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Trump and Vance Push Claims About Haitian Immigrants; Tim Walz Campaigns in Georgia; Sean "Diddy" Combs Charged with Sex Trafficking and Racketeering; Pagers Explode Across Lebanon Targeting Hezbollah Members; Jordan Chiles Appeals Medal Decision. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired September 17, 2024 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: -- make because they don't matter. They are going right for the base and they have forgotten -- they've lost the plot of this election, which is to turn out those independent voters. And I speak to them all day, they do not like this. They are not here for that.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we should love thy neighbor. There's no question about it, but you have to do it. You can't just say it. Sarah, Bakari, S.E. I see a great conversation.
Sarah, I wish I could get back to you one more time, but we're -- I'll make it up to you next time. Come in. You'll go first and get all the time. Guys, thanks so much. We'll be right back.
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ACOSTA: Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Walz, you're seeing them on screen there, just a few moments ago at Macon, Georgia just wrapping up a campaign stop there before heading to Asheville, North Carolina.
[10:35:00]
Donald Trump won the Tar Heel state by just one point in 2020, and Democrats are hoping to flip North Carolina this time around. It could be a must win state for Kamala Harris, depending on how things go in the other battleground states. The latest poll there shows no clear leader, with Harris leading Trump 49 to 46 percent
Anderson Clayton joins us now. She's the chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. And, Anderson, I mean, I will say, as far as polls go, that one must, you know, put a little spring in your step if Kamala Harris is leading in North Carolina how do you think you can make that hold until election day?
ANDERSON CLAYTON, CHAIR, NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, we don't ride the poller coaster down here in North Carolina. We make sure that we're knocking doors every single weekend. And if anyone would like to join us right now in that effort, you can go to ncdp.org and make sure that you do so, because that's what's going to be able to keep up the momentum, the energy that we have right now on the ground, and making sure that we have got a presence in all 100 counties in North Carolina.
Because we know what cost us our state in 2020, that 1 percent margin was 42 votes per precinct in every single county. And so, we're chasing voters across the state.
ACOSTA: And so, I mean, this is going to be about voter turnout, as you were saying. What are you doing to get that vote out of North Carolina? What's the battle plan? Not that you want to share the whole playbook, but what do you have in mind?
CLAYTON: No, we need to make sure that we're increasing voter turnout in our rural communities, especially in Eastern North Carolina, where you have competitive congressional races like Don Davis' race right now that we're making sure he needs to get over the line.
And I'm out here in the east in Beaufort County today, talking with high school students that are going to be able to get registered to vote before the election, because you can do same day or early registration, pre-registration in North Carolina if you're going to be 18 by Election Day as a high school student, and we've also been really energizing our college campuses across the state because we know what helped win Barack Obama in 2008 in this state is the under 35 demographic.
And so, we're launching a 30 and 30 campus program. We've hit around 11 or 12 of those schools right now. We were just at UNC yesterday, and we're going to be making sure we're reaching out to all of the others, including our public and private HBCUs in North Carolina that really helped with that voter turnout for young people.
ACOSTA: Yes, and I know you said you don't want to ride the poller coaster, but I do want to ask you about a poll in a different state and see if any of this applies to you. This is a fascinating number to me. This is in Iowa, which has been a solidly red state, but the Des Moines Register, which, as you know, always has very solid polling, as showing right now, Kamala Harris down just four points to Donald Trump in that state.
And I was just asking you about the poll in North Carolina, some of the polling in North Carolina a few moments ago, to what do you attribute this change? Because, obviously, what we saw before when President Biden was in the race, things have changed dramatically when it comes to how Kamala Harris is stacking up against the former president. Is it among young voters? Is it minority voters? Is there -- what portion of the pie do you see as, OK, that's the one that's making a difference? Is it new voter registration? What do you think it is?
CLAYTON: It's everything, I think. When you've got a coalition that's as strong as folks from Liz Cheney to AOC, I think that you have one of the most powerful coalitions in the country right now that is all saying the same thing, that we would like to protect democracy.
And what you're seeing state representative out of Iowa, J. D. Scholten, would tell you any day that we're seeing a campaign that even without the National Democratic Party really investing in Iowa right now, we are still seeing that sort of surge in her campaign and her candidacy because people are excited. They have hope for the first time in politics, for a really -- no, no, really long time, quite frankly.
And I think that that comes from the fact that you have a surge of young people that are finally seeing and finally starting to see themselves represented in politics the first time. But you're also starting to see the surge of maybe new voters and folks that have felt disenfranchised or not engaged with politics too.
Kamala Harris is building a coalition like none other throughout the United States, and that's what's going to help carry states like North Carolina and Georgia. She's prioritizing the south in general, which is something for a party where our base, 55 percent of black Americans live right now. It is the most important thing that we could be doing as a party and for her candidacy going forward.
ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, President Biden made some serious inroads last time around. I mean, if you can flip North Carolina this time around, I think that southern strategy is certainly a very strong one for the Democrats. If that bears out. Anderson Clayton, thanks. We'll ride the poller coaster again next time. We'll force you to do it. But thanks a lot for your time. We appreciate it.
CLAYTON: Thank you.
ACOSTA: All right. Coming up, Sean Diddy Combs racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Much more on what we're learning from the unsealed indictment that just happened a few moments ago. More on that breaking news coming up, just ahead.
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[10:40:00]
ACOSTA: We are following breaking news out of Lebanon. Hundreds of people there have been injured in an attack targeting the pagers, yes, the pagers of Hezbollah members. That's according to a Lebanese security source talking to CNN. The country's ministry of health is urging citizens who have pagers to throw them out and warrant hospitals to be on high alert. We'll continue to monitor that, bring you that information as it comes in.
In the meantime, we are following more breaking news. The big story this hour, Sean Diddy Combs is in court right now charged with federal racketeering and sex trafficking. And back with me now, senior legal analyst, Elie Honig. Elie, you've been digging into these charges what kind of details can you share with us? I mean, some of the details that we've heard so far are pretty, I mean, mind-boggling, to say the least.
[10:45:00]
ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes, Jim, this is a very serious indictment. It's a federal indictment returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York, which includes Manhattan.
There are three counts here. Racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and then transporting a person across state lines for illicit sexual purposes. What this indictment boils down to essentially is they charge that Sean Combs presided over a criminal organization. Prosecutors actually title that organization, The Combs Enterprise. They say the purpose was to satisfy Sean Combs' sexual desires, to promote and protect his career and to silence people who might have spoken out against him.
And, Jim, to your point, there's a lot of graphic detail in here about physical assaults, about violence, about use of guns and drugs to threaten imply people. So, it appears to be a very serious indictment that Sean Combs is being processed for right now. Will make his first appearance in court fairly soon.
ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, when Josh Campbell was reading off some of these details earlier and mentioned the word arson, I mean, that jumped out to me. I mean, I just thought that was incredible. Do we get any sense from the indictment as to how strong the prosecution's evidence is? It sounds like they have a lot of evidence here.
HONIG: Yes, Jim. I actually have the same reaction. I mean, some of the allegations here are fleshed out a bit, including the use of guns and drugs. Arson, I just circled and wrote question marks next to it.
ACOSTA: Yes.
HONIG: There's no real articulation of what that is. But when you see an indictment, that will contain some of the prosecution's evidence, but certainly, not more. But there is reference made in this indictment to certain really important pieces of evidence, including the video that we were referring to earlier, the horrifying video that we've all seen of Sean Combs attacking a woman in a hotel.
There's also reference made to a search warrant that was conducted at Sean Combs' homes and offices, where the police recovered guns and ammunition. So, that's a sense of some of the indictment -- some of the evidence that this indictment gives us.
ACOSTA: Yes, and you and I have talked about, in regards to other cases, on other occasions, when you have video or audio evidence, that is very, very compelling to a jury and very important to a prosecution's case. Elie, what happens with respect to bail? Will Sean Combs be released today? I mean, I suppose if the bail is set high enough, he could meet that bar, but what do you think?
HONIG: So, that is the big question to watch for today. Will prosecutors, first of all, agree to some sort of bail package, even if it's multimillions of dollars or other restrictions, or will prosecutors seek to detain him with no bail, which prosecutors do do quite often, especially in cases where the charges are as serious as this.
Now, clearly, Sean Combs and his lawyers will ask for bail. That's why they brought him in last night to surrender. They want to be able to make the case to the judge, look, he's not fleeing. He's not a danger. He's not going to go anywhere. That determination should be made today by the judge. And that is such an important moment in the case because either Sean Combs is out and free while he's preparing to defend himself at trial, or there's a chance he could be locked up. He could be in federal custody from now until his trial.
And these trials, as we know, Jim, from various experiences, it takes many months to get these trials. It's a crucial moment in a case where it's determined whether there will be bail or no bail. But the first thing to keep in mind, will the prosecution ask the judge to lock him up or will the prosecution agree to a bail package? If they want to lock him up, we're going to have an argument about it today.
ACOSTA: Yes, that's extraordinary stuff. But the details of these charges are just absolutely astonishing. All right. Elie Honig, keep us posted. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.
HONIG: Thanks, Jim.
ACOSTA: We'll be right back.
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[10:50:00]
ACOSTA: All right. Jordan Chiles is fighting back. The U.S. gymnast is now appealing the decision that cost her a bronze medal last month at the Paris Olympics. CNN's Coy Wire is covering that for us. Coy, I'm still riled up over this one. I hope Jordan Chiles can get some justice here. What's her team saying?
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: It's been such a roller coaster, Jim. Chiles is taking her fight for the floor exercise bronze medal as high as it can go, appealing to Switzerland's Supreme Court for it to be reinstated with the support of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics. Chiles filed the appeal yesterday.
She originally placed fifth, you remember, but was awarded the bronze after the American coaches challenged her score and the appeal was upheld. Then the Romanian team objected that decision to revise her incorrect score, claiming the appeal was filed four seconds after the one-minute deadline, even after USA Gymnastics provided video evidence their appeal was submitted on time.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport, also known as the CAS, eventually upheld Romania's challenge, and the medal was given then to their gymnast, Ana Barbosu. In a statement. Chiles' attorney argues the CAS Violated Chiles' right to be heard, adding quote, "From start to finish the procedures leading to the CAS panel's decision were fundamentally unfair, and it is no surprise that they resulted in an unjust decision," unquote.
Now, CAS told CNN, Jim, that it cannot comment as it has not yet been notified of Chiles' appeal by the Swiss Federal Tribunal. ACOSTA: And, Coy, I've got to get your reaction to that incredible video of Jason Kelce pumping up Philly for the Eagles-Falcons game yesterday. I guess he's enjoying retirement. That's the only thing I can take from this.
WIRE: I mean, this looks like you -- after your Commanders finally won last weekend, right?
ACOSTA: I have the exact same jumpsuit, except it's burgundy gold. Never Eagles green.
WIRE: Hey, I love this. This shows his athleticism wise, he's future Hall of Fame center. He's the heartbeat and soul of Eagles Nation. As a Falcons former player myself, I say this is cute. And that's cool and all. But, Jim, there was a different type of dancing after the game.
ACOSTA: Yes.
WIRE: They were playing the Falcons on Monday night football and rise up. Atlanta wins 22 to 21. Yes, baby, that's some dancing I can get down to.
[10:55:00]
ACOSTA: I appreciate your objectivity here, Coy.
WIRE: I got this, that jersey.
ACOSTA: Look at that.
WIRE: Yes, there we go.
ACOSTA: But, you know, there are all these questions about Kirk Cousins, former Redskin, I'll point out. And he's doing great. I mean, there are questions after the first game bounced back. Did great last night.
WIRE: Yes. And as he would say, you like that.
ACOSTA: Exactly. That's an oldie but a goodie. All right. Fantastic stuff. All right. Coy Wire, thanks as always.
WIRE: You got it.
ACOSTA: I won't say go Falcons, but congrats on your win. And thanks for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta. Our next hour of Newsroom with Wolf Blitzer starts after a short break. Have a good day.
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