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Obama Planning 27-Day Battleground Blitz For Harris; Cheney Calls On Bipartisan Coalition To Keep Trump Out Of Power; New Data: Economy Added 254,000 Jobs In September; Harris Campaign To Outspend Trump Campaign By $8M On Early Oct. Ads; Iran Supreme Leader: Will Attack Israel Again "If Needs Be"; Israel Could Launch Counter-Strike On Iran As Soon As This Weekend; Trump: Biden Wrong To Oppose Israel Strike On Iran's Nuclear Sites; How Trump Could Use Tactics Described By Jack Smith This Year. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired October 04, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Today on Inside Politics, battleground blitz. With a month and a day until Americans flood the polls, the final strategy for each campaign takes shape. It involves swing states, superstar names and burying big grudges.

Plus, the world watches anxiously to see how or if Israel will fire back at Iran. As leaders around the world worry that one provocation too many will propel an all-out war. And a last month power drive. A screen door slams on any question over who Bruce Springsteen will back in 2024, as the boss tries to appeal to his fans, especially working- class men to vote for Kamala Harris.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at INSIDE POLITICS.

Up first, the map and the calendar. To borrow from New Jersey's greatest poet, the candidates plan to spend the 32 days out in the streets, looking for every last vote. Today, Donald Trump is in Georgia and North Carolina, while Kamala Harris holds two events in Michigan. Tomorrow it's Harris, who will be in North Carolina, while Trump goes back to Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was nearly assassinated three months ago.

And then next week, as the countdown clock to election day ticks to under a month, both candidates call up big names behind their bids for the White House. We start our coverage in Flint, Michigan with CNN's Eva McKend. Eva?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Dana, President Obama, they are calling on him to go to Pittsburgh next week as they lean on his star power to turn out the vote. His star power among Democrats, at least. And we have seen this to great effect in several last election cycles where Obama is sort of called in in the final hour in order to thwart democratic complacency.

And we expect to hear from him a similar message that we have heard from the Obamas at the DNC. We heard Michelle Obama notably tell Democrats, essentially, listen, don't get in your feelings here. If you don't hear directly from the campaign between now and election day, this election is too urgent to stay home. You have to get out and vote.

But they're not only deploying the Obamas in these battleground states. We are also going to see Republicans deployed as well. Republicans for Harris, a key to the campaign strategy. We're going to see Liz Cheney and then former officials from the Trump administration make the case as well.

They're just trying to appeal to every constituency, every part of the electorate, ahead of election day. We know that the vice president is going to meet with Arab American voters today here in Michigan, before this big rally, this evening in Flint.

Dana, this line already around the block here. We're seeing a lot of momentum enthusiasm on the ground. I don't know if that necessarily is going to translate to votes. The campaign is certainly hoping as such. Dana?

BASH: That is the big question. Eva, thank you so much for that. I've got three great reporters here at the table with me today, Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report, Zolan Kanno-Youngs of The New York Times, and Dana Milbank of The Washington Post. He is also the author of Fools on the Hill: The Hooligans, Saboteurs, Conspiracy Theorists, and Dunces Who Burned Down the House. That is such a subtle title.

DANA MILBANK, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: You know, I want to keep people guessing.

BASH: Yeah, exactly. We're going to get to that later in the show. But first I want to start with what's happening on the campaign trail. And Dana, I'll start with you. Barack Obama, Liz Cheney, yesterday, how much of a difference? I mean, we first met on which campaign, was it Bill Bradley?

MILBANK: Oh, that's Calvin Coolidge.

BASH: No, I was not yet born. You are neither, no. I think it was Bill Bradley, actually.

MILBANK: Its quite possibly.

BASH: So, we've seen celebrities come and go from campaigns, mostly Democrats, but some Republicans. How much -- this is obviously celebrity, but also, it's like big endorsement that's supposed to have a pop when it comes to Liz Cheney and Barack Obama.

MILBANK: Yeah, sure. Taylor Swift and the boss. It's not necessarily a slam dunk, particularly with Barack Obama, he's, you know, often said the most gifted politician of his generation. He really drives turnout among Democrats. But there's a flip side. He also really drives turnout among Republicans.

[12:05:00] The MAGA -- it really brings out the MAGA folks in some of its race, but no, they portray him as elitist, that sort of thing. So, you definitely want him in strongly democratic areas, bringing out the vote. But you probably want Liz Cheney in areas with swing voters to deliver that.

BASH: So, let's listen to a little bit of Liz Cheney on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FMR. REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): Donald Trump was willing to sacrifice our Capitol to allow law enforcement officers to be beaten and brutalized in his name and to violate the law and the constitution in order to seize power for himself. Any person who would do these things can never be trusted with power again. We must defeat Donald Trump on November 5.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, and I have talked to so many Republicans who shoulder shrug, and they're like, OK. I mean, it is noteworthy that a Cheney or Cheney is, are not just endorsing, but out on the stump for a Democrat. But is it really going to move the dial?

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah. I mean, the thing about -- look, you do have a conservative Republican in Liz Cheney, now coming out for the vice president at a time when the Trump campaign is still trying to portray the vice president as to the far left, right?

Cheney also represents a republican party that's not as visible today. You know, the Republican party today is more aligned with MAGA and Trumpism. But at the same time, what this does do is her endorsement also brings January 6 back into the spotlight at a time when the Harris campaign actually hasn't made January 6 a focus of their messaging as much as the Biden campaign did.

You know, the Biden campaign was talking about an existential threat to democracy and often trying to remind folks about January 6, and the storming of the Capitol. Harris has more so tailored her messaging to trying to lower costs and sort of kitchen table issues. Now with this endorsement, you don't actually need her to talk about January 6 all the time.

BASH: Well -- yeah, it's that. And the moment in the vice-presidential debate earlier this week, which was sort of focused on January 6 and democracy. And, of course, Jack Smith, and what they released this past week with a lot more information. And quotes, according to Mike Pence, of the involvement of Donald Trump in trying to overturn the election.

AMY WALTER, PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT: Yeah. The first to the Liz Cheney piece. I think there's this conversation we hear a lot in politics called a permission structure, right, allowing people who feel sort of uneasy voting for one ticket because they never have before, and giving them a way out, you know, to say to conservatives or somebody who voted Republican consistently.

Look, it wasn't your fault that you voted for Donald Trump. You thought he was going to do good things, even Liz Cheney is now voting against him. You weren't right. You were duped, rather than you made a poor decision. But I do think this is the sort of challenge for the Harris campaign.

They have a dual track here. One is, winning over those people like Liz Cheney would appeal to. But the real swing voters -- and we're seeing this in our polling and we're seeing it in other data out there are the voters who are saying, I feel really pinched economically. I feel really stressed about inflation.

So, I need people who are going to be able to address cost of living things. The kitchen table issues are my main issue. January 6, yes, it was terrible, but that is not what I'm voting on. I'm voting on my pocketbook, and so being able to -- and you hear her in her ads, almost all of them are about kitchen tables.

BASH: Yeah. And then the question is, as our -- all of our mutual friend David Chalian reminded all of us this morning. The polls also showed the economy were -- is like top, top, top in the midterms, and it didn't entirely work out that way.

But let's stay on the economy because I of course, want to show today is that first Friday of the month, which means that we have the job numbers this morning. 254,000 jobs added last month. That is way higher than the forecast, which is 140,000 jobs. So, it's more good news on the ledger, sort of with the data.

You mentioned that you guys have done some polling. What else did it show you with regard to these issue sets? And how they are or not favoring Kamala Harris?

WALTER: Yeah. So, you know, the overall, when we look at the head-to- head numbers, they haven't really changed much since August. And there is some concern among Democrats that, you know, Harris peaked, and now she's backsliding a bit.

But when you look underneath and look at an issue like inflation, who do you trust on the issue of inflation? Donald Trump had a six-point lead in our polling in the battleground states in August. That's now even. So, that lead of his has been erased. On immigration, his lead is narrower there as well.

[12:10:00]

Part of it is, voters feeling -- they're not feeling great about the economy, but they're feeling less pessimistic about the economy today than they -- certainly than they were in May, by a significant percent of voters. And she's winning over the folks who say, they think things are staying the same. So, it's not even that things need to get that much better. It's that even the voters who are feeling kind of meh about the economy are still feeling better about her as the candidate.

MILBANK: Yeah. I think this is the single most important development that's happening right now, and much more so than the top line because you've seen it in other polling across the country. Trump's advantage on the economy, which largely means inflation is shrinking. And part of that's like the jobs report, part of it is, you know, cutting interest rates and inflation actually sinking.

But I think part of it is Trump has been just all over the lot in his message. He has not been able to bring home the message on the economy or on the border and down the ballot, Republican candidates are similarly all over the lot. I mean, they've been outspent to a large extent by Democrats and by the Harris campaign, all scattershot. So, I think he squandered his advantage just as much as he's lost it on the economic data.

BASH: Let's quickly look at there's the sort of earned media, as you call it, when the candidates just speak. And then there's the paid media. I just want to quickly show our colleague, David Wright, put this together. And it's really fascinating where -- first where Kamala Harris is spending, focusing on the blue wall.

I mean, if you see Pennsylvania, by far, their spending the most, and then Michigan, Wisconsin, and then on down. Then let's look at where Donald Trump and his campaign they are focusing. They are focusing on Pennsylvania as well, but then they've got almost as much North Carolina, Georgia.

KANNO-YOUNGS: I mean, it's fascinating, right? I mean, it shows the focus that the Harris campaign and really Democrats in general, just have on those three crucial states, right, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan. It's also why the White House was panicking about a certain longshoreman strike this week, because of the potential that had to alienate union support in states across the country, including those three pivotal states.

For the Trump campaign, you're seeing them invest in the Sunbelt, where housing prices have really been an issue for the past couple years, which is obviously a vulnerability to incumbency. But also, I think North Carolina is fascinating. This has been something that Democrats have sort of had increasing enthusiasm about for --

BASH: Which, if you look, I mean, they have a lot of money, just as we button this up. The Harris campaign, if you look there on the right of your screen, it's like blast in all of these battleground states in terms of money spent on ads. Does that surprise you?

KANNO-YOUNGS: It does to an extent, especially when you consider the controversy around the lieutenant governor and the potential for maybe. Does that then impact turnout for the former president as well. And just how much Democrats have talked over the past couple years about how they may have a chance in North Carolina. But also, the spending on the Trump campaign doesn't surprise me, because of the concern for that state as well.

WALTER: Well, and also, its math. So just add up Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, that gets Trump to --

BASH: That's 270. Yeah. Stay with us. Up next. We're going to go live to the Middle East as Israel prepares to pick the time and tempo of how it will respond to more Iranian provocations. Plus, a playbook to steal the election. Why worries about democracy are reaching fever pitch with only days left in the 2024 election? Our Sara Murray is here with some new reporting. Don't go anywhere.

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BASH: Iran's supreme leader is issuing a stark warning to Israel. It will attack again, if needs be. The Ayatollah led the national Friday prayer service for the first time since 2020. He commemorated the death of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the terrorist Hezbollah group. He was killed in an Israeli airstrike a week ago. Today, Israel is continuing its bombardment of Lebanon as its targets inside the Hezbollah stronghold continue to feel it.

CNN's diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson is standing by in Tel Aviv. Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah. The gathering for those Friday prayers in Tehran was perhaps the biggest that it had been since those last time the Ayatollah spoke there at the funeral for Qasem Soleimani, who was the head of Iran's Quds Force, who was struck by U.S. drone back in early 2020 and was very close to Hassan Nasrallah too.

So, this is a significant moment for the Iranians, for the Ayatollah as well. And he took the opportunity to kind of lay out the legitimacy. He says that Iran had to strike Israel in the first place. He said it was a legitimate strike. He said that if, in essence, Israel strikes back then, then they will again straight back at Israel. He said that there's no way that Israel is going to be able to defeat Iran's proxies Hamas and Hezbollah.

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And we got some sort of further detail or understanding about what Iran thinks today from its deputy military commander, who said, look, Iran is a vast and big country. Israel, he implied, is relatively small. He said it's got three power stations and several refineries, and we could hit all of them at once. This seems to be a very direct threat towards Israel.

That if, if Israel does strike as is expected against Iran, then this is an indication of how Iran might respond, and this is how you get into that escalation. But this is Iran's position. They are telling their people they're legitimate and that they're going to carry on in this fight.

BASH: Wow. Nick, that is certainly how you get to even more of an escalation. Thank you so much for that reporting. I appreciate it. And back here with my great panel. I want to go to what Donald Trump said. Before I did, I just -- before I do, I want to remind our viewers that President Biden said flatly that Israel, as part of its retaliation, should not strike at Iran's nuclear capability, that that would be too much of a provocation. The former president, who wants to be president again, disagreed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To make the statement, please leave their nuclear alone. I would tell you that that's not the right answer. That was the craziest answer, because you know what, soon they're going to have nuclear weapons, and then you're going to have problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KANNO-YOUNGS: I mean, look, the administration and the White House has been really focused and had a consistent message up until this point of trying to prevent an escalating war in the Middle East. Now and to be clear, there are concerns in the White House that we may be getting closer to witnessing that with the actions today.

For the former president, he is sort of seized on this as well as other crises happening within U.S. borders as well, to try and portray the world under President Biden as more chaos, right --

BASH: World on fire.

KANNO-YOUNGS: World on fire. That's been sort of -- so almost the specifics of this criticism, you know, if I were there, the follow up would be, well, what is your strategy, right? And the Middle East, can you go into specifics on what your response would be? But politically, this all seems to be a means of, sort of taking the current moment to try and tell voters that the world is more chaotic here.

BASH: Which it is, as I said yesterday, it is October in an election year, and you know, things happen that are always out of the control of the sitting president. In this case, the sitting vice president, that could affect the election and could affect the perception of voters, even if they're planning on voting on one issue, what's going on in the world, the swirl and the fear could have another effect.

MILBANK: Yeah. It's -- I mean, it's unlikely, unless this really spirals out of control. I mean, Americans generally don't focus on foreign policy in general. Now, you know, oil prices are creeping up. If there were a shock, that would be a completely different story. But I think Trump did everybody a favor by saying, hey, why not, they should go after the nukes, because that is what the choice is right now.

And I mean, you see the Biden administration calling for strength, probably would be calling for more restraint if it weren't 30 days before the election. And Bibi is one of the world's greatest cynics, and that has a lot to do with why he escalated in Lebanon right now. But there is a clear choice here that Trump is going to say, Netanyahu is going to be unfettered to wage whatever war he wishes to forever more and that's a choice.

BASH: Amy, I want you to just weigh in on this. It's a different but related note. We just got reporting from our colleagues, Priscilla Alvarez and others, about the fact that Kamala Harris is expected to meet while in Michigan today with a group of Arab American and Muslim American leaders.

WALTER: Right, which is something I think has been going on both behind the scenes. I think didn't Tim Walz also meet with some of these groups as well. We know that there was conversations with uncommitted delegates at the convention. In a state like Michigan that we know is this close, getting every single one of your potential voters back in your coalition is critically important.

So, I think at the end of the day, if you say what's happening in -- who wins Michigan? It's not all going to come down to that slice of voters. You've got many other groups that we're going to be focusing on, but that's clearly one --

BASH: It's a key slice.

WALTER: Yeah.

BASH: Yeah. I mean, as you said, every slice is key when it's literally a slice that is going to probably determine who wins and losses. Thank you all. Don't go anywhere, because up next we have a warning from a voting group, sounding the alarm at MAGA allies running a playbook to steal the election. That happened, of course, the same week, this week, Jack Smith delivered a 165-page document of evidence about the 2020 attempt to end democracy. Don't go anywhere.

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BASH: Jack Smith's blockbuster legal filing in the election subversion case wasn't just a look back at Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 results. It also could be a roadmap for some of the tactics Trump and his allies could use if the results are close and come down to just one or two states.

Again, Dana Milbank is back with us, along with CNN's Sara Murray, who's got some new reporting. And Sara, talk about that and talk about how what you're learning --