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Erin Burnett Outfront
Harris Zeroes In On "Unserious" Trump As Trump Gets Vulgar; Report: Republicans Ask DOJ To Probe Musk, Call Voter Cash Illegal; Exclusive Access: Ukrainian Drone Unit Strikes Deep Inside Russia. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 21, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:32]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Kamala Harris's argument that Trump is a deeply unserious man. But is there any strategy to Trump calling Harris bleep VP, a lewd description of the late golfer Arnold Palmer and a McDonald's drive-thru photo-op?
Plus, the breaking news: Republicans asking the attorney general to investigate Elon Musk and whether he's paying for votes.
And tonight an OUTFRONT exclusive, were going to take you inside an elite drone unit that target Russia.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett on this Monday.
OUTFRONT tonight, an unserious man, Harris hitting three must-win states today with a closing argument all about Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are many, many ways Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences of him being president of the United States are brutally serious. There are things that he says that will be the subject of skits and laughter and jokes, but words have meaning coming from someone who aspires to stand behind the seal of the president of the United States. These are the things that are at stake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. While as she was saying that, Trump is campaigning in a state that he must win, right? She's -- she's out in the blue wall. He's in North Carolina. He must win that state, playing defense, going back to the days of "The Apprentice" reality show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kamala, you're the absolute epitome of -- I won't say it -- Kamala, you're fired! Get the hell out of there. Get out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Right. Well, he said he wouldn't say it, but actually hours before over the weekend, he was more than willing to say what he thinks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She's a horrible person, but she's radical left and crazy Bernie is radical-left. And this one, Kamala, is further left than them. So you have to tell Kamala Harris that you've had enough, that you just can't take it anymore. We can't stand you. You're a shit vice president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He said it at a rally so we chose to play it, so you could hear it because that's what he's saying. Those words coming just after one of his top advisors, Jason Miller, told CNN that Trump was going to start offering his closing pitch in this campaign, a closing pitch you just heard there that then veered into this comment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Arnold Palmer was all man and I say that in all due respect to women, I love women. This man was strong and tough and I refused to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there. They said, oh my God. That's unbelievable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Comments like that certainly don't hurt Harris's case that Trump is a, quote, unserious man. But Trump's crass words may be strategic, employing the tactic on friendly territory today, and this podcast interview with the former professional wrestler Mark Calloway, known as "The Undertaker".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I turned down "60 Minutes" and I'm doing your stupid show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Aside from that sort of tone in the crass talk, Trump is taking a serious stand on the "enemy from within" talk.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I always say. So, we have two enemies, we have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within. And the enemy from within in my opinion is more dangerous than China, Russia, and all these countries. Adam shifty Schiff who is a total sleazebag is going to become a senator. But I call him the enemy from within.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: All right. So, he's talking about Congressman Adam Schiff, who is running for Senate.
Now, knowing how serious those comments are, some of Trump's GOP allies have been trying to -- well, say he said something different.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Marauding gangs.
GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN (R), VIRGINIA: It's my belief that what former President Trump is talking about, are the people that are coming over the border, that, in fact, are committing crimes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay. He made me talking about that sometimes when he uses "enemy from within", but in that case, you heard Trump very clearly say he was talking about Adam Schiff and its just not that time he made it very clear this weekend in another interview that he's talking about Adam Schiff.
[19:05:04]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: These are bad people. We have a lot of bad people. But when you look at shifty Schiff and some of the others -- yeah, they are to me the enemy from within. I think Nancy Pelosi is an enemy from within.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Right. So it's very clear, you didn't -- you know, exclude marauding gangs, once by accident. He said what he said and he meant it and he said it again.
Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT in Royal Oak, Michigan, to begin our coverage.
And, Jeff, you are standing right now in a crucial suburb of what is obviously a crucial swing state. Harris is on the trail with Liz Cheney. The attempt there is to reach out to moderate Republicans. What is Trump doing to keep those voters in the fold in Michigan where he must win them?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Erin, there's a very loud train goes on behind me here.
What Donald Trump is trying to do, he's reaching out to not the Republicans who vice president Harris is reaching out to. He isn't in fact trying to expand his base, trying to find Trump voters who did not vote for him before they didn't vote before. Here is why, because Vice President Harris and Liz Cheney, of course, the former Republican congresswoman, are traveling through Pennsylvania, here in Michigan later on tonight in Wisconsin, trying to reach out to some of those suburban voters, some of those moderate Republican voters who have had enough of Donald Trump.
The question here is, what is that balance? Are there enough of those voters who are willing to vote for a Democrat? And Liz Cheney had some very stark direct words to voters here, just a short time ago in Michigan, she said, vote your conscience. You don't ever have to tell anyone how you vote, trying to reach out to some of those are Republican voters here.
But, Erin, 15 days before Election Day, when millions of voters have already cast their ballots. This campaign is coming down to a question of fear -- Donald Trump is trying to make it voters afraid to vote for him. Kamala Harris is telling voters don't be afraid to vote against Donald Trump.
It's a fascinating dynamic here. Of course, Democratic base also important. She has been consolidating that and building that together, but it is those voters in the middle, the Harris campaign believes that their biggest opportunities in these battleground the states are winning over some of those voters who were done with Trump.
The question is, are there enough of them? Are they willing to take that leap? Donald Trump for his part, has been campaigning all day in North Carolina. But Harris is focusing on fortifying that blue wall -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much in Michigan.
Everyone's here with me now.
So, Jamal, let me start with you.
You think when we look at what we've heard from Trump over the past few days, it is assigned that his team, his core team that is working to get him elected even though I know there are cracks within that team of factions, but the group that they are concerned, why?
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It seems to me like something has changed in the milk, right? Like they've figured out the perhaps they've got a really poked the bear, get their people excited, if he's going to be a bomb thrower, he has to keep throwing bigger and bigger bombs so that people know that that is who he is.
At the same time, you saw Lindsey Graham on Sunday, come out and take out hard on Republicans who were voting for Kamala Harris and he said, you know, you can't do this. I don't understand why you're doing this. He was really worked up about it, kind of emotional.
BURNETT: Yeah.
SIMMONS: And then J.D. Vance, at the same time, goes after Liz Cheney hard and calls her, you know it says that she's obsessed and hateful and petty and small, all kind of words I would never use if I was trying to get a woman like me. He wanted he chose he chose to use them.
So it seems to me like there maybe this Liz Cheney-Kamala Harris tag team they have going on might be working in some fashion.
BURNETT: What do you think?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: They're terrified of it. So, we saw in the GOP primaries as many as 20 percent of voters turned out actively high-propensity voters to vote against Donald Trump and cast votes for Nikki Haley even after she dropped out, they still turned out in Pennsylvania.
So, if even a fraction of those, even less than half of them end up deciding, no, bite the bullet and vote for Kamala Harris, a Democrat for the first time, you're talking about significant margins of places that matter. And I just want to note that last week, Donald Trump was asked on "Fox and Friends" how he'd reach out to Nikki Haley voters, and he used the opportunity to insult Nikki Haley can talk about how he beat her so badly in the primary.
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris is embracing Liz Cheney wholeheartedly.
BURNETT: Right.
GRIFFIN: I think it's a strategy that works and he can't bring himself to be the bigger person.
BURNETT: Oh, an interesting and we're talking, I mean, that obviously impacts a whole group of voters, not just women voters. So I don't mean to imply that. I am curious though, Erin, your view on what we've heard in these past few days whether it be the Arnold Palmer or the jokingly calling the podcast host that was friendly territory stupid, or the expletive vice president. Could there be any sort of a strategy in Trump doing all of this and speaking in this way?
ERIN PERRINE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, AXIOM STRATEGIES: Of course, there could be a strategy and I'm sure the Trump campaign is trying to put forward a strategy like Jason Miller said, to -- for the president, to put forward a closing argument.
But instead, Donald Trumps going to do Donald Trump and that's going to be whatever thought comes out of his mind at the moment, it comes out of his mind and he's going to say it to the American people.
[19:10:01]
It's very baked in though into the polling.
BURNETT: Yeah.
PERRINE: And the American people at this point kind of shrug off all the bombastic-ness because it's a never-ending outrage cycle about him.
But for Democrats, right now, if they want to win this thing, they need to start paying attention to their messaging because it's contrasting right now, but not versus Trump. They're saying he is an unserious person, but what he says is very serious. Swing voters are going to say that doesn't make sense to me. And they're also going to say his policies are an issue, but in states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Michigan, and Ohio, where you have competitive Senate races, you are seeing those candidates hold tight to Trumps policies and say, I supported these positions.
Democrats have to find a closing arguments that's better than I'm not Trump because they can't have it both ways with voters. It won't work.
BURNETT: Alyssa, what do you think about this point about the policy and the Senate candidates that are tying themselves are saying, okay, you can call them unserious. You can say that how he speaks as unserious, but what he's actually saying in his policies are serious.
GRIFFIN: Well, there's no question that the Biden administration was behind on addressing the border crisis. And there's this prevalent issue of inflation in the economy that are the top issues for voters. And Kamala Harris is trying to navigate her way out of them, put together a forward-looking economic agenda.
There was associated press data that showed it may be breaking through, but I want to hit on one thing that Erin said, which I think is really well-taken. It's baked in what Donald Trump is going to say, but there is some wisdom and strategy to him, just flooding the zone with crazy. Talking about this silly Arnold Palmer story means were not talking about him saying he'd use the American military against U.S. citizens, which by the way, I was in the Oval Office when in front of Mark Milley and General Esper, he -- Mark Milley and Mark Esper --
BURNETT: Yeah.
GRIFFIN: -- he wanted to use the military against U.S. citizens. This is a real thing that happened in his last term and you would absolutely do it again.
BURNETT: And he wants different conversation.
I mean, you mentioned the "AP" poll, Jamal. Can I just ask you about that because this was, you know, we would talk about there were two areas were Trump specifically significantly out-polled Harris and that was immigration and the economy. All right?
Alyssa mentioned this, so lets just go through the numbers. "AP" poll, Harris now leading by double digits on who voters trust more on middle-class taxes. And she's a five points on the issue of housing costs, which they had been doing a tit-for-tat of frankly, specific policy. One of the few areas whether it was realistic on either side is a separate point. She's within the margin of error now and the cost of groceries and gas.
I mean, Jamal, that's huge.
SIMMONS: Yeah, it is. Now, I say this from the polls or bad. I'm going to say from the poles of good, this is just one poll.
But if this direction is real, what we're seeing is commonly he is closing the gap when economic numbers, that is very significant because she's moving toward Donald Trump in either tying him. I'm getting a little ahead.
Plus, you add in abortion and you add in democracy versus the key points that some of her voters are saying, they want to vote on those issues.
SIMMONS: If that happens, you start to lose a path for Donald Trump on election day to get people to want to vote for him. What is the argument if they think Kamala Harris is as good as he is on economy and we don't have to have foolishness on TV every night when our kids are in the kitchen while were trying to make dinner.
BURNETT: So -- and it is different groups. I mean, Erin, you know, on the economy, Trump's clearly noticing it, right? He had originally been the one who brought up the idea of not taxing tip income when he was trying to win over Nevada voters. Recent swings -- with swing- state polls today, I'm sorry, show Nevada tied a dead heat 48, 48, but he's been trying to reach out on economic issues when he thinks it can move the needle.
He clearly sees a problem there. I just want to play this exchange today that he had about eliminating federal income taxes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think is possible to find a way to eliminate federal taxes for --
TRUMP: There is a way. There is a way.
No tax on Social Security benefits for our seniors.
No tax on overtime.
We will make interest on car loans fully deductible.
We will have no tax on tips
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, Erin, obviously those are big promises. Lot of people like what they hear on that. It's all completely unreasonable to happen in a short timeframe if ever, just that's the economic reality.
Some of them though could I mean, does, does Trump mean what he says here or is this now just I'm going to give a laundry list of every single thing I can think of.
PERRINE: In this instance, there is a reality where some of these could definitely become law. The 2017 tax cuts and jobs act has a lot of provisions that are going to set sunset and expire in 2025. Tax legislation is going to happen in the United States.
And that can mean everything from income tax. Sure. It can also mean the child tax credit could mean starting businesses. It can mean saving for your child's future -- things that we saw in the 2017 bill that will sunset.
So yes, there are economic provisions here that could actually become law. Kamala Harris herself has obviously indicated that she supportive of the no tax on tips as well. So the matter is what do you want the economic policy and tax policy to look like in the United States because both of these people will have a real opportunity to do that in 2025.
SIMMONS: Erin, I will say here, voters have a good sniffer on them and they could smell BS. At some point, they know you can't eat chocolate and not workout and not get fat, right?
At some point, you have to figure out --
[19:15:02]
BURNETT: What, you can't just take the abs vibrators and have a beer on your coach?
SIMMONS: Exactly.
At some point, you got to get money into the government to pay for the things that we have. So if you're promising to take away all the taxes, how are we going to pay for our government?
BURNETT: Well, I mean, they've -- Alyssa, can I ask you one thing about what happened at McDonald's? You had Tim Walz on "The View" today and I know you were talking about the McDonald's view. The McDonald's visit, I'm sorry, at a fundraiser.
He slammed Trump's visit by saying he looked as dumb as I thought he would, which might not be the same crasses of Trump, but, you know, this is the discourse that were hearing now.
And he had an exchange with you about it, and I want to play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: What do you say to these Americans who feel like they're struggling?
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE RPESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yeah. Well, if they're saying they are they are. And I think for all of us have prices being out there, I think that's why Vice President Harris has made it very clear that that is a top priority.
Vice President Harris and I grew up middle-class. We understand that. She actually worked at a McDonald's. She didn't go and pander and disrespect McDonald's workers by standing there in your red tie and take a picture. His policies are the ones that undermined those very workers that were in that McDonald's.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. The whole thing about the McDonald's and who worked at a McDonald's and who didn't and, you know, fries don't get touched. Thank God.
Does this move voters though? Is anybody moving on this?
GRIFFIN: Listen, I'm fascinated by this. Donald Trump used to be the master of the OTR. He'd show up somewhere shaking hands with workers. But this was a pre-staged event where they had people who are supporters comes through and then he didn't have a policy proposal. He wasn't saying, oh, we're going to raise the minimum wage.
So I think it fell flat unless you're somebody who's a meme bro, who's already with him and liked the picture of it. But I do think were Harris waltz are outperforming. Biden is acknowledging that people are hurting. That's -- that was the struggle that Biden had, is there was inflation is high, but listen, we feel that people may be getting better, but people are truly hurting and were here to show up in, relate to those issues. They're struggling with.
BURNETT: All right. Alyssa, Jamal, Erin, thank you all.
And next, breaking news, Republicans asking the attorney general to investigate Elon Musk for giving out $1 million a day to registered voters swing-states. Is Musk breaking the law?
And Georgia smashing early voting records with one-and-a-half million ballots cast. I believe that's what now like 15 percent or so of voters. It's incredible.
Stacey Abrams, who knows the ground game in that state inside now it is my guest.
Plus, battleground Pennsylvania, ground zero for political ad wars. And the people who live there have had enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so overkill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's overwhelming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:21:58]
BURNETT: The breaking news, Republicans are calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Elon Musk amid claims that the tech billionaire is breaking the law after saying that every day until the election he'd give a million dollars to a registered voter in a swing state.
Now, "The Washington Post" obtained this letter sent today to Garland calling for the investigation of Musk, which says in part, quote, we are aware of nothing like this in modern political history. I think it's safe to say there's nothing like that in modern political
history but it is unclear if the Justice Department will investigate Musk. It does come though as he just announced latest contest winner moments ago and says he will continue to give out checks through Election Day.
Stephen Richer is OUTFRONT now, Republican top election official in Maricopa County, the largest county in Arizona, who stood up, of course, to both Trump and Musk on election misinformation.
But let me just start with, Stephen, what this million dollars a day when they say doesn't seem like there's anything like it modern political history, there isn't but it does raise a lot of questions. I mean, I know you have some mixed feelings about this whole issue of handing out the money. How come?
STEPHEN RICHER (R), MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ RECORDER: How much was given out so far?
BURNETT: Well, I think it's only been a few days.
RICHER: Okay.
BURNETT: So $3 million.
RICHER: It's pretty remarkable, but he is a pretty remarkable individual where he charts his own path seemingly everyone and I'm sympathetic to the notion of getting more people to register to vote, like when Taylor Swift did it, it was exciting, but obviously, this is uncharted territory. It starts to look like this type of thing that your attorneys would advise against.
But he comes from a world in which you sort of shoot first and then ask questions later. And so I guess he's bringing that startup mentality do his new political interests.
BURNETT: Right, which now is very public.
And on that front, you have publicly taken on some of his claims that he has, you know, he see something on Twitter, any repost. It turns out, but it is incomplete, lacking nuanced or completely wrong, but he puts it out there as if it's real.
RICHER: Yeah.
BURNETT: So he's done that with voter rolls in Arizona, now, it's Michigan. He tweeted Michigan is more registered voters and eligible citizens question mark, is that true community notes?
RICHER: Yeah.
BURNETT: Which is peoples way of being able to respond to tweets. So, eventually, the secretary of state of Michigan says, Musk is, quote, spreading dangerous disinformation. There are not more voters than citizens in Michigan there, 7.2 million registered voters and 7.9 million citizens of voting age. Okay. I don't want to get into the details of this.
RICHER: OK.
BURNETT: It's not your state. So feel free to --
RICHER: I can handle it, yeah.
BURNETT: I mean, is this just a case of people move out of states, people die, things happen all the time and it takes them a while, update the voter rolls?
RICHER: No, no, no. So people who die are canceled immediately and it should -- it should first be said that Jocelyn Benson --
BURNETT: She's the secretary of state.
RICHER: Yes. And she's not doing anything unlawful and if she were to be doing something that should be challenged in the courts of law, then you can file a lawsuit. But the idea that she's doing something that is criminally liable, its dangerous rhetoric and cheese unfortunately already felt the ramifications of that.
But regarding the actual laws, I think a lot of people like Elon Musk are frustrated with the laws and particularly in this case, that's somebody who has returned male go undeliverable can be on the roles as inactive for four years, and that's required by federal law.
[19:25:07]
And so that might be frustrating to some people.
BURNETT: That's federal law.
RICHER: Federal law. So, that doesn't mean that the process isn't working, or that person that the rules are getting artificially inflated, that's just compliant with federal law. And those people do get moved off. And that's actually election officials complying with law and actually doing the work of voter list maintenance.
BURNETT: Well, and that is -- that is crucial. And also, I just want to say you know again, to emphasize that as federal law, it's not Michigan law, right? Well have to comply with both sets. That's a federal issue.
Now, can I just ask you about something, though as part of this one, I've been looking into some of these allegations and confusion whether it's Arizona, Michigan, whatever.
RICHER: Yeah.
BURNETT: The DMV keeps coming in, because the DMV has been part of a great thing in America, which as you go into get a license and they try to right? Register you to vote.
But then you end up with all kinds of complexities, obviously in Arizona.
So can I just ask you, is the DMV process of weakness in some states?
RICHER: Maybe I don't want to put the onus entirely upon them, but they are the repository of a lot of information.
So when we go there, because that's what we do when we move to a new state. We update our Netflix account and then we also go to the motor vehicle division and you may be --
BURNETT: In that order.
RICHER: Yes. Of course, and that's often where your birth certificate is on file. That's often where your addresses on file. And so states have cobbled together communication systems between voter registration databases and motor vehicle division databases.
BURNETT: Yeah.
RICHER: And, unfortunately, sometimes the needs are not 100 percent aligned and so sometimes those systems have a hard time talking to each other, but again, that's human error, and that's something that --
BURNETT: So, something we could improve and fix, but its not conspiracy and fraud, an intent to deceive is the crucial thing.
RICHER: And it's something that has plagued us for 30-plus years, yeah.
BURNETT: Right.
All right. So in Arizona, Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake personally voted early. Now, she voted early despite saying -- you know, sharing the prior Trump view on early vote, right in 2022 which when she lost in the state governor's race was, of course, which is a terrible thing.
Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARI LAKE, GOP SENATE CANDIDATE: Our Constitution says Election Day, doesn't say election season, election month, and the longer you drag that out, the more fraught with problems there are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, but she just voted early so we can call our hypocrite or you could say, let's celebrate it more people are voting early and that would -- how do you see it?
RICHER: I think you should vote and whatever manner is convenient to you. I vote early. We have a long history voting early in Arizona. We've had it since 1992. Arizona Republicans have to be experiencing dysphoria though, because in 2020 and in 2022, they were told that vote by mail is the devil, but now they're being told, please do that and show up early, like she does. She vote up, showed up on the very first day of early voting.
So it is, it is -- you know, I think it's a political -- change in political strategy.
BURNETT: Right? All right. Well, Stephen, it's great to see you and thank you.
RICHER: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. And next, a new battleground state polls. You what they show and our Harry Enten see something in what is a dead heat that may be very promising for Harris. He's going to break that out, show you. He's at the magic wall next.
And CNN getting unprecedented access to a top secret drone unit as it goes after Iranian made weapon deep inside Russia, it is a story that you'll only see here OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:19]
BURNETT: Former President Donald Trump right now, as you see on the podium in North Carolina, these are live pictures of Concord, North Carolina.
Vice President Harris today, as I said, was three of the blue wall states, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania with the Republican former Congresswoman Liz Cheney went by her side.
Those states, of course, all in play crucial to her path to victory as she sees it now, a new "Washington Post", Schar School poll showing the two candidates locked in a dead heat in all three states. They are all within the margin of error. Although as you can see, an all of them, I get its a margin of error, so lets just say that, but Trump is up by two or three points in all, despite still being within the margin.
And Harry Enten is OUTFRONT at the magic wall. I'm sorry, Harris is up. Sorry.
HARR ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Here you go.
BURNETT: Okay. I don't why it's in it.
Harris is up, which is crucial because I get it more, Harry, that is all margin of error. But when you see that again and again and again across states, it does make you wonder if that's really what's going on. So in that context, a lot of panic among Democrats right now, but then you see those states that show her up within the margin of error, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.
What does it all mean?
ENTEN: Yeah, you know, its one of these funny things depending on which week I get different friends from different sides of the aisle coming back to me one week as Republicans. This week, it was the Democrats that were wearing, but then you look at polling like that and then we take a look at the race to 270, and I should point out the race to 270, the path to 270 for Kamala Harris is very clear right now.
You know, you talk about Wisconsin. Lets turn that blue. All right, that gets Harris to 236 electoral votes. How about Michigan will give her blue there, 251 electoral vote? How about Pennsylvania? Look at this to too 170 electoral votes if those "Washington Post" polls are in fact correct.
And so she has a very clear path to 270 electoral votes. Of course, Erin, I don't just like looking at one poll. I like to look at an aggregate of polling. So let's take a look at the recent aggregate of polls in these blue wall states. Now, what do we see? We see very close contest. Its actually closer than "The Washington Post" balls, but again, less than a point lead for Harris in Wisconsin, less than a point lead in Michigan, less than a point lead in Pennsylvania. But the bottom line is Kamala Harris, based upon these polling data, both from the Washington Post and in the averages, has a very clear path at this particular point, just based upon those states to 270 electoral votes.
The bottom line is don't understand the Democratic panic right now, because the path is clear.
BURNETT: It's clear and just to make it very clear for people, that would mean she doesn't need to win any of those other states you have there, which includes North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia. I mean, that's just to put an emphasis on it.
But North Carolina is a must win for Trump in any path he has to 270 I know.
[19:35:01]
You've got early voting in North Carolina that has started also in Georgia, and it has shattered records in both places in Georgia though, what is the number now, Harry? More than one-and-a-half million?
ENTEN: One-point-five million.
BURNETT: Okay. I had seen somewhere that that we as double-digit percentage point -- double-digit of who voted before it could be 13 percent or so but already of the electorate, I mean those numbers are pretty stunning. So what are you looking for in Georgia?
ENTEN: Yeah. What am I looking for in these states? I mean, look, I think were going to have a very close race in Georgia. Look at this. We got to a point lead in the polls there for Donald Trump, well within the margin of error, less than a point in North Carolina, two point lead for Donald Trump again, well within the margin of error in Arizona, less than a point lead for Kamala Harris in Nevada.
So, you know, even if we gave, you know, Donald Trumps say Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, you can still in fact, a Kamala Harris to 270 by giving her North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.
So, again, I don't understand this Democratic panic, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. So you don't understand it and yet so you've been looking around for reasons since it doesn't seem to add up.
ENTEN: Yeah.
BURNETT: And I know you have found something that has nothing to do with Harris that may account for it?
ENTEN: Yeah. Angry if opposing candidate wins, Harris voters 52 percent would be angry if Donald Trump won compared to just 42 percent of voters who would be angry if Kamala Harris won. I think Democrats feel like there's a lot more along the line in this election, and that's why they're panicking even though the polls at this point say Kamala (INAUDIBLE).
BURNETT: Right.
Alright, thank you very much, Harry.
ENTEN: Thank you.
BURNETT: So, let's go to Stacey Abrams now, former Georgia state representative and Democratic candidate for governor. She hosts a new podcast, "Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams".
And, Stacey, I'm great -- so happy to have you back.
So let me ask you about what were seeing in Georgia. Harry was just talking about your state, just passing already more than 1.5 million people have voted early in this election, breaking turnout records left and right. Yesterday, the most voting ever on a Sunday, and turnout keeps usually goes up as you get closer to Election Day. I mean, you could be looking at 25 percent or more of the entire our state already voting before even Election Day.
It is incredible. Does it -- does it feel that way to you and do you have a sense on the ground of who is turning out?
STACEY ABRAMS, FORMER DEMOCRATIC LEADER OF THE GEORGIA HOUSE: We are excited about the turnout. Let's be clear about that. However, we need to caveat that by recognizing that one of the reasons we are seeing so many people in-person standing in lines this early is because Republicans constrained access to vote by mail, because in 2020, voters that they found inconvenient that Brian Kemp said he wasn't pleased with their participation, they made it harder for those voters to vote by mail.
But the good thing is, despite the roadblocks that Republicans put in place in 2021 with their SB-2022 law, they are changing lanes. They're like, you might not want us to vote by mail, but were going to show up in person because we want our voices to be heard. So we're excited because we are seeing voters who showed up in 2020 voted by mail instead showing up in person because they refuse to be pushed out of this election. And we are very bullish about those numbers continuing to grow.
BURNETT: All right. So Eva McKend was there and she spoke to Georgia Pastor Jamal Bryant after Harris visited his church this weekend. She interviewed him. Let me just play one exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: You said something is wrong with brothers who don't know how to support a sister?
PASTOR JAMAL BRYANT, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: Yeah. Full stop, misogyny is still real in our community. We've got to address it head on and not act like it doesn't exist. The reality is if Black men had voted, Stacey Abrams would be a governor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Okay, I know this is a layered on you in here, Stacey, but do you agree the Black men who are not voting for Harris and who didn't vote for you as the pastor sees it are misogynist, as he said, misogyny is still real in our community.
ABRAMS: I would say, number one, I know it's a shock to everyone, but sexism remains real and very pertinent issue. But I want us to be really clear that Kamala Harris is doing very well with Black men. Black men are the second strongest cohort of Democratic voters.
What we're seeing though, is that she is showing them due respect by actually speaking to their issues. Those issues differ from other cohorts. I'm not quite certain why there is this panic about Black men voting. They vote. In fact, they vote more than their counterparts in any other community for Democrats.
However, we do have to acknowledge that there is sexism. There is racism. There are challenges in our electorate, and that's why it's so important that Kamala Harris is going everywhere and talking to everyone.
She respects voters. She meets them where they are, and she refuses to be told that she has lost a cohort, lost a community, simply because she's different. The best candidates recognize that you win by meeting people where they are. And Kamala Harris is doing that every single day and will keep doing it for the next 14 days until we get to Election Day.
BURNETT: All right. And obviously, so many people are deeply concerned about Election Day and what happens after.
[19:40:05]
And I want to ask you about some top Democrats you see who are not committing to certifying a Trump win if he wins. Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin was asked by "Axios" if he assumes a Trump victory would be free, fair and honest. His response was, and I quote him, Stacey, I definitely don't assume that. Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern, ranking member of the House Rules Committee, told "Axios" that Democrats would certify a Trump victory, quote, assuming everything goes the way we expect to.
You know, when Trump was asked during the CNN debate if he'd accept the results of an election, he said, if it's fair and legal and good election, absolutely.
I mean, I could confuse that for what Congressman McGovern or Raskin said. Do you assume that a Trump victory if that's what were looking at in a couple of weeks would be free, fair and honest?
ABRAMS: That is the hope and that is the work. But not speaking for either congressman, I will say part of the concern that is being raised is, for example, what's happening in Georgia. We have an unelected state election board that has taken it upon itself to change the rules of the game to sow chaos, to say either they can decertify the elections if they choose that one person in a county can decide not to certify the election, that a hand count, which could delay for days or weeks, the final tally.
And so I think it's important that we recognize there's an intentional strategy of sowing chaos in this election, and that its something that we should all be concerned about. That said, we should all be working towards free and fair elections no matter who is showing up. And we do that by and by making certain that every voter has the right to vote, the ability to vote, and that we count every vote that gets cast.
BURNETT: Do you think there is any similarity? I mean, obviously, during COVID, a lot of the rules changed. Now, there was a pandemic, but part of the reason that some people had concern and maybe a lack of confidence was because of all the rules changes. Now there's more -- more rules changes. I mean, do you think that there is some similarity and why people now it appears maybe some who are on the left are having a lack of confidence?
ABRAMS: I would not equate the two and I think that's a I appreciate the way you framed the question because we have a tendency towards false equivalence and using the same language to describe very different things.
BURNETT: Uh-huh.
ABRAMS: What we know happened in 2020 was that we were in the midst of a pandemic. And then in most states, people took advantage of existing law cause that permitted them to vote by mail because being in-person was dangerous? Yes. Some changes were made for drop boxes, but these were not newfangled ideas. They had been in practice in other parts of the country, more parts of the country got to enjoy them and still want them.
What we saw since then was a restriction on access to voting and intentional strategy by the RNC to sow chaos in these elections. They have poll watchers. There's a great story today in "The Washington Post" about poll watchers who intend to oversee. We've seen the criminalization by Republicans of election workers.
And so, we cannot treat this year the same as we did 2020, because there have been intentional strategies adopted to weaken not just confidence, but the infrastructure of elections.
However, we have extraordinary election workers who regardless of party believe in the patriotism of our system. And that's why I'm putting my money. That's why I'm putting my hope and my faith.
BURNETT: Well, we do have extraordinary election workers, people doing it without pay and volunteering because they believe in the country.
Stacey Abrams, thanks so much. I appreciate your time.
And next, everyone talking about the Trump McDonald's drive-thru photo op, but this was the scene in Pennsylvania outside that restaurant. Just how ugly is it being in a battleground state?
And another Russian oligarch with links to Putin now just found dead after reportedly falling out a window.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:59]
BURNETT: Tonight, divided. Images capturing just how angry voters in battleground Pennsylvania are right now, images showing Trump and Harris support are screaming at each other as Trump worked in McDonald's, shouting "lock him up" and "fight, fight, fight". It sounds like a horrible thing, as the two candidates are zeroing in on Pennsylvania for so much of their ad spending.
Danny Freeman has tonight's voters OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The question was simple. How would you describe the onslaught of political ads so far this year?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chaos, complete chaos.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so overkill. We're all sick of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's overwhelming.
DREW NIELSEN, PA REPUBLICAN: And all of a sudden, it's nothing but like illegal immigrants, she's the border czar, she's not the borders are and we're just trying to get into false spirit, you know what I mean? FREEMAN: We know battleground states get flooded with political ads in the home stretch of every presidential race. But this year, Pennsylvania is getting hit more than any other.
Since President Biden dropped out of the race and Vice President Harris took over as the Democratic nominee, the campaigns and outside groups have spent more than $350 million on ads in the Keystone State. That's over $100 million more than the next battleground of Michigan and voters in Pennsylvania are set to see over $80 million more worth campaign ads over the final two weeks of the race.
AD NARRATOR: He murdered a father of three.
FREEMAN: This is one of the ads former President Trumps campaign has spent the most on here in recent weeks, attacking Harris over her past support of certain rights for transgender people, including detained immigrants and federal prisoners.
AD NARRATOR: Kamala was the first to help pay for a prisoners sex change.
HARRIS: The power that I had. I used it in a way that was about pushing forward the movement frankly in the agenda.
AD NARRATOR: Kamala's agenda is they/them.
FREEMAN: Trump supporter Drew Nielsen thought the ad was effective.
NIELSEN: It's inflammatory, but I think the majority of people aren't affected by that. All they're hearing is she's just wasting tax dollars.
FREEMAN: But not all Republicans we spoke with like the ad.
Do you think that ad focused on this issue that that is effective to persuade voters here?
[19:50:04]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, because it's the side issue and its not what most people care about.
FREEMAN: Republican Alfred Hagan said language in ads like this make it impossible for him to vote for Trump.
ALFRED HAGAN, PA REPUBLICAN: Is that really the biggest issue confronting America today? We've got climate change issues. We've got hurricane issues, we've got relief issues. These are fundamentally difficult, challenging questions or should be dealt with on the federal level. That's (EXPLETIVE DELETED). It's just nonsense.
FREEMAN: Bucks County mom, Meghan Finney, said all of the ads have been hard to watch, especially when her young children ask questions.
MEGHAN FINNEY, PA HARRIS SUPPORTER: You want to explain what's going on, who's running for presidency. But you don't really want to feel like you have to explain what rape is and incest and all these things that they're putting out there.
HARRIS: You're seeing all these negative ads against me --
FREEMAN: This is one of the ads the Harris campaign has spent the most done here in recent weeks.
Finney finds this one appealing.
HARRIS: Look, everyone is tired of the petty destructive politics. Let's turn the page and chart a new way forward.
FINNEY: That's positive. That's to me what it should we about. It shouldn't be about all those other things that are negative.
FREEMAN: Do you think messages like these can help sway voters?
JOAN JENNERJAHN, PA HARRIS SUPPORTER: I think some people. Are already predetermined. They're going to vote Trump or they're going to vote Harris. I think those people that are not decided, I think if you compare the two ad side-by-side, do you want kind of crazy hateful speech or do you want something that's much more hopeful? And how do we work together as people to bring the country together?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREEMAN (on camera): Now, I should note, when it comes to the specific claims in that prevalent Trump campaign ad, "The New York Times" reports that some gender affirming care and treatment was actually available for federal inmates during the Trump administration as well.
Now, meanwhile, Erin, when it comes to the ads in general, far from just on TV, their social media ads, their text messages, there are planes that fly banners with ads. It was bipartisan from all the voters we spoke with. They're ready for all of it to be over -- Erin.
BURNETT: Sure, they are.
All right. Danny, thank you very much, in Philadelphia tonight.
Next, an oligarch with ties to Putin dead after reportedly falling out a window.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, yet another Russian oligarch with ties to Putin found dead in Moscow. Mikhail Rogachev fell out of a window according to state media. His death coming, as CNN has exclusive access to a top secret drone unit from Ukraine.
Our Fred Pleitgen has the story you'll see about what they're doing in Russia first OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Ukrainian drones attacking southwestern Russia, sowing panic among local residents.
[19:55:01]
Russian air defenses frantically trying to take them down before they slam into their targets.
This massive drone strike carried out in late September by Ukraine's defense intelligence agency, the GUR, and they granted CNN unprecedented access to the entire mission. Their target, a Russian ammo depot the Ukrainian say is storing missiles supplied to Moscow by Iran, even though Tehran vehemently denies giving Russia ballistic missiles.
All of these missions have to move extremely quickly, they have to be very precise because obviously, if they get discovered by the Russians, the Russians want nothing more than to kill everybody around here.
When you're badly outgunned as the Ukrainians, even strategic airstrikes become hit and run operations. The launch location totally secret, the mission run in near complete darkness. We can only identify the unit commander by his call sign "Vector".
How fast you guys have to be able to do all this now?
"VECTOR", LONG RANGE UAV UNIT, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE: I hope it will be 20, 40 minutes.
PLEITGEN: Okay. Tell me how much the Russians want to kill you?
VECTOR: They want very much. Because we are one of the major goals for them, because these UAVs, which are going up to 1,500 to 2,000 kilometers these UAVs move the war inside their country and they're afraid of that.
PLEITGEN: After installing the warheads and punching in the flight path, they push the drones to the takeoff area, the pilots going through final checks.
Then they get the go.
The launch is always one of the most difficult and most sensitive parts of the mission. They have to the follow the UAV very fast with their cars to make sure it gets into the air all right.
The drones disappear quickly into the night sky.
The GUR has been behind hundreds of long-range missions into Russia, they say, including this September attack on an ammo depot between Moscow and St. Petersburg, causing massive explosions visible for miles. The Ukrainians believe they hit hundreds of missiles and explosives.
Operational security is extremely important for this team. So we're on our way to the next secret location, right now. They remain on the move almost all the time. Right now, were going to a place where they're going to do the detailed planning for the flight paths and where we'll see the actual drones.
The weapons depot is about 400 miles from the Ukrainian border in the south western Russian village of Kotluban.
A major problem, a mesh of powerful Russian air defenses guarding the area.
How good are the Russian air defenses and how difficult is it to overwhelm them?
VECTOR: Unfortunately, especially last year, it's really good, it's really good. But maybe not perfect because we are successful guys and we find the windows, in these technique.
PLEITGEN: These are the actual strike drones, the Ukrainian-made Antonov AN196 named "Lyutyi", Ukrainian for fierceness or rage.
They carry up to 500 pound warheads and fly around 1,300 miles and they fit into the back of these non-descript trailers, for covert deployment.
The Ukrainians say they get good results with the Lyutyi drones. But what they really need is permission from the U.S. and its allies to use Western supplied longer distance weapons.
So far, the U.S. is not allowing Ukraine to fire American supplied weapons deep into Russia, as Russia has escalated its own aerial attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure using heavy guided glide bombs, cruise missiles designed to take out whole aircraft carrier strike groups, and nuclear capable strategic bombers.
All the Ukrainians have, are their little drones launching them in swarms to even have a chance to penetrate Russia's air defenses.
They blast the Ukrainian folksong, "Hey, Falcons" as the GUR's own birds take to the skies.
Back at base, it's crunch time. Russian social media starts exploding with reports of an attack on the Kotluban weapons depot.
The GUR operatives sometimes chuckling as they listened in.
While the Russians claimed to have shot down the drones, Ukrainian defense intelligence showed CNN the unblurred version of this video, now heavily blurred for operational security reasons. And it shows 11 blasts coming from the same place, they say, so large, they're confident they hit their targets.
CNN was also able to independently verify through a source what seems to be a direct hit on the facility. We're not publishing the image to protect the sources anonymity, but it showed an explosion at the facility and what seems to be wreckage scattered around. A Maxar image shared with CNN shows the same heavily damaged building with some debris still laying on the floor, signs that the Russian military may have cleaned up the site.
A small but important victory in their ongoing covert war against a powerful enemy.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Our thanks to Fred for that important report.
And thanks to you for being with us.
Anderson starts now.
