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Harris and Trump Campaign in Michigan; Biden Sees Opportunity for Peace; Hamas Death Opportunity for Ceasefire. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 18, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Awesome time. You're like, oh, I wish we had been filming.

AMBER RUFFIN, COMEDIAN: Yes.

BERMAN: On the other hand, had we been filming, it might have been the last time any of us are ever actually filmed.

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BERMAN: Is the - is news inherently fun/funny?

RUFFIN: Oh, no. No. We work hard on that. No, I don't think it's inherently funny. Although, like remember stuff like covfefe and stuff. Like, there are funny moments. OK, I'd like to resend my answer. Yes, a lot of times, yes.

BERMAN: Remember the days. Remember the days of covfefe.

Listen, Amber Ruffin, it's great to see you in person. I've been a big fan of your work for a long, long time.

RUFFIN: You're very sweet. I can't wait to see you when you're a guest on the show. Something you agreed to just now.

BERMAN: All right.

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BERMAN: For a small appearance fee, I'll go almost anywhere.

Amber Ruffin, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

And be sure to tune in. A new episode "Have I Got News for You" airs tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. on CNN.

All right, breaking just moments ago, Donald Trump on how Fox is helping him write some of his material. And on what his plans are for campaigning with Nikki Haley.

New developments following the death of the Hamas leader. A statement just out from Hamas about what their plans are now.

And who needs a rocket when you have a balloon. Making history with better bathrooms and drink services, apparently.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman, with Kate Bolduan. And this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, he does forget my name all the time. No, just kidding.

Two presidential candidates in one battleground state, and even focusing in on the same battleground county essentially at the same time. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris heading to Michigan today, even crossing paths in the same county a few hours apart as their campaigns look to energize supporters, find any undecided voters, if they exist still, and push for any advantage they can find now, just 18 days away from Election Day.

Before that, Donald Trump stopped by Fox News this morning. A greatest hits of his campaign rhetoric and criticism of his opponent.

CNN's Steve Contorno starts us off this hour.

So, Steve, what happened?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, in this appearance, Kate, he also continued to push this rhetoric that the Democratic Party is, quote, "the enemy from within." He further elaborated on those remarks.

Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are the threat to democracy. They're all about soundbites and - these people are sick. They have people - you know, I talk about the enemy from within. What - what person wants to have open borders? What person wants to have men playing in women's sports? What - all of this stuff, it doesn't make sense. It's no good. It's horrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now Trump, in this appearance, also recapped his performance last night at the Al Harris (ph) Dinner in New York. This is an event put on in honor of the first presidential candidate nominated by a party who is a Catholic. And Trump, in his comments, criticize Harris for showing up via video and not in person, calling it, quote, "deeply disrespectful to Catholics."

He also, at this event, reiterated his support for Eric Adams, the embattled New York mayor. He said, quote, "I was prosecuted and so were you, Eric." And Trump at - during his appearance on "Fox and Friends" just now also was asked, you know, where he came up with the jokes that he performed last night. And he said a lot of people from Fox participated in helping him write his script yesterday. That's interesting that just days after they are interviewing the vice president, his political opponent. They're also helping him with material for this event.

Donald Trump, as you said, now goes on to campaign in Michigan, where he will cross paths with the vice president. They are both in that battleground states. Just showing how important Michigan is to the election, which is now just less than three weeks away.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Steve, thank you very much.

John.

BERMAN: All right, Steve just said they will cross paths in Michigan.

[09:05:01]

What are the plans of the vice president in that state today?

CNN's Isaac Dovere is with us.

What is the message she wants to send today, Isaac?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, she's starting the day, first event is in Grand Rapids talking to people there. Then she will be doing an event with union workers. And then end the day in Oakland County, outside of Detroit, with a rally there. All of it pushing this very clear focus on Michigan, a state that, of course, was the closest state in 2016. It was decided by 10,704 votes. It was close again in 2020. And she is hoping that she can make it not so close this time around. But it is a pitched fight. And looking for all the different constituencies that she can appeal to there while there is, of course, all the - what is roiling the Arab American community there over the war in Gaza.

BERMAN: Interesting. Going to Grand Rapids, Kent County, which flipped from Trump to Biden, 2016 to 2020, going to Oakland County, where Biden really expanded his lead there, helped him win Michigan.

DOVERE: That's right. BERMAN: And the messaging she is delivering, it really does seem now, and this has been happening every day and almost every day it seems to get even hotter, she's going after Donald Trump directly, not just as a threat to democracy, but also basically saying he's unhinged and not up to the job.

DOVERE: Yes, and unstable. All those sorts of things. But she's doing it in a way where she is saying that he isn't making sense, but what he is saying as dangerous, talking about - when he said the other day that he was the father of IVF. But we can take a listen to some of how she's doing that out on the trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC ANTHONY: This is Marc Anthony. Even though some have forgotten, I remember what it was like when Trump was president. I remember after Hurricane Maria devastated our island, Trump blocked billions in relief while thousands died. I remember when our families lacked clean water and electricity, Trump through paper towels and called Puerto Rico dirty and poor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOVERE: I'm sorry, John, that was a new ad that the Harris campaign has out featuring Marc Anthony, the singer, making an appeal to Latinos, Puerto Ricans especially, talking about what happened with the hurricane response there under Trump.

And it is - there is a lot going on. We cannot say, given how fragmented and fractured the media environment is at this point, and all the different constituencies that are trying - the Harris campaign is trying to appeal to, that one day is about anything. Each day is about many things that both these campaigns are doing, trying to grab each little block of voters, those couple of people in each county who are undecided, still making up their minds, swing one way or the other. And so we will see more of that each day in between now and November 5th.

BERMAN: Trying to reach a lot of different people in a lot of different places in a lot of different ways.

Isaac Dovere, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

DOVERE: Great to see you.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, let's talk about a lot of this. Joining us right now is CNN political commentator and former Democratic state representative from South Carolina, Bakari Sellers, and political strategist and former spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, Madison Gesiotto.

Great - thank you, guys, for being here.

So, as Steve Contorno was talking to us about, Donald Trump went to Fox News this morning before he's heading to Michigan. And one of the things that came up, and it just happened, Madison, so I'm going to read to you the sound bite rather than - oh, I think we actually just got to cut. The - I will now set it up and I - everyone now gets to hear my internal monologue on live television.

So, one of the things that Donald Trump talked about, he was asked in the Fox News interview if he would consider calling his - calling Nikki Haley, who, obviously, ran against him in the primary, to campaign for him.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll do what I have to do. And let me just tell you, Nikki Haley and I fought and I beat her by 50, 60, 90 points. I beat her in her own state by numbers that nobody's ever been beaten by.

I beat Nikki badly. I beat everyone else too badly. I mean - I mean, frankly, I - I set records, both in speed and in the magnitude of the win. And everybody keeps saying that. They don't say get Ron. And Ron did very well.

But again, I beat everybody by numbers that has - have never happened before. And they keep talking about Nikki, Nikki. I like Nikki. Nikki, I don't think, should have done what she did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Madison, that doesn't sound like he wants her to campaign with him at all, but do you think that - don't you - do you think that would help him if he did?

MADISON GESIOTTO, TRUMP 2020 BOARD MEMBER: I think she's been out there a little bit. We definitely need her out there more as the Republican Party. There are a lot of voters out there that did vote for Nikki Haley. I don't necessarily think that they're jumping ship to go vote for Kamala Harris.

[09:10:02]

However, I think if we need to get them motivated, and we need to get them out there to vote for President Trump, and that wasn't their first choice maybe in the primary, I think having her out there would certainly help and having her out there more would definitely help.

BOLDUAN: That's what - that - Bakari, that is one funny way of trying to convince someone to come campaign for you.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I was just looking at how low energy he was when he went to his campaign headquarters and was speaking to campaign volunteers over there at Fox News. I mean the fact is -

BOLDUAN: Geez. SELLERS: That, you know, he was this rambling mess, going on and on about his margin of victory. And I say this all the time and people think I'm a homer and we disagree on politics, but Nikki Haley's one of the best political athletes we have in the country. I mean she needs to be on the campaign trail for Donald Trump so that they actually have someone standing with him who has that level of talent. Nikki Haley's more talented than J.D. Vance. I mean she's someone who ran for president, performed admirably and she can maybe help him with women. It's kind of late to go down that path, but maybe she can help him with women, particularly in suburbs.

But then this again shows you what type of leader Donald Trump is. He's tired. He's exhausted. His makeup looked a little uneven. He's chaotic. And the fact that he simply can't get out of his own way is a fundamental problem.

BOLDUAN: You know, it's - I was just thinking as you were talking, Madison, one of the exact place that you're - that you could have been describing that Nikki Haley could really help is where is - is in Michigan. You've got Kent County, which is where Grand Rapids is. That's where Donald Trump won that county in 2016. Joe Biden won the county in 2020. That - I mean that could be a fantastic place for a Nikki Haley to go.

But, I mean, why do you think Donald Trump is approaching it though this way, I will do what I have to do. Well, it kind of sounds like you have to do it.

GESIOTTO: Well, I mean, she could help in a lot of places. But I think when it comes to Michigan, the campaign sounds like they're feeling pretty confident. You look at places that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are going to be going today, like Oakland County. This is an area where Biden really outperformed Hillary Clinton. He won by 14 points. She only won that county by eight in 2016. Obviously went on to lose Michigan as a result of many things, but that being one of them.

And I think you see such a disdain right now within the Arab American community against Kamala Harris. I think many people were hoping for a big shift within that community. They weren't happy with the Biden administration policies. They thought having Kamala in there might change things. That she might take a different approach. And when they realized that she didn't, they were very, very unhappy.

And so you look at Oakland County and Macomb County, that's home to almost half of the Arab American population in Michigan. These people don't plan on coming out to support Kamala. And this could potentially lose Michigan for her. And even for the sake of argument, you say she takes Arizona, she takes Nevada, Trump takes Georgia and North Carolina, she still can't win without winning at least two of those states within the blue wall.

So, I think these are critically important states for her. I understand her logic not going last night to the dinner. Instead, going to Wisconsin. But I do think that there's also a catholic population that's in play in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Culturally catholic people that I think she could have picked up a, you know, a jovial and bipartisan dinner like that.

BOLDUAN: Yes, the only thing about that dinner is, is I - it doesn't - I mean, yes, Catholic charities is very important, but it's really focused on by a lot of people on the East Coast, not a lot of people maybe in the Midwest, I'll tell you that. When I moved - I didn't hear about the - I didn't know what it -

GESIOTTO: But the clips - the clips go around, Kate, on a lot of catholic pages.

BOLDUAN: Yes, that's true, the clips do go around.

GESIOTTO: They go around on a lot of the Italian-American pages. I'm Catholic myself. I've seen a lot of that this morning outside of even obviously watching it, which not everybody does, live last night.

BOLDUAN: That's very true. It was quite late for people who wake up early.

Bakari, one thing I want to - we know is that next week both Michelle Obama and Barack Obama are going to be on the trail for Harris. Michelle in Michigan and the former president in Georgia.

President Obama posted a new video just yesterday supporting Harris. This is a clip - we - it's described as a conversation that he's had with actress and producer Eva Longoria.

Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: We've got on one side somebody who really just cares about himself. You know, everything's about him. 2:00 a.m. tweets and tirades. You know, and Kamala is somebody who, you know, comes from modest beginnings, who had to fight for what she had. And that's the kind of person that I'd want to vote for because I know, push comes to shove, she's going to be fighting for me. And that's the kind of president that we need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: We also know, Bakari, that earlier Obama had suggested - and when he stopped by a campaign office in Pennsylvania, that some of their hesitancy among black men to support Kamala Harris, he suggested that it was because she was a woman.

Do you think Obama is creating headaches for - it all could beat - create a headache for Kamala Harris considering his star status in the Democratic Party?

SELLERS: That's - absolutely not. I mean, look, the only person over the past 20 years who's run for president or vice president, who's supporting Donald Trump is Sarah Palin. And we had absolutely everybody out there running and supporting Kamala Harris for president. You have the big dog in Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton.

[09:15:02]

And you're rolling out the two most popular presidential figures, or - or national political figures in Barack Obama and Michelle Obama is nothing but an added virtue or an attribute. And they're going to places that matter, like Georgia, like Michigan. Michelle Obama is loved. Barack Obama is loved.

And, yes, he opened up an entire conversation around black men. But even if you look below the surface, I was looking at a speech given in a church by Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, and he's running for - for governor of New Jersey. You have people like Frank Scott. You have Randall Woodfin (ph). You have all of these individuals who are in elected office who are doing that work.

I have a feeling, and this is just my feeling because I had this experience for the past 40 years of actually being one, that black men are going to march to the polls in roaring numbers in places like Detroit, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. And Barack Obama is helping that.

BOLDUAN: Yes. It's going to be - it will be a big moment to see them on the trail here next week for sure.

It's good to see you, Bakari. It's good to see you, Madison. Thank you, guys.

SELLERS: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right, everyone looking for signs of what happens next in the Middle East following the stunning killing of the Hamas leaders. And we have important new developments from the region.

And opening statements set to begin in the murder trial of the man accused of killing two Indiana girls.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:21]

BOLDUAN: Happening right now, President Biden and secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, both on high street stakes trips overseas and in the wake of Israel's killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, talking about the impact of taking him out, the ripple effects now.

Biden, in Berlin, declared that now is the time for a ceasefire, calling this an opportunity for peace. Secretary Austin, in Brussels, said that the U.S.' top priority now is the 101 hostages still being held in Gaza. And he also talked about the possibility of the United States playing the role in stabilizing Gaza.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: In terms of whether or not we would participate in any kind of stabilization efforts in Gaza, I think that that's going to require the - the contributions of a number of countries, hopefully countries in the region will - will step up. There, quite possibly, is - can be a part for the United States to play in that as well. What part that would be and what that would look like, Chris (ph), we - we're - we're going to have to work with our allies and partners to - to scope that out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Kayla Tausche is traveling with President Biden in Berlin. She's back with us once again.

Kayla, how significant would that be?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It would be incredibly significant, Kate. And it's something that the administration has been working on for quite some time behind the scenes.

They've been calling it the day after plan for Gaza. A blueprint of sorts of how the Gaza Strip would be governed in a post-Hamas world. Of course, that has been elusive with a ceasefire and hostage deal stalled for the last several months. But earlier today, President Biden expressed hope that Sinwar's death could be at new opportunity for a path forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The death of the leader of Hamas represents a moment of justice. He had the blood of Americans, and Israelis, Palestinians, and Germans and so many others on his hands.

I told the prime minister of Israel yesterday, let's also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas. And I look forward to discussing Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: Biden and his partners here in Berlin have been discussing just that today. First, Biden with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Now he's meeting with the leaders of the so-called European quad. The leaders of the U.K., France, and Germany altogether. It's just one of the many agenda items all of those allies have been pressing toward a ceasefire. And there's hope now that perhaps, perhaps this could be at a time for a diplomatic resolution, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Kayla, thank you very much for all of your reporting.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid, from "Axios." Barak, thank you so much for being with us and thank you so much for all your work yesterday, helping us understand what was happening on the ground inside Gaza and in Israel as we learned this news that Yahya Sinwar had been killed.

All right, you just heard what American officials are saying about their hopes. In so far as you can tell, what is the reality inside of how Israel sees this new situation?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hi, John.

Well, I would sort of hold my horses a bit here. You know, Sinwar is dead. Hamas took a huge blow. But the basic situation in Gaza and in the negotiations over a possible hostage and ceasefire deal, this situation hasn't changed dramatically, at least for now. I'm not saying it cannot happen, but for now we are still at the same point. The negotiations have been stalled for two months now. There is no movement by either party towards a compromise, not Hamas, and not Israel. So, we're sot of still stuck. The question is whether the Biden administration is ready to put a new proposal on the table. Something that they hesitated to do for a few weeks now. They wanted to do it, then they decided not to do it. The question is if now, after Sinwar is dead, and when President Biden says there's a new opportunity, whether now the president will put a new proposal on the table.

BERMAN: Is it clear for Israel, or the U.S. for that matter, with whom you would be negotiating on Hamas' side now that so much of the Hamas leadership is gone?

RAVID: Well, you know, the practical negotiations took place with Hamas representatives in Qatar, especially Sinwar's deputy, Halil Haya (ph), who is still alive and kicking, and he'll be the negotiator.

[09:25:03]

He's been the negotiator for a year. He'll continue to be the negotiator.

It's still unclear who constitutes power in Gaza. And I think this is why we still need to wait for things to, you know, develop.

BERMAN: One of the most interesting things I think you've highlighted, we talk about how Israel may need to reassess, Hamas need to reassess, even the United States needs to reassess. The entity that may need the greatest reassessment is Iran right now. Iran is losing its proxies.

RAVID: Definitely. You know, Israel took a big hit on October 7th. Its deterrence was shattered. But if you look at what happened since then, the so-called axis of resistance that's led by Iran took a hit after hit after hit. And when you look at the region today, a lot of those proxies that Iran has built for years have been dramatically weakened. You know, Hezbollah's leader, Nasrallah, is not with us anymore. The entire, you know, from 30 top Hezbollah leaders, only five are still alive. This militia lost two-thirds of its arsenal. Same goes with Hamas, which has been decimated. Same goes with pro-Iranian militias in Syria. So, the Iranians are in a big problem.

And, you know, we sort of forgot that this thing is still looming over us, the Israeli retaliation for this massive missile attack by Iran on October 1st. And this is going to happen in the next few days. We are days away from an Israeli retaliation that will give Iran another blow.

So, I think we are still, you know, in - in - in the - in the incident. We're still - this is a live thing. And we only - we only know where this thing is going after the Israeli retaliation against Iran.

BERMAN: Barak, stand by, if you will, and I don't know if you have returned video, in other words you can see what we're putting up on the screen right now, but I understand we just got video from the IDF showing the moment that the tank fired on the building where Sinwar is right now.

OK, so, obviously, the footage is from up top. It's drone footage of a tank firing on the building where Sinwar was inside. That was it right there. And we've seen other drone footage from inside the building of Sinwar apparently sitting down afterward there. But that was a tank firing at the building, which again was some kind of almost routine patrol, Barak.

RAVID: Yes. And, you know, just imagine that the soldiers sitting inside that tank didn't - did not know that what they're doing right now is killing the mastermind of October 7th. And one of the snipers who shot at Sinwar, a 19-year-old soldier who killed him, didn't know that he was firing at Yahya Sinwar. And only more than 12 hours later, when the forces entered the building and saw the body, they realized, wait, maybe we got something here. And only hours after it was confirmed that it was really Yahya Sinwar.

So, when you think about the amount of intelligence efforts and operational efforts to catch Yahya Sinwar, at the end it was sort of like, you know, Al Capone getting caught for tax fraud.

BERMAN: Barak Ravid, one thing is clear, it's a remarkable moment. But as you point out, beyond that, not much is clear at this point.

Thank you so much, as always, for your insight and analysis.

RAVID: Thank you.

BERMAN: So, if you listen to what Vice President Harris has been saying on the campaign trail, there has been a definite shift in her focus. The question is, why. We have an answer.

And Sir Richard Branson announces he will be a copilot on the first crewed flight of a sort in a space balloon, kind of space balloon, 20 miles above the earth.

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