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Harris Offers Voters a Choice; Trump Warns of More Failure Under Harris; Blinken: Gaza Ceasefire-Hostage Talks to Resume Soon; SpaceX Crew-8 Astronauts Exit Capsule Off Florida Coast; Menendez Brothers to Get New Sentence. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired October 25, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former President Barack Obama and the Vice President warning of a potential second Trump term.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You have the power to make that decision!
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This election is a choice between whether we will have four more years
of incompetence, failure and disaster, or whether we will begin the four greatest years in the history of our country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Los Angeles District Attorney, George Gascon, is recommending a resentencing for Eric and Lyle Menendez.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under the law, resentencing is appropriate, and I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM, with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and around the world. I'm Max Foster.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Friday, October 25th, 9 a.m. here in London, 3 a.m. in Texas, where Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are both expected to be campaigning in the coming hours, with just 11 days to go in the race for the White House. Harris will be joined at a rally in Houston for abortion rights by superstar Beyonce, who's making her first appearance on the campaign trail.
FOSTER: Trump will spend part of his day in Texas. He'll be with Senator Ted Cruz, before moving on to a rally in the swing state of Michigan. In Nevada, on Thursday evening, Trump was asked about a recent story in The Atlantic magazine, quoting former Chief of Staff John Kelly, as saying Trump admired the Nazi generals of the Third Reich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you agree that you said that you wanted the kind of generals that Hitler had. Is that something that you've ever said?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: No, I never said that. I would never say that. It's a rag that he made up stories. He's done it before. It's a failing magazine, right before the election. It's just a failing magazine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, at a rally in Las Vegas, Trump told the crowd to think about what they hope to see for the country with the next president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This election is a choice between whether we will have four more years of incompetence, failure and disaster, or whether we will begin the four greatest years in the history of our country. We can do that. It's not too late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Kamala Harris was joined at a rally in Atlanta with several famous faces, including former President Barack Obama.
MACFARLANE: It's the first time the two have campaigned together since she became the Democratic candidate for president. Priscilla Alvarez has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama using their first joint campaign appearance here in Battleground, Georgia to mobilize voters, to gin up enthusiasm, to get them to go out and vote. Both former President Barack Obama and the vice president warning of a potential second Trump term, casting the former president as consumed by his own troubles.
Now, the vice president outlined her policies on the economy and on health care, but she also used a line that campaign officials tell me that she will reiterate several times over the next several days.
Having voters in the crowd imagine what a Trump in the Oval Office would look like. Take a listen.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Just imagine the Oval Office in three months. Picture it in your mind. It is either -- so, but there's a choice that everybody has. So let's imagine it for a moment. It's either Donald Trump in there stewing, stewing over his enemies list or me working for you checking off my to do list. You have the power to make that decision.
ALVAREZ: Now, the vice president also called on voters to vote early here in Georgia. Early voting is well underway in DeKalb County. Almost a third of active voters have already cast their ballots.
That is going to be a key part of the strategy moving forward, where campaign officials tell me that they are trying to mobilize voters and capitalize on early voting in the battleground states. Now, of course, this event also a star studded one with Bruce Springsteen headlining the event. Of course, he has been a frequent appearance in the waning days of the election for Democratic candidates.
[04:05:00]
More stars expected to come out over the next several days, including on Friday when the vice president will be joined by Beyonce to talk about reproductive freedoms in Houston, Texas.
Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, traveling with the Harris Walz campaign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: More than 30 million ballots have already been cast in the states that offer early voting. That's about 19 percent of all the votes cast in the 2020 presidential race. That election happened in the midst of a global pandemic, and many voters opted to use mail-in ballots.
This year, overall, early turnout numbers have dropped in some states, and Democrats notably outnumbered Republicans in early voting in 2020. But Republican officials have been urging supporters to get to the polls ahead of time this year. And the gap seems to be narrowing.
MACFARLANE: Well, there has been some turmoil around early voting in certain states. In Colorado, officials say they're investigating a mail-in ballot fraud scheme. It appears the state's signature verification caught some irregularities.
Here is the Colorado State Secretary of State.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENA GRISWOLD, COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE: It appears that as of now, approximately a dozen voters in Mesa County had their ballots intercepted before they arrived to them and cast without their knowledge. Now, the ballots were filled out, the return envelopes were signed, and they were then returned to a USPS blue box. So that's a postal box, not a ballot drop box.
Mesa County Clerk Bobbie Gross, her office then started an investigation. They discovered that ballots had been sent to addresses in close proximity to each other. Mesa County then looked at all the other ballots that were rejected because of the signature and discovered that it appeared that at least some of the ballots were signed by the same person. The team in Mesa County is reexamining every ballot return envelope that has been received at this point. The investigation into the situation is ongoing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: And in Arizona, a number of ballots were damaged in a mailbox fire outside a Phoenix post office, but authorities now say the incident was not politically motivated. The man arrested for the crime says he started the fire because he simply, quote, wanted to be arrested.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN YOUNGKIN, (R) GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA: To describe this as something that's a purge is completely inaccurate. It's wholly consistent with the U.S. Constitution, the Virginia Constitution, and Virginia law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, that was the Republican governor of Virginia expressing some frustration with the Department of Justice for suing the state over a law that requires non-citizens to be taken off the state's voter rolls. The DOJ says the problem is that Virginia is now doing it so close to the election. And it's just one of several legal maneuvers that may create some challenges in the voting process with just days to go before Election Day.
Meanwhile, in North Carolina, some election officials are concerned about a law passed by lawmakers on Thursday that requires 13 counties that were damaged by Hurricane Helene to add early voting locations, even though early voting is already underway across the state. A Democratic candidate in Ohio may not be able to vote in her district after Republican activists filed a last-minute challenge to her eligibility to vote there.
And in the battleground state of Georgia, Republicans are appealing a ruling by a judge that said a county election board official cannot refuse to certify the 2024 election results.
FOSTER: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Gaza hostage and ceasefire talks will resume this weekend. The top U.S. diplomat made the announcement during a visit to Qatar as part of his latest peace mission to the Middle East. The Israeli prime minister's office says Mossad chief David Barnea will travel to Doha to take part.
MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, Lebanese state media report three journalists have been killed by an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military told CNN they are looking into the reports. At least 12 people were killed in other strikes across Lebanon on Thursday.
FOSTER: Hospital officials in Gaza say at least 17 people, mostly children and the elderly, were killed by an Israeli strike on a school housing refugees. The Israeli military says Hamas terrorists were the target. MACFARLANE: CNN's Paula Hancocks is following developments and joins us live from Abu Dhabi. So Paula, just to those -- the renewal of those ceasefire talks happening right now. I mean, it's very unlikely, isn't it, that we're going to see any movement in that before the election, the U.S. election in 11 days time.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christina, I think that's very fair to say. And we're hearing that from U.S. officials as well, that the expectations are low, that there can be any kind of significant breakthrough before the election itself. But what we're hearing from Biden administration officials is that they want to create some kind of momentum towards this, these talks so soon after Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas, was killed.
He was considered one of the roadblocks in to get this deal done. But, of course, there are considerations of roadblocks on the Israeli side as well.
[04:10:00]
So what Secretary of State Blinken is trying to do is to at least get everybody together. And this would be the first high level meetings of this kind that we've seen in more than two months. So that in itself is a positive element. But let's listen to what he said in Doha.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We talked about options to capitalize on this moment and next steps to move the process forward. And I anticipate that our negotiators will be getting together in the coming days. This is a moment to work to end this war, to bring make sure all the hostages are home and to build a better future for people in Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: Now, privately and sometimes not so privately, U.S. officials believe that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is likely to wait to see who he will be dealing with in the White House coming up. We heard just from the former president, Donald Trump, yesterday that he has spoken a number of times, he says, in recent days to the Israeli prime minister. And there is an assumption that the Netanyahu would believe or would feel that Trump would be more sympathetic to his goals than current U.S. President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris may be.
So there is a lot of moving parts here and there is an expectation that Netanyahu would want to wait and see what he will be dealing with after the U.S. election.
There have been negotiations ongoing, though. We know that Hamas has been engaged. At least this is what we've heard from Qatar and Egypt, the two key mediators, that they have spoken to the delegation. There hasn't been an official ruler, an official leader named after Sinwar's killing, but there are certainly those within the political bureau in Hamas who are based in Doha who would be able to lead these talks going forward -- Max, Christina.
FOSTER: We were speaking earlier in the week about North Gaza and how, you know, that's being viewed as a siege. And we were talking to a human rights activist, can I call him that, about how it's breaking international law. What is the latest situation there?
HANCOCKS: Well, what we're hearing from the ground and communications are very difficult in northern Gaza, Max, as you might imagine, is that a catastrophic situation is just becoming even worse. We're hearing from health officials that they simply don't have what they need to try and save those who are coming into hospitals. Kamal Adwan Hospital, the main hospital that's still really functioning in that area. We've heard from the director a number of times saying that there's a constant stream of people coming into the hospital itself.
Now, this is an area that Israel has said that Hamas is regrouping in and trying to rebuild. So they are fighting, they say, against that, claiming that they have detained, arrested 200 militants at least in Jabalia itself, in the refugee camp, just one small part of northern Gaza.
They also say that a large number of Palestinians have been evacuated out of the area. We don't have a specific figure on that, though. We don't know if they have a specific figure, but that's not being shared publicly, although they say 20,000 have been evacuated from Jabalia.
FOSTER: Paula in Abu Dhabi, thank you so much.
MACFARLANE: All right, still to come on CNN. Los Angeles County's district attorney will ask that the Menendez brothers be resentenced nearly 30 years after their trial gripped the U.S.
FOSTER: Plus, winter is coming quickly to the mountains of western North Carolina. How that's impacting residents still recovering from Hurricane Helene straight ahead.
And Donald Trump admits he'd like to do what he'd like to do with special counsel Jack Smith if he's reelected. We'll have more on that later in the show.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: We're back with breaking news this hour. Astronauts are emerging from a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that splashed down off the coast of Florida in the last hour. You're watching live images here of all four astronauts exiting the capsule.
And I believe the astronaut we're seeing right now is Jeanette Epps, one of the four-person crew who was winched aboard a recovery ship not long ago. And you can see the hatch that had been opened. The four- person crew are going to be taken to medical checks right after this. And these pictures you're seeing here are live pictures coming to us from NASA.
FOSTER: How long have they been up there?
MACFARLANE: Well, I believe it was meant to be a six-month mission, but it got expanded slightly to seven months.
FOSTER: Which is why they come out all floppy, isn't it?
MACFARLANE: Well, I imagine seven months without gravity. I mean, it's going to impact you somewhere or another, isn't it?
But there are four astronauts who've obviously been on this latest mission. Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin. And I believe, actually, there is still one more astronaut to emerge.
FOSTER: Cosmonauts.
MACFARLANE: It is the Russian cosmonauts, yes. You can see now exiting the capsule. Actually, this crew are historic in what they've done because they've spent the most time in space by a crewed spacecraft. A total of 232 days, which hasn't been done before.
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FOSTER: The Russian is standing as he comes out. Strongly built.
MACFARLANE: Anyway, as I say, they will be taken for medical check- ups. They splash down at 3.30 a.m. time off the coast of Florida. And all seem to be well, which is good news.
FOSTER: Good to see the nations operating together up in space at least as well.
MACFARLANE: Yes, indeed.
Now, the Los Angeles County District Attorney says he will recommend resentencing for the Menendez brothers at a hearing in the coming hours. He says the move would make them eligible for immediate parole.
FOSTER: The trial of Lyle and Eric Menendez gripped the U.S. in the 1990s. They're currently serving life sentences without parole for killing their parents in 1989. But recently, there has been new attention on the case because of a certain channel.
CNN's Jean Casarez has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Los Angeles District Attorney, George Gascon, is recommending a resentencing for Eric and Lyle Menendez. They, of course, are the brothers that were sentenced in 1996 for premeditated murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989. At the time of the commission of their crimes, Eric was 18, Lyle was 21.
The District Attorney says they have served and been in custody about 35 years at this point. And because of their rehabilitation, which it appears he's going to focus in on, he believes that a resentencing is appropriate. Here are the exact words of the District Attorney of Los Angeles, George Gascon.
GEORGE GASCON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: After a very careful review of all the arguments that were made for people on both sides of this equation, I came to a place where I believe that under the law, resentencing is appropriate, and I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow.
CASAREZ: The District Attorney says that continuous rehabilitative efforts of the brothers during their incarceration is going to be front and center in this, but also of immense importance is, he says, quote, our office has gained a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding sexual violence. The defense of these brothers was that their father sexually assaulted them for years, and they committed these killings because of the fear that they had inside of them.
Now, the District Attorney says that they have done a meticulous review of the filings. They have spoken with family members who are supportive of this. They are really looking at the rehabilitation, and the focus has been that prison is where you serve out your sentence that is your punishment, and this is according to California statute. And that the prison sentence itself that you have endured is rehabilitative. It is the rehabilitation.
Next step will be it will go before a judge. We'll see if anyone contests this, and the date for a hearing is as yet to be determined.
Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: The Justice Department has reached a settlement with two companies that owned the container ship that destroyed Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. In March, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited will have to pay more than $100 million.
MACFARLANE: The civil suit claims that their cost-cutting and negligence in the ship's maintenance led to the disastrous collision. Six construction workers were killed when the ship lost power and slammed into the bridge. An FBI investigation into the incident is underway.
FOSTER: Officials in the state of Georgia say the boat gangway that collapsed on Saturday had passed four safety inspections in the past two years before Saturday's deadly incident. Seven people were killed when the gangway collapsed on a visitor ferry dock at Sapelo Island. The investigation is ongoing.
MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, emotional scenes at a hospital as a survivor was reunited with the woman who rescued her. Catherine Sneed said she grabbed Bertha McKnight's hand whilst McKnight was in the water and held onto it until someone came to pull her out. Now, the mountains of western North Carolina have already seen their
first snow of the season.
FOSTER: And that's a worrying prospect for residents still struggling to recover from Hurricane Helene. CNN's Lina Dawson has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JON COUNCIL, RELIEF ORGANIZER: Yes, like I said, they actually got flooded out the Wednesday.
MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been a month since Hurricane Helene hit.
COUNCIL: If it's dry and it's warm, he's probably got no choice but to stay there right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There we go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
DUERSON (voice-over): And here in the mountains of western North Carolina, volunteers are still working to help their neighbors recover.
COUNCIL: The last few nights have been below freezing. They got hit pretty hard.
[04:25:00]
DUERSON (voice-over): Jon Council has been organizing relief and making home visits since the storm.
COUNCIL: It takes a certain type of person to carve out an existence here.
DUERSON (voice-over): Council is checking on people like Ruthie Baker, whose mobile home was parked by the riverbank the night of the floods.
RUTHIE BAKER, NORTH CAROLINA STORM VICTIM: We moved when we saw campers, tiny homes and cars floating away. It did tear up the bottom of the camper. So right now it's largely fix the insulation in the bottom so that we can try to stay warm.
I'm really worried about winter. Everybody's kind of on the same lane of we don't know what's going to happen, but we're scared.
DUERSON (voice-over): Staying warm is the challenge on everyone's minds. Immediate recovery efforts were focused on getting power and water back and clearing the roads.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you find everything else you need?
DUERSON (voice-over): But last week, the area got its first snow and temperatures below freezing.
ASHLEY GALLEHER, OWNER, ZIONVILLE RAMP COMPANY: These are incredible right now.
DUERSON (voice-over): What are you hearing from people at the resource desk when they come in?
GALLEHER: Heat is a big one because it got cold really early this year.
DUERSON (voice-over): Ashley Galleher turned her skate shop into this massive relief operation.
DUERSON: We heard just while we were there, two people come in looking for heaters.
GALLEHER: Yes, it gets really cold. We've had frost the last couple of mornings.
DUERSON: How are you seeing this fit together with like federal relief efforts?
GALLEHER: That's been a challenge. I'll say social media, misinformation, lack of trust.
DUERSON (voice-over): That lack of trust has led some of the neediest to lean on local efforts, while deeply skeptical of FEMA.
GALLEHER: We had over 300 people visit our site and they had nine people visit their site.
DUERSON: Nine?
GALLEHER: Yes.
DUERSON: And you built this barn?
RONALD WISE: I built this barn.
DUERSON (voice-over): Ronald Wise is 96 years old.
DUERSON: And I'm guessing it didn't always look like this.
WISE: No, it never did look like that.
DUERSON (voice-over): And has lived here for almost 80 years in a house heated by a wood stove.
The storm unleashed mudslides that destroyed his barn, wood splitter, and firewood he's been stockpiling for the last decade.
DUERSON: You had enough wood to last you till you're over 100?
WISE: Yes.
DUERSON: And now what do you have? WISE: I have one winter, maybe.
DUERSON (voice-over): This area was already squeezed by a housing crisis. Many who were flooded can't find or afford other options and are living with mold or sleeping in tents.
DUERSON: What are you most concerned about?
SHERRYE TRICE, VOLUNTEER: We have people in unlivable homes. The biggest needs this winter are honestly going to be surviving it.
DUERSON (voice-over): For volunteers like Sherrye Trice, the first frost of the year was a warning sign of the danger to her community as the storm slips out of the headlines.
TRICE: People need heat. People need money. And people need our nation to pay attention and not forget about Appalachia.
DUERSON (voice-over): Meena Duerson, CNN, Boone, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: The Trump and Harris campaigns are raking in millions from some very rich donors late in the race. We'll take a closer look at the numbers they're getting after the break.
MACFARLANE: And the Harris team has been working behind the scenes for weeks to get Beyonce to join the vice president at one of her rallies. Well, the wait is over. Details on that coming up.
