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Trump Comments About Protecting Women; Marc Lotter and Fred Upton are Interviewed about the Presidential Race; Musk Tries to Move Philadelphia Case; Ray D'Agostino is Interviewed about Voter Registration Fraud. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 31, 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]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Mummies are going to be hot there on the East Coast.

That's coo-coo bananas.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, definitely.

SIDNER: Derek Van Dam, thank you so much.

VAN DAM: You're welcome.

SIDNER: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Donald Trump says he will protect the women whether they like it or not. We are getting new reaction just in.

Elon Musk ordered to appear at an emergency court hearing over his sweepstakes for registered voters. A giveaway prosecutors call an illegal lottery scheme.

And the Dodgers are the champions and the Yankees are not. Fans celebrating in the streets, and then some.

I'm John Berman, with Sara Sidner and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SIDNER: Happening now, a read on the race five days out. Harris today on the trail with Puerto Rican and Latino stars in battleground states. Trump traveling to those same exact states as Harris. Trump talking trash, literally, trying to link Harris to a Biden gaffe calling Trump supporters trash. Harris reminding voters of the racist rhetoric of the Trump rally in Madison Square Garden. All of this as CNN polls show their matchup is still polling as tight as ever in key battlegrounds states. But notably, not among women nationally. Harris, right now, holds a 14 percent edge. Trump's history of saying misogynistic things, a big reason why like something he said just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: About four weeks ago I always say, no, I want to protect the people. I want to protect the women of our country. I want to protect the women. Sir, please don't say that. Why? They said, we think it's - we think it's very inappropriate for you to say. I said, why, I'm president, I want to protect the women of our country.

Well, I'm going to do it whether the women like it or not. I'm going to protect them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Whether the women like it or not.

Let's bring in CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston.

If you're a Trump adviser, what are you thinking this morning?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm thinking, wow, this election is almost over, less than a week. Can we keep him under wraps in these closing days because its comments just like that, that hurt the Trump campaign.

Look, Donald Trump, right now, is fighting for every vote, as is Kamala Harris. As you noted, they're leaving the East Coast. They are out west right now trying to get in into these sun belt states for these final - for these final votes. But the reality is, it's not even just what he said, though, Sara, the inflection of his voice though was - really kind of hammered it home. And I think you're going to hear from the Harris campaign in these coming days now that Donald Trump not only wants to take away your right to choose your own health, but he wants to make all your decisions for you.

SIDNER: I was going to ask you what exactly you think the Harris team is going to confront today, especially since they have several stars in the - in the Latino world alongside them. What are you expecting?

PRESTON: Yes, they - yes, no doubt. But they have their own issues because they have Joe Biden, who has created an own gaffe that they're trying to clean up right now. And it all has to do, of course, with - with Donald Trump and the comments about whether or not his supporters are, quote/unquote, "garbage." Kamala Harris had to address that yesterday.

This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that the president has explained what he meant. But I've - I said it earlier, I - I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. And I've made that clear throughout my career, including my speech last night before I think this all happened, which is, I intend to be a president for all Americans. And including those who may not vote for me in this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: So, clearly, an unforced error right there by Joe Biden here on Kamala Harris, forcing her to have to answer for some of the things that he has said. Certainly what they don't want to be talking about. They want to be talking about a woman's right in these closing days, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes. Yes. And you see that Trump is constantly, you know, working to link what Biden said to Harris, and Harris constantly responding.

We saw him with a garbage truck with his name emblazoned on it yesterday, making those comments to link Harris. And then we saw him at McDonald's last week being a fry cook for a bit.

It is Halloween on the trail. What might we expect coming forward?

PRESTON: Who knows? We didn't expect to see a garbage truck yesterday. Which just goes to show you how good of a showman he is and how he's able to really, you know, reach into the zeitgeist of - of American to try to get support and to try to show that he is a regular person.

But the reality is, we can do all these little fund things over - over these closing days. But they really are just fighting for just a few votes right now, Sara. And as we talk about this in these closing days, we're probably not going to know who actually is president of the United States on Tuesday evening because there is so many votes that need to be counted, so many states that we expect to be so close.

[09:05:10]

SIDNER: Yes. And we're also seeing huge early voting numbers as well. There is a lot to process.

Mark Preston, it is always a great pleasure. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Over to you, Kate.

PRESTON: Thanks.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And joining me now, former director of strategic communications for Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, Marc Lotter, and former Republican congressman from Michigan, Fred Upton.

Great to see you guys. Thanks for being here.

FRED UPTON (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FOR MICHIGAN: Good morning.

BOLDUAN: Marc, from a communication standpoint, as John put it earlier, Donald Trump's message about protecting women, it does not seem to give women much choice - much of a choice in that matter. What do you think of that? MARC LOTTER, FORMER STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TRUMP 202

CAMPAIGN: Well, I - it depends on the context. And I'm looking at - when he's talking about immigration, when he's talking about public safety, crime, whether you voted for him, you didn't vote for him, he's going to take that action to make our families, our communities, people, women, all safer because of it, even if you didn't vote for him. That's - that's the way I read that.

BOLDUAN: You would have said it differently, though.

LOTTER: Well, I mean, obviously, President Trump has his own style.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

LOTTER: And, you know, I - it's easy to take these things, you know, and - but I think as we - as we keep looking forward, we've got to understand that he's talking in the broader context.

BOLDUAN: It's the broader context, Fred. It's the, listen to the - what - what did we say for so long in 2016, don't listen to the words, listen to - you know, don't take him seriously. Don't take him literally, take - whatever it was. It's that all over again, Fred. What do you think that does, this commentary, because, yes, the context includes - he was talking about immigration, but the context includes, he says he's going against his advisers advice because the adviser says it's inappropriate to talk to women that way. And he says, I don't care, I'm going to do it whether women - I'm going to protect them whether women like it or not.

What does that - what do you think that does in Michigan?

UPTON: Well, it doesn't help him, I got - I got to say that. And I've got to say too, as I reflect on the last number of months, there were - there were plenty of senior, respected national Republicans had said, don't do this. Let - stick to the issues. Don't - don't get into this name calling and everything else. The telling comment this week, I think, was from Nikki Haley, someone that I voted for in the Michigan Republican primary, when she said she hadn't talked to him since June and that she had offered to campaign for him and had heard crickets, nothing. And you haven't seen anything from her on the - on the campaign trail. That's the person that maybe he should have chosen for vice president that would have bridged this female gap that clearly he has.

But by not having her on the campaign trail, that just shows the message where, you know, he doesn't want to apologize, he doesn't want to be told what to do. And if he loses and, you know, it is a coin flip right now, it's because of all of these mistakes that he's made versus sticking to a game plan that could have got him to the finish line.

BOLDUAN: And, Fred, you've come out in support of Kamala Harris. You've - you've said, this is the first time that you have ever voted for a Democrat.

UPTON: Correct. Yes. BOLDUAN: With that in mind, I want to play something that John King - stay that again?

UPTON: The first time I voted for a Democrat for president.

BOLDUAN: For president. For president. Thank you for - again, context is key. Thank you, Fred.

I want to play for you something that John King heard while meeting voters in battleground Wisconsin. This is a self-described moderate who says he's ready to vote for Donald Trump for a third time. Here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIAN DEASY, WISCONSIN VOTER: I think he's got the right mindset for how the country should be run, how to support small and medium-sized businesses.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are there downsides to him, in your view?

DEASY: Does he have some character or personality things that go on? For sure. But I say, you have to separate the message from the messenger sometime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: It's really exactly what we were speaking about, Fred. A lot of Republicans feel that way. What changed for you?

UPTON: Well, we have such big problems that we have to deal with. The world's on fire. We got the border crisis. We've got inflation. We've got the economy. We have women's rights. All these different ballot initiatives in all the states because of the Dobbs decision.

Harris has made the point, and she did this on a the National Mall earlier this week when she said she wanted to bring people together. She wanted to unite the country. She's not afraid to have a Republican in - Republicans, plural, in her administration, including in the cabinet. And Trump, meanwhile, he's divisive. He's - he's pushed everyone that is not 100 percent MAGA out the door. And - and that's pretty apparent when you see how he's treated Nikki Haley, someone who even after she dropped out of the race got hundreds of thousands of votes across the country.

BOLDUAN: Marc, with that voter, what do you hear there?

LOTTER: I think the same thing that James Good -- Jim Carville said in 1992, it's the economy stupid. I think people do vote with their pocketbooks. And in a weird reversal of history, usually one or two of the candidates are both hypothetical presidents, so you have to envision them there.

[09:10:04] Obviously, this time, you have the challenger, who also was there, has the record and I think a lot of people are saying, you know, I don't - may not like how he says it, may not like now he tweets, but I can't afford not to, or that the border or the - the world is at war and they kind of look beyond it going, yes, but he was there and I know what he did.

BOLDUAN: It's interesting. You say that. That's exactly - also the argument on the other side. It's very similar, right? I might not agree with everything she says, I might not - but I can't afford not to. It's real - it is such a lesser of two evils, it seems, for so many people type of an election.

On the issue of policy, Fred, House Speaker Mike Johnson, he was at an event in Pennsylvania and said that - was speaking to voters and said that they are planning a massive overhaul and reforms to Obamacare. He said - there is some context that he says has been taken out of - speaking of context, someone said Obamacare, like repeal Obamacare. He says, oh, no more Obamacare. The Trump campaign comes out to say, repealing Obamacare is not Trump's policy position. Got it. But Trump has said, in terms of what his changes to Obamacare would be are just concepts of a plan.

You were there when ACA was passed. You were around when House Republicans tried dozens of times to repeal it. Is this something voters want now?

UPTON: No, not really. I mean it's been around now for, you know, a dozen years and you're not going to remove benefits from people. You know, the preexisting conditions is something that was - something I always supported. And we actually strengthened under the - in the Trump administration.

But the problem that we have among the Republican - my former Republican colleagues is, they don't have the votes to actually get some type of repeal or some fix in (ph). You've got people that are just going to vote no. And so that was a problem under Speaker McCarthy. That's a problem now. And you'll remember that - that Trump said, I don't know, many, many months ago, maybe even a year ago, he said something like, look - look for my plan. I'm going to have it. And we haven't seen anything because they can't get a plan that actually has the votes to get through the Congress in either the House or the Senate.

So, it really isn't something that anyone's calling for at this point in terms of the realization that it can get done.

BOLDUAN: Yes, this one fits under the category of, in two weeks you'll see the plan. It's that, two weeks no comment that I've always called what it comes to Donald

Trump.

Fed, it's great to see you. Thanks for coming in.

Marc, thank you, as always. Really appreciate it.

LOTTER: Thank you.

UPTON: You bet.

BOLDUAN: John.

BERMAN: All right, a judge grants a request from the Trump campaign to extend a ballot deadline in one battleground county in battleground Pennsylvania.

A date has now been set for the Menendez brothers to be re-sentenced in California.

And who will you see knocking on your door tonight? We count down the top costume trends.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:24]

SIDNER: In just a bit, Elon Musk was scheduled to appear for a hearing in a Pennsylvania courtroom, by a last-minute motion could get him out of that. Philadelphia's district attorney is suing Musk and his super PAC, claiming his million dollars giveaway to registered voters in swing states violate state law. Attorneys for Musk want that lawsuit moved to federal court, which could delay or even cancel out today's hearing.

CNN national security reporter Zachary Cohen is in Washington.

What is the sense here? Is this case likely to be moved?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Sara, the reality here is that this motion on its own likely means that today's hearing will likely be delayed. And that delivers a win for Elon Musk, at least in the short term, because it means that this - this giveaway, this $1 million giveaway by Elon Musk's super PAC can continue. And we're only five days out from the election. And so this maneuvering does appear to be an effort by Elon Musk to delay today's hearing and delay ultimately a judge weighing in on whether or not the giveaway is in fact illegal, as prosecutors allege.

They've been saying that this is not only an illegal lottery put on by Elon Musk's super PAC, but it's also a - an improper influence campaign on the 2024 presidential election. So, again, this all has to do with Elon Musk's support for Donald Trump.

His attorneys have argued, though, in this effort to try to move the case to federal court, that prosecutors are trying to block Elon Musk's First Amendment free speech protections. His political speech protections. So, it's interesting that both sides arguing that the other one is improperly trying to influence the 2024 elections. So, we're going to have to see ultimately how this case plays out and if Elon Musk is ultimately forced to show up today. But as of now, it looks like the hearing today will be delayed.

SIDNER: Elon Musk himself is known for spreading conspiracy theories. He's also been spreading misinformation that has to do with voting.

Can you give us some sense of what is going on there? Because you have some new reporting on the problems that is causing in battleground states.

COHEN: Yes, Sara, we talked to election officials across those seven battleground states and all of them mentioned Elon Musk as a major challenges that they're continuing to face here in the last few days of the presidential campaign. And it's exactly what you described, it's Elon Musk's not only tendency and, you know, habit of pushing and amplifying misinformation about the election to his 200 million plus X followers, but also the fact that he owns and operates the algorithm on X, the platform itself, which has become really a breeding ground for conspiracy theories about the 2024 election.

And recently - as recently as this week, Elon Musk has encouraged his followers to report any election irregularities to an election integrity channel that he set up on X that's run by Elon Musk's super PAC, which, of course, is tied in with the Trump campaign.

[09:20:08]

SIDNER: Zachary Cohen, appreciate your reporting.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, officials are investigating suspected fraud in a batch of some 2,500 applications dropped off by a canvassing operation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

With us now is Ray D'Agostino, Lancaster County commissioner and chairman of the Board of Elections.

Sir, thank you so much for being with us.

Just bring us up to speed on where things stand. These were voter registration applications. What was the issue and where do things stand with the investigation?

RAY D'AGOSTINO, LANCASTER COUNTY COMMISSIONER AND ELECTIONS BOARD CHAIRMAN: Yes. Thank you.

So, last week on a - well, actually two weeks ago Friday, and then on Monday last week, we got two large batches of voter registration applications from two different people. There were approximately 2,500. Our staff, the Board of Elections, started to notice immediately some irregularities on those applications.

For instance, some of those applications were in this same handwriting and some of the signatures were - seemed to be in the same handwriting, almost duplicative. So, at that point, they contacted the district attorney's office and also members of the Board of Elections, including myself. And that's where the investigation began.

And as we started to dig in further, it seemed that there were more irregularities. And that's when the district attorney, you know, and us, as the Board of Elections, held a press conference. Let everybody know what was going on.

BERMAN: And at this point, a number of those registration applications have basically been tossed or ruled out.

D'AGOSTINO: Well, several hundred according to the district attorney's office as late as yesterday have been determined to be fraudulent. So, at this point, the investigation is ongoing.

But as the district attorney is also noting, we will also say, as the Board of Elections, that as those registrations are deemed to be acceptable, it means that they've been able to be verified, we are able to then get those people registered.

As we've said, we want to make sure every legal voter is able to vote. That has come into our office to register their vote. We want to make sure that they are able to vote.

We also want to make sure, though, that no fraudulent voter registrations are put through. So, that's why we're being very deliberative here.

BERMAN: Right. You can understand that for sure.

These weren't ballots themselves. There was no question about whether there were fraudulent ballots in this case, were there?

D'AGOSTINO: No, that's - that's correct. In Pennsylvania, we have Pennsylvania's version of early voting is coming into your elections office prior to October 29th and applying for a mail ballot, receiving it right then and there, voting it and turning it in. This had nothing to do with that.

BERMAN: So, feels like the system works, is that what you're saying here, that you guys did catch something fishy, stopped it, moving on, getting people who want to vote the ability to vote?

D'AGOSTINO: Yes. And we're not the only county. There are other - three other counties that have had a similar situation. And that's the message that election workers are doing their job.

You know, here in Lancaster County, we like to talk about the fact that everything we do must be three principled. It's veracity, integrity, and transparency. All aspects of the election must be all three of those things. And our staff take that to heart. And you could tell that other staff members around the commonwealth are also taking that seriously because this was detected, it was stopped, and the investigation is ongoing in some of these places. And the fact that people who are legally able to vote will be able to vote.

BERMAN: So, Lancaster Online, and I know you guys are -

D'AGOSTINO: Very - very proud of our staff.

BERMAN: And you guys are under enormous pressure and operating under enormous pressure. Lancaster Online, which is a news organization in your county, reported that you wouldn't answer reporters' questions about whether you will commit to certifying the results if you get pressured by outside groups or politicians. Why won't you say - why won't you weigh in on that?

D'AGOSTINO: Well, I'll weigh right now. This - you know, the history here in Lancaster County, at least since I've been a county commissioner and a Board of Elections, is we always certify the elections. We don't have - I mean we have a history of certifying the election. And we intend to certify the election going forward. I say intend because we don't know what's going to come down the pike. There are lawsuit after lawsuits that happen almost every year. Issues to happen almost every year. It's like asking somebody if you're going to - if you're going to win the race or you're going to finish the race.

[09:25:01]

We intend to finish the race. We intend to do this.

And so, you know, our history, our past is prologue to the future.

BERMAN: Listen, Ray D'Agostino -

D'AGOSTINO: We follow the law. It's as simple as that.

BERMAN: I appreciate your time. I appreciate the work that you and your team are doing. This is crunch time, and I know you're under a lot of pressure and you are in the spotlight. So, thank you so much for being with us.

D'AGOSTINO: Sure. Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, almost 100 people killed, dozens missing right now after horrible flooding in Spain. We're talking piles of cars, floodwater, swamping highways, and homes.

And big celebrations in L.A. after the Dodgers win the World Series.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Former President Trump is seizing on President Biden's garbage comment, trying to link Vice President Harris to it, but she has pushed back. She says she strongly disagrees with criticizing people based on who they vote for.

[09:30:00]

Joining me now is Harris communications director, Michael Tyler, from Wilmington, Delaware.

Thank you so much for being here.

Donald Trump is really playing up this - this trash talk.