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Obama: 'We Do Not Need 4 Years of a Wannabe Dictator'; Trump on Jack Smith: 'I Would Fire Him Within Two Seconds'. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired October 25, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, October 25. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

[06:00:24]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, MUSICIAN: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president! Get out there and vote!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Star power. Kamala Harris's A-list supporters in the Peach State. The most anticipated name yet headlining for her tonight.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're a dumping ground. We're like a -- we're like a garbage can for the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Trash-talk. Donald Trump goes somewhere even he admits he's not gone before.

And the fight for Congress. We're getting a clearer picture of where voters stand, with the balance of power hanging in the balance and abortion on the ballot.

Florida voters will decide whether to enshrine abortion rights.

We're going to speak live with Democratic challenger to Senator Rick Scott, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.

All right, 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at New York City on this Friday morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. We made it to Friday in -- this late in the election season. It's wonderful to have you with us.

So, if Bruce Springsteen is performing as a Democratic political rally, it must almost be election day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, "DANCING IN THE DARK")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Springsteen, along with Samuel L. Jackson, Tyler Perry, Spike Lee, all headlining for Kamala Harris in metro Atlanta on Thursday.

Also appearing together with Harris on the same stage for the first time: Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: With 11 days to go, I've got to tell you, to this reporter, it feels a little familiar. Because I remember these scenes from 2016 when Hillary rallied -- Hillary Clinton rallied in Philadelphia with Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPRINGSTEEN (singing): But tonight, girl, I'll be free. All the promises will be broken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That event was basically a victory rally that was held before all the votes were cast. And we all know how it turned out.

And now, once again, the same cultural clash. The split-screen is on pretty sharp display.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I get why people are looking to shake things up. What I cannot understand is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This is not 2016 or 2020. The stakes are even higher because over the last years, and in particularly the last eight years, Donald Trump has become more confused, more unstable, and more angry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So much has happened since this moment over eight years ago, when Donald Trump descended that golden escalator. In the speech he gave then, saying migrants were bringing drugs and crime, as he announced he was running for president. Donald Trump's rhetoric now is much darker. And it puts this cultural divide on a display that is much sharper. Here's what it sounds like now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're a dumping ground. We're like a -- we're like a garbage can for the world. That's what's happened. That's what's happened. 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 angry and angrier. First time I've ever said garbage can, but you know what? It's a very accurate description.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Americans do now know what it was like to live under a Trump presidency. That is the key difference from 2016.

A familiar face is making the rounds, pointing that out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I tried to sound the alarm about him back in 2016, but it was really an uphill climb, because people could not literally imagine that he posed a danger or that his character was so lacking when it came to the responsibility of being president. So, I totally understand that.

But now, there's just too much evidence about what he wants to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So now in 2024, despite all of that, the race is tied, and the echo is unmistakable.

Joining us now, Mark Preston, CNN senior political analyst; Annie Linskey, reporter for "The Wall Street Journal"; Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator and former Biden White House communications director; and Brad Todd, Republican strategist.

[06:05:07]

Thank you all for being with us.

Mark Preston, I want to start with you, because as I was watching all of these clips come in yesterday of this rally, I could not help but think back to what happened in 2016.

And the language that Obama used, in particular, when he stood on that stage, and he said I can't understand. What I can't understand is why anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for them -- good for you. And it just seemed to put on display to me this there's just a lot

that -- Trump has won. He has get -- 50 percent of the country is supporting him. And yet, top Democrats are still saying, I don't understand.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, because I mean, look, there is -- there's this thing they call election, or this anti- Trumpism.

I think Brad Todd knows it, because we used to talk about it years ago, where people were -- were so flustered and didn't really understand why Trump was appealing to voters, you know, what his appeal was. They were -- they were flabbergasted and dumbfounded.

And I think that is due, in part, to you know, this thought process, you know, from the rest of the country that this Acela corridor that we live in between Washington and New York City is out of touch with the rest of America, don't understand the economic demands that people are facing.

And I think when you hear Barack Obamas say that, he really is just echoing what a lot of people in the party still believe: How, why, how come Donald Trump is actually receiving all this support?

HUNT: Brad Todd, your name has been invoked. Jump in.

BRAD TODD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: He's been -- he didn't take it in vain, at least, though. You know, it's a little -- it's a little early for too much combat.

PRESTON: With love, my friend.

TODD: You know, I think the thing that's missing in this -- in this conversation from the Harris campaign here at the end, is they're asking the vote voters to have amnesia. And that's a big act.

They're asking to voters forget what they know about the Harris-Biden administration for the last four years.

Seventy percent of the country thinks we're on the wrong track. They know we've had 10 million people come across the border illegally. You can't ask the voters to forget all that.

And what she's not doing is saying what she would do differently. And right now, I think that's the thing that's looming over the election more than anything that happened during the Trump years.

HUNT: Kate Bedingfield.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, well, I would say I don't know that she's asking people to have amnesia. I think what -- I mean, look, she's going today to Houston to -- to shine a light on what's happened to women in this country since Donald Trump was president.

I mean, she's trying to raise the specter of, you know, what Trump did when he was in office, which is to say effectively put justices on the Supreme Court who overturned Roe v. Wade and made life worse for women in this country.

So, that's -- you know, today she's going to spend a lot of time trying to remind people that there are actually real consequences.

There is kind of a haziness, an amnesia, to use Brad's term, around the four years that Trump was in office. I think that's, in part, due to the fact that the pandemic was so challenging and traumatic for people all over the country.

And so, part of the thing she's trying to do now is remind people, you know, hey, a Donald Trump presidency has consequences. We lived through it. And one of the ways in which your life is -- is tangibly worse because Donald Trump was president, is because women's reproductive freedom, women's health care is no longer as easy to access.

And so, she -- we're going to see her do that today. And that's part of what the Harris campaign is trying to do in the final push here: remind people there are real stakes here.

TODD: You know what, though? Houston, I think is -- it's a big choice for her that she can make. No -- no major American city has been negatively impacted as much by illegal immigration as Houston.

The people of Texas understand that their hospitals are more crowded, their schools are costing more money for taxpayers locally. I think if I were her, and I was going to Texas tonight, I would go to Texas and say, We messed up on the border. I realize that now. We're going to do things a little differently next time.

I think it's a huge, huge chance. I don't think she'll do it, though.

HUNT: Annie Linskey, let me bring you in here.

We do have a new poll out this morning from "Times"/Sienna. They're looking at, from what I can see, registered -- sorry, likely voters in battleground states. And it's a dead heat, 48 to 48 percent, which again underscores that this is an incredibly divided country.

There are obviously some things that are different from 2016. Abortion rights is certainly one of them. It is absolutely central for Democrats.

But there are also some dynamics that are pretty similar, in that -- and I think Brad sort of touched on this: that Democrats are incumbent, right? And the question has been, can Harris convince voters that she is not the unpopular incumbent, that she is different, and that she is the one who represents change?

It seems like here in the final weeks, it may be that Trump -- and maybe it's due to this, you know, depending on who you want to apply the amnesia idea to. The people may have amnesia about what it was like under Trump, and they're trying to convince people to get rid of that. [06:10:03]

But he seems to be the candidate. When -- when you directly ask this question, voters say she seems to represent change, but it's not actually how they're acting.

ANNIE LINSKEY, REPORTER, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Yes. Yes. No, I think that's one of the really interesting challenges for Harris in her kind of closing arguments here.

She -- she has not separated herself from Joe Biden. And she's made very, very subtle policy differences. She'll kind of point to herself and say, you know, I'm a woman, I'm a different race, and I'm a different person than Joe Biden. But she hasn't made a really clear break from him.

And that is also related to another, you know, weakness she does have, according to polling in the final weeks, which is there are -- there's a large number of people in a particularly big number of independent voters who say they don't know enough about her.

So, you know, she's -- she's said, look, I'm going to -- it's going to be a new page. It's going to be a different administration.

But she hasn't really talked a lot about exactly how it would be different. And I think that's where you have some of that confusion and where people are reverting to this idea that, look, it looks -- it wouldn't be a continuation of the Biden-Harris administration. Because look, you know, Harris is part of the Biden-Harris administration.

So, you know, I agree that, you know, there's moments here where she could try to make that separation, and she's got time left. But so far, she just hasn't done it.

HUNT: All right. Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, if we -- we were just talking about polling in the presidential race. It's still neck and neck. But control of Congress also hangs in the balance. We're going to dive into the latest numbers.

Plus, you're fired? Donald Trump making a promise to Special Counsel Jack Smith, if he wins reelection.

And the Trump campaign pushes back over attacks from previous administration officials, used against them by Kamala Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I am offended for my fellow American citizens when a person who's running for president of the United States, not on what she's going to do for the American people, but on a bunch of petty grievances from years ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUGH HEWITT, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: You're going to have to pardon yourself, or you're going to have to fire Jack Smith. Which one will you do?

TRUMP (via phone): Oh, it's so easy. It's so easy. It's so easy. I would fire him within two seconds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Donald Trump painting a picture of what Special Counsel Jack Smith's future might look like if he wins again in November.

Smith was appointed by the attorney general and is overseeing the investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. If Trump wins, he could use his presidential powers to end investigations into him.

Trump has, of course, been at the center of a number of legal battles this year, you might remember, claiming without evidence that the legal system has been used against him as a political weapon.

He has also suggested he would use its the justice system to go after his own political rivals.

Trump actually went a step further than just saying he would fire Smith. In a separate interview, he was asked about the immigration system and, instead, took that opportunity to vilify Smith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (via phone): You have to let people in, but they have to come in legally. And you have to get the killers and murderers and the mentally deranged, you have to get them out.

And we should throw Jack Smith out with them, the mentally deranged people. Jack Smith should be considered mentally deranged, and he should be thrown out of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Jack Smith should be thrown out of the country.

Mark Preston, can you weigh in on this here? I mean, I don't -- I think everyone is widely assumed that if Trump were to win reelection, he would immediately order that these investigations into him be stopped.

That said, he went a step further there.

PRESTON: Yes. I mean, look, I mean, no doubt. You know, it's -- it's interesting. Anytime Donald Trump is -- is being pushed into a corner or if he feels threatened, he immediately comes out and says that his opponent is stupid, that they're mentally deranged, that they're criminals, that they should be thrown in jail, what have you. I mean -- I mean, it's a simple pattern.

You know, when we talk about the selection, Kasie, and I was just thinking about this as we were coming out of break. And, you know, really just thinking about how this could play out.

Let's move beyond just kind of the -- the 35,000-foot look at the election. My God, if Donald Trump wins, you know, what could that mean for the country?

Let's think about it from a foundational standpoint. If he does win, he has criminal cases that are against him. And he's going to fire the people who are -- who are -- who are leading those cases against him.

Like, the foundation of our country now has become fractured, because it shows that, once you get in power here in the U.S., then you are pretty much able to do what you want.

And yes, I know people don't like to use this word, and it is explosive. But it does come down to the word of being a tyrant. And I think that is -- is really concerning, the -- you know, the foundational fractures that we could see happen after this election.

BEDINGFIELD: And also, let's remember --

HUNT: Jump in.

BEDINGFIELD: Oh, no. I just -- let's remember what Jack Smith is holding him accountable for, which is an effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power when he lost the election in 2020.

So, you know, I mean, yes, there are foundational elements here. The idea that a president would say, you know, I'm not only going to fire, but I'm going to deport the Justice official who is looking into my behavior.

But also, let's not forget the underlying issue, the -- that Jack Smith is investigating here, which is, you know, Trump being unwilling to peacefully hand over power when he lost the election.

[06:20:10]

So, it is -- it is a frightening statement. I think, you know, there was a lot of -- there's a lot of pearl clutching around Kamala Harris using the word "fascist" to talk about Donald Trump.

But I mean, this is -- that's pretty textbook fascist behavior. So, that's a frightening thing.

TODD: Hold on now. First, that's Jack Smith's latest case. That's just -- that's just Jack Smith's latest case, after previously having his other case thrown out.

And we all know Donald Trump's not going to send Jack Smith to another country, if somebody else would take him. I think -- I coined this phrase back -- HUNT: I would challenge, Brad, is that we're not sure about that, actually.

TODD: Yes, we are. Of course we are.

HUNT: I mean -- But if you had told me to you told me, I mean, that I'd be sitting at the Capitol on January 6 and waiting for the president -- you know, my president, to call on the people that were breaking the windows and writing "kill the media" and chanting, "Hang Mike Pence," you know, waiting for him to say, Hey, stop. And he doesn't for hours. And there's nobody coming for you. You know, everyone -- I mean, if you had told me that that's what was going to happen, I would have told you, like, clearly, you are not -- you were not sane at that moment.

But that actually happened.

TODD: Yes, of course. He should -- he absolutely should have told people to stop sooner than that.

But, you know, the thing about Donald Trump with the American people is they know when to take him seriously, and they know what to take him literally. I coined that phrase in 2016, and that's still true.

And all the bad things about Donald Trump are factored into the stock price here, and he's still on the verge of winning this election. And that's because the voters see value in a lot of things that he brings them.

BEDINGFIELD: I really -- can I just quickly? I really disagree with the idea that it's after this man has been president for four years, and we've seen some of the things that he's done, that we should -- there should be some sort of magical floating understanding of when you take him seriously and when you don't?

I mean, the man had power. He wielded it in a way that, again, really, you know, nearly undermined one of the bedrock fundamental foundations of America since its inception, which is that we have free and fair elections, and we peacefully hand over power.

I just -- I think that the idea that, you know, when he says something outrageous, we should all just kind of stand back and go, Oh, well, we know he doesn't really mean it, I think is ludicrous, given what we've seen from the man.

TODD: Well, he says things outrageous, Kate, but the voters think that the Democrats will do things that are outrageous on policy. And that's the tension you have in this election.

HUNT: Yes. Look, Brad, I totally agree with you on where the tension points are in this election. I will just say I was willing to understand what you meant in 2016. Remember that. Voter -- you know, take him literally not seriously. And there were a hell of a lot of Republicans who, in the hallways of Congress where I spent those four years, who would consistently say, Oh, he doesn't really mean it. Oh, it's not really going to happen. And I'm sorry, but after January 6, that -- that whole -- that whole premise was completely shattered for me. So -- and Mitch McConnell when he voted against impeaching, when he voted to acquit Donald Trump on that second round, you know, he went down to the Senate floor and he said, we have a criminal justice system in this country.

And here's where we are with that.

Anyway, coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, the race for the president, of course, is all about battleground states. New York is not one of them. So, why is Donald Trump planning a huge rally at Madison Square Garden?

Plus, team Trump trying to discredit the former general who's called the former president a fascist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:27:56]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She did call me a fascist, and everyone knows that's not true. They call me everything, until, you know, something sticks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Denials from Donald Trump. The former president insisting he's not a fascist while also berating his former chief of staff, the retired general John Kelly, for suggesting it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (via phone): John Kelly was a stupid person. He was a stiff. He had no -- no anything. He had very little. He had two things. He was tough, but ultimately, became a marshmallow.

At the end of his time, I fired him. He sat in his office, and he was as weak as anybody I've ever seen. But he was a bully, and bullies are that way. He was a nasty bully.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, is even alleging that Kelly fabricated the entire story about Trump expressing a desire to have generals like Hitler's.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: John Kelly was fired by Donald Trump, and he's pissed off about it. And he won't stop talking about it.

Now, look, here's the thing. Every time that John Kelly says something happened, you've got three or four people who were allegedly in the room when it happened, saying he's making it up.

Even Mike Pence's chief of staff said that John Kelly is making up a bunch of crap about Donald J. Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So, Brad Todd, can I start with you on this one? Because obviously, John Kelly is a man of great esteem. He is someone who devoted his life to serving the country.

He lost a son in Afghanistan. Obviously, Vance there directly, basically calling Kelly a liar. There's new "Politico" reporting this morning with a number of other Trump officials coming out to say they back up what Kelly had to say.

What -- what do voters hear when they hear all of this? And is it -- is it that they simply believe that these reports are incorrect? They believe Trump and Vance when they say that John Kelly is a liar?

Or is it that they're not concerned about the warnings that they have? What is it?

TODD: Well, first, we all sort of have gratitude to John Kelly for his military service to the country, and we need to state that up front.

But there's something going on here.