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U.S. Sends 100 Troops, Anti-Missile System to Israel; Harris "Opportunity Agenda" for Black Men; Election Day Disruption Concerns; Bath and Body Works Apologizes for Candle; NASA to Explore Jupiter. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 14, 2024 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Israel's senior leaders, including the defense minister and the prime minister have promised a response would be coming. And in turn, Iran has promised its own retaliation. That's why this THAAD battery is headed to Israel to help in that defense.

We have seen THAAD batteries deployed to the Middle East before, including right after the October 7th attack on Israel. We've also seen the U.S. deploy a THAAD battery to Israel in 2019 as part of a training and exercise. So, we have seen it in these situations before, but of course, not with a threat that's hanging over Israel right now, and that's why it's such a significant deployment.

And it will add not only quantity, but quality to Israel's own air defense system that has the shorter-range Iron Dome, medium-range David Sling, and then the Arrow missile. So, John, this is another layer of aerial defense as the U.S. watching very closely what's happening with Israel and of course, with Iran.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it does feel different, distinctive this time. Oren Lieberman at the Pentagon, thank you very much. Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Ahead, Kamala Harris launching a new strategy to win over more black voters, specifically black male voters. What polls are showing us about the serious challenge there for Democrats. And how officials are preparing for disruptions on Election Day. Those stories ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:00]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, the Harris campaign is unveiling a new economic plan to try to appeal to a key demographic for black male voters. The Opportunity Agenda for black men, as they're calling it, includes forgivable loans for black entrepreneurs and programs to expand job opportunities and a focus on mental health.

I also I think it's important to note the outreach that the Harris campaign is doing. She appeared -- we're just getting new sound just in, she appeared on Roland Morton Unfiltered, a live stream, a clear effort for outreach to black men. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: Let's fast forward to right now. He his staff won't let him do a 60 Minutes interview. Every president for the last half century has done one. Anyone who's running for president, everyone has done it except Donald Trump. He will not debate me again. I put out my medical records. He won't put out his medical records.

And you have to ask why is his staff doing that? And it may be because they think he's just not ready and unfit and unstable and should not have that level of transparency for the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Again, that sound just in right now, part of a dual message questioning whether Donald Trump is strong enough and stable enough to lead while she is doing outreach to black men. CNN Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten is here. The need for outreach to black men, Harry, appears to be pretty stark in some of the numbers you're seeing.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes. Let's talk about young black men in particular. Sometimes there's a trend line -- you know, I look at the polls all the time and sometimes there's a trend line that I never noticed before and make me go, whoa. This is one of them.

All right. This is the Democratic margin among black men under the age of 45 and presidential elections. You go back to November of 2012, what do you see? You see Obama by 81, Clinton only won them by 63. Then we're all the way down to Biden last time around by 53. A tremendous drop already.

And then you take a look at the average of the most recent polls and Kamala Harris is up by only 41 points. That is about half the margin that Obama won them by back in November of 2012. And this, I think, is, you know, when Barack Obama goes in last week when he was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, essentially talking to young black men, he made it seem like it was a Kamala Harris specific problem. Uh-uh. This is part of a longstanding trend of young black men moving away from the Democratic Party. And Kamala Harris is just the latest to face that magnitude of black -- younger black men going towards the Republic.

BERMAN: That was what most interesting here is the trend line and where some of the biggest drops happened or already happened in this case. How about black men overall?

ENTEN: How about black men overall? It's part of the same picture, you know. We're looking once again at younger black men at what looks like the worst Democratic performance since 1960 since JFK versus Richard Nixon. It's the same thing among black men overall. Again, part of a similar trend, but here, actually, the drop off isn't as dramatic, right? Barack Obama won him by 85. Then you see 71 McClinton, 69 Biden, basically the same thing holding steady. But here, again, very, very weak, only a 54-point margin.

Now, again, still winning them by a large margin, but considerably lower than what we're used to. Certainly, considerably lower than what we had during the Obama years. The bottom line is Kamala Harris with younger black men and then black men overall putting in historically weak performance for a Democratic candidate.

BERMAN: Is she getting any relief with black women?

ENTEN: All right. So, you know, we're talking about the trend line, right? And black women, look, she's doing better with black women than she is doing among black men. But here, there isn't a trend line almost until we get to Kamala Harris.

So, again, this is a black -- margin among black women. Look, Obama won them by 93, very large margin. Clinton won them by 93, a very large margin. Biden did a little bit worse at 85, but then you look here. And you get a 71-point margin. Now, again, these are large margins, but the bottom line is when you're talking about the base of the Democratic Party, you would think that Kamala Harris would do very well among blacks women based upon history. And of course, she would be the first black woman president, but she's actually doing the worst for a Democratic candidate among black women since 1960 if this holds, John.

BERMAN: And again, when you look at the numbers, Harry, whenever you come in, looking at the trends is probably the most important thing.

ENTEN: You got it, my friend.

BERMAN: Thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you,

BERMAN: Sara.

[08:40:00]

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John. Joining me now, White House Bureau Chief for the Washington Post, Toluse Olorunnipa, and CNN contributor and political historian, Leah Wright Rigueur. Thank you both so much for coming on.

You just heard those numbers when it comes to polling. Toluse, I want to ask you, what is it, do you think, that has eroded the black male vote when it comes to their vote for Democrats, and in specific -- specifically, for Kamala Harris with these polls are showing that she's getting less than several or most of the other Democrats that have run before her?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, WHITE HOUSE BUREAU CHIEF, WASHINGTON POST: Well, you do hear a range of different reasons why black men are having less enthusiasm and support for Democrats broadly and for Kamala Harris specifically. The economy is the number one reason that we hear. We hear people talk about the economic gains they were able to make under Former President Trump, the benefits that they got during his presidency, especially at the end of his presidency when there was a lot of stimulus money that was put forward and also the inflation that has happened under the Biden administration.

That has been a big contrast that black men in particular have felt very closely and felt that the Democrats that promised a lot of things when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, which went into office, promised a great deal of things for racial equity and for progress for the black community. They have delivered on some of those things, but a number of black men feel that they have under delivered, underperformed, and they are open to either considering a vote for Donald Trump or staying home because they feel like their vote does not make a difference in their lives.

And so, that is a big question, how Kamala Harris will be able to address the economic question. And that's a big part of the agenda that she rolled out this morning.

SIDNER: Leah, I want to let you and Toluse listen to this. She is going to be on -- Kamala Harris with Charlamagne tha God this week. She was on with Roland Martin. It is clear the campaign is concerned about the numbers that they're seeing when it comes to black men. And she's making her arguments on black radio or what we used to call black radio, which is now online. Go ahead and take a listen to something else that she told Roland Martin this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: He is not looking out for folks when he is -- when he was a landlord and would not rent to black families, sued for it when he took out a full-page ad in The New York Times against those five teenagers, black and Latino who are innocent, saying they should be executed, the Central Park Five. When you look at -- he -- the first black president of the United States and he had birthed their lives and now you look at black immigrants, legal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and he gets on a debate stage and says they're eating their pets. Come on. This man is dangerous. Not to mention, Roland --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: You heard her say this man is dangerous, and she went down a litany of things from his past and what is happening currently with his rhetoric around Haitian migrants. Leah, what do you make of this? When you hear her say these things, will this resonate as she goes through some of the things that Donald Trump has done or said about black folks in the past?

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: So, absolutely they will resonate and they are already resonating. I think we have to remember that behind black women, black men are the most loyal of the constituents to the Democratic Party. They are showing up in numbers that are just unrivaled by any other racial group, any other kind of racial group, any other kind of gender dynamic. And so, I think we do have to appreciate that.

What's important, however, is that that message doesn't necessarily resonate with the voters, the black voters that she is trying to appeal to, that she is trying to really that have seen eroding away from the Democratic Party. It's also true that the majority of that group, that kind of small group, small but important group, also sees this as a moment where the two parties are both intrinsically racist.

And so, because of that they feel 100 percent left behind. And there are all kinds of things I think we can point to. But very specifically, I think, to the points that we were mentioned earlier, the way to pull these people in and the way to appeal to appeal to, and particularly these black men, is through economic arguments. And I think that's what we're seeing in this listen SIDNER: - after in the aftermath of this black male listening tour that she rolled out, but also the agenda that she's put forward and the audiences that she is now trying to seek and speak to.

So, that message about how Donald Trump is a racist, is a bigot, is wouldn't be good for black people is also coupled with a very specific and targeted agenda that is centered around economic uplift, economic opportunity, and targeting people that have been left behind.

SIDNER: I do want to talk about that a bit. The plan that she has sort of put out there, in part, it provides $1,020,000 loans to black entrepreneurs, legalizes marijuana federally, and also, would help black Americans get into the business of selling legalized weed products.

[08:45:00]

When you look at this as a whole, Toluse, is this hitting the mark to entice voters, which, as you said, the economy, the economy, the economy, it's the economy (INAUDIBLE)?

OLORUNNIPA: Well, it does remain to be seen how much resonance this will have with black voters who are on the fence about Kamala Harris. She does have the challenge and that she is the incumbent. And so, as she rolls out new policies, as she repackages old policies and talks about the benefits for black men, people will wonder why she hasn't done a number of these things previously. That's the big argument that Donald Trump is making against her.

And so, she does have the burden of incumbency at a time when people are not happy about where the economy is. They're not happy about the way the country is moving. And so, she needs to be able to sort of distance herself from the past and show that she represents something different.

Now, it's also is important to note that the number of policies that she's rolling out are policies that are available for all Americans. She is just talking about their potential benefits among a slice of Americans and how these policies like the child tax credit or even the small business loans would benefit black people, even though they would be available across the board.

She is under the same ruling that the Supreme Court ruled about affirmative action as any other president. And so, she can't necessarily put forward policies that only benefit black men, but she has to showcase how her broad agenda will be particularly beneficial for black men. And that is a hard argument to make to make.

SIDNER: Toluse Olorunnipa and Leah Wright Rigueur, thank you both so much for coming on early this morning for us. Appreciate you. Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And as we march toward Election Day, swing state election officials are moving to try and guard against any attempts to repeat the disruptions seen four years ago. Donald Trump, his running -- and his running mate continue to push a misinformation about the last election, raising fears about what's to come in swing states, especially this election. CNN's Sara Murray is joining us. has been looking into this. Sara, what kind of challenges are election officials kind of preparing themselves for?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I think one of the big things is that we have so many more election skeptics who are now serving on these local election boards, and my colleague Fredreka Schouten found a really, you know, prime example of this in Arizona, but it's really if you look across all these different battleground states, whether it's Arizona, whether it's Pennsylvania, whether it's Michigan, whether it's North Carolina, since the 2020 election, across the country, there have been 35 officials in these various states who have refused to certify the election results, and that has, you know, the top election officials in these battleground states really on guard for the possibility that we could see more certification fights, refusals to sign off on the winner going into the November election.

And so, they've really tried to prepare, you know, in part by going to judges and saying, look, we have a really tight timeline on these election challenges. You need to be ready if we come to you and we say so and so is refusing to certify the election results, you need to be ready to jump on that immediate and to render a decision in these kinds of cases.

They've also been much more aggressive when there is a county level election official who just won't sign off on the results, you know, often they'll say cite voter fraud, they'll cite issues with the machines, the kinds of things we've heard Donald Trump talk about.

These election officials will go to a court and say, you need to force these election officials to certify the vote. And so, I think across the country we are hearing from officials who are really preparing to be very aggressive and gearing up for these fights, which they do expect we're going to see pop up after November, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also highlighting the concern and maybe the reality that there might not be an answer on Election Day of the outcome of this election --

MURRAY: Yes, absolutely.

BOLDUAN: -- on so many levels. It's good to see you, Sara. Thank you so much.

MURRAY: Good to see you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: John. BERMAN: All right. We are standing by for signs of extraterrestrial life. The new NASA mission launching this morning to a faraway moon that scientists think could house other worldly creatures. And a snowflake or a KKK hood, why major company is now apologizing after a controversial candle design.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:00]

SIDNER: This morning, I don't know how they didn't see it, but Bath and Body Works is apologizing for selling a snowflake candle with a design that many shoppers say, well, you judge for yourself, looks like a Ku Klux Klan hood.

The candle, called Snowed In features what was supposed to be a snowflake. The company told CNN in a statement that the design was, quote, "unintentional." The candle has since been pulled from Bath and Bodywork shelves and websites.

All right. someday you may be able to wake up with a view of Jupiter, NASA's Euro Clipper is expected to lift off around noon today from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The destination Jupiter's ice-covered Ocean Moon. It's NASA's first study to determine if it could support life. But it's not a quick trip obviously. Today's launch arrives on the Moon Europa in April, 2030. Will we still be here? I hope so. Kate.

BOLDUAN: I'm going to say absolutely.

SIDNER: OK. Good.

BOLDUAN: This morning. Donald Trump's social media company is making a comeback on Wall Street. But why and why now? CNN's Matt Egan's looking into that. He's here with us now. What are you expecting with this now? What are you hearing about this? And what are you expecting now with the markets about to open?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Kate, it's not moving much this morning, but that will change, I'm sure. Listen, this stock was in meltdown mode all summer, but now it is on fire. Since September 23rd, it's up 108 percent. That's doubling in the span of three weeks. It's a stunning move. One of many stunning moves for this company.

And it's a reminder of two things, right? One, this is not a normal stock. It doesn't trade on fundamentals, things like earnings and revenue. It trades on --

BOLDUAN: Or growth.

[08:55:00]

EGAN: Or growth. It trades on hype and momentum and the mood in Trump world. The other thing that this shows though is that it's inextricably linked to the election. When President Biden dropped out over the summer, this stock went down. It crashed to record low after record low. One point it was down more than 80 percent from its peak. Look at that chart. You see, it kept going down, down, down.

But now that the polls have tightened and that this looks like a race that could go either way, it's like someone flipped a switch and the stock is just going straight up. Now, obviously, it's still down from where it was, but that is just a remarkable move.

Now, Wall Street veteran, Matthew Tuttle, he told me it's really simple. People realize that if Trump gets elected, this stock has the potential to do something. And if he doesn't get elected, it probably goes to zero now. Now, it is absolutely stunning to think about a company that is valued in the billions of dollars having such a binary outcome here.

And don't forget that the former and potentially future president of the United States has a significant amount of his net worth tied up here, right? I mean, he's the face of the company. He owns almost 115 million shares. Now, those shares, back when this stock was down, down, down it was worth $1.4 billion those shares. It has more than doubled now worth nearly $3 billion, right? So, he's made that much money in just the span of three weeks. It's really, really remarkable.

Now, in the long run, though, this company still obviously has challenges, right? They're burning through money. Truth Social remains very tiny. They're generating almost no revenue. And so, that's why Professor Jay Ritter, who's been studying this stuff for four decades, he told me that he thinks that the stock is still dramatically overvalued. And in the long run, it's going sharply lower.

BOLDUAN: I mean, it just feels all like funny money when it comes to this. So, the roller coaster has been remarkable.

EGAN: It's such a ridiculous story.

BOLDUAN: We cover a lot of those these days. It's good to see you, Matt.

EGAN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, Israel is trying to determine how Hezbollah drones slipped into the country and struck an army base, killing at least four soldiers. It happened right there.

Now, separately The Pentagon is sending Israel an air defense system along with about 100 troops to defend against a possible attack from Iran. With us now, CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. We're talking about the THAAD, you know, anti-missile defense system. I've got some pictures of it up here, General. How does that alter the equation along with the presence of 100 U.S. troops there?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST AND FORMER COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. ARMY EUROPE (RET.): Well, it certainly adds additional defensive capability, John. There's -- the U.S. is sending a battery. That means about 100 soldiers, six launchers, each can fire eight missiles at a time, a radar and a couple of command-and-control headquarters. That's what a battery is. It's a really -- it's the smallest command element within the military.

But the THAAD is different because it's the most effective air defense systems in the world. What we talk about is ensuring the defense of Israel. They have -- we've all talked multiple times about the Iron Dome. That's for low altitude rockets. They have the David Sling, which is for medium altitude. They have the Arrow, which is high altitude incoming rockets.

They've also, in the past, incorporated Patriot PAC-3, which is one of our systems, it's no longer there, But the THAAD really is something new, and it's been around since about 2012. It's short, medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles, specifically ballistic missiles, and it intercepts with something called a hit to kill approach. What that means is it has a kinetic strike against the incoming missile. None of these other technologies do that. They have an explosive device that knocks the missile out of the sky, but the THAAD actually kills the missile with a direct hit.

And it's important because, truthfully, Israel has seen themselves in situations where multiple rockets are coming into their country, not just from Lebanon, but also from Iran.

BERMAN: General, I want to ask you about something that I think you have been focused on the last few days. This is the -- this is Israel with Lebanon. The border is right here. I'm not sure many people know this, but there are thousands of United Nations peacekeepers that operate in this region right here, very close to the border between Israel and Lebanon, and they've sort of been caught in the crossfire. How does that complicate the situation?

HERTLING: No, they haven't sort of been caught in it, John, they have been involved in it. It's UNIFIL. It's broken in the news in the last couple days. I'm very familiar with these kinds of peacekeeping forces from the U.N. UNIFIL stands for the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon. Military guys call them blue berets or blue helmets.

But it's a peacekeeping force. It's been in the country since, are you ready for this, 1978. Their peacekeeping mission, which I believe has been ineffective since that time, is supposed to be about helping demilitarize Hezbollah.

[09:00:00]