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Erin Burnett Outfront
Harris, Trump Hold Rallies In Wisconsin, Where Polls Show Harris Ahead; New KFILE Reporting; Democrats Take On Ted Cruz. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 30, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:31]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, dueling rallies in Wisconsin as Harris pulls slightly ahead in new swing-state polls and Trump pulls a new stunt, using a garbage truck.
Our KFILE obtains robocalls urging Democrats to vote for Jill Stein. But Stein is not the one actually involved with the calls. It's actually Republicans.
And could Ted Cruz be on his way out? Obama making a call to the man Democrats hope will beat Cruz once and for all.
Let's go OUTFRONT
(MUSIC)
BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, Harris and Trump both right now holding rallies in Wisconsin a crucial swing-state, brand new CNN polling this hour showing bright spots for Harris in the Democrats consider to be that blue wall and that includes states like Wisconsin. But the polls show it not just in Wisconsin, also in Michigan.
In Wisconsin tonight, in our poll, Harris is up six points, 51 to 45, margin of error five, but still a six-point margin there. In Michigan, Harris is also leading Trump. That if five zero point margin 48, 43.
Now, obviously, those were very good for Harris. And if that's the world we're looking at, it could be very significant. It's still though can all come down to Pennsylvania, and in that state, our poll has the two candidates tied, Harris and Trump tied at 48. It is considered to be a must-win state certainly for Trump, probably for Harris. They know it.
Trump already stoking fears of voter fraud in the state, today posting on social media: Pennsylvania's cheating and getting caught at large scale levels, rarely seen before.
Now, of course, there is no evidence to support that. There's just been no evidence of any large-scale cheating, and they have been looking into allegation after allegation after allegation, there are investigations in two counties of potential issues with voter registration applications. One county saying they're looking at 2,500 registration forms. Pennsylvania Republican secretary of state told me he looked into that and they're getting to the bottom of it and they know exactly the extent of it. There's nothing more there, and he said this today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL SCHMIDT (R), PENNSYLVANIA SECRETARY OF STATE: There is no evidence of anything indicating any sort of widespread voter fraud or if at all. And I think it's important that our county partners always be vigilant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, they caught the issue before a fraudulent ballot was even cast, right? So this was on registration, so there was no fraudulent ballot cast at all in that case. The point is, they've been looking at every one of these immediately and so far, no, no fraud has gotten through.
Trump is also trying to capital flies off a comment made by President Biden in the hopes that this will help him move the needle.
Here's what Biden said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Puerto Rico where I'm -- in my home state of Delaware, they're good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters, his -- his demonization seen as an unconscionable. And its un-American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, Biden later said that he was talking about a specific Trump supporter, the one who said this at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HINCHCLIFFE, COMEDIAN: I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah, I think it's called Puerto Rico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. Trump, though, saying that Biden is talking about all of Trump's supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them garbage and they mean it. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, when it comes to using the word garbage in this election because this is the way it is now, people throw the word "garbage" around talking about people in elections Trump, not the comedian, led the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: 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: It was Trump who used the word garbage first. And he is not ashamed of it. He has certainly never apologize or tried to clean it up. He keeps saying it. He owns it.
It's all just enough, right? I mean, which may be part of why for former president -- former Republican governor of California, an action movie hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger, spoke out today.
He posted: To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious. And I will always be an American before I am a Republican.
[19:05:02]
That's why this week I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I want to move forward as a country. And even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz.
He did not, of course, explicitly endorse a prior to this in the last election.
We have our reporters across Wisconsin tonight, as I said, where both Trump and Harris are making this final pitch in a state that obviously both still think they can win.
Let's go to Jeff Zeleny in Madison first at the Harris rally.
So, Jeff, what is the mood there and the feeling in that room?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, not surprisingly, the mood here at this rally is one of excitement. It's one of optimism. You can perhaps hear the cheering behind me. It's also a concert.
This is a get out, the vote rally, but the Harris campaign is more focused on the people who are not in this room and here's why: Wisconsin has until Sunday to cast early ballots. There's some concern from Democrats that some of their levels from four years ago have not been reached even though 1 million voters here, more than 1 million have already cast their ballots. But this is a get out the vote rally in deep-blue Dane County. That, of course, is home to Madison, home to the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
And Harris is trying to run up her margins in these areas where she knows she needs them for all the controversy over the garbage comments for all the back-and-forth over what president Biden said, what vice president Harris is responds was. The reality is most voters we talked to you here or not following that. This is a base of election at this point to a large degree.
So the Harris campaign is trying to execute on their ground game, trying to get out their voters and particularly focusing on voters. Here in the blue areas, but also in the suburbs around the state. This is something that the were closing message and I'm told she will be trying to extend that rant, saying she will be the president for all people, whether they voted for her or not he will need many votes here and Wisconsin. And the blue wall is key. You'll remember this was the tightest margin of all the blue wall states just four years ago.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Jeff.
So, now, let's go to Kristen Holmes. She is in Green Bay at the Trump rally.
And, Kristen, so same question to you. Similar picture behind you of the room. But what is the mood like there?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the mood like here is very exciting. Now, would you be surprised that just moments ago on the campaign trail, we thought Donald Trump sitting in a garbage struck taking questions because that is what we just witnessed about ten minutes ago while his campaign tries to seize on these comments that President Joe Biden made.
This has really been given an opportunity to the former president and to his campaign to seize on. Remember, what we've been talking about for the last three days is those racist, vile comments that were made by the comedian ahead of his Madison Square Garden rally. They believe this is an opportunity to change the narrative and they are going to seize it as many times as they possibly can. Hence, Donald Trump's sitting in the passenger seat of a garbage truck, taking questions.
They believe that comments like this actually motivate the base and there is some reasoning for that. They are hearkening back to 2016 when Hillary Clinton called Trump supporters, a basket of deplorables. They believe that helped push people out to the polls on November -- November then, they believe that it will help push people out to the polls in November now.
They are really trying to milk this for every opportunity that they can, to double down on this idea that not only did President Joe Biden say it is, but it's also the thinking of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Now, as you said, Donald Trump has not shied away from attacking Democrats multiple times on the campaign trail. He has called them the enemy within. He has called them names, but again, the -- what they're doing now is trying to motivate voters by using this language, by repeating these remarks to bring them out to the polls. We'll see if it works.
All right, Kristen, thank you very much, in Green Bay.
And everyone's OUTFRONT with me now.
Andrew Yang, let me start with you, of course, independent. You've got your forward for party thing on, but I know you're voting for Harris, right? You've made that clear.
So Harris up six points in Wisconsin in our poll, five point margin of error. But nonetheless, this is the way these have been trending in many different polls in the swing states.
Do you think the margin really could be that big?
ANDREW YANG, FORMER 2020 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's going to be tight. Certainly, everything I'm seeing says its going to go down to the wire. I thought the Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsement today was a very, very powerful signal to the independents around the country.
If I were Kamala Harris and her team, I would call Lisa Murkowski, who has already endorsed a Democrat in Alaska, Chris Christie, Mitt Romney, the Republicans who have shown a very, very sharp distaste for Donald Trump, because if you manage to get one or more Schwarzenegger type figures on board, it's a permission structure for a lot of folks in the middle who are looking for an alternative to try.
[19:10:05]
BURNETT: And many of them, and I think even the Harris campaign would say this, those are the people who are waiting until the end. There are people who just -- just don't, you know, they, they, they, they don't want Trump.
They don't like Harris and they're waiting until they walk, right?
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Right, right.
So, Shermichael, Pennsylvania is polling neck and neck, right?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
BURNETT: And that one is tight as it can be. Trump today says there's large-scale cheating in the state. As I laid out that Republicans, secretary of state, I was talking to him the other day, today, he came out, said that is false.
Do you get upset that Trump is talking like this?
SINGLETON: I mean, look, as a strategist, you want the principle of the focus on the message, the message is the economy, the message is immigration, and the message is foreign policy. I think on those points, the former president is incredibly strong. And so from a discipline perspective, you're wanting to say to some of those voters that you just mentioned, Andrew, those folks in the middle, who are maybe they're on the fence because there are some things about Trump maybe they don't like, but the policy is, man, I like this guy on the policies, he gets it, his critique is accurate, but I don't want the other stuff.
Well, you want to get those folks turn out for you and I think the only way to do that is to keep reminding of the problem and then provide a solution to the problem. And all of the other things don't necessarily accomplish that goal.
BURNETT: So, Lulu, what Trump already saying there is fraud and coming out and talking about it. I mean, what does that signal? Does that signal that he's worried he's losing and he's already trying to lay the groundwork?
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It signals a few things. First of all, that the polls are very tight and he may lose. So he is laying the groundwork as you suggest.
Secondly, what he's also doing is doing what Trump always does, which is the I'm sure that the election will be completely legitimate if he wins and it will be completely legitimate if he loses.
And we have seen this over and over again. It started in 2016. It happened in 2020, and he is laying the groundwork apparently for this now. This is something that, you know, he doesn't even believe and says that he does not believe that he lost the 2020 election. This has been a mainstay of his messaging and we are seeing this now.
Of course, what does that actually mean? It means that definitely this is going to get litigious. The question is, is it also going to get violent?
BURNETT: And that's the fear. I think that's why so many people around this country, look, there's an anxiety out there right now. And anybody watching feel we all feel it right. There's nervousness about what's going to happen no matter what the outcome is, people or afraid.
So, Andrew, Trump has been seizing on Biden in the use of the word garbage, which is I laid out, was put into the political lexicon by Donald J. Trump. But now here we are and Trump is seizing on it and saying, oh, well, you've got to talk to everybody and he said, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple. You can't lead America if you don't love Americans. You just can't. And you can't be president if you hate the American people. And there's a lot of hatred there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I just want to be clear, this is from a person who has repeatedly not just said things about trash can of the world, which was referring to immigrants coming to us, but has said this about Americans who happened to be Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have more of an enemy from within that we do from outside.
We will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURENTT: Do undecided voters hear those two sound bites? Does that move people or no?
YANG: Look, I don't think many voters buy that Joe Biden is actually referring to half the country as garbage. People know that Joe Biden has an 81-year-old who tends to gobble a message and that's why he's not now nominee anymore.
But the Republican --
SINGLETON: That's polite.
YANG: But the Republican Party is grasping at it because they want to turn the page on the rhetoric that offended Puerto Ricans and there happen to be 450,000 Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania, so that this is purely a political device. I don't think it sticks because everyone knows who Joe is and what this was.
BURNETT: So, Lulu, on this, you know, Biden insiders are saying, well, he didn't mean it, right? That all Trump's supporters are garbage because they say, look at how he's treated Trump supporters, right? We'll get out of the rhetoric here and get into the reality. I mean, remember the moment when Biden put on that MAGA hat even after the man that handed him the had had mocked Biden basically for saying he might not remember his own name, right. So it started with a mocking incident and then this happened.
garbage comment regardless of the political fight over it though lulu, does it fall on fertile ground with voters or do people see that Joe Biden?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: There you go, man, I need that hat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want my autograph?
BIDEN: Hell no!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know my name.
CROWD: Put it on! Put it on1
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on.
BIDEN: I ain't going that far. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You know, the Biden garbage comment, regardless of the political fight over it, Lulu, does it fall on fertile ground with voters or do people see that Joe Biden -- I mean, he put on the MAGA hat.
[19:15:06]
I think a lot of people gasp when they saw it. He did it.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: I mean, I think its a Rorschach test, right, where its actually useful for the Trump campaign is trying to get their people to the polls. You know, he talks a lot about grievance. The idea that Joe Biden hates them feeds into that.
But ultimately, this was a gaffe and it wasn't only the campaign insiders that have talked about this. I mean, Joe Biden went out himself on social media and said that this was not what he meant unlike Donald Trump, who really never walked back. Some of those comments -- those, quote/unquote, jokes made in New York. And so these are very different things in my view.
Ultimately though the reality is that a woman is going to have to clean up after a man, Kamala Harris is having to clean up after Joe Biden. It was a very, very unfortunate mistake. She was on a roll. They had a message and Democrats are not happy and nor should they be.
SINGLETON: It's a gift on a silver platter from the current president, which is why he's not out there campaigning for the vice president. This reminds me of Hillary Clinton's basket of deplorables, or President Obama as they cling to their guns and their bibles, there are a lot of people who are turned off and insulted by that type of language because they do perceive people who live in big cities on the East Coast with their fancy degrees making a tunnel money, looking down upon them because they prefer a different type of lifestyle.
And so, this does give the Trump campaign and opportunity to energize that base to again, reach out to some of those low propensity voters who will fit in to those categories in terms of voter profile and say, they're talking about you, they don't respect you, they don't respect the type of work you do. I am your fighter. I am your guy.
And I think it's going to be effective.
BURNETT: And getting in the garbage truck and --
SINGLETON: Smart optics.
YANG: They're going to beat the drum for as long as they can to try and distract from the comedian's earlier comments.
BURNETT: Yeah.
All right. Well, thank you all very much.
And we do now have and we've just obtained some new robocalls, KFILE has them and they urge voters to back Jill Stein and not Kamala Harris. Well, the calls actually don't come from Jill Stein. They actually come from Republicans, but you would never know it if you received one.
KFILE is OUTFRONT, you'll get to hear them for yourself.
And could Ted Cruz lose? His Democratic opponent is within striking distance and knocking him for that infamous trip to Cancun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. COLIN ALLRED (D-TX): When 30 million Texans who were relying on him when the lights went out, he decided to go to Cancun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, a district attorney taking on Elon Musk's voting lottery in Pennsylvania, now is a target himself on the receiving end of vicious threats and antisemitic attacks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:22:17]
BURNETT: Tonight, vote for Jill Stein. That's what they are saying on a robocall that our KFILE has obtained. Now these robocalls do not come from Jill Stein. They come from Republicans, but they are targeting Democrats in Michigan and Wisconsin, telling them to vote for Stein instead of Harris.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ROBOCALL: Hi, this is Jennifer with Badger Values. There's only one candidate for president who will fight for our planet, support a real Green New Deal and ban fracking. And it's not Kamala Harris. It's Jill Stein.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right.
Now, our poll today shows Stein with 1 to 2 percent of the vote in Michigan and Wisconsin. Now, that's a margin that could decide the race as Hillary Clinton learned in a loss that changed the course of history.
KFILE's Andrew Kaczynski is here with me now.
So, you know, 1 to 2 percent, I think the Hillary Clinton point makes the, makes clear to people, right? That can mean a win or loss. So this really matters.
But this wasn't the only robocall, the one that we just played that you obtain.
What else are they putting out there?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yeah. That's right. This wasn't the only robocall. They're sending a lot of these robocalls, thousands by our count, trying to peel off votes from Kamala Harris, trying to boost Jill Stein. And now how are they trying to do it?
Well, they're highlighting its something that I think we highlighted a couple of weeks ago on the show, which is Kamala Harris is shifting position on energy. That's one of them. They note that she used to be anti-fracking. They say now that that she's pro-fracking and they're also attacking her over the Biden administrations position on Israel.
Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ROBOCALL: There's only one candidate for president who recognizes the ongoing genocide in Gaza. And it's not Kamala Harris, it is Jill Stein. Jill Stein knows the world needs peace and is committed to ending our involvement in foreign wars. Sadly, Kamala Harris has pledged to stand with Israel until the end while they continue to slaughter in Gaza. If you agree that we need to work for a free Palestine and peace in the Middle East, please vote for Jill Stein on or before November 5th.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: So how much are they spending on these?
KACZYNSKI: Well, first off, that ad, by the way, they're running a couple of those. One of those is targeting voters specifically in Michigan and we know that's going to be a huge issue there by some of those voters who aren't voting, how much are they -- how much are they spending on this? Well, they're spending a lot of money. This group, more than $1 according to the latest filings from them in just the last 11 days.
Take a look at the numbers here -- the amount of money they have spent opposing Harris, that's going upwards of almost a half million dollars supporting Stein, $396,000, and then in support of Trump's $307,000, that's $1, 116,000 in just the last 11 days.
BURNETT: I mean, it's incredible. Now, I'm thinking back to when Democrats were putting money and Democratic backed groups were put bring money to support MAGA candidates against moderate Republicans. Some of the primaries because they thought it would be easier to run against a MAGA candidate.
[19:25:07]
So this kind of, you know, supporting somebody you don't like to try to get the outcome you do like, you know, there's been other things similar to that, but this is actual robocalls, calling in. I mean, and Jill Stein is not affiliated with it, obvious, even though directly she benefits from it.
Are there any laws to prevent groups from doing this?
KACZYNSKI: No, this -- this is totally legal. And what's interesting about this effort is all right, you know, you just mentioned the Democrats usually these groups, they kind of pick a lane right there. Usually, it's Republicans are pretending to be pro-Jill Stein. This group is also sending out calls telling people to vote for Trump at the same time.
So they're backing Stein and they're backing Trump. So they're not even doing the whole pretend thing that we sometimes and these calls, some of them are targeting RFK Jr. voters. They are telling -- reminding RFK Jr. voters that he's endorsed Trump.
Listen to one right here.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ROBOCALL: I'm calling to remind you that RFK Jr. has proudly endorsed Donald Trump for president. RFK said he is supporting President Trump because Trump will end forever wars, protect our civil liberties and make America healthy again. RFK Jr. knows how much is at stake in this election. That's why he stepped aside and endorsed President Trump. Please join RFK Jr. in voting for Donald Trump on or before November 5.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KACZYNSKI: And look, RFK Jr., he's still polling in some of these polls and some of these state polls 1 or 2 percent. So really any amount here could -- I mean, they talked about how close those races were in 2016 and 2020, any amount here could really actually make a difference.
BURNETT: One or 2 percent would absolutely. I mean, that would be well outside the margin of victory and so many of these places. And if you've got one or two for Stein and one or two for RFK -- I mean, it is incredible this moment.
All right. Thank you so much, Andrew Kaczynski of KFILE.
And next, Barack Obama jumping into boost the Democrat who could take down Ted Cruz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I just wanted to let you know, I could not be prouder of you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And a Democratic pollster inside the Harris campaign says the momentum is shifting for Harris among Black voters, making a bold prediction tonight, will be OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:31:49]
BURNETT: Tonight, Obama calling the man hat Democrats hope kicks Ted Cruz out of the Senate Democratic candidate Colin Allred sharing this video today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Listen, I -- I just wanted to let you know, I could not be prouder of you, the kind of campaign you've conducted. You know, you've been a leader on and off the field and it's shown in terms of how you're trying to reach out to everybody. And, you know, you've got credibility and you know, you're talking about the issues that matters, kitchen table issues.
REP. COLIN ALLRED (D-TX): Thank you, Mr. President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: On and off the field, Allred, of course, former football player in Texas.
The stakes of the Senate could not be higher because Democrats hold the slimmest of majorities, and it's not really favorable map for that. But Republicans only need to pick up two seats to regain control. So Ted Cruz losing -- wow, well, could this be the year a Democrat could unseat Cruz.
Ed Lavandera is on the ground OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The linebacker and the debater are spending the final days of the Texas Senate campaign unleashing a barrage of zingers.
ALLRED: If that everything is bigger in Texas, but Ted Cruz is too small for Texas.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I looked at Kamala Harris and Colin Allred partying with their celebrity friends with Beyonce, with Willie Nelson. I got to say the whole thing seemed like a P. Diddy party.
LAVANDERA: Ted Cruz is buying for a third term as senator. But once again finds himself in a close race, at least by Texas standards. A recent New York Times"-Siena College poll shows Cruz with a slim four- point edge against Colin Allred. The Democrats quest to break through in Texas has been as elusive as Charlie Brown's quest to kick that football.
Republicans like Lucy has snatched victory away for 30 years. Colin Allred wasn't a kicker, but he is a former NFL linebacker, turns civil rights attorney, who flipped the GOP House seat six years ago. His campaign has been squarely focused on attacking Cruz especially for fleeing the state to Mexico during an epic ice storm. ALLRED: When 30 million Texans were relying on him when the lights
went out, he decided to go to Cancun.
I'll tell you what, if you did and he ran for office again, you've got to lose your job.
LAVANDERA: Democrats have spent more than $108 million on ads in the race, mostly focused on abortion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ban that's gone way too far.
LAVANDERA: Allred organizes events highlighting stories of women impacted by the state's new abortion law, one of the most restrictive in the country.
ALLRED: You can't tell me you're pro-life when women are dying at a record rate. You are so small that you think you can tell Texas women what to do with their bodies, then you have got to lose your job.
CRUZ: This is a battle between sane and crazy.
LAVANDERA: Ted Cruz is on the final leg of a bus tour of Texas in campaign speeches, he doesn't talk about abortion. He delivers a heavy dose of immigration and border security talk.
CRUZ: It is a full-on invasion.
LAVANDERA: While Republicans have spent about 68 million on advertising, much of that messaging is focused on transgender issues and sports.
[19:35:02]
AD NARRATOR: He voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.
CRUZ: Look, we are living in a world where one of our two major political parties can no longer figure out what is a woman. That didn't use to be a trick question.
In Colin Allred's world, don't our daughters have any rights?
LAVANDERA: While the transgender issue is popular among Republicans, Colin Allred says Cruz is trying to avoid the broader issue of abortion.
ALLRED: Ted Cruz is desperate, desperate to not talk about what he's actually done to folks in this state. He's making up issues. Folks need to be -- understand that and hold him accountable in this election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: So, Ed, you know, it's just fascinating we're having this conversation, right? I mean, Ted Cruz's seat had not been up as an issue, and there's a real wild card this year in Texas. You've got a staggering number of new voters that have come into the state.
So, how does that come into play?
LAVANDERA: Right. Well, we should be clear, it's still an uphill fight for Colin Allred. Democrats have been hoping to turn Texas blue for as long as I can remember. But what is interesting this time around is that since 2018, when Ted Cruz was last reelected, there have been 2.8 million new voters added to the voting rolls here in Texas, it's a staggering number. So, real question is what exactly, who exactly are those voters? How are they going to turn out and which direction are they going to turn out?
You know, other Republicans like Governor Greg Abbott and Senator John Cornyn have comfortably won reelection, but Cruz just beat Beto O'Rourke in 2018 by just over 200,000 points. So you add in those new staggering new number of voters that are here in the state, it does make things slightly more interesting this time -- Erin.
BURNETT: Right, right. But, of course, as you say Texas turning blue, as long as -- as long as you've been around. So we'll see.
Ed, thank you very much from Dallas tonight.
And next, a Democratic pollster inside the Harris campaign on where he really thinks she stands. There's a couple of things that really are important in here.
And Trump's unconventional ground game in battleground, Pennsylvania. And we'll tell you how they're trying to find new voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you're getting registered and they're going to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:41:44]
BURNETT: Tonight, are the polls wrong? Harris and Trump are in a dead heat, according to several national polls released over the last week, the battleground states are as close as they get. Although many recent polls have shown Harris rising.
Both candidates though are signaling they see the race differently than the polls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're leading in all the polls. So that's a good thing. We got to keep it going.
HARRIS: To be very frank with you, my internal polling is my instinct.
If you see that people have shown up last night, every event that we do, and the feeling is one of energy and excitement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Terrance Woodbury is OUTFRONT, Democratic pollster who's a senior advisor to the Harris campaign, and Kristen Soltis Anderson is a Republican pollster, and, of course, very familiar to viewers, political commentator.
So great to have both of you. This is what everybody wants to know, everyone talks about the polls and then they don't know if they're just a pile of nothing and it's just the topic out there.
So, Terrance, a lot of swing state polls, right, two of them coming out of CNN tonight, do show pair Harris, not just improving, but up. So if they are wrong right? If they are wrong, what are they missing?
TERRANCE WOODBURY, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: Look, I've been paying attention to the trend line in these polls and I've been very confident in the direction. I agree that none of the polls that can predict right now who's going to win because they're all within the margin of error. But if I could choose to be any campaign right now as the Harris campaign, because the trend lines are all moving in her direction.
She is consolidating the multiracial, multigenerational coalition that's necessary to win. She's improving her margins amongst women by -- by carrying this message to protect a woman's right to choose. She's improving her margins amongst young people and I think most important is that she's --she is -- she's proven to be able to put together this coalition that's going to propel her to victory.
BURNETT: So, Terrance, though, if they're wrong, what is it that they will have overcounted, right? What is it that -- yeah?
WOODBURY: If anything, they are undercounting young people, that there's a -- there's an emerging coalition here of young voters, specifically young voters that were -- there were mobilized by the Dobbs decision. This is the emerging electorate that we have seen propelling Democrats to victory even in red states, post-2022. And if anything is wrong in the polls here, it has been under counting those -- undercounting those young voters.
BURNETT: So, interesting you see if anything is wrong, it's undercounting the young voters.
Okay. Kristen, on the national polls, it's still more of a dead heat than many of these state polls show. Some state polls do. But, but others obviously have shown Harris gaining.
When you look beneath the surface on these national polls that continue to be within the margin of error, several things stand out to you. What is most significant in those?
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, right now, even though the national polls are showing a very close race, if you look under the surface, many polls have different ways to get to that close result. Some polls are showing what I would call a realignment.
Take, for instance, something like gender. We typically have had a gender gap in the last few elections where Democrats do better among women, Republicans do better among men but in the most recent "New York Times"/Siena poll.
[19:45:01]
They showed a gender gap that was massive. And in part because Donald Trump has built his standing with men even as Kamala Harris continues to win women by double-digit margins. So, there could be a realignment along those lines?
You also have realignment along educational lines. For a long time, education wasn't considered a big predictor of how people would vote. But Donald Trump has done very well with voters who don't have a college degree at the same time that "New York Times" poll shows Harris doing great among white voters with college degrees.
That would be something and that would make the election look very different than past ones we've seen.
BURNETT: All right. And so two important points there. Now, Terrance, as I said, you have been doing polling for the Harris campaign and specifically you've been looking at Black voters, which has been an important area of focus for the campaign, specifically, Black male voters. And you have noticed a shift. You have noticed a trend in very recent days. What is it?
WOODBURY: Yeah, that's right. I believe that we've been getting the narrative about Black men wrong for a long time here. There's been, for the past several weeks, there's constant narrative about Black somehow abandoning Democrats or Kamala Harris. In fact, that just isn't true that Black men are going to be -- are going to support the vice president at a higher rate than any other group of men as they have in every presidential election since I've been born.
But most important that we've seen is that the efforts, the strategy of the Harris campaign, the opportunity agenda that she delivered two Black men, meeting them where they are on platforms like Club Shay Shay, like, "The Shade Room", like Charlamagne Tha God, that this is in fact closed. The gap amongst Black men and she's doing better than Joe Biden was not expected to have a higher share of black men's votes than even Joe Biden had.
BURNETT: All right. So, Terrance, you're saying that she could -- she can overperform the polls on with Black male voters. And that if the polls are wrong in anything you said it's because they're potentially under undercounting young voters.
Kristen, what you hear though in casual conversation with people is that, well, in past elections where there has been polling that his missed it, they've missed it on the Trump side and they've missed it because they have undercounted Trump voters. Do you think that that is a problem this year at all? ANDERSON: I think it is a possibility. I don't think it is definite,
but it's the case that every time Donald Trump has been on the ballot, polls have underestimated his vote share in part because he's really good at turning out unlikely voters and polls are really good at capturing likely voters.
At the same time, pollsters really want to get it right. There's nothing you want more than to be the pollster that nailed the election and says, ha, ha, I saw it coming. And so pollsters have done everything they can to try to solve for this problem.
But in the 2022 midterms, of course, to the extent there was polling here, it ran in the other direction. Now, Donald Trump wasn't on the ballot, and that's the thing that makes me a little bit nervous about the polls this time around, they could be missing those unlikely Trump voters again.
BURNETT: Now, Terrance, you're less worried about an undercount of Trump voters. You think that it would be an issue on the other side?
WOODBURY: Yeah, absolutely. I think that we have been over representing Trump support amongst men of color. That what I've seen, especially amongst Black men, is that the Black men that have been most likely to support Donald Trump are also the least likely to vote. So I don't think polls are properly representing what were going to see on election night.
I also think that we could be undercounting this merging electorate. Look, millennials and Gen Z are now the biggest voting bloc in America, but they've also been the most, the most, the least likely voters.
That Dobbs decision and the threat of abortion has changed that. And we've seen that in Michigan in the midterms, we saw in Ohio and across the across the Rust Belt, and I expect that we will see that surge amongst young voters again.
BURNETT: All right. Well, we will see. These are -- these are the unknowns and thank you both so very much. I appreciate it.
And next, we do have breaking news. Elon Musk, he's got to show up in court tomorrow because of the million dollar a day giveaway.
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[19:53:38]
BURNETT: Breaking news, a Pennsylvania judge ordering Elon Musk to show up in court tomorrow for hearing, so Musk is being sued for handing out millions of dollars to swing state voters. And it comes as the Philadelphia D.A., who filed the lawsuit, is now under threat. Krasner says he's facing antisemitic attacks and also asking the judge for extra security at tomorrows hearing.
Harris and Trump have been hyper-focused on Pennsylvania, and this time around, Trump is changing his ground game strategy in the state with Musk's help.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Donald Trump, the path to victory on election day runs through western Pennsylvania.
RICO ELMORE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It's not TV ads. It's not signs and billboards. It's that face-to-face --
MATTINGLY: Which makes Rico Elmore a critical piece of the Trump campaigns unorthodox and in the view of some Republicans, risky voter turnout strategy.
One of the things its been hard to figure out in terms of ground game in the state is there's just a massive Republican groups, right? It's most important state in the election. I think --
ELMORE: We're the Keystone.
MATTINGLY: The Keystone State now ground zero for both campaigns, home to a rapidly intensifying get out the vote battle, impossible to miss as Elmore, who is knocked on over 30,000 doors this cycle, added a few more to his total here in Beaver County.
But for Trump, what has long been the primary in-house domain of the campaign, door-knocking, the ballot, chase him, the voter targeting and data, now the purview of outside GOP groups, and Trump allies, that number roughly a dozen.
[19:55:14]
ELMORE: You have innovators Republican committee here in Beaver County, you also have the Early Vote Action. You also have Turning Point, that you have to PA Chase.
MATTINGLY: It's a ground game gamble, an effort now turbocharged by the country's richest man.
TRUMP: Take over, Elon.
MATTINGLY: Elon Musk, who has poured more than $100 million into boosting Trump.
ELMORE: In Beaver County.
MATTINGLY: Elmore is in some ways the embodiment of the Trump strategy. He's a councilman and vice chair of the Beaver County Republicans, who also works for one of the outside groups, PA Chase and has ties with a second outside operation, Turning Point Action.
His county GOP office, another window into the integration. It doubles is Trump's regional campaign office.
VIVIAN FUNKHOUSER, BEAVER COUNTY, PA GOP VOLUNTEER: I also have a little piece of paper with a QR code on it. So that they can go into vote.pa.gov and check the status of their registration and then if they want a mail-in ballot, I help them with that, too.
MATTINGLY: That -- that's new.
The skepticism though on absentee ballots and mail-in ballots, was real. I presume coming into this cycle, right?
ELMORE: Right.
MATTINGLY: That skepticism of course, driven by one person.
TRUMP: Anytime you have a mail-in ballot, there's going to be massive fraud.
MATTINGLY: A lie with painful electoral consequences for Republicans here.
SEAN LOGUE, WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN: We learned that you can't start an election 700,000 votes down. We learned from the Democrats. tThe Republicans in the past chased voters. The Democrats in the past chased votes. Those are two very different things.
MATTINGLY: An hour south, Washington County GOP chair Sean Logue said Trump's embrace of mail-in voting belated and tepid as it may be, has had a dramatic effect.
LOGUE: He is our leader. We follow his directives when he said that it was a scam. Yes, people did not do the absentee ballots. But now that he's on board, every single wing of the Republican Party is now on board.
MATTINGLY: Now the animating cause for the constellation of outside groups blitzing voters across the state, connected to essential data hub, and agreements with the campaign and party capitalize on new federal rules that dramatically enhance their ability to share voter data, a strategic convergence driving the push to turn out voters traditional campaigns don't have the bandwidth or money to target.
LOGUE: We've now targeted the Amish and they're getting registered and they're going to vote. Hunters in Pennsylvania -- hunters traditionally aren't registered to vote. So we've gone out and registered them as well.
MATTINGLY: Trump support among younger male voters, specifically has been as robust as it has been consistent this year, a group historically ambivalent about voting. Now, crucial and that's why Trump rallied here.
TRUMP: We're getting to the end.
MATTINGLY: On the campus of Penn State, the state's largest university and its also why tailgaters at last weeks prime time Pitt-Syracuse football game shared a parking lot and sandwiches with volunteers staffing this Trump campaign outpost.
If Trump wins this state, probably the most critical state, you say it's all because of football tailgates?
BOB CRANKOVIC, TRUMP CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: Well, I wouldn't say all because of football tailgate, but I mean -- it doesn't hurt.
MATTINGLY: An untested approach that a shoes central command for concentric circles of outreach and voter contact, when that commingles the campaign and outside allies, Trump's most intense supporters and the lowest propensity voters, volunteers and billionaires, but the entire election hanging in the balance.
TRUMP: So if we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole damn thing, right?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: I mean, he's made it clear for him, everything rests on this right now.
Phil, I mean, you know, looking at that you point out some national Republicans have voiced concerns about the way Trump's campaign is doing this. So do they have a point or are they wrong?
MATTINGLY: Yeah. I think the concern is palpable and it's not just a few. There are a lot of Republicans, even some who have races in the state who are very concerned about how they're going about this. The most fascinating part of working on this is every operative I've spoken to since I've come back, who heard I was on the ground has the same exact question. Will it work? Are they wrong? People just don't know.
And to be clear, opacity is a feature, not a bug when it comes to campaign ground operations, they want to keep how they target, where their data is secret in the lead-up to a campaign.
We also know a couple of facts here. One, Democrats have long held a massive registration advantage in the state of Pennsylvania. That's been cut in half since 2020. We also have the early vote. Well, doesn't tell you who voters voted for. It does say party and Republicans are doing better than they did in 2020 when Democrats led by about three to one margin at this point. Now, it's at a two-to-one margin.
We also know the Harris campaign has a ground game behemoth in the state more than double the offices of the Trump team very, very real effort underway, more than 1 million doors expected to be knocked on just in the coming days.
The reality is, you really don't know until we have a winner. That will tell you whether it worked or not, Erin.
BURNETT: Yeah. Sure well, especially if it works in the face of having had as many people on the ground. I mean, it's sort of amazing to see.
All right. Phil, thank you.
And thanks as always to all of you.
Anderson starts now.
