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Laura Coates Live
"Garbage" Remarks Dominate Final Days Of Race; Trump Stokes Voter Fraud Claims In Pennsylvania; Arnold Schwarzenegger Reveals His Endorsement; Laura Coates Interviews The Hosts Of "The Good Liars" Podcast. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired October 30, 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]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You can like --
DAVID POLYANSKY, FORMER DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER, DESANTIS 2024 CAMPAIGN: -- perfect Wisconsin platform.
PHILLIP: Yeah, you can go like buy marijuana these days at 18 --
LEIGH MCGOWAN, AUTHOR: What are we doing? We're being very weird.
PHILLIP: Yeah. And we're creating bad drinking habits for a generation.
MCGOWAN: Yeah, because they're learning alone.
PHILLIP: Yeah. And they're going to college and drinking secretly and binging.
MCGOWAN: Exactly.
PHILLIP: I'm with you on that. New platform for you, Leigh.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIP: All right, everyone, thank you very much for joining us, and thank you for watching "Newsnight: State of the Race." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
LAURA COATES, CNN HOST AND SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Tonight, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump try to drive home their final messages. But are the controversies over garbage getting in the way? Plus, Trump spreads claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania even though officials say the election is secure. Team Trump and Team Harris are here to respond. And the governator (ph) gives his endorsement. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he doesn't want four years of bullshit and true lies. Tonight, on "Laura Coates Live."
All right, we are just six days out from the election. And tonight, the two campaigns find themselves overshadowed by a single word, garbage. This evening's backdrop, you got rival rallies in battleground Wisconsin. Donald Trump in Green Bay, riling up his crowd with a roleplaying stunt. And Kamala Harris in Madison, back with some pretty major musical star power. Gracie Abrams, Mumford & Sons, Remi Wolf, The National, all performing to help energize young people to get out to the polls.
But Harris is also dealing with a different kind of musical act, a chorus of attacks from the right, trying to tie her to President Biden's garbage gaffe, the one where he appeared to insult Trump supporters. He says it was aimed at the comedian, a Trump supporter, at Madison Square Garden, and the rally who made the so-called, well, hate to even say, joke, but he thinks it's a joke, about Puerto Rico. But Harris is making clear where she stands.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that the president has explained what he meant. But I've said it earlier. I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. And I've made that clear throughout my career, including my speech last night, before I think this all happened, which is I intend to be the president for all Americans, and including those who may not vote for me in this election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: This is, obviously, not at all what she wants to be focusing on in the final days of her campaign because even though she is distancing herself from what Biden said, Trump is pouncing and in the most theatrical way possible. Over in Green Bay, he appeared in a garbage truck, vest and all. And what's the costume without the trash top?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that the comments made by really both of them, because there are really two of them about being garbage, maybe 250 million people. They shouldn't be talking. That's like deplorable -- this is the deplorable for Hillary. And I think this is worse, actually. For Joe Biden to make that statement, it's really a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Well, the act didn't end there. Trump showed up at his rally a short time later still wearing the vest. You know, before he arrived, Green Bay Packers legend -- sorry, Minnesota Vikings fans of Minnesota, I had to say that part -- Brett Favre set him up with an easy pass.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT FAVRE, FOOTBALL QUARTERBACK, GREEN BAY PACKERS: I can assure you we're not garbage. How dare he say that?
(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES: But let's not forget how all of this started. The original garbage controversy caught maybe the O.G. at this point. Trump is again claiming that he knew nothing about the comedian at his MSK -- MSG rally who called Puerto Rico garbage.
But multiple Latin celebrities have called out Trump over it. And now, there's another. The difference this time, it was someone who was firmly in his camp. Reggaeton superstar Nicky Jam is now pulling out from his Trump endorsement, the same Nicky Jam that appeared on stage with Trump just a month ago decked out in a MAGA hat. He now says Puerto Rico should be respected.
Joining us now, former Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley, senior political analyst Laura Barron-Lopez, and Republican strategist Joe Pinion here as well. Glad to have you all here.
I'll begin with you, Joe, because, obviously, this is not where they want to be right now, talking about this in the final, almost now five days away. Harris was closing her rally tonight with a swipe at Donald Trump and a promise to be a president for everyone. Listen to this.
[23:04:57]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Unlike Donald Trump, I don't believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. I'll give them a seat at my table. And I pledge to always put country above party and self, and to be a president for all Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: So, Joe Crowley, in these last six days, can she recover not from her own statements, but from Biden's gaffe?
JOE CROWLEY, FORMER NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: Well, I was there last night. I was one of the 75,000 people, with my wife, and it was powerful to be there with those folks. And listen, look, you know, the reality is that there's not a bad bone in Joe Biden's body. He's a decent, honorable person. He has had gaffes in the past. He continues to have them, and that's unfortunate. At the same time, Donald Trump just a month ago described Democratic supporters of Kamala Harris as scum and as garbage. And there wasn't a blink of an eye from anyone.
It's only when poor Joe Biden says something off script and inaccurately that people jump up and down. And he clarified and said that's not -- he was talking about the people at that rally, the disgusting rally that took place this last weekend in Madison Square Garden.
And look, you know, is this what you want to talk about? No, but at the same time, it's not going to change the fact that Trump's people disparaged Puerto Rico, disparaged the Puerto Rican people, and that is going to have an impact on this election. COATES: Joe Pinion, let me go to you for a second, too, because many people have viewed Trump's now criticism of Harris as a stone thrown by a man that lives in a very big glass house. Why do you think he is choosing to seize on this particular moment in the way that he has?
JOE PINION, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: As a firm reminder to Republican voters all across this country, that from 2016 and 2016 beyond, that there has been public contempt for any and every one that has supported President Trump, that has continued to support the Republican Party.
And so, look, I would tend to agree with former Congressman Crowley. Yes, Joe Biden has had many gaffes. But it is not his gaffes alone that Republicans arrive at this conclusion. It's when they're being called deplorables, when every single Republican was labeled an insurrectionist, when we have people saying that every single Black person that supports President Trump should be looked at quite strangely. All skin folk are not kin folks.
So, there has been a permission structure that has been created in this country, in the media, that permeates the political left, that does allow for Republicans to be disrespected.
So, we are not going to be having a conversation about reaching the high ground of civility over the next six days. It's not going to happen. We need to have it over the next 10 years. But if we're talking about this election, I think we should just be honest about the fact that that disrespect has been flying for a very long time out of check.
COATES: Well, Laura, let me bring you into this conversation because I wonder if it's satisfactory to the American voters to go, oh, but you both do something wrong. Therefore, they cancel it out or they look at this in a very different way. And frankly, Harris has come out to say, as we played it tonight, that she wants to be a president for all. Remember the Fox News interview with Bret Baier? She wouldn't take the bait to try to save him from disparaging about Trump voters. So, how do you contextualize this in terms of how the Harris campaign needs to address this? Have they done enough?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT FOR PBS NEWSHOUR: I think she certainly done a lot. I mean, look, these two instances are completely different but just objectively factual. Kamala Harris, her entire campaign has been saying that she wants republican votes, that she wants moderate Republicans to vote for her, that she surround herself with Republicans that are super conservative like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, and that she is going to put a Republican in her cabinet. She has made very clear that she wants all their votes and that she wants to represent everyone.
Donald Trump has a pattern of calling Democrats and Americans, fellow Americans, enemies from within. That echoes Nazi rhetoric. Calling -- saying that Democrats are enemies. These are fellow Americans. Again, fellow Americans are enemies that are worse than authoritarian leaders like Putin. Those are all statements that Donald Trump has made. So -- and when -- in terms of impact, I was texting with voters today that I kept in touch with in swing states. I was texting with a two- time Trump voter in Arizona, a woman who said that she's planning on -- she has now decided, she hadn't been for the months leading up to the election, she's going to vote for Kamala Harris. And she said that a lot of it had to do with just Donald Trump's rhetoric in the entire lead-up to the election. And that's someone who voted for him twice. So -- and she was aware of Biden's comments. And she said that that's not what she has heard from Harris this entire time, so she didn't think Harris was responsible for Joe Biden's comments.
And then also, in terms of the impact of the Puerto Rican racist joke, I've been texting with Puerto Ricans in Allentown. Allentown has more than 50,000 Puerto Ricans that live in it.
[23:10:02]
Pennsylvania has hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans that live in it, a swing state. And there seems to be -- that seems to have broken through there. And a lot of them in those communities are not happy with those comments.
COATES: Uh-hmm.
BARRON-LOPEZ: Some Spanish language radio disc jockey that I was talking to there in Allentown said that he has Puerto Ricans calling in, saying that they weren't necessarily motivated to vote before, they were a bit apathetic that they're going to vote now. So, in terms of actual impact on voters, it appears as though the racist Puerto Rican jokes is having more of an impact on voters than Joe Biden's gaffe.
COATES: You know, I want to play for a second because this was the split screen between somebody who previously had supported Trump, not just somebody who was apathetic. They'd come out to support him, talking about Nicky Jam. And he was at a Las Vegas rally just, what, was it a month ago? Here's how that moment went.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Latin music superstar, Nicky Jam. Do you know Nicky? She's hot. Where's Nicky? Where's Nicky? Thank you, Nicky. Oh, look. Come here. I'm glad he came up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: First of all, this reminds me of that moment in "Clueless" when Alicia Silverstone asked the question -- they asked her, do you like Billie from -- Billie -- oh, my God, the jazz -- Billie Holiday. Oh, my God, my mind almost went. I was going to say, Billie Holiday? She said, oh, I love him.
(LAUGHTER)
There was that moment. You see? Okay, anyway, I want to play for you instead -- (LAUGHTER)
See what happens? Karma was like, you tried to make fun of that and it happened to you. Mom, dad, please don't ground me. I know who Billie Holiday is. I would sing, but no thank you. But in a video statement on his Instagram that Nicky Jam saying this, Puerto Rico should be respected, Congressman Crowley, the impact of this, I'm always surprised by the straw that breaks the camel's back for people.
Trump has said a lot over the years. Previously, he had compartmentalized for the economy. Now, this statement was too much and beyond the pale. Is that something that the Harris campaign is going to be looking at to figure out how they can move that needle for other voters as well?
CROWLEY: Well, I do think this has a bit of a life of its own. I mean, you have to go back to the hurricane and the image of the former President Trump throwing paper towels at Puerto Ricans, really treating them so disrespectfully during this time of horror. I went to the island after that and I saw the devastation that was there. You know, paper towels, this wasn't going to cut it.
You add on to this, though, this particular incident. I do think what's important about Nicky Jam and his withdrawal of the support is that for a lot of people who didn't watch this on over the weekend on Sunday, didn't see the actual event itself, they're finding out through other ways, especially through people that they trust and admire. And that's why I think sometimes celebrities can play a role. I think in this particular case, that's what's happening now. Here was someone who was for Trump and now is against him. And that's a very powerful statement.
COATES: Joe Pinion, come back in the conversation here. I mean, Trump is not only dealing with this issue. Of course, he is a performance person and an entertainer and seizing on it with the garb, et cetera, and the garbage truck. But he's also underwater with women voters. And tonight, he actually joked about advisors who've been waving him off, telling women that he will be their protector. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They said, sir, I just think it's inappropriate for you to say, pay these guys a lot of money. Can you believe it? I said, well, I'm going to do it whether the women like it or not. I'm going to protect them. I'm going to protect them from migrants coming in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Whether they like it or not. It seems and reads paternalistic. Nikki Haley has warned the campaign that this kind of messaging might make women feel uncomfortable. How do you think he is evaluating statements like that? Does he think that that will ingratiate him to undecided women voters?
PINION: I think that we have less than a week in this campaign remaining, and the president has decided that he is going to be the most bombastic version of himself. I do simply have to add that we have these conversations, and we're not having the conversations that are really on the minds of most of those, I think, swing voters that remain. The over a trillion dollars and personal credit card debt, the highest we've ever seen. The fact that we have over 600,000 Americans that are defaulting on their car payments.
And so, yes, Kamala Harris can say she wants to be the president for all people, while we forget that part of what catapulted Tim Walz to the front of the line to be V.P. was this catchphrase of calling half the country weird.
And so, I do think that we just have to be honest about the fact that, no, there is not this great big tent on the left side of the aisle. The only useful Republican for the Harris-Walz campaign is Republican ready to lampoon their own party.
And Tim Walz himself has said he has no intention on listening to Liz Cheney on foreign policy or domestic policy.
[23:14:58]
They just want to use her to create a permission structure to get Republicans to ignore the war of expansion in Europe, to ignore the war in Gaza, and to ignore what's happening in the South China Sea as the CCP tightens their grip.
So, these are the issues that I think are on the minds of most voters. Yes, we can talk about these other issues but, ultimately, I think if we're talking about what gets the candidate across the finish line, those are the things that are in the front of the minds of folks.
CROWLEY: Today, Johnson said that he's no to Obamacare. This is also covering up Johnson said that today. He's in agreement with former President Trump, no to Obamacare.
COATES: You know, I've seen that discussion and, obviously, it does have legs. Thank you all for coming on. I do wonder how the voters who are going to be ultimate deciders of this are going to think in just, what, six days from now. Thank you all.
Ahead, inside the dead heat in the battleground Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump now is producing the first scenes of the "Stop the Steal" sequel. Plus, the tight race in the commonwealth now sparking a bit of a thorny question. Did Harris make the right choice in selecting her V.P.?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:20:00]
COATES: Pennsylvania is already a political battleground for both campaigns, but it's quickly becoming a legal battleground as well, with Donald Trump claiming there's already fraud happening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you have a mail-in ballot, get that damn ballot in, please, immediately, because --
(APPLAUSE)
-- because they've already started cheating in Lancaster. They've cheated. We caught them with 2,600 votes. Now, we caught them cold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: He even went further on his Truth Social account, saying the entire state is cheating and urging law enforcement to act. But here are the actual facts. Officials in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania are investigating what they call fraudulent voter registration attempts involving about 2,500 applications. But the applications don't appear to be from either party. And officials say the fact that they caught the problem is proof that their system actually is working.
Now, Trump is trying to change his tune. He's even claiming he would actually accept the election results.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They found a lot of smaller things in Pennsylvania, as you know, and I think they've been corrupted and taken care of. They were corrupt. They were corrupted, but I think it has been taken care of.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): But if they find no evidence of cheating, will you accept the results?
TRUMP: Pennsylvania? Certainly. Oh, if they find no evidence of cheating anywhere else. I hope that's going to be the case. Win, lose or draw, I hope that's going to be the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Joining me now, Congressman Dan Goldman, a Democrat from New York. He has been campaigning in Pennsylvania for Harris. Congressman, do you believe that Trump will accept the results of the election?
REP. DANIEL GOLDMAN (D-NY): Well, Laura, there was no evidence of fraud the last time around, and he certainly did not accept the results of the election. In fact, in Florida, there were only four cases of voter -- I'm sorry, Pennsylvania, there were only four cases of voter fraud, all by Republicans. So, there is no voter fraud going on. In fact, the system is working as it should work.
There was one person arrested, a Trump supporter, who was arrested today because of violating rules by yelling at people and trying to influence their vote in line at the polls. But this is just yet again Donald Trump's effort to lay a foundation to claim that this loss for him in Pennsylvania and elsewhere was not based on accurate voters -- voter tallies and that's just -- there's no evidence of it now, there wasn't evidence last time around, but he's already beginning the effort for big lie 2.0.
COATES: And what is the motivation of planting that seed? Is he hoping to have litigation set aside or set up or to encourage voters to act? GOLDMAN: Well, there's no question they're already trying to lay the seeds for a legal challenge by filing lawsuits in advance of the election. One of the issues they ran into last time was standing, but they didn't have any reason or jurisdiction to be in court. So, they're filing all these lawsuits so that they can try to avoid that problem. But this is -- Donald Trump has been trying to line up his backup plan, his little secret with Mike Johnson to overturn the election when he loses for quite some time.
COATES: You think that Speaker Johnson is somehow in cahoots to not certify?
GOLDMAN: Well, I think that without a further explanation and explanations from both Speaker Johnson and the Trump campaign of what that little secret is make no sense. They're just not plausible. They're not realistic. What is realistic is that if Mike Johnson is the speaker of the House, he has a lot of control over what to do with the certification of the electoral votes, and he could with -- if he leads his party to do so in the majority, only if they're in the majority, he could throw out certification of the one or more states and send this election to the House of Representatives.
And that is a very real possibility. And I think the American people need to understand that whoever is in the majority of the House will be the speaker on January 6, whoever wins the majority on Tuesday, and if we are to have a peaceful transfer of power and lawful certification of the election according to the states, then we need to make sure that Hakeem Jeffries is the speaker of the House for the Democratic Party.
COATES: Congressman, it's perhaps no accident that Trump is in Pennsylvania a great deal. Harris and Trump were actually tied in the final CNN poll in Pennsylvania. And today, CNN political analyst for our organization, Ron Brownstein, writes that Harris would have Pennsylvania in the bag if she had picked Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate.
[23:25:00]
Do you it was a mistake not to have added him instead of Walz to the ticket?
GOLDMAN: Look, I was in Pennsylvania today and was in touch with Governor Shapiro while I was there, and everybody is motivated, everybody is energized. The ground game is really well-organized and orchestrated. We have people coming from all over the country, in fact, all over the world, to Pennsylvania, to Canvas, on behalf of Kamala Harris because people do understand the existential threat that Donald Trump poses.
I was speaking to a lot of Jewish voters over the last couple days and explaining how we already have evidence that Kamala Harris will send troops to Israel to protect Israel against Iran, and J.D. Vance is talking about how our interests may diverge from Israel if there's a war against Iran in which case we may drop, we may abandon our support for Israel. So, there are a lot of issues at stake here, but the energy is good. I went to a bunch of different districts with my colleagues, and the energy is good, the organization is good, and I think people are feeling good about Pennsylvania right now.
COATES: Well, we'll see. Only six days to go to see who's really right. Congressman Dan Goldman, thank you for joining us.
GOLDMAN: Thank you.
COATES: Well, you just heard from the Harris side. Up next, the Trump team gets a word. Republican Congressman Mike Waltz is with me tonight. And later, Arnold Schwarzenegger says he hates politics and doesn't like either party. So, what's his endorsement really about?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COATES: Donald Trump campaigning in Wisconsin tonight and getting a pass from one of the most iconic cheese heads in the entire state, former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. That's not the only support Trump received today. The legendary astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, also endorsed Trump, celebrating him as a promoter of space exploration. But as we mentioned, Trump did lose the support of Puerto Rican singer Nicky Jam. He blasted the floating island of garbage joke a comedian made at Trump's Madison Square rally.
With me now, Trump's surrogate, former Green Beret Republican congressman from Florida, Mike Waltz. He's also the author of "Hard Truths: Think and Lead Like a Green Beret."
Congressman, thank you for joining. I want to get to all the endorsements in just a moment, but I do want to give you a chance to respond to your House colleague, Dan Goldman, who was just on. He made the statement that Speaker Johnson, and I'm paraphrasing here, could be plotting with Trump to help overturn the election results or not certify them if Trump loses. What's your response?
REP. MIKE WALTZ (R-FL): Well, frankly, that's ridiculous. And I would point Representative Goldman to the ranking member of a committee we both sit on, of the Oversight Committee, Jamie Raskin, who was asked if he would accept the election results and certify them, and he said if it's free and fair and honest, then he would accept them, but then he followed it up and said that he doesn't expect President Trump to have a free and fair and honest election and expects him to manipulate it. So, basically gave himself an out to not certify the election, which is quite ironic amongst many ironies.
I mean, look, I think the biggest irony of all is the chairman of the January 6 committee, Democrat Representative Bennie Thompson, didn't certify the election in 2016 and repeatedly said the Russians selected President Trump, that he was selected and not elected, and he was an illegitimate president, but yet, somehow, he had the credibility to then investigate January 6.
So, this is a long history of people not certifying elections when they have issue with them, all the way back to '04 when they said the voting machines -- Democrats said the voting machines, including Nancy Pelosi, in Ohio malfunctioned and swung that then swing state towards President Bush. So, let's not pretend like this started in 2020 and let's not pretend that the Democrats haven't repeatedly not certified elections and are even giving themselves an out to not certify this one.
COATES: Well, congressman, you and I have spoken about this issue before, frankly, and with six days to go, many are concerned about putting a kind of political cart before the horse, talking about certifying when the candidates need to be still making their closing arguments and trying to persuade voters to vote for them.
So, in the interest of that, let's move to the fact that "The New York Times" reports that former Vice President Mike Pence actually told a crowd that he will never support the Harris-Walz ticket, but he's still not endorsing Trump. He also voiced concerns about the direction of your party, the GOP, and members insisting that he should have set aside his oath on January 6. What is the plan to win over voters who might feel like Pence?
WALTZ: Well, I think you've seen this campaign cast a bigger net probably than Indian modern history. I mean, you literally have a Kennedy campaigning with President Trump. You have Tulsi Gabbard, who I debated in many debates on the House floor, but has re-registered. And we -- I mean, we can go down the list in terms of how these coalitions have been somewhat scrambled.
You're seeing African-American men come out towards Republicans on economic issues. You're seeing Hispanics, especially in Florida, have been trending our way for quite some time, Jewish voters that are coming our way. So, look, I mean, at the end of the day, those pocketbook issues reign supreme in people's everyday lives.
[23:34:54]
And when you have this contrast with how they felt four years ago, when their wallets were fuller, things cost less, the border was under control, they felt more secure in terms of crime, and certainly, four years ago, when you had peace deals being signed on the White House lawn from the Middle East compared to the chaos and war that we see today, that contrast is incredibly clear, and I think people are going to vote on actions over rhetoric all day long.
COATES: And yet, these two candidates are still extremely close, jump balls in a lot of these particularly key battleground states, and no clear victor to that 270 as of yet. But I'm wondering, just based on what you said, and thinking about all these endorsements that come in and both sides vying for it, Nikki Haley had quite the following, and she campaigned in Pennsylvania for Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick, but she still hasn't hit the trail as a surrogate for Trump specifically. What's the strategy to reach out to Haley voters? Is there one? WALTZ: Oh -- what? Look, when there's a binary choice -- I mean, there's a number of voters out there that would say, you know, I don't like the way President Trump tweets sometimes or, you know, he himself has said, you may not like me, but you like my policies, and my policies were better for you and your family.
And when you have a binary choice between the last four years and what has happened economically, what has happened with crime, what has happened with multiple wars around the world that did not exist just a few years ago with the military that has a recruiting readiness, an equipment crisis with the withdrawal from Afghanistan and that absolute debacle, you know, again, when people have a binary choice, they not only are going to come our way, they are coming our way, and that's why you see it's close, you're right, but you see a narrow edge across a number of polling averages.
COATES: On the issue of economics and the economy more broadly, people do have a sense of how they feel about the economy, what their grocery basket looks like and the receipt that comes along with it. Elon Musk is Trump's richest supporter, and he seemed to endorse an idea that the economy may very well suffer chaos after and if Trump wins, but it will eventually be corrected. As you know, voters are already struggling. Is that the right message to send to endorse one week before Election Day?
WALTZ: You know, I'm not familiar with everything that --
(LAUGHTER)
-- Elon puts out, but I can tell you, as someone -- I mean, I just haven't read every single tweet today, so I couldn't read it that fast. But look, you have someone who has revolutionized multiple industries, has done things that no one said could be done, had literally created efficiencies, whether it's SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter, and I hope, including the federal government that has become bloated and is not serving the American people in a way that it should, and if there's some economic turmoil, if we have some type of close election, I guess that's what you're saying he said, perhaps.
But what we're seeing in reality is I think the market is starting to trend because as President Trump has gained momentum, people believe he has a great chance of winning, that is being increasingly baked into the market.
And what it's also reacting to, the thought of doubling capital gains, which if you built and enslaved over a small business and finally build it up and you want to sell it, and now they're going to take half of your proceeds, which is a very real proposal if you're seeing tax gains or tax increases, which is also a proposal that's on the table, because all of the tax cut and jobs act are on the table next year to be negotiated. I think you're seeing the markets could react to that, too.
COATES: We'll see how the voters feel about it and whose pitch was most persuasive to their bottom line. Congressman Mike Waltz, thank you so much. WALTZ: All right. Thank you.
COATES: Up next, get to the choppa (ph) and vote. Arnold Schwarzenegger calls for a total recall of hate and division, telling voters to say hasta la vista to Donald Trump. But is he all in on Kamala Harris or does he just see her as some sort of last action hero? Mike Murphy, the governor's former strategist, joins me on that and maybe an extra pun or two next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, ACTOR, FORMER CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: So bullshit, all of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Arnold Schwarzenegger is reprising that famous line from "Predator" to describe four more years under Trump. He writes, "It will just be four more years of bullshit with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful" -- unquote. That's coming from the former Republican governor of California, mind you, writing that today in his endorsement of Kamala Harris.
He goes on to attack Trump for January 6th and also election denialism, saying in his post to his than five million followers on X, "Rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets."
But he doesn't stop there. He went on to say, "To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious. And I will always be an American before I am a Republican. That's why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz" -- unquote.
Now, I want to bring in Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist who is currently backing Harris. He also worked as chief political advisor for Schwarzenegger's gubernatorial campaign.
[23:45:00]
Mike, good to see you this evening. Look, this isn't just another Californian who has similar views to Harris politically, right? This was not that. These two have some pretty stark political differences, right?
MIKE MURPHY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Oh, completely right, Laura. I mean, Arnold is a conservative. But this is a fascinating moment because Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is an immigrant, who, you know, escaped Austria after the war and the economic devastation, Russian tanks on the front lawn, came to America because he believed this was the place to be. He became a republican because he believed that was the party of the American dream. He's from that Reagan optimistic right of center commonsense economics tradition. And everything about Donald Trump offense that, the name-calling.
I mean, if you listen to a Trump speech, for the first 30 minutes, he goes through the enemies' list, who he wants to get even with. The second thirty minutes are a couple of crude insults, and then he runs down the country where the garbage can were terrible, we're the worst country ever, everything is going wrong. That is -- that's so offensive to somebody like Arnold who sees America as a shining great thing, not to be trashed.
So, you know, Arnold reflects that tradition, which is why other Reagan conservatives like me, who aren't liberals, but we know Trump's got to be stopped, so we're for Harris.
COATES: You know, interesting, as you outline those things. I mean, Schwarzenegger did not leave stones unturned in terms of his views even towards Democrats and the endorsement. He said he wanted to tune out. He took some shots at Democrats and the endorsement. At one point saying, "Let me be honest with you: I don't like either party right now. Democrats aren't any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime."
I mean, he has been quite candid about his views. He's not necessarily, you know, embracing all sides, but he is clear in what he wants to do. Would that message of candor resonate?
MURHPHY: I think so. I can't, you know, go around and have somebody not come up to me and say, oh, you're one of those windbags on television. I'm so tired of politics. You know, in the whole country of hundreds of millions of people, you know, we come up with choices. This is particularly true when Joe Biden was talking about running for reelection. So, there's a huge fatigue. But I think a lot of that is driven by Donald Trump.
And I think the bet Arnold is making is that even though he has ideological disagreements, that she's a grownup and she's going to bring, being on America's side, a more positive politics back. And, you know, then we can have civil debates again about policy, not name- calling and toddler tantrums and, frankly, dangerous friendships abroad.
Because that's not a thing about Arnold Schwarzenegger. He knows the world. And he came from a place where, you know, Russians were in a joke (ph) and they weren't the good guys. And that's something I think Donald Trump has trouble putting together. So, yeah, I think it will resonate.
COATES: It's interesting you think about the messenger himself, especially when both candidates are desperately trying to court male voters in particular. We've seen Trump on a number of male-oriented podcasts. Harris has endorsements from Dave Bautista, Schwarzenegger, even former wrestler, Mankind, who was just on this show. Which campaign in that category has the upper hand in appealing to those voters? MURPHY: Well, I'll tell you, it's hard to beat "The Terminator." I've worked for a lot of governors in my political career. I've never seen somebody who can pull 15,000 people to a rally without a big spend to drive it out. I mean, he is an icon. He's his own thing. I think over at the Trump campaign, they now have a terminator boot-size footprint on their candidates. But I score today for Harris. Arnold is a big deal.
COATES: That's a very big visual notion. Mike Murphy, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
MURPHY: Thank you.
COATES: Up next, encountering misinformation at a MAGA rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: You're implying that the government made a hurricane stronger to hurt its own country, the United States of America?
UNKNOWN: Correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: The comedy duo behind those viral interviews, live with me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON SELVIG, HOST, "THE GOOD LIARS TELL THE TRUTH" PODCAST: Do you think the government created the hurricane to hurt the United States?
UNKNOWN: Absolutely. Not to hurt the United States. They want the land. They want the land for the -- for the -- yes. What is that? The batteries. Uranium stuff, whatever it is.
SELVIG: Lithium.
UNKNOWN: Lithium. The lithium.
UNKNOWN: Kamala Harris is a slimy, slimy communist. She's going to do what the globalists tell her to do.
DAVRAM STIEFLER, HOST, "THE GOOD LIARS TELL THE TRUTH" PODCAST: Kamala Harris is actually a communist?
UNKNOWN: Actual communist.
SELVIG: Why would Antifa and all of them interrupt the certification of a presidential election in which Joe Biden was going to be certified as the next president? You're saying they posed as Trump supporters on January 6th. Why would they do that?
UNKNOWN: To make Trump look bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: If you want an example of the type of misinformation that's out there in the universe and our politics right now, well, that video we just played might just be it. Everything you saw was filmed outside of Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden over this past weekend. And the guys holding the mics, I recognize them as "The Good Liars." That's what they call themselves. They're two comedians who document what they see at political events. Sometimes, pulling some stunts along the way like pretending to sell Trump Bibles. They've been to more than 30 of Trump's rallies. And they've recently launched a podcast called "The Good Liars Tell the Truth."
Davram Stiefler and Jason Selvig join me now. Davram, so nice to see you all here. What are the most often repeated lies that you two are seeing and hearing out there?
[23:54:57]
STIEFLER: The most often repeated lie, I guess, would probably still be about the 2020 election. We've been asking people, you know, who won the 2020 election for years, it turns out now. And I think we can probably count on one hand the number of times people have said, I believe Joe Biden won the election. So, we're taking a poll and it's -- we're at about 1% of Trump supporters that will admit that the 2020 election, you know, happened.
COATES: That's fascinating to think about. You never know. You hear the polls, you hear the rhetoric, but then to have people in front of you saying that to you with a straight face must be stunning. Jason, look, you guys have been going to these rallies since I think, what, 2015? Have the rallies and where the people attending them changed over time?
SELVIG: Yeah. I mean, they definitely have. I mean, Trump has always attracted people like -- it has always been like a circus atmosphere, even from the first one we went to, I think in 2016, when we called Trump boring, that was our stunt that we did there. And now, it has definitely changed. People are angry. They're very angry about the 2020 election. And we should also say we were at January 6th and things definitely changed there. It got violent, and we found ourselves in the middle of that, behind the Capitol while they were storming the Capitol. So --
It has definitely changed. The rhetoric has changed. The conspiracy theories are more out there. And I would say there is like a significant portion of the people that we talk to that believe a lot of these out there, conspiracy theories.
COATES: In fact, we have some sound from when you guys were both outside of that on January 6th. Listen to this, everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STIEFLER: What would you say to Donald Trump if you were talking to him right now?
UNKNOWN: I'd say you're the greatest president of our lifetime.
UNKNOWN: Let's go Trump!
UNKNOWN: You're still our president.
SELVIG: What do you say to people who say that Trump lost by seven million votes and he should concede?
UNKNOWN: I think they need to think again
STIEFLER: Do you think there's a chance of, you know, when this is all said and done, civil war?
UNKNOWN: Oh, it could start today.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): They are (bleep) storming the Capitol. Are you (bleep) kidding me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: That's unbelievable, Davram, to see that and just play it back from your vantage point. And we all remember that day. And now, we know there are some seeds already being planted where Trump is already talking about a stolen election this time and cheating. How will this base respond?
STIEFLER: We were just talking about that today actually on our podcast. The seeds have been sown. Nobody seems to feel any differently.
COATES: Hmm.
STIEFLER: And when you go to these rallies, as Jason kind of touched on, there's this circus-like atmosphere. It almost feels light in a way, but there are such dark undertones. Nobody wants to accept the results of this election. We have straight-up asked people, will you accept the results of the election if Donald Trump wins? Yes. Will you accept the results if Kamala Harris wins? No.
And that's pretty much the answer without fail. I think we are heading into incredibly uncertain times which is hard to believe given that we've had four years to try and litigate this. We are right back to where we were.
SELVIG: It is uncertain or is it just a sequel of what we had before?
STIEFLER: Sequels are always bad, so maybe it's just another awful, awful sequel.
SELVIG: Yeah.
COATES: I mean, maybe there's some kind of prequel we can talk about. I don't know.
SELVIG: Yeah, sure.
STIEFLER: Origin story.
COATES: Jason, you were at -- origin story. Well, I think that might be Hamilton, frankly. There we go.
(LAUGHTER)
You were at a Trump rally recently, Jason, in North Carolina a few weeks ago, both of you, where Mark Robinson, who is the GOP candidate for governor, is there. He has been, as you know, embroiled in a scandal over disturbing comments that he made on a porn forum, you can't make this up, which he denies, but you spoke to some rally attendees about it. Listen to what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SELVIG: Ready to vote for Donald Trump?
UNKNOWN: Absolutely. Absolutely.
SELVIG: Ready to vote for Mark Robinson?
UNKNOWN: Probably not.
UNKNOWN: Probably not.
UNKNOWN: No.
UNKNOWN: I don't know how many any of you told you only could vote for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COATES: Hmm. So, they overlook things for Trump, but not him. I mean, square this for me in that moment.
SELVIG: Well, I think we should give, like, we do a lot of interviews with Trump supporters. But we've also talked to them about Mark Robinson. We talked to them about Michele Morrow, who I don't know if you're familiar with, running for superintendent of public education in North Carolina. She has tweeted some really (INAUDIBLE) things. She called for Obama to be killed on pay-per-view by a firing squad. And she is running to be in charge of the public schools in North Carolina.
COATES: Hmm.
SELVIG: And in the defense of some of these Trump supporters, we've talked to them. We showed them the tweets from Michele Morrow. We showed some of Mark Robinson's more inflammatory statements. And a lot of the Trump supporters said, after seeing that, they wouldn't be voting for them. So, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt there. Some of the people, they see the tweets, they see what people say, and they're not just voting Democrat or Republican.
[00:00:01]
COATES: Really unbelievable. I can't wait to listen to your podcast again, "The Good Liars Tell the Truth." Davram Stiefler, Jason Selvig, thank you both so much.
STIEFLER: Thanks for having us.
SELVIG: Thank you.
COATES: And thank all for watching. I'll see you back here tomorrow. Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween and watch out for those disappearing ghosts. Hey, where did I go? Uh-oh. Anderson Cooper is next.
