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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Trump Continues Attacking Liz Cheney Using "Guns" In Language; Trump Calls His Former National Security Adviser John Bolton "Stupid," "Crazy" And "A Nutjob"; Bobby Flay: The Restaurant Business Has Become Difficult To Run. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired November 01, 2024 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So he doesn't address the taxpayer money there. But he does say there's dedicated funding.
It's also worth noting, Anderson, that this amendment needs 60 percent, at least 60 percent support, to have it pass, and to replace the near-total abortion ban that's on the books, here in the State of Florida now.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: All right. One more thing to watch for, on Election Night.
Randi Kaye, thank you.
A quick programming note. We're back on Sunday with a special pre- election edition of 360. That will be the same time, 08:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. I hope you join us for that. I hope you have a good weekend.
The news continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Straight from THE SOURCE Tonight.
We are just four days away from the election. And in final moments of this race, Donald Trump is spending his time, focusing his attacks on Liz Cheney.
Meanwhile, the Harris campaign tonight is bracing for Trump to declare victory, even if the votes are still being counted on Tuesday, circa what we saw in 2020. What the Harris campaign is expecting, as she is out on the campaign trail, making her final pitch.
And if you're spending these last few days, before Tuesday night, maybe a little bit anxious, eating your feelings? You might need some advice. And so, we are going to bring you the one and only Bobby Flay.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
In these precious final moments of what could be one of the closest elections, in U.S. history, Donald Trump is not dialing back his rhetoric in some last-minute bid to reach those elusive undecided voters, tonight. Instead, we're seeing the former President actually doubling down and repeating the violent language that he first used, last night, when he was talking about one of his most prominent Republican critics, Liz Cheney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. OK? Let's see how she feels about it, you know when the guns are trained on her face.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: You know, they're all war hawks when they're sitting in Washington in a nice building, saying, Oh, gee, well let's send -- let's send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, the backlash to the language that he used there was almost immediate. Not just from Democrats. We heard from some Republicans as well.
And while the Trump campaign is defending the argument, he was making there, about U.S. involvement in foreign wars, and who makes those decisions.
The candidate himself is still repeating it, almost using the exact same language, though he's softened it to a degree, just a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Kamala is campaigning with warmongers like Liz Cheney.
Every time I was with her on the White House, We should attack this nation, that nation, nations of people never even heard of, we should attack. You're big, big tough guy. You should be tough one. She's a tough one. But if you gave Liz Cheney a gun and put her into battle, facing the other side, with guns pointing at her, she wouldn't have the courage or the strength or the stamina to even look the enemy in the eye.
She, like Kamala, is a stupid person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Of course, Donald Trump himself deferred going to Vietnam and avoided it, we should note. That was a big part of his campaign in 2016.
But we'll get to that argument that he's making there, in a moment.
We also heard response today, right after he made these comments, last night. Vice President Harris weighing in, arguing that what Donald Trump said, about one of his most ardent critics is ultimately disqualifying from this race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He has increased his violent rhetoric, Donald Trump has, about political opponents, and in great detail, in great detail, suggested rifles should be trained on former Representative Liz Cheney. This must be disqualifying. Anyone who wants to be President of the United States who uses that kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and unqualified to be president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now, Liz Cheney herself is also weighing in here. I'm going to read you her full statement, in just a moment.
But I should note, tonight, as we come on the air, Arizona's Democratic Attorney General says that her office is looking into whether those comments, that you heard from Donald Trump, constitute a death threat under state law.
All of this is happening tonight, as at this hour what you're looking at right now, Harris and Trump are just miles apart from one another, both stumping in the Milwaukee area, as they are making those final arguments to voters.
My political sources are here.
And Gretchen, when you -- when you look at this, just even from a political perspective, as Trump is out, on the campaign trail, where he's repeating these comments to voters, tonight.
I just think, we're four days away. It's one of the closest races ever. And there has to be some political strategist, who is saying, These last minute voters, the undecided voters, the ones who did not vote early, but are likely making their decisions in the next few days? I don't think that those comments are necessarily, going after Liz Cheney, are bringing them into the camp.
[21:05:00]
GRETCHEN CARLSON, JOURNALIST, CO-FOUNDER, "LIFT OUR VOICES": Well, I think that his people have said that many times, over the last years and weeks. It's really hard to reel him in.
I will tell you that my inside sources, in the Harris campaign, are saying that they do believe that the Madison Square debacle, and then these comments, that late voters are going in her area now. They're going over to her, as a result of these comments.
Normally, I don't think anything moves the needle. But I think this late in the game, people are looking at it, if they haven't decided? They're going more on emotion.
COLLINS: Yes. CARLSON: And if they see something like this, and it really triggers them in one direction or another? Then they may vote for Harris instead of Trump.
COLLINS: Yes, and it's hard to know, because nothing has been able to move this race, in the last few months. It's a question of the undecideds of what is going to move them.
But T.W., just on the language itself. I understand the argument that the Trump team is making. They're saying he was talking about involvement in foreign wars, something he's been against. But he could have said that without using such violent imagery, about guns being fired upon someone, who's a huge critic of his.
T.W. ARRIGHI, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Perhaps. And I think the second time he did, it was a little softer.
And look, I'm the biggest critic of Donald Trump's rhetoric, and his demeanor, most of the time, always happened.
When I woke up this morning, though, in red headlines, accusing him of wanting to put Liz Cheney in front of a firing squad, I spit out my coffee, and I wasn't even drinking any. So, I went back and I watched all eight minutes. I don't even like a politician to talk for five, never mind eight. But I listened to it. It was a classic weave of criticism.
And I thought I was listening to a speech, from the 2004 Democrat National Convention. I was there. And everyone accused Cheney and Bush of not having skin in the game, their kids having guns trained at them while our boys and girls were over there. That was very heartfelt at the time, and it still is today.
And the point Donald Trump was making was that leaders like Liz Cheney, who is hawkish, and I love the Cheneys and Bushes, should think twice before they put people in harm's way.
And the bigger point I want to make about this is there is so much to go after Donald Trump for. And I know that the imagery of a barrel trained at her head is tough. He should know that.
But when people hear firing squad, and then actually listen to what he said? People are going, next time they say Donald Trump said something crazy? They're going to assume, Well, did he actually say that?
COLLINS: But Liz Cheney, one, didn't actually -- didn't send anyone into war. She was an Assistant Secretary of State.
ARRIGHI: Sure.
COLLINS: You can make the arguments. I mean Donald Trump was actually Commander-in-Chief.
ARRIGHI: Right.
COLLINS: But someone who knows political -- violence. I mean, he had two assassination attempts against him, Jamal. And I just think of, J.D. Vance saying this week, after the garbage comment from President Biden, that everyone should tone down their rhetoric.
I mean, that is not tone-down rhetoric. Regardless if you agree with the argument. It's not the argument. It's the rhetoric around it, the way he argued it.
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR TO VP HARRIS, CO-HOST, "TRAILBLAZE" PODCAST: Right. It's not tone-down -- tone-down rhetoric.
We've seen Steve Scalise. Nancy Pelosi was on with Jake earlier, talking about this being kind of the second year anniversary of the attack at her house that went to her -- her husband was injured. Donald Trump himself has gone through this.
Why are we talking about training guns at politicians' heads? This is -- this doesn't make any sense to me. One, it doesn't make sense, because it's a bad thing to do. But two, you're running for office, why are you attacking somebody who's not on the ballot, right?
I mean, this is like classic campaign tactics. You don't argue as the candidate. Staff can argue amongst each other. Surrogates can argue amongst each other. Why is the candidate attacking someone, who's not on the ballot?
CARLSON: But I think the bigger--
SIMMONS: It's a bad use of candidate time. And it reminds people of the trauma, I think, the collective trauma that people had, during the Trump years, which was all of this sort of chaos.
COLLINS: Well--
SIMMONS: It was all back, in full color, over the last week, and I think voters are starting to turn away.
COLLINS: And I mentioned Liz Cheney's statement. She said, "This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant."
CARLSON: Yes, I was just going to say that, I think one of the main concerns of a lot of Americans is, what does this insight. I mean, we can sit here all day long and say we're weary of all these comments by Trump, which so many people are, even this close to the election.
But what is it doing to other people who are listening to this? Does that incite violence in them? I mean, that's been the accusation about the assassination attempts against Trump, right? That he said, The left was inciting that. And so, it's going both ways, arguably.
But I worry about what this does to people sitting at home, who are listening to him, and then they go out and do something violent.
COLLINS: Well, and all this is coming as Tuesday night, which I feel like everyone is kind of bracing for, what's it going to look like?
Jamal, we were told today that the Harris campaign, they expect Donald Trump is going to come out and declare victory. I mean, obviously there's a playbook for that, because he did it in 2020. But if you're in the Harris campaign, how do you handle that?
SIMMONS: Well, first of all, you need everybody to wait so we count all the votes, right? We just can't have an election that's settled, or people start making predictions. Even people at places like this start making predictions until we know what all the votes are.
[21:10:00]
I was reminded this week, from my friends, in Nevada, of what happened when Catherine Cortez Masto ran for the Senate, the last time. They thought that she was losing. 36,000 absentee ballots came in, and she surged ahead and she won. Right?
We got to take our time. It's all going to work out. It's going to take us a few days to figure it out. But we're all--
COLLINS: But it--
SIMMONS: But we're all going to know.
COLLINS: And it doesn't mean, though, that anything's wrong, how the counting goes. Some states just count slower.
And so, T.W., we were talking about this, because this is something that we asked -- I asked Doug Burgum about, last night. He's going to be at Mar-a-Lago, on Tuesday night. And so, the question was, are you going to advise him to just wait, let the ballots be counted? But it's also, the Doug Burgums of the world who are going to be there.
And also Steve Bannon, who, when he got out of prison this week, said, Actually Donald Trump should have declared it sooner in 2020. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: I thought he should do it last year -- in 2020, at 11 o'clock at night. Not at 02:30 in the morning.
COLLINS: If you're around him, on Tuesday, will you encourage him to wait until all the results are in, and the ballots have been counted?
GOV. DOUG BURGUM (R-ND): Well, I think, on Tuesday night, what I'm optimistic for this country, is that we're going to -- we're going to know the victory on Tuesday night, and not a day later, two days later, weeks later. It's not going to change overnight.
So, you're asking a hypothetical. I don't think that hypothetical is going to come true. I think we're going to know the winner on Tuesday night.
COLLINS: Well, it's not a hypothetical. It happened in 2020. And Rudy Giuliani told Donald Trump to go out there and declare victory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: It's a real question of what they're telling him to do behind-the-scenes.
ARRIGHI: Yes, I'm not going to respond to, sorry, to Steve Bannon. I think he should--
COLLINS: But why couldn't Burgum just say, Yes, I do think he should wait. Burgum doesn't ever come out and declared victory early, when he's run for governor of North Dakota.
ARRIGHI: Yes.
SIMMONS: They're trying to work the refs, Kaitlan. They're trying to work the ref.
ARRIGHI: No, no, no, no, no.
SIMMONS: This is all about setting the tone, so that they can then say something's been taken from them that hasn't been taken.
ARRIGHI: I think they're also hoping to drive out the vote, so it's definitive on the day of. And I hope that is the case. I don't think it should drag on. I think it's good for the country to have elections that don't (ph) drag on for days in terms of waiting for results.
I would advise the President to wait until it's definitive.
But look, this is a 50-50 toss-up race. There's going to probably be some states that are dragged out a little bit longer. But expediency is a good thing in a democracy.
CARLSON: But let's be clear that Donald Trump, in the last week, has gone to Nevada, and said that it was rigged there.
And he also has gone to Pennsylvania, and talked about the fact that there are voter fraud issues going on there, already. And there were in Lancaster County, where 2,500 ballots or sign-ups for being able to vote were being looked at, and investigated, right now. But there's no evidence of fraud, right now.
ARRIGHI: Yes.
CARLSON: And my concern is he's laying the groundwork, for Tuesday night, to start saying that this election was rigged.
ARRIGHI: My bigger concern with that, and I'll go with you on that, is, again, turnout. When people hear it's fraudulent, ahead of time? They're less likely to turn out, if they don't think their vote's going to matter.
And on the flip side of that, you have like, right now, in Maryland, there is a pro-Democrat group, sending text messages out to Republicans, that is saying that Larry Hogan supported the -- or honored the election of 2020, as though it's a bad thing to turn Republicans away from voting for Larry Hogan.
So, here you go with Democrats, and you got to respect the -- respect that an election--
SIMMONS: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're--
ARRIGHI: --and then paying to, to sow doubt.
SIMMONS: I get it. You're complaining, though, about Democrats telling voters something that is a factual truth? That's very different--
ARRIGHI: Joe Biden won.
SIMMONS: --than telling -- that's very different than telling people something that is like the election's not going to happen on Tuesday.
(CROSSTALK)
ARRIGHI: But -- but -- but--
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Like that you won in New Mexico.
(CROSSTALK)
ARRIGHI: But they're -- but they're -- but they're playing to the doubt.
SIMMONS: Or we won an election that we didn't win.
ARRIGHI: They're playing to their doubt, which is dangerous.
COLLINS: Yes, but so is telling people you won New Mexico, and you didn't. Twice lost it by--
ARRIGHI: I agree with you.
COLLINS: --over 100,000 votes.
ARRIGHI: I'm with you.
COLLINS: Combined.
Everyone, thank you so much.
Stand by. Because, up next, we're going to talk to Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser. Trump referenced him by name tonight, not in nice terms. He called him an idiot and a, quote, nutjob.
Also, remember when the head of Trump's transition told me that RFK Jr. would not be getting a position in charge of a health agency? Well, will he?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: How good was Bobby Kennedy Jr.?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: He's going to take care of women's health, and men's health, and your children's health.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[21:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Liz Cheney was not the only focus of Donald Trump's ire tonight, when he was on stage, in Michigan.
The former President also went after one of his former top aides.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Her and that idiot, John Bolton, who was so stupid. But I loved him. You know why? He'd come into a room with me, would never say anything. And I'd be with foreign leaders.
And I didn't even have to act tough because they said, Look, that moron John Bolton, he's crazy. He's the one with Dick Cheney. He got Bush to go into the Middle East, right? Trump is going to go to war with us. And you know what would happen? They'd give me everything I wanted, because the guy's a nutjob.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Would you believe me if I told you that he was also his National Security Adviser?
Ambassador John Bolton joins me now.
And Ambassador. One, that was your first time hearing that, I should note. Two, Trump hired you, of course, about 10 years after you worked for President Bush. Your positions on military action were hardly a secret.
What is your response to what you heard tonight?
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Well, it's, I'm glad I'm still on his mind.
[21:20:00]
And the comments are typically juvenile. It's yet another demonstration, I think, why he's not qualified to be president. He can't carry on a policy argument. He responds with ad hominem attacks, when it suits him.
But I'm glad, I may have served the country's purposes by intimidating a few foreign dictators. If I did that, I'll sleep happily tonight.
COLLINS: Yes, I just, I mean, it's remarkable to hear it, given he directly hired you. I mean, I remember, when you were coming into the White House for job interviews, basically. We'd see you going into the Oval Office, through the West Wing entrance.
But when you hear that, and what we were just talking about, what Trump said today, and repeated about Liz Cheney, and you're hearing the defense articulated around it. Can't Donald Trump make an argument against someone's foreign policy views, without using violent imagery, like, Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her?
BOLTON: Well, I think -- I think this is very typical Trump. If you disagree with him, he -- it's not because of some substantive policy disagreement. It's that you're not doing what he wants to do. It's disloyalty. It's really a children's playground kind of approach.
I do think, in Liz Cheney's case, though, there's more to this that people are not catching. And that is, his criticism of her is not based on her being a war hawk or anything else. The fact is, she voted to impeach him, after January the 6th, and he cannot get it out of his head.
And that's why, notwithstanding, the comments were, were not about a firing squad directly, but about being in combat. It would be a pretty unusual situation, in the field, for one lone American soldier, suddenly to be confronted by nine enemy soldiers, pointing their rifles at her head.
So, I think, in Trump's mind, this effort to denigrate Liz, really, is based on the vote to impeach. And in his mind, this violent image, is very real, and it's disturbing. It's not the first time it's come up. And it's just typical, the way he goes after people. When you're -- when you're on the wrong side of Trump, there's no hope for in his mind.
COLLINS: But on the foreign policy front, I understand you're saying it has -- it has nothing to do with her views. It's just because she criticized him for January 6, for trying to overturn the election, and was on the committee that led that investigation, the January 6 committee.
He said that Cheney wanted to stay in Iraq. But look back at his record, as Commander-in-Chief, he kept troops in Iraq. He kept troops in Syria. He ordered the strike against the Iranian General Soleimani. I mean, when you look at what he's saying she did, and what he actually did as Commander-in-Chief, I think that's also worth a view.
BOLTON: Well, it's he never makes a mistake, it's always somebody else's mistake.
I mean, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, for example, although he's criticized Joe Biden, it was the Trump-Pompeo withdrawal agreement with the Taliban that Biden was carrying out. And that turned out to be a terrible mistake for the United States. But that gets into the substance of the policy disagreement, and Trump just isn't capable of carrying on a sustained discussion there. He translates that sort of thing, into a direct attack.
And he's very good. He's found a way to say things that are really outrageous, but with enough of a qualification that he can -- he can slough it off later. For example, saying he wants to be a dictator, but just on day one. Some people hear, Dictator, and they don't hear, Just the day one part. But it allows Trump to work both sides of the street.
And that's what he's done here. He's projected an image of violence, against Liz Cheney, but then said, No, no, I'm just criticizing her because she's a war hawk.
COLLINS: Yes, and you can criticize Biden, certainly, for the execution. Many have, many in his own party. But it was -- I remember, when Biden said he felt like he needed to live up to that agreement that Pompeo and Trump had with the Taliban.
BOLTON: But he had to do it.
COLLINS: And so, he viewed that as following in that presidency.
Overall, as we're talking about what happened four years ago, and what this looks like. We're about to hit Tuesday night. And there's, you know, we're hearing from the Harris campaign, they think Trump is going to come out and accept the results regardless.
Do you think Trump will accept the results of the election, if they're not in his favor, on Tuesday?
BOLTON: No, I don't think so. And I think we should be ready for it. People are already talking about the litigation that's been filed before Election Day. I actually think that's a good thing. I think the more issues that -- it's getting late now, obviously. But the more issues that are litigated before the election, the better.
In 2020, Trump complained only after he knew what the results were, when he really knew he had lost. And after the election's over, courts are very reluctant to intervene and say, You got to have a new one. It almost never happens.
[21:25:00]
At least now, some of this litigation is filed beforehand, and we're getting results, some favorable to Trump, some not favorable to Trump. It's taking those issues off the table.
But I think everybody ought to be ready. Because Trump never loses. And if he loses, it's because it's stolen. So it will be difficult. But bear in mind also, he'll be sitting by the swimming pool at Mar-a- Lago. He won't be in the Oval Office, this time. It's a very different environment. COLLINS: Yes. But we'll see, of course, what his campaign does, his attorneys that they have lined up, in certain states, and of course, his supporters.
Ambassador John Bolton, thank you for your time tonight.
BOLTON: Glad to be here.
COLLINS: My next guest was also name-checked by the former President at the rally tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He just lost 40,000, 50,000 jobs. This guy, the head of the Union. Shawn Fain, or whatever the hell his name is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: His name is indeed Shawn Fain. The UAW President is here, as Vice President Harris says Donald Trump would be an existential threat to U.S. labor.
[21:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Union members and their families make up about one out of every five voters in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, according to the AFL-CIO. And numbers like those, explain why both President Biden and Vice President Harris have been holding events to design -- that are designed to mobilize what is obviously has been, and is expected to be, in 2024, a very powerful voting bloc.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Donald Trump's track record is a disaster for working people, and he is an existential threat to America's labor movement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: You hear from the Vice President there, as a recent Reuters poll shows that there is still a split, in these voters, when it comes to looking at these two candidates. Right now, Harris does hold a lead with former union members or their families.
Given that, my source tonight is Shawn Fain, the President of the United Auto Workers and, as you heard before the break, on Donald Trump's mind tonight.
It's great to have you here.
As we're four days out from this, and we're looking at the blue wall, which are those three states I just listed. Whether or not they're all going to go together, what this will look like. We know how critical any margin of votes will be. You do have some rank-and-file members, UAW members supporting Donald Trump. Do you have any concern that your own members could maybe help put Donald Trump over the top, on Tuesday night?
SHAWN FAIN, PRESIDENT, UNITED AUTO WORKERS: Not at all. Look, we've been doing polling throughout. And a majority of our members supported Kamala Harris, from the start. And it's done nothing but increase since that time.
We've just done recent polling, week and a half ago. We've seen an overall jump of 20 percent more support for Kamala Harris than what we saw when we started doing polling. So, we had a majority of our members supporting her at the beginning, and we've seen that do nothing but go up.
COLLINS: So--
FAIN: It's because, we've talked about the issues that Kamala Harris stands for, and just showing the differences between Kamala Harris and Trump. And it's pretty clear who stands with us and who's against us.
COLLINS: So, your internal polling has showed that since she became a candidate, since we started hearing more for her -- from her, on her economic vision. I mean, how much would you say? How much has it gone up in the direction of how many more people are supporting her?
FAIN: We've seen numbers as much as 20 percent increase. And it was already, again, you know, it was already in the positive, so.
And we've actually seen, in polling our members, Trump had an overall in the negative, and negatives -- negative, I believe, is negative seven or negative nine, in viewpoint of our members. It's actually went down to negative 20, now.
So, it's actually, just by talking about our issues, and talking about where we stand on those issues, talking with our members, embrace -- engaging our members, and with our get-out-the-vote efforts--
COLLINS: Yes.
FAIN: --I mean, that we've just seen both -- go both directions.
COLLINS: You know--
FAIN: So, it's been great.
COLLINS: --we keep talking about the presidential race, on Tuesday night, obviously, biggest one we're going to be focusing on.
FAIN: Yes.
COLLINS: But the House and Senate, and who's controlling that is also at stake.
And I want you to listen to what House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, what he told Luke Radel, a student from Syracuse, when he was asked, Will he try to repeal the CHIPS Act, if they keep that majority.
Obviously, the CHIPS Act, for those who don't know, bipartisan law, encourages companies to make more semiconductor chips, here in the U.S. And I should note, timely for this sound bite you're about to hear, happens to be bringing $100 billion worth of investment to the Syracuse area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKE RADEL, STUDENT JOURNALIST, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: The former President has said that he doesn't support the CHIPS and Science Act. You voted against it. If you have a Republican majority in Congress, and Trump in the White House, will you guys try to repeal that law?
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I expect that we probably will. But we haven't developed that part of the agenda yet. We got to get over the election first. And that's why we're so happy to be in New York's 22nd.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: What's your reaction to that?
FAIN: It's just more the same. I mean, look, Trump, during the convention, the Republican Convention, he was railing against EV battery work, and the electric vehicle industry, the CHIPS Act, all those things.
Then all of a sudden, Elon Musk decides he's going to give him $45 million a month. And all the sudden, Elon Musk is great, and EV vehicles are OK, as long as Musk produces them.
And they can't decide which side they're on. As far as when it comes to workers, they want -- they want good sound bites, and they want to act like they care about workers. But at the end of the day, we know where they stand. They represent the billionaire class. That's who's funding Donald Trump's campaign. Three billionaires have given hundreds of millions -- billions of dollars to Trump's campaign. And it's just more the same.
I mean, under the Biden-Harris administration, we've seen more investment in manufacturing than any time in my life. And those -- they're creating jobs in America.
Donald Trump oversaw a mass exodus of manufacturing when he was president.
[21:35:00]
So, there's a huge difference, in who actually has done the work and proven they can bring manufacturing, keep jobs here, and who gave it all away.
COLLINS: Yes.
And I should note, Speaker Johnson says he misheard that question. An excellent question from Luke.
Shawn--
FAIN: I bet he did.
COLLINS: Shawn Fain, thank you so much for your time tonight.
FAIN: Thank you.
COLLINS: As far as we talk about who's going to win, on Tuesday, what a second term for Donald Trump would look like, what a first term for Harris as president would look like.
Right now, tonight, it's unclear what role Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could have in a second Trump term. But one thing is clear. He is going to have some kind of role, and it could lead to major changes in the nation's public health priorities.
RFK Jr. is a prominent anti-vaccine conspiracist, who claimed this week that Trump promised him control of U.S. public health agencies, like the Department of Health and Human Services, vital one that oversees the CDC and FDA.
But the business executive, who is planning Donald Trump's transition, in the personnel side of that, told me, here at this desk, earlier this week that RFK Jr. is not going to be a cabinet secretary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD LUTNICK, CO-CHAIR, TRUMP-VANCE TRANSITION TEAM, CHAIRMAN & CEO, CANTOR FITZGERALD: Round Up and Monsanto?
COLLINS: But you're saying--
LUTNICK: He went after that.
COLLINS: --he would not be in charge of HHS?
LUTNICK: No, of course not.
COLLINS: OK. So he's not going to be like an acting--
LUTNICK: He's not going to be the Secretary, no.
COLLINS: Well, he couldn't get confirmed.
LUTNICK: That's not what he wants to do.
COLLINS: But would he be in an acting position--
LUTNICK: That's not what he wants to do. He--
COLLINS: --or anything like that?
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Flash forward to Kennedy, on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, in Michigan today, where Trump did confirm his plan to put Kennedy in a health care role, should he win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We'll be talking about a lot of things. But he's going to have a big role in health care, a very big role. He knows it -- he knows it better than anybody. He's got some views that I happen to agree with, very strongly, and I have for a long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Of course, we heard those views echoed here, earlier this week, by Howard Lutnick, anti-vaccine views, debunked ones as well.
Vice President Harris responded to that comment, today, saying the RFK should have nothing to do with Americans' health, in her view.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: He has indicated that the person who would be in charge of health care for the American people is someone who has routinely promoted junk science, and who is the exact last person in America, who should be setting health care policy for America's families and children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Up next. It has been eight years since the infamous Access Hollywood tape. We all heard it. But now, it's making a comeback in an unusual way. There are voters, who have never heard it before, spreading it on TikTok. I'll tell you more, after a quick break.
[21:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It has been eight years since the world first heard the Access Hollywood tape, where Trump was bragging about being able to sexually assault women, and then was elected president just weeks later.
But now, as we close in on the 2024 race, some young voters on TikTok are coming across that video, for the first time ever, and sharing their reactions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn't get there. And she was married.
I'm automatically attracted to beautiful -- I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
BILLY BUSH, AMERICAN RADIO HOST: Whatever you want.
TRUMP: Grab 'em by the (bleep). You can do anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: My political sources are here.
Tara Palmeri is Puck's Senior Political Correspondent.
Gretchen Carlson is back.
Along with our CNN Senior Data Reporter, Harry Enten.
And Gretchen. What's so fascinating, I mean, these views are getting million -- these videos are getting millions of views on TikTok. And a lot of these are younger voters who, maybe, were in junior high when eight years ago this video came out. And also, these are people who came of age in the Me Too movement. So it's interesting to see their reaction to this.
CARLSON: One of the most disappointing things to me, when this first happened, eight years ago, was that it pretty much was brushed aside. I mean, Billy Bush was fired from the TODAY show, and--
COLLINS: That's who's laughing in the background.
CARLSON: And Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. And there were at least a dozen other women, who had come out and accuse Trump of sexual misconduct. And their stories, I felt so sorry for them, because they were -- they were discounted, for the most part in the end.
And this was really hard for me, too, because my story at Fox had only come out, three months prior, and it was difficult to see that this kind of behavior was not taken seriously. It's why I've dedicated my life, for the last eight years, to make workplaces safer.
But I think what's so refreshing to me in seeing this TikTok trend, is that these young women are looking at this, with a pure reaction, and they're disgusted, and they're having a real reaction that I think so many women hoped had happened eight years ago.
And I guess what, how I would sum it up, is that people who voted for Trump put policy ahead of behavior. And I think that that's still happening today.
COLLINS: We hear that a lot from voters.
And Tara, you have some really interesting reporting out from inside the Trump campaign. They had been feeling pretty good. But certain numbers have them nervous, in Pennsylvania. It's first-time women voters. I mean, what are you hearing from sources? They think they're going to break for Harris?
TARA PALMERI, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK, HOST, RINGER'S "SOMEBODY'S GOTTA WIN" PODCAST: Yes, I mean, they assume that these first-time female voters are likely young women, who never voted before. And they're coming out, almost two to one, to these young male voters, these low-propensity male voters, specifically in the swing state of Pennsylvania, which is their sort of all-or-nothing state that they're really banking on right now.
And, yes, they're seeing these figures. It's not just the seniors that are breaking for Harris. It's these young girls that are coming out in droves.
And you hear Charlie Kirk. He's the head of Turning Point. He is, you know, he makes misogynistic comments, all the time. And he's like, Men go out and vote now. Women are voting two times. They're disproportionately out-voting you. Or you're going to have to listen to Kamala's cackling voice.
That is how he thinks that he's going to drive men out.
[21:45:00]
So obviously, they're just really, I think, just feeding the flames and driving women out, even more. And then, you see these videos just kind of reappear, which is a gift to the Harris campaign.
COLLINS: Yes. Well, and that's such an interesting argument, because they're not saying, Hey women, here's why you should vote for Trump. They are going so hard after the young male vote, Harry.
But I was listening to something today, and it was talking about how those are usually the lowest propensity voters. I mean, they're the least likely to turn out, on Election Day.
And when they're looking at the campaign numbers, internally, in Trump-world, it seems like they are banking on them, coming out, on Tuesday.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL DATA REPORTER: Well, they better hope and pray that they come out, on Tuesday.
We've spoken about it on this program before. Look, we have a gender gap in our electorate. There's no doubt about that. The gender gap, this year, looks like it's going to be wider than it was last time around, in large part because male voters see more apt to back Trump than they did four years ago.
But where the gender gap is truly large is among those under the age of 30, right? Where women under the age of 30 look like they're going to back Harris by anywhere from 30 to 40 (ph) points.
While young men look like they're going to back Trump by 20 points. And of course, if those folks don't show up? Well then Donald Trump has a massive problem on his hand.
That, to me, is probably the most interesting nugget from the early vote data, which normally I mostly dismiss. But the fact that women are turning out in such large numbers, the question ultimately is, is what is the margin among them, and what does the Election Day electorate look like? And if you have the answer to that one, you can tell me.
COLLINS: Yes, well, I don't have the answer to that.
ENTEN: Darn.
COLLINS: But it come as they're -- everyone's trying to read the tea leaves into the early voting. I know, you're skeptical of doing so because you just don't know.
But Julia Roberts is voicing ads for Harris, where she's saying, Hey, don't forget, women, your ballot is a secret ballot. No one will know how you voted on this.
And it comes as there is one in eight women, who say that they've secretly voted differently than their partners have. That's according to a YouGov poll.
CARLSON: And you have MAGA men who are way over on the right side being very upset at Julia Roberts, for doing this kind of ad.
And I'll take it a step more from what Tara said. Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist, has actually tweeted out that women shouldn't be able to vote anymore.
PALMERI: Oh, jeez.
ENTEN: Well that's garbage.
CARLSON: As a result of this.
PALMERI: OK.
CARLSON: So, you know? But this is where we are.
PALMERI: Right.
CARLSON: Right? And I think that there may be some secret women out there, who at home are telling people that they are going to vote for Trump. And when they go to cast their ballot, they are by themselves. So, we don't know those numbers.
And if Harry did?
ENTEN: I'd share them with you.
PALMERI: Well--
CARLSON: You would share them.
PALMERI: OK. I have to tell you, from my reporting inside the Trump campaign.
It's not just Pennsylvania, where they're worried about the gender divide. It's also in Michigan, where there're just naturally more female voters there than men. And it's also, they're seeing a lot of these young people come from the universities, and they're coming out there, and they also assume that a lot of these young women voters are going to come out.
I mean, for so long, they have been banking on these low-propensity podcast bros, to come out and bail them out. But it was a risky bet all along. And a lot of their figures were based on this idea that first-time low-propensity voters were going to come out and bail them out. But it looks like a lot of those first-time voters are women, and they're more likely breaking for Harris.
COLLINS: How are -- how are -- and this is Trump, it's Trump's "Bro" tour, as we've named it, where he's doing all these podcasts. They really do think this is an effective strategy. They think it just reaches more people in these settings.
Harry, are men voting for Harris? What are the -- can we see what those numbers, or any movement in that?
ENTEN: I mean, what we have generally seen in the numbers is that men are -- obviously, Republicans normally win the support of men, right?
But what we're seeing is basically a break-even point where, essentially, women are voting for Harris by, let's say, a 12- or 13- point margin nationally. Men voting for Trump by a 10- to 15-point margin nationally. Depending on which poll you look at.
But I'll tell you this much. Normally, there are more women that vote than men, and the Harris campaign will take those numbers if they actually come to fruition.
COLLINS: Any final thoughts, Gretchen--
CARLSON: Yes, just -- just--
COLLINS: --on what you're looking at, in that -- those numbers?
CARLSON: Just that these TikTok women give me hope that there actually has been a culture change, and that many survivors, there are hundreds and thousands of us out there, that they can feel as if something good has come from it.
COLLINS: Yes. Well, and I hate to disappoint Nick Fuentes. But I did vote today, so.
ENTEN: Good for you.
COLLINS: Sorry -- sorry for that.
CARLSON: I did too.
ENTEN: Garbage personality shouldn't be listened to.
COLLINS: Thanks everyone for being here.
Up next. If you are stressed, as so many people are, about what is going to happen, on Tuesday night, just the election, generally, we're going to talk to Bobby Flay. The celebrity chef is here, to talk about what he is cooking up, as the results are coming in. Also the economic impact, that jobs report we saw today, what does something like that mean for restaurants? And of course, his new book. That's next.
[21:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The last significant piece of economic data, before Election Night, came out today. 12,000 new jobs were added last month. That is not a typo. 12,000. That's because there were two major hurricanes, and a huge strike that had a negative impact on that data.
The economy, of course, has been a major issue, a top issue, for a lot of voters. And that has been something certainly on the minds of the Harris and Trump campaigns, as they're in battle ground Wisconsin, tonight. There are, our latest CNN polling shows no clear leader on which candidate voters trust more on the economy.
And joining me now is the celebrity chef, Bobby Flay, who is also the author of the new book, "Bobby Flay: Chapter One."
I want to talk to you about the book in a moment.
But as you know, we're in this moment, approaching the election. When we talk to voters, the economy is the number one issue, for so many of them, which obviously has impacts on the restaurant industry, on food prices, on people going out, when it comes to inflation.
I wonder what, from your vantage point, how you're seeing, how it's translating into that -- into your world.
BOBBY FLAY, CELEBRITY CHEF: Well, the restaurant business has gotten to be very, very difficult business to run, because everything just costs more. Labor, occupancy and cost of goods. I mean, those are the three buckets that are what make up the cost of our business.
[21:55:00]
And the restaurant business, traditionally, has always been a very low-margin business, even if you're packed. So, if you -- if you start taking away a point here, a point there, you're almost left with nothing.
And that's why a lot of people, in my industry, understand that, in some ways, the independent restaurant business in this country, especially in bigger cities, like New York, and L.A., and Miami, et cetera, is kind of broken. I mean, it's really become difficult. And if you -- if you look closely, you'll be -- you'll see that there's lots of restaurants that are not making it.
COLLINS: Well, I wonder, how you look at that now.
Because obviously, you have been incredibly successful, and have such an interesting story, of leaving high school at 16, getting your GED, getting into the restaurant world, which is a lot about what you talk about in this book. You talk about it being like the first half of your career, which is why you titled it "Chapter One," I presume.
But looking back on that now, if you -- if you had started in this environment, what would that have been like, for Bobby Flay?
FLAY: I don't think I could have. I mean, that's really -- that's really the concern for me. As somebody who is sort of a veteran of this business. I'm really concerned for the younger people, who are now getting an opportunity, who have the skills, who have the work ethic, who have all the fundamentals, to be able to do this. The question is, can they actually do it? Because the opportunities are going to be few.
And that's really, for me, it's a bummer, because we want this, you know, the restaurant business, when you think -- when you think about like a restaurant -- when you think about a city like New York, which is where I'm from. I'm a native New Yorker.
COLLINS: We can hear it.
FLAY: Can you?
COLLINS: Yes.
FLAY: OK, I'm sorry, I'll tone down the accent.
COLLINS: From your accent.
FLAY: You know, it's the heartbeat of the city.
COLLINS: Yes.
FLAY: The restaurant business is the heartbeat of the city. And you notice that, during the pandemic, when all the lights went out in the restaurants. But when the restaurant started putting their lights on, people started sort of waking up a little bit.
And it's unfortunate. And I think that that -- it needs to get fixed.
COLLINS: Yes. And when you look at this, also in this political season. I don't know if you've heard, there's an election coming up, in a--
FLAY: Yes.
COLLINS: --in a few days from now?
FLAY: Yes, I just read that.
COLLINS: It's given people a lot of anxiety. We've talked to people on this show, voters that we talked to, it's kind of this looming over everything kind of sense. And it's very anxiety-inducing and stress- inducing for a lot of people. A lot of people cook when they're stressed.
I wonder, you know, I mean, people do turn to food.
FLAY: Yes.
COLLINS: I mean, not me, because I can't cook.
FLAY: Right.
COLLINS: But for people who do, what would you recommend cooking? What should people make as there are looking for comfort food? They're at home. They're trying to kind of shut out what's happening out in the world.
FLAY: Yes, I mean, that's actually -- that's actually, that's a very, very astute, observation, Kaitlan. I think -- I think, like, I think that food really makes us feel good in times of stress. And I think you're right about that.
And so, for me, personally, when I'm stressed out, and I want to use food as medicine, so to speak? You just want your house to smell good. So how do you do that, right? You start cooking.
Especially in this time of the year, in sort of the colder regions of the country, you cook things that are -- cooking things, like short ribs and roasts and roasting chickens, and things that like, like, take a long time to cook in your oven, but make the rest of your house smell really good, when somebody walks in the house. And I think there's something incredibly comforted -- comfortable about that.
COLLINS: Yes. So, we're used to doing the grilling around here with our guests.
FLAY: What do you mean? Other -- OK. Got it. I was going to like, Wait, you grill?
COLLINS: Not literal grilling.
FLAY: Yes, yes.
COLLINS: Obviously, I don't even know how to, like, turn an oven on. But I did do beat Bobby Flay.
FLAY: You did.
COLLINS: I don't want to have any spoilers. But -- and I think I knew, like, two of the ingredients that were used.
But what was your estimation for those watching of my performance?
FLAY: Your performance was very good.
And the thing I loved about having you on "Beat Bobby Flay," was it showed a very different side of you. I mean, we see you every night at 9 o'clock, as THE SOURCE, you know? And like, obviously, you take your job very seriously, and you should. You're an important journalist.
But to see you kind of, like, kick back a little bit, and show your Alabama roots a little. We see that during football season, of course. But it was nice to see you, kind of like, get a little casual and have fun. It was great.
COLLINS: Yes, it was a lot of fun.
FLAY: Yes.
COLLINS: Bobby Flay, congrats on the book.
FLAY: Thank you so much for having me.
COLLINS: It's excellent. And it's your first kind of coffee table book.
FLAY: It really is. It is. Chapter One.
COLLINS: And it's beautiful. Well, what is Chapter Two going to be?
FLAY: Chapter Two? Maybe I'll run for Mayor of New York. That might be my second chapter.
COLLINS: Oh my God. Please. Who are you -- are you writing me in for President, by the way?
FLAY: Sure. You ready?
COLLINS: No.
FLAY: OK.
COLLINS: I don't think I'm actually at the age limit yet. But I'm getting close. I'll meet again.
FLAY: Oh, my. OK. Thanks.
COLLINS: Bobby Flay, thank you very much.
And up next, later tonight, before I'm on "Beat Bobby Flay," later this season, you can catch me on Turner Classic Movies. It's the final week of the Making Change limited series.
[22:00:00]
Turner Classic Movies has been airing the biggest political films throughout the election, partnering with people, who work in film, or news, or politics, to give context and commentary.
And tonight, I am introducing one of my favorite movies, "The Candidate," starring a young Robert Redford. You can see that at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on TCM.
Thank you so much for joining us.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts now.
