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Three Days To Go: Trump, Harris Blitz Battlegrounds In Final Stretch; Race For The White House; Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary Of State, Discusses Early Voting & Election Security; Trump Takes The Stage At Rally In Salem, Virginia; Trump Plans To Radically Remake Government With RFK Jr & Elon Musk. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 02, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[16:59:39]

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And on top of that, Donald Trump still wants to get rid of the Affordable Care Act which would throw unions of Americans off their health insurance and take us back to the time when insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions. Do you remember what that was.

Well, we are not going back. We are not going back. We are not going back.

CROWD: We're not going back. We're not going back. We're not going back. We're not going back. We're not going back.

HARRIS: And we are not -- and we are not going back because ours is a fight for the future. It is a fight for freedom. Like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body, and not have her government tell her what to do.

We all remember how we got here. Donald Trump hand selected three members of the United States Supreme Court and with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade. They did as he intended. And now in America, one in three women live in a state with a Trump abortion ban including North Carolina and every state in the south, except Virginia. Many with no exceptions, even for rape and incest, which is immoral.

And understand, Donald Trump is not done. He would ban abortion nationwide. He would restrict access to birth control. He would put IVF treatment at risk and get this, force states to monitor women's pregnancies.

Just Google Project 2025 which still I can't believe they put in writing. And I think everyone here knows, one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply-held beliefs to agree. The government shouldn't be telling her what to do. Not the government, and not Donald Trump.

And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law. Proudly. Proudly. So North Carolina, I am here to ask for your vote. I am here to ask

for your vote. And here -- and here is my pledge to you. As president, I pledge to seek common ground and common-sense solutions to the challenges you face.

(END OF LIVE EVENT)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are listening to Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in the battleground state of North Carolina. She is there in Charlotte. We are three days out from election day in America.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. And I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

We've been listening to Vice President Harris. We are joined now by Jamal Simmons, CNN political commentator and former communications director for Vice President Harris; and Scott Jennings, CNN political -- senior political commentator and a former senior adviser to Mitch McConnell.

Great to have you both here. The end is near -- I believe we just lost Jamal.

So Scott, I'm going to start first with you. We see the vice president in North Carolina. And I know that President Trump also going to North Carolina.

They are both spending a lot of time there in a state that really has been heartbreak hill for Democrats since Obama.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And it's one of the three most important states. I mean there are some people who look at the end of this campaign, like it's really a three-state election -- Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina. If Trump were to win all three, he's going to be the next president. And whoever wins Pennsylvania, of course, is highly likely to be the next president.

So you know, Tar Heel State really important, Donald Trump did win it twice. A lot of attention being paid there. A lot of people already voting there. Looks like a high turnout.

So I expect, over the last few hours of the campaign, we are going to see quite a bit of activity. I will just say for the Republicans' part, they are very, very excited about what they have seen in the trends of the early voting.

Now, I'm one to always remind, early voting trends, a bit of a witch's cauldron. You can look in there and smell the vapors and see whatever you want to see. But -- but -- but Republicans are embracing early voting in a way they haven't in the past.

[17:04:51]

DEAN: That's fair. A witch's cauldron indeed.

Jamal, glad to have you back with us. We were just talking about the state of North Carolina and acknowledging the fact that both Harris and Trump making sure to touch that state, be in that state in these very important last few days.

You can talk about -- I would like to hear your thoughts on her and North Carolina, as well, and then more broadly too, this turnout operation that the Harris campaign feels so confident in.

What do you make of that? And how effective do you think it's actually going to be?

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So I think North Carolina is incredibly important as Scott was just saying. I mean if Kamala Harris wins North Carolina, she's well on her way to being the next president of the United States.

And if she can win a combination of say North Carolina and Georgia or North Carolina and Arizona, as another combination which kind of makes Pennsylvania maybe a little less important.

So she's got to compete in all the states. What they been trying to do is keep as many states possible as (INAUDIBLE). So they're still, you know, traveling to Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona. They're keeping these states in whether it's Tim Walz or Kamala Harris.

So Democrats are seeing pretty positive things in the early votes because one of the things that's happening is Republicans are cannibalizing election day. So what we're seeing is a lot of lot of Republicans for their targets (ph) mark a lot who normally vote on election day are voting early because the Republicans are demonizing that.

Now, the Republicans are also going after nontraditional voters. That's a really hard thing to do if you're going to talk about ground game. It's a really hard thing to do.

Democrats have had a lot of practice at doing it. We're always going after these voters who are low-propensity, trying to get them out, cost a lot of money, cost a lot of time.

And I think what you're seeing in these states is an incredible ground game that Democrats have whether it's paid volunteers, or -- sorry, I'm paid canvassers or volunteers like the ones I saw this morning in the town that I live in in New Jersey.

A bunch of people who are like -- hundreds maybe, who are getting on buses to go to Pennsylvania and then go canvas.

So I think we're seeing that a lot out of these Democratic -- in these states from Democrats.

DEAN: And Scott, I wanted to ask you on your thoughts on ground game as well because look, the Trump campaign has outsourced that. There've been reports, The Wire reporting about Elon Musk's operation in Pennsylvania.

That it's not as professionalized and there were a lot of allegations in that, as well. How concerned are you, or are you concerned, about the organization, the turn out operation, the ground game in these key battleground states from the Trump operation?

JENNINGS: Well, number one, I don't think Republicans are fully dependent upon the Elon Musk PAC and I do think they've done some positive things.

And you know, with any ground game operation, you do run into trouble. As Jamal just said, it's an incredible hard thing to do to organize all these volunteers, organize all these paid canvassers. It never runs totally seamless for either party in any election.

But I do think the Republicans and Trump do have a good general sense of who they are trying to turnout and they're not focused as much on volume of contacts as they are on quality contact of the people that they need to turnout.

We've heard the term low-propensity voter, no-propensity voter, it's obvious the Trump campaign has a target list of low and no-propensity voters, a lot of young men that they are trying to get engage.

These are people who don't, you know, interact with our political news a lot. They're not engaged in our political or civic affairs and information about it all that much on a day-to-day basis.

But if you look at the polling, they do like Trump and Trump is the kind of person they would be attracted to.

So getting them out, this is the endgame for Trump. The more of those people you put in the electorate, you change the composition of the electorate. That's how you get there in some of the swing states.

But it might also be how you get there in say a Virginia or a New Hampshire or a New Mexico which are somewhat more of the reach (ph) states the Republicans are looking at now.

DEAN: Yes. Those are considered to -- considered to be safely Democratic. But you bring up Virginia, I want to -- if you guys will just hang with us for one second, we have Steve Contorno at the Trump rally in Virginia. We can check in with him. And then I want to get your thoughts.

Steve, you're there in Virginia. We were just saying, it has been a pretty reliably Democratic state when it comes to presidential elections. It has a Republican governor, of course, Glenn Youngkin.

But why is Trump in Virginia in these closing days, not considered to be one of the seven battleground states.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jessica. And Glenn Youngkin just spoke on the stage. He made the case for why Republicans should be trying here saying that if he hadn't tried, and he thought it was a foregone conclusion that Republicans can't win statewide in Virginia, then he wouldn't be the governor right now.

And so Republicans remain bullish that this state is much closer than the narrative and the polling suggest.

And look, going back to the summer, Donald Trump's campaign put volunteers in the state. They put an office here. They thought this was a state that was going to be competitive.

[17:09:45]

CONTORNO: And then Joe Biden left the race and Vice President Harris stepped in and the focus on -- excuse me -- Virginia shifted to those seven other battleground states that we have been mostly focused on, including North Carolina where Donald Trump was earlier today.

And I want to point to you something he said that I thought was really interesting because he continues in these closing days to focus on his standing with women voters. It's a major concern for his team going into this final stretch.

Take a listen to the argument he's making to the women voters of North Carolina today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will protect our women. I'm going to protect our women. I got into so much trouble, you saw that. I said we will protect because I keep hearing -- I think the women love me. I do because they know -- you know what -- if they don't have me, they have millions of people pouring through and coming up through the suburbs to say the suburban women.

Well, the suburbs are under attack right now. When you are home in your house alone, and you have this monster that got out of prison, he's got you know, six charges of murdering six different people, I think you would rather have Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: The latest polling suggests the Trump's in double digit deficit with women voters. I talked to one Republican operative who said, quote, we've seen our women problem for all Republicans up and down the ballot. It starts at the top, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Steve contorno in Virginia for us. Thank you so much.

I want to bring Jamal Simmons and Scott Jennings back in with us now. Thanks for staying with us.

Let's just -- let's talk about that clip that Steve just played. Scott, he's talking about, he said, I'm going to protect the women whether they like it or not. And then he said I got in trouble for that comment. He started talking about how he believes women are in danger in the suburbs.

Is it not kind of a victimization that women need to -- somebody to rescue them? That he's trying to connect with these female voters, but that sounded, to me like, I need to rescue you, you are victim, you are damsel in distress.

JENNINGS: Oh, I don't take it that way. I mean there have been several well-known incidents, public safety incidents, some involving illegal immigrants, where women have been the victims of very, very violent crimes.

And one of Donald Trump's big messages in this campaign is that what is effectively an open border is letting people into the country who are criminals and do intend to commit violent crimes against American citizens.

Many are women, not all of are, but some are. And so this has been a big part of his campaign -- immigration sort of dovetail of public safety.

So I think, you know, any political candidate will look at a poll and say, what demographics am I doing poorly with? If you are Donald Trump you say I've got a gender gap. I want to talk to women about the issues that they care about. I think public safety and immigration is one of those. I also think inflation is one, economic anxiety. So there is a message to be run on here.

And of course, the other side of this algebra is for the trouble that Trump is having with women, Harris is having the same trouble with men. And we're going to see on election night, you know, men going one way, I think, and possibly women going another.

And we'll see, you know, we'll see who turns out more. Really that's a part of the algebra of who's going to win the election.

DEAN: For sure. For sure. For sure.

Jamal, I want to get -- I got to get your thoughts on all of that. What did you think -- what do you think about how he's trying to reach out to women with these statements?

SIMMONS: Yes. The more I hear Donald Trump talk about protecting people from criminals, the more I think about protecting the White House from a man who is actually a criminal.

Donald Trump is a convicted felon. Not only Donald Trump, but even the guys he hangs around with. Steve Bannon just got out of jail who was a former White House adviser. His former economic adviser just got out of jail a couple months ago.

Donald Trump has -- Rudy Giuliani is in trouble right now and had to give up his apartment for offenses.

Donald Trump surrounds himself with criminals. So I think if we're talking about criminals, we can talk about those.

We also can talk about the criminalization of women's healthcare as a crime. You have so many women who are having a hard time getting reproductive care, going to get abortions, going to deal with miscarriages because doctors are afraid that they are going to be the ones on the wrong end of the criminal justice system if they help a woman before she's at death's doorstep.

And I think so many women in this country, we hear about it on the Democratic side -- actually obviously the vice president hears ads about it. So many women on the Democratic side are worried about the fact that they can't get the healthcare that they need because the Republicans that Donald Trump has helped get in office, the Republican judges, have taken away their rights to control their own bodies.

I think that criminalization is the one that's scaring more women in this country than whatever Donald Trump is talking about.

DEAN: And Scott, when we are thinking about this gender gap that we're talking about, I think about Nikki Haley, who had support in that Republican primary. She did speak at the RNC, has said she is standing by the phone, ready and willing to help Trump.

[17:14:51]

DEAN: And yet, he has not reached out to her. What do you -- what do you think about that whole situation? Could she be helpful?

JENNINGS: Sure. I mean I think any Republican with a platform is helpful at the end of the campaign to speak out on behalf of the former president. She did speak at the RNC. She has reiterated her support for Donald Trump. She's clearly supporting Donald Trump.

I sometimes hear Democrats almost wish casting that they actually have Haley. No, Trump has her. She's quite clearly for him.

Now, they haven't campaigned together here in the last week, but obviously her voice at the Republican National Convention was a full- throated endorsement of Donald Trump.

And although, I think it's pretty obvious they don't see eye to eye on everything, I think it is evident that it's possible inside the Republican party for all kinds of different people who don't see eye to eye with Trump on every issue to come together at the end.

So would I like to see her out there? Absolutely. Do I think it's fatal if she's not? No.

DEAN: And Jamal, in the meantime, Harris -- the Harris campaign really sees some of those Haley voters from the primary as prime targets that perhaps they could pick up.

SIMMONS: Oh, absolutely. They think they are. I mean when we started to see towards the end of this race in the primaries was that some of these -- even when Nikki Haley got out of the race, some of the women who were out there voting for her, even when she got out of the race, says to me that maybe they are not just Nikki Haley voters, maybe those are anti-Donald Trump voters.

And I think the Harris campaign have gone after winning some of those voters and getting some of them on board.

But here's what's so great about the Harris campaign strategy. When I talked to people who are doing this work on the ground, they are actually not betting on that many of those voters. They are betting on Democrats, Democratic-leaning Independents or unregistered voters -- or unaffiliated voters rather, getting them on board, and voting for Kamala Harris.

And then if you get some of those Republican women, they are almost like, icing on the cake. So they are going after them hard, for sure they want them. But I'm telling the Democratic victory that we see coming is one that is built at its base with Democratic voters who are showing up for the vice president in a big way.

DEAN: All right, guys, stay with us. We're going to get a quick break.

Still ahead, with his legacy on the line, President Biden is making a campaign appearance in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania. Perhaps it could be one of his last campaign events as president.

We're back in a moment.

[17:17:11]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: President Biden hitting the campaign trail today for Kamala Harris, turning up in his beloved Scranton, of course, his childhood hometown in what is likely to be his final battleground visit for the Harris campaign before the election.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is joining us with more. And Arlette, this had to be a bittersweet moment for President Biden, going home to Scranton, where he closed out his own election in 2020. He hasn't been a regular on the trail since he stepped down from the ticket in July. What are you learning about all this?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, just three days out from the election, President Biden spent the day in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania under far different circumstances than what he had imagined just a few months ago.

The president's campaign appearances have really been quite limited. That is in part due to his lingering unpopularity and concern among some Democrats about his propensity to go off message.

We have seen Biden, over the past week here in Pennsylvania three times. But this is one of the only official campaign events that he was doing on behalf of Harris.

But one area where his advisers and allies still believe the president holds sway is not just in Pennsylvania, but also specifically with older voters and white working-class voters.

That is the audience that he was speaking to today as he rallied voters at a carpenters' union hall. He really tried to stress Harris' union bona fides and really also sought to make a personal appeal to some of those working-class voters who might be skeptical of a Harris administration. Here's that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the most important election any of us have ever voted in. More is at stake in the direction of this country than ever before. And I promise you, you may have difficulty, you may have disagreed with some of the things in the Harris-Walz administration. But I wouldn't have picked her if I didn't think she has the exact view I do about hard-working people.

I'm serious. Look, folks, we need to elect Kamala as president.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAENZ: So much of Biden's legacy is wrapped up in this presidential campaign. He used these remarks to try to warn that Trump will try to undo many of the initiatives that he saw through while in his four years in office. Talked about the threat that Trump could pose to the Affordable Care Act. Also that he would raise taxes on the wealthy, which would not benefit middle-class Americans.

The president tried to lay out that he and Harris have worked towards progress in this country. And that Harris would build on that progress going forward.

So a lot riding on this election for President Biden's own legacy. He's trying to make his mark where he can, even as his campaign appearances have very much been limited.

But in these closing days he has made that push in Pennsylvania.

DEAN: Yes. And Arlette, it seems like -- we're three days out, of course -- this could be his last stop during this campaign cycle.

SAENZ: Yes. So far, the White House and the Harris campaign have not detailed any further events for President Biden. Of course, this -- Scranton is a place of personal significance to him. It is where he spent part of his childhood.

[17:24:49]

SAENZ: He also has often visited Scranton at key points in his own political career. I remember being back there with him in 2018 as he was campaigning in the midterms in those elections, thinking about running. He ended his campaign straight sprint there in 2018.

Back in 2020 on election day he actually flew to Scranton, visited his childhood home. That is an area that has a lot of personal significance for President Biden. And it appears that as of now, this likely is the last place that he will be appearing on the campaign trail unless some type of other event pops up in the coming days.

But so far we haven't heard that.

DEAN: Yes. It is a place with so much meaning for him so that would be appropriate.

Arlette Saenz, thank you so much for that reporting.

From the first vote to the critical count, no one covers election night in America like CNN. We have special live coverage starting Tuesday 4:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

Still ahead, when will we know the results in the crucial battleground state of Michigan and what the state is doing to fight dangerous disinformation.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is joining us live next.

And at any moment, we are expecting to hear from former President Trump in Virginia. We are keeping an eye on that as well.

Stay with us.

[17:26:02]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:42]

DEAN: As of this morning, more than 800,000 early ballots have been cast across the state of Michigan. That is according to the secretary of state's office.

This week, it was also announced criminal charges have been filed against a non-citizen student in Ann Arbor for registering to vote and casting an early voting ballot. The secretary calling it, quote, "an extremely isolated and rare event."

And joining us is the Michigan secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson.

Secretary, thanks for being with us on what I know is a very busy day for you.

JOCELYN BENSON (D), MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, in fact, in just the last few hours, we crossed the one million mark. So not one million Michiganders have voted early in person in the cycle.

Close to three million, total, if you count those who voted through mail. Extraordinary numbers. A lot of people participating, a lot of people enthusiastic about voting this year.

DEAN: Right. Right. And it's so important everybody has the opportunity to vote.

I do want to ask you just about the environment in which this election is taking place this year. We were talking in the lead into coming to you about the incident in Ann Arbor.

There was concern that despite very quick action from law enforcement, incidents like that can spur conspiracy theories that people really latch onto. Misinformation, it distorts the truth. And I know you and your team have been fighting against that

disinformation. What are you doing to combat those conspiracy theories and make sure people have the truth?

BENSON: A number of things. We set up a Web site, Michigan.gov/electionfacts. It addresses every single conspiracy theory out there with facts. Even when there are nuanced, multilevel granular details, you can read them there so people have access to all of that information.

Secondly, we've established voter confidence councils, faith leaders, business leaders, community leaders, educational leaders that we've equipped with the same factual information who can share it with audiences that trust them, including local election officials, mayors and others.

And that's been helpful getting the information out and getting people be on the noise on social media and to the truth in their homes.

And then, finally, we encourage everyone in this moment to recognize that in the midst of this high, intense election cycle, in this moment, we all have to be critical consumers of information. We have to seek out multiple sources, trusted sources of information and commit to looking at the facts of any specific scenario.

And know there are forces out there who are trying to divide us, confuse us in this moment. We can resist them by not being fooled and staying focused as critical consumers of information on the facts.

DEAN: And how difficult -- despite that robust operation you outlined, when you have the former president, and people like Elon Musk, who owns a social media platform, amplifying some of these mistruths, they are spreading, lies, whatever the case might be particular to what they are talking about.

How much more complicated is that for you? Because this is one of the candidates. These are people that people look to.

BENSON: Yes, indeed. People who have significant platforms, a great deal of influence, that is hard, in many ways, to rival or match, even with all the truth on our side.

And so, number one, it certainly -- we have to recognize someone, disappointingly, people like Elon Musk or others would use their platforms or candidacies to further misinformation, to sow seeds of doubt, to cause chaos and confusion and division.

And really, frankly, do the work of our foreign adversaries who would love to see nothing more than our country descend into confusion and division, to that work for them and spread that false information. It's really disappointing.

And I think it's really incumbent upon all of us, my colleagues in particular, election officials, to stand up, even though we know it means speaking truth to people who have far more power as we do as individuals. But collectively, we have a responsibility to be emboldened by these challenges and speak the truth anyway, to really lean into the fear that we may be feeling when we do that, instead of just being emboldened by the facts to ensure that.

That's my job, that's our responsibility. We hope that voters can join us in breaking through that noise, and seeing the truth about their voice, their vote, and their power, that so many that are lying right now want to distract us from.

[17:35:01]

DEAN: And the Harris campaign has said it expects former President Trump to declare victory on Tuesday, whether the votes have been counted fully or not. That is what they are anticipating.

We're going to see exactly how it plays out. Does your office, though, have a plan to respond to a scenario like that?

BENSON: Yes. I mean, first, we all have to remember candidates don't declare who wins elections. Voters do. The unofficial count from all of the states is what will ultimately determine the will of the people, and who a particular network calls to win or not an election.

So we have to stay focused on that, even as candidates try to drum that out with the noise.

And then election officials like myself and all across the country will be working as transparently as we can to get the actual information in real-time to citizens when we are all actively wanting to see who, indeed, the voters have selected, from multiple positions, including the presidency in this election.

So at 9:00 Eastern, in Michigan, we'll have a press conferencing announcing just where we are in that process, how much longer we think it will take, f we don't have the numbers then and for the unofficial results.

My colleagues will be doing the same all around the country. We will be working efficiently to get those official results and those ballots tallied. We're also going to prioritize security and accuracy, which may take time in some states.

DEAN: And just quickly, before I let you go, I want to address two things you just said.

One, about the security of these election officials, and these public servants who are counting these ballots, who are trying to get through the work of the people, making sure it's a safe and secure election.

How much have you tried to have -- what have you had to do to ensure their safety?

BENSON: We've passed a law to make it a crime to threaten an election official in the line of work. We've also partnered with law enforcement and first responders, doing scenario planning all around the state, and preparing for just this moment.

But we hope that everyone respects this process and no one disrupts it. But we know that misinformation can lead to the potential for violence. We saw that in 2020.

So we are going to have law enforcement on hand, and others to protect people who protect democracy and work to quickly de-escalate or mitigate any potential threats as they might occur.

And again, seek accountability and justice for those who try to disrupt the process or break the law in order to try to disrupt our elections.

DEAN: All right, Michigan secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, thank you for your time. And good luck with everything. We really appreciate it.

BENSON: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Still ahead, what role will Robert F Kenndy Jr and Elon Musk play in a second Trump presidency? New reporting on how they may help Trump radically change the federal government.

And President Trump on stage in Virginia. We are monitoring this live.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:25]

DEAN: And you are looking at former President Donald Trump, live at a rally in Salem, Virginia. Let's take a listen.

(CHEERING)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They've done a lot of damage but it'll going to go quickly. America will be bigger, better, bolder, richer, safer, and stronger than ever before.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: This election is a choice between whether you will have four more years of incompetence and failure, or whether we will begin the four greatest years of the history of our country. That's what is --

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And I am asking you to be excited about the future again, be excited. You know, it's hard for you to be excited. You watch what they have done to this country, is hard. Just be excited. It's coming back, and it's going to come back.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And I am asking you, remember this, to dream big again. You're going to dream big. And we are going to do some incredible things.

Because this will be Americas new Golden Age. It's going to be a Golden Age of America.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: We are going to get the stupid people out of here as quickly as possible.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: What they have done.

Every problem facing us can be solved. But now the fate of our nation is in your hands. It really is. It's in your hands. On Tuesday, you have to stand up. You have to tell Kamala --

(BOOING)

TRUMP: You can't call her Harris. You know why? Because nobody knows -- you say Harris. Who the hell is Harris?

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: The whole thing doesn't work. So we just call her Kamala.

You are going to tell her that you've had it, you've had it. Kamala, you are the worst vice president in history. You are terrible at what you are doing.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: You've destroyed our country.

Kamala, you are fired, get the hell out of here.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Get the hell out of here.

I am here today, in this incredible commonwealth, for one very simple reason, because I believe we can win Virginia. And that would be unbelievable.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And working with your governor, we will get M.S.-13 the hell out of your communities. You are loaded up with them.

(CHEERING)

[17:45:05]

TRUMP: You're loaded up. They don't want to touch them. We are going to touch them. We are going to get them out. We're going to have ICE all over the place. You know what ICE is? You know what ICES is? They're very tough people

that love our country. And if you don't have very tough people, you are not getting M.S.-13 out anytime soon.

No, ICE doesn't mind. ICE is like M.S.-13 is their cup of tea.

We will cut your taxes, create millions of jobs, fix your schools, stop the indoctrination of your children, and we will not let them try to change --

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: -- your kids gender.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: No, you will not be doing that. We won't be changing your children's gender with their transgender craziness.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And we will protect parent's rights, and we will protect school choice. You will have school choice here. School choice.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: We will bring back an education system based on merit. Don't forget, our Supreme Court gave us, in a very great ruling, a decision that we are actually -- allowed to use merit again. Merit.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: So if someone works hard, if somebody works hard, they do well. They work so hard and do so well. We actually have a merit-based country again. Can you believe it? Isn't that nice?

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: And we will, of course, keep men out of women's sports.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Last year, the radical left's gender insanity arrived right here in Salem when a man was allowed to transfer onto the Roanoke College women's swim team.

(BOOING)

TRUMP: And I just met them backstage, the great swimmers. I did not notice a male on that particular day. I did not notice a male on that team. Perhaps I don't understand what's happening. But I did not see any males on the team, believe me.

But the brave members of the swim team stood up to the transgender fanatics. Something new in our country.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Those strong -- and I would say beautiful but I'm not allowed to use that term anymore with women. Because if you say beautiful, it means the end of your career in politics.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: You are not allowed to say a woman is beautiful. So I will not tell you how beautiful they are, but they are beautiful.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Those strong, beautiful, intelligent women, they won, they won. And today, we are joined by seven of the great members -- really championship, incredible swimmers of the Roanoke College women's swim team that got a little publicity.

They've gotten more publicity than I have. What is going on here?

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Including team captain, Lily Mullins, a real champion.

Come on up, come on up, ladies.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Lily, everybody.

(CHEERING)

LILY MULLINS, CAPTAIN, ROANOKE COLLEGE SWIM TEAM: Sorry. Thank you, so much, President Trump.

As female athletes, we know men have an inherit advantage over women in sports. And due to current policies, though, men are competing against women of all ages in all sports.

(BOOING)

DEAN: And you are looking at a rally with former president, Donald Trump, and members of the women's swimming team in Salem, Virginia where Trump is campaigning with three days left to go

Our Steve Contorno is there at the rally. And he is standing by.

Steve, in that clip, the live portion that we were listening to, we heard him continue to disparage Vice President Harris.

It's worth noting he's in Virginia, which has been a blue state in presidential politics for the last several cycles. It does have a Republican governor.

What can you tell us about why he's there in these very important closing days? STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Yes, three days left. Here he is well

outside of the battleground map here in Virginia. And he told this crowd, I believe we can win Virginia. I have felt it for a long time.

And that is true. We know his team believes, going back to the summer, that they had a chance to flip Virgina. They like what they saw on the ground and in the polling.

[17:50:07]

In fact, they opened an office in Virginia, hoping they could lay the groundwork to flip the states.

However, that was back when Joe Biden was the president - or when Joe Biden was the Democratic nominee. And now it's obviously Vice President Harris. And the ground really shifted here after that happened.

And the Trump campaign put less emphasis on trying to expand their map. They were originally going to be in places like New Hampshire and New Mexico, Minnesota. We haven't seen that at all from them until this week. He did travel to New Mexico. He's in Virginia now trying to project strength going into this final week.

This idea that if you are expanding your map, it must mean that you see some momentum in these final days here.

And I will say, I have traveled extensively with Trump's campaign. We've ended up in parts of the country where Trump has spent a lot of time, has made multiple visits to, and the crowds we're starting to thin.

I was with him in Warren this week, Warren, Michigan, in the exact same room he visited a month ago. A month ago, that room was full. Yesterday it was about half empty.

So this room is full. There's a lot of energy here. So perhaps getting outside of the battleground map gives him an opportunity to engage a new audience and get some enthusiasm back.

And he's -- you can see him on stage now. He is currently talking about transgender politics, which is something his campaign has emphasized in the closing stretch of this race. They've spent tens of millions of dollars on advertising on this issue.

Republican strategists believe it can be a risk. It hasn't worked for them in previous election cycles. But his campaign believes that this is going to drive voters and drive their base in this final stretch of this race here.

DEAN: Yes, it's certainly where they have put so much of their advertising dollars, the campaign and those allied with it.

Steve Contorno, in Virginia, thank you so much.

We're going to continue to keep an eye on the rally and more news as is warranted.

In the meantime, former President Donald Trump is touting a radical and expansive reformation plan, which includes the likes of Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Elon Musk.

RFK Jr will be given free range to, quote, "go wild," on the health front. Elon Musk will be able to, as the tech billionaire says, quote, "start from scratch" with the federal workforce.

CNN politic writer, Zachary Wolf, is joining us now from Washington.

Zachary, thanks so much for being here with us.

I want to listen, first, to what -- to what Trump said about a potential RFK Jr taking a role and how Vice President Harris responded to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You said last night that you would essentially let Robert F. Kennedy Jr do whatever he wants with health care. What -

TRUMP: He's going to have a big role in health care.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: In fact, we just - we just left - in fact, I think he might be here. He's right -- he's right here.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You're comfortable with, his views on -

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You're comfortable with his view on vaccines, Mr. President?

TRUMP: We'll be talking about a lot of things. But he's going to have a big role in health care. A very big role.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: He knows it better than anybody. And some of his views I happen to agree with very strongly and I have for a long time.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He has indicated that the person who would be in charge of health care for the American people is someone who has routinely promoted junk science and crazy conspiracy theories, who once expressed support for a national abortion ban.

And who is exactly the last person in America who should be setting health care policy for America's families and children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: All right, so, Zach, walk us through what Kennedy and Musk are saying they want to do, and what could possibly unfold here?

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER: Well, you know, CNN obtained some video last week of Kennedy telling supporters he thought he would be in charge of a good portion of the federal health care apparatus,

Things like the Health and Human Services Administration, HHS, the FDA, the CDC, this broad role. It's not exactly clear what that would be.

Elon Musk might not be part of the specific federal government, but he would create this, sort of, sub department, Department of Government Efficiency, which shares a name with a cryptocurrency he likes. So a cross pollination there from him.

He thinks he could find a way to scrape $2 trillion out of the federal budget. If that sounds like a lot of money, it's about a third of what the government spends in any given year. So we are talking about a radical amount of money that he thinks he can pull out.

How he would pull the money out, it's not at all clear. If Congress would let him, that's also not clear. It is a stunning amount of money.

DEAN: Yes, it certainly is.

And we saw that clip with the former president and RFK Jr. there. He was really lavishing praise upon him.

But I am curious if the campaign has attempted to distance itself at all from the messaging from Kennedy and Musk in those roles that they would potentially have.

[17:55:05]

WOLF: Well, you know, you saw Trump there given the opportunity to talk about vaccines. He didn't. Kennedy hasn't been talking about vaccines. That's the thing he's most associated with.

It was interesting, last week, when the co-chair of Trump's transition team was talking to CNN's Caitlin Collins, Howard Lutnick.

He expressed some interest in what Kennedy said about vaccines. Take a listen to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD LUTNICK, CO-CHAIR, TRUMP-VANCE TRANSITION TEAM: He said, if you give me the data, all I want is the data, and I will take on the data and show it's not safe. And if you pull the product liability, the companies would yank these vaccines right off of the mark.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF: So what data is he talking about? We don't know. I called the CDC. They don't know. I tried to talk to Kennedy's representatives. They weren't clear on what data it is. But the goal, you know, of opening it up, opening vaccines up to the

lawsuits, to essentially them off the market, that's kind of an alarming thing.

Because so many people get vaccines. Nearly every American child. And they have been so much to save so many lives.

So it's not clear at all. But clearly, the Trump campaign is open to this kind of talk.

DEAN: All right, Zachary Wolf, for us from Washington, D.C., thank you so much for that.

We are going to have much more straight ahead from both candidates who are on the trail in this final weekend of campaigning. We are back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)