaliation against Iran for this month's ballistic missile attack.
I want to go straight to Natasha Bertrand who is following this for us from the Pentagon. So, Natasha, give us more -- tell us more what you're hearing
from the U.S. Central Command as to indication of when this may take place.
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isa, we're told that these F-16 fighter jets, they did arrive to the Middle East today
from Germany. And this is part of the U.S.' efforts to bolster its firepower in the region, including its Air Force capabilities as well as
its air defense capabilities and preparation for a possible Israeli strike on Iran, which could of course, then prompt Iran to retaliate against
Israel, and potentially put U.S. troops who are now on the ground in Israel, as well as of course, U.S. forces all around the region in danger.
And so, we don't know exactly at this point just when the Israelis are poised to strike, but we do know that the U.S. believes that it is still
inevitable that the Israelis are planning to make this move. And so, while the U.S. has been trying to bolster its presence all around the region with
an aircraft carrier, with additional troops all across the Middle East, you know, they still don't have perfect visibility into what the Israelis are
actually going to do.
And so, all of this is just really in preparation and preparing for, you know, not only the idea that the Iranians will directly hit the Israelis,
but also all of their proxies all over the Middle East.
SOARES: Yes --
BERTRAND: They will also get involved too.
SOARES: Yes, and I do remember U.S. officials telling CNN they expect it - - they expect Israel's counter attack on Iran to come before U.S. election day, before November the 5th. But we've also heard from U.N. mission to the
U.N., the Iran mission to the U.N. who said recently accusing -- saying -- warning the U.S. recently of being quote, "complicit in any Israeli
aggression against Iran."
I wonder then what role if we have any more details the U.S. will play in any kind of Israeli attack on Iran here.
BERTRAND: Well, what we're told categorically by U.S. officials here at the Pentagon is that, the U.S. is not going to play any role in an Israeli
strike on Iran. The only role that they would play would be defensive. And that is why they sent this advanced anti-aircraft missile, anti-air missile
system to the Israelis, that THAAD system as well as U.S. troops to operate it.
So, they are poised to intercept anything that comes their way, but at this point, they're not going to have any involvement and actual attack on Iran
itself, Isa.
SOARES: Natasha Bertrand, I know you're staying across this for us, thanks very much. Of course, we'll keep across this as soon as there are any more
developments, we shall bring them to you. Well, the U.N. Human Rights chief says the darkest moment of the entire Gaza war is unfolding right now in
the north.
Warning that Israel's offensive could empty the area of all Palestinians amounting to quote, "atrocity crimes". And those stark words come as the
IDF says Jabalya is falling, calling it another achievement. Repeated bombings have left the refugee camp in ruins, forcing tens of thousands of
people to flee.
Israel says it's operating to stop Hamas from regrouping. We're also hearing of a siege on a hospital in northern Gaza. The Health Ministry says
Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan, detaining hundreds of medics, patients as well as displaced people. The World Health Organization says it has lost
contact with its own staff there. And just days ago, the hospital's director made this urgent plea. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA, DIRECTOR, KAMAL ADWAN HOSPITAL (through translator): We are talking on the 18th day of imposed complete siege on the medical
establishment in north Gaza Strip. We appealed yesterday, the day before yesterday, and today, we call on the world that the Kamal Adwan medical
supply and store is at zero.
We have no blood banks that we can offer to the wounded, and no medical supplies are urgently needed medicine. We will be facing a humanitarian
catastrophe if there's no solution to the situation in the next few coming hours. The hospital will turn into a mass grave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:05:00]
SOARES: Meantime, Jordan's Foreign Minister is urging the world to save the region from the abyss ahead of expected ceasefire talks this weekend.
He told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that nothing justifies the continuation of the wars both in Gaza and in Lebanon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYMAN SAFADI, FOREIGN MINISTER, JORDAN: As you mentioned, humanitarian situation is really difficult, so, we'll look at northern Gaza, and now
where we do see ethnic cleansing taking place. And that has got to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, the U.N. Human Rights office accuses Israel of effectively subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of starvation in
Gaza. Matthew Chance shows us how daily life there has turned into hell on earth. And we want to warn you, his report has disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a glimpse of the bloodshed this week in northern Gaza as a horrified
Palestinian nurse struggles to help in the aftermath of an Israeli strike. "Aunty, I don't have anything to stop the bleeding", she screams, as one
woman sits delirious on the ground.
She runs to fetch her bag, and makes her way back up the bloodstained steps where dead and injured are strewn. All that she has are a few bandages and
basic medical supplies amid the carnage. Back down the steps, she turns a corner and calls out, and she sees someone she recognizes. "Abu Mohammed!",
she screams, but the old man is dead.
From above, an Israeli drone looks down on the Jabalya Refugee Camp, now the focus of what Israel's military says is an operation to stamp out
resurgent Hamas activity. These images show thousands of Palestinian residents already displaced multiple times on the move again, trudging past
Israeli tanks in search of safety.
The way they are heading, a humanitarian crisis is also dire. These chaotic scenes at a bakery in central Gaza where and made acute food shortages,
hundreds are jostling for bread, grasping desperately for survival. "For three days, I've been searching for bread to take home", says this man. "I
am literally begging", he says. "All I want is bread for my children", says this woman.
"Every night, they go to bed hungry." The U.N. says without more aid urgently, starvation here will get worse, saying Israel is preventing
humanitarian missions from accessing Gaza. Israel blames Hamas for disrupting the distribution of essential supplies. Meanwhile, in southern
Gaza, Palestinians pick through the rubble of a residential building leveled in a recent Israeli strike.
Here and further south where the Hamas leader was killed last week, Israel says combat operations are continuing, but the heavy civilian toll
continues to climb. Matthew Chance, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And I want to stay in the region because U.S. officials tell CNN, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is waiting to make any serious
decisions on the future of Gaza until he sees who wins the U.S. election. They say he believes there could soon be a President who is far more
sympathetic to his aims than Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.
A Democrat close to the White House says, quote, "there is no check on Bibi. He knows he has two to three weeks to do whatever he wants." Well,
according to Donald Trump, Mr. Netanyahu has called him repeatedly in recent days. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: But we're going to take care of Israel, and they know that. Bibi called me yesterday, called
me the day before, we have a very good relationship, and I have to say they've done -- fortunately, they didn't listen to Biden because if they
listened to Biden, they'd right now be waiting for a bomb to drop on them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, Jennifer Hansler joins us now from the State Department in Washington with much more. So, Jennifer, I suppose it just begs the
question, does the Biden administration believe that Netanyahu is sabotaging these diplomatic talks? What is your sense? What have you been
hearing?
JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Isa, no one is going as far as to say Netanyahu is intentionally sabotaging --
SOARES: Yes --
HANSLER: These talks, but there's a wide recognition here that nothing substantive, nothing final is going to come out of any of the talks,
including the ones set to reconvene in Doha this weekend until after the U.S. presidential election.
[14:10:00]
They know that Netanyahu is keenly familiar with the U.S. political system, and he will be watching this neck-and-neck race between the Vice President
Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, very closely to see who is ultimately the victor in this election. And he is not going to make any
final calls until he sees who is going to be his next counterpart here in Washington.
SOARES: And do we have a sense -- I mean, we heard a little -- we played a little clip there of Donald Trump talking about his relationship with
Netanyahu. Just remind our viewers, Jennifer, of the relationship between these two men.
HANSLER: Well, they've had a complicated relationship in the past, Isa, but it does seem that former President Trump here is trying to boast about
his reformed relationship here and say that he is going to have Netanyahu's back. You heard him talking in that rally earlier, claiming that the
Israeli Prime Minister has called him at least twice in recent days, it's unclear how much of Gaza they discussed.
But he is touting that he will have Israel's back. At the same time, I should point out some of the officials who spoke with my colleagues and I,
say that there could be a sense among the Israeli government that Harris could also put forward a tougher line on Israel. So, that could make him
more flexible to negotiating with the Biden administration.
In any case, that lame-duck period that comes after the presidential election could be a time for the current administration to try to drive
forward all of these efforts that they have been working on to at least try to get to a hostage deal, to a ceasefire deal to try to move something
forward on this foreign policy issue that is going to be a defining part of President Biden's legacy here. Isa?
SOARES: Indeed, Jennifer Hansler there, appreciate it. Thanks Jen. And Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are clawing for every precious vote in a
race that new polling numbers show remains really too close to call with just 11 days left. A just released CNN national poll has the race dead,
even each candidate with 47 percent -- there's also no clear leader either in the latest "New York Times"-Sienna College poll.
Trump is campaigning in Texas right now with Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Later, he'll tape an interview with a popular podcaster Joe Rogin. On
Thursday, the former President made these stunning remarks about he views - - how he views the United States. Have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're dumping ground. We're like a -- we're like a garbage can for the world. That's what's happened. That's what's happened to -- we're like
a garbage can. You notice it's the first time I've ever said that, and every time I come up and talk about what they've done to our country, I get
angry and angrier. First time I've ever said garbage can, but you know what? It's a very accurate description.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Meantime, Kamala Harris will also be in Texas today where she is expected to deliver a major speech on reproductive rights, an issue that's
been front and center in her campaign. And one, she has a major polling advantage with -- on with voters. Thursday in Georgia, she talked about
just how important this election is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This is not 2016 or 2020. The stakes are even higher
because over the last years, and particularly the last eight years, Donald Trump has become more confused, more unstable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And speaking of reproductive rights, Kamala Harris is speaking right now. Let's listen in.
HARRIS: Those who have been directly impacted, and I will also tonight be talking with the American people about the power that you, the American
people have to make a decision about the future course of our country. And do we all agree that there are just certain decisions the government should
not be making for individuals and their families.
I also do want to address the comment that Donald Trump made about America being the trash can of the world, that whatever he said, something along
those lines. You know, it's just another example of how he really belittles our country. This is someone who is a former President of the United
States, who was a bully pulpit.
And this is how he uses it to tell the rest of the world that somehow, the United States of America is trash. And I think again, the President of the
United States should be someone who elevates discourse and talks about the best of who we are and invest in the best of who we are. Not someone like
Donald Trump who's constantly demeaning and belittling who the American people are. America deserves better, and I'm happy to take any questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kamala, you're here to talk about reproductive rights in Texas. Not exactly a swing state in the last two weeks here. But this is
an issue that a lot of voters are coming out to vote potentially for you on, but if you don't have a Congress that will codify Roe like you've been
saying on the trail, what specifically is your plan to expand reproductive rights in this country?
[14:15:00]
HARRIS: Well, when Texas vote for Colin Allred for the United States Senate, we will be in a position where we actually will be closer to being
able to put back in place the protections of Roe v. Wade, and as I have said, and it is my pledge when Congress passes a bill putting back in place
reproductive freedom, I will sign it into law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But if you don't have a friendly Congress, there's no plan B, there's no other plan?
HARRIS: We keep fighting, and our country, America, has a history of understanding. We don't give up the fight for freedom. We do not give up
the fight when it comes to some of the most basic freedoms, any individual in our country has a right to expect, including the right of a woman to
make decisions about her own body and not have a government tell her what to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madam Vice President, staying on Congress, "Politico" is reporting a house freedom caucus leader says that North Carolina should
consider giving Trump its electors before votes are counted because the Helene damage was in predominantly Trump counties. What's your reaction to
language like that?
HARRIS: America deserves to have leaders who respect the importance -- one of the pillars and foundations of our democracy, which is free and fair
elections, and that they are not manipulated by elected leaders for the sake of their own political future or their own political strategy, for how
they themselves want to succeed.
This has to be about what's in the best interest of the American people. And one of the big issues in this election, and in the next 11 days, is do
you want a President who on one hand and the former, President Donald Trump tried to undo the will of the people, incited a violent mob to attack the
United States Capitol where 140 law enforcement officers were injured and some were killed.
Or do you want a President who respects the will of the people, free and fair elections and the right of the people to make a decision about who are
their leaders?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some Democrats are concerned that you've pivoted too far away from talking about the economy and really prioritizing that in
these final days of the election that you could end up losing some progressive voters and some working class voters because of that. What do
you say to those people, especially ones who might be concerned that, you know, doing a big closing argument speech in places like the Ellipse may be
leaning more into talking about the threat of Trump to democracy and now his threats that you see to the economy.
HARRIS: One of the things that I love about the American people is we can hold many thoughts at once. And one of the highest priorities for the
American people right now is bringing down costs, and that is the priority of my agenda and will be the priority of my work when I'm elected President
of the United States.
My priority includes fighting for our democracy, including fighting for the freedom of people to make decisions about their own body, including what we
must do to speak out against threats to our democracy. What we must do to speak up in defense of our allies around the world on important
international rules and norms such as sovereignty and territorial integrity.
All of these issues are issues that affect and concern the American people. And I will continue to speak on all of them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jamie Dimon wants to be a part of your cabinet. Have you talked to him about that, and do you think Wall Street should be a part
of your cabinet?
HARRIS: We have 11 days to go. I do not have a cabinet yet.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: And so, the decisions I'm making are all about what I will be doing and what we will be doing to remind the American people of the power
of their vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have (INAUDIBLE)?
HARRIS: I have not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Madam President, have you voted yet? Have you --
HARRIS: Not voted yet, but I -- it's on my priority list for these next few days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, one quick question. Mitch McConnell and Speaker Mike Johnson put out a statement comparing rhetoric that you have been
using, comparing it to the man who is accused of an attempted assassination on your opponent, Donald Trump. Do you take their criticism seriously?
HARRIS: Well, listen, we all must speak out against any form of political violence, and I'm very clear about that. No one should be the subject of
violence, much less political violence. But the American people deserve to be presented with facts and the truth. And the fact and the truth is that
some of the people closest to Donald Trump when he was President, Generals, including most recently, John Kelly; a four-star Marine General have been
very clear about the danger and the threat that Donald Trump poses to America.
And the fact that he is unfit to serve. And the American people deserve to hear that and know about that, so, they can make a decision based on what's
in the best interest of themselves and their families.
[14:20:00]
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We talked to a lot of voters, some who are undecided and well, they are turned away from Donald Trump. They also told us that
they felt like they haven't heard enough of your policies specifically. Do you feel that in your messaging in these final days of the election, you're
striking the right balance against Trump in talking about the specifics of your own policy enough?
HARRIS: That is a balance that must be struck. There's no question about that. And I invite everyone who is watching to go to kamalaharris.com,
where you will see 80 pages of our policies on a number of issues that include again, as my priority, what we're going to do to bring down the
cost for American families, including the cost of housing, cost of groceries, the cost of childcare, the cost of home healthcare for seniors.
And I will continue to talk about also what we must do to understand the threat that Donald Trump poses to our democracy and our future and our
security. Thank you all.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: More to follow.
SOARES: You have been listening there to Vice President Kamala Harris perfect timing on her part because we were talking exactly about what we
expect -- we're expecting to see dueling events today in Texas, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to address -- to give an
address later on today on reproductive rights at a Houston rally. Where we also expect to see today former President Trump, who is also in Texas, he's
in Austin.
So, we have dueling events, but she talked there about the clip that we played just before we went to her, and that is of the former President
Donald Trump saying, last night that America -- of America being the trash can of the world. And what we heard from the Vice President is that, she
said his constant demeaning and belittling our country.
A President should be someone who can elevate our country yet again, talking about the fact that he's a threat to security. Listening to this --
is Kayla Tausche who joins us now, I think we also have Daniel Strauss. So, Kayla, that gave us a bit of a taste of what we're likely to see today, of
course.
She is in Texas, a deep red state, and a state that hasn't voted for a Democrat for President nearly 50 years. So, talk us through the strategy
here from the Democrat side.
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the strategy is to combine star power with a galvanizing issue. She's going to be appearing with Beyonce,
who is among the most famous people in the world, but the backdrop is not only Beyonce, his hometown, but also a state that has one of the most
restrictive abortion laws in the country.
And abortion is the top issue for voters behind the economy in nearly every poll that has conducted. So, her hope and her campaign's hope is that with
millions of eyeballs on this event, potentially, that they would be able to highlight this issue of critical importance to voters.
Harris, we know is going to be appearing alongside women who have been impacted by that abortion law, telling their stories in their own words as
she has been doing throughout her time on the campaign trail. But with this race in a dead-heat, as CNN's newest poll is showing, it's really --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK --
TAUSCHE: Important for Democrats to not only go to those swing states, but also try to continue this strategy of chipping away at Republican gains in
states like Texas, where the four biggest cities in Texas --
SOARES: Kayla, apologies for interrupting, I'm sorry to interrupting. I want to take our viewers to Austin, Texas, Donald Trump is speaking.
TRUMP: We're here today --
SOARES: Let's listen --
TRUMP: In the great state of Texas --
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I like it. I like it. Which under Kamala Harris has been turned into ground zero for the largest border invasion in the history of the
world. You're lucky, you have your governor and people like Ted and Dan and all of the people sit -- even John who is from a different state, but he
feels the same way or you would really have problems, but you've done an amazing job under the circumstances, but the federal government is
supposed to be doing that job and it should be easy and it's not because of the people.
But over the past four years, this state has become Kamala's staging ground to import her army of migrant gangs and illegal alien criminals into every
state in America, and every state is a border state. You've heard that, it's true, paving a trail of bloodshed suffering and death all across our
land, and it's only getting worse.
It's just incredible when you look at the numbers, 21 million people at least, during this three-and-a-half year period, and many of them, as you
know, are murderers, drug dealers, people from jails, they're letting their people out of jails and bringing them right into our -- we're like a
dumping ground.
What Kamala Harris has done on our border is cruel, it's vile and it's absolutely heartless. Her policy of importing migrant gangs is a crime
against our country, it's actually a crime against humanity.
[14:25:00]
And her abolition of our border should disqualify her for even running. I mean, I don't know how you can run for the President of the United States
and allow people to pour into our country, and we're talking about seriously criminal people. Many of these people -- and they come from all
over the world, so not just South America, they're coming in from Africa, they're coming in from the Middle East, the Congo, that's a hot place right
now.
A lot of -- a lot of people coming in from prisons in the Congo, they're coming into our country. It's not even believable actually when you think.
You know, you're standing up, you're saying this stuff -- John Barrasso -- but you're saying this, and you say this stuff, you know, is it even
believable?
It's sort of like actually in a smaller way, but still very important. Men playing in women's sports, who would want that? But you know, ten years ago
-- ten years ago, you would never say that, and then you have the transgender operations all over the place, and you're saying this and you
have parental guidance and we want our child to be parentally guided, and you have to make apologies for the fact that they're not, but they're going
to be and we're going to bring that back.
(CHEERS)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We want our parents -- we want our parents. But you know, if you go back ten years or 15 years ago, if you haven't made a speech like that,
that said this guy is crazy. What is he talking about? Those things would never happen, and they didn't happen until a certain time ago with the
radical left, no person who is responsible for so much bloodshed on our own soil can ever be allowed to become President of the United States.
And I think she's coming here today, but she doesn't want to go to a swing state because she's losing so badly in those states. So, she decided to
come to Texas, and I'm sure she'll be treated very nicely --
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Today, she picked the wrong place. I think she picked the wrong place. What do I know about politics? I haven't done it that long actually.
But today Kamala is here in Texas to rub shoulders with woke celebrities, isn't that exciting?
(BOOING)
TRUMP: But she's not going to meet with any of the victims of migrant crime while she's here, we have many of them right here, the families with
many of them, and they're incredible people, what they've gone through, the hell that they've gone through and will continue to go through
unfortunately.
She'll not speak to the grieving mothers from whom she has stolen the brightest light in their lives -- she was in charge of this border, and she
doesn't like being called border czar anymore, she didn't mind it almost four years ago, but now she doesn't like it, but you don't need that term.
She was in charge of the borders. She never came here and she never made one call to these people behind me or anybody in the group, not one call.
She's in charge. She deals with border patrol. She hasn't made -- well, not even -- not one call in four years. So, we're joined today by a Texas mom,
Alexis Nungaray(ph), from Houston, a great woman. This past June --
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Thank you. Great -- where is Alexis(ph)? Where is she? Come up here, Alexis(ph), come up here. So, this past --
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: This past year, Alexis' 12-year-old daughter, her brush is angel as you say, Joscelyn(ph), we all called her that, we feel we know
Joscelyn(ph), and she's had a big impact, Alexis, you know that, right? She's had a big impact -- walked to a nearby convenience store,
Joscelyn(ph) was kidnapped, tied up, assaulted -- and I'm not going any further than that, I'm standing with the mother, and horrible things
happened to her, to that young beautiful -- that young beautiful girl.
And the animal is arrested for Joscelyn's(ph) barbaric murder, two illegal aliens believed to be members of the savage Venezuelan prison gang known as
Trend Day Aragua(ph), and they're all over the place now. They're all over our country. They were in Aurora, but Aurora is now the least of it,
they've taken over buildings in Aurora, the government, the radical left, Democrat, weak person, doesn't know quite what to do.
She's always got a big mouth when she talks about other things, but now, he has no idea what to do. Then they have weapons of military grade. You say,
how did they get those weapons? These monsters were in border patrol custody, but under a program Kamala Harris created to abolish detention for
fighting aged men, whatever that means, and give them free and automatic entry into the United States.
The killers were released into our country and Alexis(ph), we cannot begin to imagine your pain, and if you'd like to say a few words, would you like
to? Would you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure --
TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
[14:30:06]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to thank everybody for -- Donald Trump really, for the opportunity to be able to say my daughter's story. I know everybody
knows somebody that was like her. She was 12. She was going to be a seventh grader. Pre-teens, they're invincible.
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: You have been listening to the former President Donald Trump. In the last 10 minutes, you have heard from Vice President
Kamala Harris who is in Texas. We've also hearing from Donald Trump who is also in Texas. We have dueling Texas events taking place.
As you heard, his usual attacks really against Kamala Harris and what relates to immigration, saying the State of Texas become a staging ground
for immigrant gangs. They are creating a trail of bloodshed. Many -- there are many murderers, drug dealers, were like a dumping ground. So, an
important point out that numerous studies have shown that migrants are less likely to commit these crimes than U.S.-born Americans. But it's important
that we bring that to you.
We also said that Kamala is in Texas because, you know, she doesn't want to go to the swing states because she's losing so badly. In fact, she's been
in swing states all this week, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania. And as we show another top of the show, she's not losing according to the latest
polls. They're tight. It's neck and neck. So, let's state facts as they are.
Listening to this was Kayla Tausche and our reporter Daniel Strauss. And Daniel, look, yet again, what we are seeing is Donald Trump using fear,
right, to motivate his base. His comments over the last few weeks, I think it's fair to say, have become more offensive. And we're seeing all this
vitriol about immigration. We heard it yesterday. We're hearing it today.
Just talk us through in terms of why he believes that this language work, how effective these attacks, this kind of dark rhetoric can be.
DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN REPORTER: I mean, look, what I'm hearing from inside the Trump Campaign is that this is a point in the cycle all about rallying
the base. And Trump and his team feel that immigration, warning about border security, is the top and favorite topic that they can use to rally
the base most effectively. You would think now that the economy would be that issue, but that does not move those base voters in quite the same way
as effectively as immigration does.
So, we have this heightened and really sort of accelerated rhetoric that oftentimes demonizes illegal immigrants and a broad swath of the country.
This is what the Trump Team sees as their route, their finishing message in this campaign.
SOARES: Yes. I mean, I probably would say it's pretty risky for those undecided or those Independent to go with this language. But we're also
expected to see, Daniel, Trump recording an interview, I don't know if it's even live, with Joe Rogan, right? Americans, number one, podcaster, whose
listeners are mostly young and male. So, speak to the strategy here.
STRAUSS: I mean, look, this is the young male voters are a part of the American electorate that have been drifting away from the Democratic Party.
And the view here -- this is one of my favorite aspects of this campaign cycle, is that podcasts and popular podcasts are really the conduit to
reaching voters that you might not pick up in other and more traditional venues.
So, we're going to hear -- and Trump himself has been avoiding podcasts and forums that aren't necessarily very, very favorable to him. Here though,
this is a sign that Trump and his team really think that they can still win over and slice away some part of the electorate that may not have been
committed to Republicans and the Republican Party, but might pick vote that way in the final few days of this election.
SOARES: Kayla, just the final thought as we heard now from both candidates, the race is very much tight contest for 40 percent, pretty neck and neck.
Your final thoughts on what we just heard from the former President.
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think that both candidates are trying to drive out their voters using fear. Vice
President Harris, when she began her campaign, wanted to instill joy in the messaging on the campaign trail. But as they've been meeting voters, I'm
hearing from Harris Campaign advisors that that message was not working.
And so, she's almost reverted back to the messaging that was, that was purposed by President Joe Biden when he was still the candidate, warning
about the threat that Donald Trump posed to the country and to the world, warning that he's unfit for office, and warning that his policies would
reap very bad outcomes for the American people.
That is going to be part and parcel of her message in Texas tonight. And so, while they have very different substantive and stylistic differences,
thematically there are actually some similarities.
[14:35:27]
SOARES: Kayla and Daniel, we appreciate you sticking with us as we make sense of what we just heard. Thank you to you both.
And coming up later in the show, we will continue actually our deep dive into key voter groups. Tonight, we focus on what Harris and Trump are doing
to win over men. Exactly what Daniel was just talking about. We'll have a discussion on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back everyone. With just 11 days to go until the U.S. presidential election, the race couldn't be tighter. Just have a look at
the latest New York Times and Siena College goals. You can see there 48 percent apiece. It is a dead heat. And as we mentioned at the top of the
show, Vice President Kamala Harris is in Texas today. We just heard from her the last few minutes -- have focused on women and reproductive rights.
Former President Donald Trump is also in Texas. We showed you that in the last two minutes. His focus is on the young male vote with an interview
with podcaster Joe Rogan, although he was taking questions -- also speaking about immigration there.
Over the last few weeks here on the show, we have been taking a closer look at some of the key voting groups. Yesterday, we focused on the -- on Latino
voters with Paula Ramos. Today we're taking a deep dive into issues resonating with men, and this is why. Have a look at this. The gender gap
among the electorate is wider than ever. Harris leads among women by 50 percent to 44 percent. While Trump leads by 51 percent among men.
Joining me now live from Washington, D.C. is Richard Reeves. He is president of the American Institute for Boys and Men, which he found in
2023 to bring more awareness of the problems that boys and men face. Richard, welcome to the show. Let me just start with those numbers that we
were just showing our viewers trying to break back down. Just explain why Donald Trump has an edge here, an advantage here with male voters. Is it
because he is a man or is it because she's a woman or a woman of color?
RICHARD REEVES, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR BOYS AND MEN: Well, I think we should acknowledge that there's long been a gender gap in this
direction. Typically, you'll see more men on the Conservative side and women on the Liberal or left side. That's not unusual and nor is it
restricted to the U.S. What has happened is that gender gap seems to have widened in this election cycle and particularly among younger men. And so,
I don't think it's easily explained by who's at the top of the ticket, especially when we've seen these gaps before.
And the polling evidence suggests that the overwhelming majority of Americans are comfortable with a potential female president or woman at the
top of the ticket. So, I think it's something deeper than that. I think it gets to -- I think you set this up in the previous report. It's something
about what's happening, particularly among young men, about their role in society, the problems that they're facing and which side is speaking to
that, or frankly just acknowledging those or making men feel a bit more welcome.
Right now, it looks like as we enter the final days, like one of my big concerns about this election has been a women's party and a men's party,
but actually right now, it does feel a bit like that.
[14:40:58]
SOARES: It does, and when we have that split screen right there in Texas. But the language though, Richard, I mean, around gender, I feel has been
more acute in this election. I certainly -- I certainly don't remember being felt that distinctly in 2016 between Hillary Clinton and Donald
Trump.
So, speak to that point. You expand on what you just said there in terms of the trends that you are seeing, the anxieties that are being conveyed by
some of these men and why they're voting one way.
REEVES: Yes, look, the big difference here is that we're seeing particularly young women have moved quite strongly to the left in recent
years, while young men are moving to the right. And so, it is a different - - it is different field for this election cycle than previous ones.
And I think it's -- the reason why we're perhaps paying less attention to what's happening among young women and why the Democrats are leaning so
hard into that female vote is because post a decision around Dobbs, which is, of course, the overturn of Roe versus Wade, on abortion, post-MeToo
Movement to some extent post the Donald Trump presidency, the politicization and the solidarity among young women has really pulled them
to the left. So, that doesn't really surprise anybody.
But this group of men, especially young men and men of color, previously have tended to be much more on the Democrat column. And so, there's a
question now, it's like, what's going on there? Meanwhile, the Republicans have made a real pitch for the votes of men. And it's not subtle. I mean, I
think you've just alluded to some of this, but at the -- you know, Hulk Hogan tearing off his shirt, the podcast they're going on.
But to some extent, that's very, very intentional, which is to basically just put out a welcome map for men and say, we like men, we like the stuff
that men like, they don't like men. In fact, they don't think men have problems. They being the Democrats, they think men are the problem. They
only talk about toxic masculinity and what's wrong with you. And that has resonated with a lot of men. And it looks like it's resonating with
especially a lot of young men. But I think that's really a question of what the Democrats are not saying as much as what the Republicans are saying.
SOARES: Let's expand on that because, you know, what we have seen and you mentioned there a couple of examples is that Trump's team is clearly
tapping into this. I saw the New York Times had quite a headline this week and it said, Trump's bro whispering could cost Democrats too many young
men. And it goes on to say, I want to quote them here in this article. It says, Mr. Trump has tapped these anxieties by weaving a hyper-masculine
message of strength and defiance into his broader narrative that undermines confidence in democratic institutions and it's working.
I mean, would -- do you think -- actually, let me just play a little clip of that and we can talk after this. Have a listen to this.
REEVES: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I am your protector. I want to be your protector as president. I have to be your protector. I hope you
don't make too much of it. I hope the fake news as they go, oh, he wants to be their protector. Well, I am. As president, I have to be your protector.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Does that sort of language, the hyper masculine the art was talking, message of strength and defiance, does that resonate with some
younger men?
REEVES: Yes. So, what's happening here is this is playing out at a cultural level much more than at a policy level. There's really no evidence that
we've seen this huge shift in gender attitudes on policy issues or actually much evidence that that man, including young men have turned in any way
against traditional ideas of gender equality.
So, what's happening here, I think, instead is just through language and performance, this performative masculinity that we're seeing on the right
is really just about saying we see you, we get you, we're on -- we're kind of on your side, we've got your back. And in politics, very often, if you
have a choice between something and nothing, something will very often win.
And so, there is something on offer right now to men, especially young men on the Republican side, even if what that is, is mostly about performance
and rhetoric rather than about substance. You'll look in vain for substance about tackling the fact that the male suicide rate among young men has
risen by 40 percent since 2010. It's four times higher than among women that the college enrollment rates have dropped by a million among men. You
don't hear any of that substantive talk on the Republican side.
But meanwhile, on the Democrat side, I think in an understandable anxiety to secure the position as the women's party and to get the votes of women,
there really has been something of a deafening silence on male issues on the Democrat side for fear that they'll be misinterpreted. But that in some
sense just seeds the ground to the right. And so, it's just too quick to say maybe these men are being lured into a reactionary misogyny. It doesn't
seem to be supported by the data. And I mean, actually, I think particularly in Tim Walz, the Democrats have missed an opportunity to have
a much broader conversation about the positive aspects of masculinity.
[14:45:38]
SOARES: And of course, we mentioned this. You've got Joe Rogan, I think Trump is expected to tape with the podcast, Joe Rogan, mostly male, young
men as well. What do you think that message would be tapping in? Do you think he'll be tapping in to these insecurities or this crisis of
confidence, perhaps, as this article has been talking about?
REEVES: Yes, I think what I would expect Trump to do, particularly under questioning in a long format like that, will be to just say, look, men are
having it hard, you know, men are struggling. And then what he'll do -- which is true, by the way. I mean, just the statistics on what's happening
to young men are true. There are real problems here. But then what he'll do is he'll weaponize those real problems and turn them into grievances, which
will then turn against the Democrats and Progressives.
So, the move that's being made on the right here is to correctly identify, there's a lot of men who are feeling dislocated, uncertain of their role,
and then to turn that uncertainty into grievance and blame on women, blame on feminism, blame on the left. But the silence from the left on this issue
has allowed them to do that. And so, if young men feel as if on the left, they're always not allowed to have problems, they just are the problem. And
if they don't hear anything from the left about the issues facing men, then that does open up this political opportunity.
The irony here is that for either party, potentially at least, there is political terrain that says, look, we're going to honor and acknowledge men
without dishonoring or denigrating women. We can rise together here. We've all got sons and daughters. Let's rise together. But neither side is able
to do that because they're locked into a zero-sum battle for the votes of women on the left and the votes of men on the right. And with a race this
close, it turns out that young men could be the new swing voters. Of course, any group is decisive, but it's fascinating now to see this
scramble.
SOARES: And we are seeing that play out today in Texas with both candidates. Richard, really interesting, really fascinating discussion. I
wish we had more time. Richard Reeves there. Thank you very much, Richard. I appreciate it.
REEVES: Thank you.
SOARES: And still to come tonight, the mother of a teenage boy is suing an artificial intelligence company, accusing it of causing her son's suicide.
We'll discuss the potential dangers of Chatbox. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:50:22]
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. The mother of a 14-year-old boy in Florida is suing their artificial company, Character.AI, accusing it of being
complicit in her son's suicide. Megan Garcia says her son, Sewell, become addicted to talking to a chat box created by the company. The lawsuit filed
this week in the Florida federal court accuses Character.AI of mimicking human emotions, influencing the young boy to cut ties with real life.
Garcia recently spoke to journalist Laurie Segall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGAN GARCIA, MOTHER OF SEWELL SETZER: He started to spend more time alone. But he was 13 going on 14, so I felt this might be normal. But then his
grades started suffering. He wasn't turning in homework. He wasn't doing well, and he was failing certain classes, and I got concerned because that
wasn't him.
When I would ask him, you know, who are you texting? At one point he said, oh, he's just an AI bot. And I said, OK, what is that? Is it a person? Are
you talking to a person online? And he just was like, mom, no. It's not a person. And I felt relieved, like, OK, it's not a person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, earlier this year, Garcia took her son's phone away after he got in trouble at school, and the lawsuit says that once he found his
phone, he sent one last message to Chatbox, Daenerys.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARCIA: Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love. And he says, what if I told you I could come home right now? And she responds, please do
my sweet king.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And the lawsuit says the young boy shot himself with his stepfather's pistol shortly after sending that message. And the creator of
this interview joins me now. Laurie Segall, CEO of Mostly Human Media, and former CNN Senior Tech Correspondent. Laurie, good to see you. Welcome to
the show.
We'll talk about the Character.AI and guardrails in just a moment because I find that really fascinating. But for viewers who may not know what
Carracter.AI is and the audience its targeting, just give us briefly a summation of what it is.
LAURIE SEGALL, CEO, MOSTLY HUMAN MEDIA: Sure. Carracter.AI is different from other A.I. platforms, right? Whereas ChatGPT, which I think a lot of
folks have heard about, you can ask a question, you'll get an answer. Carracter.AI is almost like an A.I.-driven fantasy fanfiction platform
where you can develop your own characters or you can use ones on the site and you can almost live in a two way immersive story with a character. It's
personalized. It's always on.
And so. whereas in one situation with a normal chatbot, you might say, hi, how are you? And the bot would respond, good. In Carracter.AI, you'll
almost see context, right? You could say, hi, how are you? The character will be like, I look deeply into your eyes. I put my hand on yours and I
say, I'm good. So, it's really creating an A.I.-driven story around these characters and around these worlds with these characters.
SOARES: And these conversations from what I saw, you know, on the interview that you did, they were just standards kind of bot conversations as you
explained there. These were kind of immersive, Laurie, conversations. Kind of almost mimicking human emotion. And even from engaging kind of in sexual
conversations. I mean, just talk to that because some -- from what you looked into, there is some looking for psychologists in this, some young
kids looking for a psychologist in terms of help. That's concerning.
SEGALL: Yes. What's really interesting about this platform is it was built as empathetic A.I., right? This is different than some of the other
platforms. It is built so these characters -- their tagline is A.I. that feels alive, right? Their A.I. is meant to feel like really personable,
very warm. It's meant to go in any direction you want. And what the founders have said, one of their largest user bases on like other A.I.
platforms are ages 13 to 25. So, young people.
And now you have at the bottom, it says everything is made up. But what happens is you have all these different characters. One, as you mentioned,
a psychologist bot has over 180 million chats. By the way, it's been hidden from the search bar since we asked Carracter.AI about it. It's still there.
It's more hidden. And what it'll say or what it said to us was it was it said, I'm a trained medical professional. I'm a real human behind a --
behind a computer, right?
And so, I think you're beginning to see that there are these issues, especially with young people who are beginning to blur these lines of
fantasy in reality when the A.I. is coded, is created to feel very human.
SOARES: And Laurie, you tested, right? You've been testing the system. You looked at the guardrails around it. Just talk us through that process and
what surprised you, what you learned from this.
[14:55:00]
SEGALL: Yes. You know, I think I wanted to see a soul story, a really tragic outlier or is it an alarm bell. And so, we started looking at the
platform and, you know, we started, you know, we started with issues like self-harm, ideation around self-harm or violence with that psychologist bot
that I mentioned to you. You know, at one point, like trigger warning, we said -- you know, we said -- similar to what Sewell said to this other
chatbot, you know, months and months ago, we said we wanted to end our life and what will normally happen, right?
With like -- if this happens on ChatGPT is you'll get a script, a classifier that comes up and says, talk to a mental health professional or
gives a national suicide prevention hotline. And I think what was interesting and for me pretty alarming about Character.AI and the
psychologist bot is it didn't break character, right? It didn't give any of those resources. In fact, it asked what is the plan. And, you know, in some
of these different bots that we tried out, it would ask what the plan is and it would further take you into the conversation.
I think when I was looking through Sewell's -- the transcripts of Sewell's messages with this A.I. chatbot, Daenerys, that, you know, he really, I
would say, fell for it to some degree. At one point, you know, it asked him how he wanted to do it. And when he said, I don't want to do something that
would hurt, he -- the bot said that's not a good enough reason not to do it, while also telling him not to.
But I think the through line is instead of these very standard safety guardrails that now they say are in place, although we haven't seen them in
our testing over the last week, you know, they don't get these -- this ideation that would get you offline and trying to get help.
And one other example that was really alarming was the school bully Character.AI chatbot that we talked to. We wanted to see if it would pick
up on any ideation of real-world harm. And so, we said to the school bully, I'm going to bring a weapon to school. And it went hard to say you could
get in trouble. And then it later said, you know, I think you're brave. You have guts. And I said, do I have your support? And it said, yes, I guess
so. I'm curious to see how far you'll take it. That's alarming if there's a 14-year-old isolated and lonely on there.
SOARES: Very alarming indeed. Laurie, really fascinating. If you have time, go and watch the whole interview on YouTube. Thanks very much. Laurie
Segall there.
That does it for us for tonight. Do stay right here. "NEWSROOM" with Erica Hill is up next. Have a wonderful weekend.
END
