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CNN This Morning
Harris Rolls Out Star Power In Final Stretch Of Campaign; WSJ: Musk And Putin In Regular Contact Since 2022; Record Breaking High Temperatures Across The South. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired October 25, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:32]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, October 25th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, MUSICIAN: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president. Get out there and vote!
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HUNT: Star power backing the Harris campaign and even bigger name joins her on stage tonight.
Plus --
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're dumping ground. We're like -- we're like a garbage can for the world.
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HUNT: Donald Trump calls America a trash can over immigration. Will it make undecided voters back him?
And must have voting blocs. The groups Kamala Harris needs on her side to win the White House.
(MUSIC)
HUNT: Five a.m. on the East Coast, a live look at Capitol Hill on this Friday morning.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. We made it to Friday. It's a win.
Kamala Harris leaning on A-listers 11 days to go before the final day to cast ballots tonight, the star whose music has been the anthem for her campaign from the very beginning will now help Harris in the closing of her historic bid for the White House.
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HUNT: A source telling CNN Beyonce will take the stage at Harris's Houston rally tonight, something of course, the Harris team has been discussing since the early days.
Last night, Harris was joined by Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen, Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, all in Georgia for her, and she continued to make the case that Donald Trump isn't fit for office.
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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's either Donald Trump in there, stowing -- stowing over his enemies list, or me working for you checking off my to-do list.
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HUNT: We're seeing a clear strategy shift from the vice president in the final days of the campaign. Her supporters are picking up on their messaging.
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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I want to explain that in politics, a good rule of thumb is, don't say you want to do anything like Hitler.
SPRINGSTEEN: Donald Trump is running to be an American tyrant. He does not understand this country, its history, or what it means to be deeply American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Trump holding a rally in battleground Nevada, denying that he ever said he wanted generals like Hitler's. And he is offering a new view of America.
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TRUMP: We're a dumping ground. We're like -- we're like a garbage can for the world. That's what's happened. That's what's happened to us. We're like a garbage can.
You know, it's the first time I've ever said that. And every time I come up and talk about what they've done to our country, I get angrier and angrier, first time I've ever said garbage can, but you know what? It's a very accurate description.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Let's bring in Jackie Kucinich. She is Washington bureau chief for "The Boston Globe".
Jackie, good morning to you. Thank you so much for being here. This celebrity parade -- it reminds me a lot of what we saw in 2016
with Hillary Clinton at the very end of the race. Obviously, this contest, Harris has been saying all along that she's the underdog. Clinton didn't run her campaign that way. She was widely assumed to be on track to win the presidency back then.
But clearly they are trying some of the same tactics that Hillary did in the final days. Will it work?
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, that's the question, Kasie, I mean, that's what you're seeing. You're also seeing them really target Republicans who might not be enamored with Trump, who I think that's one of the reasons you're seeing this democracy message. They were prompted really by the former Trump chief of staff John Kelly.
But because this isn't something that they were hammering on as much and just, you know, week or two ago, that said, I -- you know, we'll have to see if this is what really appeals to swing voters. We do.
I mean, Democratic presidential nominees have been pulling out celebrities for years, right? On the campaign trail. And that's usually to motivate the faithful right, to make sure that the base and the people that are really fired up continue to be fired up and get them to the polls.
[05:05:10]
But in -- I mean, you know, its cliche at this point, but it comes down to turnout, Kasie, but it all comes down to turnout. But you contrast it. You have Trump really -- really leaning in to this immigration message, to this darker version of America. And I would expect we'd see a lot of that. More of the same when he is in Texas today as well.
HUNT: Yeah, I mean, this -- this garbage can framing. I mean, he -- he has used language that is not dissimilar from this sentiment. But you could see even he realized he was going farther than he has before. Just kind of saying, well, I've never for said this before, but what this is what America amounts to.
It is really a very different message from what historically any political consultant worth their salt would, would tell you is one that can sell people on your vision you know, people who are looking to the future and who were looking for a little bit of hope, optimism. It's really the opposite of that. But this kind of thing has worked for Trump so far?
KUCINICH: It has and, you know, when you're talking to voters who are trying really to decide between Trump and Harris. And there are a few of them are still out there, they'll talk about things like immigration. They'll talk about things like the economy as the issues that are weighing on them as to, you know, which way, which direction they're going to go.
So, you know, Kasie, this is one of those races where it's going to be close, it's going to be so clear. I mean, just based on what we know and, you know, who's turning out and where, we should all just go to bet on election night -- we won't. But we're not -- I would be shocked if we know because just how tight this is.
HUNT: Yeah, you got to get to decide which handful of hours you might sleep during that time.
KUCINICH: So true.
HUNT: You'll be up all night, keep going.
All right. Jackie Kucinich -- Jackie, thank you.
KUCINICH: Thanks, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, secret conversations. A new report details regular contact between Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Plus, team Trump determined to discredit the retired general who described the former president as a fascist.
And a longtime dream about to come true for Trump. He's soon going to be headlining Madison Square Garden.
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STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: On Sunday, Donald Trump will hold a rally at Madison Square Garden.
They told me I'm behind in Wisconsin, so I'm rallying in Madison Square Garden. It works. No, it works logically. It works.
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[05:12:18]
HUNT: All right. Welcome back.
"The Wall Street Journal" with new reporting, tech tycoon Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since 2022. It's notable considering Musk is currently a major figure in Donald Trump's campaign and because he works closely with the U.S. government on various space projects. "The Journal" reports this, quote: The billionaire's conversations with Putin and Kremlin officials highlight his increasing inclination to stretch beyond business and into geopolitics. He has met several times and talked business with Javier Milei of Argentina as well as former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whom he defended in an acrimonious online debate.
Musk didn't respond to a request for comments and a Kremlin spokesman told "The Wall Street Journal", the only communication Musk has had with them was one telephone call where he and Putin discussed space as well as current and future technologies. He said no one from the Kremlin, including Putin, was having regular talks with Musk.
According to "The Journal", Musk touted having a top secret security clearance at a rally in Pennsylvania last week but a Pentagon spokesman said this to the paper, quote, we do not comment on any individual security clearance, review or status or about personnel security policy matters in the context of reports about any individual's actions.
Joining us now, CNN international anchor Max Foster.
Max, good morning to you. Always wonderful to see you.
Musk, of course, has become fixture on the campaign trail, but he also, as they lay out, has now become a geopolitical player in many ways and, of course, the work that SpaceX does basically requires a security clearance for somebody like Musk, as you saw there, the Pentagon didn't comment.
But what impact does this potentially have, especially as we barrel toward the 2024 election here in the U.S.?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, you know, chief executives are allowed to endorse politicians. They're allowed to have relationships with foreign leaders to promote their own commercial interests, nothing unusual in that. I think what's unusual here is that it doesn't just come into the realm of commercial interests. It does go into politics. Certainly on this international story, that "The Wall Street Journal's" got.
So we know that obviously he controls Starlink. I think the bombshell part of "The Wall Street Journal" story for me is that Putin, apparently once asked him to avoid activating his Starlink satellite Internet service over Taiwan as a favor to the Chinese President Xi Jinping, which isn't a commercial decision for Musk. It is a favor and it plays into geopolitics, and effectively America's role in it, because he is an American figure.
[05:15:03]
You'll remember, Kasie, at the beginning of the Ukraine war, he allowed the Ukrainian military to use Starlink and it was seen as crucial and giving Ukrainian soldiers and advantage on the battlefield. But he gradually wound that down to the point where some services were actually restricted was that linked to his growing relationship with president Putin? It does raise lots of questions about what sort of role an unelected business figure in the U.S. should have in politics.
HUNT: Right. Some really fascinating questions.
Max, I want to ask you about this other story we have this morning, which is an announcement from Canada's Justin Trudeau about immigration to that country and new limits on it.
What can you tell us about what they're doing and what it says about the political landscape? FOSTER: Well, you could look at this as an economic story or political story after the pandemic did open up its borders to some extent, because it had a shortage of workers then started pulling back on that, but there has been a reaction within Canada against immigration, the pressure on housing, the pressure on public services. It's the same story you've seen in so many other parts of the West, and he's had to respond to that, but he is a liberal figure so it goes against the grain to really start to not embrace immigrants.
So it is a shift in economic policy, border policy, but also potentially in what he represents presents a big challenge for him, but maybe its part of political survival in a nation which is seeing some of the disadvantages of too much immigration.
HUNT: Yeah, and it's a persistent theme across -- across the West.
Max Foster for us this morning -- Max, always grateful to have you. Thank you.
FOSTER: Thanks, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, decades after murdering their parents, there's now a chance the Menendez brothers could be released. We're going to have that more in our morning roundup.
Plus, J.D. Vance using a rally play in the battleground state of Michigan to go after Donald Trump's former chief of staff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Why is Kamala Harris talking about a disgruntled former employee instead of the fact that under her leadership, grocery prices are up 25 percent in the state of Michigan?
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[05:21:39]
HUNT: All right. Twenty-one minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
The Justice Department reaching a settlement with the owners and operators of the container ship that took down Baltimore's Key Bridge back in March. The two corporations based in Singapore agreeing to pay nearly $102 million to resolve a civil claim alleging cost cutting and negligence led to the disaster.
The Menendez brothers could end up free on parole. The Los Angeles County D.A. announcing he'll recommend re-sentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez, nearly 30 years after they were convicted of killing their parents. The case came under review after defense attorneys announced new evidence pointing to abuse by their father. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIUP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And splashdown.
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HUNT: Overnight, NASA and SpaceX welcoming home astronauts from the International Space Station, just a few hours ago. They splashed down off the Florida coast, but not on board that capsule, the two astronauts who have been on the ISS for months. They are still waiting to come home.
All right. Time now for weather. Temperatures in the South running about 10 to 20 degrees above normal. Record breaking high temps will continue across the region today.
Let's get to our meteorologist, our weatherman, Derek Van Dam.
Derek, good morning.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kasie. Happy Friday.
The main story about this weather forecast is you can pack for summertime conditions because it will be very warm today, especially across the Deep South, 25 record high possible -- record high temperatures possible today and just to put this into context over the next week or so, a good chunk of our country is actually going to feel temperatures above the 80 degree mark.
So, yeah, we're in the middle to end of October. It's feeling like early to middle September some of these temperatures here, Atlanta 84 today would be your advertised temperature for September 15. Very similar from Phoenix to Dallas. Remember, Phoenix is headed an extremely hot summer and fall so far.
So, for Acela corridor, right here, this is going to remain mild to warm. It heats up the further south you travel, but it will remain dry for this location as well. And this has been the trend for the month of October. In fact, we could go for the first time ever with no who measurable precipitation in the city of Atlanta and New York City, we're working on 25 consecutive days without any kind of rain falling from the sky. We need it because the fire danger is increasing for the Northeast.
Remember this is fire season for New Jersey, the month of October is when we typically get this dry stretch of weather but looking forward into the next seven days, there is some relief. A lot of it will start to form across the nation's midsection where they need it the most. Drought continues to creep in across a good majority of the central part of the U.S.
Look at that, Atlanta, 25 days bone dry, no rainfall.
HUNT: Yikes! No rain and basically summer, no fun.
VAN DAM: Right. HUNT: Derek Van Dam for us this morning -- Derek, thank you. I'll see
you next hour.
VAN DAM: All right.
HUNT: All right. Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING: is Donald Trump making a play for New York? We're going to preview his upcoming rally at Madison Square Garden. How might it -- how it might impact the fight for control of the House?
Plus, with the gender gap widening in both directions on the campaign trail, will Harris run up the margins in key states enough to break the glass ceiling?
[05:25:00]
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GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala doesn't talk about it, but it is past time we just quit talking about the cracks in the glass ceiling and tear the damn thing down and have Madam President. Tear it down.
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HUNT: All right. It's 5:29 a.m. here on the East Coast. It's a little bit earlier in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it's to 2:29 a.m. A live look at the strip.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
With just two weekends left before election day, tens of millions of Americans.
