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Republicans Criticized Trump's Unvetted Meetings; Victim's Families Angry Over Bias Treatment; Candidates Run Negative Ads To Attack Opponent; Duo Volcanic Eruptions Seen In Hawaii; Jay Leno Is Back On Stage. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired November 28, 2022 - 22:00   ET

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

[22:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LAURA COATES, CNN HOST: Good evening, everyone. I'm Laura Coates, and this is CNN TONIGHT.

And look, after a long holiday weekend, we're finally hearing from more Republicans who are calling out the former president for a dinner that happened last week with Holocaust denier, Nick Fuentes, and rapper, Kanye West.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: President Trump was wrong to give a white nationalist, an anti-Semite and a Holocaust denier, a seat at the table. And I think he should apologize for it. And he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Mike Pence also saying tonight he doesn't believe the former president is a racist or a bigot. Totally does make you wonder though about the company he's keeping though, given his statements of condemnation that you just heard for President Trump, a white nationalist, a Holocaust denier.

And the rapper, formerly known as or now known as Ye, fresh and his tweets saying that he's going to go death con three on Jewish people. I'm not sure what then qualifies for somebody to be called bigoted, but we'll wait and see I guess on that from Vice President Mike Pence.

We've got more to come on this. Plus, the white shooter who killed 10 people in a supermarket in a mostly black neighborhood in Buffalo, pleading guilty today. But the family that some of the men and women who were killed say that they think he was treated differently than say a black shooter would've been.

We got a lot to talk about tonight. Joining me now is CNN political analyst, Ashley Allison, also Kevin Madden, former top aide to Mitt Romney presidential campaign, and CNN political analyst Alex Burns is here as well. Good to see you all here tonight.

Look, there's been a bit of a pass that was given over the weekend. It was Thanksgiving, right? And we're not going to hear from any members of Congress. They're probably doing whatever we do when we're grateful at home and eating turkey.

But now on Monday, today we are hearing things finally. We're hearing some condemnations, but I want to just sort of orient the discussion for a moment because not everyone might know who Mr. Fuentes is and what he stands for. You hear the name and wonder now, what could he possibly have said?

We play for you a little bit of clips he has, a little bit of a mashup of the kind of comments that this person who now had access to a former president of the United States was saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK FUENTES, WHITE NATIONALIST: We've got the white Christian men that built this country the first time, and we'll do it again.

Do what must be done. Send the military into these black neighborhoods. Make the streets safe. They'll complain about it. It doesn't -- it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. They're never going to vote for us.

Who cares? You know enough with the Jim Crow stuff? Who cares? No, they had to go to a different school, their water fountain in that famous picture was worse. Who cares? Grow up

Now they're going on about Russia. Vladimir Putin is Hitler. And they say that's not a good thing and --

(OFF-MIC)

FUENTES: I shouldn't have said that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: He's so funny. He really is. Normally provocateurs don't interest me much because I really fair -- feel or fall for the sort of bait that they give. But in this instance, the fact that this is somebody who had an audience with somebody who's running for reelection is very concerning, don't you think?

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. But I'm not surprised. Donald Trump continues to show us who he is and I do appreciate vice -- former Vice President Penn saying something. I wish he would've also said something as strong in Charlottesville when you had neo-Nazis marching through the streets, also saying anti-Semitic things.

So, the fact that you have someone who says they're running for president in 2024, who was the former leader of this country, sitting down with someone like who is problematic on many different, but like also why Ye, like, you know, he has no political real analysis here and an anti-Semite is troubling and we need to continue to pay attention to it because you cannot ignore this type of behavior. It allows it to continue to fester.

COATES: What's new about this tonight, of course, is that the former vice president has spoken about this very issue, and you're right, he's been infamously mute on a number of issues. Still never going all the way to distance himself completely from Donald Trump. The question is why?

I mean, it's likely that he probably has aspirations to be a president of the United States. Whether that's a viable aspiration, we just don't know.

[22:05:03]

But the idea that he's now coming around, Alex, and you have other top Republicans who are condemning his behavior and actually having an open conversation about it. In fact, here is Senator Thune, and Cornyn, and Ernst all talking about these issues. Senator Tune said, well, that's just a bad idea on every level. I don't know who's advising him on his staff, but I hope that whoever that person was got was got fired.

Cornyn saying it's bad. There's no question about it. Joni Ernst saying, it's ridiculous. That's all I'm going to say about it. Capito is saying it's ridiculous. You would do something with someone who espouses those views.

You've got people coming out and saying something about it. Even Senator Cramer at one point saying something from North Dakota. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): Well, he should condemn any -- those kinds of things that anybody, anybody would stand for, no matter who they are. Clearly, it's not our view, it's not my view. I would -- I don't think it's his view. But as you know, President Trump doesn't condemn a lot of people who support him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: That's the part, Alex, that last sentence, he doesn't condemn a lot of people who support him. Is that the crux of this issue?

ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, certainly, I think for former President Trump, it's much of the crux of the issue. I think what's so important about what you're hearing from a handful of these Republicans now, Laura. First with Mike Pence. He's not just sort of, wrapping the former president on the wrist and moving on the way I think we've heard a lot of Republicans do over time.

I do think that challenge to Trump that he ought to apologize is an interesting and very, very deliberate choice by Pence, right? That advances, this conversation further. And, you know, I don't think Pence is eager for sort of a long drawn-out fight with Donald Trump, but it does mean that, you know, it's not necessarily quite so easy to just sort of, you know, say your piece and move on and hope that the media cycle moves on, soon enough too.

I think more than anything though, this is an indication of at least a sense among Republicans and it's a pretty decent cross section of the party.

COATES: Yes.

BURNS: You're not just talking about; you're sort of never Trump folks or folks who voted for impeachment once or twice. You know, that he really is a politically weakened force that, you know, why are you hearing, Joni Ernst or a Kevin Cramer speaking so freely about what they see as the problems with Donald Trump? Well, they don't really see him necessarily as the guy who's running the show anymore.

COATES: What do you think about that?

KEVIN MADDEN, FORMER AIDE TO MITT ROMNEY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: But they're not convinced of that yet. And that's the thing that is annoying to me, is that they're still doing this in such an incremental way. They're doing it with these little glancing blows and then they're sort of checking the temperature and seeing, am I getting any blow back from the Republican base?

COATES: Are they?

MADDEN: Or the base activist? They don't know yet.

ALLISON: Yes.

MADDEN: And we don't know. But you know what? That's not the right question to ask. I think the main question that we should be asking is, is sitting down with somebody like Nick Fuentes disqualifying? The answer on that is emphatically yes. It's disqualifying act to sit with somebody with those views. You should not be able to be the head of a major political or president of the United States. And that should be the question that they're asking.

And quite frankly, I'd be saying it rhetorically. I would ask myself that question as an elected member or a leader in the party, and I answer it emphatically. He is not qualified to be president because of this.

COATES: Now, of course, think about the long list of things, right, that people have tried to disqualify Trump on the basis of, and the list is pretty long. You heard Congressman Liz Cheney very intent on disqualification tied to the January 6th direction, for example. But the notion here in.

And I don't want to give him necessarily an olive branch in this, but his statements have been, President Trump, has been that look, I don't always know who I'm sitting with. You know, Kanye brought some people with him, which gives me security questions about the people who you don't know who's coming around, the former president of the United States.

I wonder if the Obama's or Clinton, or tell Jimmy Carter for that, like, or saying, I don't know who comes --

ALLISON: Now.

COATES: -- and has a meal with me these days. That's kind of a cop out, but that's what his statement has been.

ALLISON: Yes, but he does cop outs all the time. When you are the president of the United States or the former president, especially the most immediate former president, you know who you are sitting down with, there is vetting that is supposed to be happening.

Now, it might not actually happen in the Trump --

COATES: Maybe not.

ALLISON: -- ecosystem.

MADDEN: It doesn't. It doesn't.

ALLISON: Because they don't -- they don't actually have any protocols. It seems like. But what I will say to you --

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: Does that, that excuse it though to you?

ALLISON: No, it doesn't. Because you have a responsibility as --

BURNS: How many times --

ALLISON: -- but you have a responsibility as a leader. And the thing that I think I really agree with you is why are they doing this now? Pence wants to be in the news cycle just as much as Donald Trump wants to be. Because you know, he might not want this to go on forever, but he will bring it up on a presidential debate stage.

COATES: So, Alex's point, excuse me, Alex's point was in part, what I think is really interesting that you are making is the idea of Pence's statement this time around requires a response and the absence of a response in terms of the absence of an apology is in itself a response or a refusal to acknowledge something.

[22:10:01]

Is that my, and again, it's a glancing blow.

BURNS: Right.

COATES: But that point is that intentional, you think, by Pence in terms of getting a response and wanting one.

BURNS: Well, look, I don't think there's anything that Mike Pence says about Donald Trump that's not incredibly intentional. And I think that's been true for quite some time. But look, to Kevin's point, you know, until you have leaders of the Republican Party out there driving the message that this guy is not qualified to be president, that he should be seen as having taken himself out of consideration.

You know, there's no mechanism to disqualify somebody from seeking public office just because their views are abhorrent and their character is deficient. That's about driving a message that persuades voters to see things that way right. And until you have folks on the right, and not just dipping their toe in the water to say, you know, let's see how the base is going to react to this.

But really taking the situation in hand and saying, it is my mission to make sure the base believes that this guy is disqualified. You're just going to see round after round of this. And I do just think in terms of the sort of cop out after cop out. How many times is Donald Trump like accidentally had dinner with a left wing radical, right?

MADDEN: But --

BURNS: When does that ever happen?

MADDEN: What you just mentioned though, is the biggest tactical problem. Is that, here we are again, Donald Trump picking, driving the news cycle and everybody else reacting to it. If you want to be the 2024 nominee inside the Republican Party, and you're not Donald Trump, you have to get out of this vicious cycle of just responding every single day to some Donald Trump controversy.

And that's the thing that I found interesting about the last three days is this is like 2016, 2020 redux is everybody reacting and responding to the Donald Trump news cycle that was started and initiated by Donald Trump.

COATES: But it is, and I want to play this one last clip because it's from governor, reelect, governor again, Brian Kemp. And I do sense a bit of a change. In 2016, people were chasing the headline that was Donald Trump and '17 and '18, and I can go on for all the years it's happened. But there seems to be a little bit more freedom. People actually being able to say something at least to condemn, even initially, maybe they pull it back.

But here is Governor Kemp just today about this very issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): That was a bad decision. There's no place for that in the Republican Party. I know he's got, you know, his answer to that question and I'll let him speak to that, but my views on that are very clear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Now, of course his views on that might be very clear because he's not, you know, in the good graces of Donald Trump. It has a little bit more freedom, perhaps down in Georgia, but we will see how it all pans out. Stick around, everyone, because as you can imagine, this country is

reeling from one mass shooting after another. And tonight, the gunman who killed 10 human beings in a racist mass shooting in a buffalo supermarket in a mostly black neighborhood today has pleaded guilty. The families of some of those victims, they are not happy about this. We'll tell you why, next.

[22:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: While the gunman in that horrific racist mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store that happened in May, pleading guilty to the state charges today. Nineteen-year-old Payton Gendron pleading guilty to one count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate, 10 counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and a weapons possession charge. His plea now ensures there will be no state level trial, but he does still face federal charges, which he is obviously already pleaded not guilty to at this point.

Now, some of the victim's family members expressed some frustration with the outcome today, calling out the system that we have for being overly sympathetic towards the gunman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: His voice showed me, made me feel sick. This country is inherently violent. It is racist. And his voice showed that to me today. Because he didn't care. He didn't even feel -- you couldn't hear him in his voice. He was just a robot.

MARK TALLEY, GERALDINE TALLEY'S SON: So, in court today, a lot of anger. Anger was over my body. I was angry how the judge was constantly talking to this, to this gentleman, like he was a little pre-pubescent sixth grade boy. I was angry that they didn't have him look at the faces of the family's victims that he ruined and scarred for life.

PAM YOUNG, PEARL YOUNG'S DAUGHTER: Let's think about why he was taken into custody when others can have their hands up and they're not taken into custody, they end up on the ground with bullets in them. My mother had bullets in her. I did not know, attorney Crump. I did not know the full extent until I came here today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Back with you now, Ashley Allison and Kevin Madden, also CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen is joining us as well.

I mean, Norm, when you look at this, and again, you keep emphasizing state charges versus federal charges. We know full well of course, that federal can often be that backstop for sometimes failed state level charges. But just the idea of the anger and the frustration of the families. You have been a defense counsel, I, a prosecutor. We've been in these courtrooms and seen the frustrations of so many. What's your reaction? NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, and Laura, I've worked death

penalty cases defending those who are accused of these heinous crimes. And my first reaction is not as a lawyer, it's a human one, and my heart is breaking for these families. There is nothing that can bring back the precious lives that were lost or ever fully heal those scars, that's a scar that never heals.

I do think that killing, Gendron, for the terrible things he did, and this is not -- it doesn't seem to be a case where you say, it's a crazy man. This is a stone-cold killer. He made up his mind and he did it on racist grounds.

[22:19:57]

Still, life in prison is a severe penalty for that. Killing him is not going to heal those wounds, those victims, the families will have a chance to appear in court and talk, and I think as a nation, I returned to the question of the he legally bought a gun. He illegally modified it. We need to make it much more difficult.

If you look at the statistics, the last thing I'll say, if you look at the statistics internationally, or even in the United States where it's easier and more difficult to get guns to do these kinds of modifications where it's more difficult, there are many fewer mass killings. We must address this as a society to prevent this horrible pain that we're seeing in Buffalo.

COATES: I mean, and, and Ashley thinking about this and you know, just and Norm is right? The human element of this. The pain, and this is on the backdrop of how many mask shootings have occurred even since this happened in May. It is horrific that we are still -- I have reported on so many as we all have in our time.

But he is right that there will be a time for a sentencing opportunity when you victim's impact statements to come and talk. I found interesting, part of the frustration of the families was that they wanted to be able through a trial, to have information come out knowing there's a spotlight on what's happened. Wanting to address all the evidence, just the thematic way that he sought out this particular community based on demographics, based on the intersection of race and income and geography. There was an intersectional story here to be told.

ALLISON: Yes, I mean, I am just like Norm, and I'm sure everyone here and everyone watching. I go back to that day when we heard about the shooting in Buffalo and as a black American, it hit differently. I mean, there are many shootings, but this one hit home. And you never want to tell a victim's family how they should feel like justice should be served, because I think you can never fully empathize until you're in somebody's shoes.

I am not a supporter of the death penalty, but that doesn't mean that that shouldn't be what those, if that's what the family wanted, should be able to have that. But I also think what you heard was the racial implication that they felt like this was system was unjust. That they felt like if this was a black shooter, that he might not even had the chance to plead guilty because he might have been dead if they might have had more transparency. It sounds like they're just learning things today and they need that transparency for closure.

To Norm's point, I do think that there are some measures we can take around assault weapons, but there also are some things on monitoring without invading privacy about chat rooms that people were in on social media platforms where he was clearly espousing some of this hate and his intent, and that should be addressed as well.

COATES: Let's be clear on one, and I again, and I agree with you. I would not dare to suppose I knew what justice looked like for a family member. At the state level in New York the death penalty was not an option. It was a life without possibility of parole, but their federal charges could possibly bring that about.

There is a moratorium right now on death penalty cases. Actually, attorney General Merrick Garland talked about not being a supportive death penalty in spite of his Oklahoma City bombing passed as well and prosecuting that case. But I can't help but look at these cases, Kevin, on the backdrop of, we see what happens when families don't believe that because a trial has not taken place, there's not the semblance of justice in some parts.

Meanwhile, here in Washington, D.C. we've got the Oathkeepers trials going on. For many, it's clear as maybe mud maybe as day, depending upon your viewpoint about the evidence before the jury. In Washington, D.C. the jury is still deliberating and many look at this and say, what could be taking so long? I thought there were all these discussions about an expedited result.

What do you make of the fact that the Oathkeepers trial, as of right now, we're on verdict watch, has not yet rendered a verdict?

MADDEN: Well, without going into any of the details of that, because there are a lot of details involved, there's a lot of evidence involved. I think one of the big challenges here about both of these cases, is that we oftentimes have them driven on a public policy conversation or a political conversation or a larger sort of conversation in society, they're oftentimes driven just by events.

And so many of the questions and problems that we face in the in the day-to-day man -- management of the judicial system and the legal system. Things like equity, things like fairness. So much of that has a conversation that can't take place just around one event. We remember Buffalo happened, then Uvalde happened. Then we finally saw some policy action.

[22:24:54]

But the conversations and the address -- addressing these issues that go are very deeply rooted problems in the system and in society. Those conversations have to be ongoing beyond any trial, beyond any one event that becomes newsworthy, that everybody then turns the cameras on and reporters show up. That conversation probably has to be much more methodical and much more systemic. COATES: We are a very reactive nation when it comes to policy, right?

That's one of the complaints. We often hear about discussions about, say, gun control when a mass shooting occurs, not the sustained conversation.

Before we go to break, I do -- I'm curious, Norm, from your perspective, are you surprised we haven't yet gotten a verdict from the Oathkeepers trial?

EISEN: No, it's two days. They had one before the holiday. Now they've had a second date. They sent a note out of the jury today.

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: It wasn't a good note for the prosecution, I'll tell you that.

EISEN: It wasn't -- it wasn't a terrible note. They wanted to understand what prevent, hinder, or delay, as you know, in this case, seditious conspiracies. It has to be an agreement to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States by force. And they wanted to understand how that related to laws governing the transfer of presidential power.

And Judge Mada (Ph), when he was a lawyer, we practiced together in the firm. Judge Mada (Ph) sent back an instruction how the two interacted, that they're going to have to find an agreement to interfere with the transfer of power by force.

I think there's a lot of evidence of that. I represent the D.C. A.G. in a civil case against these malicious, I know these are not easy cases. And I appreciate that the jury is taking their time. But come on, we tried a bunch of cases. The jury was out longer than two days. The jury sent multiple notes and then they convicted in the end. So, I think the evidence is strong.

COATES: My juries really liked me and justice, so I got to tell you, I'm just making -- I'm --

EISEN: My juries.

COATES: I'm kidding. I'm kidding. It was always beyond a reasonable doubt, nothing to do with Laura Coates ordinary.

EISEN: My juries ruled for me in spite of my not being as likable as Laura Coates.

COATES: That's --

EISEN: They still ruled for me.

COATES: Happy cock. You are. But I will say from a prosecutor's perspective, if I have a jury who's asking questions about clarifying a definition that was the meat of my case, I'm worried about what I may have faltered on. But we will see. And everyone, Norm Eisen is extraordinarily likable in court and out. So, there you go. Look at the smile. You see it right there.

EISEN: I hope my family is watching it.

COATES: They're not. My kids are -- no one watches me either in my family. It's fine. I'm not personal. Look, but we are just eight days away from what everyone is watching and it's a critical Senate runoff in the state of Georgia. And now we're learning the former president, Donald Trump, he's not going to appear to campaign for Herschel Walker in Georgia.

Plus, lava is flowing down the largest active volcano in the world. I'll talk to one of Hawaii's top officials about whether the people there are at risk. Wow.

[22:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: Georgia's Senate runoff is really heating up tonight. We're entering the final week of the contest between Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker. And thousands, and I do mean thousands and thousands of voters have already cast their ballots. More than 300,000 as of today, which blows up the old record of 233,000. So, very motivated voters here. That's according to Georgia election official Gabe Sterling.

Back with me now, Ashley Allison, Kevin Madden, Alex Burns returns as well.

I want to play for you this part because Governor Kemp, I think really encapsulates exactly why there has been the turnout and why he is still promoting and endorsing Herschel Walker. Let's listen to what he has to say about why you should vote here and now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEMP: We cannot rest on our laurels, everyone. You're going to decide who our senator is. This is going to be a turnout election. Who's more motivated? Is it them or us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Not a whole lot about Herschel Walker's campaign platform --

(CROSSTALK)

MADDEN: A lot of platitudes. Turn out.

COATES: Turn out. Who's going to do it.

ALLISON: Who's more excited.

COATES: That's the crux of it, right? That's what he's saying.

BURNS: Yes. MADDEN: The amazing thing about this race right now, it's been three

weeks, right? We got one more week to go. It has been an extension of what we saw for the last eight months. It's just the same messages, it's the same tactics with the same two candidates spending money on ads. That's really all it is. Not much has changed in the last three weeks.

COATES: Fifty 50 million. I mean like $50 million.

MADDEN: It's about $60 million, about 57 million.

COATES: Democrats higher than, I think it's 37.4 million for Democrats, 20.2 million for Republicans. But I don't know. There seems to be a different sort of taste in terms of the ads that are being run. For a long time Senator Raphael Warnock was criticized for not being more attack -- attacking of Herschel Walker. People wondered why he wasn't going to talk more about the abortion related scandals and whatnot.

Now he has this commercial out, which I saw and kind of chuckled at because that was the conversation people were having. They would show you a video of what Herschel Walker had to say, and they'd go, what's your reaction to it? He kind of honed in on that in a little bit more of a tactful way, but here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERSCHEL WALKER (R), GEORGIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: You ever watch a stupid movie late at night hoping it going to get better? Don't get better, but you keep watching it anyway. Because the other night, the other night I was watching this movie, I was watching this movie called fright night, freak night to some type of night, but it was about vampires. I don't know if you know 10,000 cool people.

UNKNOWN: What the hell is he talking about?

[22:35:01]

UNKNOWN: Is he's serious? Is he for real?

WALKER: But I'm going to tell you something that I found out. A werewolf could kill a vampire. Did you know --

UNKNOWN: What is he talking about?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: That was the question many were asking about that very clip, Alex, is this the approach he ought to take in terms of Senator Warnock?

BURNS: Well, first of all, let's give Herschel Walker credit where it's due. I didn't know that about werewolf? That's new information for me. Well look, no.

COATES: Are you a Georgia voter? Because he would want to know that too.

BURNS: I'm not, but look, you know, far beat for me to sort of tell Brian Kemp how to win an election in Georgia. He just had a very convincing victory. But what we heard him say in that ad is not quite true. The fact that he said this is a turnout election, that's about, you know, does our side show up or does their side show up?

What Brian Kemp and Raphael Warnock showed in the midterm elections is that that is a persuasion game also in Georgia, right? That you had many thousands of people turn out to vote in this November election and cast their ballot for a Republican governor and for a Democratic senator.

And what Herschel Walker badly needs to happen in the runoff is it a lot of those people who split their ballots either switch back to just voting straight ticket Republican, meaning only for him this time, or they just stay home and that not that many people show up.

It doesn't really look like from the early vote that, you know, folks just staying home is a great bet on this one. But you don't, you know, what you -- what you see in that ad is Herschel Walker trying to get to those Republicans who rejected him last time, because they think he says outlandish stuff, because they think he's a person of low character and just say, listen, man, just like, just vote for the team this time.

ALLISON: I think what Kemp was talking about also is we call that like a persuasion turnout that you have to convince people to actually go and vote. Some people call it Get out the vote. I thought that ad that the Warnock team put out was spot on hilarious. I watched it five times today and there was one part when they were like, he was talking about air and he's like, the guy is like it's all the same air.

You know, you just, somebody needed to name a thing. And I was like, what is he talking about all the time? Like every time he speaks, he says something in his speech and you're like, what is he saying? Am I -- is something going on with me? Am I missing the point? And now you -- his own party knows that because every time he goes out, he has chaperones and they, you know, because they want to clean up if he says something crazy, which he did most recently. I'm not going to say what he said, but he definitely said something inappropriate about the election.

COATES: What, what a cliffhanger. I'll leave it alone. That's fine. I'm not going to say it, but go and Google it, everyone right now, you'll see yourself. But you know what, it's not just, Raphael Warnock who is doing this. Walker is hitting back. I mean he has an add out as well. Because there, you know, there were questions that were raised about a comment that Reverend Senator Raphael Warnock made about one's character is what you have when no one is looking. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Character is what you do when nobody is watching.

UNKNOWN: And Warnock thought no one was watching when his ex-wife called police to report his abuse.

UNKNOWN: And he is a great actor.

UNKNOWN: And Warnock thought no one was watching when he evicted poor people from their homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Is that effective, Kevin?

MADDEN: You know, it's the same ads that we're running in the general election, that we saw three weeks ago. It's the same thing, and I really do think in many ways they're canceling each other out. One of the reasons that I think Warnock has an edge in this race is Republican turnouts going to be deflated, knowing that they can't really have -- they don't really have a mantle to grab onto with the majority, given that the Democrats are still going to be in the majority.

So, I think that the deflated turn out there and the fact that this thing is all going to be about whether or not you can win the suburbs and Warnock was winning the suburbs of Atlanta, and even ran ahead of Stace Abrams in the suburbs You know, I think he gets the edge. So, it's not much has changed and I think that leaves the edge with

Warnock.

COATES: You know, it makes a great point because maybe had this been a number that got you say closer to the filibuster, being able to be do it done away with, that's a little bit more enticing than just, you got one more seat filled. Having said that, I don't think there are really a electorate, but we'll see what actually comes out here in places like Georgia.

Well, look, everyone, let's turn the tables to the world's largest active volcano because it is erupting for the first time in nearly four decades, and not just won. Now a second volcano is erupting on the big island.

[22:40:00]

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COATES: There's a really rare event happening in Hawaii tonight. You've got dueling, dueling eruptions from two active volcanoes on the Big Island. For the first time in nearly 40 years, Mauna Loa the world's largest active volcano is sending molten hot lava streaming down the side of the mountain. It began late Sunday night.

And right now, there are -- its lava is likely to say in what's known as Mauna Loa's northeast rift zone, according to officials, and pose very little threat to residents, at least for the time being. And I hope that remains the case. Also, nearby, Kilauea is the other volcano that's now erupting about 21 miles away from Mauna Loa. Now Kilauea eruption in 2018 that destroyed more than 700 homes.

Joining me now, Hawaii's Governor-elect and current Lieutenant Governor Josh Green. Lieutenant Governor, Governor-elect, I'll refer to you as both. You've got both the titles right now. It's nice to see you. But we're learning a lot about what's happening down in Hawaii right now.

I mean, right now, I'm wondering is there a big risk to the residents of the areas? I mean, two erupting volcanoes. It's crazy.

[22:44:59]

LT. GOV. JOSH GREEN (D), HAWAII GOVERNOR-ELECT: It is crazy. But there's not a threat to our people right now. Thank goodness. It's interesting. This is the area where I took care of patients as a physician when I first came to Hawaii, and we are a vulnerable community all the way out here in Hawaii. We've had so many different storms and disasters.

You described Kilauea erupting, which was in 2018. And then now Mauna Loa, which it's been a long time, it's been about 40 years since Mauna Loa erupted. But because it's going through the northeast Rift zone, that is a better way for the lava to flow. It goes into a flatter area. The lava becomes quite viscous and it tends to slow down before it gets anywhere near our people, which would be Hilo.

Hilo is the largest town on Big Island, and it's where my in-laws live. We just are getting a little nervous from time to time, but it's at least a week away and we're hopeful that it won't make it all the way to the town.

COATES: Wow. The idea of what that would be like, the prospect and thinking about the time, but as a physician, I'm curious, although the lava might not present this immediate or urgent threat, I'm wondering about the air quality posed by the volcanic ash that might be in the air. I understand it's pretty minimal, but that could have an impact on somebody who had respiratory conditions or might actually complicate or create them. Is that right.

GREEN: That is true. Right now, there's more hot air coming out of the Georgia special election, frankly, than there is out of the volcano. But I will tell you, it's not without consequence here. We do have a thing called vog, that's volcanic smog, and that does irritate people's lungs. We did some research on that, and people are about twice as likely to have asthma exacerbations or a problem with their COPD when the volcanoes go off.

Also, there's a thing called pele's glass or pele's hair, which is shards of volcanic ash and the carbon forms into like a glass like fiber, and people can breathe that in. But right now, it's been very minimal. It's been safe. We're encouraging people to wear masks if they're concerned. We have our Department of Health on it. We're monitoring air quality.

So, there's no worries about traveling to Hawaii. There's no worries about being in Hawaii on Big Island. But it's a, it's a concern always. We worry about all these things.

COATES: So, I mean, I wonder how you prepare, obviously with certain natural disasters for a hurricane, for example, people are more familiar with what happens there? Is there a way to prepare? Because I think the U.S. Geological Survey had reported earlier in the summer that there had been some seismic activity near at least Mauna Loa. Is there a way to prepare or is it really a wait and see approach that must be taken?

GREEN: We do monitor things constantly. There were a lot of earthquakes, so we knew it was coming. We stratify risk. We do a lot of science here in Hawaii, as you saw, when we dealt with COVID, we used science. We had good results. With the volcanoes we used science. We get people prepared.

If we had gone the other direction, if the lava had actually broken through, to the other side away from the northeast, you know, end of the southwest, it's more worrisome because you can't predict where these lava flows will go. And then it goes downhill really quickly towards Kona and Kahu, which are the other areas of the Big Island. That would've been more disconcerting.

Also, whenever we have earthquakes, we have some concern about the shelf moving that can cause things like a tsunami if the shelf moves into the ocean. I know a lot of this freaks people on the mainland out, but look, these are very rare instances. We follow them carefully with our geology folks, and we're OK, but we appreciate all the concern because we know everyone loves Hawaii and, you know, these are pretty unusual things. You don't see this in the mainland.

COATES: We certainly do not. We're thinking of everyone out there, and it's hard not to fall in love with a place like Hawaii, so we wish you the best out there as well. Lieutenant Governor, Governor-elect, Josh Green, thank you for taking the time to be here today. We'll follow along.

GREEN: Hey, thanks for worrying about us. We care about you guys too.

COATES: Thank you. Well, Jay Leno, everyone. He is returning to the stage and he is cracking some jokes, although probably not as good as the governor-elect just did about Georgia, but we'll give Jay Leno more credit as well. The comedian is back at it just two weeks after suffering some serious burns from a gasoline fire.

So, what do you find funny about it? We'll tell you next.

[22:50:00]

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COATES: Jay Leno making his return to the comedy stage over the after suffering major burns in a garage accident just two weeks ago. Here he is cracking jokes arriving at the club,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Jay, how is it feel to be back on stage?

JAY LEMON, COMEDIAN: Well, the elephant man is here. UNKNOWN: How is it feel to be back?

LENO: I'm not on stage yet. I just got here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES: Back with me, Ashley Allison, Kevin Madden, Norm Eisen.

We were all pretty worried about how he'd be doing. I mean, these are serious burns. It was shocking that it happened to him. Good to see him back out there.

ALLISON: Yes. I mean, and I love Jay Leno. I think he, you know, I love to watch his show. Very excited to have him back. And I was particularly worried because the burns were on his face and he has such an iconic face, you know, it's like --

MADDEN: The most famous chin in showbiz.

ALLISON: Yes. And, you know, just to see him back and be in good spirits it's what we need.

(CROSSTALK)

MADDEN: He's a work horse, too.

ALLISON: Yes.

MADDEN: I mean, he used to go out on the road even when he was the host of The Tonight Show, so, you know, the comedy club circuit is in his blood. So, it's really great to see him doing what he loves.

EISEN: And how fantastic on a day with some very heavy news --

COATES: Yes.

EISEN: -- to have Jay Leno back and showing us the role of humor in lifting up his own spirits and all of us. It just was a bit of good news that we needed.

COATES: And we need to have more of it. I'm glad to see him out there. And of course, what was not a laughing matter to some people, Bob Dylan, he tried to make his life by essentially using some kind of an auto pen to sign limited edition copies of his book.

And you had super fans who were comparing online and thought, hold on, this looks exactly the same. Turns out that they indeed were some pro replication. I, of course, have a book with, Simon and Schuster, his same company as well, and same publisher. So, I won't really say too much more about my bestselling book.

[22:55:04]

Norm Eisen, let's talk about yours though, on this notion because he was trying to cut corners a little bit, but it is Bob Dylan. EISEN: The value of my books actually goes down. So, it is not the

Bob Dylan situation, but we -- here's what I will say, Laura. You started the show on the call for Trump to apologize, and we all know Donald Trump will not apologize if Pence asks him a hundred times.

Bob Dylan apologized. He made a mistake, he had vertigo, he used the auto pen. He said he was sorry. They're sending money back to the fans. Again, that's what we need to see. You make a mistake, apologize.

MADDEN: I'll give him credit for apologizing. I mean, I hate that they, sometimes they only apologize when they get caught on things like this, but I do give him credit for that.

ALLISON: I guess I'm too cynical. I'm not surprised.

MADDEN: Are you telling -- are you (Inaudible) for that?

ALLISON: I'm just not surprised that they would be, you know, so many people use the auto pen to do their signatures. I mean. Listen, I --

(CROSSTALK)

EISEN: It's because he spent too much time in government service, Ashley.

ALLISON: No. I have --

MADDEN: You think anybody is comparing your signatures?

ALLISON: I have a poster that for my birthday went and Diana Ross signed it and I bought it. I didn't see her sign it. And my heart, I believe it's her signature. But if it's not, I'm not going to hate Diana.

COATES: Excuse me. Diana Ross would never lie. And she's perfect. We will stop right there.

ALLISON: I agree.

MADDEN: I can't believe we're --

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: We're moving on.

EISEN: So, a much better singer, Bob Dylan.

COATES: We're moving on. You know, I -- you know I love Diana Ross.

ALLISON: I mean --

(CROSSTALK)

COATES: Wrong saying about that.

ALLISON: She is my favorite.

COATES: She's mine and I love her.

So, thank you very much. Coming up, where protests in China over the country see -- zero COVID policy. Anger in Iran over suppression by the Iranian regime. So how does the World Cup tie into all of this? We'll talk about that, next.

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