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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Trump's Rhetoric Grows Darker as Voting Begins; FBI Says, U.S. Crime Continues to Drop in First Six Months of Year; Trump Calls Harris Mentally Impaired in Insult Barrage. "NewsNight" Tackles Handling Of Immigration, Border And Tax Policies Under Trump And Biden Administration; Israel Says They Are In The Middle Of A Limited Ground Operation Inside Of Lebanon; Governor Brian Kemp Says He Has Spoken With President Biden On Storm Crisis. Aired 10-11p
Aired September 30, 2024 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tonight, the purge. The former president calls for no holds barred --
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If you had one really violent day.
PHILLIP: -- to end the United States' crime problem immediately.
Plus, unhinged --
TRUMP: Kamala is mentally impaired.
PHILLIP: -- untrue.
TRUMP: Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way.
PHILLIP: Two states, two rallies, Donald Trump doubling down on personal attacks as the election draws closer.
Also, caught in the storm, a natural disaster takes center stage on the campaign trail.
And live from New York, it's the Battle of the Benchwarmers. Tim Walz and J.D. Vance spar side by side tomorrow night.
Live at the Table, S.E. Cupp, Scott Jennings, Keith Boykin and Congressman Byron Donalds.
With 35 days to go, Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here they do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIP (on camera): Good evening. I'm Abby Phillip in New York. Let's get right to what America is talking about. Donald Trump taps into American carnage as voting gets underway across the country. And is he getting policy ideas from a B-list Hollywood movie? Well, that's because what he is saying sounds like it was ripped from the pages of The Purge.
It's a movie franchise, but here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Business, right? They don't pay rent, the city doesn't have money. The whole -- it's a chain of events, it's so bad. One rough hour, and I mean real rough, the word will get out and it will end immediately, end immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: One day of whatever you want, I guess. It is a literal movie plot, but real life policy?
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it's not policy. And this is red meat for the base. Because they don't ask questions about, well, how would you do this? And how would this work? It's just red meat. And I think it works for the base. But it actually -- it reminded me of The Purge First, and then it reminded me more of The Hunger Games, where the ruling class puts a bunch of people together every year and says, you guys kill each other, to show control and instill fear in an electorate, in the citizenry, if we're comparing movies. But this is real life.
And this is the kind of thing that turns off the people he needs to win, people in swing states who are undecided, who want to hear policy solutions, not stuff like this.
PHILLIP: I mean, but in all seriousness, Congressman, I mean, is he suggesting that cops can do whatever they want for a day and that will actually solve the problem?
REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): No, he's not. Even the clip you just played, what's it, five seconds out of, for Donald Trump, an hour's speech? I think a lot of times people say, oh, well he said this for five seconds. Yes, he says things that are unscripted. He goes off the cuff. He's not serious. There's no policy behind that. But I think where the American people truly are is they at least want to hear what somebody is thinking full-throated versus Kamala Harris, who was completely scripted, like badly scripted. And there's nothing coming out of it.
PHILLIP: What is the policy then? If it's not that, then what is actually the solution?
DONALDS: He wants to make sure that police are supported so they're upholding the law in every city in our country. I was in a Duane Reade last night here in New York, just trying to get razor blades so I can get a fresh shave for today. I had to press the button for the attendant to come to open up the case just so I can get a pack of razor blades. That's what's going on in every major city of America. Americans are fed up with that kind of stuff. It happens because you do have a dereliction of support for law enforcement in too many cities in America. And so there's a major angst going on amongst the American people. Donald Trump said a comment for five seconds. That's not setting policy. That's revealing the angst of the American people.
[22:05:00]
KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Donald Trump has a history of saying inflammatory things. It's not just those five seconds, Congressman, and you know that. He has a history that goes back from the time when he first ran for office. And he's talked about telling people in his rallies to knock the crap out of them. He had a history, even when I was working here at CNN, he was telling people how CNN is the enemy of the people. And you know what? A guy named Cesar Sayoc sent pipe bombs to this building, or to the other building that CNN used to be in, and tried to kill people. Donald Trump says things that can get people hurt. When he talked about liberating Michigan, what happened? Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, they tried to kidnap her. There's a plot to try to kidnap her. When every time he says something that's just five seconds, inflammatory statements like that, what happened when we have January 6th is because Donald Trump opened his big mouth and wouldn't shut up.
And I wish at some point, Congressman, you would at least have the courage to stand up to your dear leader and tell him what he is doing wrong. Don't just apologize for him.
DONALDS: Are we going to talk now about the rhetoric directed at Donald Trump? Because we do realize that he's been trying to kill --
BOYKIN: Are you going to continue to try not to answer the question? So, you're not going to answer what I just said?
PHILLIP: Hang on one second. Let's talk about that. Let's actually talk about rhetoric. Because here's what Trump supporters have been saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): People hear this violent, dangerous rhetoric, and we're going to have a copycat. It's coming. And it is just unfortunate. Somebody's going to get killed.
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'd say that's pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric and needs to cut this crap out. Somebody's going to get hurt by it.
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): It works when we see the liberal elite literally trying to take out a political opponent. Now, do they cause it? Absolutely, they contribute to it. They're complicit with it because of their words.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: So, according to those gentlemen there saying that Trump is a threat to democracy, his violent rhetoric, but Trump's saying, let's just have one really violent day, that is not violent rhetoric?
DONALDS: No, he didn't say one violent day. That's not even what he said. But let's be honest about what he actually said.
PHILLIP: Can we play Trump again?
DONALDS: Play it again because he didn't even say that. But go ahead.
PHILLIP: Play that again. Can we play it again?
DONALDS: I want to hear it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: All these stores go out of business, right? They don't pay rent, the city doesn't have money. The whole -- it's a chain of events, it's so bad. One rough hour, and I mean real rough, the word will get out and it will end immediately, end immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: How is that not violent rhetoric?
DONALDS: We have to acknowledge the reality going on in every city in America.
BOYKIN: Not answering the question.
DONALDS: Crime is massive.
BOYKIN: Not answering the question.
DONALDS: That is answering the question. Because the reality in America -- hold on, Keith. The reality in America is that crime is massively up.
BOYKIN: Crime is not massively up. That's a lie.
DONALDS: You can claim to take all you want, but that's not true.
BOYKIN: Congressman, you're lying.
DONALDS: We already know that there are --
BOYKIN: The FBI just released data this week that crime is going down.
DONALDS: We already know that --
BOYKIN: Oh my God, why do you, Abby, why do you let this man lie on your national television like this? This is not right. You're a liar, Congressman. You're lying.
DONALDS: Because you're lying to the American people now. So, I want to be respectful on what you're trying to say. PHILLIP: If you would let me talk, Congressman, hang on a second. If you would just let me talk, I will explain exactly what you want me to explain. We have the data. The FBI literally put out data today showing that crime is down this year for the first six months of the year. But look at the trend line, okay? Crime is in all these different categories. And then there is a trend line that shows that crime is going down.
So, why do you continue to say that?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I do think though, in some ways --
PHILLIP: I'll let you get in, but I do want the congressman to answer that question.
JENNINGS: Oh, sure. Sorry. I'm sorry.
DONALDS: If you look at crime rates in the United States since the pandemic to this current point, this current period in time, crime is up.
PHILLIP: Okay. Look at the chart --
DONALDS: Over the years, crime is up. Violent crime is up.
BOYKIN: Look at the chart.
DONALDS: I'm looking right now. I'm looking right now.
PHILLIP: Crime is on its way down. It has not returned to pre- pandemic levels yet, but it is trending down. That is a fact.
DONALDS: Well, I'm looking at your chart right now. 2021 is when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office. Look at that spike up in violent crime. What Donald Trump --
PHILLIP: Do you see where it went after 2021?
DONALDS: Abby, this is important. This is important. This is really important.
BOYKIN: Crime is going down.
DONALDS: Put the chart back up. Put the chart back up. Put it back up. Look where it's going.
BOYKIN: 2021. This is when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office in 2021. The trend line is up for violent crime in the United States of America. That is an empirical fact.
DONALDS: That's your chart. That's not even mine. I just saw it for the first time. I just saw the chart.
BOYKIN: I'm not going to sit here and let him lie.
DONALDS: But hold on. This is silly. It's not silly what people have --
PHILLIP: We have --
DONALDS: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, go ahead. Of course.
PHILLIP: We have to deal in facts here, okay? It's clear as day. The FBI put out statistics for the first half of this year. The numbers, the trend lines are going down in all of those different categories. Murders, rapes, robberies, property crime, aggravated assault for 2023, the trend line is going down.
[22:10:05]
If you don't believe the FBI, independent people who look at these numbers say the same thing. There was a spike in crime during the pandemic. That is true. Nobody's disputing that. But the reality is that crime is going down. You don't have to twist the facts to make the case that people feel unsafe. Just say people feel unsafe.
DONALDS: I'm not even twisting the facts. You put up a chart. I just looked at the chart myself. The bottom line was from 2021. But what happened in 2021? Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office. This is when Democrat politicians were all the rage for defund the police.
BOYKIN: This had nothing to do with that.
DONALDS: Can I finish my point here, because I let you speak? But you can't move on because --
BOYKIN: You monopolized the entire conversation for the most part.
DONALDS: You yelled across the table, didn't even let me make my point.
BOKYIN: Because you're lying.
DONALDS: I'm not lying. I'm telling you the truth. You don't want to hear the truth. That's the problem.
BOYKIN: The truth is up there in the screen, Mr. Congressman.
DONALDS: The problem is you don't want to hear the truth.
PHILLIP: Let me let you finish your thought, Congressman, and then we're going to move on --
DONALDS: All I'm saying is similar --
BOYKIN: I don't even know why you have him on stage tonight.
DONALDS: Because I'm bringing facts to you.
BOYKIN: Because you're lying.
DONALDS: Because similar to inflation, un 2024, the trend lines are coming down slowly, but that ignores the reality of 2021, 2022, 2023. You know what the American people are concerned about, which Donald Trump is speaking to? Massive inflation brought to us by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
BOYKIN: Not true.
DONALDS: It is very true. Even Larry Summers said -- you can interrupt all you want, but it's the facts. I was in the House. You were not. I know exactly what happened.
BOYKIN: I know what you were doing in the House, Congressman.
DONALDS: But again, I'm going to move on. Hang tight, Keith. I'm going to finish. You have massive inflation created by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The same chart you just put up, 2021 through 2023, crime rates going up and then slowly tapering off in 2024. And then we're supposed to sit here and act like, oh, happy days are here again, because the trend lines are going down? The trend lines over the last four years are massively up. That's what Donald Trump is speaking to, and that's why the American people have serious issues about what's going on in America.
PHILLIP: I will say this. The trend lines are not just going down, but the crime is going back to very close to what it was before the pandemic.
Scott, I'm going to let you get in here.
JENNINGS: Sure. Look, I think when people step outside their front door, they're not consulting charts and graphs. They're consulting what they see with their own eyes and how they feel about their own communities. It is indisputable that in some places in the United States, people do feel like they live in increasingly violent areas. That may not be true for every city, but anybody watching tonight live in Washington, D.C., it's violent.
And what you said about the drug stores is true. People are walking into stores and they're looking at cases where things, you know, very basic things are locked up. And they're asking themselves, well, if crime is going down, why is this stuff still under lock and key?
So, apart from the idea of debating the stats over what period of time, when you're in the election, voters are processing things through their own daily experiences. And what they're experiencing right now is some amount of fear and some amount of with their own eyes. What are these stores know that I don't know that they are in danger from some kind of crime?
PHILLIP: I mean, I think a it's an important point that people's perspective on this matters. But I also think that a lot of times that's a lagging indicator on what they might -- you know, what they're feeling today is a reflection of their experiences over a period of time. And there was a period of time, especially coming out of the pandemic, when crime was higher.
JENNINGS: I think we're still in it though. I mean, truthfully, people still feel that way. PHILLIP: But we started this conversation asking, what is Trump's solution to this?
BOYKIN: Thank you. That's a point. That's a point.
PHILLIP: What is Trump's solution to this? And I don't think we've heard an answer.
BOYKIN: Maybe S.E. can get us back on track.
CUPP: To your point, I don't think you're going to win voters over by saying your feelings are a lagging indicator. I just don't think that that relates to people. The facts are the facts. The stats are the stats. Feelings are real though. And I can tell you, I don't feel safe in many cities that I visit today that I felt safe in five years ago. That doesn't say anything about the stats. That says something about how I feel.
Now, a responsible person who wants to be president of the United States shouldn't prey on and stoke that fear. A leader would tamp that fear down and say, here are the very real things that I'm going to do, very calmly, very quietly, very coolly, very competently, to assuage, to make you feel better, to fix this problem.
What Trump is doing instead is throwing a match on a gasoline, on gasoline because he loves to light up his base and watch them yell at other Americans, get angry at other Americans. Tear other Americans down. That's not helpful. He has correctly identified the feelings of a lot of people on the economy, immigration, and crime but he is not responsibly addressing what he should do about them.
PHILLIP: We are going to continue this conversation. Everyone, stick around.
Coming up next, Donald Trump is now escalating the personal attacks against Kamala Harris, calling her mentally impaired. And now his Republican allies, some of them, are scolding him for it.
[22:15:00]
Plus, breaking news tonight, the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene becomes a focal point in this campaign on the campaign trail. Both parties shifting their plans and pointing fingers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: He is lying. Let me get this straight. He's lying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIP: Every breath he takes, every rally he makes, every truth he breaks, Donald Trump appears to be getting more unhinged. Just listen to the newest and maybe the most personal attack yet against Kamala Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Joe Biden became mentally impaired.
[22:20:00]
Kamala was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country. Anybody would know this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Okay, maybe you think that was an accident, an off-the-cuff remark. Well, here it is again the very next day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Crooked Joe Biden became mentally impaired, sad. But Lying Kamala Harris, honestly, I believe she was born that way. There's something wrong with Kamala. And I just don't know what it is, but there is definitely something missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Scott, since I owe you some extra time after that last segment, you get --
JENNINGS: You don't owe me anything. It's a privilege to sit out here with all you people.
PHILLIP: But, look, I mean, he's doubling down on this. So, my only takeaway might be that this is a strategy.
JENNINGS: Well, it's not uncommon in political campaigns to call your opponent dumb or stupid or some variation thereof. Now, I do want to say this about --
PHILLIP: Wait, I'm sorry. Say what? You said it's common for people to call their political opponents dumb?
JENNINGS: Yes. Would you like some examples? Ex-RNC chair rips GOP, listening to Trump, blind being led by the stupid, Howard Stern, Trump voters are stupid, Trump unveils new idiotic strategy, lazy, stupid, childish, why Donald Trump is losing.
PHILLIP: None of those are candidates, Scott.
JENNINGS: Kamala Harris, herself, Donald Trump, quote, unable to comprehend anything. So, it is not uncommon to call into question the mental capacities of your opponent.
But let me say one thing. I do not like the use of the term mentally disabled. There are a great many people in this country with mentally disabled family members or children that have varying degrees, and so that is not right. That is wrong. But I do think the pearl clutching over the concept of criticizing someone's term in office or policy decisions is not being smart is a little overblown, but I don't like that.
PHILLIP: That's not what he was saying. I mean, he was saying very clearly there that she is like Joe Biden in his mind, mentally disabled.
CUPP: But he got there. Biden got there and she was born that way. And I'm really grateful, Scott, that you said that because it matters and people listen to you. And it's important that you acknowledge that that was an awful thing to say.
Switching to strategy, it's funny because Harris and Trump have two different problems. Harris needs to get back Democratic coalition voters that Biden lost and that Democrats have been losing, black men, Hispanic men, young voters, Muslim voters. Trump needs to win over independents, moderates and undecideds that have left the Republican Party. They're both struggling with their missions, but his is fixable.
She's losing these coalition voters because they don't believe Democratic policies have fixed their problems. She doesn't have a time machine. She can't go back and fix that. He can stop the rhetoric that is turning off the very voters he needs to get. It's a fixable problem, but he won't do it.
PHILLIP: In fact, it's doubling down.
BOYKIN: Disagree with what S.E. said. I don't think that this is not a fixable problem for Kamala Harris. And actually, she's got the momentum on her side and enthusiasm on her side as well. But I think the problem is that Donald Trump is waging a campaign where he wants Kamala Harris to respond because he doesn't have anything else to focus on.
His policies are unpopular, to the extent he has any policies. He doesn't have a solution for inflation. He doesn't have a solution for jobs. We lost 3 million jobs when he was president. He doesn't have a solution for health care. He has concepts of a health care plan. He doesn't have a solution for education. He wants to eliminate the Department of Education. He doesn't have a solution for housing. Kamala Harris has a housing policy.
And so Donald Trump wants to create these distractions. Let's talk about Haitian immigrants. Let's talk about Kamala Harris just turning black. Let's talk about the Congo releasing inmates into the United States, because he knows that this, these dog whistles are what appeals to his base. He doesn't have anything else to give them because the bread and butter solutions are not popular.
DONALDS: So, I agree with Scott. I agree with his assessment. I think talking about mentally impaired is not the way you should go. I don't think that's the best thing right now with where we are in this campaign. But let me tell you where this is starting to eek from. We have seen Kamala Harris now in, what, four different interviews now. She was with the All in Smoke podcast today with Matt Barnes and Steven Jackson. We have not heard her actually go through a coherent argument for why her economic policies or any other policies are actually going to work. And when she's pressed on these issues, her default response is, I grew up as a middle class child. That is very true. I've watched everything. I've watched every interview.
PHILLIP: She didn't give a whole speech on her economic policy.
DONALDS: Giving a speech in the teleprompter is not discussing policy off the cuff when you're asked directly by any reporter or any citizen in a town hall format or anything, and she has not proven that she can do that.
[22:25:00]
To the contrary, what she is proving by her lack of being available to the press and really to the people is that she is heavily scripted. And so anybody can read the teleprompter, but what's going on when the teleprompter is off and you got to respond to real policy? That's the problem.
JENNINGS: Well, and I think if you look at it holistically, the two campaigns are having a debate about the economy. And Trump has things to say, Harris has things to say, and right now, according to all the polling, Trump is more trusted on the economy. Trump's term in office, people look back on it more fondly than they look upon the Biden and Harris term largely because of the economy and largely because of inflation.
I think her challenge, Keith, is that I don't believe she's actually articulated that much of a different path than the one she's currently on with Biden, and she may think that's a good path, it's just that the American people do not believe that, and it's not even close.
BOYKIN: Well, I think what the congressman said a moment ago, something we respond to, first of all, she's not dealing with these issues. She has been dealing with these issues substantively. So, we just had a 90-minute debate. It was a two-hour debate. She had very clear plans and she outlined what she wanted to do.
JENNINGS: Did she answer the question? Well, I just want to ask you, because you made a good point. Did she got a question about are people better off four years ago? Did she answer it or not?
BOYKIN: I don't remember what her answer was in that particular question. It was the first question. But I'll tell you what though, people are better off than they were four years ago, because, you know what, because we were losing jobs at this point. Millions of people did not have jobs four years ago at this time. Millions of people were still stuck in their homes four years ago this month. We had a crisis four years ago we do not have now. And that's what we forget to talk about.
But just going back to what he said, Kamala Harris has been vice president for four years. She's been talking about these issues for a long time. Maybe because people haven't been paying attention doesn't mean that she hasn't been dealing with them. But she's been very substantive. Meanwhile, Trump is out here talking about concepts of a plan for health care. This guy has been running for president since 1999 when he ran on the Reform Party. He's run four times. He still doesn't have -- he only has concepts of a plan for health care, concepts of a plan. I'm sorry, and child care is child care.
PHILLIP: The other thing about Donald Trump, and this is, child care is related to this, he has been asked these questions, and sometimes he literally does not have an answer. He has basically said 20 percent tariffs on everything will pay for it all. That's not a plan.
DONALDS: Well, no. Actually, let me go through Donald Trump's plan, step by step. Number one, keep his tax cut policy in place by cutting taxes, lowering them more. He says that at every rally. He said it in every debate. It is about actually deporting illegal immigrants out of our country. They are depressing wages because there's -- I want to give you the plan. That's number two and securing our southern border, which will decrease the burden on states, localities, the federal government, with respect to the cost of having illegals in our country. Number three, getting out of these conflicts, which Ukraine is costing us $200 billion now, and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want more money in a lame duck session after this election, getting out of these conflicts so that we cannot be sending treasure overseas. Those are all recipes for economic success. He talks about them.
And then here's the real thing. He was president already. He did them in his first term as an office, and our economy was thriving and succeeding. That all happened.
PHILLIP: I'm hearing what you're saying, Congressman, but it doesn't really add up, respectfully.
DONALDS: To what?
PHILLIP: I mean, it doesn't add up.
DONALDS: To the economist?
PHILLIP: I mean, is the idea going to, so first of all, how are the tax cuts going to be paid for? I'm just asking questions that I would ask Donald Trump if he were to answer his question, answer these questions. Getting out of the war in Ukraine, what is he going to do with that money? You can't just take money from one pot and move it to another without Congress. So, there are some gaps here and Trump doesn't really fill them in. He just says tariffs.
DONALDS: Well, that's how we got to be clear. That's not all he says. With respect to Ukraine, that money's already spent is gone. With respect to tax policy, we already went through a process where the CBO -- hold on, but you talked about tax policy. I'm going to address that one as well. CBO said originally that the tax cut and jobs actually was going to cost us $2 trillion. Democrats ran around the country saying these tax cuts cost us $2 trillion. The reality is we raised more tax revenue than CBO estimated. We've taken in record tax revenue in the federal government both in dollar amount, and as a percentage of the economy, they have not cost us the money that Democrats and CBO said.
BOYKIN: Not because of his policies. I mean, let me just go back to something he did. Let me just -- he cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations primarily.
DONALDS: Oh no, every income book. You can't do that.
BOYKIN: Wealthy and corporations primarily benefit from his tax cuts.
DONALDS: That is not true, but go ahead.
BOYKIN: He cut all the -- most of the major economists who've looked at this say that Donald Trump's plan will be worse for inflation and worse for the economy.
DONALDS: Which ones?
BOYKIN: There's three or four different studies that have come out in the past few weeks that say that Kamala Harris' plans are better for the economy than Donald Trump's, and his plans will actually increase inflation. Number two, immigration --
PHILLIP: I should just say, a lot of that is driven by the tariff policy.
BOYKIN: Of course, the tariffs are inflationary. Number two, immigration. Immigration policy is actually inflationary as well, because if you deport millions of people, guess what, prices are going to go high because you have a labor shortage.
[22:30:06]
DONALDS: So, are you telling the American people should bring in another 10 million people?
BOYKIN: No, you can't have a mass deportation of immigrants and think you're going to somehow lower inflation. You can actually raise costs for labor and raise inflation. Number three. You talked about all this policy is supposed to solve these solutions immediately. But Donald Trump, when he was president, he was there for four years. Guess what happened? He added $7.8 trillion to the national debt.
DONALDS: Because of COVID spending. Even last year -- before --
BOYKIN: It's not even before COVID spending.
DONALDS: That's not true.
BOYKIN: Even before COVID spending, he added trillions of dollars.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: I think that at the heart of this, I mean, this is where we started, right? Like at the heart of this is what is Donald Trump saying? What is he saying? He's not really saying what you're saying. A lot of time talking about --
DONALDS: Yes, he is. UNKNOWN: He actually does say it.
PHILLIP: He's actually talking about --
UNKNOWN: Haitian immigrants.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Not that Harris gave an economic speech. Trump actually gave a speech, too, at one of the economic clubs at Detroit, I think.
UNKNOWN: New York.
JENNINGS: And laid out, you know, a long policy. I don't think it got the amount of coverage that Harris' speeches have gotten on the topic but he did lay out a plan and he has very definite views on it.
A lot of it does revolve around keeping taxes low for American workers and for American companies who invest in American workers. And when you're thinking about running a campaign, that's a pretty darn good policy. I'm going to invest in America and I'm going to have policies that encourage that.
PHILLIP: I don't think you can talk about Trump's economic policy and say that it revolves around just the tax part. You have to also talk about the fact that a huge chunk of his policy also revolves around tariffs, tariffs that economists say will raise prices or Americans. You cannot omit that. If you ask Donald Trump today what is going to be the centerpiece of his economic plan, that's probably the first thing that he will say.
JENNINGS: It's absolutely true that there is a split in the Republican Party over the use of tariffs, but I think Trump believes two things. One, use them as a bludgeoning tool against other countries that are not dealing with us fairly. And number two, use them as a tool to encourage more investment by companies in the United States. I think that's his idea. But there's a split in the party over --
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Which is pathetic because conservatism -- it used to be settled orthodoxy the tariffs are tax and we used to be anti-protectionist.
JENNINGS: That's true.
CUPP: And that's really has come because Donald Trump suddenly didn't care, didn't care about economic policy, didn't care about conservatism.
JENNINGS: And what are the results of it now? Donald Trump is on track --
CUPP: A skyrocketed national deficit and debt.
JENNINGS: No, the political results are Donald Trump is on track to get a larger percentage of the union working class base in this country. CUPP: So, as long as politics wins, it doesn't matter, right?
JENNINGS: A, you got a win to govern and B, is it bad that the Republican Party is attracting working class voters at rates it's never seen?
CUPP: It's bad that the Republican Party has abandoned conservatism.
PHILLIP: This may be a split in the Republican Party but we can't talk about this issue without also noting President Biden has continued a lot of the Trump tariffs.
UNKNOWN: Yes, he has.
PHILLIP: So, there's that. Everyone hang on, breaking news. Tonight, we've got a major inflection point unfolding right now in the Middle East. We are getting word that Israel has begun a ground operation in Lebanon. After it took out the leader of Hezbollah, CNN is there live.
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[22:37:38]
PHILLIP: We'll be back at the table in just a moment but there's breaking news tonight. Fears in the Middle East that -- it is unfolding into a freefall that ends with an all-out regional war. You're looking here at projectiles splitting the night sky in Tel Aviv. That is happening as Israel says that they are in the middle of a limited ground operation inside of Lebanon.
CNN is now on both sides of that border. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is near Israel's northern border and Ben Wedeman is in Beirut. Let's start with Jeremy Diamond. Jeremy, what do we know as of right now?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Abby, for the first time in nearly two decades, the Israeli military announcing that it has sent ground troops into southern Lebanon. This is what they are describing as a limited ground operation. They are calling this limited, localized and targeted ground raids.
But make no mistake, this is a major inflection point in this nearly year-long conflict now between Israel and Hezbollah. And it seems quite clear that between the increased air strikes over the course of the last couple of weeks, the killing of Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah and now the entry of ground forces into southern Lebanon, that this is a war between Israel and Hezbollah.
And Israel is now trying to take advantage of this moment of disarray within Hezbollah's leadership, the effect that they have had on Hezbollah's operational capabilities over the course of the last week by taking this next step of sending ground forces into Lebanon. But Israeli officials tonight are taking pains to try and tell me that this is a limited operation.
One senior Israeli official telling me that there is no plan for any kind of long-term occupation of southern Lebanon but they are not saying how deep Israeli forces will ultimately go into Lebanon or how long this operation will actually last.
But I can tell you from our position here, just a couple of miles away from the border, we have -- hearing the steady percussive boom of artillery from here being fired into southern Lebanon. We have seen explosions on the Lebanese side, flares lighting the night sky as those ground forces move into southern Lebanon to attack Hezbollah positions. Abby?
PHILLIP: Jeremy, stand by for us. Let me bring in now CNN's Ben Wedeman in Beirut. Ben, this is an extraordinary moment in the region. How is this operation being viewed in Lebanon where their territory now has Israeli troops on the ground?
[22:40:05]
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For many Lebanese, this is not what the Israelis are calling a limited localized and targeted raid. This is yet another invasion of this country. People well-remember that Israel occupied Lebanese land from 1978 until 2000.
And in 1982, then Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon told the Israeli cabinet, who told the American government that he was launching what he called a limited incursion into Lebanon. His forces drove all the way to where I am, into Beirut and encircled the western part of the city.
So, there is a fear that there isn't any sort of countervailing diplomatic force to restrain Israel. We did hear these rather weak comments coming out of the White House from President Biden about not being happy with a ground incursion but it's going ahead anyway.
And we've seen, for instance, the French foreign minister came to Beirut today to try to speak to Lebanese officials and work out the possibility, the framework, the groundwork for some sort of de- escalation of the situation. But on the ground, that doesn't seem to be the case.
And there is a fear that history is repeating itself and that perhaps, Israeli ground forces will drive well deep into Lebanon. And then the question is, when will they leave? Abby?
PHILLIP: That is the question on many minds tonight. This situation remains incredibly combustible. Ben Wedeman, Jeremy Diamond, thank you both very much. Stay safe as all of this unfolds.
We are back here at home. The streets turned into modes. Power simply gone, possibly for weeks in some areas. Recovery that will take years but Donald Trump is pinning the blame where it doesn't belong. That's next.
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[22:46:33]
PHILLIP: Tonight, the Southeast is continuing to pick up the pieces after Hurricane Helene. It killed more than a hundred people and left millions without power. But Donald Trump isn't focused on the destruction. He is focused right now, it seems, on scoring political points.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (R): The governor's doing a very good job. He's having a hard time getting the president on the phone. I guess they're not -- they're not being responsive. The federal government is not being responsive. But they're having a very hard time getting the -- getting the president on the phone. He won't get on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: That's just a lie, according to the Georgia governor himself, Brian Kemp.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GEORGIA): I just spoke -- the president just called me yesterday afternoon. I missed him and called him right back. And he just said, hey, what do you need? And I told him, you know, we got what we need. We'll work through the federal process. He offered that if there's other things we need just to call him directly, which I appreciate that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Joining us in our fifth seat, we've got a special treat for you. CNN anchor and chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, is with us. Just to add one more thing to what is going on here with Trump on the political side of things, he also put on Truth Social that he doesn't"-- like reports that I'm getting about the federal government and the Democratic governor of the state going out of their way not to help people in Republican areas."
He's talking about North Carolina there. Again, that is also -- there's absolutely no evidence to support that or what he said earlier about Brian Kemp.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, he is -- understands that there is a very deep, not that distant in the past history of hurricanes and the aftermath and the government response being a very important political issue.
We saw, we were talking in the break about your former boss, the man I covered in the White House, George W. Bush, very different circumstances. But the response by the government is so key. The former president understands that. And it isn't true. And the fact that you found that Governor Kemp soundbite of him saying that he actually --
PHILLIP: Whatever you need, literally, is what he said.
BASH: -- did speak with President Biden. Yes. And I just saw before coming on, the Trump campaign started a GoFundMe site for people in need. So, they're doing everything that they can. And that's sort of, from his perspective, the right politics here.
And when you look at the reality when and you know this because you were in the Bush White House, when you are a president or a vice president, the best thing you can do in the immediate aftermath when you have floods and you also know this -- this is a -- and all kinds of wreckage is to do as much as you can from afar.
Because when a president or a vice president goes into a situation like that, I was with George W. Bush when he finally went into Katrina. It is a huge operation that you need. It takes away emergency services from people who need it.
JENNINGS: I think the optics of this over the weekend for Biden- Harris have been pretty poor. North Carolina is underwater. These people are devastated and struggling. But you've got Biden at the beach and then saying, what you want from me? I got on the phone while I was at the beach.
[22:50:01]
And you got Harris out raising money on the campaign and then taking a photo on a plane. I remember George W. Bush was pilloried for having a photo taken from Air Force One. She's got a photo on a plane and the air phones don't appear to be connected to the phone and the paper looks like it's blank. So, it looked like a staged sort of thing. I thought the optics for them were very bad.
BASH: Well, the picture for Bush, he was looking over --
BOYKIN: He was looking at -- George Bush was looking at Air Force One.
JENNINGS: You don't have to tell me I was there, bro.
PHILLIP: Can I just, actually, Keith -- I mean because, I want to just be clear about what Scott is talking about. President Biden was in Rehoboth this weekend and yes, he had briefings, there were paper statements put out, but we did not hear from him about this until today. And there is an optics element to it.
Just -- let's take Trump out of the picture for a second. There's an optics element to it about the president sending a message to the people affected in many, many states in this country that he's on top of it.
BOYKIN: Well, part of the presidency is performative -- we know that. And that means you do need to be able to, the people need to see you doing your job. And we also know the president has been doing his job. We know that FEMA sent 3300 personnel. We know that FEMA Director Criswell is on the ground in North Carolina.
We know that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have spoken to Governor Roy Cooper in North Carolina and Governor Brian Kemp in Georgia. We know that Governor McMaster has said in South Carolina that he's got all the resources he needs to be able to handle the situation in that state.
The Biden administration is effectively handling this. They're just not politicizing it as Donald Trump is. Donald Trump chose to take a natural disaster and weaponize it for political gain. Just the same way he did with the Haitian immigrants and the crisis in Niger or the COVID crisis. Donald Trump takes every issue, every problem and makes it worse by making it about himself and making it political and lying about what's at stake.
PHILLIP: Why is Trump politicizing this? I mean, people are literally still trying to get out from under the water right now.
DONALDS: I don't think he's politicizing it at all. He's responding to the crisis. Dana just came out. I didn't even know this. Thank you for reporting that the Trump campaign has come out with a GoFundMe page for the people who are affected. He's on the ground to actually talk directly to the people who are being impacted on day one.
And I do understand what it means when a president comes in. My district was hit two years ago, the same time period with Hurricane Ian. Joe Biden came to Southwest Florida. You know, we toured some damage.
The real implications are going to be what happens when the president leaves or when the cameras turn to the next thing. Is FEMA going to still do the job necessary by those communities? Are local communities going to get the resources they need? Because I'll tell you, and I don't want to cut you off.
PHILLIP: And I would argue that is actually more often what does happen is that FEMA continues to work even when everybody else moves on. You know that.
DONALDS: I do know this but what I will also add and I'm just speaking specifically for my district. I was there going over some of the issues we had from Hurricane Helene. My local towns, cities, are still waiting for FEMA to approve them to actually get back some of the money they're supposed to get from Hurricane Ian. That is still an issue right now with FEMA. So, I don't want to politicize it but there are optics around storms.
CUPP: Can I just -- but can I --
DONALDS: Joe Biden not being -- being on the beach and not at least going there and making a public statement directly to camera is a serious problem indicated by this White House.
CUPP: We didn't want him to go there now.
PHILLIP: Yes, I mean, you said go there.
DONALDS: No, but I mean, just responding directly to the American people is a problem.
CUPP: I agree with the optics and the importance of showing up. But let me just ask the two of you a question. What does Biden and Harris have to gain by ignoring the very real concerns of voters in two crucial swing states 35 days before an election?
DONALDS: No, it's -- and I want to be clear on this. It's not about what do you have to gain.
CUPP: But why would they do that?
DONALDS: No, no, but it's much more about the operations, what I've seen as a member of Congress, of this administration. This administration, when crisis happens -- we're dealing with Helene -- but when crisis happens, they don't address them head on.
CUPP: But you just heard from two governors who are grateful for everything that this administration has done.
DONALDS: I'm not talking about the behind the scenes talk.
PHILLIP: Hang on a second. Let's not talk about generalities here because I think it's important to be clear, factually.
DONALDS: No, no. I'm not -- right.
PHILLIP: Everybody has said, official-wise, that they've gotten what they've asked for.
DONALDS: Right.
PHILLIP: And the only person making an accusation that people are not getting what they've asked for is Trump falsely claiming that the administration is withholding resources because of political affiliation. That is just --
DONALDS: As somebody who has been through now three hurricanes in my district, I will tell you, getting a call saying you can have everything you need and some of the initial help coming from FEMA is one thing. It is the day by day follow-up, making sure that stuff is implemented on the ground is something completely different. And I've been through this on the ground in my own district.
[22:55:02]
BOYKIN: That's not the point she's making.
DONALDS: No, no, but the point -- but the point --
PHILLIP: Right, I just want to be clear. That's not --that is not --
DONALDS: Abby --
PHILLIP: I'm talking about, we're what, five days after this has happened.
DONALDS: Yes, yes.
PHILLIP: Right at this moment, the question is, are these areas getting what they need from the federal government? Is the answer yes or no based on the available information that we have? DONALDS: The question now -- the question now will tell you is -- the
answer I will give you is, inconclusive. They have it initially. The reason why I say that is because you have to have a commander in chief who has his finger or her finger on the pulse day in, day out to make sure the agencies are doing that work.
PHILLIP: I just want to remind everybody that in 2016, Donald Trump was the president. He was accused of rejecting 99 percent of the federal aid requests for Hurricane Matthew from Roy Cooper. From Roy Cooper.
CUPP: Yes.
PHILLIP: And the accusation was that it was because they are in opposite political parties. So that also happened.
CUPP: Yes.
BOYKIN: Donald Trump did that in 2017. Donald Trump politicized every natural disaster we could think of. Remember when the hurricane was supposedly headed to Alabama, he took the Sharpie and drew on the NOAA map to pretend like it was going where it wasn't?
Remember when he went to Puerto Rico and threw paper towels at people? He's the performative president. He doesn't believe in the get your hands dirty and do the real work of the presidency. He wants to be on camera and show that he's pretending to do the job of the presidency, which apparently is what Republicans want.
DONALDS: But we don't even know if Joe Biden is actually doing the job of the presidency right now. We do know because he was on the beach in Delaware.
BOYKIN: We do know because the governors have told us that he is.
DONALDS: We don't know where he is.
PHILLIP: We've got a quick programming note. You can catch tomorrow's V.P. debate right here on CNN, 9 P.M. Eastern. We'll be back in just a moment.
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[22:59:47]
PHILLIP: And before we go, some congratulations are in order to our friend, Dana Bash. Her new book, "America's Deadliest Election" is now multiple weeks on "The New York Times" bestseller list.
[23:00:00
Dana, I can't think of another book more ideal for these times. We started talking in the show about violent rhetoric. This is about that.
BASH: Violent rhetoric. This is 1872 in Louisiana. None of us remember that but we should and we should learn more about it. And I was very lucky to work with my co-author, David Fisher, on it because it wasn't just rhetoric. It was actual violence, really deadly violence, and it was all race-based.
PHILLIP: This is excellent. We're really proud of you. We're really happy for you, Dana Bash. And everyone, thank you very much for being here and thank you at home for watching "NewsNight" State of the Race. "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
