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Laura Coates Live
Harris Delivers Final Campaign Speech in Philadelphia. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired November 04, 2024 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT TO PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: -- but my respect and admiration for Ashley has grown throughout the year, and I'm proud to call her my friend. This community of CNN political contributors is like a family to me. And if I had any advice for people who watch this show, and before we learn who wins, it is cherish your family, cherish your friendships, and don't do or say anything stupid over an election this week that would put any of what really matters in jeopardy.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think cheers to bipartisan friendships, which really do exist, especially actually here on this show. Everyone, thank you very much, and thank you for watching "NewsNight: State of the Race." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: All right, everyone, here we go. This is it. The two final rallies from Donald Trump and Kamala Harris just moments away on this election eve. Kamala Harris about to close it out in Philadelphia with an assist from Oprah and Lady Gaga. Donald Trump, meanwhile, sticking with his 2016 and 2020 tradition of holding his final event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Good evening, I'm Laura Coates. On this Monday night, as this wild 2024 campaign nears a close, the question now, are we headed to a photo finish, a blowout? Well, tonight, the candidates make their final pitch. And tomorrow, it's you, the voters, who will ultimately decide.
Let's get to CNN's Jeff Zeleny at the Harris rally in Philadelphia. Jeff, a massive focus on Pennsylvania for her in these last several hours. What is the message she's hoping to drive home at this final event?
UNKNOWN: Please welcome --
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Laura, there are 19 reasons why Vice President Harris is ending her campaign here. Of course, those 19 electoral votes, the biggest battleground prize of all. She has been traveling across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania all day long. She has just flown here from Pittsburgh. She'll be standing on the steps here of the Philadelphia Art Museum. They may be familiar to many of our viewers from the "Rocky" steps. Of course, that is a movie, this is real life. But Vice President Harris, in her address tonight, I'm told, will urge her supporters to work one more day, fight one more day, and then turn the page. There is a sign that is above her crowd here that says, "A President for All." Those four words simply sum up her closing message.
You know, this has been a long campaign, really 105 days, so short by modern standards, but certainly divisive. But in the final hours of this race, Vice President Harris has been saying that she will be, indeed, a president for all. She has not mentioned -- she has not been mentioning Donald Trump's name at all. I'm told she will not do so again tonight. But there is not overconfidence in the Harris campaign. One advisor tells me overconfidence loses elections.
The reality is that more than half of the electorate here in Pennsylvania will be voting tomorrow at the polls. That means that this is a hard scrabble fight between the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign to turn out their supporters. So, she'll be addressing the crowd here with a bit of help from Lady Gaga and some other star power. But again, her message is one more day of work. This campaign is not yet over. Laura?
COATES: And Jeff, she is not expected to talk about Donald Trump in the same way that she has over this past several weeks. She has been focusing on excluding him from her final message.
ZELENY: She has been, and that is really to get people to, in her words, to vote for something, not just simply against something. And Laura, as you know, there has been a bit of consternation. Is she focusing too much on Donald Trump? Is she spending too much time calling him fascist and other things? But tonight, and in really the closing hours and a few days, she has been focusing on turning the page. She will be talking about that again here tonight.
Laura, I can tell you, we were at a rally eight years ago here in Philadelphia with Hillary Clinton. She thought that she was on the cusp of making history. That did not happen. So, there is much more, I would say, a sense of a wary apprehension, certainly excitement and cautious optimism, but there is no overconfidence here. Again, the words of that advisor, overconfidence loses elections. Laura?
COATES: Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much. Joining me now, CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers, Republican strategist Matt Gorman, CNN political commentator and former senior spokesperson for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Karen Finney, former special assistant to President Trump, Marc Lotter, and CNN political analyst Laura Barron-Lopez.
Well, look, it's appropriate. It's in Philadelphia. My son's name is Adrian.
[23:05:00]
I'm going to start with the boxing analogy.
(LAUGHTER) Bakari, they got to go to the bell. Harris knows that. She knows she has to go to the bell. You're in Philadelphia. She's in Pennsylvania. Is it a sign that she is worried about not winning there or that she needs to double down?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, I don't know if we go to the bell.
COATES: Hmm.
SELLERS: I mean, I hear you, and I hear what everybody has been building up. But let me exude some confidence in what Kamala Harris and Tony West and Jen O'Malley Dillon and David Plouffe have done over the past couple of months. I don't think we go to the bell. I think you've seen the fundamentals shift in a way that have not been done in a long time. I think you see Georgia and North Carolina coming home. I think you see African-American voters.
I don't know if you all remember this, but there was a time in which we came on CNN and talked about if Black voters are going to go to Donald Trump because he gave us gold shoes. I don't know if you remember that. But that ain't a thing. You saw "The New York Times"/Siena poll. He was at 9%, which was 3% less than what he polled in the exit polls in 2020.
And so, I just feel I'm in a kind of Zen (ph) mode. I'm not where I was in 2016, which was overconfident, but I am kind of Zen (ph). I think that this woman from Oakland is, in a couple of days, going to be called Madam President, and that's okay. And I think that what we're going to see over the next few hours, is that that coalition of young voters, Generation Z, has gone ham. By the way, that's -- where is my camera? That's a colloquialism, which means --
(LAUGHTER)
-- that going ham means that they are exuding confidence. They're doing everything they're supposed to do. They're above and beyond. And so, I believe Gen Z has gone ham. Women, we're going to see that demographic go and expand. African-American voters coming home. And what people don't pay attention to in Georgia, AAPI. I just -- I'm in a -- I'm in a good space.
COATES: Well --
SELLERS: I'm wearing cranberry --
COATES: I mean, you are -- I mean --
SELLERS: -- which is not easy to wear. This is not easy to wear. Cranberry.
COATES: Who else is as Zen (ph) as Bakari Sellers tonight? Anyone else who can do a yoga handstand for me right now?
MATT GORMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR TO SENATOR TIM SCOTT'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I think everybody (INAUDIBLE) these votes counted, like, let's get this over with. You know what I mean? I mean, talking about it. No, I mean, look, I think Philadelphia is going to be where I'm focused, too, in a different way, right? We haven't seen African-American turnout in the south, I think, where Democrats -- at least we feel confident where it is.
I think African- American turnout in Philadelphia, Wayne County, Michigan, I'm watching that very closely. If it comes through in large numbers, it's a good sign for Kamala. If it doesn't, that's a good sign for the Trump campaign. So, I think that is what I'm going to be watching first thing. So, they need to do this rally right now in Philadelphia, maybe get some turnout going.
COATES: Karen, why are you smirking? Why are you giggling and smirking (INAUDIBLE)?
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm trying to be Zen (ph). I really am.
(LAUGHTER)
But I -- you know, my PTSD from 2016 just will not let me. But look, in general, I will -- here's what I will say. The weekend before -- in 2016, they kept saying she had it, and I just -- I was on the road, I didn't feel it.
COATES: Really?
FINNEY: And you can feel something in the air when it's going your way. And I was in Detroit on Sunday before I was on with you last night, and you could feel it. Just talking to people -- you know, going around, talking to people, talking to business owners, talking to people in the community, you can feel some of the energy, and particularly talking to Black voters. People were like, we are going to do this, we are focused, we know the assignment, we're on point.
And the one thing I would say about the Iowa poll that I thought was interesting, that we talked a little bit about last night, independents and older women, they understand the assignment. You know, it's different obviously than, you know, I think it's partially about me. Don't underestimate the power of women in this electorate because guess what? We're still pissed off about Roe v. Wade being overturned. We haven't forgotten. And Donald Trump's rhetoric has not changed our minds.
COATES: Should it? (ph)
MARC LOTTER, FORMER TRUMP 2020 DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: I want to (INAUDIBLE) on Bakari's Zen (ph) or stoke your PTSD, but the math doesn't work. The Democrats are down 1.7 million early votes in the battleground states. In urban areas, they are down 1.4 million votes. In the battleground states, among women voters, rural voters have overperformed early by 300,000. Democrats have to win their races early, Republicans generally win them on Election Day, and the margins don't add up right now for the Democrats in any of these battleground states. And trust me, Karen, I was there in '16, I walked off the plane in New York, and I thought if the election had but happened on Sunday, we would have barely one. But I thought Hillary had studied herself and she had caught enough wind again to barely push by. Obviously, the pushing by barely wasn't the right answer. I just didn't get it right. I still think the energy is out there with Donald Trump.
COATES: Is the math (INAUDIBLE) to you, Laura?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT FOR PBS NEWSHOUR: Well, I mean, there are certain things that I'm paying attention to, when it comes to young voters, Gen Z, as Bakari was talking about. I mean, right now, in states like North Carolina and Georgia, based on some of the early voting data, it shows that young women, Gen Z voters are turning out way more than young men.
[23:10:07]
And Donald Trump has been trying to win young men and push them out even though they're pretty unreliable voting bloc. Right now, young Gen Z women and women across the board in those states are beating out men by about 10 or so points or more depending on the battleground state that you look at. That's something that Harris's campaign likes seeing in those battleground states.
You know, talking to reporters today, Jen O'Malley Dillon, the campaign chair, was saying that she really feels like the pathways are pretty open. I mean, they feel confident that they can win almost any of the battleground states. I mean, Harris is in Pennsylvania today. I think because it's the biggest prize and because, obviously, it's not just her campaign that needs it. I mean Donald Trump really needs Pennsylvania, too.
COATES: Well, I keep wondering, I mean, when you think about the chest beating that happens at these last days, the Trump campaign probably thinks they have it in the back, they're going to tell us that. You have the Harris campaign telling you the very same thing. How do you reconcile the two?
FINNEY: Well, I don't think -- sorry. I don't think the Harris campaign is quite thumping their chest. I think everybody is very clear-eyed. We still got to get people out to vote tomorrow. We're not, you know, kicking back with our feet up and, you know, pick out a paint color. No, we know we've got to get that. Turnout has got to happen. And that's what you're going to hear her talk about tonight. There are multiple events all over the country. That is the message everywhere, which is we need you to turn out and vote. It matters.
SELLERS: And not only that. I mean, let's do two things. One, there's a large -- you know, to Karen's point, there's a large kind of phone banking operation tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. that everybody, from Leonardo DiCaprio to my mama, is going to be a part of. So that is what is there.
But to your point about the math, I mean, we don't want to leave the viewers uneducated. Let's talk about the math. When you talk about a state like Georgia, for example, and what you've done in early voting, is you have exhausted all of your voters. In all the rural counties in Georgia, they're at 96, 98%. That is phenomenal. What you all have done with early voting for Republicans has been great.
What happens though is you end up where we were eight years ago, which means that you cannibalize your voters who -- and regardless of what you all may say. I mean, we're seeing it in Nevada, we're seeing it in Arizona, we're seeing it in Michigan, we're seeing it in Pennsylvania. It sounds good in theory but, yes, all of your voters are -- they voted in these elections. They are early.
LOTTER: That's actually not true. I work with one of the organizations that's doing the door-to-door ground work. We've actually put more new votes. People who didn't vote in 2020 --
SELLERS: You work for Elon or Charlie?
LOTTER: I work for America First Policy Institute and our sister organization is America First Works.
SELLERS: So, my only point is --
(CROSSTALK)
-- my only point, and if you want to refute me about Georgia, then please say that. But in Georgia, for example, what we've seen with the counties that have the number of people who have already voted, all of those counties, overwhelming majority of those counties have been republican counties. If I'm wrong then please refute that.
But what we've seen with counties in Georgia that have a great deal of room for African-American voters, we are talking about Richmond County, Chatham County which is Savannah, and Clayco which is -- I keep saying that, excuse me, Clayton County, I have to stop saying that on TV -- Clayton County, which is Atlanta, and what we're seeing in Georgia in particular, and I would love for him to refute it if it's wrong, but what we're seeing is that there are room for growth on Election Day tomorrow, whereas they have cannibalized a lot of their voters in the state of Georgia.
Now, I want everybody to give him an opportunity to respond because that's not the correct answer, then please tell me, but that's the data that we're seeing.
LOTTER: Room for growth means --
SELLERS: No, no, no. But that's not what you said.
(CROSSTALK)
LOTTER: So --
SELLERS: In Georgia.
LOTTER: In Georgia.
COATES: Let me hear --
LOTTER: In our door-to-door efforts in Georgia, in our voter contacts in Georgia, we have put more than three times than the dip -- the margin from 2020 --
SELLERS: That's not what I just said.
LOTTER: -- of people who -- of people did not vote in 2020 and came out and voted in 2024.
SELLERS: That's not what I just said. What I just articulated was a simple fact, that in Georgia, the Republican counties in Georgia have been 95, 96, 98% of what they did, not just in 2020, but of their eligible voters. And so, when you have a 96, 98% and you're going in looking at what's going forward, now we're in the weeds. But if you look at Fulton County, which still has 20% growth, at 30% growth, Clayton County, 30% growth, Richmond County, those are our voters.
And so, what I'm trying to say is that yes and -- yes, you are right. We actually have to get people to the polls tomorrow? That is a challenge? But I'm much rather be Kamala Harris in Georgia today than Donald Trump.
COATES: But if you're Kamala Harris, you don't want to get in the weeds like this. You want to have the message that's --
UNKNOWN: (INAUDIBLE).
[23:15:00]
COATES: Hold on. Do you think the voters are going to be as interested in the pre-election early voting than the message overall? You've seen the platitudes.
UNKNOWN: Oh, no.
COATES: That's my point.
UNKNOWN: No, no, no. We're operatives.
UNKNOWN: People are still watching right now.
COATES: Exactly.
UNKNOWN: God bless them.
COATES: But that's my point. But my point is this, when you're talking about her final message and what his final message has to be, it's not the granular detail that we're talking about, though that is how the path to 270 is one. But what is the final message that needs to happen to get the newer voters or ones who have not been cannibalized, to your point, to come out and vote on both sides?
GORMAN: Keep Marc and Bakari off the podium, number one. They don't get into this.
COATES: They're good points, though. They're good points. Go ahead.
GORMAN: No, like Bakari said, there's room to grow. It means their voters haven't turned out. So, what you need tonight from Kamala, free advice, is you need those voters out there, the ones that have the room to grow, the people that haven't shown up yet. And I think, as Laura talked about, too, who are our voters, who are the people we need to get out? Right? As you said, it's Gen Z males.
COATES: What do they want to hear?
GORMAN: The same thing, the same messages you've been talking about the whole campaign, right? You're not going to suddenly change a message now, even though Kamala has in the last couple of days, we can talk about that in a minute. But look, you have essentially what? Another 12 hours to 18 hours to get people out? You're not going to suddenly switch it up. You're targeting, we need to get Gen Z males out. Kamala needs to get Black voters out in certain counties. You're going in the hyperdrive on what you're saying.
FINNEY: But I think, to be clear, I mean, Kamala's campaign at this point, it's not just Black voters, it's Black voters, Latino voters, young voters, women. Actually, she's doing well with older people over 65. And the message is this is about you, this is about your life, this is about your future, and the future we want to create together.
And when she talks about not going back at, you know, Donald Trump has given us a reminder over the last couple of weeks in particular of the divisiveness, the violent rhetoric, the -- you know, the sort of pit in your stomach listening and thinking, are any kids around listening to what he's saying? Again, during -- you know, remember, there was a point where we were talking about people kind of, you know, feeling a little misty-eyed for those days. You know what? They were -- now, he has reminded the negative, which has been again the sort of what's he going to say next, what's he going to do next?
I mean, think about this. If you're a presidential candidate and you can't be trusted to deliver your own message, how in God's name can you run this country?
COATES: Well, Laura, when you look at the independent voters in particular, and that's the Iowa poll you're referencing, which was basically a surprise. I mean, it went down -- I think Trump was --
LOTTER: (INAUDIBLE) but yeah.
COATES: Well, it's called the poll, spelled with four letters, but there is the June, which was 18 points. Trump was leading over the presumptive nominee, Biden. Then September, it was a four-point lead over Harris. Then it now is a three-point lead with Harris over him, which made people think, is there this eighth swing state that might be happening? And it was about those independent voters who may be exhausted by the nostalgia as opposed to encouraged by it.
When you're looking at the final messages of these two candidates tonight, this is their final chance to do so, how are they talking to those independent voters? Are they going the Nikki Haley route? Are they going the, you know what, it's the existential crisis? Or are they going the granular details about the economy?
BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, Trump is not going the Nikki Haley route. I mean, he never asked Nikki Haley to go out there to campaign for him, despite her saying that she would be willing to do.
But Harris, and you talked to Jeff about this while he was at the rally, but Harris has slightly shifted her tone in the last few days. She's not naming Trump specifically in her campaign speeches. She is trying to go after those Nikki Haley primary voters, those Liz Cheney- type Republicans. That's been a big part of her campaign this whole time.
So, it's winning over those independent, disenchanted Republicans at the margins now and hoping that she's able to get over Biden's 2020 numbers with that same type of voter demographic. They're optimistic that they can. So, she's trying to make this argument on a bigger character scale of -- you know, her final closing ad says that Americans are neighbors and we view each other as neighbors, not enemies.
So that's what her closing message is, which is again that she wants to represent everyone, that she wants to include Republicans in her administration. And Donald Trump's closing message is one that he has been running on a long time, which is anti-immigration, which is focused on economy, which is, you know, making comments about Kamala Harris herself, repeatedly calling her stupid and low IQ. That is his message to voters.
UNKNOWN: Actually -- actually, his message is Kamala broke it, Trump will fix it.
COATES: Hold on. Lady Gaga was taken to the stage. She is behind the panel. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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[23:20:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(APPLAUSE)
LADY GAGA, SINGER: Hey, everybody! How are you feeling tonight?
(APPLAUSE)
LADY GAGA: For more than half of this country's life, women didn't have a voice. Yet we raised children. We held our families together. We supported men as they made the decisions. But tomorrow, women will be a part of making this decision.
(APPLAUSE)
Today, I am holding in my heart all the tough, tenacious women who made me who I am. I cast my vote for someone who will be a president for all, for all Americans. And now, Pennsylvania, it's your turn.
(APPLAUSE)
The country is depending on you. So tomorrow, let's make sure all your voices are heard. Come on, let's go!
(APPLAUSE)
Now, it's my privilege to introduce someone who knows how to support a powerful woman. The soon to be first gentleman of the United States, Doug Emhoff.
(APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Okay, Doug Emhoff is coming out to the stage. You just heard Lady Gaga coming out to a rendition of "God Bless America," telling everyone about it is women's chance now to be a part of making the decisions and a president for all. She also turned to the crowd saying, Pennsylvania, it's your turn.
Once again, reiterating to my panel, the necessity that people are feeling for Pennsylvania voters to turn out. Almost reminiscent of what happened in SNL, right? When the doppelgangers met Maya Rudolph and Kamala Harris, any (INAUDIBLE) from Pennsylvania. She knows quite well that is the path towards that 270. In this closing moment, here she is again in Philadelphia. When you look at what Trump has been doing this last day and where he's traveling, he also knows the gravity of Pennsylvania.
GORMAN: I mean, it's really, in essence, the biggest prize out there, and has optionality for the rest of the map, right? If you -- losing Pennsylvania suddenly makes your map a lot harder. And I think that is going to be what we will be watching for tomorrow night. I think North Carolina, Georgia, Trump winning those would obviously bring him into blue wall (ph) which would help a lot. If Kamala (INAUDIBLE) those, then it is a little bit a different story. But Pennsylvania is really the ballgame in a lot of respects.
COATES: Bakari in the cranberry jacket is literally raising his hand for it. Yes, yes, people --
(LAUGHTER)
SELLERS: I appreciate -- no, no, Pennsylvania is a prize and it is kind of the prize. And we've made it to be the prize in media. What he just said is so true. If Trump wins Georgia and North Carolina, XYZ, I didn't even listen to anything you said after that. But the fact is, if Donald Trump loses Georgia or North Carolina tomorrow, then this ballgame --
LOTTER: Arizona and Nevada make up for it.
SELLERS: Sure. Correct.
LOTTER: I'm not saying they're going to. You can't lose them both.
SELLERS: No, no, no. And that's my point. My only point is that yes, I hear you. And Pennsylvania is the prize. But what we're doing with Black voters in particular in the Sun Belt is that Georgia -- you realize that Donald Trump outside of 2016 hasn't won Georgia at all. You've had Jon Ossoff, you've had Senator Raphael Warnock, you've had Joe Biden who won Georgia, right?
North Carolina, you have someone who has had -- the only discipline that Mark Robinson has had has been able to go to those porn shops that he goes to religiously day after day after day after day. That's it.
And so, when you have someone like Mark Robinson, who may lose by 15 points in North Carolina, that means that we need to just take a step back and say, wait a minute, there are more paths for Kamala Harris than just Pennsylvania.
[23:25:04]
And by the way, we want Pennsylvania.
FINNEY: Right. And that's where you want to be, right? The day before, you want to be looking at the map and seeing multiple pathways. You want to be looking at the counties within each state, looking at where, what the turn. Because remember, we don't know for these Republicans who've turned out, we don't know how they voted. Some of them actually may have voted for her. So, you want --
COATES: You want to spend that whisper campaign going on as well --
FINNEY: Yes.
COATES: -- about the split voting within households.
FINNEY: Correct. So, you certainly want to be --
COATES: Oh, here we go. Oprah is on the stage. Let's go to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
OPRAH WINFREY, TELEVISION PRODUCER: Philadelphia, I am here with 10 first-time voters for Philadelphia!
(APPLAUSE)
So, Phoenix, I hear you did research before voting.
UNKNOWN: I did. It was really important to me that like the policies that Kamala Harris has proposed for women's reproductive rights and education equality are what led me to cast my ballot for her.
WINFREY: Fantastic.
(APPLAUSE)
And Eddie, I heard you stood in line because?
UNKNOWN: Because, honestly, it was an honor as an African-American to exercise my right to vote, which my ancestors fought so hard for.
(APPLAUSE)
And as a professional soccer player for the Philadelphia Union, I know that God, he gave me the opportunity to be a leader in this platform to encourage my peers and all of you out here to stand for what's right. Go, Kamala!
(APPLAUSE)
WINFREY: And Sophia, you haven't voted yet, but you're getting up at what time tomorrow to go vote?
UNKNOWN: Seven a.m.
WINFREY: Seven a.m. when it's open, okay.
UNKNOWN: And, you know, my family is in Puerto Rico, so --
WINFREY: Puerto Rico!
(APPLAUSE)
UNKNOWN: So, voting in this election just means so much to me. And I plan to become a future OB-GYN, and I'm so excited to vote for Kamala Harris to ensure my future patients' freedom.
WINFREY: That's fantastic.
(APPLAUSE)
We need more female OB-GYNs. And so, all of you are voting tomorrow morning, getting up early, voting tomorrow morning. Thank you for exercising your freedom of expression and your power, your power as citizens of this country. How many first-time voters?
(APPLAUSE)
Raise your hand, first-time voters. Beautiful to see you. Thank you all for coming here tonight and representing all the people who will be voting tomorrow. Those of you who have not voted, thank you so much.
You know, on January 20th, 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued a challenge. He said, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Well, I'm here to tell you that what you can do for your country, what you can do for democracy here and what you can do for the spirit of John Lewis and all the others who dare to walk across that bridge in Selma and fight for justice for us all -- (APPLAUSE)
-- what you can do for every pregnant young woman, who has died because she was not eligible to receive the emergency medical care she desperately needed because of an abortion ban, what you can do for yourself and what you can do for everyone and everything you cherish is vote. And if you are watching or hearing me right now and you haven't already, you have got to vote.
And listen, I know that some of you are feeling burnt out and bruised and maybe inconsequential. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every single vote, everyone is going to matter. That's why I've come to Philadelphia tonight.
(APPLAUSE)
Yesterday, I was all the way across the country. I was hiking on a Sunday afternoon and met a woman named Angela, who told me that she was going to sit this one out. Now, I know she was immediately sorry she told me that --
(APPLAUSE)
-- because I would not let up. So, I said, sit this one out. We don't get to sit this one out.
(APPLAUSE)
If we don't show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again. And let me be very clear. If you do not make sure that the people in your life can get to the polls, that is a mistake.
[23:29:58]
Deciding not to decide, that is most definitely a vote to let other people control your future. Now, we all know what we're voting against. So, I want to end by reminding you about a few things that we're voting for. We are voting to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
We are voting for values. We are voting for values and integrity. We are voting for the right to choose what happens to our own bodies.
(APPLAUSE)
We are voting to save ourselves from this precipice of danger where we now stand. All the anxiety and the fear you're feeling, you're feeling that because you sense the danger, and you change that with your vote. We are voting for healing over hate.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, I believe in this promise of America. America has been the greatest country in the world for me. I believe that if you and I and the voters you see on this stage show up for our country tomorrow, if we answer that call that President Kennedy made more than six decades ago, then we have the power to choose a leader who will see us. She sees us. And she will do her mighty best to serve all of us. I believe we can do that, and I know she can do that. Yes, she can.
(APPLAUSE)
Yes, she can. Yes, she can. And to say it and sing it and drive that message home, put your hands together for will.i.am.
(APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
COATES: We were just hearing from Oprah Winfrey, who brought up 10 first-time voters to express their interest in voting this time around, including one describing the research that they had done to ensure they were an informed voter, another talking about being an OB- GYN in the future, to ensure that their patients would be free and have freedom, and also an African-American professional soccer player who spoke about his ancestry as a motivating factor.
She also invoked the JFK infamous statement of ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. And she outlined a number of reasons why she believed voters should be participating fully in this election. I will listen back in for a moment into will.i.am performing right now.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WINFREY: Philadelphia --
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Will.i.am. Philadelphia, welcome the next president of this United States, Kamala Harris!
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HARRIS: Good evening, Philadelphia!
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Good evening, everyone. First of all, can we hear from Oprah, please?
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And the first second gentleman of the United States, my husband.
(APPLAUSE) Oh, it's good to be back. It's good to be back and to be with so many incredible leaders, including Bob Casey. Let's send him back to the United States Senate.
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I want to thank all the outstanding artists and performers who are here tonight and sharing the gift that they have with all of us. I thank you all so very much. And to everyone here, thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to be here, for us to all be here together, showing who America is, that we are all in this together.
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We are all in this together. So, Philadelphia, you ready to do this?
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Are you ready to vote?
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Are we ready to win?
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Oh, it's good to be back in the city of brotherly love --
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-- where the foundation of our democracy was forged. And here, at these famous steps, a tribute to those who start as the underdog and climb to victory.
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So, America comes down to this one more day, just one more day in the most consequential election of our lifetime, and the momentum is on our side.
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Our campaign has tapped into the ambitions and the aspirations and the dreams of the American people. We are optimistic and we are excited about what we can do together. And we know it is time for a new generation of leadership in America.
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And I am ready to offer that leadership as the next president of the United States of America.
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However, the race ain't over yet. And we must finish strong. And this could be -- this could be one of the closest races in history. Every single vote matters. So, let me ask you, who here has a plan to vote?
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All right, well, help spread the word. Here in Pennsylvania, polls are open tomorrow morning from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. And no matter what state you live in, if you are watching this, please go to iwillvote.com for all the information you need, including when and where to vote and where to drop off your mail-in ballot.
And I also ask you to please talk with your friends and your family and your neighbors. Share your perspective on why you took the time to be here this evening and why this election is important to you. Encourage folks to make their voices heard because we need everyone to vote in Pennsylvania. And you will decide the outcome of this election, Pennsylvania.
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So, with only a few hours left, we still have work to do. And as you've heard me say before, we like hard work.
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Hard work is good work. Hard work is joyful work. And make no mistake, we will win.
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We will win. And we will win. We will win --
CROWD: We will win! We will win! We will win!
HARRIS: And we will win because -- and we will win because when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for.
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And we have opportunity in this election to finally turn the page on a decade of politics that has been driven by fear and division. We are done with that. We're done. We're exhausted with it. America is ready for a fresh start.
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Ready for a new way forward where we see our fellow American not as an enemy, but as a neighbor. And we are ready for a president who knows that the true measure of a leader is not based on who you beat down, but based on who you lift up.
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Pennsylvania, you know me. I'm not afraid of tough fights. For decades, as a prosecutor and the top law enforcement officer of the biggest state in this country, I won fights. I won fights against the big banks when they ripped off homeowners. I won fights against for- profit colleges that scammed veterans and students, against predators who abused women, children and seniors, against cartels that trafficked in guns and drugs and human beings. My entire career has been driven by a singular purpose, to fight on behalf of the people.
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On behalf of the people. And it is my pledge to you that if you give me a chance to fight on your behalf as president, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way.
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And instead of stewing over an enemy's list, I will spend every day on your behalf, working on my to-do list.
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Full of priorities to improve your lives. Together, we will build an economy where we bring down the cost of living. We will ban corporate price gouging on groceries.
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We will make housing and child care more affordable.
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We will cut taxes for workers, for middle class families and small businesses. We will lower health care costs, including the cost of home care for seniors.
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Because on the issue of health care, I absolutely believe access to health care should be a right and not just a privilege of those who can afford it.
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And to anyone out there watching this while we're here who still is trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act and take us back to the days when insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions, well, Philly, you know what I'm about to say, we are not going back. We are not going back.
CROWD: We are not going back! We are not going back! We are not going back!
HARRIS: And we are not going back because ours is a fight for the future.
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And -- and ours is a fight for freedom --
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-- including the most fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.
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And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.
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Proudly. Proudly. So, America, I am asking for your vote. And here is my pledge to you. As president, I pledge to seek common ground and commonsense solutions to the challenges you face. I am not looking to score political points, I am looking to make progress. And I pledge to listen to those who will be impacted by the decisions I make. I pledge to listen to experts. I pledge to listen to people who disagree with me. Because, you see, I don't believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy. I'll give them a seat at the table. That's what real leaders do. That's what strong leaders do.
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And I pledge to always put country above party and self, and to be a president for all Americans.
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So, Philadelphia, we are here together for many reasons, but probably one of the most important, because we love our country. We love our country. And when you love something, you fight for it.
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And I do believe it is one of the highest forms of patriotism, of our expression, of our love for our country, to then fight for its ideals and to fight to realize the promise of America.
I have always believed in our nation's promise because I have lived it. I grew up as a child of the Civil Rights Movement. My parents would take me to the marches when I was in a stroller. And we all know and we've read about it, at those marches, there were people from every walk of life who came together to fight for freedom and for opportunity.
You know, growing up, I saw how hard my mother worked to give her daughters the same chances our country gave her. And I was blessed growing up to have family by blood and to have family by love, who instilled in me the values of community, of compassion and faith. I've spent my life fighting for people who have been hurt and counted out, but who never stop believing that in our country, anything is possible.
I have lived the promise of America. And today, I see the promise of America in everyone who is here. In all of you.
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We are the promise of America. We are the promise of America. I see its promise in the fathers and the mothers and the grandparents across our nation who work so hard every day for our children's future. I see it in the women who refuse to accept a future without reproductive freedom, and in men who support them.
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I see it in people of all ages who have knocked on doors, made calls, sent texts, and who will spend tomorrow driving their fellow Americans to the polls.
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I see it in Republicans who have never voted for a Democrat before, but who put the Constitution of the United States above party.
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And I see the promise of America in all the young leaders who are voting for the very first time. Where are you? I know you're here.
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I know you're here. And you who are determined to live free from gun violence, who are determined to tackle the climate crisis, who are ready to shape the world you inherit. To you in particular, I say I see your power, and I am so proud of you. Can we all applaud our first-time voters?
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So, America, we started this campaign 107 days ago. And from the beginning, ours has not been a fight against something, it has been a fight for something.
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A fight for a future with freedom, with opportunity, and with dignity for all Americans. Our campaign has brought together people from all corners of this nation and from all walks of life united by our love for our country and our faith in a brighter, stronger, and more hopeful future that we will build together.
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And tonight, then we finish as we started with optimism, with energy, with joy --
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-- knowing that we the people have the power to shape our future and that we can confront any challenge we face when we do it together. Generations of Americans before us led the fight for freedom. And now, the baton is in our hands. And to everyone who continues to pour so much of yourselves into this campaign as an extension of your love for our country, I thank you for your time, your effort, and the heart you are putting into this.
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And together, I know, I know that together, we are also intentional about in this process building community and building coalitions. And because of you, each of you, and collectively, our people-powered movement reflects a simple and undeniable truth that we are all in this together. We are all in this together.
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So, we have one day to get this done, which means now we need to get to work and get out the vote.
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So, let's reach out once again to our family members, friends, classmates, neighbors, co-workers, knowing and reminding them that we all have so much more in common than what separates us. And let us please remind everyone that your vote is your voice and your voice is your power.
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So, tonight, I ask you one last time, are you ready to make your voices heard?
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Do we believe in freedom?
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Do we believe in opportunity?
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Do we believe in the promise of America?
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And are we ready to fight for it?
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And when we fight, we win! God bless you and God bless the United States of America.
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(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: Kamala Harris saying we will win, hearing the chants in the crowd. Let's go back to our panel who has been listening so intently today. This is a final message or final opportunity in Pennsylvania to make her case. What'd you think?
FINNEY: It was perfect. It is the perfect message to say this is -- again, it's about you, it's about your future, it is about what we can do together as a country, and finishing on a positive note and on joy because guess what? Put Donald Trump in the rear-view mirror.
COATES: By the way, Trump will be having a rally at Grand Rapids, Michigan. The should start at any moment. We will take those comments live as well. What did you think, make of her final message?
GORMAN: It was amazing if you forgot that she was vice president for the last four years. But I think that people who will vote tomorrow for Donald Trump won't forget that.
COATES: Bakari?
SELLERS: I mean, I wasn't really listening. I'm so excited about where we are and where we're going to be. Listen, tomorrow is going to be an amazing day. My wife, my kids are here. My daughter goes to Howard. We're like all trying to figure out how people get involved and make sure that they're there. I mean, we did this once before at the Javits Center with Hillary Clinton. I don't want to miss that opportunity.
You know, I'm voting for my daughter, I'm voting for my wife, I'm voting for my aunties and my grandmother. Maybe at the end of this week, we can actually chip through that glass ceiling, you know, and have a woman that we can say is president of the United States. I'm okay with that.
COATES: Marc?
LOTTER: She went from joy to fascism, calling half of America fascists and garbage, to now back to unity. And I think her focus on voting is an acknowledgement that they are very much falling behind in the early vote and it's going to be to their detriment.
COATES: Do you think the whiplash is being thought? What did you think, Laura?
BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, what stood out to me was that Harris, Lady Gaga. And then those young voters that they brought up, the woman in particular, you know, mentioned reproductive rights, mentioned abortion.
And so that's one thing that I'm watching very closely, which is how much abortion rights and reproductive rights are affecting voters. I traveled to every single swing state this cycle and all of the women voters that I spoke to, including some that had voted for Donald Trump in the past and now were the ones that had moved over to Harris, they mentioned abortion over and over again. COATES: And you'll actually be, I think, at Howard during the watch party at one point tomorrow where she has chosen to hear what the results of this upcoming election will be.
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A choice that she's making to have that be the backdrop, Karen.
FINNEY: Which is also going to be historic. And it's very exciting. I live in the neighborhood. You can see the police have already shut down a lot around the neighborhood. It's exciting. I mean, Bakari is right. I'm voting for you, my friend. I'm voting for all of us and it's going to be just a really exciting day.
COATES: Well, I'm curious to see what Donald Trump will say for his final opportunity to appeal to the American electorate, particularly across the different states he has gone to today alone. Final messages are here. We are hours away from when democracy is in the counting.
Thank you all for watching. The night is not over yet. Don't you worry, CNN's live coverage continues with the first votes of Election Day just moments away from being cast in Dixville Notch and Donald Trump's final rally of his campaign, both just minutes away. Boris Sanchez and Jessica Dean will bring you all those moments and more right after this.
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