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Michelle Obama Introduces VP Harris in Michigan; Trump Speaks at Pennsylvania Rally; Biden Hopes Israel's Strikes on Iran Be the End. New Polling Finds Harris, Trump In A Tossup With 10 Days To Go; Michelle Obama Takes Stage With Kamala Harris. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired October 26, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:21]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. And I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

Very soon Michelle Obama will be introducing Vice President Kamala Harris in Michigan, where early voting is now underway statewide. The former first lady joining a roster of A-listers who've stumped for Harris this week, including Beyonce, who appeared last night in Texas, as well as Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama earlier this week in Georgia.

Also happening, at any moment former president Donald Trump will take the stage in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. He was also in Michigan earlier today, his second event in the state in as many days. Trump also sitting for a marathon three-hour interview with Joe Rogan of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast yesterday. Now tomorrow Trump will hold a rally in New York City at Madison Square Garden, where he'll be joined by running mate J.D. Vance, as well as Elon Musk and Robert Kennedy.

In this exhaustive final push, could iconic venues, celebrity endorsements, and more influence move the needle in this razor tight race? We're 10 days away from election day in America. And a new CNN poll shows a dead heat between the two candidates among likely voters.

We're on the ground with both campaigns this afternoon. Let's start first with CNN's Eva McKend, who is with the Harris campaign in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Danny Freeman with team Trump in State College, Pennsylvania.

Eva, what are we expecting to hear from Michelle Obama, perhaps one of the most sought-after Democratic surrogates?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, the message from former first lady Michelle Obama is quite firm and quite clear. She is telling people don't sit around and looking at the polls get out and vote, get out and do something that this race is just too close. Vote like your life depends on it. She's also encouraging people to find volunteer events in their community. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: This presidential election is close. Too close. And with so much on the line, our freedoms, our future, our progress, it's easy to get a little nervous. But I want you all to listen to me. In this final stretch, we have to give it everything we've got. We need to vote like our lives depend on it, and show up in numbers that cannot be denied.

Look, Kamala Harris is putting in the work. We see it every day, but she can't win this thing alone. She needs our help. So don't just sit around and look at the polls or wait to be called. It's time to do something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: And Jessica, she went on to say that it's time to turn the page from what she characterizes as Trump's division, darkness, and incompetency. But listen, the vice president already here in Michigan also running on reproductive rights. The campaign confident in the strength of that argument. She visited with health care providers on the front lines and tells them that she is essentially in solidarity with them, and that this would be a core issue for her.

So that is very much what we expect her to lean into tonight, turning the page, a new generation of leadership, and doing all that she can to strengthen reproductive rights in this country -- Jess.

DEAN: All right. Eva McKend there in Michigan.

We'll continue to keep an eye on that event. But for now, let's go to Pennsylvania. CNN's Danny Freeman is with the Trump campaign in State College.

Danny, what's the pitch tonight to Pennsylvania voters?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, Jessica, it's been a whirlwind 24 hours for former president Donald Trump. As you noted at the top, he spent earlier today in the suburbs of Detroit. He also spent last night in Michigan as well, but it's really, when you're looking through the question of what his message may be, the biggest headline coming out of the past 24 hours really came from that Joe Rogan interview that he did prior to last night's Michigan rally.

It was a long, Jessica, three-hour meandering, really freewheeling conversation, not a ton of new ground was made. He continued one of his closing arguments calling Democrats the enemy within. He also spoke about immigration, taxes, his ambitious tariffs plan. But actually I want you to take a listen to one of the more interesting parts of the conversation with Joe Rogan, where the podcast host really pushed back on some of the former president Donald Trump's conspiracies about the 2020 election. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE" PODCAST: What, how do you think you were robbed? Everybody always cuts you off. I'm going to allow it. DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, they not only cut you

off -- well, what I'd rather do is we'll do it another time and I would bring in papers that you would not believe.

[16:05:06]

So many different papers. That election was so crooked. It was the most crooked election.

ROGAN: OK. But give me some examples of how.

TRUMP: Well, let's start -- let's start from the top.

ROGAN: OK.

TRUMP: And the easy ones.

ROGAN: OK.

TRUMP: They were supposed to get legislative approval to do the things they did and they didn't get it. In many cases they didn't get it.

ROGAN: What things?

TRUMP: Anything. And they made --

ROGAN: Legislative approval of?

TRUMP: Like for extensions of the voting, for voting earlier, for this --

ROGAN: Right.

TRUMP: All different things. By law, they had to get legislative approvals. You don't have to go any further than that. If you take a look at Wisconsin, they virtually admitted that the election was rigged, robbed, and stolen. They wouldn't give access in certain areas to the ballots because the ballots weren't signed. They weren't originals. They were -- we could go into this stuff. We could go into the ballots or we could go into the overall. I'll give you another one.

ROGAN: Are you going to present this ever?

TRUMP: Well, let me -- uh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: So, again, Jessica, a very interesting conversation when it comes to former president Trump's continued misinformation about election conspiracies from 2020. I will note, though, that interview with Joe Rogan, according to YouTube, has already been viewed over 16 million times, and going on that podcast really was an attempt by the campaign to reach a large number of voters, specifically perhaps younger men who might not otherwise be inclined to either get a vote or be plugged that much into politics. That's pretty much what we're going to see today here in State College

as well. We're on Penn State's campus. We're going to see former president Trump here really any moment now. And the goal here is to try and chip away at some of the support that Vice President Kamala Harris might have in a college town.

Centre County is where we are, Jessica, you know the commonwealth well. This has been a blue county over the past several democratic -- excuse me, over the past several presidential election cycles. So we'll see if the former president Trump can make some dense in this particular area -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, and Danny, worth noting in that clip that you showed from the podcast, there were dozens and dozens of lawsuits and none of them won in court. There was no evidence that that election was rigged or that anyone cheated.

Danny Freeman in State College, thank you so much for that.

Joining us now is legendary Democratic strategist, James Carville. His new CNN Film's documentary, "CARVILLE, WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID," set to air tomorrow night at 9:00. We're going to get to that in just a minute.

James, thanks so much for being here. I want to talk about this upcoming election with you. We're now just 10 days out, and this week you wrote an op-ed for "The New York Times" giving your three reasons why you said you're certain that Vice President Kamala Harris will win. "America, it will all be OK," you wrote.

Every poll so far has shown this could go either way. Our new CNN poll shows the two candidates locked in a tie at 47 percent and our latest polling average, no clear leader.

James, why are you so confident?

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think I laid it out in the "Times" piece. We have more money, we have more mobilization, we got a lot of things. One of the things that I didn't do because of space limitations that we're seeing this, we have incredibly more surrogates. We have two former presidents, we have every kind of cultural, entertainment, athletic surrogate that you can.

He's got nothing. RFK Jr. OK. Fine. Please put, Red Rover, Red Rover, send RFK Jr. right over. And I am, if anything, more bullish on her chances today than I was when I wrote that. And I think over the weekend, we're going to see some polling that's going to show her in a somewhat improved situation. And the way I see this thing closing is on very favorable terms to her. And every piece of information I've picked up today, both statistically and anecdotally, seems to be pointing in one direction. And I think the direction is she's going to win.

DEAN: And I don't have to tell you. I've seen the documentary, which by the way is great, and I've seen you work those songs. I know you're talking to everybody all the time, so I don't have to tell you that there is a lot -- there are a lot of Democrats and if you're in the beltway, if you're in that corridor, all you hear is they are really, really, it varies from anxious to just throwing their hands up. You know, that they're very concerned she will not win.

One of their criticisms that you hear, and you hear this from voters, too, to be fair, is that she is not clear enough on her policy positions. That they don't understand what she's trying to pitch to voters. Do you agree with that? And do you think that that will matter?

CARVILLE: Look, frankly that's the money question. Thank you so much for asking it. And Democrats are a lot of (INAUDIBLE) out here in Los Angeles, and if you want to see some lame, nervous, panicked people come to the west side of Los Angeles. I was in Manhattan, go to the upper east side of Manhattan. I mean, these people live petrified.

[16:10:04]

I don't live like that. And by the way, when said, well, you know, she's just not clear enough on her positions, let me say this. Donald Trump is very clear. He says I am going to use the military to arrest my political opponents. And then they dispatched -- Lindsey Graham goes on TV or Mike Johnson makes an utter fool of himself and said, oh, no, that's not what he really means. Then he comes back and says no, I really mean it.

So understand exactly what is going on. He's going to have a rally tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden that is going to mimic a Nazi rally of 20 February, 1939. And you know what the media is going to do? Simple, well, he had a rally that mimic Nazis and Kamala Harris was in Tucson, and had 12,000 people for a rally.

It's not the same thing. And we got surrogates coming out that are going to point this out and everybody -- always people I meet in airports like, quit being so nervous, go out and do your job and let's win this thing because we're going to win. It's just that simple. I feel very, very confident. I would not have done that as you know. You watched the documentary, I'm not a particularly ad hoc person.

And before I arrived at that decision, I talked to a lot of people, I looked at a lot of data, and four days after I wrote it I'm more convinced than I was when I wrote it.

DEAN: Yes. And in that op-ed, you really make the case that Americans have rejected this dark vision for the future. They have essentially rejected Trump at every turn since he won in 2016. And I'm curious what makes you believe that Americans will do that yet again? Because you point to the fact that 2022, 2018, 2020, you know, you go through all those elections.

CARVILLE: Well, one of the things that that document didn't point out about me that's true is I'm a horse degenerate. I like to bet on horse races. And if I see a horse that's won four races in a row, I'm going to say, well, I don't have to beat me because I think the horse (INAUDIBLE), going to lose yet. That's what the Democrats do. But you have this professional I got to be fair crowd or just like,

I'm just saying what I see. OK? I'm just a truth teller. Well, I'm a truth teller. We have not lost, if you say we lost 2016, OK. I'll buy into the (INAUDIBLE), but we lost. We won in 2018, we won in 2020, we won in 2022. We won in Long Island. We won in Florida and we won in Alabama, we won in Alaska. We're just winning everywhere and every so- called cable TV jock, or you know, at-home quat of polling analyst, says, well, but you got to look at where independents are here, what's happening to young black males under 30 and a bunch of nonsense that people don't have any idea what they're talking about.

So I'm, you know, I'm not a guy that tends to equivocate much but when I arrived at a decision, I like to think that I'll give it some thought and I think that Harris is going to win the presidency next Tuesday. I just do.

DEAN: What do you think -- and look, you're talking about all the pundits and everybody that has opinions. But what do you think is the bumper sticker message that Harris closes with? We know that she's really highlighting the threat obviously to democracy. She was heavy on the reproductive rights issue, especially last night with Beyonce in Texas.

What do you think is really going to connect and really motivate those people to vote for her?

CARVILLE: It's the Constitution, stupid. We have lived down this Constitution since March of 1789. Trump is telling you that he is going to dismantle the entire constitutional order in the United States. He is telling you that he is going to turn the government over to a pack of theocrats and he's going to turn foreign policy over to a pack of billionaires. You can see the evidence of this every day that you exist.

And do I wish early on that we'd had a little stronger position about helping the middle class? Probably so. But here we go, we got nine days to go and the existence of the Constitution and the system of government that we have had and treasured for so long in this country is at risk. Plain and simple. And it needs to be covered that way. And I am highly critical of 80 percent of the media coverage that tells me that I do not understand their jobs.

Understand it clearly, your job in Birmingham was not to cover Bull Connor and Martin Luther King equally.

[16:15:02]

Your job after Pearl Harbor was not to cover Tojo and Franklin Roosevelt equally. And we have to understand that our existence as a constitutional republic is at severe risk here, and we have to explain it to people in plain unambiguous everyday language that our children are going to accept the consequences of our negligence, and I will take fair coverage that people come out So that's what I think we should do between now and election day.

DEAN: Yes. It's the Constitution, stupid. That's it. That's what you're saying the bumper sticker should be.

CARVILLE: I'll try to come up with something better, but for right now I'm going to go with the Constitution, stupid. That's what's at risk here.

DEAN: And so on that note about coverage and how you think it should be handled, we see the "Washington Post," the "L.A. Times," the editorial boards choosing not to endorse a candidate, announcing this less than two weeks before the election obviously. I have a feeling you're going to say that the "Washington Post" endorsing a candidate is not going to move the needle for most of America, probably almost all of America.

But what do you think it says more broadly about the fact that they're pointing a finger at Jeff Bezos and said we were all ready to go and that's why we didn't do it.

CARVILLE: That's something that people instinctively know and does nothing but prove it that corporate power runs, is responsible for a lot of public opinion in the United States. Now, you said something I want to address that really what good does it do if the "Washington Post" endorses somebody. And I'm not -- I tend to agree with that. In down-ballot races, you know, for maybe state judge, city council, state legislature, it may matter.

But what I think is going to matter is it's so public that they didn't endorse someone and at the same time that you have Jeff Bezos ordering the "Washington Post" not to endorse anybody at the same time you have the gentleman that owns the "New York Times" ordering them, I mean, the "Los Angeles Times." You have reports that Elon Musk is talking to Putin on a daily basis.

So everything is being outsourced to corporate power including, including foreign policy and domestic policy is being outsourced to Project 2025, which wants to return a theocracy to the United States. That's not in the Constitution. That is anti-constitutional. And they're telling you right to your face this is what they're going to do. And I got to listen to a bunch of idiots out there on television tell me how he has said I must be fair. I can do no other. I can only speak the truth.

Well, speak the truth. For once in your ignorant, flexible life, tell people what's going on.

DEAN: All right. And I want to ask you, too, about your --

CARVILLE: I mean, I had to throw my opinion, I guess.

DEAN: Well, that's why we have you on. We want to hear those opinion.

CARVILLE: Well, thank you. Well, thank you. Thank you for giving me the platform.

DEAN: I do want to ask you before I let you go about the documentary.

CARVILLE: Yes, ma'am. DEAN: It takes us through these really fraught 18 tempestuous months

inside what is likely to be the most consequential election in our history. And all from your vantage point. I had the director on it. He said that when you guys started filming, obviously they didn't know, you guys didn't know how this would unfold and what would happen. And I just, I'm curious, it's now been out. We're going to air it again tomorrow.

CARVILLE: Right. Yes.

DEAN: What's the reaction been to you? And what does this film mean to you coming out right at this moment, too?

CARVILLE: Well, it's coming out my 80th birthday. I never should say this and reveal it. Something I got a call from the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak today. And I got a call from former United States president Bill Clinton to wish a happy birthday and tell me both how much they enjoyed the film. So I was very moved and very touched by that. I hope they're not too mad at me for disclosing a personal phone call.

But I do think -- and CNN has been just an awesome partner in this entire thing. And I'll be honest with you, my fondest hope for this film is that young people watch it and say, you know, it's honorable business.

DEAN: Yes.

CARVILLE: That's about it.

DEAN: And the next-gen, right, coming up behind you there. Well, happy birthday to you.

CARVILLE: Well, thank you very much. A big honor to be part of CNN on this and to be on your program. Good luck to you. Thank you.

DEAN: All right. Thank you, James Carville. We appreciate it so much.

And the CNN Film "CARVILLE, WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID" airs tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

[16:20:01]

Still to come today, President Biden says he hopes this is the end of the escalation in the Middle East after Israel launched a wave of retaliatory strikes against Iran. We're going to have a live report from that region.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: An all-out war in the Middle East appears to have been avoided, at least for now. Israel says its retaliatory missile strikes against Iranian military targets are now over but that the IDF will carry out more attacks if necessary. [16:25:05]

President Biden has been urging calm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was on with the intelligence community for the last half hour. We've got power and it looks like they didn't hit anything other than military targets. My hope is this is the end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Dozens of Israeli air force planes flew in the overnight attacks responding to Iran's barrage of missiles at Israel earlier this month.

Our Jeremy Diamond is joining us now from Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, what more do we know about these strikes and the fallout surrounding them?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, over the course of about four hours overnight, dozens of Israeli military carried out three waves of attacks against Iranian military targets. They said that these were precise strikes and that they did not go after those energy targets like oil or nuclear, which we know the Israeli government had initially been considering before the United States effectively talked Israel off of that ledge.

We understand that the Israeli military struck both missile production sites, as well as air defense systems. I was just told by an Israeli official that multiple S-300 air defense systems located in strategic locations inside of Iran were struck by the Israeli military and that official believes that this, quote, "directly translates" into giving the Israeli air force increased ability to maneuver over Iranian skies should it decide to carry out additional strikes, and crucially, should Iran choose to retaliate.

And that is indeed the question at this moment is to what extent is -- what kind of calculations really is Iran going to make here? Will they choose to retaliate which carries with it the risk of escalating the situation further, perhaps drawing it into all-out war directly with Israel or will it choose not to? And that also carries the risk of course of Iran looking weak in the eyes of its population, but also among hardliners inside of Iran as well as among its proxies and allies in the region which have been significantly weakened themselves already by the Israeli military over the course of the last few months.

And I'm told by an Israeli source familiar with the thinking that the Israeli government wanted to make sure that they actually did damage in these strikes last night, demonstrating its intelligence and military capabilities to strike deep inside of Iran. But now we've heard relatively little from the Israeli government about the specific nature of these targets. And also the extent of the damage. And that is intentional I'm told to give Iran the opportunity to downplay these strikes and perhaps to head towards de-escalation.

For now that appears to be the path that Iran is choosing, but that doesn't mean that that's ultimately their final decision -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Jeremy Diamond for us in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much for that reporting.

Still ahead tonight, we're going to run the numbers. Our Harry Enten joins us to break down the latest trends and what it means for both campaigns with 10 days to go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:27]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: The race for the White House is coming down to the wire. Polls have consistently shown a incredibly, historically tight race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. And joining us now to run the numbers is CNN Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten.

Always our favorite time with you, Harry, when you run the numbers. It's pretty close. How close is it in the most important states?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes. How close is it, I feel like every single time around the merry go round we go, we try and find a different way to say it's close. This time I even just have it on the title screen, right? Make it simple for folks.

The race is close, but if we want to break it down into some numbers here. Look, this, to me, is the simplest way to sort of show up mathematically. Kamala Harris likely must carry three of these four states to win. These are the states that are most likely going to determine who the next president of United States is.

You look in North Carolina. Look at this, Donald Trump with less than a point lead. Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, that great blue wall in the Great Lakes states, Harris ahead by less than a point, less than a point, less than a point. When you're showing the four most important states and the margin in all four of them is one of the candidates up by less than a point, I'm not quite sure there's any other way to put it, then this race is really, really close.

DEAN: Mm-hmm, yes. I think you hit the nail on the head there. What does it mean if you broaden out for the electoral map then?

ENTEN: Yes. So right now, these are the four most important states. So let's just say that the polls were exactly 100 percent correct, and so the results match the polls and Harris wins Pennsylvania up here in blue. What does that mean?

Well, it means Kamala Harris gets 276 electoral votes. Of course, you need 270 to win. Hence, the road to 270. So she just gets over that mark. But it's so simple, so simple to give the election to Donald Trump. So I mentioned Pennsylvania. What happens if the results match the polls exactly but Trump wins Pennsylvania? We turn Pennsylvania light, red or pink. Then we get Donald Trump at 281 electoral votes. When just one state, flipping one state could turn a loser into a winner and vice versa, I'm not quite sure that there's any way else to put it than what I said at the very top. This race is close, Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, it is. But historically, how close is it?

ENTEN: Yes. So, you know, we're talking about all this, and oftentimes to say this race is historically close. And, you know, we look at the popular vote polls. So I decided to do it a slightly different way, which is OK.

[16:35:04]

What I'm going to do is, at the end of each election cycle, I said, OK, how did the polls look and what was the projected count in the Electoral College? Well, this particular point at the polls are exactly right, Kamala Harris will get 276 electoral votes. That is the lowest level for a leader at the end of a campaign in terms of the projected electoral map going back since at least 1972.

In 2000, Al Gore was projected to get 281 electoral votes. Of course, the polls missed in Florida. It flipped. George W. Bush won that campaign. In 2004, look at that, George W. Bush was projected to get 296 electoral votes.

The polls were actually pretty gosh darn close. The only state they missed was Wisconsin actually. That state flipped into John Kerry's column. But the bottom line is this, at this particular point this is the closest race heading into an election on record, at least over the last 52 years or so, Jessica.

DEAN: It is incredible. And I'm sure -- I can't imagine how people ask you, well, what's going to happen, who's going to win. And it is just -- this is as close as you can get. I do want to ask you --

ENTEN: Yes.

DEAN: Yes, about a trend in the national data that you've looked at, and you say it's not great for Harris, pretty great -- pretty good for Trump. What have you found?

ENTEN: Yes. I think that's exactly right. You know, it's not great for Harris, it's pretty good for Trump. It's not perfect, though. Look, Harris' net favorability rating. You know, you go back to July, you know, what is that, three months ago, she was at minus 10 points.

Then you just sort of saw this upward trajectory, minus two, then plus one. She was becoming more popular. Then all of a sudden, the popularity trend has reversed, and now she's back in a negative territory. Compare that to Donald Trump, where, if you compare where his net favorability is.

Look, Harris is still more popular than he is, but his trend compared 2016 at this point to 2020, at this point to 2024, minus 25, minus 12, minus 7. Donald Trump has never gone into a general election as popular as he is today, whether or not that's enough, given that Harris is still slightly more popular than he is, only time will tell, Jessica.

DEAN: Very interesting, all right. As always, Harry Enten, thank you so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, the gender gap more like a gorge in politics these days, how Harris is reaching out to men while Trump calls the women of "The View," "stupid." You're in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:00]

DEAN: All right. You are looking live at Vice President Kamala Harris. She is there with former First Lady Michelle Obama, who was just speaking there in the overflow room in Michigan. I think we're going to listen for just a moment here.

(BEGIN LIVE COVERAGE)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), US VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- we will win. And in the process over these next 10 days, we are also doing the work of building community, building coalitions, reminding folks that we are all in this together, lifting each other up, reminding ourselves and each other that we have so much more in common than what separates us.

That's what our campaign is about. It is a people power campaign. And because it is a people power campaign, we will win because we know what we stand for, so we know what to fight for.

And when we fight, we win. God bless you. I'll see you soon.

(END LIVE COVERAGE)

DEAN: All right. There they are together, Vice President Kamala Harris with former First Lady Michelle Obama. Again, this is the overflow room that you're looking at there in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We are preparing to hear from both Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris on the main stage. We're going to bring you those remarks live as they happen, so we'll keep an eye on that.

In the meantime, joining us now is CNN Political Analyst and Axios Political Reporter Alex Thompson and National Political Reporter at the Bulwark Marc Caputo. Good to see both of you.

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Great to be here.

DEAN: Marc, let's start first with you. We're watching Vice President Harris there in the overflow room with former First Lady Michelle Obama. We are seeing the Harris campaign really bring out some serious star power in their surrogates to close this election, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Michelle Obama.

I just had James Carville on. He was making the case that he thinks that those types of surrogates can really be effective in motivating voters to actually vote. What is your sense?

MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, BULWARK: I must admit, I don't know what motivates people anymore. Don't get me wrong. At the end of the campaign, you want -- at the end of the campaign, you want your candidates to have big, splashy rallies with lots of people attesting to why people should vote for them. And so in that respect, this is a great idea for Kamala Harris.

And if Donald Trump had the ability to muster a relative amount of star power to that, he would do it. He just can't. That haven't been said.

What we've seen over the past few weeks, all the polling and in the body language the campaigns, it's just an incredibly tight race, and one that's getting tighter and is drifting more in favor, doesn't mean he's going to win of Donald Trump. So this is not only a good idea and a good thing for Kamala Harris' campaign, but it's something that's necessary for her to do as well.

[16:45:02]

DEAN: Yes. And, Alex, what is your sense in talking to your sources about this kind of close. But it's something that's necessary for her to do as well. Yes, and

Alex, what is your sense in talking to your sources about this kind of closing 10 days and the strategy to really close this out?

THOMPSON: Well, sources at the Harris world have told me that you'll note that there is one major Democrat who is not appearing with Kamala Harris in the final week, and that is the sitting president, Joe Biden. The Harris aides are a little bit weary of appearing with him, in part, because it would tether her to what is an unpopular administration. I believe the latest average of his approval rating was below 40 percent.

Now, he did go to Pittsburgh on his own today, in that critical state of Pennsylvania. The other thing is, you know, to Marc's point, this is about rallying the base. I was in Atlanta for Barack Obama's rally with Harris, and it was very clear this is one of the most diverse counties in all of Georgia. And they -- it was very clearly geared towards black men. Not only did you have Barack Obama but you had Samuel Jackson, Spike Lee, Tyler Perry.

The intent was, as polling has shown, a drift of some black men to Donald Trump, they wanted to double down and make sure that they can stop any of that bleeding.

DEAN: All right. We're going to take a quick break, stay with us. We're also going to talk about the former president and his campaigning today as well. We're going to take a quick break, we'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:07]

DEAN: All right. You are looking at State College Pennsylvania. We're expecting to see former President Donald Trump here in just a little bit. I want to bring back our panel, Alex Thompson and Marc Caputo. Thanks guys for hanging with us.

Let's continue our conversation. Marc, first starting with you. We know now these venues where Harris and Trump are going to effectively make their closing arguments to Americans. And for Trump, it's going to be right down the street from where I am right now, Madison Square Garden in New York. And for Harris, it's the Ellipse outside the White House.

Walk people through these sites and how and why they're being picked.

CAPUTO: Well, for Trump, Madison Square Garden is as much about the final stage of his campaign being about rally and spectacle as it is about just Donald Trump, even though he's now a Florida man, still always having a New York state of mind.

He grew up in Queens. He looked across the river. He saw Madison Square Garden. He always wanted to be there. And according to some of the sources and confidants with whom I've spoken for a piece I did in the Bulwark, he was "obsessed" with this. He has an obsession.

He's always wanted to do it. He's told people, I'm going to fill the Garden. I'm going to fill the Garden. All indications are that he will tomorrow.

Now, will he have a different message in closing than he has had during the campaign? You know, Donald Trump, when you start talking about message discipline, that's not his strong suit, that's not what he does. So I'm not quite sure what his closing message is going to be beyond what he always says, which is a lots of things.

But in the end, the important thing is the actual forum. That's the message for Donald Trump. I'm in New York. I'm doing it, and everyone watch me.

DEAN: And then, Alex, what about with Harris? I mean, she's making a very going to the Ellipse, where Trump spoke on January 6. This is very purposeful in why she's selecting that spot.

THOMPSON: Yes. And her campaign is calling it her closing argument. I talked to a senior Harris official and that's the words they use. What's really striking about it is, honestly, this could have been Joe Biden's closing argument if he had stayed in the race. He had really framed much of his candidacy around arguments about democracy, about January 6. They thought this was going to be --

DEAN: Alex, I'm so sorry to interrupt you but we've got Michelle Obama on stage, so we're going to go to her. So sorry. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE COVERAGE)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER US FIRST LADY: Oh my goodness. That's Michigan. Oh my goodness.

OK, all right. Oh my goodness. All right, all right. You guys -- you guys -- you guys have been here for a little bit, so we want to -- we want to get this show on the road, especially for our folks standing here in the mosh pit. Hang on there. I love you.

Well, let me just start by saying hello Kalamazoo, or should I say Kamala-zoo? Who is ready to elect the next president of the United States Kamala Harris?

So let me start, of course, by thanking Hallie for everything she's done to get out the vote here in Michigan. But most of all, I want to thank all of you because, oh, 100 years old. No, oh my goodness. You look amazing.

[16:55:10]

I bowed down. Doesn't it feel good to be together? I mean, it feels so good. I haven't done this in such a long time. It feels good to see how strong, how hopeful, how energized, how organized we all are.

And we need that. We need all of you, because right now, as you know, this race is close. It's too close for my liking. And I came out here to Michigan because I am someone who takes her own advice to heart. I know that if we want to help this country finally turn the page on the politics of hatred and division, we can't just sit around and complain.

No, we've got to do something. If we want to usher in the next generation of American leadership, we have got to do something. If we want to elect someone with a character that is worthy of the Oval Office, someone with the strength of heart to guide our country to a better day, we have got to what?

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): Do something!

M. OBAMA: And that someone, of course, is my dear friend Kamala Harris. And Michigan, I am so hopeful about the energy and poise, and joy that Kamala has injected into this race. And if you know Kamala like I do, that's no surprise.

I mean, think about it, no one could have predicted the way everything would have unfolded this summer. And yet, in a critical moment when our country needed her, Kamala couldn't have been more prepared to meet that moment, and she's met it every single day since.

She's filling arenas in a way we haven't seen for years. She's building a remarkable campaign in record time, dominating her opponent so thoroughly in the debate he was too scared to face her again.

Kamala, she's putting herself out there fearlessly facing down even her harshest critics. She's seeking out Republicans to find common ground. And unlike her opponent, she's not ducking interviews or cowering in safe spaces only with fawning audiences. No, she's showing us what a sane stable leader looks like.

She's not losing her train of thought or stumbling over her words, and she's doing it all with vigor and with grace. That's because Kamala Harris is a grown up and Lord knows we need a grown up in the White House, someone with the maturity and fresh ideas to keep moving our country forward.

Kamala is the only candidate, the only candidate in this race who has outlined a clear set of policies, including focusing on lowering costs and reducing drug prices for all Americans. Giving tax credits to first time home buyers, folks starting small businesses and working families raising our kids.

Let me tell you, it is a remarkable plan, and these remarkable last few months mirror the way Kamala has handled herself her entire life. Fighting for working people and the vulnerable, first as a prosecutor, then as an attorney general, then as a US senator, and now as our vice president of the United States, taking on the big banks, the transnational gangs and predatory for profit colleges and always, always doing it, holding her head high with warmth and dignity and class.

So, Michigan, do not buy into the lie that we do not know who Kamala is or what she stands for. This is someone who understands you, all of you, someone from a middle class family raised mostly by her mom, like so many of us, leaning on her neighbors, like we all do. That's what you want in a president.