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Laura Coates Live
The F-Word: Harris Finds a Closing Message; Ex-Model Makes Groping Claims Against Trump; Gone in Two Seconds: Trump's New Vow Against Jack Smith; Trump Escalates Anti-Trans Attacks Against Harris in Final Stretch; D.A. Recommends Resentencing for Menendez Brothers. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired October 24, 2024 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Everyone is so energized about that. Everyone is thrilled. They were waiting for her at the DNC.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm curious about what she's going to say, to be honest, because we don't hear from Beyonce.
KEVIN O'LEARY, CHAIRMAN, O'LEARY VENTURES: So damn --
UNKNOWN: Yeah.
O'LEARY: -- to back a politician and lose half your audience. So dumb. Either politician.
PHILLIP: I don't know. Who do you think her audience is?
UNKNOWN: Half her audience.
UNKNOWN: Exactly.
O'LEARY: No Republicans listen to her?
PHILLIP: I don't say no Republicans, but if you are a Republican and you listen to her, you know what you're getting from --
UNKNOWN: Yeah.
O'LEARY: If you're an artist, and I was your manager, I would forbid you from --
PHILLIP: All right.
CARDONA: She is not losing half her audience.
PHILLIP: We've got to leave it there, everyone. Thank you very, very much. Thank you for watching at home. It has been a good "NewsNight: State of the Race." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Tonight, the stars come out for Kamala Harris as the one-time prosecutor hones in on her closing message, the F-word. Plus, gone in two seconds. Donald Trump's new vow against Jack Smith. And the question tonight, would anyone dare stop him? And a former model accusing Donald Trump of groping her to show off for Jeffrey Epstein. That model breaking her silence tonight on "Laura Coates Live."
Twelve days to go, and with the election on the line, Vice President Kamala Harris is starting to make the most important closing argument of her career, and it sounds like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not 2016 or 2020. The stakes are even higher because over the last years and in particular the last eight years, Donald Trump has become more confused, more unstable, and more angry. It's either Donald Trump in there stewing, stewing over his enemies list or me --
(APPLAUSE)
-- working for you, checking off my to-do list!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Now, to amplify her message and to grab attention and turn out the vote, she's tapping into some real star power in these final days. Tomorrow, she has Beyonce in none other than Houston, Texas for real this time, not like in the DNC when the crowd thought they'd see Queen Bee, only to hear Leon Panetta. No offense to Leon Panetta, of course. Beyonce will follow up tonight's star-studded rally in Georgia that saw Samuel L. Jackson and Tyler Perry and Spike Lee and the boss, Bruce Springsteen, all pushing for Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, ROCK SINGER: Donald Trump is running to be an American tyrant.
TYLER PERRY, ACTOR: I watched him from the Central Park Five to Project 2025.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: But politically speaking, it was Barack Obama who headlined this event tonight, rallying with her for the first time out on the trail. Number 44 making the case against number 45.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We do not need four years of a wannabe king, a wannabe dictator running around trying to punish his enemies. That's not what you need in your life. America is ready to turn the page. I want to explain that in politics, a good rule of thumb is, don't say you want to do anything like Hitler.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Obama there referencing General John Kelly's claims that Trump praised Hitler's generals. Now Harris, as you know, she seized on it. She talked about it last night at CNN's own town hall and went as far as to call Donald Trump a fascist. Now, Trump thought it was all B.S. and said so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She did call me a fascist, and everyone knows that's not true. They call me everything until, you know, something sticks. He made a statement that I'm like Hitler. It just couldn't be further from the truth. It's just the opposite, actually.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: With me now, Kristen Soltis Anderson, a CNN political commentator and Republican strategist, Brian Lanza, senior advisor to the Trump-Vance presidential campaign, and Karen Finney, a CNN political commentator. Glad to have all of you here.
Look, Karen, Obama and Harris are hitting Trump on being a fascist. You even heard from Hillary Clinton tonight with Kaitlan Collins the same thing. You've heard other people make this comment as well. Is that the strongest closing message to voters who are persuadable at this juncture?
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, but that's why that's not her full closing message. Her closing message, as you alluded to in the open, is he's got an enemies list, I've got a to-do list. And I think what you're going to hear are -- this is sort of the start of the closing argument, and we'll be hearing it throughout the weekend. I think what you're going to hear on Tuesday is also her vision, her positive, optimistic, here's what I'm trying to accomplish. And really, at the heart of it, it is he is for himself and I'm for you, I'm for the people. I think we're going to come back to something that has been a central theme of her life and her career as a public servant.
[23:05:01]
That being said, it is important to draw the contrast, to say this is who I am, this is who this person is going to be. But I think you're going to see that shift a bit and have her again sort of more outlining her vision.
COATES: Bryan, how do you think the comments about fascism are playing for Trump supporters or independent voters? Is this encouraging them to look away from him or turn towards him?
BRYAN LANZA, FORMER DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGN, SENIOR ADVISER FOR TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: Yeah, I think all of it is sort of baked in, right? Like this is the thousandth time that we've had a panel discussion about some Democrat calling Donald Trump a fascist. So, I don't think it has the same impact as it would have had the first time as where we're having it now.
I think the impact at the end is, you're right, people are tuned in to what the final message is. And if that's her final message, there's people wanting more. You know, there are people who are dealing with their economic -- with their -- with economic conditions, sort of wiped out as a result of the inflation, wiped out by the Biden economy. They're looking at the immigration and saying there's something going on here. Why is the head in the sand? We're not doing anything. If the final message is to talk about, you know, the thousand times Donald Trump has been insulted, I think she's missing a point.
COATES: Well, it's interesting. You kind of make the point that I think is being raised, and that it's counterintuitive if you hear something time and time again to then reject it as a truth. How is the polling seeing that? The impact of the statements being made, not just from people like, you know, Kamala Harris or Hillary Clinton, people who have served with them as well, scholars who have studied fascism. Why is it having maybe the opposite effect?
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: Well, I think that for most voters, they've decided at this point. The number of people who truly don't know what they're going to do is very small. And so, I view this --
COATES: Across the battleground states --
SOLTIS SOLTIS: Yeah. I think, right now, this is in many ways a motivation strategy for the democratic base, which is a perfectly fine strategic thing to do in the closing days. Get people out to your rallies, persuade them that the stakes have never been higher, you've got to donate, you've got to knock on doors. It's not a bad strategy, but it's not necessarily a persuasion strategy.
I still do think that for the persuasion piece, the message can't just be Donald Trump is bad because everybody knows how they feel about Donald Trump. It still has to be, here's why I'm a viable alternative, why I am somebody who will lead the country to a better future, and that's why I think that I have a to-do list line is good. It's getting at the beginnings of what could be a good closing argument. But I still think she needs to answer. She said, my values have never changed.
COATES: Uh-hmm.
SOLTIS ANDERSON: What are those values? We know that she has a list of policies, right? Home, buyer, tax, credit. She has talked about a variety of things on a checklist that she would do. But I still think voters are wondering, what is in her core? If some new crisis pops up, what is her decision-making process? What are the things that are important to her? I still think that's a little bit opaque to many voters, though for some they may not care because they just think Donald Trump is bad enough.
FINNEY: Here is --- I mean, in talking to the campaign, General Kelly's comments are breaking through because he is, obviously, someone who is held in very high regard, and people find it very disturbing, as they should. What I think is more important, though, that if I were them, I would talk about more. It's less about these sorts of points of comments that he has made. It's how he says he wants to govern, how he wants to consolidate power into the executive.
"The New York Times" had a really interesting piece and went through basically just by the things that he has said he wants to do. What does it mean when you abolish the Department of Education? What does it mean if you completely change the Department of Justice and make it bend to your will? That's, I think, the conversation because, again, the question is, how will he govern? How will she govern? And the way he is describing governing, that is antithetical to what a democracy is about. No one branch is supposed to have all the power.
And again, I think that, if I were the campaign, I would like to see her, again, lay out more of that conversation about this is the future that I see, this is the future that we can build together.
COATES: Well, following to what you were saying -- I'm going to hear your point, Bryan -- if the audiences in the election wants to know about who you are, your core, and how you would govern, and it's difficult to assess that in, you know, even a town hall and in debate, really the proof is in the governance putting in many respects. But if that's what's being articulated about who you are at your core, that can be problematic for whatever messaging Trump would like to say, if that -- if that is believed.
LANZA: Well, I would say, if you look at where the polls are with respect to Donald Trump and his term, you know, he's now more popular than he has ever been. People now look at his time in office in a very more positive light, certainly more than the Harris-Biden administration. You know, those are the messages. So, those are the messages that sort of resonate at the end.
And I think, you know, when everybody talks about all these other issues, they forget that Donald Trump was president. People experienced Donald Trump presidency. They didn't experience a dictatorship. Hillary Clinton didn't go to jail during Trump's presidency. General Kelly, say as much as you want. He didn't make these statements about Donald Trump when Donald Trump was president. He made it two weeks before an election. So, it always looks partisan.
[23:10:00]
But I think the challenge they have is people forget Donald Trump was president and people have a nostalgic positive feeling of his presidency. And no matter what insult happens that day or the second insult for that week, it's not going to change what is people's view of Donald Trump's presidency.
SOLTIS ANDERSON: It's definitely the case that people are nostalgic for Donald Trump's presidency. You even heard that at the RNC. You heard Lara Trump say, you don't have to wonder what it would be like, remember what it was like. And that's why I think that this argument about no, no, no, it actually won't be like it was four years ago, you may have liked four years ago, but this is a new and different Donald Trump.
That's an interesting argument to try to play because the biggest challenge Harris is going to have is there are a lot of voters that don't like the way things are now, and in their minds, they think it really was better four years ago. She's got to say it will not be better four years --
COATES: Well, you're saying the word nostalgic, and I think some people are saying I remember what it was like. Nostalgic to me connotes like a very, like, you know, this was a wonderful experience. I think what you're hearing from a lot of people is a frustration that they remember what that was like, and others are leaning into that. You are correct.
But earlier tonight, I mean, you had Hillary Clinton speaking with Kaitlan Collins and talking a little bit about some of the deja vu moments, for example, between the Harris and the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign as well. Listen to what Clinton says about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, first of all, I don't think she has Jim Comey in the wings waiting to kneecap her, so that's good and I'm very grateful for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: I mean --
FINNEY: Yeah.
COATES: -- but one example, Karen.
(LAUGHTER)
FINNEY: Yeah. Thanks, Jim. Love that.
(LAUGHTER)
I mean, having been there for both of those two moments.
COATES: Are you nostalgic for that period of time?
FINNEY: I'm not so nostalgic for that. Not so much. But here's one thing I will say. You know, Donald Trump paints this picture of what it was like. That's all fine and good. But COVID happened in between. How we live our lives and how we work and our economy changed in between. What's happening between Russia and Ukraine has happened in between. So, there are factors that have changed where the country and where the world is that he will have to contend with. He sorts of makes it seem like we're just going to go right back to there. No, there's plenty of things that have to be dealt with, and he never talks about how he would deal with them.
What I will say, I was knocking on doors on Sunday in Pennsylvania, in a county just over from where the town hall was last night, and I did hear -- talk to a woman, older, in her 60s, and she is very concerned. She had voted for Trump in the past. And what she said is, I'm concerned because I hear him talking a lot about revenge, and I hear him talking a lot about tax breaks for the wealthy, but they don't hear him talking about me.
COATES: Hmm.
FINNEY: And this is a woman -- she's very worried about her social security. She's got other health concerns. Now, we can argue all we want, but that woman has not heard from Donald Trump anything that is making her feel like she's going to vote for him. She's not so assured. She's curious about Kamala Harris. And that's who I think Harris' campaign is trying to talk to.
COATES: Well, what's the reaction to that, Bryan? Because here we are, both campaigns know they've got 12 days to try to persuade someone just like that in a key battleground state of Pennsylvania. When you hear that, knowing how Republicans have really believed they've had a feather in their cap on the economy for quite some time, but the closing ads for Trump really have to do with other issues, what's your reaction to someone, a voter like that?
LANZA: Listen, my reaction is that -- listen, Donald Trump is coming close to 50% of the popular vote. So, today, he's more popular than he was in 2016 and in 2020. That is a direct result of his policies, but as a direct result of people rejecting the Biden-Harris policies. It was so bad under Biden and Harris that they're open to Donald Trump again and they sort of view him now favorably. So, he's more popular than he has ever been before.
So, when you go to that woman who, you know, who you knocked on doors and said this, she clearly didn't hear the message that Donald Trump doesn't want to attack social security. She didn't hear other messages, and we need to deliver that. But we also know the coalition today is bigger than it has ever been. Look at the Hispanic vote -- the Hispanic vote. Look at the Black vote. Donald Trump has increased in his margins there than it has ever been. So, we may lose some. but we know the coalition is ultimately growing.
COATES: Kristen, is popularity of a candidate persuasive to the voters?
SOLTIS ANDERSON: Popularity with whom? That's my question.
COATES: I mean --
SOLTIS ANDERSON: Favorability matters. I mean, if a voter doesn't like you, it's hard to get them to vote for you. Although, I will say, for Donald Trump, typically about 7% of voters who say they're voting for Donald Trump also say they don't like him personally --
COATES: Seven percent? Interesting.
SOLTIS ANDERSON: I've seen that number pop up a few times. And that's why, you know, I wonder, we say all the time, people know how they feel about Donald Trump, they know how they feel. So many of these ads are about Harris. Either the Harris campaign's ads or the Trump campaign's ads trying to define her.
But I do wonder, if in the closing week, it wouldn't be smart for Trump to actually run some positive ads, trying to tap into that rose- colored glasses memory of when he was president and say, don't you remember when groceries were cheaper? Don't you remember when the Middle East wasn't on fire? Don't you remember when Ukraine hadn't been invaded?
I mean, even if those are things that I'm sure the Biden team would say, wait a minute, that's not just, you know, that wasn't just our fault, it would be an argument that would tap into the things that are making voters who find Donald Trump maybe personally a little repellent still say, you know, I would kind of like that again.
[23:15:09]
COATES: What do you say to voters who look at it and go, well, hold on? I've heard this comment more than once in the last day.
FINNEY: Uh-hmm.
COATES: I mean, Russia didn't do anything to Ukraine when Trump was in office. That's one of the big things that Trump will herald and say, aha, see, I was a strong man that was able to provide for a nation. That's their response. What is yours if you were a strategist for them? For the Harris campaign.
FINNEY: The concern that I have about Trump is how easily he is swayed by flattery and how dangerous that is to our national security. And the fact that he would be compelled at a time when people were dying by the thousands every day during COVID to give someone like Putin a COVID test when the rest of us couldn't get one, that tells me he's very easily swayed. And, by the way, if he's looking out for himself, he's not looking out for you.
COATES: Twelve days to go. We will see how the voters feel about it all. Thank you, everyone. Up next, we've got a lot more to talk about. The Sports Illustrated swimsuit model coming forward with allegations of being groped by Donald Trump. She tells her story to CNN in her first on-camera interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STACEY WILLIAMS, ACCUSES TRUMP OF GROPING HER IN 1993: I was rolled in there like a piece of meat for some kind of weird twisted game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Plus, could the Menendez brothers who murdered their parents be just weeks away from getting out of prison? The major announcer from the LADA ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: New tonight, CNN has an interview with the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model who alleges Donald Trump groped her in the 1990s. Stacey Williams alleges it all happened back in 1993. She's walking down Fifth Avenue with her then boyfriend, Jeffrey Epstein, when he suggested they visit Trump. This is the first time that she has spoken out extensively about what happened next. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has that interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAMS: The second he was in front of me, he pulled me into him and his hands were just on me and didn't come off.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former Sports Illustrated model Stacey Williams says that Donald Trump groped her more than 30 years ago in Trump Tower, with the later convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein watching and smiling in the room as it happened.
WILLIAMS: Then the hands started moving. And they were on the, you know, on the side of my breasts, on my hips, back down to my butt, back up, sort of then -- you know, they were just on me the whole time. And I -- sorry. I froze.
SERFATY (voice-over): Williams has not spoken out about the incident extensively until now. And in her first on-camera interview, she tells CNN the most detailed accounting of the incident yet, alleging that in 1993, Epstein, who she was briefly dating at the time, brought her into Trump Tower.
WILLIAMS: This context made no sense because the hands were on me, and then he and Jeffrey just kept talking and like looking at each other and smiling.
SERFATY (voice-over): After leaving Trump Tower, Williams said that Epstein berated her for allowing Trump to touch her.
WILLIAMS: I just had this really like sickening feeling that it was coordinated, that somehow the whole thing was -- I was rolled in there like a piece of meat for some kind of weird twisted game.
SERFATY (voice-over): Soon after the encounter, she severed ties with Epstein and said she was unaware of the kind of predatory behavior that would come to light in later years. She also says she received this undated postcard from Trump delivered to her modeling agency by courier shortly after the incident. Stacey, your home away from home. Love, Donald.
WILLIAMS: I felt sick to my stomach.
SERFATY (voice-over): Williams says she did not tell anyone about the incident for over 10 years.
WILLIAMS: I felt a wave of shame, and I just couldn't think about it, face it, talk about it for a very long time. I put it in a little box inside of me, turned the key, locked it.
SERFATY (voice-over): CNN has spoken to three friends of Williams to corroborate her story, who each said that she told them about the incident with Trump and Epstein in 2006, 2015, and 2016. The Trump campaign has denied Williams's allegations, calling it a fake story contrived by Kamala Harris's campaign. Williams's account only adding to the lengthy list of women who have alleged that Trump groped, kissed or assaulted them. Trump has also denied those allegations.
Trump, who was close friends with Epstein, once calling him a terrific guy, has long sought to publicly distance himself from Epstein since he first faced charges related to inappropriate sexual conduct with underage girls in the mid-2000s.
TRUMP: I was not a fan of Jeffrey Epstein.
SERFATY (voice-over): Williams has been engaged as a Democratic volunteer for decades and shared her story on a Zoom call on Monday at a "Survivors for Kamala" event, supporting the vice president's run, although the group is not affiliated with the campaign.
WILLIAMS: I felt like that was some sort of sick bet or game between the two of them.
SERFATY (voice-over): With the election less than two weeks away, Williams arguing that her decision to speak out now was not driven by the presidential campaign, but with the release this week of a documentary about Sports Illustrated, one she participated in two years ago, during which she briefly alluded to the incident.
What do you say to those critics that say this is politically- motivated?
WILLIAMS: I can't control when that documentary comes out.
[23:25:01]
I can't control the fact that it's premiering two weeks before the election.
SERFATY (voice-over): And she says she could not stay silent any longer.
WILLIAMS: It takes a lot of guts and you have to really prepare yourself to be ready for that onslaught. And I'm ready now. Just bring it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: I want to bring in Sunlen Serfaty to the conversation. Sunlen, there is already pushback from Trump's surrogate saying that it's suspicious to come out now, 12 days before an election. You asked her about that.
SERFATY: I did, Laura, and she pushed back on that. She acknowledged in the past that she had some family considerations she had to think about in wanting to stay private with her story. But then she really delved into great detail about this slow evolution of her thinking, largely prompted, she said, by the "Me Too" movement, and that's what put her in this room talking about this, alluding to a former president groping her in this 2022 documentary for Sports Illustrated.
Now that -- she sat for that interview two years ago and she was recently made aware that that one clip where she said a former president groped her, that one clip made the documentary, and that debuted just this past weekend. So, her thinking, she told me in the interview today, she said her thinking is, well, it's out there, I want to give more context around it, I want to explain to people, so here I am, I finally want to sit down and tell my whole story now, also acknowledging, at least, that the timing will certainly be questioned.
I want to emphasize that during the interview, Laura, she made it very clear that she is in support of Kamala Harris and that she certainly does not want to see former president back in the White House.
COATES: Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much. Really intriguing reporting. Thank you for joining.
Up next, Trump's "you're fired' tagline taking on a whole new meaning as he says that he would fire Special Counsel Jack Smith if he wins the election, and Trump says he has no fear of being impeached if he does. We'll see what Congressman Jamie Raskin has to say about all that next.
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[23:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: A big unanswered question in this race, what happens to Jack Smith's prosecution against Donald Trump if Trump is elected president? Well, the assumption, of course, has been Trump would make them all go away. But it wasn't until today that Trump himself confirmed that very plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGH HEWITT, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST, SALEM RADIO NETWORK (voice-over): You're either going to have to pardon yourself or you're going to have to fire Jack Smith. Which one will you do?
TRUMP (voice-over): It's so easy. I would fire him within two seconds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Now, technically, as "The Washington Post" reports, the authority to fire the special counsel would actually fall to the attorney general. Of course, that's one that Trump would ultimately appoint if elected and who would then be in a position to make the four criminal counts against Trump go away, counts that include conspiracy to defraud the United States as well.
Joining me now is someone who is very familiar with the crimes Trump is accused of, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland. He served in the bipartisan January 6 Committee and also serves on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees as well. Congressman Raskin, thank you for being here. I'm always eager to pick your brain on an issue particularly like this. Is that how this story ends if Trump wins? He gets fired and the federal cases just go poof?
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Well, sure, that's a major motivation for him, even running for president, to try to wave his magic wand with his unitary executive power over the entire law enforcement and criminal justice system, and then make all of his crimes from his first four years go away.
COATES: Some wondered if that particular action, if you think it's truly the incentive, would be an impeachable offense. And Trump actually told Hugh Hewitt, he didn't think that the House would actually impeach him if he fired Jack Smith. If Democrats took control of the House, and assuming maybe if Trump wins, would you entertain that idea?
RASKIN: Well, look, we're just stacking hypotheticals at this point, Laura.
COATES: We are.
RASKIN: But the point is that Trump has set himself at war against the whole constitutional order. No president has ever remotely been in the situation he's in. He's a convicted felon with dozens of criminal offenses. He stands charged right now for a series of offenses relating to his attempt to overthrow the presidential election in 2020 and set aside the Constitution of the United States.
And so, he's doing pretty much the only thing he can do to try to completely blockade the criminal justice process, which is to get back into office and then to suspend all of the law enforcement efforts that have been undertaken to deal with his last set of crimes and to render a whole bunch of pardons.
He's saying he wants to pardon hundreds of people who were convicting of assaulting our police officers on January 6. He wants to pardon people who were convicted of seditious conspiracy, which means conspiracy to overthrow the government of the United States.
So, this is an absolutely extreme and extraordinary situation we're in, if you look at the full sweep of American history.
COATES: You and I have spoken a lot in the past about voting rights, about the laws in this country, about the sanctity of elections. And you recently said that Elon Musk crossed the line in his million- dollar giveaway to people who are registered to vote.
[23:35:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) And the DOJ actually warned him that it might very well be illegal. And then today, there was no giveaway announced. Is that enough for you if he did indeed stop the giveaway or do you want to see more accountability and an investigation into this?
RASKIN: Well, look, nothing is going to happen before the election, so I don't want to spend too much time on it. I think it's a revealing episode, however, because everybody knows that if we had a national popular vote for president, this thing would not even be close. Hillary beat Trump by more than three million votes. Joe Biden beat him by seven and a half million votes. I think Kamala will probably beat him by nine or 10 million votes --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
-- giving this influx of new voters who are not interested in the authoritarian and fascistic politics of Trump's cult of personality. But it is the electoral college in the gerrymandered congressional districts and the voter suppression tactics that make this a close race in some places.
And what we saw from Elon Musk's attempt to incentivize people to go out and register to vote and to vote for the Musk-Trump party is that they're looking for ways to create a popular mandate that clearly does not exist because they're on the wrong side of every issue.
I mean, if you poll Americans about gun safety, people are for a universal violent criminal background check. Trump and his party are against it. The vast majority of Americans support a woman's right to choose. Trump and his party are against it. The vast majority of Americans believe that climate change is real and believe that we need to be acting to address climate change. And they, of course, are in the pocket of big gas and big oil.
So, they have to look for ways to purchase votes, to suppress the vote, to keep people from registering, and so on. So, we're in a real struggle for political democracy right now.
COATES: A republic, if you can keep it, 12 days from now, we'll see what the American people have to say all about it. Congressman Jamie Raskin, thank you so much.
RASKIN: You bet, Laura.
COATES: But what issue do you think the Trump campaign is spending the most money on? I bet you won't be able to guess, but Marc Caputo knows, and he'll have the answer for you right after this.
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[23:40:00]
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COATES: All right, quiz time, everyone. In the past five weeks, what has been the most emphasized issue in pro-Trump T.V. ads? Take a guess. The answer? Transgender issues. "The Bulwark" reporting that the Trump campaign is pouring a whopping 29 million bucks into ads like the ones you see on your screen right now, criticizing Vice President Harris's support for transgender surgeries for inmates and migrants in detention. Here's just a snippet of one ad that's flooding the airwaves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Surgery.
UNKNOWN: For prisoners.
HARRIS: For prisoners. Every transgender in me, in the prison system, would have access.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): It's hard to believe, but it's true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: If you're wondering how much the Trump campaign and team has spent on the number one issue among voters, the economy, in that same period of time? Five million dollars. Again, 29 million on transgender issues, 5 million on the economy.
I want to bring in a national political reporter for "The Bulwark," Marc Caputo. Marc, those numbers came from out in this new reporting that's out today in a piece titled "Trump Goes All in on Anti-Trans." Marc, welcome. Glad to see you. Why -- why is the Trump campaign betting on this message in these final, what, 12 days?
MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: Well, because I think it works. Remember, in the end of campaign season, the end of a campaign, they have enough money where they can really decide, okay, this is what's important to us, and the best way to really show what they think is important putting their money figuratively where their mouth is, is on T.V. because that's still the most expensive medium to advertise. And, apparently, these ads tested the best. And they didn't just do one of these, they've done three of them, and sort of sparks and copycats in the Senate races as well, some of the battlegrounds as well as some of the races.
COATES: Hmm.
CAPUTO: Although I guess Texas is sort of a battleground, that's what I was thinking of, but that's kind of a close race, so I should correct myself there. But in the end, they think that this is a way in which they can break through and sort of wage, in the words of one Trump's pollsters, asymmetrical political warfare. This was not expected. Most people think, okay, top issues the economy, talk about the economy.
COATES: Uh-hmm.
CAPUTO: Well, this is the one issue they find that Kamala Harris doesn't have much of an answer for and it sort of speaks to character. And since Trump is under withering assault over his character, this is a way for him to sort of even up the score.
COATES: Interesting enough. It was just last week that people were sort of scoffing at this headline and said this was a sleeper issue. But you see more and more. Clearly, it was corresponding to what this looks like.
And, by the way, Marc, it's not just T.V. ad spending. I mean, the campaign has spent nearly $2 million on Google, on YouTube ads. Is there a concern in Mar-a-Lago that they may be overplaying their hand with respect to this issue at the literal expense of other focuses?
CAPUTO: Initially, when this was sort of being proposed behind the scenes, there was a discussion like, look, shouldn't we be talking more about the economy?
[23:45:01]
But, apparently, they tested the ads are ways to do this online, do a control group and a group that sees the ad, and it tested so off the charts that they were persuaded, no, this is the way to go.
When I first wrote about this a few weeks ago, about President Trump or former President Trump being the first presidential candidate to advertise about this issue in a standalone way in a general election, it was a relatively small ad buy, but a lot of people saw it because they decided to put the ad on football, on football -- both college football and pro football, and it got a lot of attention and it sort of snowballed from there.
COATES: When Bill Maher, Marc, says that Harris has a pretty steep hill to climb because of the message ads like what these portray and -- by the way, listen to this example.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL MAHER, HBO POLITICAL TALK SHOW HOST: Kamala's big, I think, challenge here to win over the undecided voters is to convince them that she's not part of what they suspect she might be sort of a stealth version of the worst excesses of the left.
These people who don't necessarily like him that much but they still think he's less crazy than stuff that strikes them as aggressively anti-commonsense --
UNKNOWN: Right.
MAHER: -- that takes place on the left.
Right. So --
MAHER: And that's why they keep running that ad about sex changes in prison.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Do you think this message from Bill is resonating with the campaign for Harris?
CAPUTO: I don't think so that much. Don't get me wrong, Kamala Harris doesn't want to talk about this, and understandably so the Harris campaign points out the top issue is the economy, and polling shows, the Bloomberg swing state poll released just yesterday, that on various economic measures and public sentiment, she is catching up to Donald Trump as to who's better to handle economic issues.
However, there's another side of that coin. While she has been catching up on that sort of subset of issues or that issue, the actual whole horse race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris has gotten narrower than ever. It's essentially a tie race. And so, when the Trump campaign's view, if they have to sort of give up air time and seed some economic issues in return for dragging Kamala Harris's favorability ratings down and her poll numbers down so that he can beat her, well, they're going to take that gamble, they're going to take that wager any day of the week.
COATES: Well, speaking of days of the week, there are, what, 12 days left until the election. We heard from Trump a few days ago that he thinks Nikki Haley is going to join him on the campaign trail. Haven't seen her. What's the hold up?
CAPUTO: That's a good question. You know, I understand that they're still in talks to do this, but time is drawing nigh and, so far, we haven't seen much of anything. In the end, the truck campaign operates on the rhythms of the candidate, which can sometimes be rather erratic. As we saw last weekend, he really sorts of went off script talking about the golfer's manhood --
COATES: We remember, Marc. We remember.
(LAUGHTER)
CAPUTO: Yes. Not a typical campaign. Then he winds up, you know, at the sort of photo-op stunt of tossing fries around at McDonald's. So, this is not a typical campaign that operates on typical rhythms. Meanwhile, though, the past few days have been sort of a rough go for the former president just for what you've advertised here.
For instance, the -- or spoken about here -- accusations against him for groping a woman, his former chief of staff saying that he was, you know, admiring Hitler. So, it has been a really, really tough go for the former president, and they are looking to get a little bit more back on track and sees more of the message. But, so far, that hasn't happened the past few days.
COATES: Well, we'll see what happens. We only got a few days left. A lot of people have already cast their ballot early. Marc Caputo, thank you so much for stopping by.
CAPUTO: Thanks, Laura.
COATES: Hey, we've got an update for you on a story that we just told you about earlier in the show during my discussion with Congressman Jamie Raskin. So, apparently, it turns out that Elon Musk's -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
-- Super PAC is still proceeding with its million-dollar giveaway to registered voters despite the DOJ's warning that it might very well be illegal. Now, there was no winner announced Wednesday. But tonight, we've learned that Super PAC has given the million-dollar prize to one registered voter in Michigan and another in Wisconsin. We still don't know why they paused on Wednesday, and a spokesperson for the PAC declined to comment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Well, the Los Angeles D.A. recommending re-sentencing the Menendez brothers, giving them a chance at freedom for the first time in 34 years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE GASCON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTTORNEY: I believe that they have paid their debt to society.
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[23:50:00]
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COATES: Nearly 30 years after the Menendez brothers were convicted for murdering their wealthy parents at their Beverly Hills mansion, Erik and Lyle Menendez could, could be free men soon. Earlier today, L.A County D.A. George Gascon announced his office will recommend resentencing the brothers.
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GASCON: After a very careful review of all the arguments that were made for people on both sides of this equation, I came to a place where I believe that under the law, resentencing is appropriate, and I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow.
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[23:54:57]
COATES: Gascon will ask the brothers to be resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, adding they should be eligible for parole immediately. The re-examination of the case stems from a defense petition citing a letter that Erik Menendez wrote before the killings. His attorneys say that it corroborates allegations that he was sexually abused by his father. There's also a signed declaration from a member of the band Menudo, who says that he was also molested by Jose Menendez.
An L.A. Superior Court judge will ultimately decide whether to re- sentence the brothers. A date for that hearing on that matter has yet to be determined. But the D.A.'s office hopes that it's going to happen by the end of November. After today's announcement, Gascon talked exclusively with CNN about that decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GASCON: I believe that they went to prison at age 19 and 21, and what they did was horrible. You know, they premeditated the murder of their parents and killed them. But I think they're different people today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Joining me to discuss, Nery Ynclan, a journalist that has closely followed the Menendez brothers' case. Her reporting was used in the docuseries "Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed." Mary, thank you for being here today. First off, I've got to hear your reaction to today's decision to resentence or recommend it.
NERY YNCLAN, JOURNALIST: Laura, it's a miraculous day for the Menendez brothers. They had exhausted their appeals so many years ago. There was no chance for them to ever even hope for freedom. And only new compelling evidence could possibly be brought forward to give them a shot. Not a T.V. drama series or well-intentioned TikTokers.
What has brought us to this juncture, this really incredible juncture for the brothers, is the new evidence that was brought forward in our documentary and also our team finding that letter that was a one-two punch to bring to the judge who then ordered the D.A.'s office to reopen this case about 18 months ago, two days after the premiere of our documentary.
COATES: I mean, that evidence is nothing short of completely critical and completely impactful, it seems, in the decision to have this D.A. say, look at it again, resentence, and now life with the possibility of parole. I mean, you, I think, spoke to Lyle in prison a week ago. How are the brothers taking all of this in, given that they didn't hear this news necessarily? How are they taking all this in?
YNCLAN: Well, I want to mention, you know, that Roy coming forward was excruciating for him. He did not want to talk about Jose Menendez. We would talk for many months about the abuse that he alleges he endured as a Menudo member, and it took a long time to get him to get to Jose Menendez. And he had no idea that he would make any difference in that case. He was dealing with his own demons that whole time. So, what he represented was finally some kind of independent confirmation that Jose Menendez was indeed a child sexual predator.
Now, I did spend a few hours with Lyle about a week ago at the prison. You can imagine super sensitive time, super tense time for the brothers. But they're very grateful for the outpouring of support that began when our documentary came out and keeps coming in waves as other reports are coming out about them telling more of what they feel is the truth and highlighting the work that they have done at the prison and all of these years.
Their life didn't end 35 years ago on that horrible tragic day for their family. They went on to try to get educations in their prisons, start programs, hospice programs, counseling programs for other prisoners, meditation programs, art programs, green space programs. In fact, for the last 20 years, whatever prison Lyle has been in, the other inmates have elected him to be their representative to the administration.
And I want to say one last thing that a lot of people are not aware of, that in that filing, there are letters from prison administrators saying who the brothers are now, these are the people who know them the best, and saying that they should be released, that they have been rehabilitated.
COATES: Unbelievable to think of the journey of this particular case. Nery Ynclan, thank you. We'll see how all of this eventually turns out. Thank you.
YNCLAN: Thank you.
[00:00:00]
COATES: And thank you all for watching. "Erin Burnett OutFront" is next.
