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Erin Burnett Outfront

Soon: Harris Rallies With Beyonce In Texas, Trumps Holds Michigan Rally; Source: Israel Has Begun Retaliatory Strikes On Iran. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired October 25, 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: OUTFRONT next:

Battle in Texas. Kamala Harris about to hold what could be the biggest rally of her campaign. Her special guest, Beyonce, Willie Nelson, as she tries to help her fellow Democrat kick Ted Cruz out of the Senate.

And breaking news, "The Washington Post" in turmoil after owner Jeff Bezos blocks an endorsement in the presidential election. A draft of a Harris endorsement was ready to go and now, the editor at large has just resigned. He will be my guest OUTFRONT.

Plus, Republicans called it voter fraud, 53 registered voters at one single address. So CNN went to the address and, well, it turns out it's a Catholic monastery. You'll meet the nuns who are not happy with those baseless lies.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, Harris going big. The vice president is about to hold a rally in Texas in just moments with Beyonce. She's doing her, you know, entertainer star power. You heard Bruce Springsteen last night, Beyonce tonight.

She is trying to drive home her closing message which is that America deserves better than Trump. She believes Trump is dangerous.

As for Trump himself, he is also about to take the stage. He is in the swing state of Michigan. Now, both candidates were in Texas today, and even as he stood in the Lone Star State though, Trump was questioning, since he's in Michigan tonight, why Harris was spending time there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think she's coming here today. She doesn't want to go to a swing state because she's losing so badly in those states. So she decided to come to Texas and I'm sure she'll be treated very nicely today. She picked the wrong place. I think she picked the wrong place.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Well, of course, he was in Texas then. He is in a swing state though right now.

We should note though Trump is wrong about Harris losing badly in the swing states in the polls right now. I mean, look polls are polls. You had Bakari Sellers last night say it's a pollercoaster but according to those polls, the swing states are deadlocked tonight. In fact, Harris up outside the margin of error in Michigan, just as the national race appears to be in a dead heat.

Our brand new poll of polls that will be the final one that we put out at CNN here this election, on a national scale, shows the two candidates tied at 47 percent. As Harris tries to use the star power Beyonce, along with Texas native Willie Nelson, also in Texas to give a boost to Congressman Colin Allred. He is locked in that very tight race with, you know, the well-established and well-known Senator Cruz, and that that seat could be at risk for that Senate seat.

A Harris campaign official telling CNN that the race is a, quote, top pickup opportunity for Democrats, to imagine winning a Senate seat in Texas. Well, as for Cruz, he was with Trump earlier today, reportedly for just the first time in public during this campaign. We should say Cruz was at Trump's event today, they didn't actually appear together though at any point. So there was no hug or handshake for anybody to see.

Trump though was there to support him gave him a shout out. That was nicer than what, of course, Trump had to say today well in the past about Ted Cruz right remember his father and JFK that whole business and what Trump is saying about others like Harris, Biden and the country today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's got no remorse at all for the innocent blood that's on her hands and the blood is on her hands and Biden too, but Biden doesn't know where the hell he is, so what difference.

We're like a garbage can. We're like a garbage can. We're like a garbage can for the rest of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: And after that, Harris spoke, perhaps in response, giving her closing message about Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president of the United States should be someone who elevates discourse and talks about the best of who we are and invest in the best of who we are, not someone like Donald Trump who's constantly demeaning and belittling who the American people are. America deserves better.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Rosa Flores is OUTFRONT in Houston at the Harris rally.

And, Rosa, you know, that big, big entertainment star there and a lot of excitement where you are for that.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of excitement, a lot of energy, Erin, it's what you would expect for a Texas sized star like Beyonce, Queen Bey, in her hometown of H-town.

This is also a Texas-sized venue. As I look around, I can tell you there are so many people here and this stadium has and then there's a lot of noise happening so you can also hear all of the crowd here.

[19:05:04]

This stadium seats 21,000 people, and then there's also a floor. That's also by the stage where there are standing pens what you would expect in a concert, but if you're at home trying to figure out why Harris is in Texas when this election is in a dead heat and Texas is not a battleground state. Well, as Harris tries to continue to separate and contrast what an America under Donald Trump would look like when it comes to abortion rights and abortion bans in this country, Texas has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country.

There -- Texas has no exceptions for rape or incest. There is a very narrow exception for life of the mother and it's those real life and death consequences that Kamala Harris wants to point to tonight. And I got to tell you, it's not just the star power that we're expecting tonight.

We're also expecting very powerful stories of real women who were denied access to abortions and who either almost lost their lives or actually lost their life. And then again there is also that Senate race, Erin, that you pointed out. The Senate race between Colin Allred and Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz lost by a very small margin to Beto O'Rourke in 2018, and what Democrats want to maintain is that margin to stay narrower or narrower if not for Texas to go blue.

I can tell you, Erin, I talked to people here who are hoping that Texas goes blue, but, of course, you and I know that that's not the prediction for this year, Erin.

TAPPER: Yeah, I mean, that would -- well, if you're looking at that you're looking at talk about polar coaster, that would be the -- that would be the biggest mistake ever in polls. It makes 2016 look like a garden.

All right. Thanks very much to you.

Paul Begala, Texas is your home state. Okay, both of the candidates there today. It obviously is not a swing state. Harris is going to be taking the stage.

And I know that you know part of this is energizing that she is trying to do in general, but I guess it's also about whether the Democrats can slay Ted Cruz which in and of itself would be a seismic event, right? And that's what they're aiming to do.

Is that really on the table?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's possible but not likely, okay? But it's if it's going to happen this is the year. Senator Cruz is usually below 50 in the polling and this is like little pro tip, people look at polls, oh, she's up two, he's up one, don't look at that.

When you have an incumbent long entrenched like Ted Cruz, look at whether he's breaking. There's a couple of polls where he is hitting 50, but several more, the Emerson poll just came out and Ted's at 48. So that's a real problem for Ted Cruz.

Colin Allred, he's a congressman from the Dallas area and I know him. Nancy Pelosi sent me down there years ago to help him when he was first starting out and you can summarize Colin's whole life in three words, Jesus, mama, football. That's Colin and that's Texas, right?

BURNETT: Yeah.

BEGALA: He's a devout Christian. He was raised by a heroic single mom and he played football at Baylor University and in the NFL. Those are some Texas values that I think a lot of people can get behind.

BURNETT: So, Governor Pawlenty, what's happening in Texas and what does it say about the country and where this race is that Trump and Harris both spent time there today, all right? It's -- as I said, that -- it is not a state that is a swing state.

TIM PAWLENTY (R), FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: No, I think, first of all, there's a more than one thing going on. If you look at the magnetic power of Joe Rogan, which is why president Trump was there to be on Joe Rogan's podcast and the magnetic power of Beyonce who's from Houston that explained parts of it.

I suspect if I'm them, there's probably some money raising going on in between stops or some visits that lead to fundraising. And then Texas, if you're going to highlight, if you're Vice President Harris, the abortion issue and try to contrast that with the Republican restrictions, Texas isn't the worst place to do that although she could have done that anywhere.

So it is a little bit of a curious stop for her and other than the uniqueness of Beyonce. She could have conveyed the abortion message from some other place a swing state, and Trump had to be there because of the Rogan podcast.

BURNETT: So, Toluse, what do you think about that? I mean, why -- why is she there? Is it as simple as fundraising? And do you think her pounding the table on reproductive rights in Texas and going to have these human stories that Rosa was just reporting on that are going to I'm sure be incredibly moving and hard to hear that she will have on stage there? Is that going to motivate turnout even outside of Texas? You know, in swing states? TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That is definitely the prediction of the Harris campaign. I was with the vice president when she went to Georgia a few weeks ago. She changed her schedule and added a stop in Atlanta to talk about reproductive rights.

[19:10:02]

It's in part because this is something that aligns with what she wants to be talking about, it aligns with her values it aligns with what she thinks will motivate voters but it also aligns with their strategy. They are trying to gin up support from women from moderate voters from people who are upset about the abortion bans that have taken place over the past couple of years and recreate the same kind of energy that we saw in 2022 when the midterms turned out very well for Democrats.

And so they are hanging their hat on this strategy. We're going to have to find out a little over a week whether or not it works. But that is part of the reason that she's in Texas. Part of the reason why she's going to be leaning in on reproductive rights because I think that it will sway enough voters to help them win in November.

BURNETT: Paul, Trump is there to talk to Joe Rogan, we know that, right? And he did sit down with him. That is -- Joe Rogan -- it -- has the number one podcast in America it's not really going to be an easy interview for anyone but among his audience are it's a majority male audience, a lot of young men people that Trump wants reach, and Jason Miller, Trump adviser told "Politico" that it's part of a strategy along with things like the barbershop visit and the stop at McDonald's that is to target this specific group.

Here's what Jason Miller said.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JASON MILLER, TRUMP ADVISER: It just showed that he's someone who has fun.

I'm old enough to remember back in 2000, they had the debate with Bush-Gore on who would you rather have a beer with. That was something people used to talk about 24 years ago, the person who would win that, even though he doesn't drink would be President Trump.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BURNETT: Paul?

BEGALA: Man, Jason got to get a higher class of tales.

Look, Donald Trump hates his voters. Last week, he called them -- he did -- Trump did he called them fat pigs, get off of the sofa, Jill, get him off, slap him around. He called his own voters fat slobs and fat pigs.

He -- he is a guy -- by the way, he charges a million dollar to join the Mar-a-Lago golf club. It was only $100,000 a few years ago. So that's a little green-flation.

He hates those people. He has contempt for those folks. I don't know if Donald Trump has ever been in the front seat of a car. He was chauffeured, driven to his elite private academy as a kid.

So I -- it's complete -- and by the way, I hope the Kamala Harris campaign will push this. She is so rooted in the middle class and she need -- by the way, like Trump at McDonald's, I think he just fired a few people just out of habit while he was there. I mean, he's a plutocrat and that's the way Democrats ought to go after him, is that you -- he potty-trained in a gold toilet for God's sake. I mean, he is --

BURNETT: She was the child of college professors.

BEGALA: Yes, but that's the middle class. I mean, she was very much rooted in the middle class and she went to Howard and she worked --

BURNETT: I mean, I know I understand what you're saying but economy -- I mean perhaps economically, but socially, I think it's a little different, isn't it?

BEGALA: Oh, sure, but she is still rooted in that middle class and largely raised by a single mom --

BURNETT: Right.

BEGALA: -- which a whole lot of middle class Americans are and she's much closer to that -- and look at her policies, she needs to focus on this more frankly and this allegation of fascism less, okay? She needs to say I'm going to help you start a small business. I'm going to help you buy your first home. I'm going to help you pay for child care for your kid and elder care for your grandma.

Those are real meat and potato middle class things that comes from her own life experience having cared for her mother while she was dying.

Mr. Trump, he doesn't care about anybody except Donald Trump.

BURNETT: So, Governor, let me ask you about Joe Rogan because I know you're a long time Joe Rogan listener. You told us that. Edison Research which tracks this the viewership -- I'm sorry, the listenership for Joe Rogan is 80 percent male and more than half of that group is between the ages of 18 and 34.

So that is a demographic that Trump has been trying to reach but as I said, Joe Rogan is unpredictable in some ways, right, about how he's going to go about it. That's -- that's why he has been so successful. So we don't yet know how this podcast went -- what -- do you think it was a smart decision for Trump in this final hour.

PAWLENTY: I think it was a really smart decision for President Trump. This is the -- as you said -- the most popular podcast in the country. It's disproportionately younger men, that is one of the key persuadable voter groups left in this election and so for President Trump to go there is a tremendous opportunity. But to your point, Erin, Joe Rogan is no pushover for anybody. He was a Bernie Sanders supporter some years ago. He's been very skilled and very pointed in his interviews with lots of people and that podcast traditionally goes two to three hours. It'll be interesting to see how long President Trump sat there.

But Joe Rogan is really good at getting people to cut through the BS and forcing them to give a real answer. And so, this will be a great opportunity but it'll be a great test up.

I might just quickly add to the previous point, President Trump, you know, one of the reasons people are drifting away from certain Democratic candidates is because they feel they can't say anything anymore and so when they see President Trump acting, you know, semi- maniacal with his words or whatever, a lot of people like that and sort of the Democratic Party is the place where you can't say anything unless somebody you get in trouble, you get cancelled, you can't have any fun.

And so, President Trump I think is trying to signal that he can be that person for some of the remaining voters who are undecided or persuadable.

[19:15:08]

BURNETT: Toluse, looking at the polls, and I know you know it's tough to look at them but we you know we got a Michigan poll where Harris is up outside the margin of error now by three. How confident is the Harris campaign right now in those swing states? I mean, does that play into why she would perhaps choose to spend a few hours in Texas as opposed to a state that she has to win?

OLORUNNIPA: I don't see the Texas visit as a sign of confidence. I think like any Democrat in the last couple of weeks of a presidential campaign, they are nervous, they are worried, they are worried that their voters won't turn out at the levels that they need to especially in some of these cities.

But they are trying to shake things up. They have been spending a lot of time in Michigan and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. They are trying to shake things up, introduce her to the country, control the media narrative because Trump says so many things that are bizarre, he controls the media narrative.

So she's appearing with Beyonce, going outside of the typical swing states, to try to get a little bit more media coverage and get a national story. It's also the reason why she's going to be having a big speech on the National Mall next Tuesday and trying to make a closing message that will be able to get enough eyeballs to change the narrative.

BURNETT: Yep.

All right. Well we will see in these final hours as this race continues.

Thank you all very much. I appreciate you. I appreciate you on a Friday night.

And next, the breaking news, explosions heard in Iran. We are going to bring you the very latest what we're learning on that from the ground.

An outrage at "The Washington Post" after Jeff Bezos who owns it blocked the paper from endorsing in the election. A draft of a Harris endorsement was ready to go. "Post's" editor at large who just resigned as OUTFRONT in his first television interview.

And just moments ago, some more fallout from inside "The Post", and we're going to tell you everything we know.

Plus, Trump and Harris making their closing arguments in the final days of the campaign. How effective is Trump's?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there they said, oh, my god. That's unbelievable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:00]

BURNETT: Breaking news we are just learning of several explosions in Tehran, according to Iranian state media. Of course, Iran has been bracing now for about a month from a retaliate -- for a retaliatory strike from Israel after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel earlier this month.

I want to go straight to Jeremy Diamond. He's in Tel Aviv.

And, Jeremy, what are you learning right now?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we initially got these reports of explosions in the Iranian capital of Tehran, and now my colleague Alex Marquardt, has indeed confirmed according to an official familiar with the matter that Israel has indeed begun their retaliatory strikes on Iran.

This is, of course, in retaliation for that barrage of ballistic missiles that Iran fired at Israel, some 200 ballistic missiles at the beginning of the month of October. And now, some and 3-1/2 weeks later, it appears that Israel's retaliation is indeed now underway, with multiple explosions reported in the Iranian capital, according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.

Now, there's a lot that we still don't know at this stage, even as we are starting to get dramatic images of plumes of smoke emerging from Tehran. We don't yet know exactly what the targets were of this Iranian strike. But make no mistake, already, just the fact that these explosions were reported in the Iranian capital, this is an indication that Israel is carrying out a more severe retaliation than the one it did for Iran's initial attack against Israel back in April when it targeted the city of Isfahan, some air defense batteries there.

This is now in the heart of the Iranian capital, the question is what were the targets. Were these simply military targets or was there something else here that had been one of the major points of discussion between Israel and the United States but we can now confirm uh that those retaliatory strikes by Israel have indeed begun now in Iran.

BURNETT: All right, and crucial obviously and as Jeremy's saying from Iranian state media, they are reporting these explosions in Tehran, we don't know about explosions elsewhere what those are. And obviously, anyone following this, there had been leaked information from the U.S. government about what it knew about Israel's list of strikes, and perhaps that had delayed this or changed it.

It's unclear at this point, Alex Marquardt knows more than anybody. He is obviously confirming that what the Iranian state media.

Alex, is reporting about these explosions is indeed part of this anticipated Israeli strike. So what more are you learning from your sources and the fact that the first explosions that we're hearing about are coming from Tehran and not from a military base or I suppose it could be a one of the base there, but not from a military base elsewhere in the country? What's the significance of that?

ALEXANDER MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, yeah, what we're hearing from the Iranians is that this is west of Tehran. So, it's unclear what -- what that may be, whether it's a military installation, whether it's air defenses. But as you point out, Erin, this is long awaited. I mean, there -- the Iranian strike against the Israelis was back on October 1st, and here we are some days later and I am told by an official that this retaliatory strike by Israel is very much underway, and I think what we can expect to see over the course of the evening will be very different from what we saw back in April.

Remember that was a huge Iranian strike with more than ballistic crews and missiles and drones and the Israelis responded in a rather limited fashion against a single air defense battery near Isfahan this time, they're retaliating for a bigger Iranian strike.

On October 1st, we saw some 180 ballistic missiles, some more ballistic missiles than the previous time. They arrive in Israel in just moments. No one in Israel was hurt or killed but at the same time, there was immediately an expectation that Israel would respond in a very significant way.

So what we're going to be watching for in the coming minutes and hours is exactly what these targets are, and from that, we will be able to gauge whether there will be yet another turn, yet another response from Iran in a way that this could further escalate the situation which, of course, is the biggest fear here in Washington.

[19:25:07]

BURNETT: All right. Absolutely. All right. So we're going to continue to watch this because as you

say, Alex, we're hearing about those explosions, it would be consistent with everything we expect, that there will be more in other places and obviously there's quite a bit of darkness literally and figuratively in terms of our ability to see what's happening there right now.

So as you get more, we're going to be coming back to you.

There is other breaking news though as we await Alex and Jeremy in more reporting, "The Washington Post" is in turmoil tonight after the publisher announced that the newspaper will not endorse a candidate for president. That's the first time they have not done so in 36 years of presidential elections. "The Post" itself reporting that the decision came from the paper's owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Now, the editorial page had drafted an endorsement of Kamala Harris before the decision was made according to a source. And the fallout has been immediate, "Washington Post" editor at large Robert Kagan resigning from the newspaper tonight, others possibly to follow, there are people canceling their subscriptions. I've heard them, you know, some of them -- they're using that as a way to express their feelings, others are threatening to do so.

Just moments ago, eight "Washington Post" columnists including David Ignatius, Ruth Marcus, Eugene Robinson, nationally known names, of course, speaking out and calling the decision quote a terrible mistake and a, quote, abandonment of the fundamental editorial convictions of the newspaper that we love.

Robert Kagan is OUTFRONT, as I said the just resigned editor at large of "The Washington Post", also author of "Rebellion: How Anti- Liberalism is Tearing America Apart Again".

Bob, I have so much to ask you. I know it's an emotionally, mentally and every way, an incredibly difficult day and moment for you. So you made this decision to resign, tell me what -- how you came to that decision, what got you over the line?

ROBERT KAGAN, FORMER WASHINGTON POST EDITOR AT LARGE: Well, it was a pretty easy decision this is obviously an effort by Jeff Bezos to curry favor with Donald Trump in the anticipation of his possible victory. Trump has threatened to go after Bezos's business.

Bezos runs one of the largest companies in America. They have tremendously intricate relations with federal government. They depend on the federal government and Trump has made it clear that he will oppose -- will attack media organizations that are critical of him, that he's threatened to take away CBS's license and this is clearly an effort by Bezos to try to get on Trump's good side in advance of his presidency.

So if we want to know how Trump is going to stifle the free press in the United States, this is -- this is the answer. This is how it's going to happen, especially when the media is owned by corporate titans who have a lot to lose if Trump is angry at them. BURNETT: Obviously, the Los Angeles times going through this as well but when you say clearly an effort by Bezos to curry favor with Trump or because of his fear of Trump, you know, you just laid out all your reasons there. I'm just wondering, Robert, do you know from meetings you've had things you've heard today and your -- you know, your capacity as reporting, do you know any more specifics or is that just your belief based on things that have been said in the past?

KAGAN: No, I mean, it's -- it's the latter. I've read what you've read. That's all I know. I don't have any inside information.

But, look, it -- Trump did threaten Bezos in the past. You talked about, you know, taxing Amazon more heavily and other things and so, "The Post" has had no trouble endorsing uh presidential candidates up until now. And, by the way, this argument that they're making that how they want to become above it all on this thing, they've endorsed all kinds of candidates in this election season they endorsed the Democratic nominee in Maryland, they've endorsed other Democratic nominees.

So is it just only in the race that Donald Trump happens to be running in that they've decided not to endorse. It's absurd and so I think we understand I think anybody who has got a sensible understanding of the situation knows why this happened.

BURNETT: All right. So to the point that you're raising, that they've endorsed other candidates this cycle, I'll share with everybody, obviously, what you know which is Will Lewis, your publishers -- your former publishers, explanation.

So he's saying this is a return to the paper's roots, that's how he's clarifying it, and the way that they're putting this out there is "Washington Post" is founded in 1877, it did not endorse a presidential candidate until 1976, and then chose not to endorse in 1988. So he continued to say we see it as consistent with the values "The Post" has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader, character and courage and service to the American ethic, veneration of the rule of law and respect for human freedom in all its aspects.

Is there anything real in that or do you think that that is just a whole load of garbage?

KAGAN: What you just said.

[19:30:00]

And, look, it's absurd. They have to say something, what are they going to say? We are -- we are in fact bending the knee to Donald Trump because we're afraid of what he'll do. They're not going to say that. Obviously, they're going to say this.

But look, the editorial page, not just "The Washington Post" as a news organization, but the editorial page has been laying out for almost eight years arguments as to why Donald Trump is not only the wrong candidate but an actual threat to American democracy, the editorial page has been doing this. So, you know, for them to decide that this is the election that

they're going to sit out when they have made it very clear the editorial page that this -- that Trump represents a threat to democracy, look, there's -- there's no explanation other than the most obvious one this is a simple question with a simple answer.

BURNETT: You know, there was one question I wanted to ask you Robert as you think through this, and that is in the sense of, you know, we live in this world that just so polarized and so fractured and so angry, and is there anything -- and I'm not saying this is the argument they're making, but is there anything to be said for if well- known established venerated institutions like "The Washington Post" or "The Los Angeles Times", "The New York Times" has not yet endorsed. I don't know what will happen there.

But that if they -- if they don't endorse, that maybe in the future, in a world where half of this country is going to vote for Donald Trump and half of this country is going to vote for Kamala Harris, that there might be a future for the -- for an institution like the Washington Post to reach both sides as opposed to be seen being seen as only a liberal more Democratic newspaper.

Is -- is there anything for you intellectually in that?

KAGAN: No, because you know, everybody knows or should know that the editorial page of every newspaper is separate from the news coverage. I don't think "The Washington Post" thinks it's it acts like a liberal newspaper. I know people who are critical of "Post" may think that, but it isn't. It's trying to deliver the news.

The editorial page has a different function. The editorial page presents opinions on a lot of issues. They tell Americans what they think about all kinds of things that Americans should be doing and no one has ever thought that somehow that gets in the way of "The Washington Post" doing its job as a news organization.

So, you know, everybody can come up with all kinds of reasons why they're doing this but I think we should just see clearly that this is the beginning of how Trump is going to control the media, especially that media that is controlled by corporate interests because all of corporate America has been now bending the knee to Trump.

We saw Jamie Dimon do this back in January at Davos, where he decided to say out of the blue that Trump is right about some things. Corporate leaders want to make sure that they're not at odds with a president who does threaten them if they behave badly.

BURNETT: All right. So just a couple things to understand where we are because I think a lot of people want to know do you expect more resignations. I mean, I know your friends, your colleagues Ruth Marcus, David Ignatius put out a statement saying that they don't um support this, but do you think more people are going to resign?

KAGAN: I have no idea and that's then -- you know everybody has to make their own decisions about this thing. It's -- it's a little easier for me to resign than for others. So I don't -- I don't presume to judge what others do and we'll just have to see.

BURNETT: Now in terms of the subscriptions, right, that's the kind of outrage that's out there right away, people canceling their subscriptions to "The Washington Post". I -- you know, if people feel strongly, you can understand why they do that, that's the lever they have to pull. But do you think that's the right lever given what you're saying and how you see this happening or do you think people should be actually looking at their Amazon subscriptions, right?

I mean, that -- that, of course, is that is the company for Jeff Bezos.

KAGAN: Yeah, and, by the way, you know, as much as "The Post" would like to keep up at subscriptions, as much as Bezos would like to see "The Post" keep up his subscriptions the amount of money that Bezos has at stake at the post is a tiny fraction of the money that he has at stake, well, with Amazon.

BURNETT: Right.

KAGAN: And that's why he's decided to weigh his stake in Amazon ahead of his interest as the owner of a -- of a major newspaper and that's a shame. You know, again, people can cancel -- people can do what they want, but let's at least understand what's happening and let's understand what a warning this is for the future because, you know, worry about what Donald Trump may or may not do but here is a sort of ant anticipatory capitulation on the part of a major media organization.

And that is before he's even president, so imagine what it's going to be like when he is president and does wield enormous power over how corporate -- you know, how particular corporations do in this country.

BURNETT: All right. Robert, I appreciate your time. I know it's a difficult day for you. You said the decision was not difficult, but nonetheless I know that the moment is for you incredibly so. So thanks so much.

KAGAN: Well, thank you.

BURNETT: All right, and next Trump's closing argument taking a dark turn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Kamala is mentally impaired.

You're a shit vice president.

(END VIDEO CLI)

[19:35:04]

BURNETT: So is that working and with whom?

And we are following the breaking news of Israel beginning retaliatory strikes on Iran with strikes to the west of Tehran moments ago. We're going to bring you the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: And the breaking news, you were looking at live pictures out of Michigan where former President Trump is about to rally supporters and it comes just one day before Michelle Obama arrives in the battleground state to make her first appearance with Harris.

Alayna Treene is OUTFRONT and she is at the Trump rally in Traverse City, Michigan.

So, Alayna, Trump has obviously spoken a lot in the past 24 hours about revenge that he wants to get if he returns to the White House.

[19:40:04]

So what has he been saying?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Erin, he's been escalating that rhetoric further. I mean, I think there's no question that retribution has been an underlying theme throughout his entire campaign, but we're really seeing him ratchet up that inflammatory language in the lead-up to November 5th.

Now, first of all, today, he posted about special counsel Jack Smith. We know that Donald Trump has long had very harsh words for him but he said that he wanted to or, quote, we should throw Jack Smith out with them the mentally deranged people. He said that he should be put in jail and those comments come just a day after he had told Hugh Hewitt on his radio show that if he was elected, he would fire Jack Smith immediately.

He also said though today, he also posted about wanting to seek revenge on election officials, on Democrats, on opposition political opponents that essentially perhaps that he said would cheat in the election. Let me read some of what he wrote.

He wrote, quote, those -- he said when he wins, those people that cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law which will include long-term prison sentences. He went on to say please be aware that this legal exposure extends to lawyers political operatives donors illegal voters and corrupt election officials.

He also said that they would be prosecuted -- prosecuted at levels that this country has never seen before.

Now to be clear, Erin, Donald Trump has posted very similar things in the past on his Truth Social website, but he reposted this today on X, which obviously has a much wider audience.

And I think the timing of this is of course notable. First of all, it comes as there's been a lot of questions over Donald Trump leaning into saying that his political opponents and Democrats are the enemy um of the people of this country he's also been facing a lot of heat after those comments from John Kelly to "The New York Times". So I think the context of this is very important to keep in mind and really how Donald Trump is saying exactly what he would do if he's elected -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Alayna, thank you very much. And Alayna's at that rally of Trump tonight.

And also tonight, the number 3 percent, 3 percent. It's a tiny little number but it is how many voters are undecided just days before election day and by the way, 3 percent of many millions is not a tiny little number. It's a big number.

So what should campaigns do about it?

Harry Enten is OUTFRONT at the magic wall.

Harry, 3 percent is a lot of people but at this point in the race when you are less than two almost basically just about one week away from actual election day is really incredibly low, right, for this point in the presidential race?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: It's incredibly low, Erin. You know, I went back through history, you know I like to go back through history.

And I decided, all right, 3 percent of voters undecided at this point. That is the lowest that I could find on record this entire century. I think there's some folks who wonder how could there still be folks who on decided, but that's actually an extremely low number. It's half the level that we had at this point in 2020, in the 2020 campaign.

It's a third of the level that we had at this point in the 2016 campaign. But the truth is, Erin, this race is so tight at this particular point that if those 3 percent go to one candidate or the other, it could change the entire electoral map. So let's just say they go to Kamala Harris, right, she wins in Pennsylvania, she wins in Michigan, she wins in Wisconsin, she wins in Nevada, she wins in Arizona, she wins in North Carolina and she wins in Georgia as we go cruising the USA, she would get, get this, 319 electoral votes.

But, of course, Erin, there's no guarantee that they will all go to her. Let's just say that in fact they go in the other direction they go in Trump's direction, I'm going to do a neat little trick here, boom, I changed all these states to red and what does that get if Donald Trump wins up on the Great Lakes, the Southwest, and the Southeast, that gets Donald Trump up to 312 electoral votes. So there's still the possibility of a blowout if all the undecided move in one direction which frequently they do, Erin.

BURNETT: Which is very interesting and that would be a blowout -- I mean, you know, in the world we live in now. What's interesting though is in this whole context of, are they should -- you know, they be persuading voters in these final hours or just trying to get turnout up among people they know like them, right?

So it would seem like from what you're saying that turnout maybe would be where you focus on your on your base, get your base out.

ENTEN: Absolutely, right. You know one of the most interesting things in this country is we've been consistently seeing the number of voters entering the electorate rising. So you know you go back to 2012, Barack Obama got about 66 million, Mitt Romney got a little less than 61 million. And then, of course, you jump ahead to 2016, what happened you see that Trump's number went considerably up almost by about 5 million folks, Hillary Clinton got about the same level as Barack Obama did.

And then you jump ahead to 2020, what happened? Boom, oh my goodness gracious, look at that, Donald Trump jumped to 74 million. That was the second most number that anyone has ever gotten for a popular vote.

[19:45:03]

The problem was the turnout for the Democrats jump even larger and Joe Biden got the most votes ever for president, 81 million. So perhaps going to turnout isn't the worst idea in the world, Erin.

BURNETT: I mean, it's pretty amazing so, you know, you get a massive turnout like that, that was massive, right?

ENTEN: Yes.

BURNETT: Okay, now this time, you look at every day, the early voting comes in and it's a record -- it's a record -- it's a record, you could have -- I mean, so it feels when you look at it that way, that this might be sort of the most spectacular town out we've ever seen. But you say do not think -- do not like count your chickens so fast.

ENTEN: Don't count your chickens before they hatch, because take a look here, look at the extremely motivated to vote in this election you go back four years ago, it was 73 percent. You look at that number today, 65 percent.

Don't be fooled necessarily by the early vote numbers, it wouldn't be surprising to me if turnout actually dropped in this election for the first time since you have to go back to 2008 versus 2012, still a lot of time to go. We'll see how many people actually turn out on election day, Erin.

BURNETT: Well, it's -- yeah, it's a fascinating point right say percent are extremely motivated maybe those are the people we're seeing now they're just all you're going to get that record so the context is crucial.

All right, Harry, thank you very much. And you know as talking about motivating the base, right, you've got Harris in Texas talking about reproductive rights you've got Trump in Traverse, Michigan, at a rally right. So this is about base excitement and enthusiasm for both of them. The question in Michigan tonight is whether Trump will fill his speech with the personal insults and ramblings he has as of late even more than what he has become known for.

Jason Carroll is OUTFRONT. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: Kamala is mentally impaired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next president of the United States!

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the final weeks of his third White House bid, Donald Trump is dialing up his inflammatory rhetoric.

TRUMP: We can't stand you. You're a shit vice president.

CARROLL: The former president offering a mix of crude comments --

TRUMP: Arnold Palmer was all man and I say that in all due respect to women and I love women. When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there they said, oh, my god. That's unbelievable. I had to say it. I had to say it.

CARROLL: Along with racist and sexist comments about his Democratic rival.

TRUMP: I think she's dumber than hell.

She's lazy as hell.

CARROLL: During public appearances, Trump at times telling meandering stories.

TRUMP: I mean I saw a solar field and I'm -- I'm in favor of solar, but it's not the same thing. It's got to fire up these massive plants, it's not going to -- but I saw a solar field the other day that looked like it took up half the desert, I've never saw anything like it it's all steel and glass and wires and looks like hell, and you see rabbits they get caught in it and every -- you know, for the environmentalist, it's just terrible.

CARROLL: Trump has repeatedly pushed back on criticism he is racist or sexist, claiming women, Blacks and Latinos love him. While there are many similarities between Trump's late his campaign and the previous two, his speeches are longer than they used to be. According to "The New York Times", lasting an average of 82 minutes, compared with 45 minutes in 2016.

Democrats seizing on Trump's lengthy remarks, criticizing his lack of focus and sharpness.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Have you seen Mr. Trump lately? He's out there just -- he -- he'll -- he'll give like two and a half hour speeches, just a word salad.

CARROLL: The GOP nominee is seeking to put a different spin on his rhetorical style saying he's not rambling, he's weaving.

TRUMP: I do the weave. You know the weave? I'll tell the story and I'll go from here being -- it's actually genius I have to say, fair and smart people say it's total genius.

CARROLL: If it is a word salad, some Trump supporters are eating it up whether outside Trump Tower in Manhattan --

What do you make of some of these statements that he makes and have you heard some of them? Does it --

ISABEL GONZALEZ, TRUMP SUPPORTER: That's the mainstream media passing around fake news like they always do. Groceries have gone up like triple and I'm hoping that people are going to think about that when they go into that voting booth.

CARROLL: Or at a rally in Michigan today.

DAVID SMITH, TRUMP SUPPORTER: That's just his style, but that's the style that got him all the support, that's the style that got this movement started. So if it's not broken, we don't fix it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (on camera): And one Trump supporter that we spoke to said he felt as though Donald Trump wasn't going far enough in terms of going after Kamala Harris. The supporters we spoke to say that the rhetoric to them really doesn't matter. What matters to them is Trump's position on issues such as the economy, the border and national security.

BURNETT: All right. Jason, thank you very much.

CARROLL: You bet.

BURNETT: And then national security -- we do have that breaking news here and we've got more to tell you about what we understand happening in these dark hours -- early hours of the morning in Tehran, Israel striking Iran. Israeli officials say strike is on military targets there had been discussion about how that would be defined whether it go broader.

[19:50:03]

There are explosions now heard in Tehran and Matthew Chance is live in Israel tonight.

So, Matthew, what are you learning about exactly what is happening in Iran?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that -- that's a good question I've just got off the phone from one of my sources inside Israel and they've told me that they wanted to emphasize that it was just military targets that were struck inside Iran in what they're calling this retaliatory strike by Israeli forces inside the Islamic republic.

The targets the source told me do not include energy infrastructure targets and so that was uh said to emphasize that this was military only. Remember, the United States, President Biden, had urged the Israelis to stay away from nuclear targets and from oil targets as well which could have you know sent petrol prices, gas prices spiraling ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

It seems according to the statement that they've certainly they' certainly done that and so that's I suppose uh a small mercy as a result as we see this operation uh continue. Also, we've just learned from Alex Marquardt reporting out of Washington that the United States says it was not involved in this Israeli military operation.

BURNETT: I just ask you just -- not sure whether this if I'm -- if I'm clarifying here, this may be an area we're not yet sure and your reporting may show that, Matthew. You're saying that they did not strike energy infrastructure. That would mean oil refineries, some of those things that had very much been on the table earlier but military sites.

Do you -- does that -- where do nuclear facilities other than, you know, nuclear military facilities fall on that? Do we know whether that is part of this at this point or not?

CHANCE: Well, I mean, from the sources that I've been speaking to inside the Israeli military, they're emphasizing that nuclear sites, energy infrastructure, oil infrastructure were not part of the targeting in this in this retaliation. In terms of what the precise targets were beyond them being military, that's not being disclosed to us at this point.

BURNETT: All right. Well -- and important just to lay all that out so clearly. Matthew Chance, thank you very much.

I want to go to General Spider Marks now.

General, what Matthew just laid out there is -- it's a strike. We don't know if it's just Tehran, where the explosions are, how much more is either to come or that we still don't know about so I will say that. But I will say that the reporting from Matthew Chance would indicate that this is a much more targeted and narrow strike than many in the Israeli government had actively been pounding the table for and at one point thought they were going to be successful in getting.

What do you think about the a strike which does not involve oil or refineries or energy or nuclear sites?

SPIDER MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Erin, this is the first step and what I would suggest is probably a multi-step response. I don't think we're going to see this exclusively and then Israel goes back and says, okay, we're going to pause.

BURNETT: Yeah.

MARKS: I think what we're seeing is an effort on the part of the IDF to go after Iran's ability to conduct command and control, that decision-making apparatus they could be going after fiber, after their towers, trying to reduce the ability of the leadership in Iran to make decisions. Then you go after air defense capabilities, you shut those down, then

you go after military targets. Now everything I just described is a military target.

And to your point about strikes against nuclear facilities, clearly, the enrichment capabilities are at Natanz and Fordow. The Israeli has said they're not going to go after those. Okay, let's take them at their word.

However, nuclear R&D, those facilities are collocated with military locations. So to your question, you're probably going to see a twofer, they're going after military capabilities they hope to degrade that long-term capability that the Iranians nuclear R&D.

BURNETT: And crucial information and, of course, right now, we just we don't have full transparency on it is literally unfolding as we speak. General, thank you.

As we get more from the region from our Alex Marquardt, we're going to bring it to you.

We also have an investigation next to bogus voter fraud conspiracy theory about nuns, seen nearly million times, boosted by Elon Musk's super PAC.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:16]

BURNETT: Tonight, a new CNN investigation into a viral post by a Republican operative, and this post sounded the alarm that there were 53 people registered to vote at one address in Pennsylvania. Whoa, right, sounds bad. Well, the post was then boosted by Elon Musk's super PAC. It claimed not only people at want to dress but that no one was living there and that therefore suggesting it is evidence of widespread voter fraud.

So we wanted to find out what's really going on and it turns out that this address is actually a Catholic abbey filled with nuns and those nuns are not happy.

Danny Freeman went there and he has this story first OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just off the cold waters of Lake Erie tucked into the crisp fall foliage of Western Pennsylvania, the Benedictine sisters of Erie live a peaceful life in a modest monastery.

SISTER STEPHANIE SCHMIDT, PRIORESS, BENEDICTINE SISTER OF ERIE: This is my favorite window.

FREEMAN: Sister Stephanie Schmidt is the prioress, the leader of the 50-plus nuns who have called this place home for decades.

SCHMIDT: When you make your vows here, you're committed to this monastery in Erie for the rest of your life.

FREEMAN: Did it come to you as a bit of a surprise when all of a sudden on social media, someone was saying that no one lives here?

SCHMIDT: More of a shock than a surprise. Where is this coming from? What planet are you living on?

FREEMAN: On Tuesday, an X account claiming to be the head of a canvassing operation in Pennsylvania posted, breaking, a member of the PA CHASE discovered an address in Erie, Pennsylvania, today where voters are registered. Turns out it's the Benedictine Sisters of Erie and no one lives there. We will not let Dems count on illegal votes.

The claim is a canvas walked in right into the lobby and was told by someone no one lived there.

SCHMIDT: It's misinformation. No one here had that interaction with whomever supposedly came by canvassed, no one here would say no one lives here.

FREEMAN: The post seen more than 2.7 million times and reposted by Elon Musk's America PAC, included a long list of names all women implying they supposedly don't live here and aren't real voters at all.

You know most of the sisters who live here, correct?

SCHMIDT: I know all of them.

FREEMAN: So, you know Sister Rita?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: Sister Ann?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: There are four Sister Anns, right?

SCHMIDT: Used to be seven but now, we're down to four.

FREEMAN: Sister Annette?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: Sister Audrey?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: Sister Barbara?

SCHMIDT: Yes.

FREEMAN: Sister Dolores?

SCHMIDT: Yes. FREEMAN: Sister Placida?

SCHMIDT: A hundred and seven.

FREEMAN: OK, just turned 107.

SCHMIDT: Just turned 107.

FREEMAN: At lunch, we saw the sisters of Erie firsthand.

Can each of you tell me how long you've lived here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixty-three years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been in the community 54 years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I entered in '59.

FREEMAN: We reached out to the canvassing operation and poster for comment but did not hear back.

SISTER ANNETTE MARSHALL, BENEDICTINE SISTER OF ERIE: We're used to being accused of things like being too active and you know being -- we've always been very vocal about peace and justice, but I've never heard us accused of fraud.

FREEMAN: Or not existing.

MARSHALL: Or not existing, right.

FREEMAN: After the nuns publicly pushed back on the claims, the original poster tweeted in part: right now, we've got our team continuing to analyze the situation. Once we have proof, we will be content.

The nuns acknowledge they're in a swing county, in a swing state and misinformation is bound to flow in these final days of the presidential election.

Do you think this whole incident is going to galvanize more sisters here to vote?

MARSHALL: You don't need to galvanize the sisters here to vote. They will vote. They all vote.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN (voice-over): And I'll say not only do these nuns all vote, they're also not afraid of a fight. They tell me that they've actually reached out to their attorneys to see if they might take any legal action after this incident -- Erin.

BURNETT: It's a fascinating story and fascinating report.

Danny, thank you very much, doing that, going knocking on the doors and getting the facts. Before we go tonight, earlier tonight we were discussing those major newspaper endorsements or lack thereof. "Washington Post", "L.A. Times" owners stopping both papers from endorsing Kamala Harris. I want to be clear though "The New York Times" has endorsed Harris and did so back in September.

Have a great weekend.

Anderson starts now.