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Harris, Trump Campaign in Key States in Sprint to Election Day; Today: Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney Campaigns with Kamala Harris; Soon: Trump to Speak in Battleground Michigan; Melania Trump Signals Support for Abortion Rights in New Video; Biden Surveying Hurricane Damage in Florida and Georgia; Trump Delivers Remarks in Battleground Michigan. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 03, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:37]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Former President Donald Trump is in battleground Michigan holding his first campaign event since Special Counsel Jack Smith revealed new evidence against him. Meantime Vice President Kamala Harris will soon campaign with one of the biggest name Republicans yet to endorse her. Can Liz Cheney help sway swing voters towards the VP.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And President Biden leaving Florida heading to Georgia this hour. He's getting a fresh look at the damage on the ground for people across the southeast in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Ahead, what more we're learning about rescue and recovery efforts.

And empty store shelves and toilet paper shortages giving people Nightmarish reminders of the pandemic but don't blame the new dock workers strike, blame panic buying. Ahead, what you need to know about what is and what is not being affected by the walkout.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: You Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are battling it out in the battlegrounds. This hour, we're watching as Trump is set to pitch his economic message to voters in the key state of Michigan. It's the first time we're seeing him on the trail since stunning new details dropped in Special Counsel Jack Smith's election interference case against him.

And then, later tonight, they may be on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but former House Republican Liz Cheney and Vice President Harris are going to team up for an event in Wisconsin. That's where we find CNN's Eva McKend who's following the Harris campaign.

Eva, the significance of the location where they're holding this event obviously noted. It's - or the birthplace - the reported birthplace of the Republican Party and this split-screen seeing them side-by-side fascinating odds on.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: It sure is ripping Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party. The Vice President going to be joined by Liz Cheney up on that stage tonight for the first time of the campaign. They're going to be standing in front of signs that read country over party.

And listen, the argument here from the Vice President is that a Harris administration would uphold democracy it would be principally concerned about the Constitution and the rule of law. And it is those fundamentals that are most important even if there are policy disagreements among the Independents and conservatives that she is trying to reach.

But listen, not every voter here I spoke to convinced by this message. I met one man. He's actually going to be attending the remarks tonight. He's glad that she's in the community and speaking to voters in this small town. But he's a Republican and he's still going to support the former president. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN TALBOT, RETIRED PROFESSOR: Well, those are her fundamentals and - you know, I believe more in the conservative fundamentals of the economy, less regulations, stronger military, strong border. To be quite honest, I don't believe either candidate. They're going to say whatever they're going to say to get to get elected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:05:00]

MCKEND: So the hope here is that it's not voters like that one, but more - but other voters who are more persuaded by this argument. Listen, it's not only Republicans here in Wisconsin that they are trying to reach over the next four days. The campaign has events in battleground states across the country. They're also investing in this up on the airwaves.

But listen, not all Democrats think that this is the right strategy, some Democrats I speak to say they think the campaign instead should be investing in the base of the party, speaking to black voters Asian voters, Latino voters and stop trying to chase these Republicans.

It is notable though, this strategy because the former president isn't employing something similar. Yes, he has former Democrats out for him stumping on the campaign trail, but there isn't formally organized Democrats for Trump equivalent for instance. And so that just gives you a sense of how much they are prioritizing this. The Wisconsin Democrats tell me they think it's the right strategy. Boris? Brianna?

SANCHEZ: Eva McKend live for us in Wisconsin. Thank you so much, Eva. Brianna?

KEILAR: As we are waiting for Trump to take the podium in Michigan, we're learning that former first lady Melania Trump is now coming out publicly against her husband on a very critical issue for voters and that is abortion. CNN National Correspondent, Kristen Holmes, is live on the campaign trail in Michigan.

Kristen, tell us what she's saying. And do you expect the former president to address this, this hour?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, he often doesn't comment on things that Melania Trump does. Of course, we're waiting to see this speech build on the economy. But he will talk about anything when he takes the stage as we see that he often does.

Now, when it comes to Melania Trump, she is giving a full-throated endorsement of abortion rights. In this clip, she posted a video, this is to promote her memoir which is coming out later this month, she says there is no room for compromise when it comes to a woman's individual freedom. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard. Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth, individual freedom. What does my body my choice really mean?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And Brianna, this is so interesting given the fact that Donald Trump himself the last two years has been trying to navigate this issue of abortion. He is the architect of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but he also has tried to stay away from this issue. He believes that it's politically harmful to him, particularly with moderates, particularly with women. He often doesn't bring it up in his speeches.

For example, today, we don't expect him to talk about abortion. But at the same time, he tries to grab credit for that overturning of Roe v. Wade whenever he can talking about how no one else could get it done by - but him, so it's something he's clearly grappled with.

And here you see the former first lady going against something that is essentially one of his signature achievements while in office, something that he has touted as one of his signature achievement, the overturning of Roe v. Wade time and time again. And she is coming out against it at a time where we have seen her almost zero times on the campaign trail. She was there when he announced his candidacy back about two years ago, but other than that she has been missing from the debate, from any significant event and from all of his court appearances and now we see her coming out. And again, actually having a completely different stance than her husband on this key issue.

KEILAR: Yes. It's really interesting. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much, live for us from Michigan.

Let's turn now to our panel. Joining us now in studio, we have CNN Senior Political Analyst, Gloria Borger, and CNN Chief National Affairs Correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. All right. Jeff, first, let's talk about the Kamala Harris event where she's appearing in of all places the birthplace of the Republican Party with Liz Cheney. The orchestration of that is really something, the messaging is clear, the question will be does it make the difference.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And it also happens to be in battleground Wisconsin, so it's a twofer if you will in symbolism, but also perhaps in strategic votes. That is a red county not far from Milwaukee in Southern Wisconsin.

Look, it is not likely to make a big difference among Republicans, but among Independents it could. There's a new Marquette law school survey out today that shows that in Wisconsin, Harris has a pretty sizable edge over Trump on Independents, about 20 points or so. They're trying to expand that a little bit more.

Among hardcore Republicans, Liz Cheney is persona non grata to put it gently.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

[15:10:02]

ZELENY: But I think among others, not just never Trumpers, but some Independents and people who have question about Trump. I think, of course, it is a good place to have a speech. Is it going to move the needle a ton? No.

BORGER: No.

ZELENY: There's nothing that moves the needle a ton. But I think in terms of symbolism, I'm fascinated to watch Liz Cheney introducing Kamala Harris, 2024. I mean, talk about how every line ...

BORGER: The moral is upside down.

ZELENY: ... is divided of every campaign ...

BORGER: Yes.

ZELENY: ... that we've covered.

SANCHEZ: Who thought we would wind up here, right? Gloria, in that ...

BORGER: None of us.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Not everyone is thrilled with this idea, Eva mentioned this sort of tension among some Democrats. And we actually have a Democratic state representative Ruwa Romman from the battleground state of Georgia who tweeted this out about the Cheney Harris event: "It feels like the campaign is still trying to run a Biden campaign, and it's doing Harris a massive disservice. So I'll repeat, Republicans are not going to save us, touting their endorsements is turning people off." Do you think the Harris campaign's time is better spent going after Hispanic voters black voters, folks that are more traditionally in their camp as opposed to Republicans?

BORGER: Well, you can walk and chew gum at the same time, and I think that's what they're trying to do. And by the way, where is the base of the party going to go? To Donald Trump? I don't think so. So I understand the complaint from a progressive, but she is going after these Independent voters.

Wisconsin is tight and she's ahead with Independent voters and she wants to capitalize on that. And this kind of a display would appeal to Independent voters, who may want to see more bipartisanship. So while I understand the complaint of the progressives, I don't think they have much of a choice.

KEILAR: Yes, they're - and both tickets are making a play for these Independent voters.

BORGER: Yes.

KEILAR: That's clear. That's where they think it's at. We spoke with the former lieutenant governor for Georgia, Republican, Geoff Duncan here in the last hour. And I asked him what he thought of JD Vance on the debate stage, trying to kind of show this maybe new face of the Republican Party if it didn't have Trump, like less bombast and here's what he said:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEOFF DUNCAN, former lieutenant governor for Georgia: It was really refreshing, right? I've been critical of JD Vance on some of the rhetoric I've heard early on, and the cat thing, and all that stuff going on. But he did a really good job in that debate of really projecting what the Republican Party should be.

The problem that he's got, JD Vance's got, is he's married to the MAGA mob and he's going to have to act with - the way Donald Trump wants him to act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So he finished by saying we all know what happened to Mike Pence on January 6th.

BORGER: Mm-hmm.

KEILAR: I wonder what you think about that.

BORGER: Well, look, I think Vance did do a good job during the debate. There's no doubt about it. Except for the last few minutes of the debate where he wouldn't say that Donald Trump had lost the election. And, you know, Walz pointed out, the only reason he was standing on the debate stage was because Trump's former vice president wasn't there with him. So, you know, I think that this is something people know. But to remind them of that, which Walz did, was a good thing. And I think, you know, Vance has trouble with this issue, because, you know, he wasn't - you know, to be a true election denier, you have to say that Trump won the election. And I think on a radio show today, he may have kind of said that.

But it's difficult, you know, he had to walk a very difficult line in order not to get Donald Trump upset. And there were, by the way, lots of conservatives, Geoff Duncan may have thought he did a great job, but there are lots of conservative Republicans who thought he didn't do a good job, who thought that he wasn't standing up for MAGA principles and wasn't conservative enough.

ZELENY: Look, I think at the end of the day it felt to me - it was a very pre-Trump era debate, a civil conversation. But the challenges, it is still very much the Trump era. So despite the softening of the edges, the policies are still the same. It's Thursday, the debates almost 48 hours old. I think, you know, this is probably among the last times we'll talk about it. It's not going to change things all that much.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

ZELENY: But Walz did not have a strong night, we know that, and he will, you know, try to improve from here. We'll see. Vance was good, no doubt about it.

BORGER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Before we let you go, this unexpected endorsement of abortion access from Melania Trump in this very stylized video, how much of this is politics and the way that some have described it trying to muddy the waters and how much of it is just - she wants headlines, so she could sell a book.

ZELENY: Yes and yes.

BORGER: Yes, yes.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

BORGER: Yes.

ZELENY: I mean, look, I think that the timing of it is no coincidence ...

BORGER: Yes.

ZELENY: ... right before an election. Of course, she wants to monetize this. But look, I mean, on abortion, I assume she actually believes this, but boy it gives Trump a lifeline for some sort of - in voters.

BORGER: Yes, it softens him, you know, to a certain degree. But let me point out that first ladies have generally been pro-choice they just don't - and Republican first ladies generally don't announce it during their husband's fight for re-election.

[15:15:04]

So, you know, it's nothing new to have a first lady that's pro-choice, but the fact that she is speaking out should make for some interesting conversations between spouses, wouldn't you say?

KEILAR: Maybe he'll like it.

BORGER: Yes. Well, I'm ...

KEILAR: Thanks for doing this (INAUDIBLE) kind of thing.

BORGER: Don't you think he ...

ZELENY: Yes. I think there's no doubt about it.

BORGER: ... knew? Don't you think he knew?

KEILAR: I'm - I do.

BORGER: I have no idea.

KEILAR: I do. I suspect he appreciates, so.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

ZELENY: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Gloria Borger, Jeff Zeleny, appreciate you both, thanks for joining us.

Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, President Biden is on his way to South Georgia to see more of the extensive damage from Hurricane Helene. We have a report from Valdosta next.

Meantime, an investigation underway at a Tennessee factory after some workers were swept away by floodwaters, but the company didn't actually report it until days later. Details on that straight ahead.

KEILAR: And new airstrikes hitting southern Beirut while Israel's war cabinet considers how to respond to Iran's missile barrage on Tuesday. Stay with us for that.

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[15:20:27]

KEILAR: The catastrophic aftermath from Hurricane Helene is so widespread that President Biden is taking a second day to survey the devastation. Earlier, he was in the Big Bend part of Florida, and he just landed in Southern Georgia. Yesterday, Biden was in the mountains of North Carolina where nearly half of the deaths from the storm have occurred. Here in the last hour, more people were found and that brought the death toll up to 202. CNN's Ryan Young is in Valdosta, Georgia where the President is expected this afternoon. Ryan, tell us about what he's going to see when he's there.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the impact here is just immense. I hope you could hear me over, there are helicopters that have just landed behind us. But what we know is this county, Lowndes County, is 500 square miles, just a little more than that, and 90 percent of it was impacted by this storm.

As we drive across it, the devastation is just so widespread. And you're talking about small businesses that have been impacted, and people's homes, more than 70 percent of the area is without power. So the best way to see it is from the vantage point of the air. And obviously, they have Marine One and the other helicopters here that can survey this damage here.

We know the Governor of Georgia talked about the 33 deaths across the state of Georgia. This storm will be one that many people here will never forget because of its immense impact. I'm talking to the Small Business Association here in town and they believe there will be several hundred businesses that could be impacted greatly.

And then when you put in the fact that Agriculture is such a big deal here in the state of Georgia, from pecans to cucumbers, to bell peppers, there have been farms that have been decimated by this storm. So the impact will be felt for some time. There are ice and water stations set up across this county.

But people are really just trying to get any sort of resource they can, because as we know, this economy has been so tough over the last few months. But these people really do need help. And, of course, with the President in town, what they're hoping for is those federal dollars to come surging in to help get the infrastructure back up in place.

But over and over again, we've talked to people who've been concerned just about not being forgotten, because obviously the images from across the country have been so strong. But when you start driving around this area, you really do get a sense of the vast impact that this storm had, and because of how wide and how large it was, and all the trees that were damaged in this area.

So we do have this immense security presence here and then we'll take the President over to another location where he'll be touring some of the damage here. But I think a lot of people are just hoping that with the President's eyes on this situation, and the Governor's eyes on this situation, and even the former President Donald Trump's eyes on the situation, that something will happen here in South Georgia and that has been the big hope so far.

So Brianna as we wait for the president to come off this helicopter, it's a really a lot of those anticipation of what could happen next.

Now, I talked to one business owner today who said they can't afford to take another loan because obviously they took a loan during COVID, so they don't want more debt. What they need is some sort of help, so at this point, I just want to show you this as the President comes across this way, Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Ryan Young, thank you so much. We know that you'll be monitoring President Biden's visit there to Valdosta, Georgia.

We are going to turn now to Saginaw, Michigan where former President Trump is speaking now. Let's listen in.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... wouldn't that be nice? And America can once again be strong and confident and free. I mean, how would to like to live like they're living where thousands and thousands of criminals are put into your town or your city and all of a sudden your whole life changes. Your whole life changes. You see what's happened with Springfield and Aurora. You see what happened - Springfield, Ohio, you see what's happening.

Would you like to have that happen to you?

ALL: No.

TRUMP: Good, I was just curious. Who the hell can do that? Who can do it? They inject 32,000 people from a foreign land, a foreign land that has lots of problems. But they inject 30 - and you're 50,000 people now you have in a - like month, you have - you've almost doubled the size and it's a disaster what's going on in Aurora where you have Venezuelan street gangs, they went into the same business as me, but they take their real estate with guns. I had to go borrow money from banks.

[15:25:01]

They're in the real estate business. They go in and the governor there in Colorado - Aurora, Colorado - the governor is petrified. He doesn't know what to do. He's never seen anything like it. Actually, nobody has seen anything like it when you get right down to it.

But we can be a nation that dreams big again. We can be a nation that builds things again. We can reclaim our pride, our dignity, our glorious American destiny. But only if we make a clean break from the failures of the past four years - they've been the worst four years. When you add everything up, the inflation, the lack of respect, the Afghanistan disaster, which was the most embarrassing period of time in our history where we were just humiliated and you add it all up. And all we're going to do is a very simple thing, we're going to make our country so incredible and so fast you only have one thing to do on November 5th, we're going to vote for a person named Donald J. Trump. Have you ever heard him? Have you heard of him?

Thank you. Nice hat.

ALL: Trump. Trump. Trump. Trump. Trump.

TRUMP: But if lying Kamala gets in, if she gets - can you imagine another four years like we've lived in the last four? Think of it, people are dying in North Carolina. They're dying all over those five six states. They're dying and what - they're getting no help from our federal government, because they have no money, because their money's been spent on people that should not be in our country.

If lying Kamala gets four more years instead of a golden age America, we'll instead be plunged into a dark age. Your family finances will be permanently destroyed. Your borders will be gone forever. They already are when you think of it, right? We don't have any borders. You're a border state now, you know that, welcome - congratulations.

Tens of millions more illegal aliens will invade our cities and towns, Medicare and Social Security will buckle and collapse from the weight of all of these people becoming proud members of our Social Security system. Isn't that nice? Remember, for four years I took care of it. I didn't raise the age five years, you know, that means darling I thought I was going to have Social Security. I thought I was going to retire a little early, but they've raised the age by five or six or seven years.

That's what they're going to do to you. I won't, because I would have done it already if I was going to do it, but they're going to do it. They're going to do it and they're really destroying the whole system and the world will be thrown into chaos and conflict like never before. Although, we're pretty close to that right now and we're also very close to a third world war, and we have incompetent people running our country. We don't want to be - we don't want to have them - did you see where Biden said today when they asked about what about Israel, what are they doing and he said, well, I don't know.

He didn't even know where the hell he was. You know, it's all these politicians now. I think I was the only one that ever went to the planes and the helicopters and talked, right? Now, they all sort of stop and they talk, but he doesn't do a good job of it. He talks.

But he said, well, they'll have to do - I don't want them to do anything - Israel. But as long as they don't destroy the nuclear weapons on the other side, I said - did he say that? Now, isn't it supposed to be the opposite, judge? We got some of the biggest judges in the country right here, but isn't it supposed to be the opposite? Now, as long as you do destroy the nuclear weapons, right, he said - he's the worst foreign policy president in history and everybody knew that from the beginning.

No, he said as long as they don't destroy the nuclear, and I'm still trying to figure that one out, nobody can figure it out. He can't figure it out either come to think. If you want to avoid this miserable fate for America, Michigan and the entire Midwest, we'll have to go out and you have to get - we have to be too big to rig, you know that, too big to rig. Turn out and vote in record numbers, too big to rig.

You know, last time last election we did great in 2016 a lot of people don't know, we did much better in 2020. We won. We won. We did win. It's a rigged election. It's a rigged election. You have to tell Kamala Harris, that's why I'm doing it again, if I thought I lost I wouldn't be doing this again. You know where I'd be right now in the beaches of Monte Carlo maybe or someplace, I'll be having a nice life.

[15:29:58] But if I had my choice of being here with you today or being on some magnificent beach with the waves hitting me in the face, I would take you ...