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Report Says, Trump Wanted Kind of Generals That Hitler Had; Tonight, Kamala Harris Takes Voter Questions in CNN Town Hall; Poll Shows Harris Trails Obama, Clinton and Biden Among Latino Voters. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 23, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Right now, we are counting down to CNN's town hall with Vice President Kamala Harris. What we are learning about her closing argument in battleground Pennsylvania.

Plus, more than 23 million Americans have already voted. We've got new CNN reporting this morning, and the surprising headline about early voting.

And later, the issue everyone says that they care about the most, the economy. We will fact-check each candidate's tax plans and what that will mean for your wallet.

Good morning. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

All right, but we begin with shocking and disturbing revelations about former President Donald Trump and a new piece in The Atlantic. Trump's former White House chief of staff, retired Marine Corps General John Kelly, confirms Trump said he wants his military commanders to be like, quote, German generals. To that, Kelly apparently replied to the president at that time, do you mean the Kaisers generals? Surely you can't mean Hitler's generals. And to that, Trump said, yes, yes, Hitler's generals.

General Kelly is also sounding the alarm about Trump to The New York Times, telling the paper his former boss meets the definition of a, quote, fascist.

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JOHN KELLY, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: Certainly the former president is in the far right area, he's certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators. He has said that. So, he certainly falls into the into the general definition of a fascist, for sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Now, this is not a one-off. General Kelly is just one in a growing list of former Trump officials who are speaking out in the strongest terms against the former president. Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, said, it should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year. Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley, quote, Trump is fascist to the core and the most dangerous person to this country. And Trump's former defense secretary, Mark Esper, called Trump a, quote, threat to democracy.

And another revelation from The Atlantic, the magazine says Trump told the family of service member Vanessa Guillen, who was bludgeoned to death with a hammer, that he would pay for her funeral. But when Trump found out it would cost $60,000, he reportedly said, quote, it doesn't cost $60,000 bucks to bury an effing Mexican.

The Trump campaign is denying both of these exchanges, calling the reporting absolutely false and an outrageous lie.

I want to discuss all of this doubt with Khizr Khan. He is a gold star father who lost his son, Army Captain Humayun Khan, while he was deployed in Iraq. He is supporting Vice President Harris in this election. Khizr Khan, it's good to see you again. I really appreciate it.

What's your reaction to this latest reporting and what retired General John Kelly is saying about the former president, that he, at one point, expressed that he wanted to have Hitler's generals?

KHIZR KHAN, GOLD STAR FATHER: Jim, thank you. I'm glad to join you. I think General Kelly is on point and very timely. I want your audience to know that our flag officers, when they retire, their oath to defend the country does not expire. It continues. All of our flag officers are bound to continue to defend our Constitution and our democracy. So, General Kelly is operating under that oath that he took and he served so honorably. He's a gold star father.

And the only thing I would add Jim to General Kelly's statements and the article that was published is this. Donald Trump on March 17th, 1924 in Dayton, Ohio, made a public statement, if I am not elected, this will be end of democracy in this country. What else we need to hear from Donald Trump to reject him?

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America is getting to know him that he is a wannabe dictator. And he has publicly stated on the media as well. And then again, if we think of coming off Hitler, Hitler did not happen overnight. Hitler and his Nazi Party were elected by Germans in 1932 and '33. They came to power through the process of election. And America is warned by the article that is published, the facts that have been revealed and more so. As I said, Trump has stated in public by statements that he is -- if he's not elected, this will be end of democracy.

So, our democracy is under threat. Our founding values are under threat. I know there is so much more to be done to make our democracy better, but we don't have to go back to make it better. We need to move forward. We have a candidate in Kamala Harris that will move us forward instead of Trump trying to take us back.

ACOSTA: And, Mr. Khan, General Kelly also talked about whether Trump looks down on soldiers who are disabled. Let's listen to that.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does he have disdain for the disabled?

KELLY: Oh, certainly his, his not wanting to be seen with amputees, amputees that lost their limbs in defense of this country, fighting for every American, him included, to protect them, but didn't want to be seen with them. That's an interesting perspective for the commander-in-chief to have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why didn't he want to be seen with him?

KELLY: He would just say, look, it doesn't look good for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Mr. Khan, General Kelly is a Marine. He's a gold star father, as you said, served this country for more than 40 years, rose to the highest rank in the military. The Trump campaign is saying that General Kelly has, quote, totally beclowned himself and, quote, suffers from Trump derangement syndrome, which is a thing that they use a lot. What's your sense of it? Why would General Kelly lie about this?

KHAN: There is no personal interest of General Kelly except he is being faithful. This is his fidelity to the oath that he took to defend our democracy, our Constitution. And Donald Trump has -- from the beginning, has always disrespected our military, our veterans, those who have served. This was in November 2018 in France, where he said there that I don't like the losers and suckers, he called our heroes that are buried there.

Then, on Memorial Day in 2017, standing at the Section 60 of Arlington Cemetery, Donald Trump said to General Kelly, Young Kelly, Young Lieutenant Kelly is buried there. He's standing in that Section 60. Look at the disgraceful behavior of Donald Trump. He says, I wonder what is in it for them, asking as if service means nothing to him. And then again on 24 August this year, standing in Arlington Cemetery at the grave of our heroes with the families, the most honorable family of our heroes that have given their all standing in Arlington Cemetery. He takes the picture with his thumbs up as if this was a campaign event and then the assault on our wonderful members of Arlington Cemetery.

I have been going to Arlington Cemetery since the burial of Captain Humayun Khan and Arlington Cemetery staff is most courteous, thoughtful, honorable people --

ACOSTA: And they're wonderful people.

KHAN: And he disrespected them. ACOSTA: Yes. And, Mr. Khan, eight years ago, you gave a rousing speech at the DNC rebuking Trump's comments about immigrants and Muslims as you honored your son. Let's listen to a clip of that.

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KHAN: Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders, and ethnicities.

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You have sacrificed nothing.

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ACOSTA: Mr. Khan, there's been some talk that some of the generals out there who have been critical of Donald Trump are reluctant to speak out because they don't want to get involved in politics or they subscribe to the notion that perhaps it would be better if members of the military did not get involved in politics and criticize the former president. Do you think -- would you like to see somebody like a General Milley step forward and speak out?

KHAN: Jim, as I said earlier that our flag officers take an oath to defend the Constitution, to defend the founding values and defend this country. Our country, our democracy is under attack. This is not my assessment. This is not anyone else's assessment. This is a statement by Donald Trump himself in the public. He has said that this will -- if I do not win, this will be end of democracy in this country. It is under that threat that our flag officers must state. This is not ordinary election. They must stand and they must announce and denounce Donald Trump and his rhetoric, and his threat to our democracy. They still -- even though they are not active duty, but their oath remains valid. They are under oath to defend verbally and stand up to defend our democracy and our country and our nation.

ACOSTA: All right. Khizr Khan, thank you so much for your time. Once again, I know I've said this to you before, I'll say it again, we honor your service and speaking out on behalf of this country and on behalf of your son. And we honor the service of your son as well. Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Khan. Thank you.

KHAN: Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. And multiple -- we should note, multiple Trump officials have denied the reporting in The Atlantic. Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, posted, I was in the discussions featured in The Atlantic's latest hit piece against President Trump. Let me say this. Any suggestion that President Trump disparaged Miss Guillen or refused to pay for her funeral expenses is absolutely false.

And former Pentagon Chief of Staff under Trump Kash Patel said a quote as someone who is in present in the room with President Trump, during that meeting on December 4th, he strongly urged that Specialist Vanessa Guillen's grieving family should not have to bear the cost of any funeral arrangements, even offering to personally pay himself in order to honor her life and sacrifice. And, of course, the family of Vanessa Guillen, the sister of Vanessa Guillen, has also said she does not agree with The Atlantic's reporting.

All right, coming up, Vice President Kamala Harris will face voters tonight in a CNN town hall. We will bring you a [review from Pennsylvania, that's coming up next.

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ACOSTA: Tonight, Vice President Kamala Harris will take tough questions from undecided voters when she sits down for a CNN town hall moderated by Anderson Cooper. The big event will be held in Pennsylvania, a battleground state that both presidential campaigns are vying hard to win. Former President Donald Trump declined to participate in a previously proposed debate as well as a CNN town hall.

A lot to discuss with our next guest, Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas. Congressman, I want to talk about the town hall, I do want to talk about the issue of immigration in just a moment, but, first, your reaction to this new reporting in The Atlantic citing two sources who heard then-President Trump saying he needed to have generals like Adolf Hitler had and also General Kelly's comments to The New York Times confirming much of this. How concerned are you by these comments?

REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX): I mean, those comments are the most alarming that you can get about a prospective presidential candidate. You think about it, General Milley, now General Kelly and other generals have said that they consider Donald Trump a fascist, that he fits the definition of a fascist. And some of these folks are people that worked right alongside him or under him in his administration. And so, you know, that is essentially sounding a huge alarm for the American people about what kind of president Donald Trump would be.

ACOSTA: And The Atlantic -- I'm sure you also saw this, the Atlantic also reporting that they have sources who heard Trump call slain American Soldier Vanessa Guillen a, quote, effing Mexican when he found out that her funeral that he had offered to pay for was going to cost $60,000. What's your reaction to that?

CASTRO: I mean, it's an outrageous and bigoted statement. And, you know, it was said apparently in private, behind closed doors, away from the family or anyone else. And I think, Jim, that you've got to consider it in the context of what else Donald Trump has said about both about Mexicans and Mexican-Americans and about military service members.

He said, remember when he started off his campaign in 2015, that these Mexicans that were coming over were rapists and criminals. At one point in that first campaign, he said that this judge, who is Mexican- American, couldn't do his job because he's Mexican. Of course, we're familiar with what he said about service members in, you know, talking about those who've been captured and calling them losers and suckers and disparaging the medal of -- the military medals and so forth.

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And so when you think about the context that it's in and his past statements, you know, I think it's very believable that he said something like that.

ACOSTA: And is it your belief that if Trump somehow gets back into the White House that he will govern like a fascist? And what do Democrats in Congress do at that point?

CASTRO: I mean, well, let's start with his words. He said within the last few months that he would be a dictator on day one, that he'd like to be a dictator for a day, basically. But, yes, I mean, I think that you're going to have, people around him who are essentially just yes people. In the last administration, he chose people who, some of them, ultimately stood up to him and tried to buck some of the unconstitutional things that he was trying to do.

This time, I think they're all going to be like Stephen Miller. They're all going to be extreme far right people who not only will do whatever he says, but they in fact are as extreme as he is. And so they're more than happy to carry out an extreme, unconstitutional and authoritarian agenda

ACOSTA: And, Congressman. Let's talk about this town hall tonight with Kamala Harris. She's got less than two weeks to sway voters. She really needs to bolster her support among Latinos, especially Latino men, according to the polling. What are your thoughts on that? I mean, she's behind where Obama, Clinton and Biden we're at similar points in the campaign. Are you seeing a similar, dynamic play out that -- what we're seeing in the polls that she is lagging in this area?

CASTRO: I think, ultimately, she's going to end up getting a share that is similar to what President Biden got among Latinos in the United States, and I think she should do what she has been talking about on the campaign trail.

The Latino community is an aspirational community. It's a community that wants to see its kids and its grandkids do well. And so she's talked about an opportunity economy that's built around well-paying jobs, strong schools and universities, a strong healthcare system where people can get covered and they don't have to have diabetes or some other illness and suffer with it. And so those are the things that resonate, I think, with the Latino community. And I think people will be surprised that she'll get a stronger share than a lot of the commentary and debate has suggested.

ACOSTA: But, I mean, when you have Donald Trump out on the campaign trail talking about certain migrants poisoning the blood of this country, talking about bad genes, talking about Haitian migrants, his false claim, lie that we've reported on time again are eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, shouldn't that be a big red flag for the Latino community. And if it if it is, why are we not seeing that reflected in the polling, do you think?

CASTRO: No, I think that it absolutely should be. It should be a big red flag, not only for Latinos, but for all Americans, that this man could become president within a matter of a few weeks.

I think that what we have to be careful about with Donald Trump is that he has taken on this kind of vibe of counterculture. So, he's come to represent for some folks, basically sticking the finger at the system. And there are a lot of folks that feel left out by the system, disadvantaged by the system. And so some folks have tended to gravitate to this guy that seems to be against the system as well.

But, remember, this is a guy who has done nothing for working class people, has been hostile to unions, for example, has complained about having to pay overtime to people. This is somebody who doesn't want to help out those who are drowning with student debt. You know, he criticized Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for relieving students of student debt.

So, this isn't somebody who's trying to create opportunity for Latino families or any family, any American families, except for the very oligarchy of people, the very top billionaire class of people that he pals around with, and that's who Donald Trump is.

So, he's not counterculture at all. He, in fact, is a very creation of a system that has benefited very wealthy folks in this country for quite some time.

ACOSTA: All right. Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro of Texas, thank you very much for your time, we appreciate it.

CASTRO: Good to be with you.

ACOSTA: All right. And let's continue this discussion with CNN Contributor and New York Times Journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro.

You just heard Congressman Castro talk about Harris' support among Latino men. Let's show this New York Times poll showing that she has been struggling with Latino voters. She trails far behind Biden and Hillary Clinton. When I pressed Congressman Castro on this a few moments ago, he seemed to acknowledge, I guess what you see with Latino men, that Latino men and perhaps all men, if you look at the polling, like the fact that Trump, you know, bumps his chest out on the campaign trail and so on, that that kind of behavior, that kind of rhetoric is working.

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LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It is working among Latino men. But there is something that Representative Castro didn't really address, which is the following thing. For Latinos writ large, and obviously we're a mosaic, we're not a monolith, but for Latinos writ large, the issues are healthcare, their education, their housing.

These are issues that have been really impacted by inflation in the last four years. This was a worldwide phenomenon. The United States has done, you know, considerably well in dealing with it. I just always want to caveat this, but people definitely were impacted, especially in the lower socioeconomic rungs of this country.

And so it is systemic. Sure, there is inequality in the American economy, but this is the last four years that have really hurt consumers and hurt working people and Latinos in particular on the issues that matter to them. And so --

ACOSTA: Yes, they vote with their wallets too.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: They vote with their wallets too. We're not so different than any other group. And so I think that that's what you're seeing.

The other thing I would say about this is that, yes, this is a gender election, 100 percent. We're seeing women voting in bigger numbers for Kamala Harris and men turning towards Donald Trump. Again, Latinos are very similar to other groups in this issue, in this way.

ACOSTA: And I do want to get to this because this -- it is like a fire hose this week. But I do want to talk about Vice Presidential Candidate J.D. Vance suggested yesterday that a Trump White House would consider deporting the DREAMERs. These are the people they're now -- many of them are young adults, but they came across the border, immigrated to this country with their parents. Their parents may have been undocumented, doing it unlawfully. Kids obviously had no idea what was going on. They were just coming as kids. Now, they're part of this group called the DREAMERs. J.D. Vance says they may get deported in another Trump term. Let's listen.

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SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When you've got 25 million illegal aliens in this country, you've got to deport a lot of people or you don't have a border anymore. It's just that simple.

We also have to deport people, not just the bad people who came into our country, but people who violated the law coming into this country. We've got to be willing to deport them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: You know, there's a lot of news going on. That is a pretty extraordinary statement to come from the vice presidential nominee on a Republican ticket, that they would consider deporting -- it sounds like they would deport DREAMERs.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, he didn't say it explicitly, we should say, but I will say this. This has always been a consensus issue for Republicans, many Republicans and Democrats, the idea that these were people who were vetted. They all have jobs, many of them now. They are integrated into this economy. You can't have a criminal record if you're a DREAMER. I mean, these are people who contribute --

ACOSTA: I mean, go to college, military. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Go to college, military. I mean, these are people who contribute to this economy. They were brought over here as children, and so the idea that you would try and take these people out of the American economy.

Leaving aside the moral issue, this is an issue for the economy. When I spoke to J.D. Vance, I put this to him. I asked him, you know, what -- leaving aside what you think about this, how are you going to actually insulate the American economy, taking out people who work in construction, who work picking food, who are part of the military, restaurants, hotels? I mean, you know, involved in our -- you know, in supporting the American economy in all sorts of different ways and what effect is that going to have? And to be honest with you, you can go and check out the interview. There wasn't a very substantial answer about that.

And so I think people do have to really think about this when we're talking deportation. Of course, there needs to be a stick and not just a carrot. But the way that our immigration discussion is now happening, we're not talking about what to do with people who are in this country and actually working towards the American dream.

ACOSTA: All right. Lulu Garcia-Navarro, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Make sure to tune in tonight for a CNN special event in the final sprint to Election Day. Vice President Kamala Harris facing the voters and taking their most pressing questions live. Anderson Cooper moderates a CNN presidential town hall. That is tonight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

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