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CNN International: Democratic Presidential Nominee Promises "A New Generation of Leadership"; U.N. Chief & Russian President to Discuss Ukraine; Musk Doesn't Announce $1M Lottery Winner after DOJ Warning; Harris Pushes Message Trump "Unfit to Serve"; Sudan Conflict Overshadowed by Gaza & Ukraine Wars; McDonald's CEO Says its Food is Safe to Eat. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired October 24, 2024 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and this is the CNN Newsroom. Just ahead, Kamala Harris in a CNN Town Hall painting Donald Trump as a threat to the nation. The U.S. confirms thousands of North Korean troops are in Russia. But what are they doing there? And a warning from the U.S. Justice Department, officials warn Elon Musk -- his $1 million sweepstakes for registered voters may violate federal law.

All right, with just 12 days to go until Election Day in the United States, Kamala Harris is making her pitch during a CNN Town Hall with my colleague, Anderson Cooper. The Democratic Presidential Nominee, pushed her message that Republican challenger Donald Trump is, quote, unstable and unfit to serve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S., (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Imagine now Donald Trump in the Oval Office, in the Situation Room, he who has openly admired dictators, said he would be a dictator. on day one. The Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has said he is a fascist to the core.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: You quoted General Milley calling Donald Trump a fascist. You yourself have not used that word to describe him. Let me ask you tonight, do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?

HARRIS: Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Donald Trump said, why -- essentially, why aren't my generals like those of Hitlers?

COOPER: Do you believe Donald Trump is anti-Semitic?

HARRIS: I believe Donald Trump is a danger to the well-being and security of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wednesday's Town Hall was held in the battleground State of Pennsylvania, where the U.S. Vice President face questions over how she would break from President Joe Biden on policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: My administration will not be a continuation of the Biden Administration. I bring to this role my own ideas and my own experience. I represent a new generation of leadership on a number of issues, and believe that we have to actually take new approaches.

COOPER: Some voters, though, might ask, you've been in the White House for four years. You were vice president, not the president, but why wasn't any of that done the last four years?

HARRIS: Well, there was a lot that was done, but there's more to do Anderson. And I'm pointing out things that need to be done, that haven't been done but need to be done. And I'm not going to shy away from saying, hey, these are still problems that we need to fix.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Eva McKend brings us more on the Town Hall from last night. She's live right now from Chester, Pennsylvania. Good morning to you, Eva. So, the democratic nominee's message in the closing weeks of the presidential race squarely focused on warning Americans, particularly the undecided independents, moderate Republicans, that Trump poses a threat to the nation's core principles are the voters that she wants to reach listening. Are they grasping that message?

EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, they are confident in the strength of this argument. They are under no illusion that they are going to capture voters firmly in Trump's camp, but they believe that the former president is exhibiting behavior that indicates that he is too extreme for the job.

And they think that that can resonate with moderate and independent voters. The Mayor of Waukesha, Wisconsin today that is outside of Milwaukee. Those are very much the suburban voters that they're trying to reach. He is a long-time Republican, now Independent. He came out and endorsed the vice president, and he said that his key reason for doing so is because he is concerned about the threat of fascism in this country.

So, they wouldn't be doing it if they didn't think that they were making some in roads with these types of voters. Now, the vice president asked about her weakness last night at our Town Hall, take a listen to how she responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, I am certainly not perfect. Let's start there. And I think that -- I perhaps a weakness, some would say, but I actually think it's the strength is I really do value having a team of very smart people around me who bring to my decision-making process different perspectives.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MCKEND: Now Fred, this is not only about talking about Trump, though the campaign knows that they have to make an affirmative case for why Vice President Harris wants to be President. And part of her policy vision includes expanding Medicare to allow seniors to be able to stay in their homes.

[08:05:00]

She also talks a lot about going after price gouging corporations that are taking advantage of vulnerable Americans. It is a mix of those issues, as well as talking about the threat of Trump that she is closing in on with less than two weeks to make her case, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And she also pressed and promised that -- you know she is representative of a new generation of leadership. So, what might it look like?

MCKEND: Well, she argues that she would have a different approach than President Biden. She would be willing to put a Republican in her cabinet, but just following her on the campaign trail, Fred, I can tell you she has a very young and diverse staff, and so that would translate if she were to ascend to the high office.

I think that is what she is, sort of signaling that as well. She constantly talks about her love for Gen Z, and you could even see in that response there that she is open to having -- you know a whole number of people in her ear to make these vital decisions for the country. So that is what she means when she talks about a new generation of leadership, new perspectives that she would bring into the fold and empower into the table, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Eva McKend, thank you so much. All right. Donald Trump, meanwhile, is pledging, in his words, to spend more money on healthcare than any other nation if he is re- elected. He made that promise during a campaign event at the battleground State of Georgia on Wednesday.

He is also criticizing his Former Chief of Staff, John Kelly, who went on the record saying the former president fits what he calls the general definition of a fascist. And we're live in the battleground State of Georgia, where CNN's Alayna Treene is joining us now from Atlanta. Alayna, great to see you this morning. So, is the Trump campaign concerned -- you know at all about comments from John Kelly, who was Donald Trump's White House Chief of Staff?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right. I think, look, I mean, when I talked to Donald Trump's top advisers about this yesterday, Fred, they said that, well, one they pushed back heavily on this. We heard from a number of campaign officials, but also Former White House officials who are still close to Donald Trump and had served with him when he was in the White House, people like Mark Meadows and Kash Patel.

But mainly they believe that this isn't going to change much. You know, particularly when it comes to rhetoric and whatnot? They think that this isn't going to have much of an impact on the election. We'll see. I mean, I think it's clear that the Harris campaign thinks the opposite. Last night during that Town Hall with Anderson Cooper, she went back to what John Kelly had said multiple times.

And so, we'll see how this plays out moving forward. I know that. I don't think Donald Trump's team plans to focus on this at all. They want to move forward on this, and that's kind of what you heard some of Donald Trump do last night. For his part, he did a route -- he had a rally in the Georgia suburb, in Duluth. I was there, and he spent a lot of time, of course, attacking Kamala Harris.

But one interesting line of attack was he really harped on one of her answers on the view recently, where she was asked -- you know what would you do differently about the last four years? And they actually played that clip during the rally. But the reason I find it notable is because that is an answer that Anderson asked Kamala Harris last night again.

And it's an answer that many of Donald Trump's top allies also were sharing. I think it was the most notable video clip I saw of Trump's campaign and his allies, like Stephen Miller or his son Donald Trump Jr., were sharing repeatedly, following the Town Hall. I want you to take a listen though to what Trump said exactly in Duluth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: After all the catastrophes she has caused Kamala Harris can say one thing that you do differently. You saw that. What would you do differently? I can't think of anything. I'm asking you to be excited about the future of our country again. This will be America's new golden age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So Fred, part of the reason I think that Trump's team is focusing so much on that idea of how she wouldn't -- she said she couldn't think of anything that she would do differently over the last four years, is because that's a key line that they are trying to drill into the minds of voters that -- you know this question of, were you better off four years ago, when Trump was president than if Harris was?

And they've been seizing on that even more so, I'd argue, in this final stretch, I guess 12 days now, until November 5th. I also want to take a step back at some of the other things that happened at that event last night, because, as you know, I go to multiple Trump rallies a week. Last night was felt a little bit different. It almost felt the vibe in that arena felt like a mini-Republican National Convention.

They had a lot of high-profile speakers there, including people like RFK Jr., Tucker Carlson, Ben Carson, Marjorie Taylor Green -- even had -- even saw the. The Country Music Star Jason Aldean, introduce Donald Trump. So, they were trying to make this a massive event.

[08:10:00] But one thing that I found notable was Tucker Carlson, when he was speaking before Trump took the stage, gave this analogy where he said that, essentially that if Donald Trump were to win, it would be like dad is coming home. And he said, like a dad, Trump loves all of his children. He was referring to the media and Democrats, and said that he would need to give them a good spanking.

It was a very odd moment, and something though, that later on, a lot of the crowd kind of picked up on and they started cheering when Trump came on stage Daddy's home. So just wanted to leave that with you, because I have not heard that yet at any of these rallies, Fred.

WHITFIELD: No that was -- that was -- that was a new one on everybody --

TREENE: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: OK. Alayna Treene, thank you so much. All right, overseas, Lebanon's Caretaker Prime Minister is urging the world to support the reconstruction of his country, saying that at an Aid Summit in Paris today, as Israeli air strikes pounded a Beirut suburb overnight.

The strikes on a residential complex are being described as the most violent in the area since the conflict began. The Lebanese Health Ministry says at least one person was killed. In Northern Gaza the IDF says, on Thursday, quote, a large number of Palestinians have been evacuated without providing a specific figure, as the UN continues to sound the alarm over the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave.

Health care officials say a strike on a Gaza school Thursday killed at least 17 people this as U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken makes a push to revive Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks. He is now in Qatar, after a stop in Saudi Arabia and Israel.

CNN's Matthew Chance is joining me now from Jerusalem. Good day to you, Matthew. Let's start with Blinken's visit to Qatar. The White House wants Israel to seize the opportunity, seize on the opportunity after the killings of Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar, but is that a real possibility?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I guess it's a possibility. It just doesn't look very like a very likely one at the moment. I mean, this is the 11th time since the October 7th attacks last year that Secretary Blinken has been to the region to try and sort of ratchet down the temperature and the violence here.

And this latest visit seems to have been conceived of in the immediate aftermath, as you said, the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas Leader, in the south of the Gaza Strip last week, it was seen as an opportunity, a window that had opened to -- you know talk about a ceasefire to get more hostages. Israeli hostages are 101 of them still being held in Gaza. Get more of them released.

But in fact, the situation has got even worse it seems. Israel has been intensifying its bombardment of areas of Gaza. It's been going in hard in the northern part of the of the Gaza Strip, where it says Hamas has started to re-emerge in the Jabalia Refugee Camp, for instance, where hundreds of people have been killed over the course of the past week or two.

And then, of course, in Lebanon, we've seen an upsurge in Israeli attacks. There, in southern Beirut, the Lebanese capital, and in areas of south and eastern Beirut, which are the strongholds of Hezbollah. Israel has been stepping up its attacks to try and degrade the infrastructure and to kill Hezbollah members inside that nation as well.

What we are a long way away from, it seems, is any kind of pull back from the brink, any kind of ceasefire and certainly no hostage release on the horizon.

WHITFIELD: All right, Matthew Chance, thank you so much. All right, this hour, Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a press conference at the BRICS Summit in the Russian City of Kazan. Putin will also meet with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is expected to press the Russian President to end the war in Ukraine.

Earlier, Guterres addressed the summit and called for peace in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sudan. CNN's Marc Stewart is following this live from Beijing. Marc, good day to you -- evening, actually.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening. Nice to see you, Fredricka. Look, let's first talk about the symbolism, the fact that all of these world leaders are gathered in Russia as Vladimir Putin continues to orchestrate the war in Ukraine, to have the UN Secretary General, to have all of these world leaders, it's a tremendous amount of validation as other parts of the world, other world leaders, particularly those from the West, are really trying to isolate him.

And I think it's very telling that we look at some of the video of Vladimir Putin, how he is interacting with these different world leaders and delegates. He looks very confident. He is shaking hands. He is working the room. Some very warm personal exchanges are taking place.

[08:15:00]

Yet at the same time, the mere presence of some of these world leaders, including the UN Secretary General, it's drawing criticism and condemnation, in particular from Ukraine. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is less than thrilled that Secretary Guterres is there? In fact, just a few days ago, they put a post it on social media, on X to show their dissatisfaction. Let's look at that now.

Let me read to you what was posted. The UN Secretary General decline Ukraine's invitation to the first global peace summit in Switzerland. He did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN's reputation.

Now the UN is aware of this feeling in the room, if you will. It has made a point to say that the Secretary General went to a previous BRICS meeting in South Africa, so the protocol is there, and that he also will appear at events where there are large member state delegates attending, such as the G7 and the G20.

So, that is something that is going to have to be reconciled. We should also point out that, in addition to some of the tension in Ukraine, as you mentioned, the conflict in the Middle East is also getting attention, and the UN response is also getting attention and some criticism. In fact, we heard from the President of Iran, who really slammed the UN toward its approach in the Middle East conflict. Let's listen to his remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENT: The fire of war is still raging in the Palestinian Gaza Strip and Lebanese cities and international institutions and assemblies, and at the top of it, the United Nations Security Council, as drivers of international peace and security lack the necessary efficiency to extinguish the fire of this crisis. The relentless support of the West, especially the United States, to the Zionist regime, has made it very difficult to reach peace and stop the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: Those remarks, criticizing the United States in particular, and the West, they are very much a theme of this gathering that we're seeing in Russia. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, the President of China, have really been trying to push this idea that there is an alternative view to the United States and the West and the Western approach towards politics, although Vladimir Putin insists that BRICS is not an anti-Western organization.

So, Fredricka, the symbolism here of all of these world leaders meeting, despite this conflict in Ukraine, in Russia, the symbolism is very much also part of the substance of what we're seeing right now.

WHITFIELD: Indeed. All right, Mark Stewart, thanks so much from Beijing. All right, satellite images obtained by CNN show North Korean soldiers training at a Russian military base. It's the same base where troops were filmed receiving equipment and uniforms. While CNN is not publishing the images of the training for security reasons, we can report that the footage was taken in the last two weeks North of the Eastern Russian city of Vladivostok.

The U.S. has confirmed of seeing evidence North Korean soldiers training in Russia and both Ukraine and South Korea have claimed that those troops are training to fight in Ukraine. Let's bring in Oren Liebermann, now, who is joining me live from the Pentagon. So, Oren, what is the U.S. saying about its concerns over this pairing?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka. So far, the U.S. says they have seen about 3000 North Korean troops go from North Korea by ship into Eastern Russia, and then they have gone to three separate training facilities in the Eastern Military District. The question, of course, is, what exactly are they there for?

The U.S. won't be specific about what kind of training they're receiving, but of course, the key concern here is that they end up on the battlefield in Ukraine, and that's something both South Korea and Ukraine have said that, that's effectively where they're headed.

Now, Russia is suffering about 1200 casualties a day, according to the U.S., that is killed and wounded together on the battlefield in Ukraine. So, in that perspective, 3000 is a fairly small number. It's not even three days of troops for Russia as it fights and takes losses in Ukraine.

But beyond that, it is a bigger statement to the U.S. about first, the desperation of Russian President Vladimir Putin as he needs more bodies to essentially feed his war machine there. But it also means something to those North Korean troops. Here is what the White House said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADMIRAL JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION: If they do deploy to fight against Ukraine, they are fair game. They are fair targets, and the Ukrainian military will defend themselves against North Korean soldiers the same way they're defending themselves against Russian soldiers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:20:00]

LIEBERMANN: Now, of course, the question is, what is North Korea receiving in return for sending these troops? We've already seen a growing relationship between Russia and North Korea, especially when it comes to the war in Ukraine. North Korea has sent missiles. It sent artillery ammunition and more. And the White House said, North Korea has, in exchange, received some help with technology for the Russians.

The question, will that relationship and that technology sharing, grow? North Korea has tried to push forward both its nuclear program and its satellite program. On the latter, they have had some successes and some failures. The Russians could certainly help them with that, and that would be even more concerning, especially as it would involve, perhaps the involvement of North Korean troops, far East troops, that is in the fighting in Ukraine.

It's also worth noting that the White House said to be reaching out to China to see, to share the U.S. perspective, and also see if, if China has their own perspective on this, and could help in some way, given the relationship between China and North Korea.

WHITFIELD: And then I wonder, what you know Oren, what kind of impact could this have, not only on Ukraine, but also on the Indo Pacific region?

LIEBERMANN: It involves, or rather, it means the war involves another part of the world. Right now, it's Ukraine and Russia fighting there, but if there are North Korean troops there, that involves South Korea. And South Korea's government has hinted that they might re-evaluate the military equipment and weapons they're willing to provide Ukraine, if, in fact, it turns out and they conclude that North Korean troops are fighting on behalf of Russia.

So that clearly spreads the war to a different part of the continent. And then, of course, there's the connection with China. As I mentioned a moment ago, China and North Korea have a functioning relationship, perhaps even a good relationship, at times. Are they concerned the North Korean troops are fighting on behalf of Russia.

That was asked at the White House briefing yesterday where they put forward this intelligence, the U.S. wouldn't talk about how Russia feels or concludes about this, but again, it's certainly something the U.S. wants to discuss with Russia, with China, that is.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, OK. Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon thank you so much. All right, Elon Musk's Super PAC stays quiet after a warning from the Department of Justice. Did anyone win Wednesdays $1 million daily giveaway? And thousands of Boeing employees are off the job and on the picket line. Why talks between the aerospace giant and the union have stalled yet again?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, the plan to give away millions of Elon Musk's dollars may be on hold. On Wednesday, Musk's Super PAC did not announce a winner for its $1 million daily giveaway. It comes after the Department of Justice warned Musk's PAC that his million-dollar sweepstakes could be illegal under federal election law.

Musk's lottery is only open to registered voters in key battleground states who must also sign a petition to be eligible to enter. CNN's Marshall Cohen joining us now with more details on all this. Marshall, do we know why Musk's Super PAC didn't announce a winner on Wednesday and what's her explanation for the whole thing in the first place?

[08:25:00]

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: That's the big question. Fred, we don't know. That's just the honest answer. We don't know why they didn't announce a winner yesterday, but we can just spell out the facts as they are known to us right now. Elon Musk announced this sweepstakes on Saturday over the weekend, he said this would be a daily giveaway.

And they rolled out winners on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, then on Wednesday, yesterday, CNN and other outlets reported that the Justice Department had sent this warning letter to Musk's Super PAC, telling them that this could be illegal.

And then the rest of Wednesday came and went and no winner was announced. We reached out to the Super PAC, asking them for comment, asking them to explain. Maybe they just forgot, or they took the day off, or they're going to announce two winners today, any of that is possible, or perhaps they are adjusting their sweepstakes based off of this warning from the DOJ.

And you know, the details here really matter Fred. This might be illegal, because it's against federal law to pay people to register. You can't offer incentives, cash prizes, lottery tickets. You cannot offer those type of incentives for people to register. And the thinking here, according to the experts, and apparently, according to the Justice Department as well, is that this sweepstakes may violate the law, because you must be registered in order to win, in order to get the money.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, OK. Well, keep us posted. We'd love to find out later too. If it turns out to be illegal, do the people who won the money, do they have to give it back? All right.

COHEN: It's possible Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

COHEN: It's not so -- we're way, way that's way down the line. If I was one of those people, I -- you know I would put that in my bank account right away. But -- you know we'll take this step by step.

WHITFIELD: Right. All right, Marshall Cohen, thanks so much. Keep us posted. All right, 33,000 machinists at Boeing will remain on the picket line after union members rejected an offer from the aerospace company on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HOLDEN, IAM DISTRICT 751 PRESIDENT: We will push for the member's demands as quickly as we can, and we remain on strike. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: 64 percent of members voted against the offer, which would have given them an immediate raise in rising wages over the next four years. Among other benefits, one of the major hold ups for the union was the elimination of traditional pensions a decade ago. Boeing's proposal still falls short of those benefits. The strike is costing the company $1 billion every month, in addition to other losses.

And undecided voters grilling Kamala Harris right here on CNN. But is that enough to win them over. After the break, we look at some of her answers to the crowd's questions? And the Federal Minimum Wage has been the same since 2009. Kamala Harris says she wants to raise it, but Donald Trump is dodging the issue that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]

WHITFIELD: Undecided voters, the presidential candidates want your vote. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are campaigning in the crucial swing states today where they are hoping to win over those undecided voters in the sprint to Election Day. On Wednesday night, Harris took her message straight to undecideds at his CNN Town Hall in Pennsylvania.

She repeated her warnings about the threat Trump poses to democracy and laid out her stance on key issues including the economy and abortion rights. CNN's Julia Benbrook has details. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris spoke directly to voters during a CNN Town Hall moderated by Anderson Cooper, Wednesday night, part of her strategy in these final weeks was on full display as she presented herself as a candidate who can bring change, a new generation of leadership.

BENBROOK (voice-over): Vice President Kamala Harris taking questions from voters in the key battle ground state of Pennsylvania.

HARRIS: It is close, but there are undecided voters who clearly, by being here, have an open mind, want to talk in a way that is about grounded in issues, in fact --

BENBROOK (voice-over): Tackling the top issues like the economy, immigration and abortion rights.

HARRIS: You know, this is probably one of the most fundamental freedoms that we as Americans could imagine, which is the freedom to literally make decisions about your own body.

BENBROOK (voice-over): Sharpening her message to voters.

HARRIS: The vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. And I think that the American people deserve to have a president who is grounded in what is common sense, what is practical and what is in the best interest of the people, not themselves.

BENBROOK (voice-over): And taking her opponent, Former President Donald Trump head on.

COOPER: You quoted General Milley calling Donald Trump a fascist. You yourself have not used that word to describe him. Let me ask you tonight, do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?

HARRIS: Yes, I do. Yes, I do. And I also believe that the people who know him best on this subject should be trusted.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BENBROOK (on camera): Polls show there's no clear leader in this race. In Pennsylvania, where this town hall took place, is one of three blue wall states that flipped for Trump in 2016 and then swung back for Democrats in 2020. Reporting in Pennsylvania, I'm Julia Benbrook.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's get more now on what we heard from Kamala Harris at last night's CNN's Town Hall, I want to bring in Julian Zelizer, CNN Political Analyst and a Historian and Professor at Princeton University. Great to see Julian.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, so this town hall, it included an in-studio audience of mostly undecided voters, questions about personal weaknesses and raising taxes on the very wealthy and whether she thinks Trump is fascist. So, did Harris reveal more about herself and your view or position, you know, on things to assuage these voters who are still on the fence?

ZELIZER: Well, I don't think she talked that much about herself. I think a lot of the questions were about issues, and she redirected the answers toward the former president. And I think in some ways, she's going to where President Biden had been running, making this a mandate on do you want a second Trump term?

And that's a bet, that in the end, she can leave some ambiguity about herself, and that's the formula for getting those necessary votes.

WHITFIELD: She did reveal something about herself that, you know, folks hadn't really been heard much from her on and it was about faith. And you know, there was a recent "New York Times" article about, you know, her calling and reaching out to her pastor after, you know, learning that Biden was stepping down, and he invited her to, you know, step in.

Does that -- and I don't know how comfortable she seemed in that, but she did answer a little bit more about, you know, what it was like, what -- how important faith is to her. How does that resonate with people?

ZELIZER: I think that matters. I mean, that is the one moment you heard a little bit about her. And in her podcast, she's been revealing different parts of her life, from what she eats for breakfast to what her family was like. And I think that matters. Look, in the end, this is an election that will come down to character, in addition to the economy and immigration.

[08:35:00]

And a part of it is the former president's character, which is front and center, but part of it is, who is she? And I think little nuggets like that, that people can relate to might, in the end, be very important for some parts of the electorate.

WHITFIELD: So, in these final days, Harris and Trump, you know, they have to make closing arguments, so to speak. You know, Harris is spending more time these days saying Trump is unhinged and unfit. She will be in Georgia today with Former President Barack Obama and a host of other stars.

Trump, he is doubling down on his position that Harris is not smart. He is heading west. He will be in Tempe, Arizona. Will there be more of all of that, or do both of these candidates have to turn a page on their focus?

ZELIZER: Now I wouldn't count on the high ground. I think this is going to get nastier and fiercer in the next week. These are the closing arguments. The vice president is going to focus on the threat that Trump poses to democracy. Will focus on all the issues you just talked about and more. I don't expect kind of high ground ending to this election. WHITFIELD: And you know, are there double standards, you know, in what voters are demanding in these two leading candidates in this final stretch, especially CNN Senior Political Commentator Van Jones said, Trump, I'm quoting him, gets to be lawless and Harris has to be flawless. Do you agree with that?

ZELIZER: Yeah, I do think that's true. It's also true on issues. People keep asking for specifics on policy of her and not of him, but that's the lay of the land. And I think candidates have to accept those inconsistencies, those asymmetries, and they have to campaign accordingly.

And so, he is right, but that won't really affect what either candidate has to do, including the vice president.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julian Zelizer always great to see you. Have a great day.

ZELIZER: Thank you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. And in a first for the Harris campaign, the Democratic candidate now says she would support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Kamala Harris discussed the issue in that town hall last night. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We've got to get past this era of politics and partisan politics. Slowing down what we need to do in terms of progress in our country. Actually, invest in a substantial way in the industries of the future, in American based manufacturing, in American based industries where American workers and union workers have those jobs in a way that is good paying jobs that gives people the dignity they deserve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, for context, the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Donald Trump declined to answer what he would do when he visited a McDonald's over the weekend. All right, the former president sells himself as a man to improve the economy, but many experts are concerned his proposed new tariffs as high as 60 percent on Chinese imports could hurt global growth and drive-up inflation.

CNN's Senior Business Reporter Hanna Ziady is covering this for us. Good to see you, Hanna, so what are economists telling you might happen under Trump's plan?

HANNA ZIADY, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, look in a worst-case scenario, a worldwide trade war is what we could get. Because alongside the 60 percent China tariff that you highlighted there, he's also proposed a 10 to 20 percent across the board tariff on all goods coming into the United States.

A chunk of which have no duties on them currently, and then others have duties as low as 2 percent. The International Monetary Fund says that in that sort of extreme scenario of trade wars, trade fragmentation, you could see global GDP hit by 7 percent. And of course, the issue here is that countries won't just retaliate to Trump's tariffs.

They won't just slap duties on American goods, but they may also slap duties on other goods from other countries because they're worried that the goods that would have gone to the United States are now going to flood their own market, and that is actually what we saw back in 2018, you'll remember that Trump put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States.

The European Union not only retaliated on some American products like Harley Davidsons and denim jeans, but they also put import duties on steel products because they were worried, and they cited the higher risk of a flood of imports coming into their market. So, you can get this kind of spiral of trade measures. And in that scenario, Fredricka, nobody comes out unscathed.

WHITFIELD: Right. And then just drill down, if you could, you know, in some of Trump's key economic proposals.

ZIADY: Right. So, the tariffs are really the big one and the one that he's been most explicit on the one that he's given the most detail on, and those will also be highly inflationary, not only to the U.S. economy, but to economies around the world. He's been less clear about some of his other proposals. We know that he wants to crack down on immigration.

[08:40:00]

He's spoken about deporting undocumented immigrants, but also cracking down on legal immigration into the United States, and that could have serious effects on worker shortages, which could also push up inflation. And then he's made some noises about interfering with the independence of the Federal Reserve.

Now, in his last term, he actually threatened to remove Fed Chair Jerome Powell because he was quote, keeping the rates too high, referring, of course, to interest rates. He's been less explicit this time. He has actually said that he wouldn't order the Fed around what to do about interest rates, but he feels he should be allowed to comment on whether rates should go up or down.

The bottom line is that Fed independence is sacrosanct to investors. Central bank independence is sacrosanct to investors, because one of the main mandates of the Fed is to keep inflation in check, and if investors are not confident that it's doing that free from political influence, that has implications for interest rates.

It has implications for how they price financial assets like stocks and bonds. It has implications for the stability of the dollar. Really a theme that comes out from a lot of my conversations with economists, is that we can expect heightened uncertainty, heightened instability if Donald Trump returns to the White House. WHITFIELD: All right. Hanna Ziady, thanks so much. All right. It's a headline no one wants to read. A CNN crew was held captive for two days while on assignment in Sudan earlier this month. We'll bring you Clarissa Ward's testimony.

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WHITFIELD: Funerals are underway for the victims of Wednesday's terror attack near Ankara. Among the five killed a taxi driver who drove the assailants to the state-run aerospace company near the Turkish capital. On Wednesday night, Turkey says it carried out dozens of strikes on Kurdish controlled areas in Syria and Iraq.

The country accuses the Kurdistan Workers Party of carrying out the attack, but no group has so far claimed responsibility. And earlier this month, the CNN crew was held captive in the north Darfur region of war-torn Sudan. They arrived to report on the world's worst humanitarian crisis, but wound up becoming part of the story.

Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward's team was supposed to meet a group deemed a neutral party in Sudan's civil war. But instead, they were detained by a heavily armed militia for 48 hours. CNN's Richard Quest spoke to Ward about the conditions leading up to that terrifying ordeal and how they got through it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: Thank God you and the team are safe, but it's a risk you all took, because this is the forgotten war. I mean, God help me for saying in those terms. But you know what I mean, this is the forgotten war that is just getting worse.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's no question, Richard, that the conflict in Sudan has been overshadowed by Ukraine, by Gaza.

[08:45:00]

But when you talk to the U.N. when you talk to aid workers, they will say, by the numbers alone, Sudan is the world's worst humanitarian crisis. And Darfur in particular, all eyes are on it at the moment. There was a genocide that was perpetrated there between 2003, 2005.

We have seen vicious war crimes taking place that are really heightening fears that you could see the worst being realized once again in Darfur. On top of that, you have huge displacement, heavy fighting, the spread of disease, and in August, a famine declared in the Zamzam displaced peoples camp outside of the besieged City of Al Fashir and Tawila.

The town that we were trying to get to is just a few hours away from Al Fashir, from Tawila, almost no international journalists have been able to get in on the ground, the two main warring factions simply not giving permissions to journalists. And so that has made it next to impossible to effectively report on this crisis, Richard. QUEST: So, you and the team are held for two days. I've heard the -- your description. I've read your description of you under trees, and you were not harmed. But the very fact of detail being detained is a horror in itself. How are you all?

WARD: We're all fine. It was absolutely a stressful ordeal. All of us, I think, were very much fixated on our families back home and how stressful this must be for them. And it weighs on you, not having information, not knowing when you might be able to get out, when you might be able to cuddle your kids again, as the only woman, I was very mindful of restricting my food and water intake because there was no private place where I could relieve myself.

At the end of the day, we got out. After two days, we came back home. We're safe and we're with our families. And as journalists, it is so cringe inducing, honestly, Richard, to become the story, but we felt it was really important to share our experience, because it does touch on the broader themes and challenges of covering this conflict, but also, of the complexity of the situation in Darfur.

QUEST: Right.

WARD: The difficulty of getting aid in, the difficulty of human rights organizations getting in. And getting the stories out of the people of Darfur that deserve to be told and that the world needs to hear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Clarissa Ward there explaining the ordeal, what they went through. The militia leaders did eventually announce that they were releasing our colleagues, claiming they thought they were spies. Ward said, after hearing the news, there was a wave of relief, and then came smiles and handshakes.

And in fact, this photo that she described as awkward in opposing on a mat that had been their makeshift prison for those many days. And you can read Clarissa Ward entire report about being held captive in Sudan on cnn.com. All right, yet another storm batters, islands in the Pacific. Tropical storm Trami unleashes flash flooding and landslides in the Philippines, forcing thousands of rescues there. Where the storm is headed next, straight ahead.

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[08:50:00]

WHITFIELD: After seven months in space NASA's SpaceX crew eight team is on their way back to Earth. Wednesday afternoon, the hatch between the SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft and the international space station was closed and the capsule slowed, slowly moved away.

NASA officials say the crew will splash down Friday morning off the Florida coast. And rescue efforts are underway in the Northeastern Philippines, after Tropical storm Trami brought devastation and destruction. The storm triggered widespread flooding and landslides and has claimed at least 24 lives. Thousands of villagers, mostly southeast of Manila, had to be rescued from flood waters, with more still waiting help. Waiting for help. A government official said more than 2 million people have been affected by the storm. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins us with the latest on that storm.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, yeah, we take a look, and it's not over yet. In fact, it's not really moving all that much, but it is expected to continue to make its westward trek here in about the next 24 hours. So right now, sustained winds of 74 kilometers per hour, gusting up to 92 that westward movement there at about 24 kilometers per hour.

We have already had a tremendous amount of rain for these areas. You're talking rain for wind up through Wednesday, measuring in the several 100 millimeters, 400, 500, 600 for some perspective, for those who are more on the nonmetric side. We're talking more than a foot or even two feet of rain in just a very short period of time.

Additional rain is expected before it finally moves back out over the South China Sea. Some of these areas could pick up an extra 50 millimeters or so, or roughly two inches, before the system finally exits, and it will. Now it's also expected to intensify a little bit more.

Once it moves back out fully over open waters, perhaps getting up around that 100 kilometer per hour mark. But then it is expected to weaken as it starts that turn backwards as it edges closer towards Vietnam by the back half of the upcoming weekend. And here you can see that here some of those rain showers likely beginning along the coastline there late Saturday.

And then the bulk of the rain and the really gusty winds taking shape on the day Sunday. Here's a look. Another concern is really going to be that rainfall as well for Vietnam, especially the central portion. Obviously, your highest rainfall amounts are going to be right there along the coastline.

But even areas outside of that north and south, you're talking widespread totals of 100 to 150 millimeters. Some spots could exceed 200 millimeters before that system finally begins to spread back out. So very significant system as we head into the weekend here, but it's one of three that we're continuing to watch.

You also have this area just off to the east. This is the one that's not yet named, but has some potential there, so something we will certainly keep a close eye on in the coming days. And then we also have the system over towards India that's also causing some impact. So, Fred, a lot going on here on the other half of the world.

WHITFIELD: What, very busy region, and that's big stuff too. All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you. All right, the first lawsuit has been filed over McDonald's E. coli outbreak. A Colorado man says he got sick after eating a quarter pounder burger. Health officials are trying to find out what's behind the outbreak linked to McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. At least 49 people across the U.S. have gotten sick. CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell has details.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The CDC is calling this a severe E. coli outbreak, and they are still working on pinning down all of the details. But what we know so far is that at least 49 people have become sick across 10 states. 10 people have been hospitalized, including a child, and one person has died.

Now most of the cases have been identified in Colorado, and that is where the elderly person who died was. Now they are still trying to trace the exact ingredient that was contaminated here. They said that every person they interviewed had reported eating at a McDonald's, and most particularly remembered eating a quarter pounder.

So far, the investigations are homing in on the fresh slivered onions that are used on the quarter pounders, but they haven't yet ruled out the beef patties. So, McDonald's says that it is pulling those ingredients from store menus in affected states as this investigation continues and they are trying to reassure folks that it is safe to eat at McDonald's right now. Here's what they're telling people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ERLINGER, MCDONALD'S USA PRESIDENT: It is important to note that the onset dates for this disease are between at this point, September 27 and October 11. If there has been contaminated product within our supply chain, it's very likely worked itself through that supply chain already.

But certainly, will be working with the CDC and cooperating with them on the investigation and we'll take in more data and let the science continue to lead our action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: Now, as investigators are looking for the precise source of the E. coli, they need to also ensure that this hasn't been distributed beyond Mc Donald. So, they say they are still investigating whether this could affect potentially other stores or restaurants.

[08:55:00]

We are also potentially expecting there to be more cases identified as this investigation goes on and more illnesses are linked back to this particular strain of E. coli. Now, symptoms of E. coli include things like severe stomach cramps, diarrhea that can sometimes be bloody, vomiting, fever.

These typically come on within three to four days of having consumed the bacteria, although the onset can be even out to as far as nine days. Now, typically, most people get better on their own within about a week, but severe cases can require hospitalization. The CDC is telling folks that if they experience these symptoms, particularly if they have them over a number of days, they should seek health care and they should report back on what they ate. WHITFIELD: Very serious. All right, thank you so much, Meg. And thank you for joining me here in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitefield. "Connect the World" with Eleni Giokos is up next.

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