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MAGA Media; Interview With Fmr. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ); Trump Under Fire Over Comments on Women. Aired 1-1:30p ET
Aired October 31, 2024 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:49]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Five, count them, five days out. And stop me if you have heard this one before, but there is new CNN polling in two key Sun Belt states that shows, wait for it, an extremely tight race. We're going to break down what those numbers mean.
Meantime, Vice President Kamala Harris heads west to campaign with Latino stars in battleground states, but not before seizing on comments by former President Donald Trump where he says he will protect women -- quote -- "whether the women like it or not."
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And Elon Musk is a no-show at a contentious hearing all about a lawsuit trying to stop the tech billionaire's $1 million voter giveaways. Why a federal court could decide on this soon.
We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
Welcome to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. I'm Brianna Keilar.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez.
And we have a new read this afternoon the state of the presidential race. New CNN polling out today shows Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in a virtual tie in the battlegrounds of Georgia and North Carolina with just five days until Election Day.
Meantime, the candidates are headed west, with the vice president holding a campaign event in Phoenix, then in Reno, followed by a rally in Las Vegas, where Jennifer Lopez is going to join her on stage, J.Lo just one of several prominent Latino artists coming out in full support of Harris after a comedian, you might recall, at a Trump rally called Puerto Rico garbage.
KEILAR: The Trump campaign has not apologized and is instead turning its focus to President Biden's own gaffe, as the former president hopes to shatter Harris' message of unity.
Here in the next hour, Trump will rally voters in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He then heads to Henderson, Nevada and ends the night with a campaign event in Glendale, Arizona. He will be sharing the stage with former FOX News host Tucker Carlson.
Let's turn now to CNN's Kristen Holmes and our Eva McKend, both of whom are following these campaigns.
Eva, Vice President Harris responded to a comment that Trump made last night at a rally. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They said, sir, I just think it's inappropriate for you to say. I pay these guys a lot of money. Can you believe it?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: I said, well, I'm going to do it whether the women like it or not. I'm going to protect them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Eva, how did Harris respond?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, essentially, Brianna, she is arguing that this is emblematic of how the former president thinks about women more broadly. This is not an aberration. This is true to form.
And she's shifting the conversation back to a space that she is very, very comfortable talking about reproductive rights and characterizing herself as a champion of women and as a person who has a track record, a solid track record on these issues.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It actually is, I think, very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies.
And this is just the latest on a series of reveals by the former president of how he thinks about women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: And, Brianna, you will often hear the vice president on the campaign trail say that one in three women live in a state and what she calls has a Trump abortion ban.
And so this is very much core to the closing argument. But she's leaning on other themes as well in her closing pitch to voters, like talking about the opportunity economy and bringing the cost of living down and really messaging to Latino voters in states like this one by talking about the American family.
Los Tigres del Norte will perform here tonight. She's leaning on high- profile Latino American surrogates across the country. And so this is all part of the strategy, bringing these coalitions together and leaning in areas where she's most comfortable on this closing message.
[13:05:00]
SANCHEZ: And, Kristen, what is the Trump campaign saying about this? What was the context for those comments?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're saying essentially that it's being taken out of context, that Donald Trump was trying to say that he's going to protect women from foreign attacks and anything happening on U.S. soil, and he wants to help women, and that now he's being punished for it.
Now, of course, the line that we're all paying attention to is the line where he says, whether they like it or not. I mean, we have heard Donald Trump say that he wants to be a protector of women before.
One thing to point out here is that this, like almost everything that we see politically now, really the interpretation falls on whether or not you like Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. I mean, we were hearing women in the crowd, I was there when he said this, cheering, saying they want to be protected by former President Donald Trump.
We have also heard from a number of women outside of that bubble who say that this kind of rhetoric is offensive. One thing is clear. Donald Trump has a woman problem. He has acknowledged he has a woman problem. Comments like this don't help that.
What we saw today was the exact same thing that we had seen yesterday. Yesterday, Donald Trump did a speech from a garbage truck because he wanted to highlight Joe Biden's comments calling his supporters garbage, or at least that interpretation of those comments.
Today, what we saw was Kamala Harris taking Donald Trump's comments and putting them on blast, making sure that people were paying attention. That's the point of the campaign that we're at because, right now, they are fighting for this candidacy. They are fighting every single day for every single vote, and they need to make sure that everything that is happening is amplified, because both sides know that this is coming down to the wire.
KEILAR: And, Kristen, tell us why Trump is holding a rally in New Mexico today.
HOLMES: That's a great question. And I have asked everyone on the campaign, and they continue to tell me that they have seen something somewhere that shows if there is some shift he could take New Mexico. Same with Virginia.
We have not seen that. We have seen -- we do our own polling. We look at other polls that have specific criteria. We have not seen anything that indicates that he would take a blue state like Virginia or New Mexico. One thing is clear, though, when I'm talking to Donald Trump's advisers. They are feeling cautiously optimistic.
There was a long stretch of time after Kamala Harris ascended to the top of the ticket, where they were not feeling that way. They now feel like they have a little bit of momentum going into November 5. Now, is it New Mexico and Virginia momentum? We will wait and see, but nothing we're seeing indicates that.
SANCHEZ: We should point out New Mexico has an enormous Latino population. And, obviously, as Eva alluded to a moment ago, it's a full day of major campaign stops for Kamala Harris, including some very popular Latino artists joining her tonight, right, Eva?
MCKEND: That's right.
Los Tigres del Norte -- you will have to excuse my Spanish, Boris.
SANCHEZ: You nailed it.
MCKEND: But that's what I can do. They are...
(LAUGHTER)
MCKEND: They are a very famous Mexican band, and they are going to be performing here. And then, of course, Jennifer Lopez will be with her in Vegas.
And this comes at a time when the campaign is seizing on those comments from the comedian over the weekend at the Trump event, where he called Puerto Rico an island of garbage. They very much want to keep this in the conversation. They think that there are Puerto Ricans that are offended by this, and so they have cut a new ad in the battleground states. Let's look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR (through translator): Puerto Rico is an island of scientists, poets, educators, stars, and heroes. We're not trash. We're more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: So this is very much part of the strategy, leaning on Latino voters as part of the broad coalition of voters, the patchwork really of voters that the campaign needs in order to win -- Boris, Brianna.
KEILAR: All right, Eva, Kristen, thank you to you both.
Five days out. You're going to hear that a lot today, I think.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Here we are five days out, brand-new CNN polling showing where these two candidates stand in these battlegrounds of Georgia and North Carolina. Both have seen record voter turnout so far.
SANCHEZ: Yes, it's important to remember where we are on the calendar. That's why we will keep emphasizing, only five days out.
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten joins us from New York.
I hope you have got the yellow pad with you, Harry.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Where is my yellow pad? I'm not quite sure.
Oh, wait a minute. The lovely Sabrina (ph) just handed it to me, and the yellow board is back again, my dear friends. And let me...
SANCHEZ: Love to see it.
ENTEN: You would love to see it. And let me just note another thing, if our dear friend Scott up in control, the new Magic Wall is being installed right over here. We will bring it back to you at some point in the next couple of days.
But, for now, my dear friends, as we bring the focus back to me, we are stuck with the yellow board. Now, guys, what we're talking about today is very simple. What are we talking about? Georgia is on my mind. Georgia is on my mind.
And we have those new polls out, and I just want to take a look at the trend lines that we have in these states. I think it's so interesting to note. The results are basically the same. The results are the same. There's been no freaking movement in these races, right? I mean, you have got a one-point lead, a one-point lead, well within the margin of error, no clear leader, no movement.
[13:10:05]
We have seen this in state after state after state of which we have pulled. The bottom line is, in both Georgia and North Carolina, as it is basically throughout all of the key battleground states, it is way too close to call at this point.
KEILAR: So, historically, Harry, for Republicans, how important are Georgia and North Carolina?
ENTEN: Extremely important. If Democrats can't win without the Great Lake battleground states, Republicans can't win without those key Sun Belt Southeast battleground states.
What are we talking about here? When was the last time a Republican won the presidency without winning Georgia? 1980, right? That was Jimmy Carter, of course, being the Democrat nominee, the home state guy there, so not much of a surprise that Ronald Reagan struggled there.
How about North Carolina? My goodness gracious, you have to go all the way back to 1956, when you had that solid Democratic South. Dwight Eisenhower, of course, beat Adlai Stevenson back then. But Adlai Stevenson carried North Carolina.
So the bottom line is this. If Donald Trump wants to win the presidency, he's probably going to need to carry at least one of those states, if not both, given what we have seen historically speaking.
SANCHEZ: So, Harry, obviously we have seen a ton of polling over the last few days. Transpose that onto the electoral map. What are the implications?
ENTEN: Yes, what are the implications?
I think CNN has polled all the seven key battleground states, and essentially I'm going to make the states in which we have no clear leaders toss-ups, and then, in Wisconsin and Michigan, where we did see Kamala Harris ahead, in which we could say she was leading.
Here's the bottom line. Yes, Kamala Harris has slightly more electoral votes than Donald Trump, but neither of them, neither of them get to 270 electoral votes, and this is just something we have said over and over and over and over again. This race continues to be the closest one that I have ever covered. It's the closest one of my lifetime.
I had no idea who was going to win at the beginning of the week. I have no idea who's going to win this Thursday, and chances are I'm going to have no idea who's going to win five days from now.
About the only thing, my dear friends, that I am certain of is this. And that is the Yankees lose.
(LAUGHTER)
ENTEN: The Yankees lose.
KEILAR: That, you can be sure.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Harry, thank you so much.
ENTEN: Thank you.
KEILAR: Can't wait. And just the on button, I think that's the issue with the wall.
SANCHEZ: Maybe that's all we got to do.
KEILAR: You should just turn the on -- plug it in, turn it on.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: So, hours from now, both candidates are going to be in Arizona, a crucial battleground state, where Joe Biden beat Trump by only about 10,000 votes in 2020.
Joining us now is former Republican Senator from Arizona Jeff Flake. He backed Biden in 2020, just left his post as an ambassador for the Biden administration. He is now backing Vice President Harris.
Senator, Ambassador, thank you for being with us.
The race is neck-and-neck in your home state. What do you think voters need to hear from Harris there today?
FMR. SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R-AZ): It is neck-and-neck, let me tell you. You can feel that on the street, wherever you are. It's close, just like last time.
I think they need to hear what she's been saying, one, on the border. The border is very important to -- in Arizona, and to hear that she will work for a bipartisan solution. Everyone knows that it's going to take both parties working together to have a lasting solution, and she's offering that. So I hope that she continues to talk about that.
KEILAR: You are one of many Republicans that is backing Harris.
And it's significant, because, on the issues, you don't align, right? You voted twice to repeal Obamacare, three times if you count the skinny repeal. You voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. They were key to overturning Roe, and yet you back Harris over Trump when we have these key issues for Democrats, including abortion, in the closing days, and now Obamacare.
And you're not on their side with those issues. Why?
FLAKE: Well, we do differ on a lot of issues, particularly domestic.
On foreign policy, I can tell you, she's a lot closer to traditional bipartisan consensus on foreign policy or even more conservative foreign policy, working with our allies, strong American presence and leadership abroad.
But, domestically, yes, there are differences. But here's where I side mostly with Kamala Harris. As a conservative, I believe in the rule of law, as do all conservatives. And the basic tenet of the rule of law is that you respect elections.
And the former president had an election, he lost, and then he sought to overturn that election. That's not conservative. And so that's the most important for me is respect for the rule of law. And that's where she's far closer to where conservatives and most traditional Republicans have been.
KEILAR: You have been clear on that.
In 2017, in your Senate floor speech, when you said you were not seeking reelection, you cited flagrant disregard for truth or decency. That was one of your quotes. And it attacked a regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms.
[13:15:10]
You said that's most important. Why is that most important? Why does that outweigh some of those other policies?
FLAKE: Well, that's what it is to be a conservative. You want to conserve and preserve institutions of government.
And one of our fathers of the conservative movement is Edmund Burke, who said that being a conservative is not just conservative principles, but being conservative in temperament. And you're right. The former president, through his actions and behavior and language, the crudeness and crassness, have just demeaned politics.
And we, as Republicans, have accepted that as normal. And it's not normal. It should never be normal. And the more we indulge that, the further we are from where we ought to be as true conservatives. So I really take Kamala Harris at her word when she says -- and I know because I have served with her -- that she will reach across the aisle and she will actually -- for people that she doesn't agree with, she won't seek to jail them.
She will give them the seat at the table. That's what we need going forward.
KEILAR: In Arizona, our latest polling, our latest CNN polling is showing that men favor Trump there by 14 points, women breaking for Harris by 16.
How do you think that Harris can appeal more to male voters there?
FLAKE: Well, one, on the issues that we talked about, the border, that's significant, and also on foreign policy, strong American leadership abroad.
Americans, we rely heavily on trade and international affairs, and to know that we need someone in this office, in the presidency that knows that we have very real enemies abroad, but we also have allies. And the president needs to know the difference. And Kamala Harris does. That's important to all men, to all people, to every race and creed.
So I think she needs to keep doing what she's doing. And on the comments on women, that he is going to protect women whether they like it or not, boy, I think that that's going to be a tough one for Republicans and for Donald Trump.
And I think Kamala Harris is already talking about that and will likely talk more about it.
KEILAR: Senator Flake, we appreciate you taking time for us today. Thank you so much.
FLAKE: You bet. Thanks for having me on.
KEILAR: Still ahead: Elon Musk is a no-show even after he was ordered to appear in a Philadelphia courtroom over his $1 million voter sweepstakes. So, what happens next as he tries to move his case to federal court?
SANCHEZ: Plus, U.S. officials are in the Middle East making a final push to resolve conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
We have the latest coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:22:30]
KEILAR: A win for tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk in court today, at least for now anyway. A Philadelphia state court judge says he no longer has jurisdiction over the case that is seeking to stop Musk's giveaways of $1 million to registered voters.
SANCHEZ: Musk's lawyers -- Musk's -- it's not easy to say.
KEILAR: That's a hard one. It's tough.
SANCHEZ: Musk's lawyers have filed a late-night motion asking to move the case to federal court. The legal maneuver also means the Tesla CEO avoided a required in-person court appearance.
Now, Musk has defended his daily battleground sweepstakes prize, which are being run by his Trump super PAC.
CNN's Danny Freeman is live for us in Philadelphia.
So, Danny, what actually happened in court?
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, Brianna, listen, in short, this was a 30-minute hearing and ultimately was kicked to federal court as you noted.
So, at this point, we're still in a bit of a waiting game, waiting for a federal judge to make a ruling in parts of this case. But, wow, what a show it was inside of that Philadelphia courtroom to get to this point. Like you noted, this is all about Elon Musk's super PAC, the America PAC, and its $1 million sweepstake.
Earlier this week, the Philadelphia district attorney, they sued Elon Musk and the super PAC itself trying to stop giving away these $1 million sweepstakes prizes, saying that this was an illegal lottery and also deceiving voters here in Pennsylvania.
And then, as you noted, a judge yesterday summoned all parties in this case to come to court today. Elon Musk himself did not show and it was because his attorneys filed that late-night motion to get it kicked to federal court. But that did not stop these attorneys from going back and forth with each other earlier this morning.
Boris, Brianna, prosecutors called Musk and his team cowardly and irresponsible for not showing. He also said that Musk and his team are using tricks to avoid coming to court at all. They said that they sent process servers actually to Texas to try and serve Musk to compel him to come to court today.
Furthermore, the prosecutor at one point said: "Elon Musk is the richest man in the universe. He owns SpaceX. There's no reason he can't be here."
The judge at one point actually then cut the prosecutor off and said: "Counsel, he's not taking a rocket ship and landing here in Philadelphia."
Meanwhile, the attorneys for Elon Musk, they said that this was all a publicity stunt. They said that Musk is busy and that they can't just materialize him at a moment's notice.
And the main thing, Boris and Brianna, is that they argued it was all moot because of that particular filing they made last night, getting it moved to federal court, and the judge ultimately agreed. So, like I said, we're now in a waiting game. We understand that this filing has been sent to the federal courthouse not too far from where we are here in Philadelphia.
[13:25:05]
But we're waiting for a judge to basically make a determination if this case belongs in federal court or if it belongs here in this Philadelphia state court. We will wait and see what this judge says.
But one thing I will note, Boris and Brianna, Elon Musk just this morning was still -- during all of this process happening, was still trumpeting that another person got a million dollars, this time a voter in North Carolina.
So the story continues for now -- Boris.
SANCHEZ: Yes, unprecedented election in so many ways, on top of it a billionaire, the richest man on the planet, now embroiled in legal trouble over a super PAC, and the judge saying that he can't just rocket into court. Vastly entertaining.
Danny Freeman, thank you so much.
Musk's sweepstakes. I got it.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Prizes. I can't -- I can't...
SANCHEZ: That was tough.
KEILAR: That was tough for me.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: So millions of Americans get their information or disinformation from the many pro-Trump media outlets, and many of these are wrongly claiming that there's no way Trump can lose if the election is fair.
KEILAR: That is despite the fact that the polls show a statistical dead heat.
So, CNN's Donie O'Sullivan decided to spend 24 hours reading and listening to MAGA media. And here's what he found as he went down the rabbit hole.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS POLITICS AND TECHNOLOGY REPORTER: Good morning.
The reason you are here at my home at this godforsaken hour of the morning is because we are about to spend the day in the MAGA media universe.
(voice-over): Every day, millions of Americans get their news and information, not from newspapers or cable news...
DANIEL BONGINO, HOST OF "THE DAN BONGINO SHOW": The momentum behind Donald Trump's campaign, ladies and gentlemen, it's almost tangible at this point.
O'SULLIVAN: ... but from a new world of online MAGA Media outlets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The secret ingredient to the COVID-19 injections has been found.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): Today is going to be a long day.
(voice-over): But you don't have to work too hard to get sucked into the MAGA Media universe.
(on camera): I have a Samsung television. As long as it's -- you're connected to the Internet, you got all these free channels. You have channels you'd recognize, but then you go down, Real America's Voice.
(voice-over): But Real America's Voice is anything but a normal news network.
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: ... enemies, because we're going medieval on these people.
O'SULLIVAN: It's the home of Steve Bannon's "War Room."
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Where do people like that go to share the big line? MAGA media.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): I know that guy.
DAVID BOSSIE, AMERICAN POLITICAL ACTIVIST: Good morning, posse. This is Dave Bossie, sitting in for Steve Bannon.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Big part of what's happening on MAGA media is convincing their audience that there is absolutely no way that Trump can lose.
ALEX JONES, HOST, "THE ALEX JONES SHOW": There's a 99 percent chance we are facing total crazy town.
O'SULLIVAN: As the day went on...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anyone believes that Kamala Harris is ahead in the polls, you need to have your brain checked.
O'SULLIVAN: ... it became clear that MAGA media is telling their audience to expect the election to be stolen.
MICHAEL LINDELL, CEO, MYPILLOW: Pennsylvania has done it three times in a row, three times in a row, three elections in a row. They had more votes than voters.
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): This is not true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just voted in the (INAUDIBLE) election. I voted for one president, checked it on the video screen. When I got the paper ballot, it had the other candidate's name on it.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): This video was quickly going viral, with some saying it was proof of election fraud.
(on camera): This one has seven million views."Voters in Tarrant County are reporting that the voting machines are flipping their votes from Trump to Harris."
(voice-over): Election officials had responded to the video.
(on camera): Now Tarrant County has put out a press release, 51 retweets, compared to millions of views for the video. "The original ballot was spoiled and the voter remarked a new ballot with his preferred choice reflected."
Essentially, what they're saying is, this guy made a mistake, and that's the whole point of having the paper receipt. You can make sure, and he was able to cast his vote correctly.
LINDELL: But I want to tell you guys about our final sheets that just came in.
SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Before I do that, I want to tell you how I sleep every night.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But MAGA media isn't all doom and gloom. There's also a lot of stuff you can buy.
SPICER: But I've got my Beam Dream Powder. Now, this...
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): It is kind of sad. You see Sean Spicer, once the White House press secretary.
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: My own brand of organic specialty coffee, Rudy Coffee.
O'SULLIVAN: Rudy Giuliani, once America's mayor, selling sleeping pills and coffee.
(voice-over): The MAGA media universe is surreal, but also scary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The country's probably going to be in a state of whipped-up chaos. O'SULLIVAN: There are so many shows, so many influencers, so many people just posting all day long.
Clearly, one thing that is being pushed really, really hard is that Trump is definitely going to win, and, if he doesn't win, it is because of fraud, it is because the election was stolen.
Donie O'Sullivan, CNN, at my apartment in New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: A great story.
KEILAR: That's the best sig out ever.
SANCHEZ: Yes, a great story.
Our thanks to Donie O'Sullivan for that report.
