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Undecided Voters Who Questioned Harris React To CNN Town Hall; DOJ Warns Elon Musk $1M Voter Giveaway Might Be Illegal; White House Monitoring 3,000+ North Korean Soldiers In Russia. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 24, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:12]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning more than 24.7 million people have already cast their ballots, and we still have 12 days to go until the election. But how does that compare to the early voting during the pandemic in 2020, and do these numbers give us any hints about the presidential race and what the outcome might be?

CNN senior political writer Zachary Wolf is tracking all of this. Zachary, what are you learning here?

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER: Well, I think the first thing to think about is that it's a very different year than it was four years ago. Remember, there was a pandemic going on. So many more people were voting by mail.

That said, we are getting a lot of data on the early vote in now and we can start to look at that. And it's true that across the board voting -- early voting is down and it's down substantially in some of those states. Like Wisconsin, you can see it's down. Arizona it's down substantially. But in Georgia and Pennsylvania to the other key states it's down not so much. So we have a little bit more to look at there.

In most of these states, Republicans are -- have more votes in the early vote than they did four years ago. And it's completely flopped in states like Nevada and Arizona out West where Democrats had an edge in the early voting, according to our data four years ago.

Now, this year, Republicans actually have an edge in that early voting. And part of the reason for that could be that the early voting this year includes a lot more vote-by-mail -- or a lot more early vote-in-person as opposed to voting by mail. But it's all interesting stuff to look at as it comes in.

SIDNER: You mentioned Georgia. Just briefly, what are some trends that you are noticing in Georgia?

WOLF: In Georgia, we can -- we don't have party breakdown in Georgia, but we can look at racial breakdown, at breakdown by gender. The general groupings of who is voting -- for instance, women -- it's kind of similar to what it was four years ago but the numbers are a little bit down.

And if you look at race, for instance, four years ago it was about 500,000 Black voters to about a million white voters at this point -- or that's what it is this year -- 500,000 Black voters to about a million white voters. And four years ago there were more than 650,000 Black voters at this point.

But again, we have to caution that all of this is so different this year and we have to kind of see what happens in the -- in the -- in the 13 days to come.

SIDNER: Yeah.

Zachary Wolf, thank you so much for breaking that down for us. Really interesting -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so what is the feeling this morning after the CNN town hall with Kamala Harris? CNN's John King spoke with undecided voters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You all came in maybe leaning but undecided or persuadable. How many of you -- show of hands -- will leave tonight planning to support the vice president? Two have made a final decision. Now, you came in leaning that way?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty much right in the middle.

KING: OK.

You came in leaning --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was leaning.

KING: Leaning and now you're decided.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

KING: OK.

Now, three of you have not, so let me start with you first, Joe. Why?

JOE DONAHUE, UNDECIDED AUDIENCE MEMBER AT CNN TOWN HALL: I think there are still -- first off, I certainly respect the vice president and the work that she is doing in her office. I think that there are still some -- at least for me, some personal policy differences.

I don't think that -- I still can't get behind her policies on abortion. That's just something that I can't get behind because that's -- the right to life is so fundamental in this country that it becomes -- without that right being respected, it's incredibly difficult to talk about anything else.

So I have a policy difference -- a number of policy differences with her. That's the biggest one that comes to mind. But at the same time, I'm also -- I'm still not sold on the former

president either just because of his personality, his actions on January 6. Just the way that sometimes he treats people. It's -- that gets to be a little bit difficult for me.

KING: So two quick follow-ups here, everyone. So you don't -- you're not leaving here planning to vote for Trump. You're leaving here still not knowing what to do.

DONAHUE: I came in here leaning in the direction of the former president. I have not made a final decision.

KING: The vice president approached you --

DONAHUE: Um-hum.

KING: -- as she was walking out.

DONAHUE: Yeah.

KING: And we could hear a little bit of it from afar, but you were having a conversation about your disagreement on abortion.

DONAHUE: Yes.

KING: Obviously, you still disagree with her. What did it mean to you that she took the time to talk to you? Did it mean anything at all?

[07:35:00]

DONAHUE: It meant quite a bit, actually. I will respect that. Anybody who is willing to hear ideas that are in opposition to hers -- and that's -- or to anybody's really, for that matter -- that's something that is a personality trait that I really appreciate. And that is certainly something that, like, I try to have in myself. I try to -- I do try to listen to as many points of view as possible in my day-to- day life to try to get that. So I appreciate that element for her.

It's just sometimes this can be so very fundamental -- that particular issue can be so very fundamental to how we talk about anything else. The right to life -- not just abortion but the respect of life from the beginning to the end is so very fundamental to how we operate as a country.

KING: Well, we have 12 days to keep in touch with you as you go forward. We'll come back to the conversation.

I just want to go back to the back row a little bit. So, Pam and Lauren -- Pam on my left, Lauren on my right -- so you didn't -- you're not leaving here planning to vote for her. Do you leave here any clearer in either direction?

LAUREN HOLDEN, UNDECIDED AUDIENCE MEMBER AT CNN TOWN HALL: You know, actually, I think if I had to pick right now I would -- I would pick her.

KING: If you had to pick right now.

HOLDEN: I would, yes.

KING: But is that -- you changed your mind since I asked the question a minute ago or that's where you're -- where you're more strongly leaning there? Is there -- what's missing? If there's a -- if there's a missing link to get you to absolutely, what is it?

HOLDEN: That's a tough question. Um, I guess a lot of the foreign policy is really my biggest concern. But overall, I think -- I think she is a better candidate.

KING: And you're a registered Republican?

HOLDEN: I am an Independent.

KING: You're an Independent now?

HOLDEN: Yes.

KING: You did you vote for in 2020?

HOLDEN: Um, I voted for Trump.

KING: You voted for Trump.

HOLDEN: Yes.

KING: So if you vote for Harris -- in the math that's a big deal, especially where we live here --

HOLDEN: Yeah.

KING: -- in the suburbs.

HOLDEN: Yeah.

KING: All right, OK. All right, we'll come back to that as well.

You also had a conversation --

PAM THISTLE, UNDECIDED AUDIENCE MEMBER AT CNN TOWN HALL: I did.

KING: -- with the vice president after.

THISTLE: Yes.

KING: She immediately -- you were the first one she sought out.

THISTLE: She was lovely, yeah.

KING: Tell me about it. I mean, what did you -- I don't want to violate your privacy or her privacy --

THISTLE: That's OK.

KING: -- but to the point you --

THISTLE: And I really felt that, and I really -- I came out of this feeling -- I had just kind of a feeling of adoration of her personally. I think personally she is a good person and there was a nice connection, especially as a woman. There are a lot of things that I connect with her as a woman.

However, I am very big on details. I'm big on numbers. I am a widow with 100 percent responsibility for my family, for my kids, for their tuitions, for my bills. And so I do my own taxes. I'm very much on top of every dollar.

And so that is where -- and I'm not really getting it from either candidate, to be honest.

KING: What?

THISTLE: So I -- that's where I just want to see what lines up. And I don't know if it's with this kind of environment that you can't commit to something --

KING: Um-hum.

THISTLE: -- but I really do have to vote for my family.

KING: Right.

THISTLE: And another thing that is very much a turnoff, and this is with both candidates, stop trashing each other. We don't care. Stop trashing Trump. Trump, stop trashing the vice president. We don't care. The voters don't care. We don't even know the people they're talking about -- that this person said this and that.

How does that impact the voters? That's who you're talking to. That's who you're serving. We -- this feels like high school gossip. We don't care and we don't want to hear it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to John King and those voters for listening so carefully and to be willing to have that discussion after.

With us now, CNN senior political commentator and former Trump campaign adviser David Urban. And Kendra Barkoff, former press secretary to then-VP Joe Biden.

It was interesting hearing those voters and what they took away from the town hall.

The headlines this morning seem very much focused on a moment that happened very early on in the town hall, which was this -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist? KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I do. Yes, I do. And I -- and I also believe that the people who know him best on this subject should be trusted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, pretty blunt, pretty direct, and a shift of sorts from where Harris started when she got into this race.

And Politico notes this morning -- you know, its headline is "How Harris ended up sounding like Biden."

So, Kendra, to you. The question is why? Why this shift from Harris? Why plan a speech on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. -- the District of Columbia -- not at all a swing state for next week?

KENDRA BARKOFF, FORMER PRESSS SECRETARY TO THEN-VP JOE BIDEN: Well, I think there's a couple of reasons, right?

[07:40:00]

One is your seeing John Kelly our there talking in two different interviews about exactly what he experienced with Donald Trump. You know, he went out there. He is a general who is beloved by all. He's not a partisan hack.

He's put his head down until it was time where he got worried enough where he said enough is enough. I need to explain who this person is, right? He admires dictators. He talked about Hitler.

And so I think for her, she is aiming to explain to the public basically what we have known all along, that he could be a fascist. And in terms of what she's doing on the Mall, I think she is once again trying to explain to everybody that democracy is at stake here and that there is the potential if Donald Trump is elected for a second term for worse than we saw in his first term.

BERMAN: David, as a Republican, what argument would worry you more from Harris or does the defense of democracy argument worry you?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: No, the Donald Trump stuff doesn't sell. Listen, Kamala Harris participated in a one-person debate last night and she lost, OK?

She was asked direct questions and she provided very circular answers. My colleagues Van Jones and David Axelrod and others noted that she provided word salad answers. Anderson would ask her specifically direct questions and she didn't provide an answer to them.

When asked -- Anderson asked the best question all night: Why didn't you do this four years ago? Why haven't you been doing this? Ten- minute answer -- didn't answer the question.

So what she did last night I don't think helped her cause at all. I think people were looking for how are going to -- you heard the one woman -- how are you going to make my life better? That wasn't provided.

Donald Trump bad is not going to get you to the White House, I hate to break it to her.

BERMAN: It is interesting. Now, Jon Stewart -- and admittedly, this was before the CNN town hall -- but Jon Stewart did address this issue of whether Harris is being held to a different standard here. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": God, this is what gets us to the ultimate problem, which is this. Is any of the (bleep) Trump says real? How are we supposed to understand what's (bleep) and what isn't. Kamala Harris -- she's got to have an 80-page presentation on exactly how this opportunity economy is going to function and how it's going to be paid for. Meanwhile, the standard for Trump is emotional vicinity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

URBAN: Yeah. I'd just say, listen, Jon Stewart -- did he forget the Trump administration -- how Trump governed? So I would say look at the blueprint. You want to see a blueprint for the Trump presidency?

How did people -- what do they feel about the Trump presidency that he ran four years ago? People feel very good about it. Every poll retrospectively say they feel much better than they do about the Biden-Harris presidency. So if you're looking at the blueprint for who's going to have a better next four years, people overwhelmingly favor the Trump presidency over the Biden-Harris administration. Pretty clear.

BERMAN: Kendra?

BARKOFF: Well, I was just going to say a couple of things.

One, Trump walked in with an Obama economy. He road the coattails of the president who made the economy great before he walked in. So that's point number one.

Point number two is Trump didn't even show up last night. I cannot name a single policy that the former president stands for.

And Kamala Harris did talk about her policies last night in a way that, you know, maybe could have been a little bit more crisp. But the fact is she talked about housing. She talked about the sandwich generation. She talked about the issues that voters do care about at the end of the day.

I can't name a single policy that Donald Trump actually stands for besides, you know, going out there and bashing everybody, including former four-star generals.

BERMAN: Um, Trump did do an event yesterday with a host of people, including Tucker Carlson, David, who talked a lot about spanking girls. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, "THE TUCKER CARLSON SHOW": There has to be a point at which dad comes home. Dad comes home and he's pissed. When dad gets home you know what he says? You've been a bad girl. You've been a bad little girl and you're getting a vigorous spanking right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

URBAN: Yeah. Look, I have no idea what the hell he's talking about right there, John, right? I don't think it's -- I mean, I have no idea. I can't defend it. I don't even know what he's talking about. Nothing -- I've got nothing for you.

But I will talk about last night and Kamala Harris' poor debate performances. And I think it was an unmitigated disaster, yeah.

BERMAN: But the point is -- but the point is so you think that Tucker Carlson saying that works at odds with the message you'd rather see getting out?

URBAN: Well, listen, I'd rather see the message that Donald Trump had this past weekend, right, where he's going to -- you know, doing the -- working at McDonald's like a regular person.

BERMAN: Arnold Palmer.

URBAN: Listen, I -- what's that?

BERMAN: Arnold Palmer.

URBAN: Listen, I'd rather see any message than that.

BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).

URBAN: Yeah, I like to see Donald Trump connecting with people -- the OTRs. Donald Trump is incredibly good at one-on-one retail politics. People love him. I think that works in barbershops talking to real people and hearing their concerns. I think that's every -- you know, his best format.

[07:45:07]

I don't think Tucker Carlson is the best spokesperson for Donald Trump. I think let Donald Trump speak for himself. (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Kendra, a very quick answer on that and then I want to end on one poll number.

BARKOFF: It's disgusting. It is absolutely horrible. I mean, Donald Trump has been accused of sexual assault multiple times before. The fact that this is even being brought up as part of a campaign should hopefully turn off women voters across the country. It's awful. BERMAN: So finally, I just want to end on this Wall Street Journal poll that came out overnight, which shows no clear leader in the race. But underlying it, it's a reminder of the political environment that we're in less than two weeks before Election Day. The right track- wrong track number that we -- this year, OK?

URBAN: OK.

BERMAN: Sixty-four percent of Americans -- 64 percent say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Just 26 percent say the right direction. And those numbers are actually a little bit worse than August.

That's a really tough environment, Kendra, for an incumbent party to run in. I mean, what does -- what challenge does that face -- pose for Harris?

BARKOFF: Yeah. I mean, it is tough, right? And she's doing something that no one has ever done before, which is trying to run a presidential campaign in three months. Donald Trump has been running for eight years.

And so I think what you're seeing in an incredibly tight race, which they've said all along it's going to be an incredibly tight race. Every vote is going to count and that's why she's going out there and talking to every single voter in every single way that she can, which is including the town hall last night -- which again, Donald Trump didn't even show up for.

URBAN: Well, let's just be fair. Like, it's the Democratic Party's fault that she's running a very tight race because they obfuscated Joe Biden's condition for years and years and years, and then at the last minute had to substitute her in because they -- America knew that Joe Biden wasn't up to the job in re-running.

And by the way, John, in that poll Kamala Harris' unfavorables have continued to soar. They are at an all-time high. Her unfavorables are higher than Donald Trump's.

BERMAN: And Trump is over 50 percent.

URBAN: Yeah, it's incredible.

BERMAN: But again, the right track, wrong track number there, it just reminds me --

URBAN: It's not good.

BERMAN: -- what the environment is in this election.

David Urban, Kendra Barkoff, thank you both very much.

URBAN: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Sara SIDNER: All right. Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa returned to the practice field for the first time since suffering another concussion during last month's game against the Buffalo Bills. Even though he's back on the field he has yet to be cleared to play in this Sunday's game.

CNN's Andy Scholes is here. Andy, this -- the video of what happened to him last time was so disturbing. He says he still wants to play. Do you think that's going to happen this Sunday?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, Sara, all signs point to Tua playing Sunday against the Cardinals. And all that's left now is for him to practice fully either today or tomorrow and then meet again with an independent neurological consultant to get that final clearance to return to play.

Tua missed the team's past four games after suffering this third diagnosed concussion in week two against the Bills.

But here's what Tua had to say about his return earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUA TAGOVAILOA, QUARTERBACK, MIAMI DOLPHINS: Do I want to be, you know, known for this? No, I don't, but that's the cards I've been dealt with given the history of it. So it is what it is. I appreciate your concern -- I really do. I love this game, and I love it to the death of me. That's it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yeah, "to the death of me."

All right, Miami went 1-3 without Tua on the field.

Dolphins' wide receiver Tyreek Hill said he was so happy that Tua was back running the offense it almost made him cry.

Now in college football, NC State quarterback Grayson McCall has decided to retire from football following his latest head injury that he suffered earlier this month. On Instagram McCall said, "Brain specialists, my family, and I have come to the conclusion that it is my best interest to hang the cleats up."

Now, McCall, who has a history of concussions, was carted off the field after a hit to the head against Wake Forest on October 5. He also suffered a head injury last season while playing for Coastal Carolina.

Now, McCall says he hopes to get into coaching now that his playing career is over.

All right. Meanwhile in New York, it's going to be a fun day as the Liberty celebrate their first-ever championship with a tickertape parade through the Canyon of Heroes. It's going to start at Battery Place, go up Broadway, and end at City Hall. It starts at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, Sara. So you're not too far from there so after the show maybe you could book it down the street and catch the parade.

SIDNER: It's a great game, I can tell you. I have been. Congratulations to the Liberty and Big Ellie, who can really dance. We'll do that later.

Andy Scholes, thank you so much -- appreciate it -- Kate.

SCHOLES: All right.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So Wednesday's winner of Elon Musk's daily million-dollar giveaway is -- well, so far, no one after the Justice Department sent a warning that the lottery might violate federal law.

And the Biden administration says at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers have entered Russia just this month. And now the new warning from the White House to any North Korean soldier deploying to Ukraine.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:54:20]

BOLDUAN: This morning the Justice Department is sending a warning to Elon Musk and his daily million-dollar gifts to people in battleground states. The DOJ warns that could be illegal. Musk said he'd be handing out the million-dollar checks every day until the election to registered voters who sign a petition with his pro-Trump super PAC. Notably, the latest winner not announced yet.

CNN's Marshall Cohen following this for us. Marshall, what exactly is the Justice Department saying as far as we know?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Hey, Kate. Good morning.

[07:55:00]

Well, sources familiar with the situation told CNN that the Justice Department, indeed, did send a letter to Elon Musk's super PAC warning them that this sweepstakes might violate federal law. It's against the law -- it's a crime to pay people to register to vote or to incentivize voter registration with cash or prizes.

And the way that this system was set up here by Musk's super PAC, they launched a petition. They said if you sign the petition you could win a million dollars. But the fine print makes clear that in order to sign, Kate, you need to be a registered voter and also you need to live in a battleground state, which immediately raised the eyebrows of many of the legal experts that we're speaking to. And those concerns seem to be founded because this was followed up with a letter from the Justice Department.

And as you mentioned there, Kate, they've been announcing a winner every day. You can see the footage here of some of the previous winners. They launched this sweepstakes on Saturday. There was a winner announced every single day until yesterday. We and other outlets reported yesterday that this DOJ letter had been sent. And Wednesday, yesterday, came and went with no announced winner. Now, I'm not saying that they necessarily have shut down the sweepstakes. Maybe they just got bored or got busy. They have not answered our requests for comment to explain what's going on. But I can tell you that CNN and others reported yesterday that this warning had been sent from federal law enforcement and then the daily prize went without a winner for yesterday.

BOLDUAN: Just taking Wednesday off. That was also in the fine print that no one knew about quite yet. I'm just kidding. We will see.

COHEN: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: We will continue to follow it and also see how the Justice Department follows up.

Marshall, thank you so much for the reporting -- John.

BERMAN: OK. This morning, for the first time in history, dinosaur fossils have been discovered on a remote island of Hong Kong. Researchers believe the remains to be between 66 million and 145 million years old. That's plus or minus 40 million years. They really narrowed that down.

Further studies are being conducted to determine the species of the dinosaur. According to scientists, the landmark discovery is challenging traditional beliefs not just about math but about where fossils might be found, and it could lean to a host of new findings.

All right, Disney World, in Florida, just raised prices on all four levels of its annual passes. The top tier pass now has a price tag of more than $1,500, $100 more than its most recent price. The three lower-level annual passes also saw a $30.00 to $100 price increase.

All right. We have new evidence this morning that people have issues. Crocs for dogs have apparently sold out. The plastic clogs for dogs were rolled out yesterday as part of the company's Croctober campaign. The pet Crocs also, incidentally, glow in the dark. We don't have word yet on when they will be in stock. The price tag is $50.00 per pet.

And I just want to say this. I love dogs. Dogs, Sara, are super smart --

SIDNER: Same.

BERMAN: -- and they're judging you. They're judging all --

SIDNER: They are.

BERMAN: -- of you. They know how silly this is. There go you.

SIDNER: Fifty bucks for some teeny, tiny Crocs, OK. That's what we're doing now.

All right, thank you, John Berman.

All right. Ahead, there is a growing intelligence that North Korea is readying itself for a more direct role in Russia's war in Ukraine. The White House says at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers arrived in Eastern Russia this month. Why remains unclear, but the White House says there is a "highly concerning" probability they are there to potentially join the fight against Ukraine.

New satellite imagery shows how much a Russian base where North Korean troops were filmed has transformed since their arrival.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann is joining us now. Oren, what do we know at this stage? Just looking at that video it seems like there is a real underlying story to tell.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. So far, at lest within terms of what the White House is saying now, some 3,000 North Korean troops went by ship from North Korea to Russia in Russia's eastern military district. And then went to three military bases where they are now receiving training.

The South Koreans and the Ukrainians had warned about this saying they were there to fight on behalf of Russia in Ukraine. Now, the U.S. hasn't gotten quite that far in terms of reaching that conclusion, but it warns that's a very real possibility about what may be coming for these North Korean troops.

The White House would go as far as to say what sort of training they were receiving, only that they had seen them sometime between early and mid-October arriving in Russia and going to these training bases. The U.S. now watching very closely to see what it is and where it is that these North Korean troops end up.

For the U.S., this is a sign of desperation, in the White House's word, for Russia. They're suffering 1,200 casualties, killed and wounded, a day in the fighting in Ukraine. And that means Russian President Vladimir Putin may need effectively more bodies to fight his war.