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Both Presidential Candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Holding Campaign Events in Battleground State of Michigan; Beyonce Attends Campaign Event for Kamala Harris; Donald Trump Gives Three- Hour Interview to Podcaster Joe Rogan; Donald Trump Mentions Robert F. Kennedy Jr. May have Role in His Administration Related to Health Care; Israeli Airstrikes Target Iranian Military Facilities in Response to Previous Iranian Airstrikes on Israel; Early Voting Begins in New York; Voters in Long Island Go to Polls for Congressional Candidates Republican Anthony D'Esposito and Democrat Laura Gillen; Some Republicans Voting for Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania While Others Remain Undecided; "Washington Post" Will Not Endorse Candidate for President for First Time in Decades. Aired 2-3p ET.

Aired October 26, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:41]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and thanks for joining me. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York today, in for Fredricka Whitfield. I'm also joined by Jim Sciutto, who is in Jerusalem, also following Israel's overnight strikes against Iran.

But first, it is a key day in the race for the White House. And we begin this hour in battleground Michigan. Both candidates are holding major campaign events in that very important swing state today. right now, former President Donald Trump holding a rally in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. Vice President Kamala Harris also just arrived in the state. And in a few hours, she's going to hold a get out rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she will be joined by former first lady Michelle Obama for their first joint campaign appearance.

Today is a very important day in Michigan. Right now, voters are heading to the polls for the very first day of statewide early voting. We have a team of correspondents covering today's campaign developments. Eva McKend is with the Harris campaign. But first, let's start with Alayna Treene. She's at the Trump rally. Alayna, the last time we spoke to you a short time ago, Trump had just started talking. What have we heard from him so far? What's he been saying?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right. Well, Rahel, he's now about an hour into his remarks, and he's spoken on a number of topics, some directly targeting voters here in this Detroit suburb of a Novi, but also spent a lot of time and attacking Vice President Kamala Harris. Actually, some of the first things that he said at the start of his speech were going after her for having Beyonce at her Houston rally last night. He also argued that she was booed because Beyonce did not perform, although I will say we have reporters there who said that that is just not true. But take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Last night my opponent had one of these, and they bused in people. But you know, they got Beyonce, and Beyonce, you know, Beyonce. They got Beyonce. So Beyonce went up, spoke for a couple of minutes, and then left. And the place went crazy. They booed the hell out of everybody. They thought she was going to perform. Now, I would have no interest in that, but they said -- and what happened is my opponent got up in started speaking. They booed the hell out of her. It's crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Rahel, we also heard some more things from Donald Trump. Last night he claimed that Beyonce, or excuse me, that the Kamala Harris was out partying with just 11 days to go to the election. Look, this is something Donald Trump does often. He actually gets very fixated on celebrities. We've seen the way that he has sharply criticized Taylor Swift, but also many of the other performers who have been endorsing and coming out to support Kamala Harris, people like Bruce Springsteen or Meg Thee Stallion, all have become fixtures of some of his attacks during these types of campaign rallies.

But also, I just want to point your attention to something else he brought up, which was he actually mentioned how he received some backlash for when he was in Detroit a couple of weeks ago speaking to the Detroit Economic Club and said that he believed that Detroit was a developing city and more developing than China. Again, making those remarks in Detroit. Tonight, he said, look, a lot of people didn't like that. They said I need to be positive. But then he added did that I can't be positive. I don't think Detroit is a great place. I'll be positive in two years when I win and I make it better. So he's clearly not moving away from some of that rhetoric that he has received a little criticism, of course, from people here in Michigan. Rahel?

SOLOMON: And Alayna, Trump also sat down for a very extensive, I think more than three hours interview with podcaster Joe Rogan yesterday, where he's seemed to indicate that Robert Kennedy, Jr., would play and could play a role in his administration. What can you share with us?

TREENE: That's right. Trump now has been saying for a few weeks that he was considering Robert F. Kennedy for a role. This was also something that they have discussed before RFK Jr. had actually endorsed Donald Trump. But Trump made very clear to Joe Rogan today that he only wants RFK Jr. to focus on healthcare, doesn't want him to go or have any opinion on some of the other issues like the environment. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But RFK is going to be very -- you know, I think he's a great guy. I think he's great.

JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: I love the fact that you guys teamed up. And are you guys, are you completely committed to have him a part of your administration?

[14:05:00]

TRUMP: Oh, I am. But the only thing I want to be a little careful about with him is the environmental, because, you know, he doesn't like oil. I love oil or gas. I think, you know I think --

ROGAN: Just keep him out of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So I'm going to keep him out a little. I said focus on health. You can do whatever you want. But I got to be a little bit careful with the liquid gold, you know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Rahel, a couple things to point out here. One is that to Trump's, one of the things when RFK Jr. was running as an independent, Donald Trump and his campaign had gone after him very hard, criticizing him for his environmental policies, arguing that he was way too liberal on those. But at the same time, I will say on the health care stuff, when I talked to Donald Trump's campaign right now, they actually think that the health care policies that RFK Jr. had been pushing as a candidate but is continuing to talk about are things that really could help Donald Trump make inroads with women, of course, a key demographic that they have been looking to gain more support with. So that's one thing.

The other thing I note is that Joe Rogan has long been a supporter of RFK Jr. Over the summer, he had actually shared that out of all of the candidates, he liked RFK Jr. the best. It's something that actually drew the ire of Donald Trump at the time. However, of course now he is on Joe Rogan's podcast, speaking to him. They seemed to smooth things out there.

But I will note that that interview, that three-hour interview, a very long interview, was something that the Trump campaign had been working for -- toward, I should say, for several months now. They really believed that it could help him in this final stretch to turn out more of those low propensity voters as well as young male voters. Rahel?

SOLOMON: Yes, there was also a question about whether, I suppose, that Harris would sit down with Joe Rogan, but it appears that she won't. They said there might be some scheduling issues. Alayna Treene live for us there in Michigan. Alayna, thank you.

Let's go now to Eva McKend, who is with the Harris campaign. And Eva, we heard from the vice president a short time ago, she sort of alluded to some of her plans while she's in Michigan today in terms of meeting with health care providers. What can you share with us in terms of what she's going to be doing in the state?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Rahel, before this big rally in Kalamazoo, she's going to make a stop in Portage, Michigan, to meet with health care providers, medical students, to talk about this issue of reproductive rights, which has featured so prominently in her campaign. What's different about this rally in Kalamazoo is this is the first time we're going to see the vice president on stage with former first lady Michelle Obama. And when Michelle Obama addressed the DNC back over the summer, she leaned on voters essentially not to be too delicate if you don't hear from the campaign directly, leaning on you to vote between now and November, that essentially the stakes are too high. And so we suspect to very much here that message from Obama again today.

But this is how the vice president is framing this issue of reproductive rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For anyone watching from another state, know this -- if you think you are protected from Trump abortion bans because you live in Michigan or Pennsylvania or Nevada or New York or California, or any state where voters or legislators have protected reproductive freedom, please know, no one is protected if there is a Trump national abortion ban, and it will outlaw abortion in every single state. Understand that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now, here in Michigan, in 2020, President Biden won the state and won Kalamazoo County in particular by about 20 points. What we see from the vice president is her trying to recreate that winning coalition with suburban women, with young voters in this state. Here in Kalamazoo County is Kalamazoo College, as well as Western Michigan University. They are messaging to those voters, Rahel, as well.

SOLOMON: And Eva, we just heard that soundbite in Alayna's piece of Trump speaking about Beyonce at the Houston rally last night. What more can you share with us and what did we hear there?

MCKEND: Well, listen, it is something that the former president can't leverage as much as Democrats who have a lot of celebrity surrogates making the case for them. And when Beyonce addressed Houston, addressed her hometown, she said don't think of her as a celebrity. She was trying to relate to the 30,000 in the crowd by saying, I am a mother, and this is about the future for my children. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEYONCE, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I'm not here as a celebrity. I'm not here as a politician. I'm here as a mother.

(CHEERING)

BEYONCE: A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we're not divided, our past, our present, our future merge to meet us here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:10:08]

MCKEND: And after here in Michigan, Rahel, the vice president will head to Pennsylvania before returning to this state on Monday. Rahel?

SOLOMON: OK, Eva McKend, thank you in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

And Tuesday, November 5th, is election night in America, and from the first votes to the critical counts, no one covers it quite like CNN. Our special live coverage starts Tuesday, November 5th, at 4:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.

When we come back, more on our coverage of Israel's retaliatory strikes against Iran. We're live in the region coming up next.

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[14:15:19]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto live in east Jerusalem. The region asking the question, is the cycle of retaliatory attacks between Israel and Iran over for now following major Israeli military action against Iran overnight? Iran says the effect of the attacks was limited. Israel says the strikes are over and struck purely military targets. U.S. President Joe Biden says he hopes this is the end of the current cycle. We'll continue to watch closely.

Joining me now for an update, Arlette Saenz from the White House and our Jeremy Diamond from Tel Aviv. Arlette, if I could begin with, I know that U.S. officials were in touch with Israeli officials both prior to this strike and since the strike took place. Do they have confidence, does the White House have confidence that Israel's retaliatory strikes on Iran are now over, at least for now?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, senior administration officials have been really stressing in the past 24 hours that the actions that Israel took here were very targeted and precise. One senior administration official describing it as a self- defense response that was proportionate to what they had seen when Iran had launched that barrage of missile attacks back at Israel, back in October. It is President Biden's hope, he says, that this would be the end of the back-and-forth that we've seen between Israel and Iran in recent months.

Now, President Biden did convene his national security team for a call this morning. Also on that call was Vice President Kamala Harris. And the White House in this call said that they received latest updates on the developments in the region, but that President Biden also stressed to ensure that American interests and people are safe at this time, and also will be closely monitoring whether Iran will decide to make any moves in response to Israel's strikes overnight.

Now, one thing that the administration is saying in this moment as they're really putting the onus on Iran, saying that it is up to them to end these attacks that they've been lobbing towards Israel, really trying to end the cycle of fighting between in the two countries and trying to prevent any further escalation. That is something that Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A couple hours ago I got of a lengthy and important conversation with the president and our national security team. And of course, we maintain the importance of supporting Israel's right to defend itself, and we are also very adamant that we must see de-escalation in the region going forward, and that will be our focus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, the U.S. has spent the past few weeks really counseling, trying to work behind the scenes to try to ensure that Israel took a measured approach. For now administration officials believe that is what happened here, and they are also really working to this moment to try to prevent this conflict in the Middle East from escalating even further at this time.

SCIUTTO: Arlette Saenz, thanks so much.

Jeremy Diamond, I know it's early, but speaking to your sources in the Israeli military, have they managed to do any battle damage assessment, bomb damage assessment as to the effect of these strikes? They say that they were purely on military targets. Do they know that they did the damage that they intended to?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli military believes that their strikes were successful, but they are really being cautious about not sharing a lot of detail about the extent to which those strikes were successful. And that's not just a decision by the Israeli military. That really is a top-down directive from the Israeli government, which is trying to make clear that they were successful in these strikes, that they sent a very clear message to Iran about the types of targets that they were able to hit, the extent to which they were able to disable their air defenses and hit their missile production facilities.

But they also don't want to put Iran in a position where there are images of the types of damage that have been done in a way that might corner Iran into retaliating in a more significant way going forward. And this is kind of part of this delicate dance that we are now watching take place in terms of the Israeli government not gloating too much, effectively, to put it in simple terms about the success of this attack, and the Iranian government on its side, we have seen them really play down the effects of this Israeli strike, insisting that their air defenses intercepted many of the strikes, even though we saw the images of plumes of smoke.

[14:20:03]

We know that for Iranian military personnel were indeed killed in these strikes. These were people who were manning air defense systems. But the Iranian government for now seems intent to downplay this. And it could point us in the direction of de-escalation, and that is indeed now the choice that Iran faces as they consider whether, on the one hand, to not respond and risk looking weak, or to respond in a way that could risk escalating tensions further at a moment when Iran is seeing a lot of economic difficulties, and also at a time when Iran's major proxies in the region have already been significantly damaged by Israel over the course of the last few months.

SCIUTTO: And perhaps from Israel's perspective, it as well is involved in a multifront war in Lebanon and Gaza as well. What is its appetite for further expanding the war? Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thanks so much.

I'm joined now for the Israeli government perspective by the Israeli ambassador, Danny Danon. Ambassador, thanks so much for taking the time to join us this evening.

DANNY DANON, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS: Thank you for having me, Jim.

SCIUTTO: First, I wonder if you could describe beyond retaliation for the Iranian missile barrage on Israel some three weeks ago and re- establishing deterrence, we hear that phrase often, can you describe in greater detail what the military objective of the Israeli strikes were overnight?

DANON: Well, first I want to remind you, Jim, that we had no conflict with Iran for years. They used their proxies to attack Israel. But for the first time, they started to attack Israel directly twice, once, a second time about a month ago. And we cannot sit idly by. We have to retaliate. We promised we will. And last night we did.

But unlike the Iranians, we targeted military infrastructure, not civilian targets. And our missiles or much more accurate, highly precise, with a very successful attack. And we send a very clear message to the Iranian regime. We have no desire to have a conflict with the Iranian regime. But if they will target Israel, we will be there. And what they saw last night was a small test, an example for our abilities.

SCIUTTO: Was there any intention to take out Iranian military capabilities, specifically missile defenses or air defense systems to allow at least the possibility for Israel to strike again in a broader form if it were to choose to do so?

DANON: I cannot go into the details, but one thing I can tell you that we proved last night that we can get anywhere in the Middle East. There is no target beyond our reach, and we showed that our air force is one of the strongest one, sophisticated one in the Middle East. Look at the map, see the distance between Israel and the targets that we hit last night, and you realize that we can target any location in Iran.

SCIUTTO: Can I ask you then to specify, did Iran -- did Israeli aircraft cross into Iranian airspace to carry out these strikes?

DANON: So will not go into those details, but I will tell you that we have the determination to defend ourselves. And if a year ago, some people thought that we are weak, we are defenseless, and maybe they hope that we are going to crumble under the pressure, they are mistaken. Look where we are a year after. We have the strength to strike back, and we have the ability to do it. Without going into the technicality, it's complicated to reach those destinations. It's complicated to target in a very precise way the military infrastructure. But we proved we are capable of doing it.

SCIUTTO: I want to ask now, if I can, about the status of talks in Gaza for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages. As you know, U.S. officials came to the region again, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in an attempt to revive those talks. Is there any progress? Do you have any hope of a ceasefire and hostage exchange on any scale coming together in the coming days and weeks?

DANON: So we are very determined to move forward, and we are willing to pay prices for that. Tomorrow the country will stop for a day to remember the massacre, but also to remember the 101 hostages still in the hands of Hamas. So yes, I can tell you that we are sending our top officials to continue with the negotiations.

[14:25:02]

It's hard because not only we have somebody from the other side to negotiate with, but we are determined to continue with the efforts to move forward.

SCIUTTO: Has there been any moving off the demand by Israel that it maintain a military presence along the border between Gaza and Egypt known as the Philadelphi Corridor? That had been a sticking point a number of weeks ago when the talks at the time again appeared to be moving closer to a deal. Is that still a demand?

DANON: Well, I think that how this spot in the negotiations, what will happen in Gaza the day after? We'll see that Hamas will not be in power. And for the future of Gaza, we believe that Hamas would not stay in power. But we are willing to make compromises for interim agreements to release hostages. Maybe not all of them at the same time. But I think for the long run, the international community should understand that there will be a future for Gaza only once Hamas will not be there. It's not our interests only. It should be the interests of the people of Gaza as well.

SCIUTTO: Well, I know I've spoken to many of the hostage families, as I'm sure you have as well, and they are certainly desperate for good news. Ambassador Danny Danon, we do appreciate you taking the time this evening.

DANON: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, back in the U.S., a very busy, busy day of politics for Harris and Trump as we enter the final stretch for Election Day less than two weeks away. Right after this break, we'll be back with more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:08]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Early voting is now underway in the state of New York. People went to the polls this morning to cast their ballot in a close race for president, but they're also voting in some pretty important congressional races that could determine who controls the House.

Our Gloria Pazmino joins us from a polling location in Long Island. And New York, Gloria, has some tight congressional races that could decide who gets control of the House. Talk to us about that.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Rahel, very closely watched elections here in New York. We are in the fourth congressional district, and that is just one of six closely watched races that, as you said, could determine the balance of power in the House of Representatives.

Now, here in New York four you have Anthony D'Esposito. He's the Republican incumbent facing off against a Democrat, Laura Gillen. It's actually a rematch from 2022 when D'Esposito flipped that seat along with several other Republicans that took seats in New York and shifted the balance of power two years ago.

Now, you can see many of these voters here have been waiting for a little over 45 minutes. We spoke to some of them. Most of them said that they don't mind, that they don't mind waiting in line, that they want to get this done, get it out of the way. It's the first day of early voting. Some of them told me that they don't know where they're going to be on Election Day or if they'll have the time to come on Election Day. So they wanted to come and get it done. Many of them said that this is a pivotal, extremely consequential election. And they said that they're worried about the economy, public safety, as well as the direction of the country. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE JOHNSON, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK VOTER: Hopefully D'Esposito wins.

PAZMINO: What do you like about him?

JOHNSON: He's a good dude, former law enforcement. Excuse me, firefighter, first responder. I think he's a good dude. I think he's way better than her. She was town supervisor over here and did absolutely nothing.

JEM DEMOSTHENES, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK VOTER: He can put himself on the garbage, I don't want to hear what he said. He is following the same thing with Donald Trump. I don't want to hear anything from him.

PAZMINO: So you feel like D'Esposito is lined up with Donald Trump. You don't want to support that?

DEMOSTHENES: No, I don't want to support him. Anyone in line with Donald Trump I'm not going to vote for.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAZMINO: Now, Rahel, it's important to mention that while New York historically has been a reliably blue state, there are parts of the suburbs that are purple and that are red, and that is part of what we're seeing play out here. There are some voters here who are supporting the Republican candidate, and there are others that are supporting the Democratic candidate. So while New York City might be a reliable Harris sort of stronghold, there is going to be a different kind of result and turnout in other parts of the state.

The campaigns have been focused on immigration, the economy, public safety. In fact, Laura Gillen, the Democrat, has said that she agrees that immigration is a top issue for this community. She has said that she wants to work across the aisle to make sure that the issue is fixed.

There are several people here who are supporting D'Esposito, the Republican incumbent, saying that they like his platform and that they are supporting Trump as well. There is a variety of opinions here, and that is the case across many of these different voting districts on Long Island and in other parts of the state. Rahel?

SOLOMON: Yes, but certainly a lot of people taking advantage of early voting, not just there in New York, but really all across the country. You're seeing tens of millions of people cast their votes early. Gloria Pazmino, thank you.

And after the disturbances that followed the 2020 election, election officials across the country are preparing to handle what they call a concerning list of poll watchers who might try to disrupt the vote. CNN's Sara Murray takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Theres some uncertainty heading into Election Day from both election officials as well as voting rights groups as they look at conservative groups and the Republican National Committee and their efforts to recruit tens of thousands of people to be poll watchers and election observers on Election Day.

[14:35:04]

We've seen a number of election skeptics show up and want to be more involved in the process. And that's led to some concerns that there could be more misinformation surrounding voting sites and counting centers or potentially disturbances.

And what we have seen is over the summer in Wisconsin, there was an incident where there were some unruly poll watchers who had to be removed by local law enforcement. Looking ahead at the statewide poll watcher list in Georgia, it includes a couple of people who were fake electors for Donald Trump in 2020, as well as a prominent election skeptic in the state. And the Republican National Committee has been clear that they want to be very aggressive in keeping an eye on what's happening at the polls. Take a listen to what RNC chair Michael Whatley had to say. MICHAEL WHATLEY, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: We are going to be aggressive. If you see things that are out there, send them to us, flag them. We're going to track them down. We're not going to wait until after the election is certified when it's too late to be able to go in and challenge these things.

MURRAY: The good news is election officials are so much more prepared than they were in 2020 to deal with any potential disturbances that may arise. They've taken steps to make these polling locations even more secure, to have a clearer line, if they need it, with local law enforcement.

And the message that election officials really want to get across is that they are going to do everything they can and to make sure people can cast their ballot safely and securely, whether it's an early voting or on Election Day.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

SOLOMON: All right, and when we come back, we will go to the key battleground state of Pennsylvania to talk to voters who cast their ballot for Nikki Haley in GOP primary. Why some of them think that voting against Trump could save the Republican Party coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:22]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. In a state that's competitive as battleground Pennsylvania, tiny shifts can make a big difference. CNN's John King spoke with voters in the Keystone state who cast their ballot for Nikki Haley in the GOP primary, and they explained how they plan to vote in the presidential election.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Michael Pesce is methodical, a stickler for detail and preparation. Pennsylvania's archery deer season is now open. This range, a place to shoot targets and adjust your gear. Rifle season is a month away, and at this stop, Pesce is no nonsense. Just a few shots to help him adjust the site, two more to let a visit get a feel for the 30 ought six deer rifle. Conservative in every way, no wasted shots or time, everything by the book, not a fan of surprises. Yet Pesce is voting for Kamala Harris because he is even less of a fan of Donald Trump.

You're going to vote for her, but do you know what you're getting?

MICHAEL PESCE, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: No, I don't. And that's the scary part is I'm not voting for a candidate. I'm not voting for a policy. I'm voting against a candidate and policies, and not even all the policies, just the unstableness of some of the things he says are truly scary. KING: Pesce as a Reagan Republican, supported Nikki Haley in this year's GOP primaries, a never Trumper in a place where that really matters, Bucks County, one of the suburban Philadelphia counties crucial to the math in battleground Pennsylvania. He wants his party back and sees a second Trump loss as essential.

PESCE: Then I think that the Republicans will start coming back to what they were because they don't have that radical right side. They don't have the craziness and the instability.

KING: Berks County is a bit more away from the city, more rural, and more Republican, yet not as deep and reliably red as just a few years ago.

JOAN LONDON, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: This neighborhood is becoming a lot like the Philadelphia suburbs. This is a primarily Republican leaning burrow, always has been. But when it comes to national elections, I do see more and more support for Democratic candidates.

KING: Attorney Joan London switched her registration to independent after voting for Haley in the GOP primary. London was asked to join this local political program not long after our first visit five months ago. Back then, she told us she would write in a conservative because she viewed President Biden as too old. And later, she told us she viewed Vice President Harris as too liberal and untested. But then she watched the Harris-Trump debate.

LONDON: The last straw was what he said about the Ukraine, where he said that we have to have a negotiated settlement. For someone who claims to be a conservative to say that was, in my opinion, outrageous. It's appeasement.

KING: So London is now voting Harris, voting Democrat for president for the first time because she believes Trump must lose, because she gets the battleground state math.

LONDON: I needed to vote against allowing him to become president again. I don't want it on my conscience that I contributed in some way to that. Sometimes you have to say American first, conservative second, Republican third.

KING: Media is in Delaware County, just outside Philly, reliably blue now. But still a test of whether Harris can match or exceed Biden's 2020 math. It's also a big test for Trump. He lost the Philly suburbs in 2016, but narrowly won statewide.

[14:45:02]

But he lost these suburbs by a bit more in 2020, and he narrowly lost Pennsylvania.

We're getting to the end here. Have you made up your mind?

CYNTHIA SABATINI, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: No.

KING: Cynthia Sabatini is another never-Trumper, another Haley primary voter, another Republican who won't vote for him, but isn't sure about her.

Finish the sentence. Madam Vice President, if you want my vote here in the very important Philadelphia suburbs you need to do --

SABATINI: You need to answer questions on point. You need to provide more details about your economic plan. You need to provide more details about your vision also for this country.

I'm, you know what, a bottom line person. I want details.

KING: Sabatini is mad at local Democrats she sees as tax and spend happy.

Is she going to pay the price for that?

SABATINI: She may. She may.

KING: But she does see an upside for Harris over Trump.

SABATINI: I believe she's a person of character. I have no qualms about that. I really do. I think she's an upstanding individual. It's just that I really don't know what to expect from her if she is indeed elected.

KING: Sabatini meditates frequently to clear her mind and reduce stress.

SABATINI: Deep inhalations and long exhalations.

KING: She predicts a final day decision to either vote for Harris or to write in Haley, a vote to help score the suburbs and settle the biggest of the battlegrounds.

John King, CNN, Media, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

SOLOMON: And for the first time in more than 40 years, "The Washington Post" will not endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 election. Fallout at the newspaper after the major change coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:51:38]

SOLOMON: A historic stand. For the first time in decades, "The Washington Post" will not endorse a candidate in this year's presidential election. It's a decision that sparked widespread criticism among the paper's staffers and prompted one columnist to resign, calling the decision an attempt by "Post" owner, Jeff Bezos, an attempt to appease Donald Trump. It comes just days after three editorial board members at "The L.A. Times" resigned over the owner's effort to block an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter weighs in now on the growing turmoil at one of the nation's largest newspapers.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Rahel. Yes, people inside "The Washington Post" are worried about a chilling effect now that the newspaper's billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, has decided not to make an endorsement in this year's presidential race. Bezos may be aiming for neutrality, striving for neutrality, but it's striking some readers of "The Post" as anything but.

Now, at newspapers like "The Washington Post," editorials written by a separate team, the opinion team, the opinion section that is separate from the newsroom. But in the 24 hours since Bezos's "Post" announced it will not make an endorsement this year, newsroom staffers, editors, and reporters have been inundated by messages from angry and disappointed reader who are concerned that Bezos might be appeasing Donald Trump.

See, the opinion team had already drafted an editorial endorsing Kamala Harris and warning of the threats posed by Donald Trump's authoritarian tendencies. But the owner of the paper, Bezos, who has owned "The Post" now for more than a decade, decided not to publish the endorsement. That's entirely his option because he is the owner of the paper. But historically, Bezos has been hands off with the post. So his involvement in this case is raising a lot of concern internally.

My reporting indicates that thousands of "Post" subscribers have reached out to cancel their subscriptions in the 24 hours since this news broke because they are worried about what this message is sent -- what kind of message is being sent here now.

Now, "Post" publisher Will Lewis, who was handpicked by Bezos to run the organization, says in a new statement to me today, "As publisher, I do not believe in presidential endorsements. We are an independent newspaper and should support our readers' ability to make up their own minds." He is refuting some reporting from "The New York Times" that he actually wanted to publish the endorsement of Harris until Bezos said not to.

The overarching story here is about a concern that billionaires like Bezos might be rolling over and appeasing Donald Trump even before the Election Day actually rolls around. This is known by some scholars as anticipatory obedience, the idea that some people obey in advance to curry favor with aspiring authoritarians. Certainly, many liberal critics of Trump believed that's exactly what's happening now at publications like "The Washington Post."

And I've heard from staffers inside "The Post," reporters and editors, who are worried about the chilling effect that this is having. As one source there said to me, we are talking internally about how to cover a possible second Trump term, and we're concerned that the owner wont have our backs.

The famed duo of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, who famously broke open the Watergate story for "The Post" decades ago, released a statement overnight saying the following, "We respect the traditional independence of the editorial page, but this decision 11 days from the election ignores the post own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Trump poses to democracy."

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Woodward and Bernstein credited Bezos with providing the paper, quote, abundant resources to cover that threat, and they said, that's what "makes this decision even more surprising and disappointing, especially this late in the electoral process."

So far, no word, no comment directly from Bezos. Rahel?

SOLOMON: All right, Brian, thank you.

And coming up, Israel launched direct strikes against Iran in retaliation to Tehran's ballistic missile attack earlier this month. Coming up, we are live in Jerusalem. We'll be right back.

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