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Biden Administration Proposing Free Over-The-Counter Contraception; Elon Musk Offers Voters $1 Million A Day To Sign PAC Petition; Seven People Dead After Ferry Dock Collapses On Georgia Coast. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 21, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:30:45]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning a new move by the Biden administration that could greatly increase access to over-the-counter contraception. The administration is now proposing a new rule making over-the-counter birth control and condoms free for the first time for women of reproductive age with private health insurance.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is at the White House with much more detail for us. So, Arlette, what is the White House pushing for here?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, President Biden says that he and Vice President Harris are taking this step to try to expand access to affordable contraception at a time when they say that the right to contraception is under attack in this country.

Now, the Affordable Care Act currently requires that private insurers cover most contraception at no cost. But what this would -- new rule would do is it would require private insurance companies to cover any birth control contraception that is trying to be acquired without a prescription at no cost. It would require that these insurance companies provide coverage for any FDA-approved drug relating to contraception as long as there is not a therapeutic equivalent that is covered.

The White House estimates that this could impact and expand access for about 52 million women of reproductive age in this country.

Now, this rule would still need to be finalized over the course of several months and it likely would go into effect in 2025 once it is finalized.

But it comes at a time when reproductive health has remained a top issue in this presidential campaign. Democrats have warned that the Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade also puts at risk fertility treatments and access to contraception.

Vice President Kamala Harris out on the campaign trail has warned that Donald Trump, who has bragged about appointing those Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade -- that he would gut access to reproductive health in this country if he returns to the White House.

And in a statement this morning touting this new rule, Vice President Kamala Harris said, "While we fight to protect and expand health care, extremist so-called leaders are attacking reproductive freedom at every turn. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly blocked legislation to protect the right to contraception across the country."

Now, meanwhile, Trump has said in the past that he would not restrict access to birth control. He made that comment shortly after he had said that he was looking at contraceptives when he was specifically asked whether he would limit access to contraception in this country.

But it's clear that Democrats continue to believe that this issue of reproductive health will be a potent political issue in this campaign. And the Biden administration is trying to put some meat on the bones, saying that they are taking more steps to make affordable contraception coverage available to Americans across the country.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. Good to see you, Arlette. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning Pennsylvania's Democratic governor wants an investigation into tech billionaire Elon Musk's plan to give away $1 million a day to registered voters in swing states. Anyone who signs an online petition for Musk's Trump- supporting political action group has a chance to win, he says. And some election experts say this may just be illegal.

CNN's Marshall Cohen is in Washington. Marshall, is this giveaway breaking the law at this point?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: It might be, and I'll explain why, Sara. But let me be super clear I'm not saying Elon Musk is going to be locked up or put on trial anytime soon. What I am saying is that some respected scholars who study election law for a living saw what Musk did and immediately raised legal objections.

So let me play for you a clip of Musk over the weekend campaigning for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania and then we'll break it all done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, BILLIONAIRE TECH MOGUL AND TRUMP MEGA DONOR: Every day from now until the election we're giving out a million-dollar prize that is -- and all you have to do is sign a petition in support of the Constitution. It's very straightforward. You don't even have to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:35:00]

COHEN: OK, so that's not quite all you need to do, Sara. If you look at the fine print on Musk's super PAC website it says you must be a registered voter to sign the petition, and you can only win the million dollars if you live in one of the battleground states -- that's the website right there -- and that's the problem. The experts we spoke to said federal law makes it a crime to pay

people to register to vote. You can't give the money or a chance to win money through a lottery.

Here is what the law specifically says. "Whoever knowingly or willfully pays or offers to pay or accepts payment, either for registration to vote or to vote, can face up to five years in prison." That's the law.

And legal experts said that Musk could be crossing the line, especially for people who heard about that cash prize and then registered to vote.

We reached out to Musk's super PAC for comment, but they did not respond, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Marshall Cohen. Thank you so much -- appreciate it.

A barrage of battleground visits, high-profile political surrogates, and lots and lots of attack ads on the airwaves -- that's what voters will see in the final 15 days of the neck-and-neck race, according to the polls, to the White House.

With us now, May Mailman, former Trump White House associate counsel and director of the Independent Women's Law Center. And Paul Begala, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist.

May, first to you. If Trump is so sure he's going to win why is Elon Musk offering to pay people to vote in swing states?

MAY MAILMAN, DIRECTOR, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S LAW CENTER, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ASSOCIATE COUNSEL, (via Webex by Cisco): Well, of course, a PAC and the candidate don't talk. By law, they can't talk. But, you know, it's interesting.

So, Kamala Harris has raised a billion dollars in three months -- I mean, this is record-breaking -- and Trump's money just isn't there. And so I do think actually there is something to super PACs using their money smarter and not just flooding the airwaves.

And so I saw something interesting the other day --

SIDNER: So buying votes, May -- buying votes -- that's cool with you?

MAILMAN: No, no, no. I think that the attention -- I think that this makes people pay attention. Oh, you know, they're -- who isn't paying attention if there is some sort of $1 million check that someone is receiving? And so getting people's eyeballs -- getting people to pay attention to this election is I think not just going to be the standard advertisements that we see. I think creativity is warranted in elections.

SIDNER: Paul?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST (via Webex by Cisco): Well, it says something. If Trump had anything in his support, it was enthusiasm. And if your billionaire buddy has got to be throwing out a million dollars to get people to register, I believe legality is such, just politically. That's not a good look.

People leaving his rallies early -- we covered it this weekend. He had a rally in Detroit and he had to reconfigure the arena because he couldn't draw a crowd.

He gave that weird performance the other day where he stood and swayed to music for 39 minutes.

He's not canceled a speech at the NRA. And my God, if you're a Republican and you can't speak to the NRA you have a problem, right?

He has canceled CNBC and NBC. He's canceled "60 MINUTES." He won't debate. He won't release his medical records either.

So there's something going on. When his billionaire buddies are so desperate they've got to throw around million-dollar checks that's telling me something as a strategist that his enthusiasm is down.

SIDNER: All right. Let's listen to some of the closing arguments that are being made both by Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. First, some of what we heard from Donald Trump over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Arnold Palmer was all man. When he took showers with the other pros when they came out of there, they said oh my God.

You have to tell Kamala Harris that you've had enough. That you just can't take anymore. We can't stand you. You're a (bleep) vice president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: I'm curious, May, how you think these closing statements are going to help you gain the vote of suburban women that polls have been saying that Donald Trump has been struggling to get on his side.

MAILMAN: Yeah, it might not help with suburban women. Suburban women probably aren't the rallygoers there necessarily and so there is an audience disconnect.

But, you know, on the other hand, this is what people like about Donald Trump. There's something about having a conversation with your buddy in your living room that isn't political versus Kamala Harris feels totally scripted. She shows up to Detroit with a shirt that says, "Detroit Versus Everybody." Sometimes she has a Jamaican accent. I mean, there's just something that is so fake and false and targeted to the audience versus Donald Trump is Donald Trump and, you know, the people who like him, that really does speak to them.

SIDNER: And just to be clear, her father is Jamaican. But Paul, Harris is calling Donald Trump, as a response to this and

before this, unfit, unhinged as part of her argument. She also said this at a church on Sunday.

[07:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our country is at a crossroads and where we go from here is up to us as Americans and as people of faith. And now we ask a question -- we face this question. What kind of country do we want to live in? A country of chaos, fear, and hate or a country of freedom, compassion, and justice?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: There are Republicans and Democrats who have come and said look, they like this message. So why is this race polling so close, Paul?

BEGALA: Well, it's a divided nation. I mean, it's going to be close. There's no question about. It's an absolute coin toss. That's the nature of our politics.

But I think it's really instructive that Kamala Harris went to church and Mr. Trump is throwing out profanities and talking about Arnold Palmer's putter. I don't want to be rude on television. I think she's on to something, honestly, when she says he's unfit, unwell, unhealthy.

We've been around Trump now for 9 1/2 years he's been on the national scene, so we get it. We know a big part of his appeal is he's unconventional. I get that. But something has changed.

You know, Barack Obama said this the other day. If your grandpa was doing this, you'd be worried, right? You do cry help.

The other day he gave a talk where he talked about his own supporters -- and I'm using his words. He called them fat pigs. He said get that fat pig off the sofa. Just slap him around. He's talking about his own voters -- calling them that stuff.

So he's having a breakdown. Let's just be honest. Let's not sane-wash it. Let's not just say oh, it's just Trump. That -- there's something wrong with Mr. Trump and he's melting down. And it probably wouldn't have killed him to go to church instead of standing there throwing profanities around and encouraging his audience to chant profanities.

SIDNER: Um, Sen. Lindsey Graham was big mad at his fellow Republicans. Listen to what he said this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, MODERATOR, NBC "MEET THE PRESS": -- administration officials. SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): If you're a Republican supporting her, what the hell are you doing? You're supporting the most radical nominee in the history of American politics. I can't take four more years of this crap.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: May, why are so many Republicans coming out publicly and supporting Harris?

MAILMAN: I wouldn't say it's so many. I think that there are a lot of people who don't like Trump, and let's just take Liz Cheney. Liz Cheney is somebody who very much opposed Kamala Harris' policies. Tweeted about everything that would be bad for Americans if Kamala Harris were to be elected president, and now is supporting Kamala Harris. And there's something that feels personally vindictive.

And if you are trying to make the case to Independents, these are people who are not interested in personal vendettas. And I feel like that's what Liz Cheney is doing.

And so, what Lindsey Graham is saying is why is your personal disdain for President Trump overcoming what is best for Americans because that is how it is perceived. And I just -- I don't know if there's a good answer to that.

SIDNER: All right, May Mailman, Paul Begala, we're going to leave it there. Thank you both so much -- appreciate you -- John.

BEGALA: Thanks, Sara.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the New York Liberty champions, and it all happened in a thriller.

CNN's Carolyn Manno here with the details. An overtime thriller.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This has been excruciating, exciting, exhausting for Liberty fans. All those things rolled into one because they've been waiting such a long time for this franchise to finally win. This is one of the original franchises in the WNBA. It's been 28 years but the Liberty getting it done.

New York came into this game 0-5 in record in the previous finals, and so there was a lot of work to be done. And it looked like that trend might continue to start this game because it was Minnesota who were looking for a league record fifth championship that got pretty much every shot they wanted in the first half. They jumped out to a 12- point lead, but this was the title decided right here in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.

New York down. Breanna Stewart driving and got the foul here. Minnesota could not believe it. They were not happy about it. But even after a challenge that call was upheld. The officials saying the defender was not in legal guarding position.

So Stewart hitting both free throws and sending the game to overtime. And the Liberty just took over from there. Leonie Fiebich came out and hit a huge three. Nyara Sabally broke away with a layup to put the Liberty up by five marking the largest lead of the game.

And series MVP Jonquel Jones finishing with a team-high 17 points. She was incredible as the Liberty win it 67-62.

And sorry, Mets fans. The Dodgers are heading to the World Series for the first time since 2020. L.A. with a 10-5 win over New York last night in game six of the National League Championship Series. Shortstop Tommy Edman sparking L.A. in the first inning with a two-run double, then adding a two-run home run in the third.

So now the Dodgers are going to face the Yankees in the star-studded Fall Classic. The Dodgers and Yankees facing each other 11 times in the World Series in a 40-year span between '41 and '81, but they have not played against each other in the Fall Classic in 43 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOOKIE BETTS, OUTFIELDER, LOS ANGELES DODGERS: And it's kind of what the people wanted, you know, and it's what we all wanted. I mean, it's fun. It's going to be two -- a battle of two good teams and a lot of long flights across countries -- across the country. But that's what makes it fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:45:05]

MANNO: So the Dodgers have won four National League pennants in eight years. Game one of the World Series set for Friday in Los Angeles.

All the fans at the game last night, John, hoping for both new York teams to make epic comebacks but unfortunately, not to be for Mets fans. So this is going to be very fun. The Yankees and Dodgers, two iconic franchises. It's going to be good.

BERMAN: Well, it depends on -- it depends on where you're from, although we can root for Red Sox great Mookie Betts there in the World Series.

MANNO: Yes, root for Mookie.

BERMAN: There is something to root for.

Carolyn Manno, thank you very much for that -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: You can't even play along for a minute? Like --

BERMAN: I tried.

BOLDUAN: -- just say yes.

Coming up for us, preventable and should not have happened. That is the conclusion of the report released overnight from the House committee investigating the July assassination attempt against Donald Trump, including new firsthand accounts of what happened that day.

And it is official. They are rock and roll forever. Dave Matthews, A Tribe Called Quest, Ozzy Osbourne, and Cher, the new inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

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[07:51:17]

BOLDUAN: The affordability crisis has been front and center the entire election. Vice President Kamala Harris has made affordability for homebuyers and renters a key part of her economic agenda. One focus, so-called abuse of corporate landlords. How much do they really impact rent, though?

CNN's Matt Egan has been looking into it and he's joining us now for a bit of an analysis on this. What have you found?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kate, listen, there's no doubt that rent is just a major source of frustration for millions of Americans, right? Rent has gone up so much and that's on top of the cost of living. Consider that half of all renters in the United States are considered cost-burdened, meaning they spend 30 percent or more of their income just on housing costs. And 2.5 million Black households are considered severely cost-burdened because they've spent more than half of their income on housing costs.

And so that's why the Harris campaign has come out with a number of proposals here, right? They're trying to add more supply by incentivizing builders with a combination of tax credits and cutting red tape. They're also vowing to take on what they're calling "abusive corporate landlords." And they're calling on Congress to pass a law to remove tax benefits for investors who acquire 50 or more single-family homes. Again, all of this designed to show that they would take action to address housing affordability for renters.

BOLDUAN: When you talk about corporate landlords how many people are we talking about that are in this market?

EGAN: Yeah, Kate. This is actually becoming increasingly common to have a corporate landlord. A CNN analysis found that across the country 16 percent of single-unit rental properties are owned by LLCs, real estate investment trusts, or other corporate landlords.

There's even something called a mega investor. That's a landlord that owns at least 1,000 properties. Nationally, this is just three percent, but that map shows that this is actually increasingly common in some of those Sun Belt cities. At least 10 percent or higher of the single-family units are owned by mega investors in Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Orlando, Phoenix. And then 20 percent or more in Charlotte, Jacksonville, and Atlanta.

Now, a CNN analysis has found that rent increases in cities that have these major investors as single-family owners -- they have outpaced wages, right? So rent is going up faster than paychecks. But we also know that investors -- they're more likely to plow their money into markets where rent is already going up. So it's hard to say how much the investors are the cause of the problem or if they're just a reflection of the fact that these are hot housing markets.

We talked to Laurie Goodman at the Urban Institute, and she said, "Just because you say that institutional landlords are in areas with higher increases in rents, it doesn't mean they caused that."

But look, Kate, we know that this is a massive issue for voters. A CNN poll found that almost one in four likely voters who are renters -- they say that the cost of housing is the number one economic issue that they're considering as they decide who to vote for for president.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. It's good to see you, Matt. Thank you so much.

EGAN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right. On our radar this morning, a helicopter crashed into a communications tower in Houston overnight killing all four people on board, including a child, according to our sister station. The crash started a huge fire, and you see it there. The FAA is investigating that crash this morning.

Also this morning, at least two people are dead and nearly 300 others had to be rescued in Roswell, New Mexico because of this -- severe flooding. Even a sheriff was trapped on top of his truck.

[07:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF MIKE HERRINGTON, CHAVES COUNTY, NEW MEXICO: This is Chaves County Sheriff Mike Herrington. At this time I am sitting on the roof of my cop car -- my police truck. I am completely surrounded by water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Wow. He said he wasn't expecting that much water when he went out.

Roswell set a record rainfall over the weekend. First responders were overwhelmed with calls from people -- you see the damage there -- who were stuck in their cars or on top of the roofs.

And some of the most iconic performers in music are now officially part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, baby.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHER, SINGER, ACTRESS: Singing "Turn Back Time."

KOOL & THE GANG, R&B GROUP: Singing "Celebration."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: That's just one of my favorites. John, if I could show the world you and I dancing to "Celebration" I'd feel good.

Cher -- you saw her; Kool & The Gang, there you go; Mary J. Blige. Also, A Tribe Called Quest, Dave Matthews Band, and Ozzy Osbourne, along with Peter Frampton and a host of others were welcomed to the roster during Saturday's induction ceremony.

It was quite a show, John, but some of these -- I'm like how are they not already in the --

BERMAN: Literally --

SIDNER: -- freaking Hall of Fame?

BERMAN: That was exactly -- Kool & The Gang? You're telling me they're just getting in now?

SIDNER: Right, just now. We just --

BERMAN: Did they take, like, a 25-year hiatus -- the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame -- and forget Kool & The Gang?

SIDNER: What the?

BERMAN: Peter Frampton? Frampton comes alive?

SIDNER: So that's -- we're mad about this.

BERMAN: Every third song on Classic Rock is Peter Frampton and they're just getting into the Hall of Fame?

SIDNER: I don't understand it --

BERMAN: All right.

SIDNER: -- but, you know, that's just me.

BERMAN: But we digress.

New this morning the House task force investigating the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump just released its interim report.

Let's get right to CNN national security reporter Zach Cohen for the latest on this. Zach, what did it say?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, John, another damning assessment of those security failures around Donald Trump's July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. And this includes new testimony from local officers who provided a firsthand account of moments from the time the shooter was first identified by law enforcement up until shots were fired. And that includes that moment when officers helped one of their fellow officers up onto that roof and they saw Thomas Crooks there and identified the fact that he had a gun for the first time.

This transcript reads, "I tried to get him up to the roof" -- talking about the officer. "He's kind of on the side. However, he's up there. He comes back down screaming, 'There's an A-R! An A-R! A guy with an A-R!'"

Now, what's important about this John is to date, the task force has not received any evidence that message ever got to Donald Trump's Secret Service detail before shots were ultimately fired. And obviously, that speaks to the communication breakdowns that are also laid out in this assessment as well.

The joint -- the bipartisan task force really coming to the same conclusion that a lot of other independent investigations around these assassination attempts have is that this was preventable, and this should not have happened.

And it could put more pressure on Secret Service leadership. We know an independent panel convened by the Department of Homeland Security said that there needs to be a complete overhaul of the leadership at the Secret Service. But with the election so close it remains to be seen when that could take place.

BERMAN: Yeah.

COHEN: But some big changes coming for sure at Secret Service.

BERMAN: There seems to be wide agreement in every one of these investigations.

Zach Cohen, nice to see you. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: This morning an investigation is underway into what caused a ferry dock to collapse in Georgia Saturday. At least seven people were killed when this happened, and several others were injured. People were gathering on the historic island for a celebration of culture and history when this all happened.

CNN's Rafael Romo has much more on this for us. Good morning, Rafael.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate.

It's still very early in the investigation but there are several things officials are focusing on, including why the gangway had a catastrophic failure, whether the increased number of people might have been a factor, and the age of the gangway itself.

CNN has obtained video of the dock leading to the gangway that shows how the whole structure collapsed. You see the ferry in the background -- the same one guests were trying to get to when the tragic collapse happened. We later see people by the shore trying to rescue those who had fallen into the water.

What we know is that the gangway collapsed shortly before 4:00 in the afternoon on Saturday as crowds gathered on Sapelo Island for a celebration of the Gullah-Geechee community of Black slave descendants.

According to Walter Rabon, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the gangway that led from the dock to the ferry collapsed when about 40 people were on it. Commissioner Rabon said there was a significant increase in the number of people visiting on Saturday although he doesn't yet know if that was a factor in the gangway's collapse. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER RABON, COMMISSIONERS, GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES: The initial findings of our investigation at this point show a catastrophic failure of the gangway causing it to collapse. I can assure you that the Department of Natural Resources' critical incident reconstruction team will be working tirelessly in conjunction with engineers and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to gather and preserve evidence and interview witnesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Twenty people ended up in the water and tragically, seven died -- four men and three women ranging in age from 73 to 93.

Charles Houston, who served as a chaplain for the DNR, a city of Plains volunteer firefighter, and also worked with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations was among the dead. Officials also said there are three other people in critical condition.