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Erin Burnett Outfront
Harris' Urgent Message To Black Men: Trump Is "Dangerous"; Trump & Allies Flip-Flop On Early, Absentee And Mail-In Voting; Vance Tries To Explain "I Hate The Police" Remark In Private Email. Aired 7- 8p ET
Aired October 14, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:31]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Kamala Harris warning Black men about voting for Donald Trump with just 22 days to Election Day. Will it work?
Plus, he was hired to investigate voter fraud for Trump, came up empty handed. And tonight, he has a new warning about Trump. Voting data guru, Ken Block, is OUTFRONT.
And J.D. Vance telling an elaborate story about why he once declared "I hate the police" in an email. Vance's former classmate and dear friend, who received that email, is my guest. She'll explain why his explanation now doesn't add up.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And, good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight: dangerous. That is how Kamala Harris is describing Donald Trump tonight. She is zeroing in on winning over Black men in the final three weeks of the campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Come on. This man is dangerous. The danger of Donald Trump. The danger of Donald Trump. Donald Trump is unfit to be president of the United States and is a danger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Danger, right? You've heard it again and again and again. It's a word that she and her campaign have chosen to highlight. And it is a message that we will certainly hear tonight as she is about to hold a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, a city where one in five are Black.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Look at it in the context of how actually thinks and talks about black folks in America, and you and I have talked about this before. He is not looking out for folks when he is -- when he was a landlord and would not rent to Black families, sued for it, when he took out a full-page ad in "The New York Times" against those five teenagers, Black and Latino --
ROLAND MARTIN, HOST: Saying they should get a death penalty.
HARRIS: -- who were innocent --
MARTIN: Yeah.
HARRIS: -- saying they should be executed, the Central Park Five.
When you look at -- he -- the first Black president of United States, and he had birther lies, and now, you look at Black immigrants, legal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. And he gets on a debate stage and says they're eating their pets? Come on. This man is dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You hear her there using that word dangerous there to Roland Martin. An all-out blitz to try to shore up her support with Black men and it doesn't end there. Today, she stopped by a Black-owned small business rolling out what she calls an opportunity agenda for black men, specifically now, she's putting policy behind this push.
She says there'll be loans for Black entrepreneurs, more training, mentorship programs, and supporting legalization of recreational marijuana. She puts all of that under that headline.
And in those crucial battleground states, the Harris campaign tonight, rolling out two new ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's had our back since day one. Let's be honest and get a reality check. Women ought to make things happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're the ones that sacrifice to allow these billionaires to make their billions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The Harris campaigns, they're also firing off a number of tweets attacking Trump for comments that he's made about both Black men and women.
So the question is, why is Harris so focused and worried about this group of voters? I mean, she's obviously doing incredibly well among Black women. Well, the reality is among Black men, she is lagging Biden big time. A recent "New York Times" poll found Harris was 78 support among Black voters overall. It was 87 percent of the Black vote back in 2020. So that's a big drop, right? Nine percentage points.
And that erosion could make all the difference if the election is razor thin, if it is actually decided and just you states like Georgia and North Carolina, and Michigan, states with black populations of about 15 percent or greater. And that is why after the Erie, Pennsylvania, stop, Harris will be traveling to Michigan tonight for a town hall that she will be hosting tomorrow in Detroit. And also spending time in Philadelphia and Atlanta this week.
Now, today, she also sent a man famously labeled America's first Black president, Bill Clinton to Georgia, where he appealed to the same demographic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They're going to try to rig the rules away, you know, so it hurt us and there's been some new innovative efforts in that regard, trying to rig the rules away from it. But you did well. We won in 2020.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Priscilla Alvarez is OUTFRONT to begin our coverage. She's in Erie where Harris is about to speak at that crowd behind you.
And, Priscilla, I know you've got some new details on Harris's plans to focus right now on Black voters in Pennsylvania, but also in Michigan tomorrow.
[19:05:09]
What are you learning?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Erin, their campaign is clearly so guest on doubling down on black voter outreach and try to fill the void about her economic agenda and her economic policies. That includes what she's going good to unveil here in Erie tonight, which again, appeals to black voters, including, for example, forgivable loans for entrepreneurs of up to $20,000, promoting apprenticeships and also legalizing recreational marijuana.
Taken together, it is a sweeping proposal that again, tries to target that are erosion among black voters support. Now, as you mentioned there at the top, she still has the majority of Black voters who went for campaign is worried about black voters sitting out the election or voting for former President Donald Trump. And on that point, here learning from a senior campaign official that the vice president is going to slam Trump during her remarks this evening, especially over his suggestion that he would have the military handle what he called the, quote, enemy from within.
So, he's going to ratchet up those warnings here in Erie, Pennsylvania, tonight, but also moving forward, I'm also told that she is going to show those here at this event what Trump rallies look like. Now, unclear how exactly he's going to do that, but I will tell you, there are at least two big screens in this room.
And remember, that is something, as you mentioned during the presidential debate that people could see. So, clearly, this is a campaign that is in the final stretch of the election, trying to make the case against former President Donald Trump while also walking in their own coalition -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Priscilla, thank you very much as wait for the vice president to speak on that stage where Priscilla is.
I want to go now to the Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida.
And, Congressman, I really appreciate your time and, you know, now, you heard Priscilla's reporting on exactly how strong this push is going to be from the vice president. Is the argument that Donald Trump is dangerous to black men. And obviously you've heard Harris now use -- that's a word that that she's using.
Do you think that that is a strong enough word and a strong enough argument to win over a larger number of Black male voters?
REP. MAXWELL FROST (D-FL): I think its a very effective argument, but the thing we have to remember here is that's not the only piece of the puzzle here, right? That's not the only argument she's making. She's saying, yes, he is dangerous for Black men and all Americans. And quite frankly, the vice president and all of us have been saying this for years.
But she doesn't just leave it there. She's backing it up with a very in-depth policy proposal on how she's going to help black men in this society thrive in terms of the economy, thrive in terms of safety, thrive in terms of being able to own a home, started small business, do what you want to do and live and thrive in this economy. She's doing both. And that is this is really a distinction from Donald Trump.
Donald Trump will go on stage, say something vaguely or very overtly racist. Tell Black men, you got to vote for me. I'm good for you. I'm good for you.
And then when people asked him, why? All he does is point to Kamala Harris and, you know, say some sort of ad hominem are called her, her name or something like that.
The vice president actually put together a plan and put it in forward. And I'll tell you, it's really refreshing to see a candidate. Your feedback, look at poll numbers, look at different things and say, you know what? Let's put together and to show people we're the best option.
Another thing he does say, though, when he asked about why to vote for him, is he points to, you know, at the time that he had had record low unemployment, among Black Americans, and that is that the part of his appeal to some. One Black male voter who is a lifelong Democrat until he voted for Trump in 2020, talk to our John King about this, and about why he is not sold on Kamala Harris.
Let me play it for you, Congressman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BRIAN MCMUTUARY, WISCONSIN VOTER: The cost of living, you know, gas, food prices, you know, grant is hard. You try to keep up and trying to, you know, stay away from credit cards. The biggest difference is I think having the experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: A canvasser for Harris, you know, who's been out there campaigning, campaigning for Harris. Obviously, she talked to John King about what is she hearing from Black men who are saying, no, I'm sorry, I'm not interested in Harris, I'm supporting Trump.
Here's what she told John King is the reason.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA LANG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BLACK LEADERS ORGANIZING FOR COMMUNITIES: One of the things that we've heard is people are like, well, I think I had more money in my pocket when Trump was in office because of the stimulus checks during the pandemic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Obviously, stimulus checks is important. We've heard that from multiple people. That's separate from the unemployment numbers. But what's your advice to Kamala Harris on getting through to people who feel that way for those reasons?
FROST: Well, here's the thing. The advice I'd give to the vice president would be, let's hear it, let's take what we're hearing on the doors and let's make a policy proposal.
[19:10:01]
Let's make a plan. So when people are out on the doors, those door- knockers can listen to people, get their feedback and say, you know what? The vice president just released a plan for you, a plan that's going to address all of this.
And guess what? She did it, right? And that's what makes his campaign a little different. My first jobs in politics, I was always knocking doors and to be honest, sometimes I'd be frustrated that had report out my conversations and it felt like it would never had an impact on the campaign.
This campaign is taking what you're hearing from people have to doors at decided to do something about it and I think that really that really shows how different it is. So she's doing what I would advise her to do.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I want to ask you one more thing before you go, Congressman, and this is about something our KFILE had reported that Harris had supported taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for detained migrants and the Trump campaign has seized upon this. They've now just released another her ad focused on that. And this particular ad, Congressman, they're using criticism from the
radio star Charlamagne Tha God, who is a Harris supporter. Here's what Charlamagne had said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, RADIO HOST: Kamala support taxpayer funded sex changes for prisoners.
HARRIS: Surgery --
MODERATOR: For prisoners?
HARRIS: For prisoners. Every transgender inmate in the prison system would have access.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Yeah. No, I don't want my taxpayer dollars going to that.
ANNOUNCER: Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, as you know, Congressman, this is not the first time the Trump campaign is running out on this issue. They've run several.
How big of a problem is this for Harris? You know, Charlamagne's response, as I said, as a Harris supporter was sort of he saw that ad, he was watching football and it hit him and he's like, I didn't like that. I didn't like what I heard.
Do you think that this is a real problem for her or no?
FROST: I don't really think so. We've seen Republicans, especially since the rise of Trump tried to use this kind of bigoted ads and language and strategy, trying to demonize trans people or trans kids and pinning something on Democrats that people really aren't talking about.
I mean, when I knocked doors, people asked me about housing costs, about the economy, about gun violence or things like that. So they're really trying to stir something out of nothing and do through this bigoted lens and it's really disappointing.
I've seen no evidence that these sorts of attacks actually work. That a voter will actually see this and say, you know what, let me vote for the other guy. I just -- there's no numbers to support it. I don't think it's a huge problem.
BURNETT: Well, Congressman Frost, I really appreciate your time, and thank you so much.
FROST: Thanks for having me.
BURNETT: All right. It's great to see you. So, let's go Jane Coaston now, who's the host of what a day podcast,
also contributing opinion writer for "The New York Times", who has covered up the right -- the right wing of the Republican Party extensively.
So, Jane, let me ask you, you know, what all the problems were hearing about with Harris is in trouble with black male voters, and I mentioned at the top of the show, it's very specific to mail because you know, Black women are backing her in a very strong and notable way. So you actually think it could be Black women voters who help decide this election.
What are you seeing?
JANE COASTON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I mean, I think that that's what we've seen in every Democratic victory over the last 15 years or so. I mean, you know, it's 2008, 2012, even in 2016, you saw African-American women voting overwhelmingly for Democrats.
I joked back in 2016 and you look at the exit polling, 1 percent of African-American women in Pennsylvania supported Trump, which I believe is the number you could probably fit until a decently sized gym. Like we're seeing this over and over and over and over and over again, African American women are among the highest propensity voters and they tend to vote for Democrats.
And I will also say like, lets keep in mind here that African-American men by and large are still going to vote for Kamala Harris. You look at the numbers for African-American men over the age of 50, 78 percent support Kamala Harris. Like we're talking about a slip, but we're talking about a slip that is one impacting all Democrats, not just Harris, but also he slipped that is like going from extraordinarily high numbers to still pretty high numbers.
BURNETT: So, can I -- actually you just said something really interesting. You said it's affecting all Democrats, not just Harris. So, for some who tried to say, oh well, this is a misogynistic thing, this is because, you know, don't support her or somehow don't want to support because she's a woman, it sounds like you're saying there's less of that.
I mean, if you're saying this is a problem for Democrats overall and not just her.
COASTON: It's the problem for Democrats overall. Let's keep in mind that African-American men supported Hillary Clinton more than white women did back in 2016. It's a general drop across the board, and I think that it's not surprising to me that we see that.
I think that when you see communities that are experiencing to me, kind of a gradual diversification and a gradual popularization of different views, different politics. Because, you know, we see this with Latinos as well where in which people who are generally, if you're socially conservative and pretty conservative economically as well, it stands to reason that you might vote for Republicans. Now this particular Republican I think is a very specific breed of
Republican, but I still, it's not -- to me, it's not that surprising. You are not just going to keep up the same numbers that you had with African-Americans that you had during the election of Barack Obama, like this has been -- you know, Leah Rigueur wrote a terrific piece, terrific book and called the loneliness of the black conservative. This has been an ongoing issue historically of African-American support for conservatives who are then, who kind of get rejected by Republicans.
So not experiencing as much rejection now it stands to reason that those numbers are going to shift over time, right?
BURNETT: Right. And I guess that is what we're seeing. And as you point out, that's I guess you're not necessarily saying it's a good thing, but it would seem as you have any group of people able to go whatever way they want to go. There's -- there's good in that right? Not just being forced that this is what you are. So you're going to vote over here.
COASTON: Absolutely.
BURNETT: The word dangerous. I mean, I don't know to me, it just seems like a rhetorical thing and were going to throw a word around, but clearly Harris is using it. She thinks that it might work and now Trump is using the same word he's at a town hall right now. And he just said this, Jane. I'll play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have the worst president and the worst vice president in the history of our country by far. And let me tell you, she is worse than him and he's actually -- I didn't think I'd ever say this about anybody. She's actually, you take a look. She's more dangerous than him, but he's actually smarter than her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, can I just ask you, Jane, does the word like dangerous being thrown around like -- does anybody actually start to internalize that and have fear and impact, their vote? I mean, is there any evidence of that?
COASTON: No. I mean, I pick I mean, I think that talking about this is -- you know, it's a messaging tactic, but I can also see that it is one that I think is reflective of reality. When you have Donald Trump basically saying like, yeah, we're going to purge all the leftist from America and then you have a host of Trump voters who are saying, no, we don't believe he's actually going to be doing them.
I think something that's from a wild to me, this election is for Donald Trump to keep pledging to do things and people say, we don't think he's going to, but then they project onto him all of the things that he has given no interest in doing. I think that it's part of a rhetorical tactic of Harris talking about, here's what I want to do. And this guy is bad, like that's -- that makes sense to me.
BURNETT: Alright. All right. Well, Jane, I really appreciate it. Good to talk to you.
COASTON: Good to see you.
BURNETT: All right. You, too.
And next, Donald Trump now telling everybody to vote by mail, but as our KFILE uncovered, Trump has completely changed his tune on this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We want to get rid of mail-in voting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, J.D. Vance talking about his former law school classmate and friends, Sofia Nelson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love Sofia. I'm very sad about what happened between me and Sofia. She's my friend. She's transgender, you know, I didn't fully understand it. I just thought I loved this person and I care about her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Sofia is OUTFRONT to respond.
And Iranians holding a fundraiser for Hezbollah as it braces for Israel to attack.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:22:25]
BURNETT: Tonight, flip-flop. Former President Trump now, suddenly seeming to embrace early absentee and mail-in voting. Our KFILE reports tonight that his campaign is now sending out robocalls directing people to a website which features this video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Republicans must win, and we must use every appropriate tool available to beat the Democrats, whether you vote early, absentee by mail or in person, we are going to protect the vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, of course, Trump has peddled conspiracies about voting early absentee or by mail. He has called all of them dangerous, word of the day, and also corrupt. And he's done it as recently as just a few months ago and even today when he was speaking out at one event. KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski is OUTFRONT.
So, Andrew, though, the thing is on this, the fact that even now in any settings and we just heard him there, saying go out and do these -- it's incredible hypocrisy from where he stood before.
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: It's -- it is not just -- it's not just a reversal. You're right. It is stunning hypocrisy for Donald Trump, the RNC, his campaign, Lara Trump, people well who pushed vote by mail conspiracies for years, claiming that it was going to rig the election against him.
And they are now more or less essentially begging Republicans to vote by mail, to vote early. And I think its especially notable for Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, who became co-chair of the RNC earlier in the spring because in April, she sent out a robocall telling people that vote-by-mail was rife with fraud. She was telling people that there were all these problems in 2020.
But that's not what she's saying now. She is essentially telling people the opposite of that in another robocall. Just -- just take a listen to this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LARA TRUMP, CO-CHAIR OF THE RNC: Hi, this is Lara Trump, calling on behalf of President Trump's campaign, and we're urging you to get out and vote before Election Day. You can also request an absentee or mail-in ballot.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KACZYNSKI: And now, that call went out to 286,000 different phones according to the data that we've seen. And that was as of last week, reaching voters. And as you can see, all of those key swing states, they are really trying to get people to do this.
BURNETT: They really are. I mean, I suppose in a sense, it's because since you can do those sorts of ways of voting, maybe they're just saying, well, go ahead and jump in and do it because the reality of it is, is -- I mean, what Trump has said specifically, it isn't just like, I don't really understand it. I don't like it.
It's all out conspiracy theories. Here's just a few examples about mail-in voting.
[19:25:04]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Mail-in voting by its nature can't be honest. It's not honest. It's very dishonest.
You want to get rid of mail-in voting.
The mail-in voting isn't working. It's corrupt. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, it's a case of, you know, if you can't beat them, join them. I mean, now, now, here's how you do it. Go get your ballot.
KACZYNSKI: Right. And what's really wild about some of these appearances, too, is in the same breath that he is saying vote-by- mail. It's full of fraud, you know, the usage rigged the election against me, he's then telling people to go out and vote by mail and some of these very same rally sometimes within sentences of each other.
But I guess every vote for them, they think every vote counts. It's such a close election, so they're going to do what they have to do.
BURNETT: It's amazing, right? The hypocrisy exists within a sentence of each other, not necessarily within a year, within a sentence on the same day, even now.
All right. Andrew Kaczynski, KFILE, thank you.
And now I want to go to the man that Trump hired to investigate all these voter fraud claims in 2020. Voting data guru and analyst Ken Block, who concluded there was no widespread fraud in the last presidential election and he is the author of the new book, "Disproven", which goes through so many of these claims in excellent detail, Ken.
So when you -- you know, you were hired by Trump to investigate voter fraud at just a few moments ago, he just said this and because we were talking about within a few sentences of each other, he may say, oh, it's completely corrupt, but actually go get your mail-in ballot. Here's what he just said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If everything works out, if everybody gets out and votes on January 5th or before. You know, it used to be, you'd have a date. Today, you can vote two months before, probably three months after, they don't know what the hell they're doing. But we're going to straighten it all out. We're going to straighten that out, too. We're going to straighten our election process out, too. That's --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, I'm curious, Ken how much did his campaign direct you to look into early absentee and mail-in voting, which is Andrew Kaczynski was just reporting on, you know, Trump had said were so full of corruption. But that he is now telling his voters to use. So, specifically, early absentee and mail-in.
KEN BLOCK, HIRED BY TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO LOOK FOR VOTER FRAUD IN 2020: Yeah. We looked at every single early absentee and mail-in ballot in the swing states in 2020. They asked my company to determine how many of those votes were cast by dead individuals. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to do this work and we found no more than just a couple, two, three, maybe four in each of the swing states. And that was it.
There was no evidence whatsoever of any major problems with the mail ballots when we took a look at them based on dead people.
BURNETT: And, you know, I'm curious now, are you surprised by his embrace of early and absentee voting at this point? I mean, obviously, I would -- I would presume you think that wouldn't stop him from challenging any of these methods if he doesn't win, right? I mean, I'm sure everything will be back on the table if you wanted it to be. But are you surprised by his embracing of it now?
BLOCK: I'm not because I think it's smart politics to encourage your voters to lock in their votes before a natural disaster happens or anything, and we've seen enough of that you know, this season, I think that there was a strategy in play in 2020. I believe that Trump and his team wanted to segregate Democrats into mail ballots, which they effectively did and then in multiple court cases, they tried to invalidate those mail ballots.
I believe that there was probably some strategy involved in that. Didn't pan out and I'm glad it didn't. It probably wouldn't have, but I do think that there was an effort to take mail ballots, make it a Democrat mechanism and then try to get them nullified and they gave that a hard world in a couple of states.
BURNETT: Yeah, they sure did, but interesting this time with them telling their voters to use that, it'd be much more complicated, you know, presumably, historically, those would still lean heavily Democrat, but Trump is telling his voters to do it, to you because them to vote early and to vote by mail.
You know, he has been talking a lot about the enemy from within and I know its something, Ken, that in your time spent working with the campaign, stood out to you. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left, lunatics. And I think they are -- and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or if really necessary by the military because they can't let that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: There's all sorts of insinuations about who he is referring to as the enemy within, and perhaps that's the whole point of why he is saying in the way he's saying it.
But I know you agree with him that there is an enemy from within, although I would imagine that how you define that is starkly different from how he defines it.
[19:30:00]
BLOCK: It is. I think that we have an insider threat in this election and that threat comes from hyper-partisan election officials who potentially are going to work outside the boundaries of the law to help get their preferred candidate elected.
We saw a little bit of this in 2022. We saw some county based hyper- partisan election officials who refuse to certify the election results in their own words as a form of protests, we wanted to send a message. They were -- they were quickly smacked down by the courts. They had to do it.
But once you start working illegally, it would be a simple thing for them to take every other ballot, mail ballot cast by members of the other party and just throw them out the window. And it wouldn't be hard for them to do that. And people need to be aware in looking for this kind of threat to our elections if it happened.
And I'm not saying it's going to and if it did, it would represent a real attempt to steal the election.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Ken, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
And next, J.D. Vance offering up a new explanation as to why he wrote, quote, I hate police, end quote, in an email to a friend and former classmate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: I expressed some frustration about a distinctive police officer. Come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But that explanation does not add up. The classmate who received that email and she is next.
Plus, Vice President Kamala Harris's record as a prosecutor coming under renewed scrutiny. And tonight, a special CNN investigation OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:35:29]
BURNETT: And tonight, J.D. Vance attacking Tim Walz in campaigning outside police headquarters in Minneapolis. The headquarters that was burned down during protests in the wake of George Floyd's death. Vance holding this event as he is confronted about a private email in 2014, where he said, quote, I hate the police now.
Now, in this email which he sent to a law school classmate and a friend, Sofia Nelson. He says, quote, I hate the police. Given the number of negative experiences, I've had in the past few years, I can't imagine what a Black guy goes through.
Now, Vance was asked about this email by "The New York Times", Lulu Garcia-Navarro, who, of course, viewers of this show know well. And he said that this was really just about one police officer in San Francisco who did not help him after his wife suitcase filled with priceless items were stolen from their car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: When we first moved, there was a break-in in the car that I had and it was stupid. I shouldn't left -- I should have left her suitcase in the car to begin with, but I did. And it had a ton of like, completely priceless things. I'm not talking about priceless as in we paid a lot of money, but the necklace its her grandmother gave her that she bought in India, that she gave her on the morning of our wedding, things like that that were stolen.
It gets very ridiculous for the media to say, well, J.D. used to be like a defund the police guy because in a private email, I expressed some frustration about a distinctive police officer. Come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right.
Sofia nelson is OUTFRONT with me now, Vance's close friend and Yale law school classmate. I'm sorry, Sofia.
So, you know, you did share that full email with us. That's from 2014 where Vance says, I hate the police". Literally, he writes, quote, I hate the police. But I think context matters so much here, Sofia.
You got that email. You said during the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, which was after Michael Brown, the 18-year-old Black man was shot and killed by a police officer. So he said those things. He said, I hate the police. I can't imagine what a Black guy goes through.
And then in the email which you share with us, he continues to say, I love the body camera movement and anything that puts cops back in the mindset of service and protection instead of control and coercion.
And, look, that's -- it's a thoughtful email -- that's what he told you. Now he's telling Lulu that it was all because he had been robbed by -- in San Francisco, and there was one cop who he felt was not empathetic or something. I know it upset you to hear what he said to Lulu.
Tell me what you think happened there?
SOFIA NELSON, JD VANCE'S FORMER YALE CLASSMATE AND FRIEND: Well, thanks for having me back, Erin. Good evening.
He lied. He's shown a comfort with lying. He's lied about his stance on abortion. He's lied about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio and he's lying about the results of the 2020 election.
In the grand scheme of things, I guess that's -- this isn't that important of a lie, but I think it shows his comfort with lying in order to amass money and power. That email was clearly about polices abuse against African-American men in this country. And he was showing an empathy and an understanding of that problem.
And, you know, I'm sorry that he experienced he was a victim, him and his wife for a victim of crime. I remember when that happened and I express my sympathies then. That happened well, after he sent this email, when he moved to San Francisco.
BURNETT: So I'm sorry. You said that happened after the email?
NELSON: Yes. So we had this email exchange where he said, I hate the police and was expressing concern about police using power and control over Black men unnecessarily and not being concerned with their public safety function. And he sent that email in 2014, then a few years later, he moved to San Francisco and that experience happened where again, I'm sorry that him and his wife experience that no one should experience that.
BURNETT: Right, no. Of course, but it is very significant. You're saying is that his thoughts about the body-camera movement and police and Black men were all -- that whole email and I hate the police as he writes in the email to you was sent years before the incident that he told Lulu was a driving factor of that email.
I think that matters. That timeline does matter. And I want to play a little bit more of his explanation for the email as he said it to Lulu, Sofia.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: I was frustrated at the police. I fired off a frustrated email to a friend and again, this is why I think it's like a violation of trust is do I think that that is all representative of my views of the police?
[19:40:02]
Do I think it was representative of my views of the police writ large in 2016 or 2014 or whenever I sent that email? No, of course not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, when he talks about, you know, he thinks it's a violation of trust, I guess I presume he's talking about sharing the email. It's kind of unclear, you guess he's talking generally about his relationship with you.
What do you say to that, Sofia?
NELSON: Well, first of all, if it had been an email like he's describing and he was just venting his frustrations about a specific incidents, I never would have shared it and I don't think "The New York Times" ever would have published it because it wouldn't be newsworthy. I took a long time to decide whether or not to share my correspondence with JD with the public. And I filtered out a lot of things, personal things, things that were about our personal lives and I didn't share those because I don't think the American people has a right to know that.
But when it -- when you're running to be president or vice president of the United States, your stances on public policy matters are important to the public. And I think should be part of the public record. And so, this was a conversation that we were having about police brutality and the police mistreatment of Black men in this country.
And he expressed very distinct views because on that, and now he's running on a platform anathema to that. And so I shared these emails because he expressed lots of views that are completely contradictory to the platform he's running to now. And I think that is a matter of public import and something the American people have a right to know about, which is very different from the lie he's telling to "The New York Times" about just being frustrated with an individual officer, which I agree with him. If that had been the email -- I mean, that's not newsworthy. That's not something that anyone should pay attention to.
BURNETT: Right, well, as you said, you have empathy for that moment that would've been a frustration a moment, but that's not what this was.
NELSON: Of course.
BURNETT: You know, he did talk about your friendship and I have to say, Sofia, talking to you so many times, I know there's a -- there's a great sadness in you two about what happened between the two of you. And you've talked about how he supported you and when you underwent your gender affirming surgery and he came and visited you in the hospital? He was there for you?
He did talk about your friendship and I wanted to play a big part of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: I'm not going to sit there and criticize Sofia. I love Sofia. I am very sad about what happened between me and Sofia. I think that what -- you know, going back 2013, 2014, she's my friend. She's transgender.
You know, I didn't fully understand it. I just thought I loved this person and I care about her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He loves you and he cares about you end he says he still does and he feel sad. I guess, I just -- just to be very direct about it, is there a part of you that feels the same way, Sofia?
NELSON: Of course, no, I'm -- I'm sad about the loss of our friendship, but I think you know, I think I have a different definition of love than J.D.
J.D. has referred to queer people as groomers. He's referred to the surgery I received as gruesome and he's implied through text messages and his public policy stances that those who support parents, medical providers, and their children making private decisions about what the best medical care is for that individual child are engaging in child abuse, and he called it chemical castration and that interview with "The New York Times".
And that's -- that's not what it is. It is medically researched, well- established, lifesaving care, and its care that needs to be made on individual basis between a parent, a doctor, and a child. It's a private decision. And every parent is going to make a different decision, right?
No one's trying to get anybody to access specific types of care. No one is pressuring anyone to do that, but to take away life-saving options from children and their parents, private decisions that they make with them and their doctor, that to me is dangerous and we've seen the catastrophic consequences of that and the context is of abortion -- women bleeding out in emergency room parking lots. I don't think we want to repeat those mistakes. And to me, when you're trying to strip me of my civil and political rights, this is a man who supports repealing marriage equality that would take away one of my rights. That's not what love looks like to me and action.
So I have a great deal of care for J.D. A lot of fond memories. I remain open-hearted about the future when it comes to J.D.
But when I love someone, I don't try to strip them of their rights. I don't imply that they're engaged in child abuse for trying to protect access to gender-affirming care for transgender people. And so I think we just have a different definition of what love looks like.
BURNETT: Sofia, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
NELSON: Thanks for having me, Erin.
And, next, Harris has been running on her criminal justice record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I started my career as a prosecutor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: But now, her time as a prosecutor is under scrutiny.
[19:45:01]
A special CNN investigation is next.
And women now donating their jewelry in Iran. It's for a fundraiser supporting Hezbollah. We'll have a special report from Tehran tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:53] BURNETT: Tonight, Vice President Harris touting her record as a prosecutor, trying to make her case on one of the biggest issues of this election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I have prosecuted transnational criminal organizations for the trafficking of guns, drugs, and human beings I have had a career, including now of prioritizing that we must have a secure border.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It comes though as CNN has an investigation which reveals a mixed record in Harris's home state of California.
And Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AD NARRATOR: That's our choice. A prosecutor or a felon?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: From political ads to the campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her supporters say her career makes her uniquely prepared to take on Donald Trump.
HARRIS: I started my career as a prosecutor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't wait to see her prosecute the case against Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prosecute the case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prosecute the case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was a prosecutor.
LAH: That record as a prosecutor began in the San Francisco area.
Two California families say that history and the impact on their lives deserve scrutiny as she runs for president.
[19:50:05]
One of Harris's first major controversies happened just months after she was elected San Francisco district attorney.
In 2004, Police Officer Isaac Espinoza was gunned down by a gang member.
ISAAC ESPINOZA, POLICE OFFICER: There you go. Yay!
LAH: Just 29, he was a young father and devoted husband to Renata Espinoza, who had to identify his body in the hospital.
RENATA ESPINOZA, OFFICER ESPINOZA'S WIDOW: I remember I walk into this room in he still had bullet here. He was laying there with his eyes closed and I saw that blood here and I walked over to him and --
LAH: Harris publicly announced she would not seek the death penalty against Espinoza's killer, keeping a campaign promise, despite furious political pressure.
HARRIS: Life without possibility of parole is a severe consequences.
LAH: But a decade later as California's attorney general Harris defended capital punishment when a judge found the states death penalty to be unconstitutional, Harris and her team called the decision fundamentally misguided in a court briefing.
Officer Espinoza's widow spoke to CNN in 2019, calling it a reverse so driven by politics.
ESPINOZA: Are you going to be for the people, are you going to be for yourself, is -- are you really being you?
LAH: Should we be talking about some of this flip-flopping?
BRENDON WOODS, ALAMEDA COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER: I think it's fair to talk about the flopping. I think that's what makes America great.
LAH: Brendon Woods is Alameda County's first Black chief public defender.
On the other side of the bay, Harris was San Francisco's first female district attorney. Their history-making careers grow together.
WOODS: When she ran for district attorney of San Francisco, her policies were that of the city of San Francisco. All of her policies when she was the attorney general, are much more restrictive, much more right.
LAH: As California's attorney general, Harris promoted enforcement of a law that allowed prosecutors to seek jail time for parents of truant kids.
HARRIS: If you fail to take responsibility for your kids, we are going to make sure that you face the full force and consequences of the law.
WOODS: I thought that was crazy. I was like, how can you lock parents up?
AYMAN HADDADIN, ARRESTED UNDER CALIFORNIA TRUANCY LAW: I opened the door and I see at least seven wait cops full gear like, wanted to arrest me. As a matter of fact, they did.
LAH: That was May 2011 that Haddadin's woke to law enforcement at their door.
And your handcuff this whole time?
ALICE HADDADIN, ARRESTED UNDER CALIFORNIA TRUANCY LAW: Oh, yeah, absolutely. Like a criminal. I have my pajamas on like those paper thin pajamas. And that's what I went to jail in. LAH: Their son, Connor, was in middle school then.
CONNOR HADDADIN: I used to be allergic to a lot of things.
LAH: You missed 12 days of school?
C. HADDADIN: Yeah, but not consecutively.
ALICE HADDADIN: It's not like the kids don't like school. They do, but they were -- they couldn't breathe.
LAH: Arrested under the new state truancy law, the Haddadins who had no prior criminal history were spotlighted in local news outlets. The electronic trail still haunts them to this day.
AYMAN HADDADIN: Impacted every aspect of my life, everything.
LAH: Harris acknowledged the problems with that truancy law she once championed when she ran for president in 2019.
HARRIS: In some jurisdictions, D.A.s have criminalized the parents and I regret that that has happened and that the thought that anything that I did could have led to that because that's certainly was not the intention. Never was the intention.
ALICE HADDADIN: I don't think you can consider that an unintended consequence because she created the law.
LAH: Harris's prosecutorial history is long and complicated for those lives who've been touched by it, and it should all be reviewed and weighed, says Woods.
WOODS: I think people can evolve and I think that's what she's done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Kyung, it's interesting hearing all of that and all those examples. But Harris seizing on her experience as a prosecutor, decade-plus, as a credential to handle immigration. You know, of course, obviously, despite being the vice president and the Biden administration, are voters buying that?
LAH: Well, if you look at her career, she does have a long public record to examine both in the state of California, as well as when she ran for president in 2020. And certainly she was to the left on immigration as to where she is now. But the campaign has maintained that, look, she is still keeping those same values, you've heard that before, Erin.
We did specifically reach out to the campaign in regards to a prosecutorial record, and this is a statement that we received from the Harris campaign that throughout her entire career, Kamala Harris has fought to protect people and hold bad actors accountable on the issue is specifically on flip-flop of the death penalty in the state of California, the campaign says the role of attorney general is different from that of district attorney. And that Harris did fall to the state law.
As far as Brenton Woods, Erin, he says he is still going to vote for her even though he is public disputes with her.
[19:55:02]
BURNETT: Wow, interesting. Well, I guess some people feel like they have to make a decision one way or the other, then they make the compromises they make.
Kyung, thank you very much.
And next, a special report from Tehran about a fundraiser for Hezbollah.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:58:10]
BURNETT: Tonight, as Iran remains on edge about a strike from Israel, the country is making sure that Hezbollah as well-funded and well armed and our Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT tonight in Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): We will rise up like a storm, the children's choir sings at a Tehran donation drive for Lebanon and for Iran's ally, Hezbollah.
Narges Tekiye gave several pieces of jewelry to support what she called an existential battle.
This is the duty of a human being in this critical situation, she says, in the fight of truth versus falsehood. And this is the command of my supreme leader.
"Death to Israel" chants transcending the event named Golden Empathy, aimed at raising funds to help civilians in Lebanon, but also the organizer says to beat Israel.
Women love their gold jewelry, he says, but they are here to donate their necklaces to break the neck of the enemy.
As Israel continues to pound Lebanon with missile strikes, going after Hezbollah fighters and leaders, Iran is vowing not to back down.
The speaker of Iran's parliament, even piloting an Iranian government jet into Beirut before touring areas heavily damaged by Israeli strikes.
I'm carrying the message from the supreme leader to the Lebanese people, he said, with the assurances that in these difficult conditions, the Islamic Republic of Iran shall stand with Lebanon's nation, and the resistance in all areas.
This as Iran braces for Israel's possible retaliation for Tehran's massive ballistic missile attack on October 1st.
Iran's foreign minister warning the U.S. against deploying missile interceptor systems to Israel and the threat of a major regional war.
We're prepared for any kind of circumstances, he said. We're ready for war, but we're also ready for peace. This is the definitive stance of the Islamic Republic.
A stance they want to show that also involves mobilizing resources from Iran's population.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Incredible reporting there from Fred.
And thanks so much to all of you for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
