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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Extremely Tight Presidential Race With 13 Days To Go; Harris In Battleground Pennsylvania For CNN Town Hall; President Biden Said Trump Should Be "Locked Up Politically"; John Kelly Says Trump Fits Definition Of Fascist; New Book Reveals Concerning Stories About Biden's Mental Fitness; Harris Asked Whether She Was Honest About Biden's Mental Fitness; One-On-One With Activist Targeted In Assassination Attempt; GA Election Official: Zero Evidence Of Machines Flipping Votes; Rudy Giuliani Reacts To Judge's Ruling Defamation Case. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 23, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:01:01]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The stage is set, and in just a few hours, Vice President Kamala Harris is going to be here live for a CNN's town hall with Pennsylvania voters. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. And we're live in Delco, also known as Delaware County, one of the collar counties of Philadelphia. If you've heard the phrase before, it's because these counties played a crucial role in so many elections, and they will play a critically important role again this year.

We're just 13 days away from Election Day, and while the vice president is heading here for tonight's debate -- I mean, for tonight's event, Donald Trump is on the campaign trail in Georgia, another critical battleground. Trump's team is also fighting to deflect from and discredit a report in the Atlantic and another one in "The New York Times" that says, while President Trump told his staff, quote, "I need the kind of generals that Hitler had," people who were totally loyal to him, that follow orders, that coming from Trump's longest serving Chief of Staff, John Kelly, the retired Marine General, who has also told the "Times" that Trump would rule like a dictator if re-elected, and that he meets the definition of a fascist and that he does not understand America or the Constitution. The Trump campaign has called Kelly's accusations, quote, "debunked stories" and said that General Kelly suffers from Trump derangement syndrome, and Vice President Harris reacted earlier today to these stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know what Donald Trump wants. He wants unchecked power. The question in 13 days will be, what do the American people want?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I want to bring in CNN's Jeff, Zeleny.

And Jeff, let's start with tonight's town hall. How is the Harris campaign preparing?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Jake, the vice president sees this in two phases. She wants to persuade voters and mobilize voters at the same time, those are the marching orders to her campaign for the next about week and a half or so. And by persuading voters, that is really reaching out to the undecided and the persuadable voters in this audience tonight, and that is trying to again repeat what she did earlier today by trying to disqualify former President Donald Trump. You may wonder what could possibly be said now that has not already been said --

TAPPER: Yes.

ZELENY: -- over and over. I talked to one adviser who said it does take repetition, and now that more people are paying attention, the former president's own words every single day is something that she is seizing on every single day. It's been pretty extraordinary. If you're at her rallies, she now has big screens. She's playing his words at her rally. So I expect her, she intends to, I'm told, talk about the generals comment here tonight as part of her disqualification message.

But mobilization is also part of her effort. She still needs to get people to vote who are ambivalent, are exhausted, are sort of tired of all of this. So she has a two prong strategy here tonight that's going to really, you know, exemplify what she needs to do for the next week and a half of this campaign.

TAPPER: And so, Trump's down in Georgia, another big battle around, what's his message today? What is he saying?

ZELENY: Look, he's been speaking to some religious voters, religious groups, his campaign has been pushing back very hard against these generals comments. You hear the term Trump derangement syndrome, you and I have heard that a lot.

TAPPER: Yes.

ZELENY: It has been sort of a central theme of what they've said. Look, they do not believe it cost them any votes of Trump supporters. But again, the question, what about those voters in the middle? The Harris campaign really believes there are some movable independents and moderate Republicans, the one that Liz Cheney is trying to go after, they believe they may be concerned about these. So the Trump campaign is pushing back hard against this.

The former president had some shots to the vice president saying she's not campaigning again. She's been campaigning a lot. Both of them have been campaigning a lot, putting a lot of miles on, but not a lot new from him otherwise today.

TAPPER: We just heard from Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker that she was campaigning in South Philly with Vice President Harris earlier today at Famous Deli, one of my -- one of my old haunts when I was a kid.

Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much. I want to bring in CNN political contributors, Van Jones and David Urban.

And David, I just spoke with Mayor Parker, and she seemed confident that Harris is going to do well in Pennsylvania. You are now a Floridian, but you used to be a Pennsylvanian. What do you think?

[17:05:05]

DAVID URBAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I used to live, right. But right by where you're at, Jake, I used to live in Delaware County for a long time in Aston. I took president -- former President Trump to Aston on two occasions trying to win that elusive Delaware County vote. And it's tough. It's tough. Those Philly suburbs are tough to wrestle away.

And you know this very well, Jake, to win the state of Pennsylvania, win the Commonwealth for any Republican, the key is to not lose Philadelphia in those suburbs by a huge margin. And I would say that smart for the vice president to be there tonight at that -- in Aston, those are places she's going to have to drive up the numbers. And you know there -- if she gets, you know, close to, you know, a million votes out of Philly and, you know, wins by a big margin like that's going to be pretty tough for President Trump to win.

But I would just say this, Jake, if I could ask her one question tonight, I'd ask her, what do you think about Bob Casey running ads with Donald Trump in them? Not you. I'd like to hear a response to that.

TAPPER: It's a good question. But you know, this is going to be undecided voters in the audience, David, and I don't think you're an undecided voter, nor are you a Pennsylvanian anymore. You moved to Florida.

Van, let me ask you about something President Biden said when speaking to New Hampshire Democrats. He was talking about Donald Trump. Let's roll that clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We got to lock him up. Politically lock him up. Lock him up, that's what we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: He said, we got to lock him up. And then he realized, whoops, I shouldn't have said that. And then he said, politically, lock him up, which is, by the way, not an expression. And as they would be malpractice if they didn't, the Trump campaign is all over that comment.

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, sure. Look, I think Biden has done a good job overall trying to stay away from this trap of seeming like he's politicizing Department of Justice, et cetera. He's done a good job today. Today he split his mouth. He took it right back out.

Tried to switch it up. But this is really no longer about Joe Biden. This is about Kamala Harris and a Donald Trump who has so alarmed four star generals, so alarmed people whose job to protect America that they are breaking precedent and coming out and saying Donald Trump is a danger. If you are an undecided voter and you're trying to figure out what to do, yesterday should have been a very sobering moment.

The worst thing that Kamala Harris is going to do is maybe you won't like her tax policy. The worst thing that Donald Trump is going to do is now an unknowable threat. You've never seen a Chief of Staff, you've never seen the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff come in and say, this man is dangerous. It's never happened. And so, this is -- these aren't people running for office. These are not people who are part of any kind of a Democratic Party operation.

These are people who feel that their responsibility to the country means they must break their silence. And I think if you're trying to figure out what to do now at this point, yesterday should have been a very sobering moment.

TAPPER: Well, David, let's talk about that, because I am interested --

URBAN: Yes.

TAPPER: -- you're military veteran, and John Kelly and General Milley obviously served honorably. And Kelly said in this to "The New York Times," in reference to Trump, let's roll that clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KELLY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, looking at the definition of fascism, it's a far right, authoritarian, ultra nationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized hypocrisy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now David, obviously the Trump campaign is going after General Kelly hard. What do you think?

URBAN: Look I like John Kelly. He's a good man. Served his country honorably. General Mark Milley, good guys, you know, they serve their country. Both they're entitled to their opinion.

John Kelly was asked -- he was asked, basically the guy just read the definition, was asked, do you think if Donald Trump falls within that? If I read to you the definition of a socialist, Jake, and said, do you think Kamala Harris falls within the definition of a socialist? You'd say, yes, she pretty much does. So, if we're going to take the, you know, OED out and start looking up definitions, you know, I don't think it's very helpful. I don't think it's useful to brand people.

I don't think it's going to be useful. I think it's going to be sticky. But, you know, Jake, what we're battling here in this Philly suburbs is that RJC ad that was filmed at Hymie's versus, you know, Kamala Harris, calling Trump, you know, a fascist and not, you know, identifying with Hitler. So, which one of those is going to win out in the Philly suburbs? That's the question.

JONES: Yes, look, I --

TAPPER: So Hymie delicatessen ad. Go ahead, Van. Go jump in. Sorry.

JONES: No, I'm just saying that you and I kind of bounce the definitions around on T.V. is one thing. But when somebody who was the Chief of Staff, this is the right hand comes out, waving his arms, screaming and yelling, jumping up and down, saying, please record my words, I don't want it read on "New York Times, I want it heard by the whole world, this guy is a dangerous person. I think that's a big deal. I do think it's --

[17:10:14]

URBAN: You know, Van, I wish, and Jake, I wish that John Kelly would come on your show, Jake, and you could sit down have a more fulsome interview, so we wouldn't get some interpreter, you know, reporters, you know clipped parsing. I'd like for you to interview him, Jake, and really hear what he has to say, because I think it's important.

TAPPER: Pretty fulsome.

JONES: Already.

TAPPER: From your mouth to God's ears, Van Jones, David Urban, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

So what is the Harris campaign strategy heading into tonight's town hall? And what are their plans for the final 13 days of the race? I'm going to be joined by one of the Harris campaign co-chairs ahead. Plus, new revelation show people who interacted with President Biden were concerned about his mental fitness more than a year ago. Those details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:07]

TAPPER: And we're back with our 2024 lead, cue the election music, please. You know, I love that jam. And folks, we're just 13 days away from Election Day. Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump are in their final campaign. Friends, Harris is coming here to Delaware County, Pennsylvania, one of the collar counties outside Philly.

Harris is here for tonight CNN town hall, where she has a chance to sway persuadable undecided voters. Meanwhile, Trump, who declined to be part of CNN's town hall, although you can always change your mind, Mr. Trump, waters warm, anyway, he's holding a rally tonight in Georgia. Let's bring in my panel of political experts to discuss. Kate, Bob Woodward reveals in his new book "War" about donors last summer, 2023, concerned about Biden's mental fitness after interacting with him at a fundraiser in June, 2023. Woodward writes, quote, "guests describe their interactions with Biden as painful. "He never completed a sentence" said Bill Reichblum," co-founder and president of Liberties Journal Foundation, who attended with his wife and father-in-law, a former U.S. ambassador to Romania." Quote, "He would start to talk about something, jump somewhere else. He told the same story three times in exactly the same way and it meandered so much.

It was striking."

I do think that one of the reasons why this election is so close is because people don't know much about Kamala Harris, and that decision dates back to the decision to for Biden to stay in the race until he wasn't.

KATE BEDINGFIELD. FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, I think part of the reason this election is closed is because there is across the world, an anti-incumbent sentiment that Kamala Harris is having to navigate and message against. I think, given that she has been in the race for 100 days, she's done a tremendous amount to move up both her own favorability. She's moved it, I think, 15 points in the 100 days that she's been in the race, almost 100 days. And she's made progress on the question of, who do you trust more on the economy. So, you know, I think she has done a lot in the amount of time that she has had to move the race in her direction.

You know, and on this question of Biden. I mean, look, I left the White House in March of 2023, my experience with Joe Biden was that he was competent. He was capable. He was effective. And I think as voters are looking today at who to vote for, you've got Donald Trump out saying, you know, he wishes he had generals like Hitler, and you have Kamala Harris talking about what she wants to do to make sure that women still have reproductive freedom in this country and improve the economy for the middle class, and that's the choice that people are going to have.

TAPPER: So I'm not grilling you about what you knew in then.

BEDINGFIELD: Oh, but you're not to.

TAPPER: But Hallie Jackson of NBC did have a question for Kamala Harris on that topic. If we could roll that clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALLIE JACKSON, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: You defended him in the days before and in the days after as you were campaigning for another four years for President Biden. Can you say that you were honest with the American people about what you saw in those moments with President Biden as you were with him again and again, repeatedly in that time?

HARRIS: Of course, Joe Biden is an extremely accomplished, experienced and capable in every way that anyone would want if they're president. Absolutely. JACKSON: You never saw anything like what happened at the debate night behind closed doors with him?

HARRIS: It was a bad debate. People have bad debates.

JACKSON: Should he --

HARRIS: But he is absolutely --

JACKSON: But that's the reason why you're here, and he's not running for the top of the ticket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Shermichael.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's not a bad debate. I mean, a bad debate, you stay in the race, Jake. The President had to drop out of the race for a reason, and I think this does lend to some credibility issues for the vice president, particularly with some of those moderate leaning Republicans. It's one thing to expect those individuals who lean to the right to vote for someone like Joe Biden. Joe Biden, I would even argue, as a conservative, was typically a traditional centrist leaning Democrat. I could see how some Republicans could justify that vote.

You look at someone like a Kamala Harris, and I would argue Republicans have done a pretty effective job of painting the vice president as an Uber progressive individual who's all of a sudden, as of late, attempting to change some of her previous ideological dispositions as it pertains to policy, because she's running for the top of the ticket. I think tonight's going to be fundamental for her. But as I'm looking at it, there's still some cracks within the Democratic base for Vice President Harris, particularly among communities of color. She is still around nine to 10 points behind where she needs to be traditionally speaking. We saw President Obama, former President Obama, speak about this a week or two ago.

So it's good that she's here, but she really should be talking to black voters where they are, because that's the base. You've got to turn out your base at this stage of the game. And I certainly don't believe she's doing enough of that.

TAPPER: What do you think of this whole thing?

GRETCHEN CARLSON, JOURNALIST: I think that that is a very astute point. And in fact, I was going to say what I believe she should do tonight is also speak to Latinos. I mean, that is another area where she is down well below from where President Biden was in the last election.

I also think she needs to speak to young men. There's been a 14 point swing from President Biden to Donald Trump amongst Gen Z young men. And why is that? Because Donald Trump is speaking a lot about machismo and masculinity and these disenfranchised young men who don't see hope in their future and in the economy, they're now saying that they're going to vote for Donald Trump. She needs to offer tonight a message of hope to young men that there is an economy for them, that there are jobs out there for them, that there is a future for them, a very important message.

[17:20:28]

And of course, to women, she needs to galvanize her support amongst women tonight, not only on abortion, but other issues, to make sure they go out and vote. And to your point, Shermichael, make sure African-American women go vote because they have decided every Democratic president in the past history.

TAPPER: So I live with the Gen Zer, my son, Jack, he's 15, and I said this the other day, like, you know, he's on Discord and he watches YouTube, and I don't think Democrats are trying to reach him. He's only 15. You don't have to worry about him voting. But, like, I don't think -- but Donald Trump does a YouTube interview like every day. I mean, there is a strategy.

Republicans are -- it's a smart strategy. I've heard Dan Pfeiffer has said this, the Democrats need to be doing more to go after Gen Z man.

BEDINGFIELD: Sure. And I think -- well, I think you've seen the Harris campaign, you've seen Tim Walz as a primary messenger. You've seen him out doing all sorts of kind of nontraditional media. So I don't think Democrats are ignoring those media platforms. But I certainly agree with Gretchen, there is work to be done for Democrats with young men in particular.

TAPPER: I think Bernie did a discord chat last night, I think, if -- I don't even -- didn't even know what Discord was recently.

CARLSON: Me as well.

TAPPER: Thanks to all of you.

Don't miss CNN's town hall with Vice President Harris. That's coming up. It starts at 9:00 p.m. It's going to be moderated by my friend and colleague, Anderson Cooper. I will be part of will be part of the coverage, though, before and after tonight's event.

So, don't worry, you'll get plenty of me. Again, that's 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Federal prosecutors have charged four Iranians in an alleged plot to kill a New York based journalist and activists. That journalist and activist joins me live next to react to these charges. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:26:22]

TAPPER: And we're back with our world lead. North Korea just sent 1000s of troops to train in eastern Russia, according to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. In another sign of those two countries increasingly cozy relationship, a senior Biden administration officials telling CNN if Russian leader Vladimir Putin is preparing them to fight in Ukraine, that's a sign of Russia's major desperation. CNN's Will Ripley has been to North Korea 19 times over the past decade.

Will, what's in this for North Korea?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they can get revenue from sending the soldiers abroad. They can get real time combat training that they haven't had ever overseas in the scale that we're talking about here. Ukraine's president said 10,000 South Korea, said possibly 12,000 North Korean troops, many of them believed to be elite special forces that are training right now in the deep, far east of Russia at this very Spartan, kind of barren military base in Sergeyevka. This is, as I said, potentially a bigger North Korean overseas deployment than the world has ever seen, even going back to Vietnam when they actually sent, you know, soldiers to observe and whatnot. This time, they're actually -- they're getting their uniforms.

They're getting training their satellite imagery from this area of far eastern Russia, which is just a few 100 or so kilometers from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, more than 4,000 miles from the front lines of Ukraine. About what South Korean intelligence believes is that these soldiers, again, 1000s of them, according to the United States and others, that they might be making that long journey from the far east of Russia to the front lines of Ukraine. What their role will be the United States and others are still assessing, but it's obviously a very interesting and troubling development considering, Jake, there also North Korea has been sending ballistic missiles and a lot of weapons that the North Koreans will now be able to get real time data and feedback about how their weapons operate on the battlefield. Ukraine has said that ballistic missiles from North Korea have killed civilians, including children, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Will Ripley in Taiwan, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Also on our world lead, the U.S. Justice Department just charged an Iranian government official with an alleged murder for hire plot on American soil. Their target, New York based Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad, who is a vocal critic of Iran's repressive regime. The U.S. believes that the July 2022 plot involved a high ranking member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and several others connected to Iran, who directed members of an Eastern European organized crime ring to carry out this assassination, which thankfully was not carried out. Masih Alinejad joins us now.

Masih, it's great to see you. This is the first time this IRGC official, Ruhollah Bazgandhi has been accused by name in the attempt on your life. What was your first thought when you heard the news?

MASIH ALINEJAD, IRANIAN-AMERICAN JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST: That's beautiful. I mean, to be honest, before the Islamic Republic hired members of a criminal syndicate from Eastern Europe, so but now we have proof that this time senior member of Revolutionary Guards who has actually strong ties with Qasem Soleimani, another general Iranian members of Revolutionary Guards who actually was killed by the United State of America. So that shows you the regime in Iran can go that far to get rid of their dissidents, U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.

TAPPER: Do you think that these charges will make Iran's regime second get any future plans to attack Iranian dissidents and activists such as yourself on American soil or foreign soil?

[17:30:04]

ALINEJAD: Actually, I forgot to say why it's a beautiful day for me, because I'm seeing their embarrassment, Jake. It is amazing that now they are being humiliated. It's a big embarrassment for the regime to be now exposed publicly by the law enforcement of United State of America, which is -- I'm very pleased. But I think that this is just the beginning. We need actions now.

If they don't see strong action, they still see that the U.S. government want to negotiate with them, want to get back to nuclear deal. So then, there is no reason for them to target more Iranians, more U.S. citizens, more U.S. officials. Because the Islamic Republic only understand one language, their language is hostage taking, killing, assassination. So, now I'm waiting for the future president of United State of America to see how they're going to deal with the negotiators of terror.

TAPPER: Taking us big step back. Russia's leader, Vladimir Putin, seems to be embracing Iran. But Israel is continuing to degrade Iran's proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah. What's your current assessment of Iran's influence on the world stage?

ALINEJAD: To be honest, this is the Islamic Republic creating chaos, mayhem in the region. A lot of people in Iran now as I always say they celebrate the killing of the top members of Revolutionary Guards by the Israeli government. You know although they never welcomed war but this -- and they believe that this is the war of Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic.

But at the same time, people of Iran are fed up because they know that their money goes to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to Houthi in Yemen. Not only that, going to Putin as you mentioned, to kill innocent Ukrainians, the -- the -- the weapons being provided by the Islamic Republic. So, for that we believe this is -- there is only one way to end, first, war and second, to free Palestine, to free Iran. This is the only solution to end the Islamic Republic, the regime that is actually creating chaos everywhere to survive.

They're killing women, Jake, women. As I always said in your show, they scared of women's hair. This is the regime that we are talking.

TAPPER: Yes.

ALINEJAD: Killing is in their DNA. So, now Iranians are really watching closely to see what's going to happen. But I hope the U.S. government do the right thing and stand in the right side of the history because this is not a part -- partisan issue. When it comes to the National Security of the United State of America, I think Republicans, Democrats they must be united.

TAPPER: Masih Alinejad thank you so much and we're glad you're seeing some justice.

Also in our World Lead today, it occurs to me that many of our young people have either not been taught or they fail to retain certain historical facts, in particular, about what happened on this very day, October 23rd in 1983, as seen right here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GWEN SOMMERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We interrupt this program to bring you this bulletin. This just in from Beirut, at least 40 U.S. marines and 10 French soldiers are dead after two explosions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Exactly 41 years ago today, a truck carrying 2,000 pounds of explosives, drove into the U.S. marines' compound in Beirut, Lebanon and exploded, 241 U.S. military personnel, including 220 marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers were killed. That was and remains the single deadliest day in U.S. Marine Corps history since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. Minutes after that explosion, a second attack, another suicide bomber, killing 58 French paratroopers.

These attacks were carried out by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which the United States considers terrorists. And, yes, the same Hezbollah that's been firing missiles and drones into Northern Israel since October 7th of last year.

Now, back in 1983, all of the troops, the service members, the U.S., the French, Italians and British were in Beirut as part of an international effort to stabilize Lebanon and keep the peace after a brutal and devastating civil war. They were there to keep the peace and Hezbollah killed them. Here's then President Ronald Reagan on this date 41 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know there are no words that could express our sorrow and grief for the loss of those splendid young men. Likewise, there are no words to properly express our outrage. And I think the outrage of all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:35:05]

TAPPER: The outrage of all Americans. Then absolutely but today, I don't know. We see pictures of demonstrators in the U.S. and around the world waiving yellow Hezbollah flags. So, when you see young people waiving the Hezbollah flag, you should know even if those young people don't know that they are supporting this.

As Trump makes unfounded claims that this election could be stolen, we're going to get a reality check from one of the top battleground state election officials, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABRIEL STERLING, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE: There is literally zero, and I'm saying this to certain congress people in the State, zero evidence of machine slipping votes. And I claim was a lie to 2020 and is a lie now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: As Georgia election official, Gabe Sterling, today, calling out lawmakers in his state spreading election lies. Mr. Sterling joins us now. Thank you so much for joining us. And you noted there, it's elected leaders, you didn't name her, but Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the more infamous examples spreading these lies about voting machines in your state. Tell us what they're saying and what is actually true.

[17:40:11]

STERLING: Well, there's been several claims that there are reports of machines slipping votes. And it's really just not the case. The reality is especially this one case with her from Whitfield County, Georgia. There was an -- a senior citizen voter who printed her ballot and said, oh, I -- I didn't -- this isn't who I chose. And they follow the procedure. They went to the poll manager. They said let's go over here and let -- and we'll -- we'll spoil this ballot. We'll let you vote again. She was able to do it. A poll watcher came to her and said, were you satisfied with this outcome? And she said yes, absolutely. She told a couple people that story. It turned into a post and then is picked up by other people said machines are flipping votes, which is -- nobody claimed that actually happened.

TAPPER: A comment from Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger, Sunday, got a lot of pick up in Republican circle. So I'm going to play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: All early votes and all early accepted ballots, they all will have to have their results reported by 8:00 p.m. That's 70 maybe even 75 percent of all the vote totals will be reported no later than 8:00 p.m. on election night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Won't take seven days to tabulate votes, as he said?

RAFFENSPERGER: Absolutely not. But we will be waiting for is the overseas ballots that come in no later than Friday. And so, those will then be the final numbers. And we'll just see if that makes the difference in the total vote totals.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: So Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah is one of the elected officials, not exactly helping your cause. He -- he shared a post that inaccurately claimed that Raffensperger said that the results would not be ready for three days. That's not what he said. This is someone who's -- who's -- who's been re-elected twice, Mr. Raffensperger. He knows how the process works.

STERLING: Well, Senator Lee is just spreading mis -- misinformation -- misinformation. I can't say it any other way. I don't know if he doesn't understand the situation or not. The question that was asked is when will results be out there. And the Secretary was absolutely correct. By 8:00 p.m. or one hour after polls close, early votes and absentee votes have been processed which be probably 70, 75 percent of our votes if our record turnout keeps on going, will be up on the election reporting system by 8 o'clock. Then the -- for the rest of the evening by midnight, we will know absolutely how many people have voted on Election Day.

It is also true, that federal law says we protect our military and overseas voters if their ballots are post marked by Tuesday election day. They are accepted through Friday of that week. That is the law. And to try to say that we're extending the time is simply a lie and is misinform -- it's -- undermining people's faith yet again. I think it was really irresponsible for Senator Lee to do that.

TAPPER: CNN's Sean Lyngaas says some stunning reporting about Microsoft which says hackers lined to the govern -- allied with the Governor of Iran have researched election related websites in multiple U.S. swing states. So, so far no actual hacks but they have been poking around, these hackers. Do you know if this is happening in Georgia? What safeguards do you have to -- to combat any kind of nefarious cyberattack?

STERLING: Not familiar with any specific instances of Iranian's doing anything like that. But we have multiple layers of security around several systems. And is a misunderstanding, that is one of the reasons this information can take root so easily is people think, oh, hackers are doing something to the voting system.

The only thing that's ever online is the voter registration system, several layers of security around that. The actual voting machines themselves all across the country are not on the internet. They aren't really hackable at distance. And people have never understood that but that lack of understanding has been exploited by those who want to undermine people's confidence in our systems.

TAPPER: Gabe Sterling, thank you so much and thank you for what you do, sir, we really appreciate it.

[17:43:41]

Up next, I'm going to be joined live by a Harris campaign co-chair as we get closer and closer to tonight's CNN Town Hall. What can you expect to hear from the Vice President tonight, I'll ask him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: And we're back with some breaking news. Just in to our Law and Justice Lead, new reaction from Rudy Giuliani to the judge's ruling ordering him to hand over his penthouse in Manhattan and millions of dollars and more to those two Georgia election workers whom he defamed. Let's go to CNN's Katelyn Polantz. Katelyn, tell us more.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SERNIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: So, yesterday Rudy Giuliani got this order from the Federal court in New York. He would have to turn over basically anything he owns of value. Say for a condo in Florida that's still being sorted out to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. So he can start paying down that $150 million debt he owes to them for defaming them.

And finally, now a full day after getting that order, we're getting a statement through a spokesperson of Mayor Giuliani. His name is Ted Goodman. And Ted Goodman actually fills in the dots a little bit about the type of stuff Rudy Giuliani has that will now be in the control of Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss where they will be able to sell it off. It is things of significant value, including not just a Joe DiMaggio jersey that is signed that we talked about yesterday, Jake. It's a Joe DiMaggio jersey that was a personal gift to Giuliani from Joe DiMaggio.

Secondly, he also says there's something that he's giving to Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss that was a gift from the first soldiers who entered Afghanistan following September 11th. He doesn't specify that what that is. And then in addition to that, we know he's been ordered to turn over a 1980 Mercedes-Benz once owned by Lauren Bacall. Giuliani says now that is the only vehicle in his possession that he will be giving to these two women that they can sell.

His statement also says that he is being unfairly punished by partisan political activists. What he hasn't done however though, Jake, is done anything in court to try and thwart or over turn this order. It is on the books. And the day that he has to turn all of these things over is in seven days or six days as of today. Jake?

TAPPER: And what -- and what happens after that? I mean a -- a $150 million, I'm sure that that Lauren Bacall's Mercedes and the Joe DiMaggio jersey have tremendous worth but it's not $150 million worth.

POLANTZ: It's not and Giuliani has gone through the bankruptcy process to try and hold off these women from taking his -- his assets. He is going to be giving up a 6 -- $6.5 million penthouse apartment in New York. But his entire net worth is about $10 million, that's what the court record has told us.

[17:50:14]

And so, they're likely to come in, take possession of the property. Sell it off and then ultimately see if he has anything else that they can get from him. Including, they said yesterday they want to go after about $2 million Giuliani believes he is owed by the Trump campaign for the work he did in 2020.

TAPPER: OK. Good luck with that. Katelyn Polantz thanks so much. We're coming down with tonight's Town Hall with Vice President Kamala Harris. Her campaign co-chair just arrived. We're going to talk to him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we're back with our 2024 Lead. We are live from Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Delaware County, one of the color counties here surrounding Philadelphia in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In just a few hours, CNN's going to host a Town Hall with Vice President Kamala Harris who's hoping to win over undecided voters. There are only 13 days until Election Day.

[17:55:12]

I want to bring in Cedric Richmond, former Congressman from New Orleans, co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign. Cedric, thanks so much for joining us. So, what is her focus going to be on her message this evening?

CEDRIC RICHMOND, CO-CHAIR, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN: I think she's just going to talk directly to the American people through the people at the Town Hall. She'll listen to their concerns, answer their questions and show them that they are their -- her priority and that election is really about the voters. And making sure she addresses the concerns of inflation, rising cost, healthcare, housing, childcare, all of those things.

TAPPER: I was talking to a Democrat who said he was just very confused about where the election was going to be. But that in general, she needs the electorate to be younger, more female and more African- American than it has been in the past. And that's where they get out the vote operation comes in. Is that -- is that an accurate assessment do you think?

RICHMOND: Well, those are -- are three areas she's doing well in. And so, the more they turn out the better our chances are. But we see -- real excitement in those groups. So, we're excited about that but part of the reason why she's going everywhere and talking to everyone is that even in demographics that she loses. She will reduce the margin in which she loses them by because she's talking to them and she's asking for their vote.

So, a little bit of what they said but more importantly, is to make sure that people know who she is and we get our -- the excitement among young people, and women and minorities and everybody else up.

TAPPER: One of the critical voting blocs for Harris are Latino voters. Just yesterday, she laid at a new economic proposal targeting Latino men and then she did an interview with Telemundo. She was pressed for about making a pathway to citizenship, to U.S. citizenship for immigrants. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You might not win Congress. So how can you make sure you pass an immigration reform, a pathway to citizenship because Latinos have heard a lot about this for decades now. And it feels like an unfulfilled promise.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There has been bipartisan support in the past. And I think this election and how Latinos vote can help pave the pathway for the solutions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Why is it so competitive, the Latino vote this time?

RICHMOND: I don't know. And part of it is probably frustration that people have been offering solutions and nothing has actually come to fruition. And I think that's why the Vice President rightfully highlights the fact that there was a bipartisan bill led by this White House, led by her, to address many concerns and to actually do comprehensive immigration reform. And former President Trump killed it just so he could run on this issue and just so that he can keep demagoguing and pointing fingers at immigrants.

And so, if we're going to fix it, it's going to take a comprehensive solution. And I think that that's where the Vice President excels in bringing people together so that we can pass that bill that was already out there. And I think that's one of her first priorities to do when she -- when she's elected.

TAPPER: So when I was covering the Obama campaign in 2008 and then again in 2012, when he was running for president, he would have two at this point in the -- in the race, he would have two or three rallies a day. And we -- you don't see that with Vice President Harris. I mean -- there -- there have been -- I'm not saying she's -- she's not working. But there -- you're not having the big rallies, is that because just election dynamics have changed. I mean what's the reason behind it?

RICHMOND: Well, one, election dynamics have changed. Two, the amount of assets in packages that have to go are with the principle. But look, I was with her on her birthday. We did two churches in Georgia and then I remained in Georgia and she flew off to do more work. So she's working and she's talking to people every day. And I think that she's doing it and using technology the way that she should but if you look at her rallies, there's a lot of excitement. And you see all the interviews and other things she's doing. She's not going to leave anything on the table. She'll run through the tape.

TAPPER: What is the deal with her going to Texas to give a speech? Obviously that state is not competitive in the Presidential race.

RICHMOND: Well, one, it shows that she's a fighter. Two, it shows that she's fighting for women who've had their reproductive freedom stripped away from them. So, Texas is ground zero of that. If you look at Texas Draconian Laws and how they're penalized and then punishing our women, I think that Vice President Harris is showing that I will go down there and fight for you.

And it doesn't matter all the time whether it's a blue state, a red state, a purple state. There are people down there. There are women down there whose rights have been stripped. And she's going to go down there and fight for them.

TAPPER: All right. Cedric Richmond, thank you so much. Appreciate you're taking our time -- taking the time to be with us.

[17:59:55]

We're closing in on three hours away from tonight's Town Hall with Vice President Kamala Harris. It starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern. She'll be taking questions from voters here in battleground Pennsylvania. Anderson Cooper will moderate the discussion. I'll be here before and after to help discuss what we're watching for. Look for it all tonight, right here on CNN. The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room.