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New Polls Reveal Tight Race In Crucial Swing States; Trump & Harris Blitz Battlegrounds As Time Runs Out; Interview With Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI); New Polls Reveal Tight Race In Crucial Swing States; Final Day For Early Voting In Key Congressional Races; Pennsylvania Secretary Of The Commonwealth Investigating Registration Issues; Election Officials Combat Misinformation As Election Day Nears; CNN Speaks One-On-One With President Clinton On The Trail. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired November 03, 2024 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:34]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me.

I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

We are two days out from election day and the final sprint is on. Today, both campaigns are blitzing swing states as they round the final corner of this high-stakes race for the White House.

The presidential candidates spending their closing hours warning voters about each other and pleading with their supporters in key states to head to the polls. So far more than 72 million Americans have already cast their vote in this historically close race.

And with just 48 hours until election day we have brand-new polls from "The New York Times" and Siena College and they are giving us a last- minute snapshot of just how razor tight this race is. Those polls showing no clear leader in almost every battleground state. And you see there in Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania the numbers are tied.

Former President Donald Trump has already held the first of three rallies he has planned for today in three different states. He started his day in battleground Pennsylvania. He will end the day in the swing state of Georgia.

Any moment now he is scheduled to speak at a campaign rally in Michigan (AUDIO GAP) more than 4 million people have already voted.

At his Pennsylvania rally earlier Trump said he never should have left the White House after he lost the 2020 election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We have been working for nine years. We did a great job. We had the best economy ever. We had the wall. We had everything. I built over 500 miles, they don't even talk about the wall. But we

had the best border, the safest border. I won't pull down my world's (ph) favorite chart because I don't want to waste a lot of your time.

But my world's favorite chart done by the border patrol. It said we had the safest border in history of our country the day that I left. I shouldn't have left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Alayna Treene train is covering the Trump campaign for us. And Alayna, we just heard that clip from what he said earlier. He also continues to talk about the election being stolen and rigged without any evidence.

What more are we hearing from the former president in these closing hours of the campaign?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well Jessica, that moment of him saying, and really admitting that he felt that he shouldn't have left the White House after his election loss, that was just one of several off-script moments.

And really, I think, probably troubling moments for the campaign that does not want this to be his closing argument with just two days left until election day. Now specifically about that clip you played where he said, you know, I shouldn't have left the White House, catching himself then and moving on.

That is very similar -- I covered Donald Trump when he was in the White House, you know, a little over four years ago and that is in line with what he had told advisers immediately after his election loss.

He had said that he didn't believe that he should have to leave the White House, that they wouldn't be able to remove him.

So this is kind of him sharing publicly some of what we know, some of his private conversations were from that.

But look, he also said a number of other very inflammatory things at that Pennsylvania rally. One of those things was, as you mentioned, he aired a series of grievances against his opponents.

He also talked a lot about the unfounded claims of election fraud that he believes they are finding in this upcoming election. Of course, things that we just do not know are true right now.

And then he also made a very violent comment about the media. Now this is being framed by the Trump campaign as a joke. But he essentially said when he was talking about the bulletproof glass that was in front of him at that rally, he then mentioned that, you know, if someone tried to shoot Donald Trump again, referencing that first assassination attempt on his life, that they would have to shoot through the media first.

I want you to listen to exactly how he put it, Jessica.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have a piece of glass over here. And I don't have a piece of glass there. I have this piece of glass here. But all we have really over here is the fake news, right?

[14:04:43]

TRUMP: And to get me somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don't mind that so much. I don't mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: "I don't mind that so much," he said. Now look, the Trump campaign has already issued a statement on this. And I have to say this up front, Jessica, that it is a pretty blatant attempt at spinning what Donald Trump said.

This is what Stephen Chung, one of Donald Trump's campaign advisers told us. He said, quote, "President Trump was brilliantly talking about the two assassination attempts on his own life." He went on to say that the president's statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the media being harmed.

He then went on to say that in fact, President Trump was stating that the media was in danger and that they were protecting him and therefore, were in great danger themselves.

Adding that he was actually looking out for their welfare. So I kind of jumped around in that statement.

But again, I mean this is not what Donald Trump had said. You heard exactly what he said. You just played that, that he was making this joke and saying I don't mind.

Now one thing I want to mention about that and why this is so important is because this kind of rhetoric, this violent rhetoric that Donald Trump has been using, including when he referred to Liz Cheney just a couple of days ago saying that maybe they should line her up and shoot some barrels at her.

I mean, this is the type of rhetoric that is really largely turning a huge population of this country's voters off from Donald Trump, specifically women.

And that is a huge concern, I know for the Trump campaign particularly as they are looking at this early voting data showing that women are outpacing men and also favoring Kamala Harris.

So I guess we will see what he says in just a few moments when he takes the station behind me. But this is not the closing argument I know the campaign has been wanting him to deliver, Jessica.

DEAN: And Alayna, as you just so eloquently outlined there, so often with him he says things and then they want to shy away from it or try to spin it another way. But you played that clip, it is what he said.

Thank you so much, Alayna Treene.

Meantime Vice President Kamala Harris is spending her day campaigning in the key blue wall state of Michigan. She started at a church service in Detroit.

And over the next several hours she plans to make several other campaign stops in that state before holding a rally tonight in east Lansing.

And she took a brief break from the campaign trail last night, making a surprise stop in New York City for an appearance on "Saturday Night Live".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYA RUDOLPH, COMEDIAN: Kamala, take my Pamela (ph). The American people want to stop the chaos --

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the drama-la.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because what do we always say? Keep Kamala and carry-on-ala.

HARRIS: Keep Kamala and carry-on-ala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Eva McKend is covering the Harris campaign in Michigan for us, of course, a key battleground state.

Eva, what is a campaign saying about her closing message to voters and her decision to stop by "SNL" last night?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well Jess, clearly she had fun with this. And my sense of why they agreed to it is not only did she have the opportunity to showcase a bit of her personality to voters that may not know her, but also, a nice moment for the entire campaign team who is traveling with her.

But she's here in battleground Michigan today because it is the blue wall that perhaps presents the cleanest possible path to victory for the vice president. And not only has she been trying to make appeals to Arab-American voters, she has also been leaning on the diverse voters that make up union voters here in this state. Unions, of course, such an important organizing force in this state.

And then of course, she has been making very strenuous appeals to black voters as well. Thats why she was at a black church this morning where she seemed to be moving away from litigating specific policy matters.

At this late stage she is instead making this broader character argument, asking voters to ask themselves what type of person they want to see in the White House. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: What kind of country do we want for our children and our grandchildren? A country of chaos, fear and hate; or a country of freedom, justice and compassion?

And the great thing about living in a democracy, as long as we can hold onto it, is that we have the power, each of us, to answer that question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So of course, she was in church, yes. And so this was not an overtly political message. She did not mention the former president by name.

But she is clearly leaning on the faith-based community in this moment. She has faith leaders fanned out across the country as surrogates making the case for her.

So several stops here today in Michigan, including a big rally tonight in east Lansing, Jess.

DEAN: All right. Eva McKend for us on the trail in Detroit, thank you so much.

And I want to stay in Michigan and bring in Congresswoman Haley Stevens. She's a Democrat whose district covers an area just north of Detroit. Congresswoman, thanks for being here.

REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): Hey thank you. Good to be here.

[14:09:50]

DEAN: So we just laid out these final two days where these candidates are. I know obviously, you are on the ground in Michigan. This is your home state.

What is your feeling right now as someone who has lived through these last election cycles with really close races in Michigan?

STEVENS: Look, I think in many respects, the polling is giving us the accurate picture that it didn't in 2020 and in 2016. It's a close election. It's a different type of election.

And we are digging deep here as Democrats. I will tell you, the county I represent -- Oakland County, Michigan, the suburbs where the soon- to-be president, I guess I should say, is spending some time, has spent some time.

It's going to come out for her. She will win Oakland County. What we are pushing for is to run up the score.

And the coalition is absolutely incredible, Jessica. These are individuals that are young people, sometimes first-time voters who are all the way up into their 40s. Obviously, women are so prominent here in Oakland County. People are

casting ballots where it's a woman for president, a woman for Senate, a woman for Congress. I'm on the ballot here in Oakland County. And on down the line all the way to our state (INAUDIBLE).

DEAN: And so I want to ask you too, Michigan has a number of Arab- American and Muslim Voters that both parties have been trying to target.

And moments ago Harris was asked about this in Detroit if she has a closing message for them. I want to play a clip of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: On the subject of Gaza, I have been very clear the level of death of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable. We need to end the war. And we need to get the hostages out.

And as president of the United States I would do everything in my power to achieve that end and a two-state solution where Palestinians will have the right to self-determination and security and stability in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Congresswoman, how would you say that message is playing with those voters, a lot of whom are upset with the Biden administration, with the vice president, on her stance on the Israel-Hamas war?

STEVENS: Well, we certainly can't ignore the deep pain that people are in because of a war -- a war that Israel didn't start but a war that has been going on for over a year now.

It has been incredibly painful for Jewish Americans, for Muslim Americans. And what Kamala Harris is showing us is she is showing us exactly the leader she is going to be -- thorough, consistent and firm.

She has made it clear that Iran is an enemy of the United States. Iran is also an enemy of Israel. And she is going to be tough on Iran.

She has also got a plan for how to end this war. As a member of the Biden-Harris administration, as the vice president, that this administration that has been so dogged about releasing the hostages, about standing by the U.S.-Israel relationship but also showing compassion.

That's not something that we've seen from to Donald Trump. And in fact, he has just exploited this nightmare for personal gain while saying anti-Semitic things and inflaming tensions.

And so we have a big group, a big coalition, Engage Action has endorsed Kamala Harris. Thats a Muslim American voter outreach group, just as very prominent Jewish elected officials have endorsed her as well. And we're going to bring that coalition together. And I will tell you,

the times that I have had to speak with Vice President Harris about the conflict, she hasn't missed a beat. She hasn't missed a beat at all, in terms of what it's going to take to bring these hostages home and what it's going to take to bring peace.

DEAN: And I want to go back to Michigan more broadly before we let you go because our poll of polls shows Michigan with no clear leader at this point. This is our polling that takes all of the polling and averages it out -- 48 for Harris, 46 for Trump.

In your opinion, what do you think the difference maker is going to be here?

STEVENS: I think it's going to be integrity. I think it's going to be positivity and vision. Look, both candidates are talking about the economy. Trump's economic message is a tariff-only industrial policy that doesn't work for small businesses, that doesn't work for manufacturers, that doesn't work for our construction industry.

This is no joke. You see people who seem like they would be a part of the coalition of Trump and they are not because they are scared to death of these tariffs.

You see Mike Johnson flirting with ending the CHIPS Act, which is invested in Michigan, investing in Michigan jobs, bringing manufacturing back here to the United States. Something I was proud to work on in the Congress.

And you've got Kamala Harris thing, hey, not only do we need to make sure the CHIPS Act is a success, we need to build off of that. So that we can do this in critical minerals. So we can have an investment strategy across our supply chain.

[14:14:51]

STEVENS: So that we can bolster small business and so that we can have equal opportunity for everyone.

And so I do think that's what's going to be the difference maker.

It's the same old story with Donald Trump. He says the negative stuff and it makes everyone react to what he is saying.

And then you've got a visionary leader who's got a plan, who's got a to-do list for the middle class and who's going to deliver on it on day one.

And women are going to make all the difference. Look at these Detroit members, Jessica. Truly, we had before early vote some of the highest rates of absentee ballot returns in the city of Detroit -- unprecedented. It is women. It is women of the UAW who are digging deep, who are going into these neighborhoods, who are bringing people to the polls.

We already have over 3.5 million people who voted in the state of Michigan. And it's not even Tuesday yet.

DEAN: Yes. We are going to -- we will get to Tuesday. And then the people will tell us, for sure.

Congresswoman Haley Stevens, thanks so much for your time. We appreciate it.

STEVENS: Thank you.

DEAN: Well Tuesday is election night in America. And from the first votes to the critical count, no one covers it like CNN. Special live coverage starts Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Still to come this afternoon though, surprise new polling, former president Donald Trump no longer leading in a state he won in 2016 and 2020 although that poll is within the margin of error.

It is very interesting. We're going to have a deeper look at the latest numbers.

Plus, the close House races that could decide who takes control of Congress.

Stay with us.

[14:16:18]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: As we close in on the end of this campaign season, many Americans have already made their choice for president. More than 72 million people have already cast pre-election ballots across 47 states and Washington, D.C.

The race remains tight, as it has always been. The last CNN poll of polls before election day still showing no clear leader heading into these final few days.

And here with us now senior political editor and correspondent for NPR, Domenico Montanaro. Domenico, thanks so much for being here with us.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, NPR SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, glad to be here.

DEAN: Listen, we're two days out now. We have arrived at this point. We have a number of final polls that flooded the zone this morning.

Let's start first with your general sense of this race at this particular moment in time.

MONTANARO: Well, it's close, right?

DEAN: Yes.

MONTANARO: I mean it is as close as any election has been, you know, in modern American politics. This presidential election, I can't tell you when it has been this close this late. It just hasn't happened.

So you know, obviously, we are watching those seven states that everybody is watching in the blue wall with Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. In the Sun Belt states with North Carolina and Georgia, Arizona and Nevada out west. It does seem like that, we have seen the polling that Trump is pulling away slightly in Arizona.

But who knows, right? I think the big question that has been on a lot of people's minds is given that the polls have been off in the last two elections, you know, in understated Trump support, there are a lot of Democrats, a lot of Democratic pollsters who are very concerned that this could mean that Trump could win fairly easily.

But the polling organizations have done a lot of adjustments. They have made some changes and we're going to find out, you know, who is right and whether or not the polls are exactly what they are and it's 50-50, or if they have been wrong and are wrong again.

DEAN: Yes. Well, we will get a winner. At some point, we will have a winner.

MONTANARO: We will have real results at least starting on Tuesday.

DEAN: Yes.

MONTANARO: No more talking about polls.

DEAN: That's right. That's right. We'll actually get results, which will be wonderful.

I do -- before we leave polls though, this new Des Moines Register poll that came out last night is certainly really getting a lot of eyeballs on it. And you see it there with Harris at 47 and Trump at 44. That is within the margin of error. So by our standards, no clear leader in that poll.

But that is not necessarily the point. It is a reversal from their polling in September. And we also know that Harris' support in this poll is fueled by Independent women, women over 65 as well.

What did you take away from this? Everybody seems to have a take on this one. What's yours?

MONTANARO: Well, I mean, I really don't think Trump is likely to lose, you know, in Iowa. He won by nine points last time.

What I was interested in seeing here that there were nine percentage points of people who are still undecided. It's hard for me to believe that there are nine percentage points of people who are still undecided anywhere, given that the polls have been so tight.

Overall, though there hasn't been a lot of political activity in Iowa and there might be some Trump people who just don't want to say necessarily at this point that they want to be pushed to say that they're voting for him right now. And also, who conducted this poll is a very good pollster and if it

tells us anything that women are up this much for Harris, maybe it could mean in some of those other similar states like with Wisconsin or Michigan, then they are, you know, moving toward Harris I think that what we know is that at least from what the polls have been showing us, yes, it has been close.

But underneath there's a big realignment that has been happening. White college educated voters moving more towards Democrats. White non college voters moving more towards Republicans. And women being a (INAUDIBLE) important key factor in this election.

I mean 57 is the number that I think people should watch on election night. That's a percentage points that Democrats got in 2020 of women overall.

[14:24:47]

MONTANARO: And you know, it could be higher than that this time around if we have what is expected to be the widest gender gap in history.

DEAN: That gender gap is something to keep an eye on, for sure.

Domenico Montanaro, always great to have you on. Thanks so much.

MONTANARO: Great to be here.

DEAN: Just ahead, the battle for control of the U.S. House -- we're going to take you to a New York district flipped by the GOP two years ago. Could it flip back?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Today is the final day for early voting in many states that will determine the balance of power in Congress next year. Republicans currently control the House by a very small margin.

Joining us now CNN correspondent Gloria Pazmino. She's live in New York's 17th congressional district. And New York state Gloria was key to powering Republicans' majority in the House.

Of course, Democrats would love to flip some of those seats that Republicans flipped in 2022. What are you finding there in the 17th district?

[14:29:47]

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jessica. The path to power for Republicans or whether they lose that power could run through New York state. And here in the 17th congressional district, we are seeing evidence of exactly that.

We are in Rockland County and this district stretches all the way from here up north to Dutchess County in the Lower Hudson Valley. Now this is a district that President Biden won in 2020 by roughly 10 points. But then two years later, it was carried by Republicans. Congressman Mike Lawler was able to flip the district. And now, we are seeing a face-off between Lawler and former member of Congress, Mondaire Jones.

Now, this is going to be likely a close race. Just to give you an indication of how important the district is to Republicans, House Speaker was here in the district last week campaigning on behalf of Mike Lawler as well as other Republicans in different battlegrounds districts here across the state because it could determine the balance of power, as you said.

Now, Lawler won in 2022 by fewer than 2,000 points. And one thing that's been interesting about this race here in the 17th congressional district is that at it has sort of been a race for the middle. Lawler has tried to tie his challenger, Mondaire Jones, to the Democratic Party's left wing, right? He has tried to say that Jones is aligned with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as members of the Squad in Congress. While Jones has tried to tie Mike Lawler, of course, to former President Trump and his policies.

Lawler has tried to distance himself from the former president in some ways, specifically around the issue of abortion.

Now, we have been here at this early polling location all morning. You can see that people are lining up. As you said, it is the last day of early voting. Not just here in New York, but also across several states, including the important state of Michigan and Wisconsin. They are also in -- ending early voting in Connecticut, in New Jersey, Delaware and Ohio.

Here in New York state, more than 2.6 million New Yorkers have already cast their votes early. Many more will do so by Election Day next week. And millions of Americans will have cast their votes by Tuesday. And as you can see, people are still showing up here to vote in this location. We do expect this race to be particularly close -- Jessica.

DEAN: It is one to watch. Gloria Pazmino, thanks so much.

When we come back, as early voting winds down and Election Day approaches, election officials across the country are working to fight misinformation in real time. What they are doing to stop the spread of fake information, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:37:03]

DEAN: Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said the state is investigating potentially fraudulent registration applications in Lancaster County. This while Donald Trump continued to make unfounded claims of election cheating at a campaign speech in Pennsylvania today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They want to -- they want to, they are fighting so hard to steal this thing. Look at what's going on. Look at what's going on in your state. Every day, they're talking about extending hours and stuff. What -- whoever heard of this stuff? We should have one day voting and paper ballots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Sara Murray has more on concerns Pennsylvania's slower process of counting votes could fuel misinformation after the polls close.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AL SCHMIDT (R), PENNSYLVANIA SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH: It is a real frustration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The odds that people are going to know who won Pennsylvania on election night?

SETH BLUESTEIN (R), PHILADELPHIA CITY COMMISSIONER: Almost zero.

MURRAY: Almost zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tightening race in the commonwealth in the Pennsylvania.

MURRAY: Forty-three states allow election workers to start preparing mail-in ballots before Election Day to speed up the time it takes to count them. Pennsylvania does not.

SCHMIDT: It leads to a perception that the vote count is delayed in Pennsylvania.

No ones sitting around waiting. Everybody is aware of how time sensitive and how highly scrutinized the election results are in Pennsylvania.

TRUMP: We want to get rid of mail-in voting.

BLUESTEIN: We know that there's going to be a lot of allegations. They are just not based on any truth whatsoever.

TRUMP: How about Pennsylvania where they throw the poll watchers out? They throw them out.

BLUESTEIN: From the moment polls are close until the race can be called, that window of time is the biggest opportunity for mis and disinformation to spread.

TRUMP: We don't want them to find any ballot at 4:00 in the morning.

MURRAY: So, it's like just after 6:00 a.m., we are headed to the elections warehouse in Philadelphia. It's just a little bit of a preview of what's coming in November.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tightening race in the commonwealth -- MURRAY: They help for these election workers that they have figured

out ways to expedite the process, because they get a lot of heat when it takes a while.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is despicable what they did election night. We will not accept what's going on, absolutely not.

MURRAY: They just swore in the election workers today. Again, this is a special election, so maybe 5000 mail-in ballots, much smaller than what we're going to see in November. But it gives you an idea of the process.

SCHMIDT: That process, and I know this as an election administrator myself for 10 years, takes time to do it right, to review the envelope, to make sure the voters sign it and date it, to open that envelope, to extract the secrecy envelope, to open the secrecy, to extract the ballot, to flatten the ballot before you count a single vote.

MURRAY: And there's no reason those steps couldn't happen before Election Day, other than this law in Pennsylvania.

SCHMIDT: It does not benefit any candidate. It does not benefit any party.

[14:40:00]

MURRAY: In 2022, the Pennsylvania state legislature increased funding to cover the cost of elections. But thanks to political gridlock in the state's capitol, attempts to change the law preventing mail-in ballots from being prepped ahead of time have failed.

BLUESTEIN: We would be able to finish on election day if all we had to do was do the scanning portion.

MURRAY: The election workers are just getting started out at the end of there. They bring in these trays of ballots and they start by reviewing that outer envelope, looking for the date, the signature. And then they are going to move step by step through the warehouse from there.

Having been here for the 2020 election, and having every election worker I talked to say we wish we could open these mail-in ballots earlier, to be here again four years later and have ever election worker I talked to say the same thing, like it just seems crazy that it wasn't fixed.

BLUESTEIN: Yeah. This is not a partisan issue. You have read counties and blue counties all asking for the same thing. So, it really comes down to a matter of does the legislature have the will to pass the law that most other states already have or not?

MURRAY: Are you hopeful that the legislature is suddenly going to remedy this issue?

BLUESTEIN: No. I don't think so. MURRAY: This is called a flattening. They are literally taking the

ballot and flattening them to make sure they're ready to go into the machines.

When you are Republican, why do you think there is so much mistrust of the mail ballot system in the Republican Party at this point?

BLUESTEIN: Unfortunately, I think it just comes down to the fact that the former president said that the ballots can't be trusted and therefore, people don't trust them.

TRUMP: The mail-in voting isn't working. It's corrupt.

BLUESTEIN: Counting votes takes time. And not knowing the results on election night is not a sign of anything that's wrong. It's a sign that the election workers are still doing their job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Still doing their job.

All right. Sara Murray, thank you for that.

Also in Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger debunking a viral video that appears to show a Haitian immigrant with multiple Georgia IDs, calling that, quote, likely the production of a Russian troll farm.

I want to bring in Bret Schafer. He's a social media analyst and communications officer for the Alliance for Securing Democracy.

Bret, thanks so much for being here with us.

BRET SCHAFER, SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYST, ALLIANCE FOR SECURING DEMOCRACY, GERMAN MARSHALL FUND: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: I want to start first with the Georgia secretary of state saying this week that viral video was very possibly the result of foreign meddling, which is deeply concerning, but not necessarily will be surprising.

SCHAFER: No, it's not surprising at all. This is actually one of a few different cases that we've seen in the last week where the intelligence community has come out and said the Russian operatives are behind videos that have attempted to show some sort of fraud in U.S. elections. There was another case in Pennsylvania that seemed to show election workers ripping up ballots there.

And again, these have been definitively attributed to the Russians. It shows the Russians understand the real fault line in our election is our trust in the actual administration of the election.

DEAN: Right. And so, look, we were just outlining it in that piece before you as well. There is what we see in the lead up to Election Day, but then election day and whatever period might exist between election day and when we know the winter, there are real concerns about misinformation, disinformation spreading.

What are your biggest concerns around that?

SCHAFER: Yeah. When I started this job back in 2018, that was my first sort of major U.S. election. Our biggest period of concern was before the election because that, of course, is what would affect somebody's votes. But then now we also have to look at the election period itself, because that affects people's confidence in the process, and then the period after the election, because that affects peoples confidence in the results.

Actually, it's sort of flipped now. We are most concerned about Election Day in the days after, of course, because everything we have seen over the last four years. So, we are already starting to see the information environment shift, so no longer is the disinformation really targeting the candidate where the party or the policies. It's now flipping to the process. And so, we are seeing things like vote- rigging, ballot stuffing, concerns around mail-in ballots, drop boxes, all of these things we've seen over the last four years, we are seeing once again.

DEAN: And it really just undermines the fundamental tenets of our democracy, which is free and fair elections. We have done so many reports showing these election workers who are just public servants trying to make sure everything is perfect and right. And I know you have talked about what if there is just an honest mistake that's made? That could really be exposed and really just presented in a fraudulent light on social media.

SCHAFER: Exactly. The weaponization of honest mistakes is one of my biggest concerns. I mean, there are thousands of different election jurisdictions. All of them are run by humans. So there will be some human errors.

There will also be things that are totally out of the control of election workers. So, a printer will break down. Something won't work. There will be some process that gets screwed up a little bit. And most of these things are correctable. They are not a big issue.

When they are weaponized on social media, when they are presented as, see, this is evidence of widespread fraud, that's where the problem comes in.

[14:45:02]

And the second thing I'm really concerned about are people who are going to show up to the polls naturally try to test the system. So, they might try to get into confrontations with election workers. They are hoping these confrontations will go viral, because, again, they can point to that and say our vote is being suppressed. There is some illegal activity happening in our polling place and using that to create this perception that there is wide scale fraud that's happening in this election.

DEAN: And so, while all of that is happening, X, of course, owned by Elon Musk who continues to spread a number of lies and disinformation on his own platform, but X has eliminated most of its content moderation staff. Meta has decreased the visibility of post about politics on Facebook and Instagram.

And, look, there are corners of these platforms, pieces of these platforms, that are hotbeds for conspiracy theories. And so, you have what you're talking about and then you now have this platform for them to spread so quickly.

SCHAFER: No question. And the calculus I think of the platforms in 2020 was a needed to be really ramped up and ready for election miss and disinformation, because they didn't want a repeat of 2016. That calculus has changed now. Their political consideration is -- is more advantageous for us to be seen as not censoring or over-moderating content.

So, I think they're largely going to be hands off around this election.

I think the one bright spot is election officials are far better prepared to fight some of this stuff. It wasn't like they were prepared for mis- and disinformation in 2020, but I don't think they were as prepared to fight back from it communications standpoint. I think election officials really understand they not only need to administer a great election, they need to communicate that out, because you can't rely on the platforms to be taking over moderating content that's just not going happen this time around.

DEAN: Yeah, it's amazing to see how many steps they have taken to increase transparency, that sort of thing, really come up with a communication plan.

Bret Schafer, so much thank you for walking us through that. We appreciate it.

SCHAFER: Thank you. Appreciate it.

DEAN: Coming up, former President Bill Clinton sits down for -- with CNN for an exclusive interview. His hopes and fears on what comes after the 2024 election. That's next.

And also, programming note. Special programming tonight. It all starts with Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM, 5:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

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[14:52:00]

DEAN: Bill Clinton, the country's 42nd president, has been busy hitting the campaign trail for Kamala Harris, devoting nearly three weeks straight of 10 hours days. He believes the vice president will win the election and the economy will thrive under her administration. If Trump succeeds he appears America may not survive another four years.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I think we have to look at what the definition of survive is. You can put me on a breathing tube tonight, but it wouldn't be like surviving, like I'm surviving now. And the same thing is true in politics. I don't know if we can survive or not. I think it would be a travesty if he became president again.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN senior reporter Isaac Dovere has more on his exclusive interview with President Clinton.

Isaac, what advice has he shared with Harris and what more did he tell you?

ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Oh, that's right, Jessica. We were riding on a bus last Wednesday in western Michigan. Clinton really doing a whole lot of campaigning and more frequent on the trail than Harris or Trump or J.D. Vance or Tim Walz or Barack Obama or Joe Biden. He is really out there making the case for her on economics what he has said, his advice for her is if she wins, what he told me is he wants her to look toward how she can make a deal with Republicans, find the conservatives who are ready to stand up what he said was for conservative principles on things they can agree on and find ways to tell the progressive flank that its okay to make deals. And that will be part of it.

One of the things he talked to me about also is that he, looking back on NAFTA, on other things he did during his presidency, that in the end weren't so popular, is that she has to do a better job of explaining to people why she's making deals. Then Bill Clinton, of course, the famous triangular himself, feels like he did and has caught up with him over the years.

DEAN: Yeah, and he also believes, of course, that she can win. But he did express some fears, I understand, surrounding the election, to you. What did he say?

DOVERE: I said to him, as we were pulling into Battle Creek, Michigan, I said to him, listen, imagine it's Wednesday morning or whenever election is called, of course, we don't know how long will take for the count to be done, and you hear that Trump won or you hear that Harris won, what would your reaction be to either one of those?

And what he said to me is, if Trump wins him he said, I don't know what I'm going to think. But that he would get back to the work of doing his foundation. And try to get that into good shape for outliving him on the he hopes. But he said to me, if they let me do it, right, which he didn't really linger on that threat that's in there of let me.

And if Harris were to win, he said appears to when he said he would say to her, he would assume to call and they would have a congratulatory phone call. And that he would say, Hillary and I, Hillary Clinton, obviously, are here for whatever you need. Call us. But we're not going to bother you. He was very proud of the fact that he has been out of office for 24

years. A lot of times presidents have reached out to him, but he said to me, he has an unbroken streak of never being the one to place a call to a president. So, that's what he told me to keep up here.

And, of course, a lot of people looking at Bill Clinton as the last person who really tapped into that white working-class on behalf of Democrats, figuring out how to get more of that going for Democrats, potentially, in the future after this election.

DEAN: Yeah, it's been interesting to see where they have sent him, to a lot of those types of areas that he would have thrived in when he was running.

All right. Isaac Dovere, thank you so much for that. We appreciate it.

DOVERE: Thank you.

DEAN: Vice President Harris and former President Trump are stumping in battleground states on this last Sunday before the election. A look at their final message to voters, that's next.

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