Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
Harris Clashers With Fox News Anchor: "I'm Not Finished"; Georgia Election Officials Stunned By Early Voting Turnout. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 16, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:40]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, Vice President Kamala Harris defiant, just moments ago taking Fox News head on, calling Trump unstable.
Also breaking, polls just closing in Georgia and guess what? Another day of record turnout among early voters.
So, what is behind all this excitement that is shocking Georgia officials? This is trouncing their expectations. We're live on the ground.
And he was at the Capitol on January 6th. The filmmaker embedded with the Proud Boys. Now he's warning that it all is about to happen again.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, coming in hot. Vice President Kamala Harris stepping into unfriendly territory and doing a nearly half an hour interview with Fox News, and it was heated from the very first moment, didn't start in like slow and sort of friendly, nope, from the very first moment until the very end.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: How many illegal immigrants would you estimate your administration has released into the country over the last three and a half years?
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'm glad you raised the issue of immigration because I agree with you. It is a -- it is a topic of discussion that people want to rightly have. And you know what I'm going to talk about --
BAIER: Yeah. But just a number, do you think it's 1 million, 3 million?
HARRIS: Bret, let's just get to the point.
BAIER: So your homeland security secretary said that 85 percent of apprehension --
HARRIS: I'm not finished. We have an immigration system --
BAIER: To a rough estimate of 6 million people have been released into the country.
And let me just finish, I'll get you the question I promise you.
HARRIS: I was beginning to answer.
BAIER: And when -- when you came --
HARRIS: May I please finish -- may I finish -- may I finish responding please?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. That was right from the beginning. It was tense and it continued.
At one point, Harris visibly angry she was railing against Trump and his threat to target what he has called the enemy from within.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: He is the one who talks about an enemy within -- within, an enemy within, talking about the American people, suggesting he would turn the American military on the American people.
BAIER: We asked that question to the former president today. Harris Faulkner had a town hall and this is how he responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I heard about that, they were saying I was like threatening. I'm not threatening anybody. They're the ones doing the threatening. They do phony investigations.
I've been investigated more than Alphonse Capone. He was the greatest -- no, it's true. But think of it, it's called weaponization of government. It's a terrible thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: So --
HARRIS: Bret, I'm sorry and with all due respect, that clip was not. What he has been saying about the enemy within that he has repeated when he's speaking about the American people, that's not what you just showed.
BAIER: But he was asked about that specifically.
HARRIS: No, no, that's not what you just showed, in all fairness and respect to you. BAIER: No, no, I was telling you that was the question that we asked him.
HARRIS: He didn't show that and here's the bottom line, he has repeated it many times. And you and I both know that, and you and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people.
He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protest. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him. This is a democracy and in a democracy, the president of the United States -- in the United States of America should be willing to be able to handle criticism without saying he'd lock people up for doing it. And this is what is at stake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. The clenched teeth, the passion, Harris not backing down from a fight. And you know, you talk about an interview like this nearly 30 minutes, there's a reason she chose to do this, and there is a lot at stake in an election that the polls show to be neck and neck.
So the question is, what did this interview do and did it win Harris any new votes?
All right. And everyone is here with me now to talk about that.
So let me ask you about that, Congressman Rose, was it -- what do you think in terms of her doing this? I mean, she went in this eyes wide open.
I mean, so -- so let's just say I don't know how much time, Bret Baier, was given in the interview. But he didn't start off with a general question. He started right in on immigration and she came right back. I mean, there was no sort of pretense at geniality.
MAX ROSE (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: There was no filter.
BURNETT: No.
ROSE: No. And you know, we had a fascinating conversation about minutes ago, right? You know, because this is fresh -- this was an hour ago, and my friend is saying, oh, this was horrible. It was horrible. She did horribly, this and that.
I thought that was an absolute home run because the audience --
BURNETT: This friend right here next to you that you're talking about.
ROSE: This friend -- this friend right here. Oh, my God, it was a -- it was a -- it was a fire. It was a massacre. No -- that was a home run, because she sent the one message that needs to be sent, which was I will go anywhere at any time, and show the courage necessary to speak to every American because that's what a real president does. The primary critique against her prior to this point was that she was
not doing enough interviews. No one thought that the Fox News interview was going to go swimmingly every step of the way, everyone knew it would be adversarial but she showed exactly what she needed to show which was that she is a leader ready to be president on day one.
BURNETT: Did he just convince you?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, and -- and I love Max. He's a great guy. The reality is she's just now doing this. I told the former congressman if I were advising the vice president, I would not have advised this unless my internals suggested that I was in trouble.
You're looking to appeal to -- I assume -- some maybe moderate leaning Republicans, maybe some Republicans who aren't necessarily tied to the former president, I don't think she persuaded them, Erin, to vote for her in this debate. Her answer is on immigration. She said, well, Donald Trump tanked the bill.
Let's say you believe that and Bret Baier said, but what about the first two years -- where in the first two years, you had the highest crossings of illegal crossings into the country and then she said, but Donald Trump -- but Donald Trump. She didn't answer.
He -- he then asked, well, what about your position on supporting taxpayer dollars for gender transitions, for those detained migrants, that is, she said, well, Donald Trump had a similar law when he was president.
Bret said, okay, that's fair, Madam Vice President, but it didn't occur under the Trump administration, what about your position? She didn't answer it. There were a lot of unanswered questions.
I'll give her credit, she was stern. She was firm in her defense of her positions. But in terms of persuading conservatives or Republican- minded voters, I'm just not convinced she did it.
BURNETT: Lulu, what do you think the point of it was though? I mean, is it perhaps that she wasn't trying to persuade any voters -- that she's looking for clips of this to go around and energize voters she already has to show up?
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I was about to say hello, my friends. I disagree with both of you, because I hate to break up such a lovely bromance but what happened here is as follows: she went into hostile territory, and in our media environment, it's a Rorschach test.
And so, everyone's going to take from this what they want. There were very strong moments that she had, specifically on defending democracy and on the statements that Donald Trump has made, and that is going to be clipped and that's going to be sent around and people who are persuadable will look at that and say she did well. And there are going to be clips on her responses on immigration and people who are persuadable and think that immigration is a serious issue are going to look at that and think she did poorly.
And that is the environment in which we live. But I do agree that this is a very good thing for her to do, because at this point, she needs to go on as many places as she can and she needs to get everyone talking about her because there are no big moments anymore. There are no debates. There are no big events. This is it.
And so she needs to go fight for every vote.
SINGLETON: Well, there were a lot of bad moments in this interview.
BURNETT: All right. So, Congressman, let me play to this point because immigration was discussed for quite a period of time, right?
So Bret started off with this trying to pinpoint her on the number of people. He went through the horrific stories of the young women who have -- were killed by illegal migrants. She talked about how horrible that is, and she was emoting about that, and then there was this exchange. Let me play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: When it comes to immigration, you supported allowing immigrants in the country illegally to apply for driver's license, to qualify for free tuition at universities, to be enrolled in free health care, do you still support those things?
HARRIS: Listen, that was five years ago, and I'm very clear that I will follow the law. I have make that statement over and over again and as vice president of the United States, that's exactly what I've done, not to mention before.
BAIER: You chose a running mate Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, who signed those very things into state law. So do you support that?
HARRIS: We are very clear and I'm very clear as is Tim Walz, that we must support and enforce federal law and that is exactly what we will do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay, there was a pause there, you know, and Bret laid it out. You know, people in the country illegally could qualify for free tuition, free health care and driver's licenses.
Do you think that that sort of pregnant pause mattered or do you think she recovered well from that?
ROSE: No, that there was no pauses in this that really are, of any concern. What matters -- we'll get to you in a second, what matters is that there's only one candidate in this race that has the courage to go on the primary news network of their opposition party, right?
[19:10:05]
We all know collectively at this table, Donald Trump would under no circumstances sit down for an interview with MSNBC for an extended period of time. And we also know for certain that no Republican strategist would have the courage to criticize the leader of their own party for doing that.
So as we look at this, right, she took the answer head-on, noted for a fact that she wants the border closed and Donald Trump wants it open, along with the rest of the political party, the Republicans who are his blind sycophants on this matter, as on everything else.
SINGLETON: I mean, wait a minute here. The vice president once upon a time supported taxpayer dollars, your money, my money, your money, all the people who are watching, to go towards people who broke the law, coming into our country, to give them driver's license, to pay for tuition when we're struggling to pay for our own children, to get a college education.
Then her own running mate signed into law and his own state these very things that she's now saying she's now against them, and the American people are supposed to believe that the vice president has now, all of a sudden, had an epiphany and, all of a sudden, all of her beliefs have magically changed.
Yet the guy she chose clearly believes these things and you're flipping it to Republicans?
ROSE: No, I'm merely noting and again very nice job dodging my point, very nice job dodging my point. Donald Trump wants the border open, vice president wants it closed.
SINGLETON: No one believes that.
ROSE: The vice president took --
BURNETT: Where do you get that? I don't think anybody in this country thinks he wants it open and she wants it closed?
ROSE: Oh my God. If Donald Trump for a second wanted the border closed, during this campaign, he would have gotten behind that bipartisan piece of legislation. We all know that collectively. The Republican Party wants this as a political wedge issue.
And look, I went down to the border five years ago as a member of Congress. When Donald Trump was president and saw that it was in massive crisis at that point, that Donald Trump was separating scared mothers from their children. At that point years ago, this was a massive issue and a massive disaster under his presidency as well.
SINGLETON: And if the current president and the vice president who's running to be president wanted to secure the border, they would have in the first two years when they had the house, when they had the Senate, they did nothing.
BURNETT: All right. Let me just, Lulu, I want to play one other exchange here that Harris had with Bret Baier about Donald Trump. This was an important moment, I'll play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: You call Donald Trump -- he's misguided. You say now he is --
HARRIS: He's unstable.
BAIER: -- unstable.
HARRIS: He is unstable, Bret.
BAIER: He's not well. You say he's mentally not stable.
HARRIS: He's not stable.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: Let me ask you this, you told many interviewers that --
(END VIDEO CLIP
BURNETT: So, Lulu, I mean she was absolutely no pause, no -- she was very clear what she wanted to say there and she said it again and again and again.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah, and she's saying it on a channel where people don't hear that very often. And I think at this point, it's not so much debatable anymore whether Donald Trump is in decline. I mean, it is clear that he is aged. It is clear that he is not speaking as clearly.
He likes to talk about it as the weave, but it is just that he can't sort of keep focused and keep his ideas in a coherent manner. And so this I think was one of her strongest exchanges for sure.
BURNETT: All right. Well, stay with me, Lulu, of course, as well as the two of you, because we have more of our breaking news after this. Vice President Harris was also pressed about her recent comments that she wouldn't do anything differently from Joe Biden. So how is she responding now?
Plus, polls just closing in Georgia where officials say another 200,000 people voted early. Top Georgia election officials telling me that this is just stunning them. This is so much more than they expected. So what is motivating this turnout and who is benefiting?
Plus, a filmmaker who was at the Capitol on January6th and has a new documentary about what really happened and in those 64 days between the election and insurrection, he warns it's about to happen again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:26]
BURNETT: The breaking news, facing down Fox News. Kamala Harris pushing back as Trump has been playing in the culture war over transgender rights. Fox's Bret Baier asked Harris about comments that she made in 2019 that were first surfaced -- resurfaced by our KFILE and then featured in this Trump ad, which declared, quote, Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: So, are you still in support of using taxpayer dollars to help prison inmates or detained illegal aliens to transition to another gender?
HARRIS: I will follow the law, and it's a law that Donald Trump actually followed.
You're probably familiar with now it's a public report that under Donald Trump's administration, these surgeries were available to on a medical necessity basis to people in the federal prison system, and I think frankly that ad from the Trump campaign is a little bit of like throwing, you know, stones when you're living in a glass house.
HARRIS: He spent $20 million on those ads trying to create a sense of fear in the voters because he actually has no plan in this election that is about focusing on the needs of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Everyone's back with me. This is -- this particular some of these ads have gotten traction. Charlamagne tha God, who's a Harris supporter, very popular radio show host, he said when he saw that, it gave him pause --
SINGLETON: During football games.
BURNETT: He didn't like it. It was playing during -- it was playing during NFL games.
Shermichael, I'm curious, you know, her argument there was that -- not to deny she said but she said, she can't do that, but was to say -- well, the policy was in place and some people had the surgeries funded by taxpayers while Trump was president, which, in fact, there were a small group of inmates.
[19:20:13]
"The New York Times" has fact checked this, who did request those surgeries and obtain them during Trump's time in office. So is this a useful point of discussion -- I think so look, I will say first of all, the vice president looked very gleeful when she -- well, you know, Donald Trump also followed the same law, and I was like, okay, I see what you're doing, madam vice president --
BURNETT: She knew that was coming. She was ready for it.
SINGLETON: I'm going to give the vice president some credit there. She was smooth in how she responded to that question.
However, from the Trump campaign's perspective, they're targeting men with that ad. You saw Charlamagne's response, you look on social media, a lot of guys, you know, don't particularly support that issue, I want to be careful with how I describe it, but that's just the reality. It's why the ad is playing during football games because they recognize that Donald Trump has a 14, 15-point gap with men voters overall.
So you're going to target men voters on an issue that, you know, for a fact would turn off quite a few men voters. I think it's smart politics.
BURNETT: Do you think that that answer works but she said? Is this sort of -- throwing -- throwing stones at glass houses?
ROSE: Yeah, I think that it's a useful pivot, right? That that this was something that both administrations followed -- that it's been established law, and --
BURNETT: Even though she was for it and vocally said so, and I think we all know that if he actually knew it existed, he would not have been for it.
ROSE: The key point here is that the vice president went on a network that for all intents and purposes for the per -- for this interview was a subsidiary of the Donald Trump campaign for president, and she sat there and took every attack humanly imaginable, and each step of the way to include most pointedly in that question, did her best to transition the focus to what actually really matters to voters today? Matters about kitchen tables issues, matters about inflation, matters about economic growth, matters about maintaining American leadership abroad and keeping public safety here at home.
And I do think in that sense, it was a very effective answer --
BURNETT: All right. And I want to correct myself because the gender transition surgery was offered while Trump was president but the actual few surgeries that happened did not actually happen that were funded by taxpayers until after he left office. Just to be clear, I misspoke a moment ago.
ROSE: It's also not an issue that Donald Trump ever raised.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Well, it would safe to assume probably wasn't aware of it but I don't know, I mean, probably not.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSE: It's a safe assumption with most matters.
BURNETT: Yes, although Kamala Harris was aware. That's all I'm saying. She was aware because she was asked about it and she answered it.
Lulu, the question is though, you know, we can -- we can talk about this but Trump has been as Harris pointed out, he spent tens of millions of dollars on ads on this specific issue. He thinks it works. He has put it on during NFL games.
Is it effective lulu as you can sort of look at what gains traction and what doesn't?
GARCIA-NAVARRO: It's a little bit effective but this is a pretty niche issue and they're trying to blow it up in response to the abortion issue, let's be honest because the abortion issue does affect 50 percent of the country who are women, also affects men obviously as well.
And this is something that really affects a tiny, tiny group of people -- yes, some men are uncomfortable with it. Yes, some women are uncomfortable with it. But at the end of the day, is this really the issue that's going to decide the election? I would say no.
BURNETT: So, Shermichael, I want to play also the exchange that Harris and Bret Baier had over -- here's her recent comment. I think it was originally on "The View," when she said she wouldn't do anything different than Joe Biden even as, right, she's saying I am the change candidate, right? So that seemed to be an inconsistency.
But here's how she answered that here and it was very interesting. Let me play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: So you're not Joe Biden, you're not Donald Trump but nothing comes to mind that you would do differently.
HARRIS: Let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency, and like every new president that comes in to office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences and fresh and new ideas. I represent a new generation of leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So she says my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency even though she has said she would not do anything differently than he has done in the past four years.
Can those two things both be true?
SINGLETON: No, I think it's inconsistent. Either you going to chart a new course, a new dire for the country or you're going to be a continuation of a very unpopular president, even many Democrats didn't like the direction of the country. You look at most data points I think Joe Biden has some of the lowest approvals at this point and of a modern president. I don't think she answered it.
Well, now, I will say this overall, Erin, I think the vice president to your point, it was great that she went. We have been critical that she's not going before adversarial terms.
BURNETT: She went for almost a half an hour.
SINGLETON: Almost half an hour.
I want to give credit there and I think to Lulu's point she was strong on the democracy issue. That is one issue she leads when compared to the former president. But on all these other issues, from the economy, immigration, to Joe Biden's policies, she just was not very strong.
BURNETT: What -- on this issue though, when she says she wouldn't do anything differently but her presidency won't be a continuation, is that walking the line that Democrats need walked?
ROSE: Sure.
BURNETT: Right? You're not disloyal to the person with whom you served?
ROSE: Right, and I want to take this opportunity to compliment Lulu because she's exactly right. This is a election about a choice as all elections are. It is not a choice between Biden or Trump. It is a choice between Harris and Trump, not Harris or Biden.
So there is absolutely no point here in talking about anything but the fact that Donald Trump because of Donald Trump, a woman's right to choose is not universal in the United States of America. Because of Donald Trump, the United States, millions of people feel like they're on the precipice of the end of our democracy that is the choice of this election and is absolutely imperative that she focuses on that and that's what she did.
BURNETT: Final word, Lulu.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: Final word is actually I think this was a really good interview. I think it is important that people see Kamala Harris have to respond to the things that she said and her record and she did so, and we can all debate whether it was a victory or not. But at the end of the day, it's done. She did it and I think it was a good thing.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, look, they both -- they both went out with a job to do. I'm going to say they both did it.
All right. Thanks very much to all three of you.
And next, the breaking news, another record day of early voting in Georgia. So, who is benefiting from this turnout which is exceeding all expectations? senior election official says to me from Georgia.
And inside the insurrection, I'm going to talk to the man behind a new film that documents the 64 days between the election and the Capitol riot and why he says it could happen again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:31:10]
BURNETT: Breaking news, the polls are just closing across the state of Georgia, across the second day of early voting there, and the turnout there is stunning state officials. About 270,000 people cast ballots in person today as of 6:30 tonight, according to Georgia's secretary of state, and voters went to the polls yesterday in astounding numbers, more than doubling the record of ballots cast on the first day of early voting.
I mean, it is pretty stunning when you think about it. In one Georgia election official telling me it blew away our expectations.
Victor Blackwell is OUTFRONT in suburban Atlanta tonight.
And, Victor, you know, blowing -- blowing away the expectations of turnout from the people who run the elections, right? And they had an expectation this is just blowing past it, the enthusiasm among early voters is palpable.
What did you hear from them today?
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So, they're falling into one of two categories. Some are passionate first. They're passionate about an issue or they're passionate about a candidate.
Then there are rest of the folks who just want to get it done before the crowds come, but when you have record turnout on day one and now day two, many of those voters are finding there are more people at the polls than they expected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAQUISTA ERINNA, REGISTERED DEMOCRAT: I wanted to make sure I got my vote in early just in case there are any hiccups.
BLACKWELL (voice-over): The battleground state of Georgia is experiencing record-breaking numbers of early voters since polling locations opened here on Tuesday.
GABE STERLING, COO, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE'S OFFICE: We're looking at 100 or 125 percent more voters on the very first day which shows a lot of excitement out there, and the ease of use of our system.
BLACKWELL: According to Gabe Sterling, COO of Georgia secretary of state's office, more than 300,000 ballots were cast Monday, the previous record was 136,000 in 2020, and day two showed no signs of slowing down.
STERLING: We look like we're on path to potentially get to 150,000 on top of the 308,000 we had yesterday. Take that, plus our absentee votes that we've collected will probably break 600,000 votes and we're not expecting that many more than 5 million this time.
So it's going to be 12, 13 percent of the voters will already be done.
BLACKWELL: These voters tell us why voting early was so important to them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last time I waited, line going around the block around the corner. Now I'm getting my vote in today.
Why did you come out early?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, to make sure that my vote counts. It's going to be packed this year. It's going to be crowded.
BLACKWELL: Some hope that getting out early would mean shorter lines.
TIRJUANA BROWN HATHORN, REGISTERED DEMOCRAT: We thought we w get ahead of the game, a little bit but looks like everybody got the same thing in mind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This first time I've ever done it, and with like of this line may be the last.
BLACKWELL: In this very tight race in a state that President Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes in voters we spoke with in Gwen and Fulton Counties were split down the line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm definitely team Harris.
BLACKWELL: The issues most important to these voters varied.
JANICE THORNTON, REGISTERED DEMOCRAT: The top of the tier for me is democracy. All this other stuff, we can straighten it out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Border control, the war on woke.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The right for women to choose.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Build that wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: illegal immigrants.
HATHORN: I can't vote for someone who just constantly call people names and says disrespectful things to anybody about anything that comes into their mind it just blurts it out.
BLACKWELL: The massive early voter turnout tells us that there is a lot of excitement but not the question most people want an answer to.
STERLING: We cannot tell who it benefits. We have no way of knowing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL (voice-over): Voters were driving up to this polling place in Mableton in Atlanta area until the last minute. The poll worker had to come out and shout. Polls are closed for the day. They'll reopen at 7:00 a.m., and some breaking news just in the last few moments, a Georgia judge has now thrown out more than a half dozen of those controversial rules from the GOP-led state election board critics.
Say that two of them were most problematic. One that would have given county officials an opportunity to create a reasonable inquiry. They say that that might have delayed certification.
Another one would have given those officials the opportunity to look at any election related documents. The judge said that those rules were illegal unconstitutional and void -- Erin. BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much. I know everyone's been those -- those rules are so crucial and if the nation is waiting on the results from the state of Georgia, crucial to Georgia's counting of votes.
Victor, thank you so much. Just amazing to think about it, 12 to 13 percent of the early vote -- the vote in Georgia, how many people voted last time could be in by the end of this week, think about what that could mean, if it continues to exceed expectations about how many people have voted before election day even comes around.
OUTFRONT now is Latosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, a national organization focused on getting Black voters to the polls.
So, LaTosha, I know your organization is based in Atlanta. Black voters in Georgia account for 30 percent of all voters and obviously, we saw a mixed group of voters today, that Victor was speaking to and you just heard Gabe Sterling from the secretary of state's office say it's impossible to tell who this early turnout is favoring, traditionally, people would say it favors Democrats, but this is a new world, the rules have changed, you don't mail in, you come in early.
Do you think this enthusiasm in Georgia is favoring one candidate over another?
LATOSHA BROWN, CO-FOUNDER, BLACK VOTERS MATTER: You know, let me say, I think having a high turnout in Georgia and to break records of people coming out actually strengthens democracy, that ultimately the work that we have done and other groups is to make sure that people feel free and fair the elections, that they're able to get out and to vote and to cast their ballot.
So who wins and who benefits what we know right now is I think that all Georgians benefit when we see this kind of turnout, the -- that you have a healthy democracy, you need to have a electorate that is participating and engaging. And so, that's what I'm really happy about.
I think it's too early to say what candidate necessarily will benefit from this, but I think there are some signs that this is certainly going to that -- Georgia is certainly in play again.
BURNETT: Yeah. It certainly seems that way. Now some of those, you know, Victor had gone through just sort of a quick little bite from each many of the voters he spoke to, and it is incredible in this cycle we're in. Those bites pretty much tell you everything. They're very clear.
Sometimes in prior elections, it might be bailed, I mean, not that they intended to be bailed, but it might be bailed. But it isn't now, it's, generally, you can tell, all right? Now I'm just curious from your point of view, the current polls that we have show that Harris trails Biden's support among Black men by roughly points.
So do you have a sense of how Harris is doing right now among Black men who are voting early? There were a couple of them there in Victor's piece. One of them was talking about build that wall, but what do you see among that group.
BROWN: You know, as we've been going out, talking to people, and we've been doing this work nonstop, as we've been talking to people. I think -- I think there's a consideration. I think there are a number of things.
I think, one, there's this assumption that when people are frustrated, that that means that there's one exodus from one party to another party.
BURNETT: Yeah.
BROWN: The truth of the matter is that there's the frustrations of Black men, that's not new. The frustration of Black voters, that's not new. That's been something that we've actually seen election after election. Part of what I think is happening now because I think gender is -- is on the ballot in many ways, I think what we're seeing is we're seeing people that are paying attention to it.
And I think a lot of their frustrations are valid of really having the kind of policies that they need that they want to actually see for themselves and their communities that we're seeing some of the same issues from criminal justice reform to economic opportunity all of those things are a concern of them.
And so, I think that's part of why we're seeing. I also think another driver though is around misinformation and disinformation. You know, early on, we heard this before, this isn't the first time that I remember in Georgia when we're looking at the Senate race between Senator Warnock and Herschel Walker, we heard that there was going to be this huge exodus of Black men and they were going to vote for a Herschel Walker. It simply did not happen.
So I think that there's one thing to see the frustrations but I also think that Black voters understand that there is a fear and there's a threat around make of -- to democracy in this country, and it's a matter of making sure that we're getting the right information to people.
BURNETT: All right. LaTosha, I appreciate your time and thank you.
BROWN: Thank you for having me.
BURNETT: All right. And next, Trump doubling down on threat to target critics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It is the enemy from within and they very dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So what do the proud boys think when they hear that. An Emmy award-winning filmmaker who's had incredible access to the Proud Boys including leading up to January 6th is next. Plus, should Democrats be panicking over Jill Stein and other third party candidates in states that are all within the margin of error. We're on the ground with a special report from Wisconsin next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:43:49]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Donald Trump downplaying his role in the deadly insurrection of January 6th, claiming at a town hall that it was a quote, day of love, end quote.
You had hundreds of thousands of people come to Washington. They didn't come because of me. They came because of the election. They thought the election was a rigged election and that's why they came.
Some of those people went down to the capital I said peacefully and patriotically. Nothing done wrong at all.
This as a brand new documentary looks at the 64 days between the election and January 6 with exclusive and extensive access to the far right Proud Boys group, including its former leader, Enrique Tarrio, who is now serving 22 years behind bars for seditious conspiracy related to January 6th. Here's Tarrio in the documentary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ENRIQUE TARRIO, FORMER PROUD BOYS CHAIRMAN: There's ways that you can enact change, you get armed and go to the Capitol. As crazy as that sounds like, yeah, I think that's the way that you make the biggest noise.
We could fight back. You get me? We could stand in the steps of the Capitol, and be like, you know what? We demand that you guys change this.
[19:45:02]
In these next couple years, we're going to see a lot more of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Ominous words there at the end.
And OUTFRONT now, the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Nick Quested, the director of the new documentary "64 Days". He was with the Proud Boys at the Capitol on January 6th, also a witness in the hearing held by the January 6th Select Committee.
So, Nick, you're there with the Proud Boys on January 6 because you had spent time with them ever since Trump -- you'd been following the movement but when Trump said stand back, standby. you spent a lot of time with them. I just want to start with where we are now with your perspective.
How worried are you that the United States could be heading this way again?
NICK QUESTED, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Oh, I'm very worried. I see -- from my sources, I see potentially a more organized effort to deny the election. I see poll workers being trained in creating pretexts for protests. I think you're going to see armed protests at -- in right to carry states, particularly Michigan, maybe Pennsylvania. It's not necessarily as quite as right to carry as Michigan.
I think you're going to see a flurry of spurious lawsuits and I think you're going to see problems at state legislatures presenting, or not even presenting slates of electors. I think you're going to see problems at boards of supervisors across swing states. I think we're in for a very bumpy ride coming up.
BURNETT: Which is all very terrifying. I mean, you know, Trump -- Kamala Harris say talked about Trump's role in this. She said if he's president, you know, he'll go after election officials who didn't help him, journalists, others.
And this is -- this is -- if he wins, so we're I guess presumably getting through some of this very disturbing time period that you're referring to. But she's talking specifically about things said in recent days like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within, 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.
It is the enemy from within, and they're very dangerous. They're Marxists and communists and fascists and they're sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. So when he says those things, the question is what do people hear? And that's why I mentioned that you had been studying the U.S. protest movement, but then Trump famously said, stand back and stand by, in a debate to the Proud Boys, right, and then you went and spent time with them.
So, you heard those words and then you saw what they meant to people and what those words cost.
So when you hear these words that he's saying recently, what do the Proud Boys hear? What do groups like that hear right now?
QUESTED: Well, I think the -- well, the Proud Boy leadership is currently incarcerated, but I think that they hear hope. In other clips, he also, you know, said that he would free the hostages, the, you know --
BURNETT: The January 6.
QUESTED: The January 6 hostages, but I think this is another intent to, you know, rile up his base, you know, and to, you know, provoke them to be as loud and boisterous as he can possibly make them.
BURNETT: So, you talk about the leadership of the Proud Boys being behind bars. Henrique Tarrio in 2020, leading into the insurrection. So, right before that. You -- you had many opportunities to speak with him. We spoke with him.
Here's one thing he told you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARRIO: There's no bigger middle (EXPLETIVE DELETED) finger to establishment politicians than Donald Trump. I feel like we need better representation in Congress or in any other seat. I'm looking at a congressional run. I mean, what -- what bigger stick of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dynamite that you could throw right into that Capitol building than myself. So they're going to call it an insurrection because I am going to go in there and I am going to it (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up. I don't want violence but if they continue to silence voices, to deplatform and dehumanize, that's how you radicalize people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So you talk about the he is behind prison for 22 years, and leadership of the Proud Boys are. I mean, obviously,, there's others in that organization but you talk about your fear right now of what's happening and what your sources are telling you and where. So this is a whole another slew of groups that people are now attaching themselves to?
QUESTED: Yeah. I mean, the Proud Boys have reorganized um quite ironically in the same way that sort of Antifa organized themselves. They're -- they are now basically a cell-based organization, chapter based, and they take indirect instruction from, you know, political leaders and their own leaders are somewhat distinct from them on the -- on the ground.
But, yeah, you're going to see -- you saw the Proud Boys emerge at Springfield recently and I expect to see them outside of tabulation centers and outside of voting centers.
BURNETT: You're talking about Springfield, Ohio.
Before you go tonight, Trump called January 6th the day of love as I led the segment with that. Yesterday, called a day of love and peace. You were there.
QUESTED: Well, I think it was the opposite of peace and love. There were many peaceful protesters who didn't enter the Capitol, but there was a -- there was an extreme level of violence on that day.
[19:50:07]
There were people that felt like they were having an epiphany like there was the QAnon supporters who really felt that this was their moment to, you know, the day had come the judgment the storm was here, and I don't know how you can really reframe the day -- the days of January 6th. The day of January 6 is a peaceful protest.
BURNETT: Well, of course, it was on live television every single television network. Thank you so much, Nick. I appreciate it, of course. As we said that documentary now out.
And next, worries about Jill Stein and other third party candidates when you put it in the context of Nick is talking about. How much of a threat do they pose and how tight are these states going to be. Could they turn entire states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin away from Harris? A special report next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:55:33]
BURNETT: Tonight, Trump repeating baseless claims about migrants in Springfield, Ohio, saying this at Univision's town hall with undecided Latino voters after he was asked, quote, do you really believe that these people are eating pets?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This was just reported. I was -- I was just saying what was reported, that's been reported, and eating other things too that they're not supposed to be. But this is -- all I do is report. I have not -- I was there -- I'm going to be there and we're going to take a look and I'll give you a full report what I do, but that's been in the newspapers and reported pretty broadly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT, of course, reached out to the Republican Mayor Springfield Ohio, Rob Rue, he told us, quote, the unfounded rumors about Springfield and the Haitian immigrants here are detrimental to our town and we hope they will come to an end. I kindly urge president Trump to consider the impact of his words on Springfield, Ohio.
Now, Trump dealing with this is Kamala Harris is now on her way to Wisconsin, one of the key states in what the Democrats see as a blue wall, crucial to win. But tonight, some Democrats are worried that the blue wall may not stand.
Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much is at stake in this election.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democrats are grabbing a bullhorn and that's and feverishly working to fortify their blue wall.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This election's going to come down to a handful of states and that's why we're doing the blue wall bus tour, Michigan, Pennsylvania and, of course, the great state of Wisconsin are going to decide the outcome of this election. ZELENY: A few battlegrounds hold as much critical symbolism as this trio of states where Democrats are still haunted by Donald Trump's 2016 victory.
Is the anxiety among Democrats justified?
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN: You know what? I would always want my side to be anxious, right? It means we're taking it seriously. It means we understand how high the stakes are.
ZELENY: Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is making the case for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, hitting the road with Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers.
GOV. TONY EVERS (D), WISCONSIN: We're going to need every single freaking vote we can get.
ZELENY: In hopes of helping Harris win over voters skeptical of Trump, who are not yet sold on her.
WHITMER: We've got a lot of folks who aren't quite sure what they're going to do yet and that's why making a seat at the table for Romney Republicans or Bush Republicans. You don't need to believe 100 percent and that's why we're showing up in red areas and blue areas alike.
EVERS: There's a whole bunch of people that don't start thinking about this for the last minute.
ZELENY: The November election will test whether the states will march in lockstep as they have all but twice over a half century, except 1988 when Michael Dukakis won Wisconsin and George H.W. Bush carried Michigan and Pennsylvania.
And 1976, when Jimmy Carter won Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and Gerald Ford carried his home state of Michigan.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One or two people in every precinct in Wisconsin or Michigan or Pennsylvania will be the difference not just for the next four years, but for the next 40 years.
WHITMER: Let's go.
ZELENY: Democrats are seeking to convey urgency without panic.
Does the thought of his reelection scare you?
CHRISTINE FINK, WISCONSIN VOTER: Actually scares me quite a bit. I've actually applied for dual citizenship in Ireland, if it happens. I'm thinking about moving if he gets in.
ZELENY: Trump accepted the GOP nomination in Wisconsin and has returned again and again kind.
BRIAN SCHIMMING, WISCONSIN GOP: It feels like 2016.
ZELENY: You won in 2016.
SCHIMMING: We won in 2016.
ZELENY: Brian Schimming leads the Wisconsin Republican Party and believes a Trump comeback after falling short in 2020 could start here.
SCHIMMING: They are in trouble in that blue wall and that blue wall is not built right now for them.
JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY: It's great to be here in Michigan.
ZELENY: Democrats are stepping up their efforts in the final weeks, warning against third party candidates like Jill Stein.
AD NARRATOR: Stein was key to Trump's 2016 wins in battleground states.
ZELENY: And imploring supporters to turn anxiety into action here in the blue wall, Harris's most favorable path to the presidency stop.
WHITMER: You know, ringing your hands and roll up your sleeves, a couple of votes per precinct, which is what, you know, the election was eight years ago. That can be made up through hard work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY (on camera): Now, Vice President Harris is set to arrive in Milwaukee any moment to continue her weeklong spent here in these blue wall states, of course, Michigan, Pennsylvania and she'll be doing three stops tomorrow across Wisconsin.
For all the anxiety among Democrats, several things fit into that category. Third party candidates certainly, one of them, Jill Stein is on the ballot here but so is RFK Jr. So some Democrats wonder if he will still siphon off votes from the former president even though he's out of the race.
Erin, the bottom line across the blue wall, these states are incredibly margin of error races, that's why both candidates will be spending a lot of time here for the next three weeks -- Erin.
BURNETT: Certainly, certainly, what the polls show, razor thin, anxiety so high.
Thanks so much to you, Jeff, and thanks so much to all of you for joining us.
Anderson starts now.
