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Harris & Trump Campaign In Multiple Swing States Today; Israel Strikes Baalbek In Lebanon After Ordering Evacuations; Humanitarian Crisis Deepens By the Day In Gaza; What Latino Voters Are Saying In Battleground Nevada; CNN & Clemson University Probe Into Russia's Attempts On Elections; Yankees Avoid Elimination With 11-4 Win Over Dodgers. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 30, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:34]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: It is 7:00 p.m. in London, 10:00 p.m. in Moscow and 3:00 p.m. here in Atlanta. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's get straight to our top stories. Three battleground states in one day, Vice President Kamala Harris is racing to the finish line with less than a week until the election. Earlier, as she spoke in Raleigh, North Carolina, and she is expected to touch down in Pennsylvania within the hour.

And after that rally finishes, wheels will go back up for Harris to fly out to Wisconsin. The multiple campaign stops appear to be making a difference at the 11th hour, a brand-new CNN poll shows Harris holding a slight edge over Donald Trump in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin. But Pennsylvania, which many expect to be the closest state in the race, remains a dead heat.

Last night, Harris made her final appeal to undecided voters at a very symbolic venue. The vice president chose the ellipse the same place where Donald Trump spoke nearly four years ago on January 6, before his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol. Here's just a part of what Harris had to say on her plans to unite the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Unlike Donald Trump, I don't believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. I'll give them a seat at the table. I pledge to you, to approach my work with the joy and optimism that comes from making a difference in people's lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, let's take a closer look at the pitch that Kamala Harris is making to voters in North Carolina.

CNN's Eva McKend joins us now from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Eva, if you can hear me, I know we're having some troubles with connection, but if you can hear me, the White House is trying to clean up from the mess that President Biden essentially made with the remarks when he appeared to call Trump's supporters are garbage. I just talked to us about how that Harris campaign is responding.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: They are, Lynda. And listen, the vice president said today that she would never denigrate anyone based on who they decide to vote for.

But it also flies in the face of everything that she has been campaigning on. This is why this is such an unforced error for Democrats so much of her campaign has been grounded in this message of bringing Republicans into the fold, investing in Republicans for Harris, making this argument that there may be some voters out there undecided who may not agree with her on every policy matter. But ultimately that the former president is unhinged, unfit and does not respect democracy.

I spoke to North Carolina's Democratic governor about this, Roy Cooper. He ultimately says that it is this message, her message that will win the day and that people are missing how much Democrats are especially viable in this state in this cycle.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ROY COOPER (D), NORTH CAROLINA: We need to pay attention to what she's saying. She is running for president of the United States. Her message is clear. She has said that many times today, and we're going to continue to focus on her message. Ive said many times that I have a 2008 feeling about this election that's the last time we voted for Barack Obama for president.

Kamala Harris has created that same kind of excitement in North Carolina.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: And, Lynda, the reason why Governor Cooper is feeling so confident is because they think that they can run on the strength of this argument over reproductive rights. As for that Republicans for Harris message just give you a sense of how much they're trying to drive this home, the woman that introduced the vice president here in Raleigh, she is a former Trump supporter. She voted for the former president in 2016, but now she says that people need to think about patriotism, need to think about country over party and is especially concerned about reproductive health care, about IVF accessibility -- Lynda.

KINKADE: Certainly key issues there. Eva McKend for us in Raleigh, North Carolina, good to have you with us. Thank you.

Well, Donald Trump is also fighting for the battleground states with just six days until Election Day.

[15:05:02] Just hours before Harris takes to the stage in Madison, Wisconsin, tonight, the former president will speak in Green Bay. Moments ago, Trump held a dueling rally in North Carolina, where he once again used President Biden's garbage comments to attack Harris.

CNN's Steve Contorno has been tracking that rally and joins us with the details from Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Good to have you with us, Steve.

So, CNN's latest polling shows that Trump is starting to slip in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin.

What's his message to voters in these critical battleground states?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: I would sum it up in one word, fear. Be afraid of migrants, be afraid of crime, be afraid, they're going to take your guns away. That is the message that Donald Trump just delivered just behind me moments ago to this crowd in North Carolina, which is interestingly just about an hour away. From where the vice president held her rally, just showing how these two campaigns are converging on each other in the final moments of this race.

He also is pushing very heavily and seizing on these remarks from President Biden, and this inarticulate gaffe of trying to criticized him for claiming that Puerto Ricans were garbage or that comedian at his rally using that term.

Take a listen to what he said to this crowd earlier today about Joe Biden's message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Last night, Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them garbage. And they mean it, even though without question my supporters are far higher quality than crooked Joe or lyin' Kamala.

My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple: you can't lead America if you don't love Americans. Joe Biden's comments were the direct result of Kamala's and Tim Walz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: The other message for Donald Trump today to his supporters was the one in the sign behind me that his vote early about 3.4 million people have already cast their ballots in the state of North Carolina. That's about 40 percent turnout already. And we're still six days away from the election, and these messages encouraged his people to vote early are coming even as he already is sowing doubt about the security of this election and he's raising alarms about some ballot issues in Pennsylvania, claiming that this is an evidence that there already efforts to undermine the election there.

That is obviously, and I baseless conspiracy that he is pushing very similar to what he had to say in a 2020 election but here we are less than a week until the election and he has already putting that message out there trying to get his supporters to vote, even as he tells them that there are problems with voting.

KINKADE: All right. Steve Contorno, good to have you with us. Just an incredible turnout already in the early voting. Thanks so much.

Well, the finish line is within sight with just six days until the election.

I want to welcome our panel today, CNN's political analysts Alex Thompson and Laura Barron-Lopez.

Good to have you both with us.

So the fallout over these disparaging remarks about Puerto Rico certainly continues. I just want to roll some sound for our viewers about what was said at the Trump rally. And then of course, President Biden's reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY HINCHCLIFFE, COMEDIAN: There's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it's called Puerto Rico.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Puerto Rico, where I'm in my home state of Delaware, they're good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters his -- his demonization is unconscionable and is un-American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: So Biden trying to clarify that gaffe saying he was speaking about those speakers, the comedian, but I wanted to just take a quick look back through our archives and you'll find Trump has referred to the U.S. as garbage quite a few times and has ridiculed voters from the Democratic Party. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're a dumping ground. We're like -- we're like a garbage can for the world.

We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.

I'll tell you what any African an American, or Hispanic and you know how well I'm doing there, that votes for Kamala, you got to have your head examine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Laura, I want to ask you about this. So all in all, how much damage has been done on both sides with regards to these comments over Puerto Rico? LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Well, I think that I'm glad that you played that montage there, Lynda, because these are two very different things.

[15:10:03]

President Biden made a gaffe and he very quickly clarified it. Vice President Harris has said this entire campaign that she wants to work with Republicans, have Republicans in her cabinet, is seeking Republican votes. Donald Trump, on the other hand, has never explicitly apologized for those speakers' comments, has tried to say he days later that he didn't know that comedian, but those weren't the only offensive and racist and lewd comments made at that Madison Square Garden rally.

That same comedian also said that Latinos are only interested in having babies and invading countries with the babies that they have. People called Harris the antichrist or evil. That Donald Trump has also repeatedly said for more than the last year, basically his entire campaign, he has called Democrats vermin. He has called Democrats the enemy within, echoing language would used by Nazis in the 1930s.

So there's two very different things happening here. I do not think that Biden's comments are some firestorm that is upsetting voters. I haven't -- I regularly text with moderate Republican voters in swing states a lot of them were not aware of his comments necessarily right now.

The thing that I think has broken through and potentially has some momentum that could harm Donald Trump with Latino voters, are those, those racist comments about Puerto Ricans? Because I was texting with Puerto Ricans in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which has some 51,000 Puerto Rican voters, eligible voters there. That's in a key swing state, and they're not happy about those comments.

And local Spanish-language radio stations, they are getting calls from the Puerto Rican voters in their communities saying that they're rethinking whether or not they support Trump or some who were not interested in voting at all now feel motivated to vote.

KINKADE: Wow, that is interesting.

Alex, I want to go to you because Trump is certainly laying the groundwork to question the integrity of this election. There are already dozens of lawsuits about voter registration pushed by, by Trump aligned groups even before we know the outcome of this election.

What does that tell you?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It tells me that this is not going to be over on Election Day, especially if he's behind. I'm reminded of a comment that his co one of his co campaign managers, Chris LaCivita, told I believe it's "The New York Times", "Wall Street Journal" recently, which he said the election is not over on election day, it's over on inauguration day, which means that you -- Donald Trump believes to his core that the election -- you know, baselessly, that the election was stolen from him in 2020, and is willing to go even beyond January 6. This time through if he feels that he's behind.

KINKADE: And, Laura, we heard from the former Republican presidential nominee, Nikki Haley, who has spoken about the problems within the Trump campaign. After that New York rally, just take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, FORMER U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This bromance and masculinity stuff -- I mean, it borders on edgy to the point that it's going to make women uncomfortable. You know, you've got affiliated packs that are doing commercials about calling Kamala the C-word, or you had speakers at Madison Square Garden, you know, referring to her and her pimps.

That is not the way to win women. That is not the way to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: So, Nikki Haley, of course, has called Trump unhinged in the past. She is the former U.N. ambassador. She has since endorsed Trump but she said she remains on standby to be deployed by the campaign. She hasn't been asked. Is that a mistake?

BARRON-LOPEZ: At this -- at this point, I'm not sure how much deploying Nikki Haley would help in the final days. That being said, I mean, the numbers speak for themselves, Lynda, which is that Harris by double digits, some is far exceeding Donald Trump when it comes to support amongst young women and she is ahead of him when it comes to support with women. Donald Trump is starting to see a bit of more support amongst young men, those Gen Z young men, but Harris well still win the majority of them.

So I think women are going to certainly be a very determining factor in this election, especially in the swing states. And we heard last night from Harris and her campaign themselves that they really are betting on that, that they feel as though if they can build on the momentum of 2022 when women voted against Republicans, sometimes for the first time because of the issue of abortion and reproductive rights, that they hope that they can build on those numbers this year.

KINKADE: Yeah. And that is a big issue people are turning out to vote on.

Alex, here in the battleground state of Georgia, more than half a million people who did not vote in the presidential election four years ago have cast their ballot early. That includes new residents, new citizens like me and, of course, those who've turned 18 since the last election.

What does that suggest?

[15:15:02]

THOMPSON: The problem with all of these early voting numbers is that COVID from four years ago throws off any real viable comparison. It's actually better to almost compare it to 2016 than to 2020. The other problem with comparing it to the last election is that in 2020, Democrats in mass voted early and Republicans, in part because Donald Trump was sowing doubt about voting early, they did not vote as early.

Now, you have seen Republicans get out and do early voting a bunch of these swing states, but Democrats that I've talked to, especially I once on the Harris campaign, believes that these were people that were going to vote anyway, they just happen to be voting early.

So it actually doesn't suggest, you know, enthusiastic voters get as many votes as unenthusiastic voters. So they, at the moment are not worried about this sort of surge and early vote among some Republicans.

KINKADE: All right, interesting perspective. Alex Thompson and Laura Barron-Lopez, good to have you both on the program. Thank you.

THOMPSON: Thanks.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, still to come, Israel's strikes that historic city in northern Lebanon, even as it pursues a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah. We'll have the latest in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back.

Well, for the first time in Israeli-Hezbollah war, an entire city in northern Lebanon is under evacuation orders, as Israel carries out powerful strikes.

Take a look at the scene here in Baalbek, an historic city that's home to Roman ruins. A regional governor says intense raids are underway there. Roads out of the city with jammed with cars as residents tried to escape in a panic. Israel's army said its targeting Hezbollah interests.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with security officials on Tuesday to discuss ceasefire efforts. And Israeli official telling CNN that Israel, the U.S. and Lebanon are pursuing a deal to stop the fighting in Lebanon for at least a month.

[15:20:02]

With just days after the U.N. warned that Israel is separating families in northern Gaza in taking men and boys away by the truckload, a disturbing images surfaced showing hundreds of Palestinians crouched in the ruins of Jabalia. Witnesses say Israeli forces detain them as they were trying to flee their homes under evacuation orders and then force them to strip also disturbing scenes from Gaza City, Palestinians say at least five people were killed when Israel hit a market. A bystander said the victims were civilians looking for something to eat.

One boy made this heartbreaking appeal.

(BEGI VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Oh, world, feel with us. We are tired. (INAUDIBLE) is spread around. Call us ambulances, bring us ambulances. We were sitting around and all of a sudden this happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: We're joined now by Joe English, an emergency communications specialist with UNICEF.

Thanks so much for your time today, Joe.

So I understand you've got a team on the ground. Just paint a picture of the current situation in Gaza right now.

JOE ENGLISH, EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST, UNICEF: This is absolutely horrendous, you know? I mean, we have been warning for months that the situation is continuing to deteriorate and as we see in these images -- I mean, this is just horrific, families who have been for months when we speak to mothers and fathers, they tell us they are exhausted. They are telling us that they are just running on fumes, trying to keep their children safe, keep their children alive. And it continues to get worse.

We cannot say this enough. The situation in Gaza every time we think it can all get worse it continues to. Right now in northern Gaza, families are just trying to survive day to day. Kamal Adwan Hospital, where many of the survivors of the multiple injuries strikes that we've seen recently has a single pediatrician.

Now, try to imagine the conditions that heroic doctors working under, having to make judgment calls each and every single day on which child he is able to treat, which child he may not have the supplies or the medicine to do so and ultimately they may have to die.

KINKADE: And, Joe, Israel's parliament has voted to ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. This is a move that is widely condemned around the world, What does this mean in real terms on the ground?

ENGLISH: This is -- you know, because when we talk about UNRWA, what are we talking about? We are talking about local Palestinians who are providing services in terms of education, in terms of health, in terms of reaching families with children who pays the price when organizations, humanitarian organizations are banned.

It is ordinary men, women, and ultimately children. It is mothers and fathers who are just trying to get food for their kids, who were trying to get warm clothes and shoes, something as simple and basically shoes and jumpers, as the weather turns it gets colder. These are the kind of things we're talking about.

Imagine if in your town or village suddenly, it was teachers banned, health care workers banned, people who distributing warm clothes to the poor and destitute, banned. This is the impact on the ground.

KINKADE: And, obviously, we cover this day after day Israel continuing to bomb especially northern Gaza right now. This -- this latest operation killing hundreds of people. One airstrike along -- that happened where the IDF said it tried to take out a spotter, a person on a rooftop and ended up demolishing an entire building, killing 93 people, including 20 children.

Just talk to us was about the toll this war is taking on children, the most innocent.

ENGLISH: Yeah, 20 -- 25 children is the most recount to that, and I think the sad reality now is that when we speak to parents, when we when we speak to the men and women that we try and serve and the children that we tried to protect, many of them are resigned to the fact that the world has forgotten about them because when these stories come out, 25 children killed in a single incident, one mother and her five children, another mother and her six children, entire families being wiped out, no action is taken. They think, how is this going to change?

So we have to see renewed political movement. It was welcomed to see the Security Council put out a strong statement yesterday -- today in support of UNRWA. But we need to see all governments or authorities to have any --

KINKADE: I think we just lost our connection there with Joe English, the specialist from UNICEF. We appreciate his time covering this very important topic.

We're going to take a quick break. Still to come, a rare feat in the U.S. New numbers showing that the economy is doing much better than expected.

[15:25:04]

We'll have the details just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

In Nevada, both Trump and Vice President Harris are making last minute campaign stops in the coming days as they tried to secure the Latino vote. "Rolling Stone" reported singer Jennifer Lopez will speak at a Harris rally on Thursday to help boost those efforts.

And a new CNN poll shows Harris currently has a slight lead over Trump among likely Latino voters in Nevada and Arizona.

CNN's John King finds out what Latino voters in Nevada are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dawn in battleground Nevada, the Vegas morning rush, one week to Election Day. ANTONIO MUNOZ, NEVADA VOTER: So it's very, very tense, you know. It's nerve wracking because you just don't know what's going to happen.

KING: Antonio Munoz owns the 911 Tacobar. He's a veteran and a retired Las Vegas police officer, undecided and unhappy with his choices when we first visited 11 months ago, leaning Kamala Harris when we returned six weeks ago, now definitely Harris.

Trump's weekend rally in New York removed any doubt.

MUNOZ: That was very, very upsetting, you know. They spoke about Mexicans and having kids like nothing is like, you know, where do you come up with this stuff? Why would you say something like that in an atmosphere like that? And that's very troubling.

KING: Munoz is betting on a narrow Harris win here, but says the Latino community is more evenly split than in past campaigns because of housing and grocery costs.

MUNOZ: Inflation, it's affected a lot of people here in our community.

[15:30:01]

And they don't see their dollar going the way it used to go, you know?

I think they really think Trump's going to make it better, which, you know, one person can come in and just inflation is going down. It's a process.

KING: Early voting here runs through Friday and more than seven in 10 Nevada voters live here in Clark County. That's Las Vegas and its fast-growing suburbs.

One big difference this cycle is the Republican embrace of early voting. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton on hand in Vegas for a Veterans for Trump event to kick off the final week.

One in five Nevada voters is Latino, and a big election year focus at Fiesta 98.1 is urging listeners to flex their political muscle.

Rafael Cerros Jr. is one of the owners. Six weeks ago, he told us he was undecided, and that Trump was running strong among Latinos here.

KING: Anything different from the last time we were here?

RAFAEL CERROS JR., NEVADA VOTER: A lot, a lot.

KING: Cerros is now voting Harris, and he says the racist insults at the weekend Trump event exploded on social media, triggered listener calls, texts, emails.

CERROS: That alone fluked a lot of people that were going to go for Trump. Now saying, hey maybe I'm not too sure, and maybe I'm going, you know, with Harris. You know, the rhetoric, whether directly from, you know, the candidate or not, it's kind of scary, especially, you know, for Latinos here in Vegas specifically, you know, my Mexican people.

KING: He says, oh, he don't know -- he doesn't know who allowed those speakers to speak at his rally.

CERROS: Oh, that's BS.

KING: That's BS.

CERROS: That's BS.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING (on camera): Just two voters there. So we need to be careful not to draw a sweeping conclusions, but we've been in touch with Antonio and with Rafael for months and we know how plugged in they are, how active they are in the Latino community here.

If they are right and that weekend event in New York has even a modest impact on Trump's support here -- well, a modest impact can make a big difference in a battleground that is so close.

John King, CNN, Las Vegas.

KINKADE: Well, now, to some economic news just days before the election, U.S. economy is seeing solid growth, seemingly pulling off a soft landing, and avoiding a recession. New GDP numbers show 2.8 percent growth in the third quarter. That's slightly weaker than the last quarter, but well ahead of projections.

Joining me now is University of Michigan professor of economics and public policy, Justin Wolfers, also one of the 400 economists backing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Good to have you with us.

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS & PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: The pleasure is mine.

KINKADE: I saw the economy remains the most important issue for voters this election, according to recent polls and the latest data certainly shows a remarkable turnaround. The economy, it's showing strong growth topping expectations. Just explain what we're seeing.

WOLFERS: Yes. So the simple story is, this is not only a pretty good economy, it's a downright good economy. Unemployment is near a 50-year low. GDP's running round about 3 percent. The other thing we learned this morning is a key measure of inflation is all the way back down to normal round about 2 percent.

Look, those are a lot of numbers, so let me instead put it another way this is the sort of numbers that you would want to run for reelection on. I'm sure Biden wishes. He was back in the race because these look terrific and realize what this looks like relative to expectations.

A year ago, you and I were talking and all of Wall Street was predicting this year would be a recession. Well, this is the exact opposite of recession.

KINKADE: Exactly. Yeah, and certainly, you said it's good -- it would've been good for Biden had he run again, but this is not a good news for Trump, who certainly wants to paint a dire picture of the economy. I just want to roll some sound of what he said moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They're grossly incompetent people, and they've destroyed our country. Our country is suffering right now, like it's never suffered with inflation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: So the thing is some prices remain high, but inflation has dropped dramatically, right? I just want to pull up a graphic which shows inflation at its lowest in three years since 2021. This is obviously great news for Americans, but doesn't play well with Trump's narrative of runaway inflation. Does it, Justin?

WOLFERS: It's -- look, the facts keep interfering with Trump's economic talking points. Let me tell you the big three. Inflation is normal, not saying the time, not saying it's low, its right where its been on average for the last 40 years unemployment, right around the 50 year lows. So this is as good as we've had.

And this last quarter's GDP numbers, this is the richest that America has ever been in its entire history. This is not a country in decline.

KINKADE: Wow. Some polls certainly suggests that vote is split on who will be better for the economy of polls show that Trump, people think Trump might handle the economy better.

And that's despite the fact that his economic policies have been widely criticized.

Sixty Nobel Prize-winning economist, plus Moody analysts and Goldman Sachs analysts say his economic policy could cripple the economy and reignite inflation. You're also backing Harris over Trump.

Just explain your concerns with his economic policy.

WOLFERS: I think the first thing to say is the whole thing is a bit of a joke. If you called the campaign and you asked, what are your policies, we'd like to analyze them seriously, they'll send you back two sentences in all caps, and not a literal serious policy detail.

The guy's had nine years of being in the public spotlight and you ask him what he wants to do instead of Obamacare and he says concepts of a plan. So, the same health care plan that he's running on, or don't have one, is pretty much the same as the economic plan he's running on, again, don't have one.

KINKADE: And, Justice, Harris wants to create what she describes as an opportunity economy, investing more heavily in small businesses and focus more on the middle class. But her policy on efforts to tackle price gouging on grocery items has been criticized.

Just take us through her economic platform.

WOLFERS: Look, when it comes to price rises, which is a big issue in the United States right now, on the one hand, you've got Trump proposing massive tariffs on every important items. So we know exactly what that's going to do. That's going to raise prices.

You had Harris rolling out this idea that we should worry about price gouging. You're right to say, for a little while, that's being criticized because people thought they interpret it and I think misinterpreted that as being the government's going to check if every price rise and see if it's justified.

Harris subsequently clarified that what she meant was, you know, during a natural disaster, during a snowstorm, for instance, you can't jack up the price of snow shovels and so, really, she is -- it's a strange irony, she's actually the one who is very much more in favor of harnessing market forces. The Trump is not a conservative that Republicans once were, he wants to have a very heavy hand in the economy, taxing imports, directing which companies and which factory stay open and which close and so.

It's a very upside down world we're in right now.

KINKADE: It certainly is. That's why it's good we've got you to break it all down for us. Justin Wolfers, great to have on the show today. Thanks so much.

WOLFERS: All the best.

KINKADE: Well, Russia is known for its disinformation efforts aimed to influencing U.S. and Western elections as well as public opinions in recent years.

Well, there's now a spin-off of the so-called Russian troll factory, a group that targeted the U.S. presidential election in 2016. CNN and Clemson University investigators teamed up to identify one of the sources of much of the bogus information, making it online.

Now I want to bring in CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt, who joins us from Washington.

Good to see you, Alex.

So this is not a new concept, but the Russian efforts are proving more effective than they have in the past. Just take us through what you and your team found.

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, they certainly are, Lynda.

Well, the researchers at Clemson University talked about how Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president as a prime target for the Russians and to show how effective their disinformation efforts are, they told us that on certain days around a third of the cost conversation on social media about Zelenskyy is being driven by these fake narratives. A third of the conversation, that's how powerful some of these narratives can be.

Now, in recent days, weeks and months, these Russian efforts have reoriented themselves to target the U.S. election. There these new shadowy groups putting out these fake, this fake disinformation. Now, the groups may be new, but they do have very familiar origins. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT (voice-over): It's from this 23-story building in Russia's St. Petersburg, that some of the most effective Russian disinformation of the 2024 U.S. election has been cooked up. One of its occupants in recent years is believed to be the so-called Russian Foundation to Battle Injustice, or RFBI.

CNN teamed up with researchers at Clemson University to investigate RFBI's long tentacles and its impact.

PATRICK WARREN, CO-DIRECTOR, CLEMSON MEDIA FORENSICS HUB: The connection between Prigozhin and RFBI is cut and dried.

MARQUARDT: RFBI's origins can be traced back to Yevgeny Prigozhin, longtime ally of Vladimir Putin and the founder of the Wagner mercenary group who after launching an audacious revolt on Moscow last year was killed in a mysterious midair explosion.

But Darren Linvill and Patrick Warren say that the story of RFBI makes it clear that Prigozhin legacy persists beyond the grave.

DARREN LINVILL, CO-DIRECTOR, CLEMSON MEDIA FORENSICS HUB: They're pretending to be this really positive force of good in Russia. In reality, they're really an arm of the Russian state.

MARQUARDT: One recent viral post baselessly accuses Governor Tim Walz of sexually assaulting a minor.

[15:40:01]

WARREN: I mean, that thing flew across the internet in days, millions and millions of views.

MARQUARDT: Senator J.D. Vance and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene even pushed a fake Russian story that Ukrainian officials used American aid dollars to buy yachts.

There was one that Kamala Harris carried out a hit and run and also that she killed an endangered rhinoceros while on safari, both wildly false.

But both pushed with the help of another shady Russian network, which researchers have dubbed Storm-1516, which Linvill and Warren believed worked hand in glove with RFBI.

When you look at all of the efforts that the Russians are undertaking in this space, where does the RFBI rank?

LINVILL: In terms of disinformation as opposed to just propaganda. I think that the RFBI and Storm 1516 are probably the single most important actors in Russia right now.

MARQUARDT: RFBI is now led by Mira Turada (ph), who spent two years in American prison for money laundering connected to cocaine smuggling.

And she kind of took the effort and ran with it?

WARREN: It really kicked off upon her return.

MARQARDT: From there, she has joined forces with foreigners, including American John Mark Dougan, a former Florida sheriff's deputy who fled to Russia following felony charges. Dougan denied to CNN that he's acting on behalf of Russia.

WARREN: His face is there for a reason.

LINVILL: He's useful idiot. He's a useful idiot without question.

MARQUARDT: How much of a win is it for the Russians to be able to get an American like this to essentially launder their narratives?

LINVILL: I think that it's incredibly important and you see them importance in how hard they've worked to recruit Americans like him.

MARQUARDT: And what they're seeing this year is a much bigger impact on the social media conversation than in the past.

LINVILL: We know they work for the Russian state but there's still allowed to spread these messages, these completely false narratives without, you know, any mitigation whatsoever.

MARQUARDT: How well do you think were doing in this war against Russian disinformation more broadly?

LINVILL: Extremely poorly.

MARQUARDT: Do you see that changing anytime soon?

LINVILL: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT (on camera): And, Lynda, right after that interview, those researchers highlighted yet another piece of disinformation that popped online. It showed ballots -- American ballots being destroyed allegedly in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. So a very important swing state. That, of course, was a false narrative, but they said that it spread like wildfire tens of thousands of times in just the few hours.

Now we reached out to both the offices of Senator Vance and Representative Greene about that Ukrainian story that they pushed, neither responded directly to that request for comment that -- the Harris campaign meanwhile, said they believe that Vladimir Putin wants Trump to win the U.S. election. And they condemned these Russian interference efforts -- Lynda.

KINKADE: Wow, fascinating report. Alex Marquardt, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.

Well, there is a high will ask Russia for advanced technology related to nuclear weapons in exchange for help in the war against Ukraine. That's according to South Korea's defense minister. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been meeting with him at the Pentagon today. The U.S. and NATO estimate a roughly 10,000 of North Korean soldiers, are training in eastern Russia.

Some Western intelligence officials warn a small number of troops are already inside Ukraine. A U.S. official says Washington can not yet corroborate those reports.

Well, still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, a catastrophic flash flood in Spain, the aftermath of the historic rains. That story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:49]

KINKADE: Welcome back.

Dozens of people have been killed by heavy rain and flash flooding in southeastern Spain. Now, emergency crews are trying to reach those struck and stranded.

Atika Shubert reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Muddy waters gushed through the streets of Spain, ripping through homes, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

Rescue services are tirelessly, trying to save residents from flash floods that have struck parts of southern and eastern Spain since Tuesday.

The severity of the weather has killed dozens of people according to authorities, with torrential rain in many cities and the death toll is only expected to rise.

Now, this is the Turia riverbed in Valencia. Normally, it's dry riverbed with hardly any water in it. But as of this morning, the water was nearly to the top and that's because according to meteorologists, a years worth of rain, about 20 inches or 500 millimeters was dropped here in an eight-hour period that ended on Tuesday.

In Valencia, Spain's emergency military unit were deployed to help save locals wading through the destruction section to reach them, and bringing them to safety. One local resident witness, the severity of the water destroying his

neighborhood.

ANTONIO CARMONA, RESIDENT (through translator): We saw everything going down. The floods to cause took down half the house of one of our neighbors. And we have to come in, look how we have a torn clothes because we were saving dogs.

SHUBERT: In other areas of southern Spain, a different kind of catastrophe took place with locals being hit by a severe hailstorm.

Look at the size of this ball, this person says. It's completely round, leaving drivers to battle through extreme weather.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the storms were the worst the country has experienced in the last century, and advised citizens to proceed with caution.

PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER: Our absolute priority is to help you. We're going to provide all the necessary means today and tomorrow, and for as long as it takes so that we can recover from this tragedy, we are not going to leave you alone scientists say a human caused climate crisis is making extreme weather more frequent and more severe.

And as the world warms more intense and more frequent catastrophes around the horizon.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Valencia, Spain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:55]

KINKADE: Welcome back.

The Bronx Bombers stay alive in the World Series. Tuesday night, the New York Yankees avoided elimination in game four against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Game five is set to happen tonight, and it is still a do-or-die game for the Yankees.

Omar Jimenez joins us from Yankee Stadium.

Omar, good to have you with us.

So you are in the stadium. You were there at the game last night. What a surprise win for the Yankees.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I think, you know, fans came in with a lot of energy, but they weren't quite sure, of course, what was going to happen. We knew that it was an elimination game going into last night, meaning the Yankees had to win or they were going to lose the World Series. And there was a lot of enthusiasm to go around. In particular, there was a moment here that I think got a little ugly for a lot of people. There was a ball that was hit towards the right field line and Mookie Betts for the Dodgers goes up to try and get the ball that's essentially right on the border of where the fans are and look, we've seen fan interference before, but this one was a little different. Because as he goes into the stands, one of those fans tries to grab his arm while the other literally tries to pry the ball out of Mookie Betts gloves.

I don't know if it needs to be said it was ruled an automatic out, but of course, the situation that the Major League Baseball and the Yankees took pretty seriously. And I want to read part of a statement that the Yankees put out after this entire ordeal, essentially saying: Tonight marks the final home game of the year, and we want to -- we want every ounce of our fans passion on display. Yankee Stadium is known for its energy and intensity. However, the exuberance of supporting one's team can never cross the line into intent initially, putting players at physical risk.

And we learned from them and Major League Baseball that those two fans will be banned from game five, which as we know, is the last game here at Yankee Stadium for the year.

KINKADE: Wow. It was just an incredible scene. And Betts really quite well considering the situation.

So, take us through the expectations for tonight.

JIMENEZ: Look, the expectations, at least for the fans here in New York, is that the Yankees can prolong this series and actually come on top and win here in, send this back to Los Angeles. Now, whether that meets reality is, of course, there are a lot of factors at play.

For one, one of the big story lines here up until last night, the Yankees offense has really been nowhere to be seen. It seemed to wake up in some senses last night, really sparked by Anthony Volpe's grand slam that came in the early, in the early half of the game that really seemed to spark a little bit more energy, and at least some enthusiasm among some of the players, certainly the fans here as well.

And while the bats did in a sense come alive for the Yankees towards the end, it was clear on the Dodgers side of things that they were managing expectations based on the stakes of the game, meaning they still have a lot more real estate to play here.

All of that said, take a listen to some of what Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about how he is framing the expectations for today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON BOONE, NEW YORK YANKEES MANAGER: We just showed up today, ready to play and, you know, we're trying to get one, you know? And trying to -- trying to get the -- trying to get it to tomorrow, you know?

[15:55:02] You don't even get ahead of yourself and start thinking about the series. It's like our guys were ready to play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And there are a lot of factors here, too. Obviously, look, it's a game. You're trying to prolong this World Series hopes for both of these teams, but these are two storied franchises, New York versus L.A.

Friday Freeman on the Dodgers is trying to extend a record-breaking streak of will he set a home run in every single World Series game this year, but also a streak of six straight games with a home run. We have never seen that done before. We will see if that continues even with a hurt ankle that he has had over the course of this.

But then on the Yankees side of things, they are going to be playing what I think is fair to say there this picture to try and again, keep this momentum going at this point, keep their hopes alive for any chances of a World Series.

KINKADE: And just quickly, you're hoping that they keep the momentum alive. Who do you support?

JIMENEZ: Well, I have no real dog in the fight right now. I'm just here to see some good baseball.

KINKADE: Excellent. Sounds good. Omar Jimenez, good to have you there at Yankee Stadium. Thanks so much.

And thanks so much for joining us today. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Stay with us on CNN. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next.