Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Barbara Comstock is Interviewed about the Gender Gap in the 2024 Race; President Biden Speaks in Berlin; U.S. Renews Calls for Peace Deal; Excerpts from McConnell Biography Released; Harris Continues her Outreach to Republican Voters. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 18, 2024 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: About who she thinks is going to help Harris win.

And new evidence in Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case could be released today after the judge denied his request to delay the release of the findings.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right, welcome back to CNN THIS MORNING.

Let's turn now to the gender gap that has come to define this stubbornly close presidential race.

[06:35:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know about you, but I'm -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Voting Donald Trump, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Donald Trump making a last-minute push for female voters in the final weeks of the race by attending an all-women Fox News town hall on Wednesday as polls show that 54 percent of female voters are backing Kamala Harris. In those numbers, though, there are still warning signs Harris' margin of support with women are less than those of Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

One former Republican lawmaker, Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, is confident, however, that women voters will push Harris over the finish line. She told "The Daily Beast" this, quote, "I think there's a silent majority. I think there's a silent group of women who will crawl over broken glass to vote against Trump and who will quietly vote for Harris."

And joining us now is former GOP Congresswoman Barbara Comstock of Virginia. She's endorsed Harris for president and appeared alongside her in Pennsylvania earlier this week.

Congresswoman, it's so great to have you on the show. Thank you so much for being here.

BARBARA COMSTOCK (R), FORMER VIRGINIA REPRESENTATIVE: Good to be here.

HUNT: I - you - you were also previously co-chair for Nikki Haley in the Republican primary.

COMSTOCK: Yes.

HUNT: She's now potentially appearing with Donald Trump. But you think that there are women out there who are going to, as you say, crawl over glass to avoid Donald Trump. You say that they are silent.

Can you explain a little bit more about that, who you think these women are and what they are aren't telling pollsters?

COMSTOCK: Well, I certainly don't mean (INAUDIBLE) - well, I - you know, and I certainly don't mean all of them because I think quite a few of them are, you know, have already acknowledged it, probably have already voted. But there are some, you know, if you're in a MAGA family, you don't need to have any aggravation. You can just quietly go into the polling booth and make your views known.

I've heard from, you know, a number of my former, you know, Republican women club members, and even presidents, who have said, I'm so glad I heard you out there. I'm voting for her too. I knew I wasn't voting for Trump. Wasn't sure what I was going to do. But, you know, as they've watched - you know, the vice president has really run a flawless campaign and she is being inclusive, whereas Donald Trump did tell us, those votes who voted for Nikki Haley, were permanently barred. Listen, he called Nikki Haley a birdbrain. He daily attacks women and calls them names. He has never apologized for any of that, whether it's calling Elaine Chao, Coco Chao, you know, a racist slur, and - and attack - I mean the people he attacks the most are women and women of color. And you just go down the list. Nothing - you know, that faux news, you know - you know, hour that he did with handpicked women, you know, that were, you know, not - certainly there weren't Democratic women or independent even women really that where there. Certainly it was not an open event, clearly, from - from what you saw from the event.

So, you know, he's not anyone's protector. You need to be protected from his policies and from the type of people he's attracted, who are out there attacking women. But I also think it's the husband - I mean my husband teaches at a Catholic girls schools. So, way to go, vice president, for the very Katherine Gallagher (ph), you know, video that she sent in last night to the Catholic dinner because he is very much for the vice president. And not only, you know, is my daughter, but he is talking to our sons, saying, listen, on behalf of your daughters, you need to be supporting the vice president and opposing this man who's such a misogamist and a daily attacking women. And he called me at the middle of that dinner last night about what a buffoon and what on godly, profanity-laced hot mess that dinner was because he knows what that Catholic dinner is supposed to be. And, you know, this was somebody who was just being horrendous at that

dinner, swearing in front of priests. Who does that? That is just a hot, horrible mess. We need to turn the page.

HUNT: Swearing in front of priests. There is that.

COMSTOCK: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) Catholic school (INAUDIBLE) that does not get done. And that was a - that was a first. And, you know, that was - I think the vice president made a good - good move not going there. It makes (INAUDIBLE).

HUNT: Congresswoman, I want to show you, there's a new ad out from the Harris team overnight, and it does seem to me to be aimed at the kind of voter that you may represent, someone who has voted for, been an active participant perhaps in the Republican Party, but finds themselves concerned about Donald Trump. I want to play it for you and we'll talk about it on the other side.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he wins, he'll ignore all checks that reign in a president's power. It's all in Trump's Project 2025 agenda.

[06:40:03]

What does that mean for you? Higher cost on groceries, cuts to Social Security and Medicare, more tax breaks for billionaires, and a national abortion ban, putting women's health at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, Congresswoman, Ron Brownstein also writes this in "The Atlantic" this morning, "Kamala Harris' fate in the remaining weeks of the presidential campaign may turn on whether she can shift the attention of enough voters back to what they might fear from a potential second White House term for Donald Trump."

And, unfortunately, Congresswoman, if I could ask you to stand by for a second, I'd love to have you continue to be part of our conversation. But unfortunately, we have to go to Berlin because President Biden is speaking live now.

We're going to listen especially if he has - makes any remarks on what's been going on in the Middle East.

Let's listen.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukraine, you reminded us all why this alliance is so essential. Under your leadership, Chancellor, Germany rose to meet the moment. You showed the wisdom to recognize that this war marked a turning point in history, an assault on the very principles that have protected peace and security in Europe for more than 75 years. And then you summoned the resolve to act in making Germany's foreign policy to reckon new realities - with new realities, stands strong and steadfast with Ukraine. America and Germany are the two largest supporters of Ukraine in its fight for survival as a free and independent nation.

As Ukraine faces a tough winter, we must - we must sustain our resolve, our effort and our support. And I know the cost is heavy. But make no mistake, it pales in comparison to the cost of living in the world where aggression prevail, where large states attack and bully smaller ones simply because they can.

Today, the chancellor and I are going to discuss ongoing efforts to surge support to Ukraine's military, to shore up Ukraine's civilian energy infrastructure, which is under constant assault and bombardment from Russia, and to help Ukraine recover by unlocking the value of frozen Russian assets.

I also want to recognize Germany's decision to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. Please keep it up because it matters.

Our alliance with Germany extends far beyond Ukraine and Europe. It's global. Today, the chancellor and I will discuss regional security in the Middle East, including the ongoing domestic efforts regarding Lebanon and Gaza.

The death of the leader of Hamas represents a moment of justice. They have the blood of Americans, and Israelis, Palestinians and Germans and so many others on his hands.

I told the prime minister of Israel yesterday, let's also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas. And I look forward to discussing Iran. Olaf and I spoke the morning after Iran launched 200 ballistic missiles at Israel earlier this month. With our G-7 counterparts, we agreed to coordinate our response through sanctions and other measures. And that is what we have done.

I'm grateful for Germany's cooperation in holding Iran accountable for destabilizing policies, including providing missiles and drones to Russia to use against Ukraine. And just this week the European Union followed Germany, the U.K., and France in sanctioning Iran's leading airlines. This followed our own oil sanctions. And this coordination is going to have to continue.

I also want to thank Germany for standing firm against a vicious surge of anti-Semitism, hatred, and extremism we're witnessing today. Some of it fueled by foreign misinformation. As domestic - as democratic allies, we have to remain ever vigilant against what I call the old ghost and new garments, ancient hatreds reservicing. Our charge is to make sure that the forces holding our societies together and binding us in the common cause of human dignity and freedom remained stronger - stronger than the forces seeking to pull us apart.

And finally, Chancellor, I deeply appreciate your partnership and the many times you've forsaken easy choice to make the right choice.

HUNT: All right, we've been listening to President Biden speak in the wake of the death of Yahya Sinwar.

[06:45:00]

He called that killing represent - he says it represents, quote, "an opportunity to seek a path to peace."

We're going to continue to monitor what he has to say. If he has any news, we will turn it for you coming up.

Coming up here, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell describing Donald Trump as despicable and stupid. That's according to a new biography of the longtime Senate leader set to be released later this month.

Plus, battle of the billionaires. Mark Cuban and Elon Musk stumping for their candidates of choice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK: President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America.

MARK CUBAN: The one thing about Kamala, she's open-minded. She's very clear in saying she wants to take feedback from anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: All right, welcome back.

As you just heard there, U.S. leaders are renewing calls for an end to the war in Gaza in the wake of Israel announcing the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Vice President Kamala Harris saying now is the time to free the hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. (D) AND U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This moment gives us an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza and it must end such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self- determination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: President Biden also saying now is the time to move on.

Our panel returns.

Joel Rubin also joins us. He's former deputy assistant secretary of state under President Obama.

Joel, I want to talk to you about what Benjamin Netanyahu is going to do now. JOEL RUBIN, FORMER OBAMA DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS: Right.

HUNT: And what the dynamics are, because you've heard from both Harris and President Biden, they see this as an opportunity to change what's going on here on the ground in Gaza. Netanyahu hasn't put his cards on the table yet. He's still dealing with Iran. What are the dynamics?

RUBIN: Yes, Kasie, look, it's definitely a game changer. Right now what we're watching in Israel is a new day. The Israeli people are thrilled. This is reminiscent of what happened after we got Osama bin Laden and people came down to the White House to celebrate. But that moment will pass soon, as you point out. And the real core question, the front, is the hostages, and what to do about the hostages. And now that the leader, Sinwar, is gone, how will the Israelis find these hostages? How will they deal with the remnants of Hamas? It's now going deeper underground.

And I think for Netanyahu, he has some real hard decisions to make. Does he want to lean in on diplomacy to cut a deal, or does he want to point to his right flank and say, look, follow me, follow me strongly, this is where I'm heading.

Now, last night he did - he did offer the idea of an amnesty for Hamas militants to leave, and then that'll be fine. Of course, where to? No one's going to take them easily at all. So, I think he's still feeling this out. But the president's pressure, the vice president's pressure, laying out the angle, the secretary, Tony Blinken, spoke of the Saudis and the Emirati -

[06:50:01]

HUNT: Yes.

RUBIN: Trying to push this in a diplomatic path.

HUNT: How does the timeline of the U.S. election -

RUBIN: Yes.

HUNT: Eighteen days play into this?

RUBIN: It's everything isn't it? You know, look, President Biden and the vice president have given a lot of support to the prime minister to do what we now saw yesterday bore fruit, which is frankly to find Sinwar and find Hamas militants. But, you know, there are limits to this. And I think we're now hitting those limits. We're now seeing where the president and his team are going to lean in and say, we need to move on a deal, that the election is clearly, in their mind.

It's worth noting as well, Donald Trump did not say anything about this at all.

HUNT: Yes.

RUBIN: He's been stone cold silent. But I do think that this is where the president and his team, the vice president, they're going to say, you got your win, we've had your back, this is now the moment to really lean in and try to work with all of our allies in the region, the Saudis, the Emirati, that Qatar and the Egyptians, to force a final deal that will get the hostages out and really move to what we call a phase four reconstruction period.

HUNT: All right, Joel Rubin for us this morning.

Joel, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.

RUBIN: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right, 50 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.

Tributes pouring in for Liam Payne, former member of the popular boyband One Direction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel heartbroken because I was a big fan since I was a child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was struggling with a hard times, but he always make us happy. And I think that's a very important thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The exact circumstances of his death remain unclear and are under investigation, but his injuries suggest he might not have been fully conscious at the time of the fall.

New evidence set to be unsealed today in Donald Trump's 2020 election subversion case. Trump tried to block the release, claiming it was election interference. Judge Tanya Chutkan arguing the opposite is true, saying, quote, "if the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, withholding it could itself constitute or appear to be election interference."

A new book set to publish this month about Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, reporting that he had some choice words about former President Trump following the 2020 election. The "Associated Press" obtaining excerpts from the book which claim that McConnell called then President Trump, quote, "stupid," as well as being "ill- tempered," a, quote, "despicable human being," end quote, and a "narcissist."

McConnell saying in a statement, quote, "whatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what J.D. Vance, Lindsey Graham, and others have said about him, but we are all on the same team now."

Brad Todd, what do you make of all this? I mean this was like an open secret on Capitol Hill. BRAD TODD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: There's no love lost between Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. And - and they will never - they're never going to make up. However, if Donald Trump becomes president, Mitch McConnell will be right there trying to help keep taxes from going up. They'll find a way to agree on if he takes in the Republican agenda.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's an extraordinary book that is coming out next week, I believe, or the week after. A longtime Washington reporter, Mike Tackett -

HUNT: Yes.

ZELENY: A friend of a lot of ours has this book. A fascinating look at McConnell.

HUNT: It's - I'm really looking forward to reading it.

ZELENY: For sure.

HUNT: I have to say, as someone who was in the halls for the entirety of the Trump administration during (ph) this.

ZELENY: Yes, yes.

HUNT: OK. Coming - now we have this. It's been an election cycle of firsts, including on Wednesday when Vice President Harris sat down for her first ever interview on Fox News.

All right, we don't apparently have that soundbite. But one of Harris' goals for going on Fox was to appeal to that 50 percent looking to draw in Republicans and undecided voters.

Is the strategy working? Joining us now, CNN political commentator Michael Smerconish. He's also the host of CNN's "SMERCONISH."

Michael, always wonderful to have you on the program. Loves Smerconish Fridays.

Let - talk to me a little bit about what you thought of this interview, how she performed, and whether it matters.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I thought it was arguably her best performance. I thought it was arguably her best interview. And what it reinforced to me was that that day when she was still sort of under bubble wrap, going on "The View," going on Howard, then doing Colbert at night, I don't think was to her advantage. And it sort of persisted with this impression that maybe she can't handle the give-and-take. Well, there was a lot of give-and-take and she did just fine. Bret Baier got what he wanted out of the interview, and I thought she came out of it looking relatively strong.

HUNT: Michael, I also know you wanted to talk about what happened at the Al Smith Dinner last night. We can show you a couple of the - a little bit of what we heard from Donald Trump, although I don't think that it includes what Barbara Comstock alluded to earlier, which was - were the times that he swore in front of all the priests. [06:55:01]

But let's watch a little bit of the dinner and then I want to get your reaction.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tradition holds that I'm supposed to tell a few self- deprecating jokes this evening. So, here it goes.

Nope, I've got nothing. I've got nothing.

These days it's really a pleasure anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance.

Unfortunately, Governor Walz isn't here himself, but, don't worry, he'll say that he was. He's going to say he was.

The only piece of advice I would have for her in the event that she wins would be not to let her husband, Doug, anywhere near the nannies. Just keep him away. That's a nasty one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Michael, what did you make of the dinner last night?

SMERCONISH: So, I've given props to the vice president already because of that Bret Baier interview. Now let me tell you that I think that she blew it by not being there. She should've been there. Humor can be such an effective political tool.

I thought that Donald Trump misread the room. I thought that he was undiscipline and mostly unfunny. That editing of what you just showed was very sympathetic to Trump because those were his absolute best lines. And in most other instances, he just missed the mark. It was cringeworthy. And it was unnecessarily nasty.

He blew an opportunity as well to come in, pay respect to the cardinal, be funny, keep it above board. He should have taken a page from Jim Gaffigan. Gaffigan was hysterical and set the right tone for a night like that.

HUNT: He was much -- Gaffigan, I will say, the level of crudeness to Gaffigan's, I thought, also took some, well, I probably shouldn't say a crude word, but it took some of that to get up there in front of all the Catholics and do that. But fair enough.

I mean this sort of meanness to what Trump had to say stood out to me, as well, as a little bit off for the forum that he appeared in.

SMERCONISH: I know.

HUNT: Finally, Michael, I want to ask you something that I started to talk to Barbara Comstock about, but there is this closing message ad from the Harris team that basically raises the question in voters - or it's designed to raise the question in voter's minds about whether or not they are ready for another Trump term. To kind of stoke the fear of - make them remember what it was like when he was president for four years.

And Ron Brownstein writes this, that Kamala Harris' fate in the remaining weeks of the campaign may turn on whether she can shift the attention of enough voters back to what they might fear from a potential second White House term for Donald Trump. He writes that, you know, they had been focused on reassuring voters that she had the experience and values to serve in the Oval Office. But the consensus is Harris is failing to deliver a sufficient warning about the risks Trump could pose to American society and democracy in another presidential term.

Are the Democrats that Ron talked to right?

SMERCONISH: So, so much for joy. And isn't it interesting that both candidates now, it has been so significant to me how dark Trump has gone in the last couple of weeks. And I -- I've not really understood it. Jonah Goldberg had a really great piece in "The L.A. Times," and Ron as well, saying 80 million people who were eligible didn't vote in the 2020 election. For everybody else who's absolutely going to vote, it's baked in. Each of these candidates is now trying to get individuals off the couch based on fear, not joy, but based on fear, hoping that their margin of victory lies in individuals who are not to inclined to come out and vote even in this election.

HUNT: All right, Michael Smerconish for us this morning. Michael, thank you very much.

SMERCONISH: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: And for all of you, don't forget to tune in to "SMERCONISH" tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

All right, guys, we've got about 90 seconds or so left in the show and I just want to pick up where we were talking about with Smerconish about this closing argument strategy.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

HUNT: We played the ad from the Harris team and what - what they're doing here in the final days.

FINNEY: So, I disagree with part of what he was saying. The Harris campaign is also reaching out to low-information voters, infrequent voters, African American and Latino voters, who basically are getting their news and information from online. And for them, it is about getting off the couch. But these are not necessarily people who are picked up in all the polling of likely voters. So, she still has room to grow with that part of the electorate where Trump does not.

HUNT: What do you think, Brad? TODD: The people who are left on the table are people right of center. That's why you see Kamala Harris featuring Republicans like Barbara Comstock. But celebrities won't get her there. She has to tell people that she totally disagrees with her positions of 2020, she renounces them and that the left is wrong. She's got to appeal to right-of- center voters with a right-of-center message. She's not done that yet.

HUNT: What do you think, Jeff?

ZELENY: I mean the persuasion versus mobilization is fascinating. And it's usually by this point of a campaign, persuasion is over. But the Harris campaign has extended the period using in real time what the former president is saying on the campaign trail every day. They believe his current comments, even though everyone knows everything about what he has said.

HUNT: (INAUDIBLE).

ZELENY: The father of IVF and other things. They are trying to persuade in the final weeks here, getting some of those Republicans that Brad's talking about.

[07:00:06]

They don't need a lot, but a few could certainly help.

HUNT: Yes. I read with some interest the new Peggy Noonan column as well, making - she's making the argument that you're making, which is, hey, make more space for these Republicans to - to give them a little bit more permission.

TODD: Right. She's got to say she was wrong before. That's the only way to get there.

FINNEY: I just think y'all are like the does discounting infrequent voters, low information voters, and we do that at our peril.

HUNT: We may be.

TODD: I give them credit. I give them credit.

HUNT: And the best thing is, it's the voters who are going to get to decide even - we can sit here and tell you what we think all day long, but we're not actually going to figure it out until November 5th.

Thanks to all of you for joining us this morning. I really appreciate it. Have a great weekend. I'm Kasie Hunt. Don't go anywhere. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.