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Erin Burnett Outfront

Harris And Trump Hold Dueling Rallies In Michigan Tonight; Obama Speaking At Rally In Arizona; Musk Hits Trail For Trump: "Future Of Civilization Is At Stake". Aired 7-8p ET

Aired October 18, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:37]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, the breaking news, Trump and Harris holding dueling rallies in Michigan tonight as Obama gets ready to rally the base this hour in Arizona. Not to be left out, Elon Musk live in Pennsylvania this hour.

So we are here tonight for all of this live across the country to bring you all of this action.

Plus, Harris seizing on Trump cancelling interviews left and right, reportedly because of exhaustion. Trump fighting back moments ago.

And is San Francisco, truly one of America's most liberal cities, going conservative? We have a special report tonight that may surprise you.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, battleground Michigan. So at this hour, there are dueling rallies, Harris and Trump both in the state, every vote there matters tonight. In fact, at one point, they were both in Oakland County which is a crucial county. At one time, it had been a Republican stronghold, truly a Republican stronghold.

Recent elections though, it shifted Obama, Hillary Clinton and Biden all won it in recent elections. Trump's trying to seize it back.

And that's not all one of the biggest stars in the Democratic Party, former President Barack Obama is about to rally voters in the must-win state of Arizona. We're going to bring that to you live. I'm telling you, 7:00 on a Friday night, they are out and we are here.

And Obama is about to start crisscrossing the country, campaigning across, Harris, all of next week. So you see on the map, he's going to hit four battleground states over five days.

And meanwhile, tech titan now top Trump surrogate Elon Musk is in Pennsylvania offering people there $100 to help get new voters registered, part of a series of sort of town hall or speaking events that he's doing in the state of Pennsylvania. We are entering the final stretch here in what may be people think it might be, who knows? Honestly, the most amazing thing is nobody knows if it will be the closest presidential race of the century. It is deeply personal though.

Harris unleashing a new line of attack in the final days questioning Trump's low energy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been hearing reports that his team at least is saying he's suffering from exhaustion and that's apparently the excuse for why he's not doing interviews and, of course, he's not doing the CNN town hall. He refuses to do another debate.

And, you know, look, being president of the United States is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world and so we really do need to ask if he's exhausted being on the campaign trail. Is he fit to do the job?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. That comment got under the former president's skin. He has responded not once but twice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've gone 48 days now without a rest and I've got that loser who doesn't have the energy of a rabbit. Tell me when you've seen me take even a little bit of a risk. Not only am I not -- I'm not even tired, I'm really exhilarated. You know why? We're killing her in the polls.

We'll go through it pretty quick, Dale, and then I'm going over to make a little speech in front of 10,000 people. You think this is an easy life I have, right? I go from here, I say, am I finished? They say, no, sir, you have one more speech. Oh, good, where is it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: So, he's exhilarated.

So, meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris tonight addressing a question that continually comes up. That is what would she have done differently than Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I mean, to be very candid with you, you -- even including Mike Pence, vice presidents are not critical of their presidents. I think that really actually in terms of the tradition of it and also just going forward, it does not make for a productive and important relationship.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: All right. We are live on the ground at both the Harris and Trump event.

So we're going to be taking those live when they do happen also going to Elon Musk's town hall and, of course, as I said we'll be hearing from the former president Barack Obama all this hour.

So let's get anything else we can and let's start with Priscilla Alvarez because she's OUTFRONT Waterford Township that is where Harris will be speaking shortly.

And, Priscilla, as I mentioned you're in Oakland County which both campaigns have identified as so crucial. Clinton and Biden won it easily, but it used to be a Republican stronghold. So what is her focus on this county this late in the election say about her standing in Michigan?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're certainly trying to lock down their coalition and try to build upon the gains that President Biden made in 2020 because as you mentioned, they know that it could easily lean Republican.

[19:05:09]

And I've spoken to campaign officials who have said in some ways they have to, quote, limit losses with some quarter of the Democratic Party in this state that may have otherwise voted Democrats --

BURNETT: And looks like obviously we just had that shot freeze, so if we can get back to he, we will.

But in the meantime, I want to go to the Trump event in Detroit because Alayna Treene is there.

And, Alayna, you know, you're noticing something interesting inside that venue where you are. What -- what is it?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right. So we are here in downtown Detroit. We're in this pretty large venue. You can't really tell, Erin, from where you are. I mean, right behind me, you can see the crowd.

But behind the camera, where I'm speaking toward, it's actually pretty empty. They have not been able to fill this and I'll also tell you that it took us more than two hours, they were two hours delayed in getting us into the venue today.

And so, there are questions about -- I'm told it was not a security issue according to two Secret Service officials, so questions about whether they were you know changing some of the optics in here so that's just one thing to keep in mind.

But look, I do want to tell you about why Donald Trump is back in the state because obviously, Michigan is a crucial battleground and not only does it have 15 electoral votes. But I will say when I talk to Donald Trump's senior advisers, they actually tell me that out of the three blue wall states, of course, part from Michigan that includes Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, they're actually the most confident in Michigan, even as we know that last week when Donald Trump was here in Detroit once again, he was speaking to the Detroit Economic Club and he actually insulted Detroit while being in Detroit.

He called it a developing city. He said it was more developing than countries like China and received a lot of backlash. Now, I actually did, Erin, talk to a number of people on the ground here today, asking them about that comment particularly those Trump supporters and rally attendees who are from Detroit, all of them told me that they were not offended though many of them did not agree that this is a developing city, that it was a once great city and no longer is.

So a really interesting those remarks from Trump though I will say are kind of reminiscent of what we had heard when he had criticized Milwaukee to Republicans. He has said that it was a horrible city, even though the Republican Party was holding their convention there over the summer. He later came out to clean that up and say I love Milwaukee.

So I'll be watching tonight whether he tries to do the same thing about his remarks in Detroit last week.

BURNETT: All right. And we'll be checking in with you, of course, Alayna. So thank you.

All right. Everyone's with me now here.

Just to begin, Karen, Harris and Trump both in Michigan and you know what's interesting when you see them in the same county, a county that I said used to be a Republican stronghold but in recent election, three in a row, has gone Democratic right so Harris is choosing to spend time there right now and, you know, Alayna is reporting that Michigan is the blue wall state that the Trump campaign is most confident about.

How do you see it, Karen? And are you confident that the Democrats will win Michigan?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Erin, thanks for having me. Of course, I went through so I'm not confident of anything until the new president is sworn in, let me just say that right off the bat.

But we're feeling good. I mean, I'm feeling good about Michigan, honestly. I mean, this is where ground game really matters. And here's the significance of what we just saw. So Kamala Harris is in Oakland County. That is part of expanding the map. She is trying to broaden her coalition. She's talking to independence and center right and center left and far left and independents, right?

Donald Trump can't even fill a venue with his base, so that says to me that I guess the good folks of Detroit were, you know, they're sending their own signal of how they feel about what he said the last time he was there. But, look, as I say, this is where ground game matters because right now, it is all about getting people out to vote. BURNETT: So, Marc, Karen -- interesting Karen's view is you know she's running up, you know, trying to run up the vote where she can, as opposed to being concerned about a county that had gone Democratic in the most recent elections and had gone Republican before, as opposed to being concerned about losing it.

When you talk to people on the Trump campaign, what are they saying about Michigan? Are they so confident?

MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: Well, they always project confidence even when the numbers might not be with them.

BURNETT: Yeah.

CAPUTO: If you look at the polling averages, I think Kamala Harris is only ahead by 0.6 percentage points in Michigan. It is a jump ball. What the Trump campaign sees a victory path forward in Michigan looks like this -- is he gets a small sliver, they don't expect a lot, of Black men to vote for him. There are those union voters and union households that have expressing reservations about Kamala Harris, and that they would come Trump's way as well.

He would also do as well, he hopes, with white voters, white male voters as he did in 2016, not in 2020.

[19:10:02]

And he would get this sliver of Arab-American and Muslim American voters who've expressed some concerns with the Biden administration's response to Israel and Gaza and as he is in Hamtramck and has bragged about the endorsement of the mayor there in a Muslim heavy city, they would support him not only because of his foreign policy but also Trump's campaign hopes because of his social conservative policy issues like transgender, surgeries and the like for kids and transgender males and/or females in women's sports.

And so that's what their win would look like.

BURNETT: It's interesting when you talk about the Israel issue, interesting that if you know you were worried that um that you would go to Trump given the concerns that that some of those voters might have about Harris. Pakistan -- Pakistan American PAC today did endorse Trump which was interesting after introducing both campaigns, interviewing both campaigns, sorry.

CAPUTO: Right.

BURNETT: Jane, you heard that back and forth between Harris and Trump on the -- on the energy issue. "Politico" reported that he canceled interviews because of exhaustion. So I just wanted to play a little bit more of his reaction to Harris's comments about that. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What event did I cancel? I haven't cancelled. She doesn't go to any events. She's a loser. She doesn't go to any events she didn't even show up with the Catholics last night at the hotel. It was insulting. They -- all they are sound bites. So today I was at "Fox and Friends" at 7:00 in the morning, I then went to two different other appearances, I then made about 15 phone calls.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And, you know, to be fair, he is doing a lot, right? He did go to the Al Smith dinner in New York last night. We were able to see him for the entire time that others were speaking. He was fully engaged. Harris sent that recorded video that we saw there he did do that interview this morning a round table this evening a rally tonight.

Is that not enough?

JANE COASTON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think given the fact that he fell asleep during an event today and the fact that his "Fox and Friends" interview featured -- how can I put this -- some nonsensical statements. Now, granted, the thing with Donald Trump is that like this is what he's been like for a long time, but I will say that the energy issue, it's clear that it is annoying him, it is clear that Harris bringing that up has annoyed him as he keeps bringing it up.

And it's interesting because there are specific things you can do to annoy him. One, accuse him of being low energy. And two, do something on Fox that he doesn't like, and this is -- you know, this is now twice that this has taken place. So I do think it's clearly an issue for him or else he wouldn't keep bringing it up.

BURNETT: Well it is under his skin, Erin, clearly. I mean, he is -- he's angered by it, which may be exactly why she's -- she's, you know, sort of picking at that scab.

ERIN PERRINE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, in the land of reality, the dog won't hunt that Donald Trump doesn't have energy, right? I mean, what has he done, 59 interviews to Kamala Harris's 26 since she was announced? He's almost -- he's more than doubled her at this point and he's doing multiple events a day, but that's what both candidates should be doing.

The exception to the rule shouldn't be that there might be a scheduling snafu and that Trump's team might be trying to put things on the calendar that don't firm up because of other things on the schedule, it's a presidential campaign. Everybody should be out there, they should be doing three rallies a day, you should be doing multiple roundtable events, you should be doing radio interviews and local television pull-asides the entire time.

Both candidates should do it and I would argue and I think the facts would bear out, Donald Trump is doing a lot more of all of that than Kamala Harris is, and because she waited so long to try and engage voters and engage the media and talk through different outlets, that's why she's having to try to make up ground now because she is slipping in the polls. BURNETT: Now, Marc, she did do that interview with Fox this week that

I know that you know Trump's supporters found that say, oh, she didn't do well. Her supporters felt she walked into the lion's den and she fought back and she's on fire and you know they that's how -- they saw it very differently.

But, you know, everybody noticed, that including him he noticed it, he brought it up at the Al Smith's dinner last night that she had done that interview. Does -- does it -- does it bother him that she did that? I mean, because there's you know there's got to be a part of him that said, okay, the lion's den take on that, he would see it the same way.

CAPUTO: I think he's happier with her responses that they're going to use in future ads. I think Erin's right, what really is a thing that bothers him or what you've mentioned that really bothers him is the fact that he's being attacked on for his energy levels in the campaign trail. I ran the numbers, since October 1st, the beginning of the month, in 18 days, he's done 28 events in 26 cities spread across 12 states.

And when Kamala Harris says that he's hiding from the public and the press, that just drives him crazy.

[19:15:02]

And she knows what she's doing and so far it does seem to be working. He's swinging at every pitch.

BURNETT: Right. I mean that's the thing, some of this is just about getting under someone's skin.

So, Karen, I want to ask you about one of those many appearances that Trump did. Today was an interview that aired today with the former professional wrestler and media personality Tyrus and I wanted to play one exchange that everyone is talking about. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYRUS, HOST: We need to see the fathers are capable of great things because we've dealt with especially in the last three and a half years, a complete dismemberment of what it is to be a man. We're under attack for everything.

TRUMP: We are. Well, actually manhood is under attack. I see things that are so beautiful and the next day, I see them knocking the hell out of somebody for doing something that it day before, I said what a wonderful thing. Now, we have to get back a little bit more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Okay. Karen, I'll be honest I don't really know what he was saying after the core point there but he said manhood is under attack. Now, to be fair that was in response to somebody who said a dismemberment of what it is to be a man which let's just not take literally. But when he says manhood is under attack, does -- is that effective

with a certain group of voters? I mean, you know, you can say okay, well, I didn't know "Maxim" made endorsements, the magazine. But they did come out and endorse Trump today.

FINNEY: Yeah, look, he believes that and we saw this, you know, all the way back to 2016 when he would sort of and frankly years ago in the '80s, right, in New York, that was part of his swagger, right, that he was this kind of playboy, and that's kind of part of his definition of manhood, and that is something he has put forward time and time again, it's what that infamous, you know, you can grab them by the you-know-what was all about.

At the same time, I think men are lot smarter, most men than Donald Trump. I should say the majority of American men. I think they're smart enough to know that he's a huckster and he's been trying to, you know, he's -- he's selling a shtick, they can either buy it or not. I think they're smart enough to know that the lives of their daughters and their sisters and their mothers, the women in their lives are in danger by some of the -- you know, by what Donald Trump would do.

And I think they're smart enough to recognize that he is actually not going to be good for the bottom line given that he so into tariffs which will increase inflation.

BURNETT: So, Mark, when Trump says, well, actually manhood is under attack, you know, there are times that he does say things for hyperbole sake or whatever, but it would actually seem this is one of those ones he actually means. I don't know. Is that what you understand it to be?

CAPUTO: Yeah, that's a general belief in Republican and conservative circles, and that's a dividing line that we're seeing in this campaign where there was a recent article in "The Washington Post" that accused the Trump campaign of being fueled by too much toxic masculinity. And the Trump campaign read that as essentially an attack on Trump for just standing up for men. This is one of these kind of men are from Mars and women are from Venus sort of campaigns that we're looking at.

BURNETT: All right. We're going to take a break but all of you are staying with me because obviously we have so much coming up this hour. Erin, Marc, Jane, and Karen.

And next, we are standing by for President Obama to take that stage live. We will bring you his remarks when he begins speaking.

And we're also live at an Elon Musk event in Philadelphia because he's hosting these events across the state that some Democrats John Fetterman -- Senator John Fetterman told Lulu Garcia that this is a -- this is very serious, it could be a problem for Harris. Musk is offering up to $100 to voters to register.

Plus, brand new reporting tonight from our Jeremy Diamond, speaking to the chief pathologist who performed the autopsy on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar. What did he discover about Sinwar's death?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:23:11]

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Are you fired up? Are you ready to go? Man, I -- it is good to be back.

It is good to be back in Arizona. It's good to be back in Tucson. And I -- I appreciate y'all coming out the day before homecoming.

As we landed we saw Colorado's buses at the airport, and I know, you know, Colorado's got a couple good players but I also know you guys have beaten them twice in a row, so don't bet against the Wildcats tomorrow. Come on.

I love you back.

But I am not here just to talk about football. I am here to ask you to vote for my friend and your outstanding congressman, Raul Grijalva. Or your next member of Congress from the sixth district, Kirsten Angle. Or your outstanding next United States, Senator Ruben Gallego. And for the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris.

[19:25:01]

Now, before I get going --- you guys have to -- you guys have to forgive me because, let's face it, I'm a little out of practice. So I got a little something in my throat, but that's okay because what I have to say is going to make so much sense that even if I'm coughing a little bit, I think -- I'm you're still going to catch what I'm saying here, because here in Arizona voting has already started. You can you can vote early or return your mail ballot today. There's no reason to delay. What are you waiting for?

And, of course, you can vote at your polling place on election day, November 9th. Si, si puede. Just remember to bring your photo ID.

And I think as Ruben mentioned, si, si puede. But as Ruben mentioned, you need to make a plan and if you've got any confusion, any -- any uncertainty about what your plan is to vote, then you go to iwillvote.com/az, and then once you've got a plan, then you got to make sure your friends and family make a plan to vote, too, because together, we've got a chance to choose a new generation of leadership in this country.

And start building a better and stronger and fairer and more hopeful America. Now, we know -- we know this election is going to be tight and it's going to be tight because a lot of Americans are struggling right now. As a country, we've been through a lot over the last few years. We've had a historic pandemic that wrecked havoc on communities and businesses, disruptions from the pandemic then cause prices to spike, and that put a strain on family budgets.

And in a lot of ways, it felt like the aspirations of working people have taken a back seat to the priorities of the rich and the powerful and the well-connected. So -- so I understand why people are looking to shake things up. I get why sometimes folks are frustrated with politics. I'm sometimes frustrated with politics. So I get it.

What I cannot understand is why anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you. That I don't understand because -- because there is absolutely no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself. I -- I've said it before, Donald Trump is a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down that golden escalator nine years ago.

And -- and when he's not complaining, he's trying to sell you stuff. He's got his gold sneakers. He's got the $100,000 watch, says it's a Swiss watch but nobody can actually figure out where in Switzerland was this thing made.

He's got -- this is my favorite, he's got the Trump bible, wants you to buy the word of God, Donald Trump edition. His name's going to be on there embossed right next to Luke and Mark and Matthew. I -- and by the way, I will give you one guess, you could not make this stuff up where these bibles are made.

So, Mr. Tough guy on China, except when he can make a few bucks hawking his Trump edition bibles.

[19:30:11]

Come on, man. You can't make this stuff up, but he's doing it and the reason he's doing it is because what he cares about is his ego and his money and his status. He's not thinking about you.

Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to his ends. He wants the middle class to pay the price for another huge tax cut that would mostly help him and his country club buddies. He doesn't care if he costs more women their reproductive freedoms because it won't make a difference in his life.

Do not boo, vote. They can't hear you when you boo, but when you vote, everybody can hears you. Vote.

(CHANTING)

OBAMA: Most of all -- most of all Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided between us and them between the, quote, real Americans which by which he means his supporters and the outsiders who don't support him because having people divided and angry and grieved and resentful, he figures that boosts his chances to get elected. Now, so -- so those are his intentions.

I do have to point out that along with his intentions. There is also a question of his competence have you seen him lately. I mean, he is out there he's given two -- two and a half hour speeches, just word salads, you have no idea what he's talking about he's talking about Hannibal Lector, he's talking about this, he's talking about that, he held a town hall meeting where he's -- he just -- let -- let me explain because I've done a lot of town hall meetings.

The point of a town hall meeting is to take questions. He just decided, you know what, I'm going to stop taking question and then he's swaying to "Ave Maria" and "YMCA" for about half an hour. Folks are standing there not sure what's happening.

Can you imagine if I did that? Can you imagine if Ruben did that right in the middle? Now our playlist would probably be better, but -- he called himself the father of IVF. I do not know what that means. You do not either.

He said January 6th was a day of love. Do not boo, vote. Made January 6 sound like it was Woodstock.

You -- you would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this. No, no, I'm -- I'm not joking. You would, right? You'd be -- you'd call up your cousins and you say, have you noticed?

So imagine it coming from a guy who wants to be given unchecked power. Tucson, we do not need to see what an older, loonier Donald Trump looks like with no guard rails. We have had enough of arrogance and bumbling and bluster and division, America's ready to turn the page. We're ready for a better story.

We are ready for a President Kamala Harris!

I warned you -- I warned you -- I got to -- go ahead and chant that.

(CHANTING)

[19:35:12]

OBAMA: And the good news is Kamala Harris is ready to do the job. This is a leader who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice who need a champion, somebody who was raised in the middle class, believes in the values that built this country, work her way through college in McDonald's, served with distinction in every office she has ever held, who is as prepared for the job as any nominee for president has ever been, that's who Kamala is.

And in the White House, she will have an outstanding partner in Governor Tim Walz. Love that dude. Tim's a veteran, he's a teacher, he's a coach, he's a hunter, been a great governor working with Democrats and Republicans to get stuff done.

And I -- and I learned the other day, he can take a vintage truck apart and put it back together again which is just cool.

You think Donald Trump can do that?

CROWD: No!

OBAMA: For that matter, do you think Donald Trump has ever changed a tire in his life?

CROWD: No!

OBAMA: Yeah. You know, he's like -- he's like having jibs change his tire. The point is, I was just picturing it, the point is if you elect

Kamala and Tim, they will not be focused on their problems, they will be focused on yours. They understand that too many folks not just here in Arizona but across the country are still struggling to pay the bills, even though wages are steadily growing, even though inflation's finally slowing, the price of everything from health care to housing to groceries, it's still too high and it hurts.

So the question is not whether or not we need to do some things different. The question is who's really going to do something about it. So what we need to do is to evaluate the plans of the respective candidates.

Donald Trump's plan is to give another massive tax cut to billionaires and big corporations. Now don't -- do not boo, vote. I am going to break you of this habit.

Now some people I because, you know, I'm having conversations around the country folks as I go campaigning. And I'll hear some people say, you know, well, I remember the economy when -- when those first two years with Trump. They were -- they were pretty good.

And I -- and I say, yeah, yeah, it was good because it was my economy that I gave to him.

I -- I had spent the previous eight years cleaning up the mess that Republicans had left me. So when I handed over the economy to Donald Trump, we had had straight months of job growth and I said here you go, and all he did with it was give a tax cut to people who did not need one, and drove up the deficit in the process. And now he wants to do it again.

Now, wait, wait, wait -- now in fairness his other big economic plan is to slap tariffs on everything from food to TVs. Now understand a tariff is any imported good, you just slap an extra cost on it and if some other countries not playing fair in terms of trade, then you use it as a tool in your tool belt.

[19:40:05]

But this is basically a Trump say sales tax that could cost the average family almost $4,000 a year. This is not a plan to bring down prices. If you think prices are high now, Donald Trump's message is you ain't seen nothing yet.

When it comes to health care, Donald Trump's got one answer and that is, end Obamacare. Get rid of the Affordable Care Act, even though 45 million people rely on it.

A couple -- couple of weeks ago, his running mate had the nerve, the chutzpah, to say that Donald Trump salvaged the Affordable Care Act. What? Donald Trump spent his entire presidency trying to dismantle it and he couldn't even do that right. Thanks to John McCain he didn't do it.

And now, eight years after he was elected, after all the arguments against Obamacare have been proven to be wrong, and even folks who don't like me sure like that insurance, when he was asked about it he said, well, I have a concept of a plan for how I might replace it. Now, I want you to think about that.

Let's say -- let's say your boss gives you an assignment says she needs it by Friday. Friday rolls around, your boss says, so did you finish that project I asked for? Well, I haven't actually started but I do have a concept of a plan.

Students here at Arizona, you could try it with your professors. Now your paper's due, and you just write on a sheet of paper, concept of a plan.

You could try it at home honey did you do the dishes, I have a concept of a plan to do the dishes. I haven't done them yet. How's that going to go over?

If it wouldn't work for you, why should it work for the president of the United States?

But the good news is that Kamala Harris does not have concepts of a plan. She has an actual plan to make your life better. So to bring down the cost of things like groceries, she'll go after corporations that are jagging up prices, just like she went after big banks, and for-profit colleges when she was attorney general in California.

And believe me, when Kamala does, nobody's going to want to stand in her way, I've witnessed it. I remember after the mortgage crisis, Kamala pushed me and my administration harder than any other attorney general in the country to make sure homeowners got a fair settlement and it didn't matter that I was a Democrat, she wasn't going to let anything stop her from winning as much relief as possible for the families who deserved it.

That's who she is, that's the kind of president Kamala Harris will be.

To lower housing cost, Kamala is going to cut red tape and work with state and local governments, as well as the private sector to build 3 million new homes, concrete plans. She'll give first-time home buyers up to $25,000 to help them with a down payment, concrete plans to lower health care costs. Kamala already worked with Joe Biden to take on the drug companies, bring down the cost of insulin, hearing aids, more than 50 prescription drugs. Ruben worked on that, he knows about it.

And as president, Kamala will never stop working to limit out of pocket cost and protect your care. Concrete plans, that's who Kamala is.

[19:45:00]

And instead of giving more tax cuts to billionaires and people who don't need them and raising prices on working families, Kamala is going to give a tax cut to 100 million middle class and working people here in America. So, if you're a new parent, you could qualify for a $6,000 tax credit during the first year of your child's life, that will help because raising kids is hard. She wants to make it easier to afford stuff like a crib or a car seat or diapers. You think Trump's ever changed the diaper? No jees, jees, what is this?

If you're starting a small business, Kamala Harris will give you a $50,000 tax credit to help you get it off the ground. She believes in entrepreneurship. That's who Kamala is. That's -- that's what she stands for, not concepts of a plan actual plans.

BURNETT: That's President Barack Obama speaking there as I said live in Arizona, stumping all the way across the ticket and now, his stump speech for Vice President Kamala Harris.

So, Karen, would you hear him -- obviously, you know, I think it's interesting. A couple things. He -- his preamble he's talking about the Trump bibles uh but also going in detail on this issue of Trump not being the same, trying to seize on, have you seen him lately? Have you seen him at the town hall where he was swaying on the stage and making a joke that what would you do if I Barack Obama did that at least I have a better playlist?

But he's getting at that that point that is clearly out there right now among Democrats. Is it effective how he's doing that?

FINNEY: Absolutely. I mean, look., Barack Obama has a couple of perspectives. A, he knows Kamala Harris and he's known her a long time, so he can speak to what he knows about her and her character and her effectiveness.

Two, he knows that anything he says is going to get under Donald Trump's skin and you could hear -- I was listening for all the those punch lines and just you know imagining the tweets from Donald Trump that we can expect in the next couple of hours. It is effective and it's not just effective because the former president is talking about it, but because we can see with our own eyes, that you know they say, well, he's always been like that.

That's actually not true. If you go back and look at him in 2020 and 2016, even on the topic of immigration, it was much clearer, it was much more -- he was able to get through a series of points more consistently than what we've heard him do, and it wasn't, you know, these two and a half hour speeches.

So I think we're also witnessing for our own eyes this behavior. I mean, he talked about the swaying to the music, that was very bizarre.

BURNETT: Yeah. So, well, I will note on that I just so everyone understands the context, I don't know why I stood there for a half an hour and swayed to the music. There were two people though who had sort of who had collapsed because the heat in the room and had to be taken out of the room, so that's why I ended the town hall.

You know, I understand what everyone's saying about it, I don't know what happened in those minutes but I think it's worth at least just making sure everyone understands that context.

Erin, let me ask you though to Karen's point, how much does President Obama coming out and saying this stuff and making jokes about Trump and laughing at him and mocking him? How much does that bother a Trump, and in that sense sort of take him off his game? He's obviously getting ready to speak in a few moments as well.

PERRINE: Well, it is likely to bother former President Trump and you'll likely hear some kind of remark pushing back on what Barack Obama has said, but then Donald Trump will go on and speak about any number of things after that.

The point here for Democrats right now is they have to try and pull out every Democrat from the bench to try and be doing these get out the vote events right now because they're in such a precarious time. Because Kamala started this campaign so late, they are doing a lot more of persuadable messaging than they should be right now when they should be doing get out the vote events like here with Obama.

They must feel that they have a stronger message in Arizona if they're just pushing go out and vote versus in other states and other platforms where she's doing some more contentious interviews to try and still push a persuasion message right now. It's -- we're -- we're what two and a half weeks from election day and you're still trying to persuade voters right now, whether or not they should vote for you.

What you should be doing is persuading them to get to the polls and this is going to be an issue for Kamala.

BURNETT: Right, even as I say, you know, they have no idea who could possibly be undecided at this point. But this is a get out the vote, at least, event, that's that -- as he's at as Erin points out, Jane.

The question is how much influence right now do you think President Obama has with Democrats and independents? I mean, you watch this and there is no doubt he is one of the most gifted speakers, political speakers of our time.

[19:50:03]

I mean you just -- you know, just that that's just a reality that people on both sides of the aisle would acknowledge I believe.

But how much influence does he have?

COASTON: I think the fact that he has shown that there is a continuum of support for Kamala Harris. I mean, you even see this with former President Bill Clinton.

One of the weirdest things about the Republican national convention to me is that the complete lack of presence of basically any Republican alive before say 2014, like George W. Bush, not there, Dick Cheney endorsing Kamala Harris. Like, you know, there's just a host of Republicans who basically got sawed off by the Trump era and the Trump administration for any number of reasons. So I think showing that continuation of a popular president -- Barack Obama still tremendously popular, especially with Democrats, showing like I am in support of this person. And while, you know, while Trump's probably going to start talking about the late great Hannibal Lecter, I think Barack Obama can speak to this is a continuation of my legacy. My former vice president was -- is now president and this is another person who I've worked with and know who I can vouch for.

BURNETT: Right, right, could I guess -- I don't want to use the word dynasty somehow, all the connotations are wrong but I understand what you're saying.

All right. Thanks so much to all of you.

And next, we are live at Elon Musk's event which is just outside Philadelphia, offering voters their 100 bucks if they help him out. His presence something Senator John Fetterman says he's very worried about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:55:54]

BURNETT: Breaking news, Elon Musk moments ago taking the stage in Philadelphia as you can see there. That event tonight he's got obviously people in the audience and on X. The billionaire hitting the state hard for Trump, offering voters there $100 if they sign a pro- Donald Trump petition. Now that offer is valid through Monday.

Danny Freeman is OUTFRONT from that Musk event in Philadelphia right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: He's the only reason we can now send American astronauts into space.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the final weeks of the presidential campaign --

TRUMP: Take over, Elon! Just take over!

FREEMAN: -- billionaire tech giant Elon Musk has emerged as an eager surrogate for former President Donald Trump. It was very clear to me that Donald Trump has to be -- has to win this election.

This week kicking off a series of town halls he plans to hold across battleground Pennsylvania.

ELON MUSK, OWNER, X, TESLA & SPACE-X: I can't emphasize enough that Pennsylvania is I think the lynchpin in this election and this election I think is going to decide the fate of America.

FREEMAN: The events are coordinated by the SpaceX, Tesla and X owner's America PAC. The super PAC has now pumped more than $100 million in pro-Trump spending, according to new FEC filings. That includes at least $ million from Musk himself.

MUSK: I haven't been politically active before. I'm politically active now because I think uh the future of America and the future of civilization is at stake.

FREEMAN: But Musk's events and PAC are already creating controversy. At a Philadelphia suburbs event on Thursday, Musk promoted several debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

MUSK: When you have mail in ballots and no -- no sort of proof of citizenship, it becomes almost impossible to prove cheating is the issue. You know, there's always this s question of like say the Dominion voting machines, it is weird that the, you know I think they're used in Philadelphia and in Maricopa County, but not in a lot of other places that seem like a heck of a coincidence.

FREEMAN: There is no basis for the conspiracy Musk is suggesting. Dominion Voting Systems which was famously paid $787 million by Fox News to settle a defamation lawsuit for spreading false election claims pushed back against Musk, saying the company doesn't serve Philadelphia and, quote, hand counts and audits of such paper ballots have repeatedly proven that Dominion machines produce accurate results.

And it's not just Musk himself. One of America PAC's tactics to engage voters is drawing scrutiny as well, the group offering to pay organizers $47 to sign a petition for Friday's Pennsylvania event, the pack offering $100 for signing a petition.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love Elon Musk and when we heard he was coming just a couple days ago, we jump right on it.

GARY WALENS, PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICAN: I really want to understand how Elon Musk is going to help get the federal government's spending under control.

FREEMAN: Ahead of his Friday evening event in Montgomery County, Trump supporters and Musk super fans were thrilled to see the billionaire and were not turned off by conspiracies.

Sometimes Elon and RFK get criticized for going down the conspiracy theory line of thinking. Does that impact you at all?

TOM, PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICAN: You tell me which conspiracy was not correct, and last three or four years of conspiracies, they all proved to be accurate.

FREEMAN: What about Elon is so appealing to you and your family?

BECKY PERROTTO, PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICAN: Elon is willing to stand up for the country. He's willing to put his life on the line. He's putting his own safety and wellbeing out there to secure and save -- make America safe.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BURNETT: So, Danny, just seeing you talk to so many of their supporters, I mean, you know, you said some of them obviously are Elon Musk fans, I'm curious whether that $100 offer that he put out there had anything to do with any of the voters you saw choosing to come to the event.

FREEMAN: Yeah, Erin, frankly not really most of the supporters who were out here for this event told us that they would be out here either way. There was one woman who said that she liked that cash incentive, but she wasn't really looking at the fine print when she signed the petition and filled out that paperwork.

Meanwhile, Musk's next event is coming up tomorrow night in the Harrisburg area, 7:00 -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. It's going to be interesting he's doing this and whether that continues.

All right. Danny, thank you so much from Pennsylvania tonight.

And thanks so much to all of you for being with us as well on this Friday night.

Let's hand it off now to my friend Anderson Cooper and "AC360".