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Trump and Harris Make Final Pitches One Day Before Election; Quincy Jones, Musical Icon and Legendary Producer, Dies at 19; National Guard Troops on Standby for Possible Election Unrest. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 04, 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]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just one day left in this presidential campaign with wildly different messages from the candidates. Plus, the new poll that CNN has learned felt like a gut punch to the Trump campaign.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Security fencing now up around the White House, the Capitol, V.P.'s residence in Washington, governors putting the National Guard on standby. The worry and fear of violence growing as the country prepares to start counting those votes.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And overnight, we lost a musical and entertainment industry legend. Quincy Jones revolutionized music, producing tunes for the biggest artists in the world, from Michael Jackson to Frank Sinatra.

One of John's favorite songs. We remember this musical icon.

I'm Sara Sidener with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN News Central from the desk.

BERMAN: That's right. You know it's big if we're all sitting down.

Happening now, a 24-hour sprint to Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris barnstorms Pennsylvania as Donald Trump hits three major battleground states starting shortly in North Carolina. The closing messages could not be more different.

Harris for the first time did not mention Trump by name at an event overnight. The New York Times headline was, she offered a forward- looking vision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We have momentum. It is on our side. Can you feel it? We are optimistic and excited about what we can do together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, as for Donald Trump, The New York Times said he was increasingly dark and dour. He wished he'd refused to leave the White House after losing the 2020 election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left. I shouldn't have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so -- we did so well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That plus some surprising polling that CNN had learned was a gut punch to the Trump campaign hanging over this last day of the campaign.

Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene in Raleigh, North Carolina. That is where Donald Trump will be not too long from now. Good morning, Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, John. Look, election eve, happy election eve to everyone. We are just 36 hours or so away from polls beginning to close. This is crunch time for Donald Trump and his campaign.

Now, one key thing that I'm going to be looking for today at his series of stops, he's starting off his day in North Carolina, then he goes to Pennsylvania for two separate stops and then ends his day in Michigan. It's whether or not he can stay on message and really deliver the closing argument that I know the Trump campaign is hoping that he will.

And we didn't see a lot of that yesterday. I mean, I will say from talking to a lot of allies of Donald Trump, some of his top campaign officials, a lot of them were exasperated with some of the off-script topics that he kept bringing up. You mentioned this, but he spent several minutes of one of his rallies yesterday wailing against polling that shows Harris gaining ground. He talked about how he shouldn't have left the White House and he also even made a claim that he wouldn't mind if an attacker or would-be attacker had to shoot through the press to get to him.

So, these are obviously not the types of comments that the Trump campaign is wanting him to focus on. They really want him to be trying to turn out as many voters as possible, keep his rhetoric in check and essentially deliver that policy message that they want him to, which is talking about the economy and the border.

Now, one thing we also heard Donald Trump do a lot yesterday is to begin really sowing the seeds of doubt in this upcoming election. I want you to take a listen to what he said yesterday on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They are fighting so hard to steal this damn thing. Look at what's going on. Look at what's going on in your state. Every day they're talking about extending hours and stuff. What the -- whoever heard of this stuff, we should have one day voting and paper ballots. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, John, look, we've heard this from Donald Trump before, and obviously this is something we saw happen in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

[07:05:07]

He is already kind of laying the groundwork cast doubt on this election, particularly if it does not go the way he wants.

And I would remind you back in 2020, I remember when I was covering him then that he did a similar thing in the lead up to that election as well. And then remember, actually on Election Day in 2020, he got up on stage that evening and declared victory despite the polls and the results not being fully in.

And so one thing to keep in mind here is that as we look ahead to tomorrow, the conversation is about what these candidates are doing in these final moments. What is the final impression that they're going to leave on voters?

But soon after later this week in the coming days and coming weeks, a lot of the conversation is going to go back to what you just heard right there, which is talking about the integrity of this election. John?

BERMAN: Listen to what they're saying. Listen to these words. Listen to how they choose to close out these campaigns.

Alayna Treene in North Carolina, thank you very much.

BOLDUAN: So, Kamala Harris is all in on battleground Pennsylvania for her last day of campaigning. She's making stops in five different cities there and is going to end with a late night star-studded event in Philadelphia tonight.

CNN's Isaac Dovere is tracking the Harris campaign in this final moment and the final message. Harris didn't even mention Donald Trump by name when she was campaigning Sunday, Isaac. What does that mean for her final message of this campaign?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, good morning, Kate, and happy election eve to you. that, that was a deliberate choice by the Harris campaign, and I will tell you something that Harris aides were very eager to point out, that in the last speech that she gave last night in East Lansing, Michigan, she did not mention Donald Trump at all. It is, to them, a way of emphasizing that she is on a positive forward-looking message. That's what she's been trying to talk about over the last couple of weeks of this campaign. And that's where she is looking to end today. Of course, this big day all around Pennsylvania, the incredibly competitive battleground state.

But you see what we will see out of her today. I think will be a lot of what we heard last night. Let's take a listen to some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: America is ready for a fresh start, ready for a new way forward, where we see a fellow American, not as an enemy, but as a neighbor. We are ready for a president who knows that the true measure of a leader is not based on who you beat down. It is based on who you lift up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOVERE: And so if you think about what she's saying there, what we just heard with Alayna from what Donald Trump is saying, it's very different in the words. It's very different in the body language. It's very different even in the tone of voice, very different approaches to this last effort to win over those voters who haven't made up their minds yet or haven't made up their minds whether to vote.

BOLDUAN: Isaac Dovere. Thanks so much.

DOVERE: Thank you.

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, she says she was on standby but was never called up to campaign with Donald Trump. What Nikki Haley is saying in her closing arguments in these final hours before Election Day.

Will we see an interest rate cut soon or not? Could we learn the Fed's plan before we know who the next U.S. president is?

And breaking overnight, musical titan and American icon Quincy Jones has died. A look at the incredible career of the man who produced for everyone, from Count Basie to Michael Jackson to Frank Sinatra.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

SIDNER: Breaking overnight, Quincy Jones, music icon, legendary producer, and the man behind countless hits, including that one, Michael Jackson's "Thriller," has died. Jones died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his loved ones. He was 91 years old. His family shared this, through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones heart was broken will beat for eternity.

Jones is one of the most influential producers and musicians in entertainment history, from music to movies, everything he touched seemed to turn to gold.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (voice over): As the man behind some of music's most memorable hits, Quincy Jones was one of the most Grammy-nominated artists of all time.

QUINCY JONES, MUSIC PRODUCER: When you do what you love, it's not work.

SIDNER: Born Quincy Delight Jones Jr. on the south side of Chicago in 1933, Jones found his passion for music when his family moved to Seattle in the late 40s. Jones took a job with the Lionel Hampton Band as its Trumpet player. He worked steadily with musical greats like Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, and his friend, Ray Charles.

JONES: We didn't think about money or fame ever.

SIDNER: During the 60s, Jones began writing film scores for movies such as "The Pawn Broker," "In Cold Blood" and "In the Heat of the Night." He even crafted iconic themes for the TV shows, Ironside and Sanford and Son.

[07:15:00]

The in-demand musician even arranged and conducted his friend Frank Sinatra's second album with Count Basie, It Might as Well be Swing. The 1964 album included old blue eyes hit song, "Fly Me to the Moon."

JONES: We had the best time. It's like being on another planet with him. Frank would say, Q, live every day like it's the last and one day you'll be right.

SIDNER: Jones suffered two brain aneurysms in 1974 that nearly took his life. He recovered and went right back to work. He produced albums for Aretha Franklin, George Benson, and Michael Jackson's first solo effort, "Off the Wall," in 1979.

Jones' successful collaboration with M.J. also led to "Thriller" in 1982. It became the best-selling album of all time.

The dynamic duo teamed up again in 1985 with "We Are the World."

JONES: I like to think about the studio as a place that's real sacred, you know, where magical things happen. Hopefully, you know, that's what great records are supposed to be about.

SIDNER: He produced his first film, "The Color Purple," in 1985. The drama earned 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

Q, as his friends called him, seemed to always have a good idea. He created Quincy Jones Entertainment in 1990. The following year, he produced the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" T.V. series, starring rapper turned actor, Will Smith.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never think of retiring, do you?

JONES: Never. When you're retired, you travel and you do what you like to do and I'm already doing it.

SIDNER: In early 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored Q for his exemplary contributions to music.

JONES: I've worked with every major artist in the world in the last 60 years. So, it's a blessing, man. It is. You have to take the light part of your life, you know, wipe out the darkness.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Honestly, what a remarkable life. We're thinking about his family this morning.

All right, this morning, the National Guard is on standby in multiple states amid new threats of post-election unrest.

And two different popular singers fall into two different trap doors while on stage on tour in the same city. What on Earth is going on here?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Governors in several states are already putting the National Guard on standby ahead of Election Day, and that, of course, is as fears are growing of the possible unrest and violence after the election.

Among the states on high alert today, Washington State and Oregon. And this is why. What you're seeing on your screen, hundreds of ballots were damaged or destroyed after ballot boxes have been set at -- three ballot boxes have been set on fire in the last few weeks. We've been tracking that investigation as well.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is tracking the security preps in place ahead of tomorrow. What are you learning?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in Oregon and Washington, Kate, both authorities in both those states did mention the ballot box fires as part of the reason why the National Guard is on standby. Almost 500 ballots were damaged, but the majority of those ballots, the voters affected by that, have already requested new ballots. They said that only about six ballots from those three incidents were too damaged to be able to be read.

Now, police are still looking for that suspect. They say they fear he could continue his attacks. They're saying that he's a white man around 30 to 40 years old, short balding hair, and they're also looking for a dark color S60 Volvo linked to those attacks.

In Washington, Governor Jay Inslee said that these incidents are election related unrest, but he did say in a statement that this is a purely precautionary measure taken in response to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's nationwide warnings regarding threats to election infrastructure and other recent activities that have occurred in Southwestern Washington.

Obviously, he's talking about those incidents there in Oregon as well, Kate. The police in, in Oregon and in Portland, actually, that's where they're looking for that suspect.

But the mayor there, Ted Wheeler, he warned about something else. He said, you know, we will do everything possible to protect the people's right to demonstrate peacefully, but we'll also be prepared to address anything that is related to criminal destruction or violence.

In Nevada, about 60 National Guard troops are going to be on standby as well. But, again, this is also a precaution, Kate. This is something that the government said has been done in the past. It's something that is going to be happening in the future as well. It's just a standard procedure, but they are urging the public to stay on high alert and report any kind of suspicious activity as they try to have this Election Day be as smooth as possible.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it does seem like standard operating procedure at this point for sure.

Julia Vargas Jones, thank you.

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, polls open in some states in less than 24 hours. Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have zeroed in on Pennsylvania with their 11th hour messages.

[07:25:01]

And Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek revealing he has cancer. His message amid his treatment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: It is a big day in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Kamala Harris spends the whole day there. Donald Trump makes two stops. This is a state that Joe Biden won by 80,000 votes in 2020. It is a state where right now the margins super close in the polls.

[07:30:02]

The latest CNN poll of polls shows things completely tied.

Now, here's a guide to watching the election returns in Pennsylvania. As I said --