Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Trump Makes Final Sprint In Battleground Pennsylvania; Harris Campaign Visits Georgia Black Churches; Trump And Harris Court Young Voters 16 Days Until Election; Gullah-Geechee Celebration Turns Tragic; Israeli Strikes Intensify In Gaza Strip And Lebanon's Border; Israeli Defense Minister: We Are Moving From Defeating Hezbollah "To Destroying It"; High-Stakes Michigan Race May Determine Senate Control; Tonight: Championship Comes Down To Game 5 In New York. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired October 20, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:26]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
All right. We're entering a critical stretch of this election for the White House. With just 16 days remaining, campaigns are starting to make their final pitches to voters, especially in key battleground states that will decide and who wins the White House.
Today, former president Donald Trump is in Pennsylvania. He is set to hold a town hall there next hour, but earlier today, he stopped by a McDonald's outside Philadelphia to work the fry cooker, as you see you right there, getting some one-on-one. His visit comes on the heels of a campaign rally in the Keystone State last night, where his love of legendary golfer Arnold Palmer came up in a very odd kind of way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But Arnold Palmer was all man. And I say that in all due respect to women. And I love women. But this guy, this guy, this is a guy that was all man. When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there. They said, oh, my god. That's unbelievable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Trump's running mate Senator J.D. Vance is in battleground Wisconsin, pouring beers for supporters ahead of the Green Bay Packers game today.
Vice President Kamala Harris with a very different focus today, meeting with church members outside of Atlanta, encouraging them to take advantage of early voting. Legendary singer Stevie Wonder was also there showing his support at a campaign stop in the Peach State.
(MUSIC PERFORMANCE BY STEVIE WONDER)
WHITFIELD: Harris' running mate Governor Tim Walz continuing that outreach to the black community, speaking to church-goers at a congregation in Saginaw, Michigan.
All right, so let's get started in Pennsylvania. CNN's Danny Freeman is there in Lancaster where the Trump townhall begins next hour.
Danny, only a few precious days left in the race so what will be the focus today?
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, we're expecting former president Trump to continue the focus that he and his campaign wants to emphasize in these final weeks of the campaign, call Vice President Harris a failure when it comes to her and the Biden administration, but also trying to hit home on issues like inflation, the economy.
But what we saw today in this, as you said, final sprint really until election day is also a blanketing of Pennsylvania. Earlier former president Trump stopped in purple Bucks County, that's an all- important Philadelphia suburb, to go to a McDonald's and cook some fries. We saw him don an apron, put fried in the fryer.
The reason that former president Trump is making this stop not only to try and appeal to working class voters, which will be key to former president Trump's coalition if he hopes to win the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but also to needle the Harris campaign because he has been saying without proof that Harris never actually worked at McDonalds, even know Vice President Harris has previously said that she worked for McDonald's back when she was younger.
The campaign emphasizing that she worked specifically in a McDonald's in Alameda, California, back in 1983 over the summer when she was a college student. So that's why we're seeing the former president Trump in that particular environment today.
But I want to point to last night. You mentioned it. It was a rambling rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, in western -- the western part of the state. There was that strange digression about Arnold Palmer, but then there was also vulgarity when it came to referring to his opponent, Vice President Harris. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So you have to tell Kamala Harris that you've had enough, that you just can't take it anymore.
We can't stand you, you're a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) vice president. The worst. You're the worst vice president. Kamala, you're fired, get the hell out of here. You're fired. Get out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREEMAN: So, Fred, you can see the challenges erupting from this, again, home stretch of the campaign because those comments, the comments about Arnold Palmer, they have really captivated a lot of the media cycle over the past 24 hours from this trip in Pennsylvania. But a senior campaign adviser for the Trump campaign says this is the moment where he's trying to make his final push and his final closing arguments to voters here in the state. And we'll see if later this afternoon at this rally in Lancaster, he
can stay more focused perhaps on the economy, inflation, bringing jobs back to America, instead of some of these tangents like about golf greats or about vulgarity in the case of at least last night -- Fred.
[16:05:13]
WHITFIELD: All right. Danny Freeman. thank you so much.
All right. Let's turn now to Vice President Kamala Harris and the message she is promoting on her campaigns.
CNN's Eva McKend is live for us in Stonecrest, Georgia, where earlier Harris spoke at a church there.
What did she say to the congregation?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, she says that this moment is about faith in action, and she leaned on congregants to really see this time as an opportunity and they can choose the politics of chaos and division of former president Donald Trump, though she never used his name but she certainly intimated that it was him, or they can move forward with freedom, opportunity and her vision for the country.
And this comes in the context of souls to the polls. These are scattering of events of Vice President Harris, two of them, that aim to mobilize black voters. Democrats are routinely criticized for taking black voters for granted. They are the base of the Democratic Party, but the campaign they really don't engage in that. They argue that black voters are persuadable voters and they have to do all that they can to convince them just like any other part of the Democratic coalition. So take a listen to what she told congregants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is constantly about berating people and belittling people and name calling. And I think we of faith, we who believe in our country and love our country, know that we each as individuals and as a community have the power to make decisions through these next 16 days that will be about a statement about what kind of country do we want to live in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: Now the vice president also sat for an interview here in Georgia with Al Sharpton that is going to air later this evening. We're seeing a clip of this and in the interview, she said that the country deserves so much better than the former president. And so that really is key to her argument here, that the president, the former president rather is unfit for the presidency.
And Fred, I see it as a message trying to appeal to a broad swath of the electorate because there are going to be some voters that don't agree with her on every policy matter, but they may agree with this argument that the former president is just unhinged -- Fred. WHITFIELD: All right. Eva McKend, thank you so much.
All right. So both campaigns are encouraging supporters to turn out for early voting. Our next guest is the president and CEO of Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Welcome, Dr. Harry Williams.
DR. HARRY WILLIAMS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, THURGOOD MARSHALL COLLEGE FUND: Thank you. Thank you, Fredricka, for inviting me to be here with you this Sunday afternoon.
WHITFIELD: Well, it's so wonderful to have you because it is so important what your group is doing and what so many others are doing to encourage people to vote, to participate. So you have been doing a lot of grassroots organizing at HBCUs particularly in critical swing states like North Carolina and Georgia. You know, Harris is a graduate. The HBCU, Howard University.
So how much more potentially impactful do you believe HBCU students' votes will be?
WILLIAMS: Critical. This election is so, so important not only for our HBCU community, but for everybody. So we have been razor-focused in making sure that we're getting the message out about the importance to vote and we're a bipartisan organization. We work with both sides, but the reality, we want to make sure that our students are prepared. So we've started this campaign with our national black alumni foundation in 2021.
We've also partnered with the Eastern Area Links Incorporated to help again students to understand their rights as it relates to voting and importance of getting out and vote. We're not telling people who to vote for. But we're encouraging them to go and learn about the rules, especially some of the rules that have changed since the Supreme Court allows some of the rules to be changed because, you know, students died fighting for the right for our students.
HBCU students have led the way in that arena in the early '60s. We actually started campaigning, you'll remember that sit-in on North Carolina A&T campus in 1960 that kind of sparked the Civil Rights Movement. So HBCU students have played a critical role in helping this country move forward. So therefore our responsibility at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund has continued that legacy of pushing and encouraging and educating our students.
WHITFIELD: And do you still find it, however, striking that you do have to educate people on the importance of voting particularly a young black people on the importance of voting?
[16:10:01]
Because we have heard in this cycle from a number of people who are young, who are black, who say, you know what, I don't think my vote counts so I'm going to stay at home, and that is truly jaw-dropping to hear from a lot of young people, particularly, you know, they're particularly black and young if they are thinking about their ancestry.
But then talk to me about how and why you do feel like it's important for you to convey that message about the importance of their participation?
WILLIAMS: Well, it's important because it is our responsibility to continue to educate the next generation about what our forefathers did in order for us to have this right. It wasn't something that was handed to African-Americans in this country. We actually had to fight for it. We have to fight for it in many, many ways through the Civil Rights Movement. So it's important for the next generation to understand that.
You know, at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, we have a slogan. It says education pays off. And part of our mission is to make sure that we're educating not only the HBCU community, but the whole entire nation about responsibilities and what historically black colleges have done for this country. You know, without HBCUs, it wouldn't be the black middle-class as we know it today.
So we know that HBCU students are leaders. We know that HBCUs are located in some of the most, you know, challenging communities and it's our responsibility to get in there and help continue to educate people on responsibility to get out and vote because -- not only at the national level, but also in the local elections. So we want to make sure that our students understand all the rules that are out there. We don't want anyone to get there and say, I didn't know they switched it.
Some states are requiring that you have a voter I.D. Want to make sure they know this. So this campaign that we're working with our HBCUs, we represent about 80 percent of all historically black colleges and universities which is about 300,000 students. So we believe in getting out and encouraging and educating and making sure that we are leading in this effort in a positive way.
WHITFIELD: And they really are a critical voting bloc. I mean, we talk about voters 65 and older who are among the most reliable of voters, you know, across America. But the younger voters, the first-time voters, are really critical in their participation. Earlier today, we spoke with a digital news site reporter, Justin Carter, who talked about how he is seeing both campaigns kind of crafting their strategies to better appeal to and try to be more attractive to the younger voter.
What are some of those younger voters that you've been in touch with, what are they saying to you about what they're looking for in these candidates and how important it is to see these candidates in places where they are, whether it's at the McDonald's or whether it's at church, you know, or in a spice shop?
WILLIAMS: Well, I'll tell you, what our students, we know when they had a presidential debate recently, we had a watch party at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund where we had about 500 of our students in attendance to watch that debate. And what we heard from our students, this is, you know, we all want to know how it's going to benefit us in the long run. So these duties are a large percentage of our students. Students in America, they have a lot of debt. And that debt to go to college, and they take out loans.
And they want to make sure there's a process in place that we can forgive some of these loans because a lot of our students are first in their family to go to college, first in their family to experience corporate America, and the financial burden that sometimes its placed on students when they take out loans can prohibit them from competing and participate in American way of life, like buying a home. They want to make sure that the candidates are talking about what they're going to do to support how to reduce the college debt, provide opportunities for maybe scholarships to support students to continue their education. So they are listening.
But another piece of the puzzle that they are interested in is infrastructure resources to support not only historically black college and universities, but all universities at the federal level. So those some of the things that some of our students are talking about. They are and listening. I can tell you this. They are engaged, they are fully engaged in this process.
WHITFIELD: I love hearing that, and very encouraging. You know, as a mother of three, I want my kids to be really excited about the process as well, and I love to hear that so many young people are.
Dr. Harry Williams, thank you so much.
WILLIAMS: Thank you so much for having me.
WHITFIELD: Wonderful.
All right, a cultural day of celebration for the Gullah-Geechee community ends in tragedy after a gangway collapsed while people waited to board a ferry boat. Details ahead on the investigation,
Also ahead, how a U.S. intelligence leak could further strain relations with Israel as it prepares for a potential counter-strike against Iran. We're live in Tel Aviv with the latest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:19:38]
WHITFIELD: Officials in Georgia are investigating what they call the catastrophic failure of a 3-year-old boat dock gangway. The collapsed structure sent several people into the water, killing at least seven, in fact. And it happened on the Sapelo Island, just off the Georgia Coast, during a celebration. It was supposed to be a celebration of the island's Gullah-Geechee culture.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was campaigning in Georgia, spoke earlier about that tragic collapse.
[16:20:07]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: While we are still gathering information, we know that lives were lost and many were injured. And so my heart, as I know for all of us, goes out to those who were impacted. And I thank all the first responders who acted so quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Rafael Romo is here with more on what you're learning -- Rafael.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's a story that it's just hard to tell. You know, your heart goes out because of what happened and also because when it happened. These people were celebrating. That's the difficult part. Then officials believe the cause of the gangway collapse could have been what the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources described as a catastrophic failure of the structure.
The gangway collapsed shortly before 4:00 in the afternoon Saturday as crowds gathered on Sapelo Island for a celebration of the Gullah- Geechee community of black slave descendants. According to Walter Rabon, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the gangway that led from the dock to the ferry collapsed when about 40 people were on it. Twenty of those people ended up in the water and tragically seven died, including Charles Houston, who served as a chaplain for the DNR, was the City of Plains volunteer firefighter, and also previously worked with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.
Officials also said there are three other people in critical condition. Commissioner Rabon said they are investigating why the gangway collapsed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALTER RABON, COMMISSIONER, GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES: The initial findings of our investigation at this point show a catastrophic failure of the gangway causing it to collapse. I can assure you that the Department of Natural Resources Critical Incident Reconstruction Team will be working tirelessly in conjunction with engineers, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to gather and preserve evidence and interview witnesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: An important piece of information, Rabon also said less than -- excuse me -- 100 people a day use the gangway compared to 700 who were on the island on Saturday. President Biden reacted to the news saying that he and the first lady are heartbroken to learn about the ferry dock walkway collapse on Georgia's Sapelo Island.
What should have been a joyous celebration of Gullah-Geechee culture and history, instead turned into tragedy and devastation, the president said. Sapelo Island is a barrier island of coast of Georgia, accessible only by boat. It's home to about 70 full-time residents. And most of them are descendants from slaves who worked on plantations.
But bottom line, it's going to take a while before they can determine exactly what caused this horrible, horrible accident.
WHITFIELD: Really devastating. All right. Rafael Romo, keep us posted. Thanks so much.
All right. Flash flooding is still a threat in parts of New Mexico after the state got hit with more than five inches of rain overnight. Nearly 300 people had to be rescued after raging floodwaters washed over roads, stranded several motorists, and actually swept cars away. Torrential rainfall in Roswell left one person dead. Police and first responders were overwhelmed with rescue calls from people trapped in their cars and stuck on the rooftops. A truck was partially submerged after a warning from officials for people to stay off the roads.
All right. Gaza officials say dozens of people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza. This as Israel says it will investigate whether one if its shells killed engineers working on water infrastructure. We're live in Tel Aviv, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:27:57]
WHITFIELD: All right. We've got new details about a devastating strike in northern Gaza. Health officials there say at least 87 people were killed and 40 injured in an Israeli airstrike. Israel says it is also reviewing reports that a shell struck a team of water engineers working in southern Gaza, killing them.
In Lebanon airstrikes are hitting Beirut's southern suburbs. That's according to Lebanon's state media. And it comes shortly after Israel issued evacuation warnings and said it would target Hezbollah financial sites.
And the U.S. says it is investigating the leak of highly classified intelligence. The information included intelligence on Israel's planned response to Iran's recent missile attack.
Let's bring in now Matthew Chance in Tel Aviv.
Matthew, what do we know about Israel's latest military operation in Gaza?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems to be continuing because, as you just mentioned, over the course of today, Palestinian health officials say that at least 87 people in the Gaza Strip have been killed in a single Israeli airstrike. This as Israeli forces press deeper than they have done for a long time into Lebanon, the neighboring country there, amid growing concerns that Israel is also poised to strike out at Iran in a conflict that seems to be intensifying and widening.
A quick warning, Fredricka, our report has some disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE (voice-over): Israeli forces patrolling the labyrinth of narrow streets in the central Gaza Strip. The latest images from the Israeli military, what they say is their continued activity amid the devastation to dismantle Hamas.
To the south in Rafah where the Hamas leader was recently killed, drone footage of strikes what Israel says are more Hamas fighters and infrastructure. While across Gaza, civilians are paying a heavy price.
[16:30:04]
At this hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip, an influx of casualties from a new Israel Israeli strike at Beit Lahia. Palestinian health officials say dozens of people including women and children, were killed.
On the shrouded bodies of her family, this woman calls her father to grieve their lives. I swear, dad, nobody's left, she sobs.
Israel says the casualty figures are exaggerated and that they operate against Hamas in a precise and targeted manner, that eyewitnesses at the scene say the Israeli air strikes felt like an earthquake.
It was just Wednesday when an Israeli drone captured the final moments of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar's life. His killing fueling hopes of a hostage release, even a ceasefire in Gaza, and beyond.
In fact, the region seems to be plunging further into chaos, the Israel stepping up strikes, pressing deeper into neighboring Lebanon, what it says are strongholds of Iranian backed Hezbollah like here at the town of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon. Back in Israel, Hezbollah rockets have been striking the country's north on drone even hitting near the Israeli prime minister's private house, in the coastal town of Caesarea. He called it an assassination attempt by agents of Iran, vowing to press ahead with military action.
Iran denies involvement and Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We're going to win this war.
REPORTER: So, will something deter you?
NETANYAHU: No.
CHANCE: Amid fears of an even wider escalating war, all sides seemed bent on pressing ahead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE (on camera): Well, Fredricka, tonight, the Israeli military has issued warnings for people across southern Lebanon and the Lebanese capital Beirut to evacuate certain areas of that nation. This as reports on Lebanese media say that air strikes have already been underway, in the Lebanese capital in Beirut, as this sort of conflict in the region seems to worsen by the hour -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Matthew Chance, thank you so much in Tel Aviv.
Well, let's get more analysis now on these developments. Bob Baer is a former CIA officer who served in Middle East countries.
Good to see you, Bob.
So first I want to ask you about this intelligence leak. How does such highly classified information intelligence like this go public?
BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, right now, it looks like it came out of somebody at the Pentagon, possibly at senior level, because what the Pentagon does not want to happen is have Israel with the situation, draw us into a war with Iran. We're not prepared for it, but what it also tells me, Fred, is that we're very interested in what Netanyahu is going to do next. And he's not -- he's not confiding us because as a matter, of course, we don't spy on Israel only when Israel -- we don't spying it, but when Israel is out on its own, making its own decisions, and not consulting the White House, that's why they've turned these assets loose on, on Israel to watch what they're doing.
WHITFIELD: One thing that has been signed, posted out loud is that Israel, you know, has been attacking what it says are Hezbollah financial targets in Lebanon today. Previously, Israel has attacked Hezbollah leadership and, of course, you know, we saw what just happened with the Hamas leadership as well. But in your view, what -- what is the goal here and what might happen on the other end after these financial targets are taken?
BAER: Well, you know, Hezbollah does not have financial assets, uses banks in Lebanon. It launders money. They don't have any buildings that they necessarily bank in. And so I don't know what the Israelis are talking about.
But I think what's happened, the Israelis have decided to go ahead and just degrade Hezbollah until it looks like his Gaza and that would mean taking out the southern suburbs and villages like Nabatiyeh, which is Hezbollah's concentrated in. And also, let's not forget, they don't have all the tunnels that Hezbollah uses.
And the last thing that Israel needs right now is to declare a truce and pull its troops back and then have Hezbollah fire more rockets into northern Israel. It would be a catastrophe -- catastrophe for Netanyahu.
And what are you anticipate now that Hamas's leader, Sinwar, has been taken out.
[16:35:05]
What does Hamas do? How does it reorganize? I mean, what -- what is the infrastructure already in place for his eventual demise or potential demise? BAER: Well, look at it this way, and this is reductive is Hamas is a
death cult. It's heavily involved in suicide bombings. And they're looking at Sinwar's death, he's a martyr now and he's going to be looked up to, and the command for Hamas is very flexible and it's devolved to secondary leaders, which are going to be much more difficult to get out.
But the Israelis are still taking major losses in Gaza with their soldiers dying even commanders. So this war is by no means over.
WHITFIELD: All right. Bob Baer, thanks so much. Good to see you.
All right. The critical battleground state of Michigan will not only decide the presidential election, but also tip the balance of power in Congress. CNN's Manu Raja travels to the Great Lakes states where the U.S. Senate race is in a dead heat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:40:52]
WHITFIELD: All right. A lot of pressure building up right now across the suburbs of Detroit after both presidential candidates visited Michigan this week. The Great Lakes state could decide not only the White House, but also the House and Senate.
CNN's Manu Raju reports the battle between Democrat Elissa Slotkin and Republican Mike Rogers is heating up as they fight for the open Senate seat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was less than four years ago when Republican Mike Rogers said this about Donald Trump.
MIKE ROGERS, FORMER REPUBLICAN U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I think yesterday broke the spell that so many people had about Donald Trump. Clearly, his actions led to that -- you know, what we've -- there's no great way to describe what happened yesterday -- sedition.
RAJU: That was right after the January 6 attack. Rogers said of the outgoing president --
ROGERS: Well, you're damn right, you had responsibility for this.
RAJU: But now the former congressman is in a battle against Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin for a prized Senate seat in Michigan that could determine control of the chamber.
ROGERS: How many are fired up for another four years of Donald Trump.
RAJU: And as Trump maintains his tight grip over the GOP, the two have developed a deep alliance as Rogers' fate appears tied to the former president in one of the nation's most important battlegrounds.
You even said that he was clearly responsible for the acts of January 6. Do you stand by any of those --
ROGERS: Well, I didn't say he was clearly responsible, but here's the thing --
RAJU: But do you stand by your criticism that you had after --
(CROSSTALK)
ROGERS: Listen, even Donald Trump said I was tough, but fair. I'll take that all day long.
All my criticism is out there and I'm not walking away from anything. What I am telling you is now we have choices.
RAJU: I guess the criticism you'd get is that you evolved on Trump for political expediency, to align yourself because you need to win this state.
ROGERS: I think that's nonsense. Look at the issues. I wouldn't line up with Kamala Harris on anything.
RAJU: Rogers is now trying to tie Vice President Kamala Harris to Slotkin.
ROGERS: She voted 100 percent with the Biden-Harris agenda.
RAJU: Michigan is Ground Zero in the fight for control of the House and Senate as Slotkin and Rogers are in a dead heat.
And in Macomb County, the birthplace of conservative Reagan Democrats, Slotkin is trying to make inroads.
REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): It's always been a hotbed and it continues to be a hot bed.
RAJU: But has the message just been not connecting with those voters?
SLOTKIN: I think it's on us to reach out and to earn people's votes and I think, you know, Democrats passed a lot of really important legislation.
But we also got to get that message out. And we haven't always been great at that. That's on us.
RAJU: On the airwaves Slotkin attacking Rogers over abortion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm scared that Mike Rogers will continue to take away my rights.
RAJU: But it's Slotkin who has been on the defensive. An outside group linked to Mitch McConnell dropping a staggering $27 million in the final six weeks alone with GOP groups spending $96 million on the airwaves outpacing Democrats $88 million.
AD NARRATOR: Slotkin voted to allow states to ban gasoline- powered vehicles that would crush Michigan's economy. RAJU: As she's fielded relentless criticism for her vote to allow state limits on gas-powered vehicles, she's had to cut ads like this.
SLOTKIN: I live on a dirt road nowhere near a charging station, so I don't own an electric car.
RAJU: Another challenge, the war in Gaza that has frayed the Democratic coalition as an Arab-American group now urging the states sizable Arab population to not support the GOP or Democratic candidates for president and Senate all over Israel.
OSAMA SIBLANI, ARAB AMERICAN POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE SPOKESMAN: Slotkin has a history where we're judging people by their history in here. And what am I going to take a chance by voting for someone, put him in office and then regretting later.
RAJU: And now a GOP group is seeking to dampen Democratic support by targeting Arab Americans with ads touting Harris' and Slotkin's support for Israel.
But even as Slotkin has backed the Biden-Harris agenda and campaigned with the VP --
[16:45:01]
SLOTKIN: When the vice president comes, you go --
RAJU: She has tried to show some separation.
SLOTKIN: Some of the proposals that are coming out, I want to look at them. I'm not immediately saying rah-rah, I'm on board. But the truth is, I can have those conversations with Kamala Harris when we disagree. Mike Rogers can't disagree with Donald Trump.
RAJU: As Trump was in Detroit earlier this month, he leveled this insult.
TRUMP: Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's your president.
RAJU: Were you OK with what he said?
ROGERS: You know what? This is just -- I spent a lot of time in Detroit and here's what the people of Detroit have been telling me -- they are frustrated that they are not making improvements, $38,000 in median wage in Detroit, $68,000 out state.
RAJU: He said that the rest of the country would look like Detroit.
ROGERS: Now, what he was talking about is there a schools that are failing and the Democrats every year keep saying, I'm going to help you. And their schools have deteriorated.
RAJU: Slotkin says, it's part of a pattern.
SLOTKIN: Everyone who used to be thoughtful and independent just either has to get with Trump and salute and do anything he says, or they can't be in politics. And it's sad to see. It's like watching the last buffalo die. It is sad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Manu Raju, thank you so much.
All right. It's game five tonight in the WNBA finals as the league sees a meteoric rise in popularity. We're live from outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:51:01]
WHITFIELD: All right. It all comes down to tonight for the WNBA championship. The Minnesota Lynx defeated the New York liberty in a dramatic game 4 nail-biter on Friday, forcing a winner-take-all deciding game five.
So back to game 4 nail biter. With the score tied at 80, Lynx forward Bridget Carleton with two free throws and just two seconds left.
So CNN's Carolyn Manno is joining me live from inside the Barclays Center ahead of tonight's big game.
So, Carolyn, game five, it's going to be a fight to the finish as well, right.
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It absolutely is, Fred. The towels are out. We've got final dance preparations underway, but with the way that these two franchises have performed to get to this point, this place is going to be rocking and just a couple of hours and with good reason.
And for the Minnesota Lynx, it stands to reason that they could leave this arena tonight on the road as champions, they are looking to do something that no WNBA franchise has ever done when five at titles. They won a span of four in seven years. They are not afraid of the moment. The pressure is really on the Liberty here at home, especially with their stars. Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, underperforming in game 4.
This place is going to be for them. We know that there's so much entertainment here and the crowd has just leaned into them. And what has been a history WNBA season so far, all culminating tonight. Let's hear from both teams.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREANNA STEWART, NEW YORK LIBERTY FORWARD: For our team, we bounce back after a loss really, really well and the playoffs in a series, it's going to be, there's going to be momentum shifts. There was momentum shifts in the game tonight. We haven't won anything yet. We haven't lost anything yet, and we have the opportunity to do that Sunday. KAYLA MCBRIDE, MINNESOTA LYNX GUARD: Yeah. Last 40 minutes or the
season. Like that's -- it could be anywhere really. It doesn't matter. It's like we're going to be out there together and go on to war and I'm pumped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MANNO: And, Fred, the Liberty are the only original WNBA franchise that has yet to won -- yet to win a title. They're 0-5 in that scenario. It's been 28 years. There are so many fans who had been with them from the beginning in the building tonight.
And so for them, they're equal parts excited and they're equal parts terrified I think in talking with a couple of dead were making their way into the building. I mean, this grandchild just wants this so bad and so it's going to be a fight to the end, no doubt about it.
WHITFIELD: Right. They both want it bad but, oh, my gosh, they're both going to be fighting so hard to take that title. We'll be watching.
Carolyn Manno, thank you so much.
All right. Still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM, Alec Baldwin, he makes a grand return to "Saturday Night Live", but not as Donald Trump. That story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:58:20]
WHITFIELD: All right. "Saturday Night Live" turned to politics for inspiration yet again, this time sketching Vice President Harris is interview on Fox last week. Alec Baldwin plays Fox News anchor Bret Baier, and Maya Rudolph returns as Kamala Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEC BALDWIN AS BRET BAIER: Now, when I interviewed President Trump, my first question was, what do you think is the most important issue facing our nation? So my first question for you is, give me the exact number of murderers you let loose in this country?
MAYA RUDOLPH AS KAMALA HARRIS: Bret, I'm glad you brought up the topic of immigration.
BALDWIN: A million, 2 million?
RUDOLPH: I am the only candidate who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations. I brought down the Sinaloa cartel. I brought down the Guadalajara cartel. If I was in "Breaking Bad", it would've ended in three episodes.
BALDWIN: Madam Vice President, are you here to answer questions or you're just looking for a viral moment?
RUDOLPH: Oh, please. I am not looking for a viral moment.
See how I don't let men interrupt my answers. Very demure, very mindful.
BALDWIN: OK, now, you're just throwing out memes.
RUDOLPH: That -- that is not true. I am here to reach across the aisle. Hundreds of Republicans have been endorsed me because in the club, we all fam.
BALDWIN: I'm not familiar with the club, but are we all fam? You've been pretty divisive, you've called Donald Trump unfit.
RUDOLPH: Yes.
BALDWIN: Unstable?
RUDOLPH: Yeah.
BALDWIN: Not able to lead.
RUDOLPH: Period.
BALDWIN: Unchecked.
RUDOLPH: Did I stutter?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Okay. John Mulaney is set to host the next episode of "SNL" on November 2nd just ahead of the election.
All right, its sure to be an eventful last few weeks on the campaign trail.
