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Isa Soares Tonight
Trump, Harris Make Final Pitches to Voters in the Battleground State of Pennsylvania; Crowds Throw Mud at Spain's King Felipe and Queen Letizia During Flood Visit in Paiporta; Israeli Authorities Probe Suspected Gaza Intelligence Leak By Benjamin Netanyahu's Aide. Lebanese Hospitals Under Threat; Global Perspective on U.S. Election; Israelis Favor Trump Over Harris; Europe Wary of U.S. Election Result; Africa Closely Watching U.S. Election; Producer Quincy Jones Dead at 91. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired November 04, 2024 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Tonight, the final sprint to the campaign finish
line. Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump make their closing pitches in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Plus, a historically tight race. We
take a closer look at the key states that may decide who wins the race for the White House.
And survivors of deadly flash flooding in Valencia confronts Spain's king and queen as the country prepares for yet more heavy rain. But first,
tonight, we are in the frenzied final hours from the culmination of really what has been an unforgettable U.S. presidential race, one that included
the stunning decision by the sitting President to step aside if you remember, the incredibly quick rise of the Harris campaign and two apparent
assassination attempts on Donald Trump.
At this hour, the former President is in Pennsylvania for the first of two rallies there today before heading to Michigan for his final campaign stop.
A short time ago in North Carolina, Trump veered off message and talked about former first lady Michelle Obama. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And Michelle hit me the other day, I was so nice to her out of respect, I was so nice, she hit
me the other day -- I was going to say to my people, am I allowed to hit her now?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: They said, take it easy, sir. Sir, take it easy. My geniuses, sometimes they said just take it easy -- oh, what do you mean? She said bad
about me, I can't hit back? Sir, you're winning, just relax. That's -- is that good -- is that good or bad advice?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, the Vice President is also holding multiple events today in crucial Pennsylvania. That includes a rally late in the majority-Latino
city of Allentown. Earlier, her most notable Republican supporter talked about voting for a Democrat for the first time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ CHENEY, ATTORNEY & FORMER U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN: There is only one serious responsible adult in this race.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes --
CHENEY: There's just one, and it's not a race where we have the luxury of being able -- you know, sometimes conservatives will say, well, I'm going
to write in an alternative, I'm not going to vote for Trump, but I'm going to write somebody in, and I want to make sure people all across the country
understand you don't have that luxury.
We have to defeat him. And I can't tell you how proud I was to fill in that, you know, circle next to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And on election eve, a surprising new poll projects that Donald Trump no longer has a lead in Iowa. Have a look at that, which he won of
course, both in 2016 and 2020. The polls, you can see, shows no clear leader in the reliably red state. The edge by Harris is within -- important
to note, the margin of error as we're 47 percent to 44 percent.
We have the final sprint to the finish covered. Let's go to our Daniel Strauss, we'll go to Priscilla Alvarez in just a moment. But Daniel, give
us a sense of what we can expect to hear. Very busy day, of course, in terms of campaigning for Donald Trump. A big day of rallies. What will be
his final message here?
DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN REPORTER: Well, overall, it's going to be what he's been hitting over the past few days on immigration in particular and the
economy, and arguing that Kamala Harris may not be Joe Biden, but this is the economy that these two Democrats have created and argue that under the
Trump agenda, this is what Trump has been hitting at for a while now, the economy is better for Americans.
The second thing is immigration. This has been something that voters have prioritized as one of their top issues. And Trump's argument there, too, is
essentially the border is insecure under Democrats and a Trump administration would change that. We're really in a point in this election
cycle where both the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign are trying to energize their base more than focus on arguments that are meant to reach
out to swing voters. So, that's what the Trump campaign is leaning on in the final few hours now of this --
SOARES: Yes --
STRAUSS: Election.
SOARES: And just before I go to Priscilla, just very quickly, Daniel, what has been the reaction from the Trump camp to this Iowa poll? If we could
just bring it up for voters to see, that kind of surprised many. What kind of reaction have you been hearing from the Trump camp on this?
[14:05:00]
STRAUSS: A mix of skepticism, but a little concern --
SOARES: Yes --
STRAUSS: I mean, it's -- this is -- you have to understand that this may be a statewide pollster in Iowa, which has trended to a reliably red state,
but this is -- this pollster, Ann Selzer is probably one of the best pollsters in the world. And so, if the top line reads that Harris is ahead,
that's still an outlier most likely, but it indicates that the crosstabs show some worrying signs for Trump and his path to the White House.
SOARES: Stay with us. Let me go to Priscilla. And Priscilla, we have in the last what? Few minutes, we just heard that the Vice President has been
speaking in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Give us a sense of what she has said in terms of the messaging here as the final hours before election.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Vice President and her team are trying to tap into some of the good vibes that set off her
campaign a few months ago by essentially projecting optimism on the campaign trail, and now these closing hours. Now, the campaign has always
said that it has been operating a wide map, meaning that they have been trying to work every battleground state and sort of inching any sort of
victory that they can in multiple districts, but also in these battleground states.
Now, Pennsylvania in particular however has always been crucial to their multiple paths to victory. So, that is why she is here. This is why she is
going to multiple cities in the Commonwealth today. And I spoke to a senior campaign official who told me this quote, "they are trying to touch the
whole gamut of what makes up Pennsylvania." What does that mean?
That means the red rural counties. That means the Latino voters, that means the cities, the suburbs essentially trying to reach all of the voters that
they can in the sort of limited time that they -- that they have, especially trying to convince those voters who are still on the fence as to
who they want to vote for.
Now, they are very much also depending on their ground game, since the very beginning, campaign officials have said they have a strong infrastructure
on the ground, door-knocking, canvassing and working -- having field offices in many districts, including those that have voted for former
President Donald Trump.
They think that that's going to be the payoff, that they think that's going to get them to victory here in Pennsylvania. Now, of course, that remains
to be seen, but it has come up repeatedly in conversation with campaign officials. Now, again, I think it's worth underscoring that Pennsylvania is
really the converging of all the different strategies we've seen in the Harris campaign employ over the last several weeks, essentially going and
appealing to Latino voters, there's a large percentage of Latino voters here in the Commonwealth.
But that also includes trying to shave off those GOP votes where they can in those districts that have formally voted for former President Donald
Trump. And then also, bringing in their coalition. So, this is a unique place, not only because it could prove decisive for the Vice President and
her campaign, but also because it is a place where you can see all the strategies that this campaign has tried to employ and hoping -- they're
hoping that it pays off for them tomorrow.
SOARES: Priscilla and Daniel, thank you very much to you both. Well, the path to victory for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will likely come down to
a few key swing states with the most of course, electoral votes. The battleground states that make up what is called -- what Priscilla was
talking about, the blue wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Each come with a lofty number of electoral votes and crucial, of course, for the candidates to win the White House. The latest poll of likely voters
from the "New York Times" shows no clear winner across those battlegrounds as you can see. Harris and Trump seemed to be neck-and-neck in both
Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Well, over the last few weeks, as you've seen here on the show, we've been speaking to radio hosts from battlegrounds to find out what they're hearing
from their voters, from listeners. I want to welcome back Zoe Clark in Michigan, radio political analyst and Solomon Jones and radio host from
Philadelphia.
Zoe and Solomon, great to have you back on the show, happy election eve. I'm sure you are both very excited to see democracy in action in less than
24 hours. Solomon, let me start with you. The last time I believe you and I spoke was at this moment when Donald Trump was visiting McDonald's, right?
He had like a shift -- to some sort of working shift, pretend shift at McDonald's. A lot has happened since we last spoke, but as we've just
outlined for our viewers, they're still very much neck-and-neck, just putting aside that Iowa poll. What have you been hearing from your callers?
Has the tone shifted at all in the last 2-3 weeks?
SOLOMON JONES, RADIO HOST: I think people are hopeful, but I think at the same time, there's a lot of anxiety around this election, because -- and
for my listeners, many of whom are black, not all, but many. You know, your concern is what happens if he wins, what happens if he loses, right?
[14:10:00]
Is there another January 6th type atmosphere if he loses? Is there a January 6th-type atmosphere if he wins? You know, our concern is not
necessarily about Donald Trump himself, but I think his followers and people who are intent on spreading disinformation and misinformation about
this campaign and about what happens in the aftermath.
SOARES: What about what you just heard from our reporter that, you know, Kamala Harris in Pennsylvania, trying to project good vibes as you say,
projecting optimism. Is that resonating?
JONES: Well, I covered Kamala Harris' visit to Philadelphia, I believe, last Sunday.
SOARES: Yes.
JONES: She went to a church in southwest Philadelphia, went to a barber shop in west Philadelphia and a black bookstore in west Philadelphia, and
then she went, ironically, to the Puerto Rican part of Philadelphia, to a restaurant there, this was before the garbage comments. And so, she has
really been working, I think to shore up her support here in Philadelphia.
When I asked her a question during her time here, she did project confidence. I think that she understands that this is a close race. I think
the people who are running the Democratic Party here understand that it's a close race as well. But yes, she has been trying to project confidence --
SOARES: Yes --
JONES: As we get into these final days.
SOARES: And Zoe, I mean, the poll -- the poll that we were just talking about that we just saw over the weekend that focused in particular on Iowa,
that kind of jolted many of us, right? A state that hasn't gone blue since Obama in 2012.
ZOE CLARK, MICHIGAN RADIO POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes --
SOARES: I mean, there, Harris is leading I think by 3 points. But when you actually dig into those numbers, Harry -- focus on women. Harris leads
Trump by 20 points among women. I mean, and critical for our viewers around the world, this is the first election since the undoing of Roe v. Wade.
Just speak to whether you feel that this could -- this could show some -- a trend, perhaps or -- because --
CLARK: Yes --
SOARES: I remember, Michelle Obama gave a very impassioned speech, right? On reproductive rights recently in Michigan.
CLARK: Yes, so, this is as you say, the first presidential election that we have seen since Dobbs was overturned. Michigan however, two years ago,
saw an election where abortion rights was on the ballot and it passed in flying colors. And so, what's really interesting about that Iowa poll is we
are seeing this same thing here in Michigan, right?
A lot of Republicans are trying to say that, that Iowa poll is an outlier, it may be, we won't know until after the election, of course. But the
"Detroit News" and "WDIV" have a poll that just came out last week by a very well known, established reputable pollster, the Glengariff Group, that
found a 20-point spread as well among women supporting Harris.
We should also say a 20-point spread of men supporting Trump, the pollster said he has never seen anything like this in his time in American politics,
such a spread between men and women voters. But I think we're seeing something, and if there's one story that -- to tell post-election, it
really could be what comes down to how women vote and how men --
SOARES: Yes --
CLARK: Vote in this presidential election.
SOARES: Well, the gender -- the gender gap clearly very -- being seen across several states. And Solomon, I remember you and I spoke about not --
you know, the African-American vote, but the male vote. And recently, we have spoken on the show with other guests about the bro vote as some, you
know, articles have been written in the United States.
But in recent days, we have seen very racist, very misogynistic kind of dark rhetoric from the former President and really targeting many people
from within the American society, but in particular Latinos over this comments that you were mentioning, the Puerto Rico garbage comments. How
much --
JONES: Yes --
SOARES: From just I wonder from the conversations that you've had from your listeners, how much of those comments impacted the Latino vote or
could impact you think the Latino vote in Pennsylvania?
JONES: Well, I think that -- again, we have a very active and numerous Puerto Rican population here in the city of Philadelphia. And so, that
subset of the Latino community very upset, very angry about Donald Trump making those comments. He did have some support within that community, and
I'm sure he still does have some support in the Puerto Rican community.
But we have a Puerto Rican member of City Council, Quetcy Lozada, who immediately denounced those comments and came out against Donald Trump. We
had some other people in Philadelphia who also were very angry about those comments. It's a proud community, and they're angry about it. And so, we'll
see if that actually translates to the voting booth.
[14:15:00]
SOARES: But do you think, I mean, will -- do you think -- from those you've spoken to, Solomon, are people shifting their vote or are they not
voting or are they voting for a third candidate? What kind of -- give us a sense of what the -- some of the conversations that you've had.
JONES: Well, some of the conversations I've had have been with people who voted already. Their --
SOARES: Right --
JONES: You know, as you know, over 59 million people have voted early in the United States, many of them here in Philadelphia. I was just at City
Hall where we have our board of elections and people are still coming in casting their ballots before election day. Some people have already voted
and had already voted for Trump and were angry that they did that.
Some people have shifted their votes because of what Donald Trump said, but some people -- and I think these people make up the majority in that Puerto
Rican subset of the Latino community. Those people are already supporting Kamala Harris anyway.
SOARES: Yes, and as you well know, we heard from -- we've heard from Harris in the last few minutes, we are expected to see the former President
Trump as well, who is also in -- expected to be in Pennsylvania, in Reading, Pennsylvania. And Zoe, to you, when you and I spoke last time, you
know, putting aside the Latino vote, we spoke about the Arab-American vote, right? Michigan, home to a --
CLARK: Yes --
SOARES: Large population of Arab-Americans. How have they received both the candidates' messages? Has Kamala Harris in your view been able to
distance herself from the Biden policy and what relates to Gaza? Just give us a sense of the stories that you've been hearing?
CLARK: Sure, well, Harris was actually at Michigan State University, a big university last night delivering a speech, right -- or her rally, we heard
a little bit of earlier in the hour. And one of the things that she's actually changed on the stump in east Lansing in this rally, she actually
talked about Gaza at the beginning of the speech.
That's something that she hadn't done before. I was at a rally of hers in Ann Arbor last week, she certainly talked about it. But when she did it was
halfway through the speech, and there were a lot of protests and protesters that happened during it, calling out while she was speaking. So, I think
we've seen that change on her campaign, at least for the day in Michigan.
And then we saw former President Donald Trump actually coming to Dearborn, Michigan, over the weekend. The --
SOARES: Yes --
CLARK: First of the two candidates to actually go directly to Dearborn. And what he's trying to do, basically, is sort of lose less in that
community, right? And he's trying to say look, I will fix things. He hasn't exactly said what he will do, right? That's something that we know that
this former President tends to do, saying he's going to fix it, but not a lot of policy behind it.
But some members of the community were invited to attend and they decided not to. And so, we're going to really see what this group does, of course,
it's not a monolith, right? Whether --
SOARES: Yes --
CLARK: They decide just not to vote for Harris or for Trump or for a third party like a Jill Stein candidate.
SOARES: Yes, very quickly. One word, who do you think is going to win, Zoe?
CLARK: Don't do that. No!
SOARES: No, not going there, Solomon, are you prepared to go there?
JONES: It's a toss-up. It's a toss-up.
SOARES: Well, I could have told you that one. I could have --
(LAUGHTER)
SOARES: I know, with the polls as they are, I am not surprised you are, neither of you are going there. Appreciate it, thank you to you both. Zoe
and Solomon, thank you, always great to get your perspective. Still to come tonight, all eyes are on this presidential election, not just the United
States, but internationally too.
We take a look at how the results could shape the world beyond, of course, America's borders. Plus, the mounting anger in Spain over the government's
response to these devastating floods and what the forecast is showing now. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:20:00]
SOARES: Well, anger is mounting in Spain as the country grapples with the aftermath of last week's record-breaking deadly floods all with fresh
weather warnings in place for parts of the east coast. I want to show you a video from social media showing passengers at Barcelona's El-Prat Airport
wading through those flood waters.
More than 200 people have died in Spain's flash floods, and angry residents say the government's response has been slow as well as uncoordinated. Our
Atika Shubert has more from Valencia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, JOURNALIST (voice-over): The scene have receded, but the scene remains apocalyptic. A week after the first torrential rain, some
normality is returning barely. Across Valencia, first responders and countless volunteers continue the search for the dozens still missing,
feared to be stuck beneath the mud in flooded garages or warehouses where access is difficult.
The delay in aid has angered many in Valencia. Those frustrations erupted on Sunday when King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited the
badly affected suburb of Paiporta.
(CROWD CHANTING)
SHUBERT: Asesino, they shouted! Murderer. King Felipe and Queen Letizia stayed to face people's anger, Prime Minister Sanchez did not, whisked away
by security. Hearing the stories of the many here who lost literally everything and the criticism of those who believe the government failed
them, "it can't be like this", this young man tells the king.
They knew about the storm and did nothing. Through rain and mud, they listened to the horror and pleas for food and water and power. "We only ask
for help", this woman says. "We're not asking for anything else." Help has been arriving, often in the form of young volunteers shocked to find they
were the first to arrive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday, we were in one of the village, we don't know why the police, why the military or -- they don't go in.
SHUBERT (on camera): There were no police or military there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one, no one was there.
SHUBERT (voice-over): Specialized equipment is finally coming through days late, power and water has been mostly restored to affected areas. But for
people in Valencia, it's too little, too slow and too late. Atika Shubert, CNN, Valencia, Spain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Well, in the midst of that devastation, parts of Spain are now facing the prospect of even more rain. Chad Myers joins me now. And Chad, I
mean, there was a red alert warning for Barcelona, to give you a sense of how much more rain are we looking at here?
CHAD MYERS, METEOROLOGIST: You know, really probably, even if we get 40 millimeters per hour for 2 or 3 hours, that's talking, you know, 2 to 3
inches of rainfall, 100 to 125 millimeters of rain still possible. Now, every time we say that it's almost over, one more storm starts to pop up.
There was the Barcelona airport. Why?
Because there was one little storm right there that parked itself over Barcelona. Watch it one more time. Right there. And that was the storm that
caused those pictures, caused the flooding of the airport at 150 millimeters in just a few hours. Now, we're not seeing that type of real
threat with the next wave of rain showers, an orange alert.
[14:25:00]
But we still could pick up 50 millimeters of rainfall, maybe a 100 millimeters of rain in places that can't use any. I mean, you're just
already talking completely saturated ground. Now, the pictures that we've been seeing were Valencia, that is a long way really from Barcelona. It is
a drive. It's a couple hour drive to get there, especially with traffic.
But this is what Valencia looked like over the weekend from what were just dry riverbeds. And I mean dry. Let's go, there's grass here through the
river, and then all of a sudden, after the rainfall came through in places almost a half a meter, I mean, this is what it looked like afterwards, and
this is what the people are trying to clean up from.
And there is such mass devastation in so many places, it's hard to get enough people in all of those places to do really big time work. I mean,
it's just one piece at a time. This is going to take weeks or maybe even months to pick all of this back up. Isa.
SOARES: Yes, and we have seen the community really getting together, people getting together to try and help each other. But --
MYERS: Right --
SOARES: Understandable the tensions and the anger. Chad Myers, appreciate it --
MYERS: Yes --
SOARES: Thank you very much. I want to leave Spain for a moment and focus on Israel, because Israeli police have arrested a top aide to Benjamin
Netanyahu, accusing that aide of leaking classified information to foreign media. The investigation centers on allegations that the Prime Minister's
office promoted the claim that Hamas was planning to smuggle hostages out of Gaza over the Egyptian border.
Israeli opposition leaders say the Intelligence was fake and that part -- part of a scheme to thwart a ceasefire and hostage deal. A spokesperson for
Mr. Netanyahu who denies that there have been leaks from his office. Lebanon's Health Ministry just announced that at least, 3,000 people have
been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since October of last year.
Israel says it's targeting Hezbollah, trying to force an end to rocket fire on Israeli communities. But civilian infrastructure is also being
destroyed. A new CNN analysis finds that Israel's military has dropped bombs within a lethal range of at least, 19 hospitals. Our senior
investigations writer, Tamara Qiblawi reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIONS WRITER (voice-over): A ball of fire lights up the night sky. Seconds later, loud booms reverberate through
Lebanon's capital, one of many explosions rocking Beirut's southern suburbs nearly every night for the past month.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Al-Shabaab --
QIBLAWI: Lebanon's largest public hospital glass shatters and there's panic as an Israeli bomb hits the vicinity. ER nurse Mohammad Fouani was
there when that explosion came without warning.
MOHAMMAD FOUANI, NURSE, RAFIK HARIRI UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
QIBLAWI: In the day, the horrors come to light. Meters away from the hospital, the epicenter of the Israeli strike. A desperate scramble to dig
men, women and children out of the rubble. This is Hezbollah's seat of power, a major flash-point in Israel's bombing campaign. But this is also
home to some 1 million people, most of whom are now displaced.
(on camera): Israeli strikes across the country have damaged 34 hospitals according to health authorities. Eight of these have been forced to close.
Now, while the majority of these hospitals weren't directly hit, they were inside a blast radius known as a kill zone.
(voice-over): Let's look at this more closely. The bombing campaign focused on three areas, the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Beqaa Valley
and the country's south, which borders Israel. We analyzed over 240 Israeli airstrikes in the first month of Israel's countrywide offensive. Our team
measured the potential reach of fragments from each one of these attacks. Experts call this a kill zone.
A 340 meter radius around the target where shrapnel can tear through buildings and people. This calculation is based on the types of bombs we
know Israel is using in Lebanon today. In the southern suburbs of Beirut, our analysis found that every single hospital was within the kill zone of
an airstrike, and health authorities say every single hospital has been damaged as a result.
In the Beqaa Valley, two hospitals were found within these kill zones. In the south, where whole villages have been flattened by Israel's
bombardment, there were six. CNN was able to verify 19 hospitals that fell within these kill zones. Health authorities say a fifth of Lebanon's
hospitals have been damaged.
Many fear this is only the beginning, with dozens of Lebanese health and emergency workers killed in just a month according to the Health Ministry.
There are echoes of the apocalyptic situation that is still playing out for hospitals in Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can't let that happen --
QIBLAWI: Dr. Faoud Ahmed(ph) is an American doctor who was working in Gaza earlier this year. He's in Lebanon now, and he says he's getting
flashbacks.
DR. THAER AHMAD, AMERICAN DOCTOR WORKING IN LEBANON: There are no red lines. There is no respect for international humanitarian law. We saw that
in Gaza for the past 13 months, and we're seeing it in Lebanon. Are we heading in that same direction? Are we actually going to see this repeat
itself?
QIBLAWI (voice-over): Responding to CNN's findings, the Israeli military said it operates in strict accordance with international law. It accused
Hezbollah of being deeply embedded in civilian areas deliberately close to medical facilities.
Lebanon is no stranger to war, but its health workers say they've never been more vulnerable. And yet, they say, they feel they have no choice but
to carry on.
Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: And still to come tonight, the U.S. election is being watched closely around the world. We'll take a look at
the potential global impact. That is just ahead. You are watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. 24 hours from now, Election Day voting will be well underway in the United States. And the polls, as you can see,
are still very much neck-and-neck, no clear leader. And with so much at stake, as you can imagine, the International Community is closely watching
this rate.
Well, our correspondents have all the perspectives from the Middle East to Africa to even Europe about really the ramifications of this presidential
election, what it could mean for the rest of the world. First, I want to go to our Matthew Chance who is in Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm Matthew Chance in Jerusalem. And here in Jerusalem, the U.S. presidential election
is being closely watched, with the outcome seen as having a direct impact on this country, too, which is, of course, fighting in Gaza and Lebanon and
engaged in a spiraling confrontation with Iran.
One recent opinion poll here suggests a clear majority of Israelis favor Trump over Harris to become the leader of Israel's most important ally.
Trump is remembered for a series of pro-Israel moves when he was president, including moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli
annexation of the Golan Heights, and taking a tougher stance on Iran.
[14:35:00]
While the Biden administration, including Vice President Harris, is seen by many here as having sought to restrain Israel's tough military response in
the year since the October 7th attacks.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of uncertainty and anxiety here in Europe about the upcoming U.S.
presidential election, especially among the U.S.'s European NATO allies.
Now, there are some who fear that if Donald Trump wins the presidency, that it could lead to the United States significantly scaling back its
commitments to NATO, and possibly even that vow to protect NATO members if they are attacked from the outside. All of this, of course, is happening in
front of that backdrop of the war in Ukraine, which, of course, is still a huge topic here in Europe.
And there, both of the Ukrainians and European NATO allies fear that if Donald Trump wins the presidency, that it could also lead to the U.S.
significantly scaling back its military aid for Ukraine and possibly even stopping it altogether, which, in the end, could force the Ukrainians de
facto into a surrender against Russia.
A lot of European NATO countries have, of course, given significant military aid to Ukraine, but a lot of them are doing that knowing that the
U.S. will protect them from Russia.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Larry Madowo in Nairobi, where a lot of people here in Kenya and across Africa are watching the U.S. election
with interest. They know that whoever sits in the White House has an impact even here in Africa.
And speaking to people even while I've been here on the street, a lot of them tell me they like Donald Trump. They like that he speaks his mind.
They're aware of his more controversial comments, reportedly having called some African nations -- whole countries. But they like that they know where
they stand with him. And for many religious Africans as well, they're attracted to his opposition to abortion, to LGBT rights.
Many Africans also know that Kamala Harris has Jamaican heritage. Therefore, her roots trace back to Africa. But they even know that she's
been traveling in Africa's VP to Ghana, to Zambia, and to Tanzania. But there's just a certain attraction to Donald Trump, the myth of the
successful businessman, and that is just another reason why they're more attracted to the candidacy of Donald Trump and they think he'll be a better
president for Africa.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: American elections are always closely watched here in Europe, but this one really like no
other. Not only because of the likely economic consequences of a second Donald Trump term, given his pledges of tariffs on imported goods and what
that would mean for the global economy but also from this continent's point of view, for its security.
Remember that the last time Donald Trump was president, there had been all this talk in Europe of needing to achieve greater strategic independence.
The fears are now on the continent that that hasn't gone far enough, with the war in Ukraine not helping either. A lot of questions, a lot of
attention then on what happens Tuesday in the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: A lot of questions indeed. I want to now bring in Max Boot. Max is senior fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations, a columnist for The
Washington Post, and the author of New York Times bestseller, "Reagan: His Life and Legend."
Max, great to have you back on the show. We just heard there a little snippet from correspondents right around the world, and what is clear,
there is a sense of nervousness about the return -- the possible return, I should say, of Former President Trump to the White House. You recently
wrote in The Washington Post, Trump is a chaos candidate. We already have far too much chaos in the world. If Trump were to win next week, he's
likely to do great damage, you're saying, to the U.S. military, just when it's needed more than ever to protect the United States and its allies from
looming threats abroad.
Just for all, you know, this is something I have heard, Max, from foreign ministers on the show for months on end, this nervousness. What would it
mean -- let me start off with what Melissa Bell was talking about the war in Ukraine in particular, what would it mean for the war in Ukraine?
MAX BOOT, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS AND AUTHOR, "REAGAN: HIS LIFE AND LEGEND": Well, I think if Donald Trump were to be elected, it
would -- it could potentially have catastrophic consequences for Ukraine because he has made clear he is not particularly sympathetic to Ukraine.
He's always been critical of aid to Ukraine. And of course, he greatly admires Vladimir Putin.
So, I think, you know, he's talked about how he's going to end the war in 24 hours. I mean, what does that mean? That basically means forcing Ukraine
into a bad deal that will disadvantage Ukraine and that will lock in Russia's on the ground, about 20 percent of Ukraine is currently controlled
by Russian forces and could potentially leave Ukraine helpless before a future Russian onslaught. And that's something that Donald Trump gives no
sign of caring about.
[14:40:00]
SOARES: And something -- and I've heard, of course, from foreign ministers, Max, as well is the fear of, you know, American isolationism and
this idea that President Biden spent so many of his years really campaigning for, and that is creating, standing up for your allies, for
your friends is something that we know in terms of foreign policy he has been very strong on.
When he says he will end the war -- Trump says he'll end the war in, you know, one day, I suspect he would expect -- he would want Ukraine to give
up some territory. Well, how do you read that in terms of his relationship with President Putin?
BOOT: Well, he has a very troubling relationship with President Putin because Donald Trump is critical of everybody and everything, but he
literally never has a critical word about Putin. He doesn't even blame Putin for his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, he blames President Zelenskyy
and President Biden. It's just -- it's perverse, and it's deeply worrisome.
But, you know, pick up the point that you were just making, I do think that this election is a referendum on America's role in the world. Are we going
to continue to be the America that has led the world since 1945 and that has enabled unprecedented gains for freedom and prosperity around the
world, or are we going to return to our pre-World War II isolationism under the slogan of America first, which was the slogan of the pre-World War II
isolationists who are sympathetic to Nazi Germany? And that's the slogan that Donald Trump has picked up today with his former chief of staff
warning that he is basically a fascist at heart.
SOARES: Yes.
BOOT: So, that is the choice, I think, that is confronting us.
SOARES: I spoke to former president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, on the show just last week. This is what he said, Max, about a potential Trump
presidency. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, FORMER COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT: Many people are very afraid that if Trump wins, then the whole international system will
collapse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: So, that's a shortened version. Trump -- the whole international system will collapse. Maybe -- I mean, would you go that far? If he does
win, how can allies start -- I mean, many have already -- Trump proofing, right, their foreign policy here?
BOOT: I think it's very hard for our allies to Trump proof their foreign policy when the United States is still the biggest kid on the block. We're
still about 25 percent of global GDP. We spend more on defense than the next 10 nations combined. So, it's very hard for our allies to step up and
fill that vacuum if we revert to an isolationist policy.
I mean, I think you are seeing dramatic increases in defense spending in Europe and in Japan and other countries are trying to step up, but there
are just limitations, I think, to how much they can do in the short-term, especially because defense industry has atrophied since the end of the Cold
War all over the western world.
And so, we have to work together with our European allies and other allies to support in battle democracies like Ukraine. If the United States
suddenly drops out of that coalition, and we suddenly have a president who is sympathetic to dictators rather than to Democrats, I think that'll be a
very dangerous development. And it does, in fact -- as President Santos said, it does in fact risk a collapse of the international system,
especially with Trump threatening to impose massive tariffs that could lead to greater global recession and could lead to trade wars among America and
its allies.
SOARES: Yes, with so many crisis ongoing, seeing North Korean troops, of course, in Ukraine, the hostilities that we've seen between Israel, Iran,
the concern over Taiwan, this is very concerning, not to mention the facts, Max, of course, of what he said internally, domestically in the United
States, using -- threatening military action against his political opponents, right, enemy within. This is all very scary rhetoric. Max Boot,
appreciate it. Thank you very much, Max. Appreciate it.
BOOT: Thank you.
SOARES: Right. Still to come tonight, the remarkable story of how a young girl in India rose to become the CEO of beverage giant PepsiCo. That's
next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:45:00]
SOARES: Well, we've recently been shining a spotlight on trailblazers across business, sport, and tech as part of CNN's new series, Visionaries.
Today, CNN Business Correspondent Rahel Solomon, shares the unconventional path that the former CEO of PepsiCo took on her way to the boardroom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Indra Nooyi grew up in Southern India, born in 1955 her childhood was unconventional,
encouraged by her parents, Indra had no interest in traditional roles. She played sports. She was on the debate team. She loved rock and roll music.
INDRA NOOVI, FORMER CEO OF PEPSICO: I was lucky to have been brought up in a family which was close knit, where the men believed that the women should
dream, dream big and be allowed to do whatever. So, in many ways, as I always say, I won the lottery of life. The fact that I had a family. The
family that encouraged us to study, gave us the opportunities to go to the best schools, and encouraged us at every step along the way.
My parents allowed me to do wild things like climb trees and fall down and play in a rock band. So, everything that a traditional woman in India
didn't do, a traditional girl in India didn't do I was allowed to do. And so, my life has been a magical one, incredulous one.
If you go back and think of where I was born, where I was brought up, and how I was brought up. Becoming a business CEO is not something that you
would dream of. So, it's an incredulous arc, but it happened.
SOLOMON: When you were tapped to lead PepsiCo in 2006 that was major for so many reasons that we'll get into. How did you do it?
NOOVI: You know, I didn't think of myself as a woman being tapped to run a Fortune 50 company because PepsiCo was big, even in 2006. I just looked at
the assignment and said, oh my God, I better do right by women, by people of color, by immigrants, by people of Indian origin. I wanted to do right
by everybody. And in retrospect, though I'm realizing now it was very frame breaking. And in so many ways, I broke so many barriers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:50:00]
SOARES: The music industry has lost a trailblazing luminary. Musician, composer, and producer Quincy Jones has died at the age of 91 at his home
in Bel Air. Our Sara Sidner looks back at his illustrious life and career.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): As the man behind some of music's most memorable hits, Quincy Jones was one of the most Grammy-nominated
artists of all time.
QUINCY JONES, MUSIC PRODUCER: When you do what you love, it's not work.
SIDNER (voice-over): Born Quincy Delight Jones Jr. on the south side of Chicago in 1933, Jones found his passion for music when his family moved to
Seattle in the late 40s. Jones took a job with the Lionel Hampton Band as its Trumpet player. He worked steadily with musical greats like Sarah
Vaughan, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, and his friend, Ray Charles.
JONES: We didn't think about money or fame ever.
SIDNER (voice-over): During the '60s, Jones began writing film scores for movies such as "The Pawn Broker," "In Cold Blood" and "In the Heat of the
Night." He even crafted iconic themes for the TV shows, "Ironside" and "Sanford and Son."
The in-demand musician even arranged and conducted his friend Frank Sinatra's second album with Count Basie, "It Might as Well be Swing." The
1964 album included old blue eyes hit song, "Fly Me to the Moon."
JONES: We had the best time. It's like being on another planet with him. Frank would say, Q, live every day like it's the last and one day you'll be
right.
SIDNER (voice-over): Jones suffered two brain aneurysms in 1974 that nearly took his life. He recovered and went right back to work. He produced
albums for Aretha Franklin, George Benson, and Michael Jackson's first solo effort, "Off the Wall," in 1979.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
Jones' successful collaboration with M.J. also led to "Thriller" in 1982. It became the best-selling album of all time. The dynamic duo teamed up
again in 1985 with "We Are the World."
JONES: I like to think about the studio as a place that's real sacred, you know, where magical things happen. Hopefully, you know, that's what great
records are supposed to be about.
SIDNER (voice-over): He produced his first film, "The Color Purple," in 1985. The drama earned 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
Q, as his friends called him, seemed to always have a good idea. He created Quincy Jones Entertainment in 1990. The following year, he produced the
"Fresh Prince of Bel Air" T.V. series, starring rapper turned actor, Will Smith.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never think of retiring, do you?
JONES: Never. When you're retired, you travel and you do what you like to do and I'm already doing it.
SIDNER (voice-over): In early 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored Q for his exemplary contributions to music.
[14:55:00]
JONES: I've worked with every major artist in the world in the last 60 years. So, it's a blessing, man. It is. You have to take the light part of
your life, you know, wipe out the darkness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Incredible life indeed. And a final note tonight, our show won't be on air tomorrow. Instead, you'll CNN's continues coverages as U.S.
voters cast their ballots in this unprecedented election. Election Night in American begins at 4:00 p.m. New York time, that is 9:00 p.m. right here in
London.
I do want to leave you with some of what we've seen in the lead to the poll. The front cover of this month's Atlantic features George Washington
with a caption "The Moment of Truth." The magazine says, quote, "Donald Trump is a tyrant George Washington feared."
And here's the cover of The Economist. It shows a smiling Donald Trump with a question, what could possibly go wrong? And The New Yorkers features Lady
Liberty crossing, as you can see there, a tightrope. It warns that democracy is hanging in the balance. The whole world is watching of course
and waiting to see what happens next.
And thank you for your company. Do stay right here. Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
