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CNN This Morning
Trump Goes After Harris On Issue Of Religion; "Central Park Five" Sue Trump For Defamation; New Documentary Shows Proud Boys' Planning In Lead Up To January 6. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired October 22, 2024 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL)
[05:31:12]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 5:28 a.m. on the East Coast. A live look at Philadelphia, the epicenter -- that and its surrounding suburban areas -- absolutely critical for the election, which is two weeks from today.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
Donald Trump on the trail making this claim about Kamala Harris at an event with faith leaders in the battleground state of North Carolina yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's very destructive to religion. She's very destructive to Christianity, and very destructive to evangelicals and to the Catholic church.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The former president criticizing his Democratic opponent over an incident that took place at one of her campaign events in Wisconsin. It's an exchange that Harris had with hecklers while she was discussing the issue of abortion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump hand selected three members of the United States Supreme Court --
RALLYGOERS: (Booing).
HARRIS: -- with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe v. Wade, and they did as he intended.
HECKLERS: (Booing).
HARRIS: Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally. RALLYGOERS: (Cheering).
HARRIS: No. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.
RALLYGOERS: (Cheering).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: That moment went viral. Trump is now trying to use it as a way to go after Harris on the issue of religion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you want to know what is at stake for Christians in the race just listen to what Kamala Harris had to say last week. At a campaign stop she heard shouting from the background, "Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord." And Kamala Harris ridiculed them, mocked them, and told them they were -- "You're at the wrong rally." Get that. She basically said get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, joining us now Capitol Hill reporter for Axios, Juliegrace Brufke. Juliegrace, good morning.
JULIEGRACE BRUFKE, CAPITOL HILL REPORTER, AXIOS: Good morning.
HUNT: Thank you so much for being here.
Kind of interesting you could hear Trump stop himself from saying, "Get the hell out," which is not necessarily in line with how the religious folks in front of him may have wanted him to talk. But setting that aside for a second this back-and-forth obviously Trump trying to continue to encourage evangelical voters to support him. They have in significant numbers in the past.
What do you make of the fact that this is what he was doing -- you know, two weeks left on the trail this was what he was focused on?
BRUKE: And I definitely think -- I mean, despite Trump's scandals in the past evangelicals are kind of a base he's really managed to kind of tap into. And I think it's something you've seen, kind of, J.D. Vance hit her on. And I think they're really kind of going to seize on this narrative moving forward.
So I was tagging along with Mike Johnson in -- while he was on the campaign trail in Michigan and he appeared with Tudor Dixon, a former gubernatorial candidate who was hitting Gretchen Whitmer for appearing with a TikTok star previously on religious issues.
So I think it's just kind of something that's going to go up and down the ballot in swing states that's going to be a huge focus.
HUNT: Yeah. You mentioned -- the video that you're talking about, it's -- the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer was trying to take part in a TikTok trend where people feed other people food. I will admit to not being on TikTok. I'm an old millennial. I don't understand that part of it. But basically, she was feeding this podcaster a Dorito and that was taken by many Catholics to be mocking the sacrament of communion.
And this question about Catholics in particular has come up. And you mentioned J.D. Vance. We actually have him talking about this on Sunday in Wisconsin. Let's watch a little bit of that and we'll talk about it afterward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), U.S. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala Harris is the candidate of anti-Christian and anti-Catholic bigotry. She brags about it. That's her policy record.
Donald Trump is the candidate of defending your First Amendment right to practice your faith however you want to because this is the United States of America, and we believe in religious liberty in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Of course, J.D. Vance a Catholic -- I believe a convert -- but he has converted to Catholicism. That -- Catholic voters are going to be a significant chunk of the electorate in especially Pennsylvania, for example, has a very high number of Catholic voters.
BRUFKE: Absolutely, and I think that it's definitely going to be something that they're going to continue to hit Harris on, and I think that it's going to be a strong line of attack for them. And I think it's kind of resonating. We've kind of heard voters come out and say that they've got concerns with that. So how Harris kind of looks to navigate that in the next couple of weeks is going to be interesting.
HUNT: Well, one thing in particular that we may hear from a little bit -- and she hasn't put it out there as much as some candidates have in the past, but Harris did recently go to church on the trail.
Here's what she had to say in Georgia on Sunday as she was participating and campaigning around their -- it's -- they shorthand it as souls to the polls -- watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: In moments of difficulty and uncertainty when the way is not clear, it is our faith that then guides us forward. Faith in what we often cannot see but we know to be true. I say that because in this moment across our nation what we do see are some who try to deepen division among us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So she actually talks about her faith very differently than Donald Trump in an actual personal way. Trump does not do that. BRUFKE: Absolutely. And I think her message of unity is definitely something that's going to kind of get Democrats behind her and possibly really resonate with swing voters in some of these swing states moving forward.
[05:35:05]
HUNT: Juliegrace, you mentioned that you were on the trail with Mike Johnson. What else stood out to you as, of course, Republicans also trying to keep control of the House of Representatives?
BRUFKE: Well, there definitely -- I feel like these Iowa seats are interesting to watch. They're really tight. We've seen Mariannette Miller-Meeks. I was in her district with him, and she won by just a handful of votes last time around. It's a tight race. And he was out there. I think Steve Scalise is going to be out there for her.
Zach Nunn another tight race. And Republicans are feeling good about picking up a few of those open seats in Dan Kildee's seat and Slotkin's seat in Michigan.
So right now they're cautiously optimistic but feel like there's still some work to be done to kind of lock down those seats.
HUNT: Indeed.
All right, Juliegrace Brufke for us this morning. Juliegrace, thank you.
BRUFKE: Thanks so much.
HUNT: Appreciate you being here.
All right, let's turn now to this. Donald Trump is facing a new lawsuit. The men known as the "Central Park Five" are suing Trump over these comments he made at the presidential debate last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: A lot of people, including Mayor Bloomberg, agreed with me on the "Central Park Five". They admitted -- they said -- they pled guilty. And I said well, if they pled guilty -- they badly hurt a person -- killed a person, ultimately, and if they pled guilty then they pled we're not guilty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The five Black and Hispanic men who were teenagers at the time were coerced into making false confessions for the beating and rape of a female jogger in Central Park in 1989. They were convicted a year later and spent several years in prison before DNA evidence eventually exonerated the group.
The new suit filed in federal court claims that Trump acted with "reckless disregard" when making those debate night remarks. Adding they, "all pled not guilty and maintained their innocence throughout the trial and incarceration, as well as after they were released from prison."
Trump has long been vocal about the case. At the time he took out this full-page ad in multiple New York City newspapers.
And here was Trump talking about the case in 1989, and then him again 30 years later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, I am strongly in favor of the death penalty. The ads have -- I have never done anything that caused a more positive step. The ads basically are very strong and vocal. They are saying bring back law and order to our cities.
REPORTER: Mr. President, will you apologize to the "Central Park Five"?
TRUMP: They admitted their guilt. If you look at Linda Fairstein and if you look at some of the prosecutors, they think that the city should never have settled that case. So we'll leave it at that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, joining us now, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. Joey, good morning. Always wonderful to see you.
We should note here's the Trump campaign's response to this suit. CNN reports this. "Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung called the lawsuit "just another frivolous election interference lawsuit. He claimed it was brought to distract the American people from Kamala Harris' dangerously liberal agenda and failing campaign."
I'd like to ask you, frankly -- I mean, is there standing for this suit? Do -- is there some there there for this group of five?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah, I really think so, Kasie. Good morning to you.
Words have to matter and the truth has to matter, and so remember the context of which this statement was made. This was during a presidential debate in which 67 -- that's right, 67 million people were watching.
During that time there were false statements that were made -- the false statement made in terms of the woman being killed. She was not. There were life-threatening injuries to be sure, but she survived.
In addition to that there was the indication that they pled guilty. They never did so. You just noted they were -- the issues with respect to coerced confessions. They went to trial and were convicted. And then there was a $41 million settlement.
And so to the extent that you make statements that are false, either knowingly or with reckless disregard as to whether they're true or false, that presents a problem. That's what we call defamation. To the extent that those statements are injurious to reputation.
As we look there at the "Central Park Five" the gentleman at the podium, Mr. Salaam, not being a councilman in New York City that, of course, arises to the level of a defamatory action which we now see.
And so yes, I do think that there is some there there with respect to this federal lawsuit.
HUNT: So, Joey, here was the lawyer for the "Central Park Five" talking about what he would like to see this ultimately lead to. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHANIN SPECTER, LEAD COUNSEL REPRESENTING "CENTRAL PARK FIVE": We want a trial. They have to clear their names now all over again because in front of 67 million Americans on September 10 in that debate Mr. Trump said that they had killed this woman and that they had pled guilty. And both of those things were not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Joey, what's the likelihood we see this go to trial.
JACKSON: I don't know that there will be a trial in this matter. A lot of that certainly will depend upon what happens in the election. Part of me though says that Mr. Trump has never been one to admit that he's done anything wrong, and he's forced the issue with respect to a number of things.
[05:40:08]
We might recall E. Jean Carroll not to so long ago winning lawsuits totaling in the $90 million, which did go to trial.
But, you know, listen, you never know. Cases like this generally settle. But when you say settle and Trump in the same sentence it presents a problem.
And so to the extent that he would acknowledge that there was a misstatement here, to the extent that he would acknowledge they did not plead guilty, to the extent he would acknowledge there was no one dead here, I think presumably it can go away. But knowing who he is we may not see that.
But a lot will depend, of course, on the election -- whether he gets into the White House or he does not. We all know, Kasie, if he does not get into the White House he has a series of legal problems. This will be just another one of them.
HUNT: Indeed.
All right, Joey Jackson for us this morning. Sir, always grateful to have you. Thank you so much for being here.
JACKSON: Thanks. HUNT: All right, straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, a new documentary about the road to the January 6 insurrection. Emmy award- winning filmmaker Nick Quested is here with a preview and a warning that it could happen again.
Plus, Ravens' quarterback Lamar Jackson making NFL history on "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL." The Bleacher Report up next.
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[05:45:45]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There was a beauty to it and there was a love to it that I've never seen before.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, MEDIABUZZ: But Mr. President --
TRUMP: A small group of people went down to the Capitol and then a lot of strange things happened, including police ushering them into the Capitol. I thought it was actually a beautiful thing. It was a protest.
That was a day of love from the standpoint of the millions --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Nearly four years after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Donald Trump continues to try to rewrite the narrative around the deadly days -- events of that day, painting it, as you saw there, as a day of love.
A new documentary from filmmaker Nick Quested aims to correct that version of history. He is detailing exactly how members of the pro- Trump mob spent the 64 days between the 2020 election and January 6 preparing for their attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be advised Capitol Hill one advised they're trying to breach and get into the Capitol.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) be careful. Go to the upper level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Quested, who spent the lead-up to January 6 embedded with the extremist group the Proud Boys, is now publishing never-before-seen footage of that group's leader Enrique Tarrio on the day of the insurrection and sharing a stark warning about the election we face in just 14 days.
And joining us now is Nick Quested, the maker of a forthcoming documentary "64 Days: The Insurrection Playbook." Nick, good morning to you. You spent a considerable amount of time with the Proud Boys in the runup to this. And now, of course, Donald Trump is characterizing what happened that day as a day of love.
I'm interested in your analysis and understanding of how people who were involved in January 6 on that day are looking at this upcoming election and listening to the comments that Donald Trump is making about what happened almost four years ago.
NICK QUESTED, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER, "64 DAYS: THE INSURRECTION PLAYBOOK" (via Webex by Cisco): Well, good morning.
So I would say that absolutely the crowd did love Donald Trump but that was the only thing that was -- that was the only love that was in the air that day. So we saw the barriers come down. We saw people die. We saw police officers assaulted. I think that day is the opposite of love.
HUNT: No, of course. And, I mean, I was at the Capitol that day and certainly the feeling from that crowd -- you are right to point out that many of them loved Trump and you can almost hear Trump making that reference when he makes these comments and calls it a day of love.
But I'm curious kind of what you know now about what these groups are doing as we face another election. It's a very close election. Donald Trump could certainly win the election but there are also a lot of questions about whether or not he would concede if he, in fact, does not win.
QUESTED: Well, what was interesting about last time compared to this time is exactly the same things are happening. You saw extensive denial of the election. Before it was the mail-in ballots and now it's just the election in general. So why would it be different this time than last time?
And my sources are saying that it's absolutely going to be the same. You're seeing the same pretexts being developed for election denial. And I see a flurry of lawsuits. I think you're going to see poll workers created pretexts. And I think you're going to have to worry about the same thing with state legislatures providing alternative slates of electors and also refusing to certify elections at electoral (PH) or even at a state level.
HUNT: So, Nick, one of the things that you did in the runup to this -- I mean, you spent time with them before this day actually happened. You kind of had some understanding of what kind of planning went into it on their end.
What kind of efforts -- planning are you seeing right now from these two groups?
I mean, one of the interesting things about this footage that you've just newly released also, it takes place after this meeting between the two leaders of groups who had some tension, right -- the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. In many ways there was -- there was plenty of ideology to unite them, but they had some tension. This meeting between the two leaders still kind of a big mystery.
[05:50:00]
Where do the relationships between these groups stand right now, and what does that mean for what we may face coming up?
QUESTED: Well, I think that the Justice Department, particularly with these two groups, has managed to incarcerate the leadership after they both were convicted of seditious conspiracy. But you're starting to see new groups emerge and you're starting to see new influences and organizers emerge.
The Proud Boys were very much an icon of these -- of this time because they're so present and they were so aggressive in what they were doing throughout that period.
I think that now you're going to see differently influences, whether it be Laura Loomer or Ivan Raiklin, or even Don Jr. emerging as these -- you know, the new voices of MAGA basically.
HUNT: Yeah. I suppose I should have -- should have put a finer point on it to say that with what's happened to those leaders is there still something from these groups that we should be focused on? But I do very much take your point, and I'm very interested to see your film "64 Days: The Insurrection Playbook."
Nick Quested, thank you very much for your time this morning. I appreciate it.
QUESTED: Thanks so much.
HUNT: All right, time now for sports.
Ravens' quarterback Lamar Jackson makes his case for another MVP award after throwing five touchdown passes on "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL."
Andy Scholes has this morning's Bleacher Report. Andy, good morning.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good morning, Kasie.
You know, if you fell asleep after the first quarter of the Ravens- Bucs you probably went to bed thinking Tampa was going to pull off an upset here.
But they were up 10-0 going into that second quarter but that's when Lamar Jackson just took over this game. The reigning MVP throwing for five touchdowns, and he also ran for 50 yards. The Ravens -- they scored 34 unanswered points.
And there have been three games in NFL history where a quarterback threw for five TDs on less than 25 passes while rushing for 50 yards. Lamar has all three of them.
Now, while the Bucs were trying to rally late, their star receiver Chris Godwin -- he suffered a gruesome ankle injury right here. He had to be carted off the field. And Baltimore would end up winning this game 41-31 and they improve to
5-2 on the season.
And here was Lamar after.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAMAR JACKSON, QUARTERBACK, BALTIMORE RAVENS: I'm chasing something right now so each and every game is going to be the same thing for me. Like, I'm going to be the same person every game I'm trying to win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. The Chargers and Cardinals, meanwhile -- they came down to the wire. Fourth quarter -- pick it up -- Kyler Murray here and he's just going to take off -- take it himself. He's going to go 44 yards for the touchdown. It was 14-9 Arizona at that point.
The Chargers added two field goals to take the lead. They made five of them in the game but failed to score a touchdown. And settling for all field goals -- well, it didn't really work out for them because Murray would get the Cardinals in field goal range in the final seconds. And Chad Ryland kicked the winner as time expired.
The Cardinals victorious -- 17-15 over the Chargers.
All right. Dolphins' quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, meanwhile, set to return to practice tomorrow after missing the last four games -- a result of suffering his third diagnosed concussion in the last two years. Now, Tua said he never considered retirement and has been symptom-free since the day after his concussion. The 26-year-old added that it was his choice to return to play football and he understands people's worry that he may get hurt again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUA TAGOVAILOA, QUARTERBACK, MIAMI DOLPHINS: Do I want to be, you know, known for this? No, I don't, but that's the cards I've been dealt with given the history of it. So it is what it is. I appreciate your concern. I really do. I love this game, and I love it to the death of me. That's it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. And finally, the NBA season is going to tip off tonight. LeBron James and his son Bronny set to make history as the first father-son duo to ever play together. Lakers head coach JJ Reddick not revealing any plans on how or if they plan to have them on the same floor together tonight, but it is expected to happen.
The Lakers are hosting the Timberwolves. That's after the world champion Celtics drop their 18th banner and get their rings as they host the Knicks. You can watch both of those games on our sister network TNT starting at 7:30 Eastern.
And Kasie, this is like the best two weeks in the entire year in sports really because you've got the World Series going, basketball starting, football in full swing, hockey as well. A lot of TV time going on -- going on in my household, I'll tell you that.
HUNT: I hadn't thought about it that way but you're absolutely right, Andy. Thank you so much for that. I really appreciate it.
SCHOLES: All right.
HUNT: All right. Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris push their economic plans for Latino voters this week. We're going to speak live with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez about how those messages are being received.
Plus, Liz Cheney's pitch to Republican women to reach across the aisle for Kamala Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ CHENEY, (R) FORMER WYOMING U.S. STATE REPRESENTATIVE: This is not an issue that we're seeing break down across party lines --
HARRIS: Right.
CHENEY: -- but I think we're seeing people come together to say what has happened to women when women are facing situations where they can't get the care they need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:55:05]
(COMMERCIAL)
HUNT: It's Tuesday, October 22. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They spent their money on illegal migrants. They didn't have any money left for North Carolina.
HARRIS: Donald Trump is an unserious man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Two weeks to go, two very different closing arguments from Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: It's not about party; it's about right and wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Unlikely allies? Kamala Harris taps Liz Cheney in her push to win over Republicans in blue wall states.
And then --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She's letting vicious gangs take over whole communities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Courting the Latino vote.
