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13 Days Out, Harris at CNN Town Hall, Trump Campaigns in Georgia; American Airlines Fined $50 Million for Wheelchair Violations; CDC Says, One Dead in E. Coli Outbreak Tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounders. Aired 7-7:30a ET
Aired October 23, 2024 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We are in the final stretch until election day. And Vice President Kamala Harris is sitting down for a CNN town hall as Donald Trump's campaign pushes back on explosive new reports saying he wanted Hitler's generals and warning he'd be a dictator if reelected.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, American Airlines hit with a $50 million fine after allegedly mistreating passengers with disabilities, tossing and damaging wheelchairs on the tarmac.
Dozens of people falling sick in a deadly E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's. New information about the ingredient in question.
I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.
SIDNER: We're just days away and Kamala Harris tonight shows up for a CNN town hall event at 9:00 P.M. as Donald Trump is facing some explosive new warnings from his longest serving chief of staff, John Kelly. Overnight, Kelly telling The New York Times, Trump fits the definition of a fascist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KELLY, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF FOR TRUMP: Certainly, the former president is in the far right area, he's certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators. He has said that. So, he certainly falls into the general definition of a fascist, for sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Kelly also told the Atlantic about a conversation he said he had with Trump after Trump reportedly said during a private White House chat, quote, I need the kind of generals that Hitler had. Kelly telling The Atlantic he asked Trump, surely, you can't mean Hitler's generals. And he, meaning Trump, said, yes, yes, Hitler's generals. Kelly then said this to The New York Times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: He commented more than once that, you know, Hitler did some good things too. And, of course, if you know history again, I think he's lacking in that. But if you know what, you know, Hitler was all about it'd be, it'd be pretty hard to make an argument that he did anything good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: And there's also this, Trump's alleged reaction, according to The Atlantic, after he got the funeral bill from the family of murdered Fort Hood soldier, Vanessa Guillen. Trump reportedly said, it doesn't cost $60,000 bucks to bury an effing Mexican.
Let's get right to CNN's Steve Contorno. Steve, how is Trump responding to all of this, this morning?
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Sara, lots to unpack there, obviously. Let me start off by saying that last night, the sister of that PFC Guillen posted on social media saying that she thought this story was, quote, exploiting my sister's death for politics. She called it hurtful and disrespectful. She said, quote, President Trump did nothing but show respect to my family. And she pointed out that she voted for the former president earlier in the day.
Trump's campaign obviously pushing back as well, Stephen Cheung, his spokesperson, in a statement saying General Kelly had, quote, beclowned himself. Also another statement from the campaign saying this story is not true. President Trump never said that. This is an outrageous lie from The Atlantic two weeks before the election. So, clearly, strong pushback to not only the accusations about what they said about the forfeit soldiers funeral, but also this assertion that he was speaking about Hitler in glowing terms.
I will point out that Donald Trump continues to talk about the powers of the presidency in ways that suggests that he has a unilateral authority and ways that alarm people and concern than that, that he is being to dictate -- speaking like an authoritarian. Listen to what he said just yesterday about the kind of power that the president has when it comes to immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: As president, you have -- it's called extreme power. You have extreme power. You can just with, by the fact you say, close the border, and the border's closed. That's it, very, very simple.
[07:05:01]
You don't need all of this nonsense that they talk about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CONTORNO: Trump returns to the campaign trail today. He has two events planned in Georgia, a very critical swing state. He'll stop for a town hall there, and then he has a rally tonight in Duluth, Sara.
SIDNER: All right. Steve Contorno, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Kate?
BOLDUAN: So, as for Kamala Harris, she will be facing questions from undecided voters today, right here on CNN. And Evan McKend is in Aston, Pennsylvania, where the Harris Town Hall will be taking place inside the room where it's going to happen, no less. Eva. Good morning.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kate. Yes, we're seeing the vice president's closing arguments here come into focus. She's leaning into her personal biography as a way to connect with these undecided voters that we are going to hear ask questions tonight, really on a human level. She's also outlining her policy vision for America, what she characterizes as an opportunity economy.
And then we also hear her warning against the urgent threat, in her view, of what another Trump presidency would pose for this country. She was asked by NBC if the campaign is planning for the former president to prematurely declare victory. Here's how she responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last election, the former president came out on election night and declared victory before all the votes were counted. What is your plan if he does that again in two weeks?
KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, let me say this. We've got two weeks to go. And I'm very much grounded in the present, in terms of the task at hand. And we will deal with election night and the days after as they come. And we have the resources and the expertise and the focus on that as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, you have teams ready to go? Is that what you're saying? Are you thinking about that as a possibility?
HARRIS: Of course.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: Now, Kate, the campaign recognizes that it is not enough for her to only be talking about Trump. That is why she is additionally making an affirmative case for why she wants to be president and talking about her policy vision.
BOLDUAN: Eva, Kamala Harris also got a boost from former President Barack Obama overnight in Michigan, and that's not the end of it. They're preparing to campaign together again. Is it tomorrow in Georgia? What does he bring for the campaign?
MCKEND: You know, when you see Obama up on that stage, it is no surprise why Democratic campaigns historically have leaned on him in the final hour. He's totally in his element, he's unvarnished, and he connects with voters in a plain, spoken way about the urgency of getting off of the sidelines. So, we suspect to hear more of that argument from him and then also leaning into celebrity here. He'll be joined by Bruce Springsteen and Tyler Perry in Georgia as well. But, listen, I think that tonight, if we think about this town, CNN's town hall, it takes away a talking point that we have heard from Republicans that Vice President Harris is not addressing the press, that she is sort of hiding here. She not only did an adversarial interview with conservative media tonight, Kate, in these pivotal closing two weeks, we're going to hear her have the opportunity to get questions from voters. Kate?
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And if we can put up that video one more time, if you have the opportunity to Obama on stage, you see it's two politicians in one rapper. And only one of them rapped last night, and that was not Eminem. So, that's what you got from Barack Obama last.
Eva, thank you so much. It's good to see you. John?
BERMAN: All right. New this morning, American Airlines forced to pay tens of millions of dollars after an investigation revealed years of mistreating passengers with disabilities.
A CNN investigation finds political advertising has tricked some elderly people into donating their life savings.
And the two election workers who were defamed by Rudy Giuliani are now the proud owners of his Manhattan penthouse. Details on what else they got in the judge's ruling.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:10:00]
BERMAN: So, new this morning, American Airlines slapped with a $50 million fine after a sweeping investigation found repeated violations involving wheelchairs and passengers who use them.
Let's get right to CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean with the latest on this. Pete, what are you learning?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: John, this is a huge win for disabilities rights advocates because the sad truth is that incidents of wheelchair mishandling on airlines were not being taken all that seriously for years. And now Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says this new fine shows that era is essentially over.
It's really this new TikTok that thrust this issue back into the limelight. This is from last November. And it shows American Airlines baggage handlers essentially throwing a wheelchair down the chute of a jet way. The Department of Transportation says this is just one of thousands of cases where American Airlines mishandled wheelchairs between 2019 and 2023.
Its investigation found that the airline also failed to provide adequate assistance to disabled passengers. In fact, one passenger in a wheelchair told investigators that she felt like the airline treated her like cargo, so now she just doesn't fly anymore.
The punishment here is the largest ever of its type and the federal government is fining American Airlines $50 million. That fine also includes a mandate that American spent 25 million to reduce cases of damaged wheelchairs and make significant infrastructure upgrades.
[07:15:02]
Now, American airlines insists it's already doing that, having spent $175 million this year on disability services, new training and technology. And the airline also insists its wheelchair and scooter handling rating has gone up 20 percent since 2022.
Even still, though, a big apology from American here. It says, despite these improvements, there are instances where the service the airline provides is disrupted, untimely, or results in harm to the passenger or their equipment. American takes all these complaints and claims seriously and works hard to remediate them.
The message here is that is that this is only just the start. And here's the statement from the federal government. It says these problems are not unique to American airlines and that allegations of wheelchair mishandling and inadequate wheelchair assistance are far too common. The Department of Transportation has active investigations into similar violations at other U.S. airlines.
So, every airline essentially put on notice here, John, but Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says American was the worst offender, so that's where this had to start.
BERMAN: It's important to get this right. Pete Muntean, thank you very much for that. Sara?
SIDNER: Right ahead, one person is dead, ten people hospitalized in an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders. What the CDC is saying this morning.
And former President Obama drops the mic with Eminem in Detroit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: You know, I have done a lot of rallies, so I don't usually get nervous. But I was feeling some kind of way following Eminem.
My palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, vomit on my sweater are ready, mom's spaghetti. I'm nervous, but on the surface I look calm and ready to drop bombs, but I keep on forgetting --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[07:20:00]
SIDNER: This morning, McDonald's under scrutiny after an E. coli outbreak. The CDC says one person has died and dozens more have gotten sick in the outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders. Officials are trying to figure out what ingredients are the source of the E. Coli. CNN's Meg Tirrell is joining us now. What can you tell us? How far along are they? And this is really disturbing because McDonald's are everywhere.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They really are. Sara. I mean, right now, we know that at least 49 people have become ill. Ten people have been hospitalized, including a child on one person has died, an elderly person. Investigators are calling this a fast-moving investigation. The CDC is working with the FDA and with McDonald's and other agencies to try to identify the source of this.
Right now, the location of these, the most cases have been identified in Colorado, the second most have been identified in Nebraska. The elderly person who died was in Colorado. They are trying to hone in on the source of the E. coli infections.
Right now, they have sort of focused in on fresh slivered onions, but they have not ruled out the beef patties. They say everybody in this investigation reported recently eating at a McDonald's and most that they had eaten the quarter pounders.
Now, the company has put out a statement, a video statement about what they are doing take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE ERLINGER, PRESIDENT, MCDONALD'S USA: We've taken to proactively remove slivered onions, which are used in quarter pounders from restaurants in select states. We also made the decision to temporarily remove the Quarter Pounder from restaurants in select states.
It's important to note that the majority of states and the majority of menu items are not affected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TIRRELL: right now. Investigators are, of course, trying to identify that source and make sure that when they do identify it, that it hasn't been distributed to other restaurants as well. So, there could be more cases. There likely are that we haven't heard about reported. So, we're going to keep following this and keep you updated. Sara?
SIDNER: Can you give folks an idea of what the symptoms of E. coli are so they know to report it if they're getting those symptoms?
TIRRELL: Yes. So, most people should get better after five to seven days, but the symptoms can come on after about three to four days after consuming the bacteria. But the FDA says even up to nine days later, folks can get sick. And the symptoms include things like severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. It can also come with a fever.
So, if folks have these kinds of things in a really severe way that lasts they should report that to healthcare providers, and they should take note of what they had eaten and where, make sure they're reporting that as well as this investigation goes on.
SIDNER: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much. I appreciate it. Kate?
BOLDUAN: A serious warning from Donald Trump's former and longest serving chief of staff, John Kelly. In a series of interviews just published, General Kelly says Trump fits the definition of a fascist, for sure, and details Trump's affinity for Hitler's generals.
And he's already the GOAT, the greatest of all time, but LeBron James made new history last night on the court with his son for the Lakers in an NBA first.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:25:00]
BERMAN: All right. I want to talk about where the candidates are going using the election map from 2020, an election that Joe Biden won four years ago. This time around, let's talk about Vice President Harris holding the CNN town hall in Pennsylvania tonight.
Pennsylvania was a state that Joe Biden won, okay, by 81,000 votes. You'll remember, four years before that, Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes.
Now, where is Kamala Harris going in Pennsylvania? The town hall will be in Delaware County. Delaware County is a county that Joe Biden won in one big. It's one of these suburban counties just outside Philadelphia. Biden got 62 percent, 62.7 percent there.
That is what a winning Democratic campaign looks like in the state of Pennsylvania. What do I mean? Let's talk about the Senate race from two years ago.
[07:30:01]
John Fetterman, the Democrat, won that Senate race, Biden got 62.7 percent in Delaware County. Look at that. Fetterman got 62.9 percent.
