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Don Lemon Tonight

Former POTUS Taking Aim At President Trump; Coronavirus Infecting And Killing More People; Iran And Russia Interfering In 2020 U.S. Elections; Mitt Romney Does Not Support Trump; Some GOP Members Walking Away From Trump. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired October 21, 2020 - 22:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: He talked so long, it got dark. No, seriously. He really went through a mission statement and a referendum on this Presidency, the likes I have never heard from a former president.

Now what impact will it have? How does it help Biden? How does it help turnout? Does it hurt Trump? Compelling questions, let's bring in a compelling figure, D. Lemon. He's about to take over anyway.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Preach, brother. I felt like I was in church with the ladies shouting on Sunday.

I'm not kidding. I had a friend who texted me who said "Obama was an assassin. Did you watch that speech?" I just - I think people were sitting at home going "It is about time." That's what I think.

CUOMO: Which people though? Because you don't expect Trump supporters to say "I forgot how much I loved that Obama."

LEMON: No.

CUOMO: Most of the people who voted for Trump--

LEMON: No.

CUOMO: --probably did so in reaction formation to Obama.

LEMON: It was like balm on a wound - salve on a wound, right, that - because you don't hear that from a former President. This is unprecedented.

There is that sort of "Bro Code," so to speak, between presidents, where you don't really talk about it, and this President did. And what he said, every single word he said was the truth.

So, I don't think anyone is persuadable at this point. There are very few people who are persuadable. And if you are undecided, right now, listen, I got to, I don't know, it's not even "The Twilight Zone." I don't know where you're living. But I think most people are decided.

But what it will serve to do is make Democrats, I think, people who - Democrats who usually wet the bed, make them feel better about the election, right? It may galvanize actually some Trump supporters. But I think, in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, where there are - it's a swing state, and some independent-minded voters, it may help some of those independent-minded voters, and it may help the turnout, which is what Democrats really need.

CUOMO: White voters?

LEMON: Oh, yes, of course.

CUOMO: Black male voters?

LEMON: I do - I think so.

Listen, we talk about the fringe Black male vote, right, for Donald Trump, and let's see how many people actually show up at the polls. Because I don't really know any Black men, who are going to vote for Donald Trump, except for people who have a ton of money in the bank, and maybe they're looking at some taxes, and they have - they think - here's what they think.

Unlike Black women, who are the most educated, right, of the voting bloc, who know what it's like to be in a boardroom, or in a business meeting, and have - and be mansplained, when your idea is better, and you're smarter than the man in the room.

[22:00:02]

I think what these black men think is that well, if I just get the money and I just get the capital therefore I will be equal, and I will be treated equally. They're in for a rude awakening because it doesn't work that way. That's not how it works, and women know that, especially black women, they know that.

So, I think this guy -- these men honestly are being bamboozled, they're being played by the Trump folks. But yes, I actually do think it's going to sway some black -- motivate some black not sway them, but motivate some black men to get to the polls.

Listen, President Obama very popular among all demographics, right, except for, you know, the folks who hate him because they're strong Trump supporters. But the women who we call the church hot ladies, my mom, my aunts, my sisters, my young nieces, yes. I mean, if it's not for Barack Obama it's certainly Michelle Obama, trust.

CUOMO: And do you think that the poll for Biden with those who love Obama is stronger than it was for Clinton?

LEMON: Yes. The poll for Biden -- this is not 2016 anymore, I mean, just look at the likability. Remember we were doing -- remember back during the '16 election we were saying, these are the two most unlike candidates in history of the, you know, modern history.

And it was true, their unfavourability rating was very high, their favorability ratings were very low. So yes, I don't think Joe Biden is Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden is pretty much universally like. Joe Biden is like a warm sweater, and I know that, you know, Republicans or the Trump supporters will say, you know, it's Mr. Rogers and they make fun of him on SNL, but that's what many Americans want at this point given all the history --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Yes. Since when does Mr. Rogers a bad thing?

LEMON: And Mr. Rogers is a great dude. I love watching Mr. Rogers. We have the rest of America.

CUOMO: We got him so buck nasty, you know, who would ever thought that on a night with breaking news, I know that you are taking on tonight, that Iran is behind those e-mails from the Proud Boys trying to scare voters. Iran's efforts and Russian's efforts would not be as powerful of our own president to shake confidence in our election.

LEMON: OK, so let me say this. In these times, I think that we have to approach the news and information like that with more skepticism than ever. That doesn't mean it's not true, but I just think that anything that happens -- who was it? Was it you or someone? We were -- someone who is a very politically minded person said, if there is new information or some sort of scandal that happens in the last two weeks of an election you need to be skeptical of it, because you don't know what's behind it.

So, I'm very skeptical of this information, I'm not saying that it's not true, but I also think it should be maybe Christopher Wray's hand could have been forced. Who knows? Maybe Ratcliffe --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Well, I think Ratcliffe was the one who said that --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Ratcliffe.

CUOMO: -- they are after (Inaudible) Trump also and it just happen to be the same night that Obama is going to dominate coverage.

LEMON: So, there you go. So, I think that could be --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: I'll say for you, Don.

LEMON: No, that could be happening here, and so I just think listen, to think that someone can get someone's address and phone number and send them a letter or an e-mail, it's not that hard to do. You don't need some sort of --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: No, but it's scary getting that kind of message from the group of the Proud Boys. LEMON: It is scary. I would imagine it's scary, I would imagine it's

scary for some of the folks at home. Most of the people at home would look at that and say, really? OK, I know that's B.S. I would laugh at it. I wouldn't think it's real. Someone is going to tell me that I must vote for somebody else, come on? Really? No.

I'm not going to do that. That's the same people who e-mail you and say, give me your social security number, I have some money to mail you back. It's not -- it's not going to happen.

CUOMO: I still haven't gotten the money?

LEMON: Yes. Well, there you go, because it's not real. So, and to think over the last four years what we've been talking about, that the Russians, that the Chinese, that Iran, that there's going to be election interference. They are doing it now? What is the big revelation?

CUOMO: That the president is doing it worse.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: That's the revelation. You've got a big show, bud. I'll be watching.

LEMON: I'll see you.

CUOMO: D. Lemon, I love you.

LEMON: Thank you. Sometimes I love you, not all the time.

This is our breaking news tonight. I'm Don Lemon.

We are following multiple huge breaking news stories at this hour. Thirteen days, just 13 days before election day, a hastily called press conference reveals election interference as the former President Barack Obama takes aim at the current president on the campaign trail today, and this time it's personal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He hasn't shown any interest in doing the work, or helping anybody but himself and his friends or treating the presidency like a reality show that he can use to get attention. And by the way, even then his TV ratings are down, so you know that upsets him.

But the thing is this is not a reality show, this is reality, and the rest of us have had to live with the consequences of him proving himself incapable of taking the job seriously.

[22:05:10]

At least 220,000 Americans have died.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Just as much as it's political helping his former Vice President Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump. Remember President Barack Obama, is O and one as a campaign surrogate against Donald Trump who built his political career by the way on the racist birther lie against Barack Obama. That he wasn't born in this country.

Well President Barack Obama asking you to consider the man, consider the man running for office this time, and that is Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I can tell you this. Joe Biden would never call the men and women of our military suckers or losers. Who does that? Why are folks making excuses for that, that's just -- that's just him. No, it's -- no. There are consequences to these actions, they embolden other people to be cruel and divisive and racist.

And it phrases the fabric of our society and it affects how our children see things. And it affects the ways that our families get along, it affects how the world looks at America. That behavior matters. Character matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, this is what I was just talking about with Chris. So literally minutes after that bomb burner of a speech wraps up after President Obama tears President Trump to shreds in a key swing state in front of a large television audience, a speech that finished at 6.30 p.m. OK?

The FBI director and the president's director of intelligence John Ratcliffe who is an overtly political appointee of this president rather than an intelligence professional. He announces at 6.50 p.m., right, a hastily schedule press conference where they took no questions but revealed both Iran and Russia have obtained U.S. voter registration information in an effort to interfere in our election including Iran posing as the far-right group Proud Boys to send intimidating e-mails to voters. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN RATCLIFFE, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We have confirmed that some voter registration information has been obtained by Iran and separately, by Russia. This data can be used by foreign actors to attempt to communicate false information to registered voters that they hope will cause confusion, sow chaos, and undermine your confidence in American democracy.

To that end, we have already seen Iran sending spoofed e-mails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, that raises a whole lot of unanswered questions. Timing just being one of them, and we're going to get into all of that tonight. What motivation does the DNI have in releasing this now and framing the way he has?

Well CNN has learned that e-mails were sent to voters in multiple states that purported to be from the Proud Boys and threatened, quote, "you will vote for Trump on election days or we will come after you."

Well, Ratcliffe did not explain how those and e-mails were intended to damage the president, I mean, he really glossed over the whole Russia part of it. The FBI director Christopher Wray who has earned the wrath of this president by repeatedly saying Russian election interference is real. Well, Wray is saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: We are not going to tolerate foreign interference in our elections or any criminal activity that threatens the sanctity of your vote or undermines public confidence in the outcome of the election.

When we see indications of foreign interference or federal election crimes, we are going to aggressively investigate and work with our partners to quickly take appropriate action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, so that's Wray, but that hastily called press conference with Ratcliffe and Wray taking no questions comes on the biggest night yet on the campaign trail with just 13 days. Thirteen days to go until election day.

And less than 24 hours until the scheduled final presidential debate, and with the coronavirus death toll in this country over 221, 000, the former president slamming Trump for ignoring the pandemic playbook the Obama administration literally left behind for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[22:10:01]

OBAMA: We literally left this White House a pandemic playbook that would have shown them how to respond before the virus reached our shores. They probably used it to, I don't know, prop up a wobbly table somewhere. We don't know where that playbook went. Eight months into these pandemic cases are rising again across this country. Donald Trump is suddenly going to protect all of us, he can't even take the basic steps to protect himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was a burn. I think I miss that one earlier. You know, yet President Trump would like you to know that he doesn't care at all about the former President Barack Obama. Not at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And somebody said, sir, maybe this isn't good. President Obama is campaigning for sleepy Joe Biden, and I said, ha, that's good news or bad news? Tell me, are you saying it's good or it's bad? I guess it's good. No, it's good. There was nobody that campaigned harder for crooked Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Look, who am I to talk when during the pandemic when we are on lockdown, I'm sure some nights you watch me and said, what the heck is going on with his makeup? But what is happening, he is like orange. I've never seen him that color? What is happening? You guys didn't -- haven't notice that? It's very, very odd.

OK, anyway. I had to say that. Just look, Pete that.

All that as the coronavirus is surging all across this country, not one single state is trending in the right direction. Cases are rising in 26 states, and holding steady in 24. More than 221,000 Americans are dead. And yet the president says, he wouldn't do anything differently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC BOLLING, TV HOST: With COVID, is there anything that you think you could've done differently, if you had a mulligan, or a do-over on one aspect of the way you handled it, what would it be?

TRUMP: Not much. Look, it's at all over the world, you have a lot of great leaders, a lot of smart people, it's all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Not much? As our Dr. Sanjay Gupta says, it's absurd that the president is basically saying, the best he could do is be the worst in the world. We are best at being worst? I don't know. Maybe. These are just a few suggestions, OK? Few suggestions. Take notes if you're watching this president.

Maybe he might want a do-over on saying ingesting disinfectant or using a powerful light would kill the virus maybe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I said supposing you brought the light inside the body in which you can do either through the skin or in some other way. And I think you said you're going to test that, too? It sounds interesting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll get the right folks who could.

TRUMP: Right. And then I see the disinfectant where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK? Maybe he might have second thoughts about refusing to wear a mask because he didn't want to be seen in one in front of presidents, prime ministers, and quote, "dictators." Or repeatedly saying the virus would just disappear, like a miracle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think wearing a face mask as I great presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don't know. Somehow, I don't see it for myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He sure didn't, did he? Maybe he can rethink saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: People are saying, maybe we shouldn't do anything, just ride it. They say ride it like a cowboy, just ride it. Ride that sucker right through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, maybe he might want a do-over on saying this about more than 221,000 dead Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They are dying, that's true, and you have -- it is what it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It is what it is. That's why he is where he is tonight. Fighting, for his political life with just 13 days to go until election day.

You know, we are certainly learning that President Barack Obama will head to Florida, he's going to keep on the campaign trail, he's going to head to Florida on Saturday to campaign for Biden in a state that is a must win for President Trump.

And I'm going to speak with a former Obama administration official about the strategy behind the president's speech. We've got much more to come on all of our breaking news tonight, including that hastily arranged press conference to announced Russia and Iran have interfered in our election.

[22:15:04]

Lots of unanswered questions about all of this, and Evan Perez, Josh Campbell are here to break it down, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, here's our breaking news with only 13 days to go its until election day. The director of national intelligence in a very hastily arranged press conference saying tonight Russia and Iran are interfering in the election. Completely glossing over, over the Russia part and accusing Iran opposing as the far-right group the Proud Boys, and sending intimidating e-mails to voters. So, joining me now is CNN's senior justice correspondent, Mr. Evan Perez, and our former -- and a former FBI supervisory special agent Josh Campbell.

Good evening, gentlemen. Thank you so much. So, listen, Evan, what is going on here, why did they come out and announce this tonight in this manner at this time?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, I mean, I hear your skepticism, but it is something that, you know, from talking to people in the intelligence community over the last couple of hours, it appears this is something that they're very, very concerned about.

[22:19:56]

This is obviously a couple weeks out from the election, and it is the kind of -- it is an indicator of how concerned they are about the activity from some of these countries, including Russia, Iran, and China and what could happen in the coming weeks.

And of course, the whole setup of this, is that the president has been the one that has been trying to undermine some of the fate that people have -- the fate that people have in the integrity of the system. So, it appears these intelligence agencies from these countries are taking advantage of some of what the president has laid out.

But this, in particular, the Iran case according to the officials tonight, it is the case that these e-mails were being sent by the Iranians, it was -- it was, you know, intimidating people, threatening people, that if they did not vote for Trump they would come after them.

It appears that this data was stolen from some of the state systems. And so that raises a lot of concern. We don't know what the Russians are going to do with the data. They appear to have the same information, they haven't done anything with the yet, and that's why there is so much concern about this.

LEMON: OK, so is this stolen from the system, because it's publicly available data because addresses and e-mails, that is -- that's publicly available? What is that stolen from?

PEREZ: Right. I think --

LEMON: You don't need like some sophisticated operation to get people's e-mails and addresses and names.

PEREZ: Right, I do hear some of that skepticism as well. Some of the states are saying that they have no indication of an intrusion. I can tell you, that in the recent days we have alerts that have gone out from the FBI, from the intelligence agencies alerting the states that there were -- there were indications that there were intrusions of systems. And essentially warning them to patch their systems, that is a warning that was issued in recent days.

So, it does appear that there was some legitimate concern, that some of the systems were not as secure. And again, the bottom line here is that your vote is safe, none of these intrusions really could get to change your vote, or to affect the vote count. But there are some problem sometimes that need to be fixed to make sure that people aren't losing faith, or don't lose faith come election day.

LEMON: OK. So, OK, so listen, let me play, I got a whole bunch of questions for you, Josh. I just want to play again the part of what the Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe said tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RATCLIFFE: We have already seen Iran sending spoofed e-mails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, so, CNN has obtained these e-mails sent to voters in multiple states. One read you will vote for Trump on election day or we will come after you. OK, so listen, how is that intimidating and not like a spoof, and how is this damaging to Trump?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, there are a lot of questions there, and what we got today was attribution, as the intelligence committee calls it where you are attributing these efforts to a particular nation state, but we didn't get a lot of information about the motive and the why and what else officials are seeing.

What we got there was a little snippet of analysis from the director of national intelligence as you mentioned saying that this was designed to hurt President Trump.

The problem here with the Iranian issue, is that if you play it out logically, and you risk running a deducted fallacy here. Essentially what he is saying, is that the Iranians knew that they are going to get caught, and then that would then expose this as, you know, the Proud Boys being set up as the victims here.

Which, that's a jump in logic there that, you know, requires a couple steps. So, basically, we don't know, Don. We don't have a lot of information. I think it is important to note what he did not say, the DNI didn't mention the Russia issue.

We know that going back to 2016, the intelligence community had assessed that Russia was working to help President Donald Trump, here today we had the DNI talking about Iran, saying that the victim here was President Trump. Talking also about Russia, but not mentioning that that was potentially designed to hurt Vice President Joe Biden.

I will say that what we saw today, Don, in one way is precisely what the intelligence community is expected to do, whenever you see an influence operation, because the way to mitigate these types of threats is to inoculate the public.

If they're getting these e-mails, they don't know what they are, it's incumbent upon the intelligence community to inoculate them, to describe what this is, what this isn't. So that party did by the book.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Josh, listen, I agree --

CAMPBELL: But the other part is --

LEMON: I agree with you 100 percent. And listen, I'm not -- my skepticism is not for Christopher Wray, he's a straight shooter. It is actually for Ratcliffe. Because if you look at the press conference, if you watch it essentially what they said you would think they were holding two different press conferences.

Wray is saying, you know, your -- your vote is safe, right? You should feel -- you should feel confident that your vote is going to get counted even with the mail, blah, blah, blah.

[22:24:58]

And then you have Ratcliffe giving some whole other thing that I don't know what it had to do with anything.

CAMPBELL: Yes.

LEMON: But my question is, did they need to -- I have to run here if you can just tell me quickly. Do they need to do a press conference, could they just put out a press release and have the media give this information and say you might have gotten these e-mails but these e- mails pay no attention to the e-mails behind the closet or whatever, the man behind the curtain?

CAMPBELL: Yes. The timing --

LEMON: I mean, it just it was just odd?

CAMPBELL: The timing is obviously a question and the method, and this was at FBI headquarters which is also, you know, raises questions about putting that FBI good housekeeping standard from approval on this.

LEMON: Right.

CAMPBELL: I will say that as you mentioned, Chris Wray, Director Wray, that was more a public service announcement.

LEMON: Right.

CAMPBELL: The DNI Ratcliffe it was more getting somewhat into the weeds. The problem here and this is why folks are right to be skeptical in the sense, and that is the DNI's history. He's already raised a lot of eyebrows with some of his actions by selectively declassifying information.

And so, just to circle back quickly on what I was saying earlier it is right for the intelligence community to inoculate the public --

LEMON: Right.

CAMPBELL: -- to try to mitigate these threats. But when you have someone out there a former politician leading the effort that just going to raise questions from the other side --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Thank you.

CAMPBELL: -- about whether this is actually being done above board.

LEMON: One hundred, 100 percent what you just said. Thank you, Josh. Evan, thank you. Evan is going to be back a little bit later. He's got some more reporting to do and we will certainly have him on with that new reporting. Thank you both. I appreciate it.

So, stay with us, we got more on our news tonight. President Obama stumping to for Joe Biden making the case that President Trump inherited pretty good things from his administration and he squandered them. I'm going to speak with someone who worked in the Obama White House, former White House press secretary, there he is. Mr. Jay Carney, next.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The former President Barack Obama on fire tonight, delivering a full-throated blistering rebuke of President Trump's four years in office. Speaking in Philadelphia in his first stump speech for the Biden/Harris campaign with just 13 days to go until election day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Look, I get that this president wants full credit for the economy he inherited, and zero blame for the pandemic that he ignored. But you know what, the job doesn't work that way. Tweeting at the television doesn't fix things. Making stuff up doesn't make people's lives better. You got to have a plan. You've got to put in the work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, I want to bring in Jay Carney now, the former White House press secretary for President Obama. He is also a former director of communications for Vice President Joe Biden. Good to see you, man. It's been a long time. You doing OK?

JAY CARNEY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm doing great, Don. Thanks for having me.

LEMON: So, Jay, look, it's not typical to hear a former president attack a successor the way we saw tonight but, I mean, he -- he was firing. Why was it important for President Barack Obama to do that tonight?

CARNEY: Well, first of all, it was so great to see him and hear him out on the campaign trail. He would have been out earlier of course had there not been the pandemic and more often I think than he will be able to be out. But he's still wildly popular, in many ways more than he's ever been, within the Democratic Party and broadly within the general electorate.

So, he can move voters. He is a persuasive figure. He is a reminder of what normalcy looks like. What a government that works hard to implement policies they believe are the right things for the American people and goes about their business without creating a lot of chaos and undermining institutions and attacking their critics personally.

So, I think it's nice to see him out there. I know the vice president, Vice President Biden appreciates it. Their relationship is stronger than ever and it's great to see.

LEMON: So, I got to ask you, it was interesting to see the former president out on the sidewalk in Philadelphia with a bullhorn, right? And he said listen, it was caveat that he gave there, he said I didn't expect this president to carry out my policies or carry out my agenda.

So, when people say well, it's personal for this president, do you think it's personal for him, as well as a duty he sees duty here?

CARNEY: It's personal in the sense that he's a citizen. I know for a fact that when he left office he fully intended to stay on the sidelines, the way that President George W. Bush did when he took office, and the way that former presidents tend to do. And he held his tongue for a very long time.

But what he sees I think is what so many see, which that the current situation in our politics is undermining the foundations of our democracy, it's tearing at the fabric that holds us together as a nation and he's riled up about it and he's worried about it.

And he feels, I think -- I know that a Trump re-election victory and four more years would he believes undermine America to the point where it would be very hard to turn back, to regain our stature in the world, to restore civility in our politics, and to, you know, provide the kind of benefits to the American people like healthcare and a living wage that I think he believes Joe Biden can deliver.

LEMON: Well, speaking of Joe Biden, I mean, listen, poll after poll you see Joe Biden is the candidate that people believe can unite the country. I just want to put up a poll here. Biden is ahead 10 percent in Pennsylvania, no clear leader in Florida, and it's amazing that Florida is, you know, competitive right now and other states as well.

[22:35:03]

But the big theme from the president -- the former president tonight was voting. He told Democrats, do not get complacent, do not get lazy. How many complacent Democrats do you know?

CARNEY: Well, I fear if there's one out there, there's one too many. Only because a poll two weeks out from election day doesn't win anything. LEMON: Right.

CARNEY: And you know, we have too much experience where polls are off just enough to change the outcome of an election -- or not change it but to have incorrectly predicted the outcome of an election. So, every damn vote counts. And that's just true for anybody who is a citizen and believes in this country and wants to participate in our democracy, no matter whom they vote for.

Look, I don't believe those polls. Not because I doubt that the polling is more refined and better than it was in 2016 but because polling is an imperfect science.

LEMON: Yes.

CARNEY: And you know, I think it is likely --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And it's a snapshot of what's happening right now.

CARNEY: Exactly. It's as likely to tighten as it is to widen, and I think it's imperative that folks don't just, you know, take comfort in seeing, you know, predictions of an outcome that they prefer. They have to go out and do their -- take their responsibility seriously, cast their ballot.

LEMON: Yes. Well, if you speak to or see the former president, tell him would be a great guest on this show, and I'd love to have him, just like I love having you.

CARNEY: I'll do. I'll do it. Well, Don, it's a great pleasure. Thanks for having me.

LEMON: Thank you, Jay. Good to see you. You take care. Maybe I'll be talking to you before the election. Thanks a lot.

Another whirlwind night full of breaking news. Stay with us because we're going to keep bringing you the latest on all of this as we get it.

[22:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Former President Barack Obama not holding back tonight in his takedown of Donald Trump's presidency and his heartfelt call for Americans to put Joe Biden in the White House, reaching out to working people in Pennsylvania who might be struggling economically, reminding them of the New York Times report that Trump, a rich businessman has paid almost nothing in taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If he only pays $750 in taxes, that maybe, just maybe he might not know what working people are going through here in Pennsylvania. We cannot afford four more years of this, Philadelphia. But the good news is, right now you can choose change. Right now, you can vote for my friend Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris as the next president and vice president of the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I want to bring in now CNN Senior Political Reporter, Nia- Malika Henderson, and White House Correspondent, John Harwood.

Good evening.

John, President Obama was blistering tonight, he brought up Trump's failure on the coronavirus, on healthcare, hi tax returns, his crazy tweets. Do you think the timing of President Trump's first campaign speech was any accident right before the last debate? It's likely to get underneath President Trump's skin.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's definitely going to get under President Trump's skin. It already -- already has, he was in North Carolina rally tonight after President Obama's speech. He was referring to him as Barack Hussein Obama and saying that his inauguration crowd really was bigger than Obama's after all --

LEMON: God.

HARWOOD: -- when it obviously wasn't. So, I think that is a significant fact. And the president has a lot of ability to reach a broad swath of voters. But I do think the most important thing that he did tonight was not triggering Trump for the debate tomorrow, which he will, but encouraging those marginal voters, especially younger voters of color, telling them no, it's not hopeless, we're not going to solve everything overnight but we can make things better and that's the reason to go vote.

Remember, Hillary Clinton had a drop-off in 2016 from President Obama's turnout levels among African-Americans in places like Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Detroit, that helped tip the election to Donald Trump. And that's where I think the president can be especially useful to the Biden campaign.

LEMON: Nia, I want to play more from the former president, and then we'll talk. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Again, with Joe and Kamala at the helm, you're not going to have to think about the crazy things they said every day. And that's worth a lot. You're not going to have to argue about them every day. It just won't be so exhausting. You might be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner without having an argument.

You'll be able to go about your lives knowing that the president is not going to retweet conspiracy theories about secret cabals running the world or that navy SEALS didn't actually killed Bin Laden. Think about that. The President of the United States retweeted that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Where is that world that he's talking about? I want to go too there. So, Nia, were you expecting Obama to go in like that?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: No. The phrase I kept thinking of as I was listening --

LEMON: Beijing Barry.

HENDERSON: -- to his speech he's bread someone for filth. Because that is what he was doing, chapters and verse, receipts there about conspiracy theories. He essentially called him America's crazy uncle that has all of this sort of power and he's using that power to divide people along racial lines.

[22:45:06]

So it was a meticulously crafted speech, it was delivered in a very conversational way, almost as if you sort of run into Barack Obama, you know, at the church or at the barber shop or wherever and he was just sort of riffing off of the top of his head, and really not only tearing down this president but also building up Joe Biden.

I mean that was obviously a part of it too and in that clip you played, that was the big part of it. And also making the populist message, saying that Donald Trump cares about himself, but Joe Biden cares about you. You know Joe Biden and Joe Biden knows you. Of course, that's very important to those folks in Pennsylvania, Biden is from Scranton, but also just an important message more broadly.

LEMON: Well, I mean, Nia, he's making the point that the way the president, this current president, President Trump treats the presidency with all the conspiracies and the way he raises the blood pressure of the entire country, that it is not normal.

HENDERSON: Right. And that it is exhausting. Right, I mean that was one of the points that he was making it. This is just tiresome and obviously dangerous too for the president to traffic in such conspiracy theories.

LEMON: All right. Thank you both. I appreciate it. Bread for filth, I was thinking though the Beijing Barry thing, that made me laugh.

HENDERSON: Yes.

LEMON: All right, thank you both.

HENDERSON: Yes.

LEMON: I appreciate it.

Mitt Romney telling CNN that he didn't vote for President Trump and he is definitely not the only prominent Republican who didn't. My next guest used to be chair of the RNC, and he's backing Biden.

[22:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, some key Republicans walking away from President Trump. Today the party's 2012 nominee for president, Senator Mitt Romney is the latest to break with Trump. Romney put it in simple terms, telling CNN on Capitol Hill today, I did not vote for President Trump.

Romney is not alone. Last week, Republican Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker made the same decision, a spokesman saying the governor cannot support Donald Trump for president and is focused on seeing Massachusetts through the pandemic. He'll leave the election analysis to the pundits.

And yesterday, former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele announced he'll be voting -- he will be voting for Joe Biden. He's also a senior adviser to the Lincoln Project, and guess what. He is here with me live now. Good to see you, sir. You doing OK?

MICHAEL STEELE, FORMER CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I'm doing well, babe, doing really well.

LEMON: When did you reach the breaking point with this president and decide to vote for Joe Biden, Michael?

STEELE: Two thousand sixteen. That was the breaking point. I didn't vote for him in '16. But you know, I think, you know, look, not to make light of the seriousness of the decision, it was a very hard decision to make. I mean, I understand my role inside the party and what I've done on behalf of the party, you know, over a long time.

But you get to a point, Don, where it's about the country, man. It's not about the politics anymore. It's not about the partisanship. It's not about a piece of legislation. When you see the wholesale deconstruction of the very tenets of our founding around this idea of democracy and checks and balances and a president who looks the American people in the eye and says I can do whatever I want. You can't stop me. And my response is, yes, we can. We can vote you out, and we will.

And so, for me, it was a very important moment. And I wanted to share it with the country. I could have kept it to myself, but I watched my party also walk away from the responsibility it had to govern and to lead and to push back against, you know, yes, there are fine people on both sides, or to push back against putting kids in cages or to push back against this idea that Putin is actually a friend of the U.S.

So just from domestic to foreign policy to what we saw play out in Lafayette Square to what we've seen just recently with COVID-19, his own -- his own battle with COVID-19, dismissed about it.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: It should have been a wakeup call for him.

STEELE: The first lady is at home right now battling COVID-19 and --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Not -- not on the campaign trail because she still has a lingering cough from it. And his son had it as well. Listen, we wish them well. But it is the truth.

STEELE: Yes.

LEMON: What you're saying is the truth. But Michael, I have to ask you, when you hear other Republicans say they are not or will not vote for Trump but they don't say that they're going to vote for Biden, do you think they're doing enough?

STEELE: You know, that's actually -- that's a personal decision. And I respect them for it. Look, I get it. Not everyone can cross the Rubicon like I did. You know? I know what that means, and I know what it says. And I'm not going to judge someone else's walk. They have their reasons and their rationale for saying, look, I'm just not voting for the president. I'll vote for someone else. And that's fine.

They'll write someone's name in, whatever. And I understand that. So, I'm not going to judge it. Where I'd like to see the action is, OK, that's your vote. I get that. But can you also share with us why you're not doing it? Can you just put on the record officially the problems that we see every day, that we've come to realize every day with this leadership?

The handling of COVID-19, the flatlining of the economy, the lack of concern about race and policing in this country. All these things matter to Americans. Can you at least speak to that? OK, we get it. You're not voting for Trump. But can you at least speak to that to give the rest of us clarity and reinforcement?

[22:55:01]

LEMON: I've got to ask you because Steve Bannon has said that if Trump loses 3 to 4 percent, Michael, of the establishment Republicans, it could sink him. What are the polls and your research showing you? Are there -- are there that many of you right now, enough to sink him, 3 to 4 percent?

STEELE: Yes. No, that's always been the great fallacy that, you know, this, you know, the Republican Party was just awash with Trumpism. That is not the case. It still represents a very small portion of rank and file Republicans inside the party. And you see that now as more and more, particularly in suburban America, even among white men which was, you know, a big part of the support and the base that the president had, some peeling off there.

So, the reality of it is the impact of COVID more than anything else has put a spotlight on leadership and has put a spotlight on character. And so, a lot of folks realize, yes, it kind of matters who's behind the Resolute desk in making big decisions that impact my job, my family, my community, my health. And so, it matters.

And so, for a lot of those Republicans, it's just kind of nice down to see more and more of them coming out, speaking to that inside/outside the administration. And I think there will be more over the next few weeks. So, yes, it's a problem. It's a bleed in the rank and file for Trump because he's got to make that vote up somewhere, Don.

LEMON: Got it.

STEELE: You know, you lose a voter, you've got to find two.

LEMON: All right.

STEELE: And that's typically how we do it in this game. So, you know --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: This is how we do it.

STEELE: This is how we do it.

LEMON: I've got to get to the top of the next hour. But Michael, thank you. It's a pleasure seeing you. Thank you for coming on. You be well, OK? Come back any time.

STEELE: I will. And I just want to let folks know that we've got a -- we're hosting -- the Lincoln Project is hosting a town hall, an African-American voter town hall this Monday. Go to Lincoln Project web site to get more details. It's going to be a great discussion, a lot of good leaders coming out.

LEMON: Thank you, Michael. See you soon.

STEELE: I appreciate you, bro.

LEMON: See you. Thank you.

Breaking news tonight, the director of national intelligence announcing Russia and Iran have interfered in our election. Stay with us for all the latest.

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