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Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) Says, No, Trump Did Not Lose The 2020 Election; First-Ever Harris Interview On Fox After She Takes On Trump In Pennsylvania; 100-Plus Republicans Stand With Harris As She Warns Trump Threatens Democracy; Dems Looking To Pick Up Senate Seat In Traditionally Red Texas; 100-Year-Old Former President Jimmy Carter Casts His 2024 Ballot. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 16, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, Republican vice presidential nominee, JD Vance just weighed in on whether Donald Trump lost the last presidential election saying, and I'm quoting him now, no, not by the words I'd use. It's Vance's most direct statement embracing false claims about the 2020 results since he became Trump's running mate.

Also breaking, Kamala Harris is ramping up her warning that Trump is a danger to democracy backed up by dozens of Republicans in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, this as the vice president ventures into a Trump friendly arena with her first ever interview on Fox News.

Plus, how Elon Musk and some other conservative billionaires are going all-in for Trump, infusing his campaign with more than $200 million in cash.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Will Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

Let's get right to the breaking news, Senator J.D. Vance's new response to a question about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, an issue he's dodged multiple times since becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee.

CNN's Steve Contorno has details for us. Steve, this is the furthest Vance has actually gone on this issue.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Wolf. If you recall at his vice presidential debate with Tim Walz earlier this month, he was asked point blank by the Minnesota governor, did Donald Trump lose the election? And Vance wouldn't respond. Well, today he has a response. He was asked the question again at a rally in Pennsylvania, and he said, no, Donald Trump did not lose, not by the words I would use. Take a listen to this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What message do you think it sends to independent voters when you do not directly answer the question, did Donald Trump lose in 2020?

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: On the election of 2020, I've answered this question directly a million times, no. I think there are serious problems in 2020. So, did Donald Trump lose the election? Not by the words that I would use. Okay?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Vance went on to say, quote, I couldn't care less if you agree or disagree with me on this issue.

Now, this comes just days after Vance in an interview with The New York Times was asked again and again about the 2020 election and wouldn't say how he believed that race was decided. Take a listen to this back and forth with The New York Times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Do you believe he lost the 2020 election?

VANCE: I think that Donald Trump and I have both raised a number of issues with the 2020 election.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Senator, yes or no?

VANCE: Okay.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?

VANCE: Well, let me ask you a question.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?

VANCE: Did big technology companies censor a story that independent studies have suggested would have cost Trump millions of votes? I think that's the question.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Senator Vance, I'm going to ask you again. Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?

VANCE: I've answered your question with another question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, the Harris campaign very quickly responding to this exchange today in Pennsylvania. They put out a statement, quote, there you have it, J.D. Vance finally admitted, he denies the 2020 election results. Wolf?

BLITZER: Steve Contorno, thanks very much for that update. I appreciate it very much.

J.D. Vance's remark may be adding fuel to Kamala Harris line of attack against Donald Trump in Pennsylvania today.

CNN's Danny Freeman has the latest on the presidential race with 20 days to go.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tonight, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on the trail in battleground Pennsylvania, rallying moderate Republicans, making the case that former President Donald Trump is a threat to democracy.

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He who violated the oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and make no mistake, he who, if given the chance, will violate it again.

FREEMAN: All while railing against Trump, who, during a Fox News town hall, declared he is the father of IVF.

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm the father of IVF. We really are the party for IVF. We want fertilization and it's all the way. And the Democrats tried to attack us on it.

HARRIS: I found it to be quite bizarre. Actually, he called himself the father of IVF.

[18:05:02]

And if what he meant is taking responsibility, well, then, yes, he should take responsibility for the fact that one in three women in America lives in a Trump abortion ban state.

FREEMAN: During the town hall meant to win over women voters. Trump also standing by his controversial comments about his opponents.

TRUMP: We have China, we have Russia, we have all these countries. If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis, these people, they're so sick and they're so evil.

HARRIS: He considers any American who doesn't support him or bend to his will to be an enemy to our country.

FREEMAN: With just 20 days until Election Day, the latest CNN poll of polls average of national surveys shows no clear leader in the race for the White House. During a Univision town hall airing Wednesday night, Trump refused to back away from his false claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. When asked if he believed that people are eating other people's pets, he responded --

TRUMP: I was just saying what was reported, that's been reported. And eating other things too that they're not supposed to eat.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN (on camera): Meanwhile, another sign that the final sprint to Election Day is very much here on the Democratic side, Wolf. We learned that former First Lady Michelle Obama is planning to hit the campaign trail on October 29th. She's going to be rallying voters in battleground Georgia. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Danny Freeman on the scene for us in Pennsylvania, thank you very much.

Let's get some more on all of these developments. Our political commentators and our chief media analyst are all joining us.

Alyssa Farah Griffin, let me start with you. What's your reaction to the, the Republican vice presidential candidate, Vance, fully leaning into Trump's totally baseless lies about the 2020 election for the first time as the GOP V.P. candidate?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It should be disqualifying. And, listen, it speaks to his character and his integrity. I don't think there's anyone on this panel who thinks that J.D. Vance legitimately believes that Donald Trump won the election and that Joe Biden lost it. But this has become a litmus test, a sort of bright line to be able to be Donald Trump's V.P. pick. There's a reason my former boss, Mike Pence, is not on the ticket. It's because he held the line, he defended the Constitution and he certified 81 million Americans votes for Joe Biden who won the election.

I do think this matters. Kamala Harris was rallying in Pennsylvania today with Republicans. She's going for disillusioned Republicans who are tired of the lies. They're tired of the misleading of the public, and this could make a difference around the margins.

BLITZER: Our Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter is with us as well. Brian, I want to remind our viewers what J.D. Vance was saying shortly after the 2020 presidential election. Listen and watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: I think that when Biden is inaugurated, people will more or less accept it, and it'll be on to the next fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That's a pretty far cry from what he's saying today.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: His words continue to be used against him, Wolf. I was in Pennsylvania yesterday, and the most interesting billboard I saw about the election was just a tweet of J.D. Vance's from 2016 when he said, Trump makes people I care about afraid. Well, a lot of people are afraid of a repeat of January 6th. And that's why this issue is so powerful. That's why journalists keep asking Vance about the 2020 election. This is going to continue to haunt him.

But I think, ultimately, Wolf, this is a supply and demand issue. There is not a demand on the right for Vance to tell the truth about this issue. In fact, there's the opposite. There's a demand to be lied to. There's a desire to be lied to. So, J.D. Vance is the supplier, but I'm more worried about the demand side of the equation.

BLITZER: Let me get Scott Jennings to weigh in. Scott, what does it say to you that in order to be in Trump's good graces, you seemingly have to deny the results of the 2020 election?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Look, I mean, I believe since the 2020 election that Donald Trump lost. I don't like what happened on January the 6th either, and I certainly accepted that Joe Biden became the president. And, frankly, I don't know what this is gaining them truthfully today. I know why he might think he needs to do it, but I think that it's perfectly also fine for Republican to say, we lost this one. We could win the next one and let's fight out, just as you heard him do on the show with that sound bite.

So, you know, people keep asking him about it. Frankly, I don't know. I mean, I've got -- I think what happened is pretty clear.

BLITZER: Why do you think he keeps on doing this?

JENNINGS: I mean, look, I think the ticket has a view on it. And when you're on a ticket, you carry the views of the ticket. That's what I think.

BLITZER: Ashley Allison is with us as well. Ashley, despite Trump's false claims about the election, in a new poll from Marist College, Trump has actually widened his lead among lightly independent voters. He leads Harris, look at this, 54 to 44 percent.

[18:10:00]

How do you explain that?

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I don't really rely on polls to determine the outcome of the election because I think it's the people who ultimately decide. I'm skeptical of all this polling right now. One thing we know is that it's extremely close, and that's what that poll says.

I agree with the -- look, I actually agree with everything everyone has said on this panel. It's like the first time that might have ever happened. But I definitely agree what -- the first time. I definitely agree, to Alyssa's point, about this actually could help Harris. There are Republican voters there. They might be Trump, Biden, and maybe Harris voters. They might be Trump, Trump, and then Harris voters.

There are Republicans and there are independents out there that a comment like J.D. Vance makes today that acknowledges that he doesn't believe in the election results of 2020 could just be that if they are still on the fence could be the thing that just says, I just don't want to do this anymore. And the way I'm going to move forward is to not vote for the Republican ticket.

So, I would continue to elevate it. We cannot normalize the denial of the election. And I do think the Harris campaign should definitely target it, particularly with independents and Republicans that are on the fence still.

BLITZER: Alyssa, in a clip released from an upcoming town hall with Univision, Trump is repeating the false claim that Haitian migrants are eating their neighbor's pets in Springfield, Ohio. What does that say to you about his campaign?

GRIFFIN: Doubling down, never admit you're wrong, and it's just kind of the devolution of our politics in real time. And I think the fact that it came up at that town hall is because it does resonate with immigrant communities, regardless of if you're Haitian or any from anywhere else that he will utilize this dehumanizing and just divisive language to tear down, by the way, a population that we now know was here legally and, of course, was never eating the pets.

But also in his answers and some of the ones he's gotten around this, it does seem like he doesn't even have the quick political instinct he once had to realize this is an issue you should drop. There's a way to pivot away from it. He just kind of keeps going back to it. I'm seeing more and more of this. Maybe it's the weaving that he's talking about, but he doesn't seem to have as sharp of political instincts or ability to kind of turn the page on rhetoric that's truly damaging to his own campaign.

BLITZER: Brian, why do you think we're seeing Trump actually double down on this conspiracy theory, even as the GOP governor in Ohio and the mayor there, GOP, say there's no evidence to back this up?

STELTER: Well, I hate to say dog whistle, and we're talking about dogs and cats and animals, but it's a dog whistle. It's a racist dog whistle. It's a way to express something that is racist but in a coded way. And what we've learned about Trump over the last decade is that whatever he hears most recently, whether from television, or from his aides, or his friends at Mar-a-Lago, that's what he repeats.

So, I think probably today, earlier today, he heard something about other animals being chewed on, and now he's repeating it. And now, of course, tomorrow he'll be asked, what animals, and where, and who, and, sadly, the cycle will go on and on.

BLITZER: Scott, the election is now, what, less than three weeks away. Voting has already begun in some of the key battleground states. Is denying the 2020 election and migrants eating pets the closing message that Republicans want?

JENNINGS: Well, I tend to think the best closing message, Wolf, would be economy. Immigration, yes, to the extent you can talk about the failures of the current administration. Look, the best vectors for everybody who's still making up their mind is are you happy with what you got or do you want change? Because I don't think many Americans are happy with what they got and they would like to see some change.

So, to me, it's actually pretty simple. If I were in their shoes, I'd be out talking about that and that only, because I think it is a way for them to reel in the last few votes they need to win the election.

BLITZER: Ashley, it's interesting, Kamala Harris has been trying to more directly make the contrast with Trump out there on the campaign trail, at least in recent days, big time, calling him unhinged. Is that message, do you think, breaking through?

ALLISON: It's a yes. And I think that people who believe Donald Trump is unhinged or he's unhinged already are voting for Kamala Harris. I think in these last three weeks, what I would do is, again, draw the contrast, point out who he is and the character flaws that he has, but also then say, and the reason why I am the candidate for change is because I'm going to do it differently and I'm going to do it this way. I don't think it's a one or the other. I think it's a yes and.

BLITZER: All right, everybody stand by just ahead. What Kamala Harris told Fox news after agreeing to her first ever interview with the network.

Plus, have Democrats made headway in their bid to defeat Republican Senator Ted Cruz in Texas?

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

BLITZER: We're back with our political and media experts following breaking news in the race for the White House. And I want everyone to listen right now to what Vice President Kamala Harris just said about immigration during her interview with Fox.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Do you regret the decision to terminate remain in Mexico at the beginning of your administration?

HARRIS: At the beginning of our administration within practically hours of taking the oath, the first bill that we offered Congress before we worked on infrastructure, before the Inflation Reduction Act, before the Chips and Science Act, before any -- before the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first bill practically within hours of taking the oath was a bill to fix our immigration system.

BAIER: Yes, ma'am. It was called the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021. It was essentially a pathway to citizenship for the --

HARRIS: May I finish responding, please? You have to let me finish.

BAIER: You had the White House and the House and the Senate, and they didn't bring up that bill.

HARRIS: I'm in the middle of responding to the point you're raising, and I'd like to finish.

BAIER: Yes, ma'am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Ashley Allison, what's your reaction?

[18:20:01]

ALLISON: Well, it sounds like was a tough interview and that she was able to hold her own. She wanted to get her points across.

We know that they want to talk about immigration and she is right, they did introduce this bill and Congress failed to act, just as they failed to act the last couple of months when they reintroduced another bill. So, I'm curious to see what the rest of the conversation is.

But I think that those points are important for the American people to hear directly from her, particularly on a network like Fox, when you don't often have Democratic voices explaining the position of the Biden administration. So, I think her answer was spot on there.

BLITZER: All right. Scott Jennings, immigration, of course, is an issue that Trump has been campaigning on ever since he launched his first campaign for the White House. What do you think?

JENNINGS: My reaction to that is woof. Whoever recommended this interview with Bret Baier, my goodness gracious, this is a disastrous answer, but it has been a disastrous answer. Every time she's been asked about it on 60 Minutes, in the debate, whenever, she has no answer for why Biden and Harris threw out Donald Trump's executive orders and changed everything, and then a flood of people came in.

An ounce of humility here would go a long way, and she doesn't have it in her to do it, and she has no real answer other than to blame Congress. And Bret was right. Democrats controlled everything when they took over. And so is she saying it's the Democrats' fault that the immigration system is broken? I don't understand this. I don't understand why she can't just say, hindsight here, we shouldn't have done it. I think the American people would actually accept it, but she won't do it.

BLITZER: Alyssa, what do you think?

GRIFFIN: Listen, I've asked the vice president a similar version of this question actually twice on The View and got a similar answer. Listen, I actually agree with Scott. I think it would have benefited her to acknowledge that there are things that could have been done better in the three years that a crisis around the border raged on.

But what she gets to later in that answer is she did get to litigate on Fox News, where this isn't often talked about, the fact that Donald Trump blocked the most conservative strong border security bill in decades. That's forward-looking, that's a real world impact. And every time that Trump and his campaign are out there talking about crimes committed by undocumented migrants or the terrible things that are happening in communities, she needs to remind the public that there would be more Border Patrol agents right now, there'd be more funding, there'd be more security at the border if he had not taken the political choice and blocked the bill because he wanted to run on it.

So, I think it's a half win, half loss on this answer, honestly.

BLITZER: I want to play another little clip from the Fox interview with Kamala Harris, once again, on the subject of immigration. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BAIER: When it comes to immigration, you supported allowing immigrants in the country illegally to apply for driver's license, to qualify for free tuition at universities, to be enrolled in free healthcare. Do you still support those things?

HARRIS: Listen, that was five years ago, and I'm very clear that I will follow the law. I have made that statement over and over again, and as vice president of the United States, that's exactly what I've done, not to mention before.

BAIER: You -- if that's the case, you chose a running mate, Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, who signed those very things into state law. So, do you support that?

HARRIS: We are very clear, and I am very clear, as is Tim Walz, that we must support and enforce federal law, and that is exactly what we will do.

BAIER: So, decriminalizing border crossings, like you said in 2019,

HARRIS: I do not believe in decriminalizing border crossings, and I've not done that as vice president. I will not do that as president.

BAIER: So, these are evolutions that you've had?

HARRIS: Well, let's be very clear. I'm the only person who's running for president who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations, from the Sinaloa Cartel, to the Guadalajara Cartel, to people who have trafficked in guns, drugs, and human beings. I have spent a significant part of my career going after people who present a threat to the safety of the American people and cross our border with the intent of doing us harm, and cross our border illegally. And I will do that work as vice president. I take that work quite seriously.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Brian Stelter, I'm anxious to get your thoughts. So, this was definitely a choice by the vice president to go on Fox News. Talk about why she's doing this and why now.

STELTER: Yes. After writing two books about Fox and Trump, here's how I view it, Wolf. I view Fox as an extension of the Trump campaign. Yes, there's a little bit of news, but it's mostly pro-Trump, anti- Harris opinion. The network is an anti-Democrat political machine.

With that said, the goal of the Harris campaign was to reach undecided, persuadable voters, including some independents, and even some Democrats who are unlikely to vote for Harris but do sometimes watch Fox. One of the calculations or the campaign is that these clips will be run in lots of places, not just on Fox. So, she's getting her message out in an adversarial environment and she's showing that she's willing to take these tough questions, unlike Donald Trump. I spoke with Trump campaign -- excuse me, Harris campaign spokesman Ian Sams today for the Vanity Fair podcast Inside the Hive.

[18:25:05]

And he said to me, look, the Fox audience, quote, frankly, often gets fed a bunch of crap, and Harris wants to make sure they hear from her directly. He also said, she can go toe to toe with adversarial people while Donald Trump is, quote, weak and withdrawn and retreating to his comfort zone.

So, the Harris campaign likes this contrast. And I think what we're seeing her do on the topic of immigration is address some of these critiques, some of these narratives that have been out there about her for years on Fox. And she's trying to dismantle some of the narratives about her.

BLITZER: Ashley, what's the risk and what's the reward for the vice president by going on a conservative network like Fox?

ALLISON: Well, we know this was a very consolidated timeline. And so you want to get your message everywhere. You want to go to places. Look, if you're the president of the United States, you have to represent everyone, Democrats, Republicans, independents. And so if you were able to go on Fox News as a candidate, it would assume to me that you would also be able to go on to Fox News and talk to that audience as president, which is a contrast, again, to what Donald Trump is doing. Donald Trump is not going and doing tough interviews with CNN now that he is the nominee, or 60 Minutes.

So, I think going to places that may, you know, seem to be friendly, like interview with Charlamagne tha God, which it was substantive, but he obviously supports Kamala Harris, and then also going to Fox News shows the breadth, the range, the ability she has to talk about issues regardless of who's asking her the questions.

BLITZER: I want to play another clip from the interview, then we'll discuss. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: If you listen to Donald Trump, if you watch any of his rallies, he's the one who tends to demean and belittle and diminish the American people. He's the one who talks about an enemy within, an enemy within, talking about the American people, suggesting he would turn the American military on the American people.

BAIER: We asked that question to the former president today. Harris Faulkner had a town hall, and this is how he responded.

TRUMP: I heard about that. They were saying I was like threatening. I'm not threatening anybody. They're the ones doing the threatening. They do phony investigations. I've been investigated more than Alphonse Capone. He was the greatest gangster -- no, it's true. No, but think of it. It's called weaponization of government. It's a terrible thing.

BAIER: So --

HARRIS: Bret, I'm sorry and with all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about the enemy within that he has repeated when he's speaking about the American people. That's not what you just showed.

BAIER: He was asked about that specific.

HARRIS: No, no, no, that's not what you just showed, in all fairness and respect to you.

BAIER: No, no, no, I'm telling you that was the question that we asked him.

HARRIS: You didn't show that, and here's the bottom line. He has repeated it many times, and you and I both know that. And you and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people. He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protest. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him. This is a democracy. And in a democracy, the president of the United States in the United States of America should be willing to be able to handle criticism without saying he'd lock people up for doing it.

And this is what is at stake, which is why you have someone like the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff saying what Mark Milley has said about Donald Trump being a threat to the United States of America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Let me get Scott back into this conversation. Scott, the vice president clearly very forcefully addressing those recent comments from Trump on the so-called enemy within. How do you think she handled that?

JENNINGS: Well, I think like a lot of attacks she makes on Trump, they're exaggerated. I think she gets outside the lines. What I've understood Donald Trump to say is that there have been some radical elements in our society over the last year that have, in fact, been the done things outside the bounds of the laws and outside the bounds of, you know, our normal, you know, norms and political norms. And it's mostly been anti-Semitic. But there are people here who don't respect the United States, they don't respect western civilization, they don't respect any of our political systems. And God forbid they would try to do something to disrupt the election. That's how I've understood it.

Now she says, he's going to throw you in jail.

STELTER: That's not who he's talking about, Scott. You know that.

JENNINGS: I disagree with you. I with you.

STELTER: He's talking about the Pelosis. He literally said it once. He's talking about the Pelosis. He's talking about Democratic politicians. He wants to lock them up.

JENNINGS: I totally disagree with you, A. B, I think in the past, she has taken his words and totally blown them out of proportion. The most egregious example was the bloodbath thing. So, I think over time, she has expended her own credibility on false attacks. And so when she makes these attacks now, it makes me wonder, is anybody going to believe her because of the fact that she's been, I think, outside the lines on him in the past?

ALLISON: Wolf, can I say one thing on this?

GRIFFIN: Honestly, with due respect --

BLITZER: All right, everybody stand by. We have a lot more to discuss, and we will.

[18:30:01]

We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're back with our political and media experts. I want to listen to a little bit more of this new interview with Kamala Harris, where she talks about the mental health, mental state of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BAIER: She does, Madam Vice President. You call Donald Trump --

HARRIS: But let's not diminish the significance of that.

BAIER: You called Donald Trump -- he's misguided. You say now --

HARRIS: He's unstable. He is unstable, Bret.

BAIER: He's not well. You say he's mentally not stable.

HARRIS: He's not stable.

BAIER: Let me ask you this. You told many interviewers that Joe Biden was on his game, that ran around circles on his staff.

[18:35:01]

When did you first notice that President Biden's mental faculties appeared diminished?

HARRIS: Joe Biden, I have watched from the Oval Office to the Situation Room, and he has the judgment and the experiment and experienced to do exactly what he has done in making very important decisions on behalf of the American people. Bret, Joe Biden is not on the ballot.

BAIER: I understand.

HARRIS: But Donald Trump is. And Donald Trump is.

BAIER: But you talked about it.

HARRIS: And Donald Trump is.

BAIER: After George Clooney said, within a few minutes of talking to President Biden at a fundraiser that he thought this was not the same Joe Biden that we saw on the debate stage.

HARRIS: Donald Trump is on the ballot.

BAIER: I understand you met with him at least once a week for three and a half years. You didn't have any concerns?

HARRIS: I think the American people have a concern about Donald Trump, which is why the people who know him best. including leaders of our national security community have all spoken out, even people who worked for him in the Oval Office, worked with him in the Situation Room, and have said he is unfit and dangerous and should never be president of the United States again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right, let's get reaction. Alyssa, let me start with you. What are your thoughts to that latest clip?

GRIFFIN: Listen, this is obviously a hard and antagonistic interview and there's a lot of people who do have concerns over how bad was Joe Biden. When I was somebody early on who said he should step aside four more years as an eternity in the West Wing. But there is a marked difference between being somebody who is slowing down, maybe isn't as sharp, maybe not be up for four more years, and somebody of failing, poor moral character, which is who Donald Trump is.

I am among those former people who worked with Donald Trump, was in the Situation Room, was in the Oval Office with him, and can tell you, you can't fix bad character. He is somebody that's, a historic number of his advisors, his own cabinet officials, have spoken out and said, this is a man that we don't think is fit for office. And I think that she did convey that point. I do think that's important, frankly, for Fox viewers to hear.

BLITZER: All right. Scott Jennings, what do you think?

JENNINGS: Yes. First of all, I don't think this interview is antagonistic. I think Bret Baier is asking perfectly legitimate questions that she's having trouble with. Look, I think, again, this is another situation where Harris has backed herself into a corner. She went out and told us everything she told us, which is well documented, about how sharp Joe Biden is. And so now when she wants to comment on Trump, I just think there's a lot of voters who are going to say, well, you know, should I believe you about this, because you didn't seem to be on top of it before?

So, again, I think she has some credibility issues when leveling these attacks on Trump. And I think attacking Trump, frankly, is not her best vector. If I were in her shoes, I'd be trying to sell my campaign instead of spending all day long punching on Trump, which has obviously been going on for nine years. I think people know what they know about Trump but they don't know enough about her.

BLITZER: Ashley Ellison, I'll let you weigh in as well. Go ahead.

ALLISON: See, this is why I think it's interesting that she did this Fox interview, because we all have to be honest the likelihood that a Fox audience is hearing the things that Kamala Harris is saying about Donald Trump, that he's unhinged, or even the fact that 200 Republicans are supporting her. Those aren't talking points that that audience often hears. So, that's why she went to that venue to call it out. Whether or not you're going to persuade 90 percent of that audience, no. But if you can get 5 percent of the Fox audience to put a question mark on Donald Trump after the things Kamala Harris said in that interview today, I think it's a win for that campaign.

STELTER: That's exactly -- I think, I totally agree, Ashley. I think this strategy from Harris was a Google strategy. She wanted Fox viewers to start to Google some of the things she was saying. Because some of the comments she was making in this interview are foreign to the Fox audience. For example, General Mark Milley saying Trump is a fascist to the core, that's barely been covered on Fox News. So, she was able to get some of those talking points in.

This was the most adversarial interview Kamala Harris has probably ever done. Instead of getting to debate Trump again, she got to debate Bret Baier. And a lot of viewers are going to come away saying, wow, she's willing to do that. That's a sign of toughness and strength.

BLITZER: Yes, it's impressive indeed. All right, guys, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, we're going to get reaction to the breaking news in the presidential race from a leading Democratic voice in the battleground state of Georgia. Stacey Abrams is standing by live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: We're following the breaking news on Kamala Harris' new interview with Fox News, including some rather combative exchanges. Listen to the vice president as she's pressed about what she'd do differently than President Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: So, you're not Joe Biden, you're not Donald Trump, but nothing comes to mind that you would do differently?

HARRIS: Let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency. And like every new president that comes into office, I will bring my life experiences, my professional experiences, and fresh and new ideas. I represent a new generation of leadership. I, for example, am someone who has not spent the majority of my career in Washington, D.C. I invite ideas, whether it be from the Republicans who are supporting me, who were just on stage with me minutes ago, and the business sector and others. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. And joining us now for some reaction, the former Democratic leader of the Georgia House, Stacey Abrams, she's also co- producer of the new MAX original documentary, Louder, the Soundtrack of Change. Stacey, thanks very much.

First of all, what do you make of Kamala Harris saying her presidency will not, repeat, not be a continuation of Joe Biden's?

FMR. STATE REP. STACEY ABRAMS (D-GA): I think she's being accurate and she's making a promise to the American people to lead forward from the moment she takes office.

[18:45:02]

She, of course, will be bringing with her the policies that have made us a stronger nation, that have helped us recover from four years of Trump, that she's assuring America that she's going to be her own person, her own leader, have her own ideas, and that she is going to lead this country as Kamala Harris, not as Joe Biden, 2.0.

BLITZER: Trump said last night, Stacey, that he thinks any Hispanic or African-American who actually votes for Kamala Harris should have their head examined.

How do you respond to that?

ABRAMS: Donald Trump is an authoritarian in waiting. He is responding to actually being held accountable by doing what men like him do. Weak men like him do.

He is resorting to bluster, to bullying, and unfortunately, if he were to regain the White House with bullets. He has threatened to sic the military on Americans. He has threatened to become a dictator who jails his enemies.

We have watched this play out before. We saw the Nicholas Maduro. We saw it in Viktor Orban. We saw it in Duterte in the Philippines.

He is doing his best to drag America into the worst echelons of leadership. And that is having someone who does not trust the people he seeks to lead and who will do anything in his power to hold onto power. And we must deny him that.

BLITZER: While I have you, Stacey, I want to turn quickly to the excellent new MAX documentary that you co-produced with Selena Gomez called "Louder: The Soundtrack of Change".

It's about female artists' advocacy through music. I want to play a clip. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SELENA GOMEZ, SINGER: Music is one of the most powerful ways to put a message out there. ABRAMS: It is a painful thing to tell a dark story, that we've learned that the louder you are, the more the forces of oppression try to silence you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Stacey, how did the themes of this new documentary play into this election?

ABRAMS: We are excited because louder is the moment where women are talking about how to tell their stories. Not only to remember and understand where we are, but the call to action, to take the next steps to move us forward. And we have an opportunity not only to reclaim reproductive freedom in 20 states where we've lost it, but the opportunity to put a woman in the White House, not just because she's a woman and not just because she's a woman of color, but because she has led a complicated powerful life that reflects the values that we hold true as Americans.

And we are so excited. I am delighted to be a part of this project and part of bringing this music to a new generation who may not remember how hard we fought, but who understand that we still have more to accomplish.

BLITZER: Stacey Abrams, thanks very much for joining us.

ABRAMS: Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: And just ahead, a live report from Texas where the Senate race in one of the reddest states is now potentially giving Democrats a slight glimmer of hope, following a rather tense debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:52:07]

BLITZER: With less than three weeks until Election Day, Democrats are trying to keep their fragile hold on the U.S. Senate by targeting a traditionally Republican state, namely Texas.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has details on the party's push to oust Republican incumbent Ted Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the debate stage and on the campaign trail, Ted Cruz delivers a heavy dose of conservative red meat.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): This choice for Texas is a battle between common sense and crazy.

LAVANDERA: The Texas Republican came face-to-face with his Democratic opponent, Colin Allred, for their first and only Senate debate Tuesday night.

REP. COLIN ALLRED (D-TX): We have a phrase for this in Texas, all hat and no cattle. That's what Senator Cruz is.

CRUZ: Congressman Allred and Kamala Harris are both running on the same radical.

LAVANDERA: The debate comes as we caught up with Cruz on a Texas bus tour, in the closing weeks of his reelection campaign. But once again, polls show the senator is in another close race, even in this reliably Republican state. That once again is raising Democrats' long-shot hopes of turning the state blue.

The stump speech is also a stage for Cruz's stand-up comedy routine to rile up the base, at times ridiculing Tim Walz --

CRUZ: And they wave like this. Texas, if you wave like that, you'll get us kicked.

LAVANDERA: And making personal jokes about President Biden's son's drug addiction.

CRUZ: That gets so bad, Hunter Biden can afford crack cocaine.

LAVANDERA: He's running against Allred, a former NFL linebacker, and three-term Democratic congressman, who is bashing Cruz on abortion.

ALLRED: It's not pro-life to deny women care so long that they can't have children anymore.

LAVANDERA: And five times during the debate, he hammered Cruz for traveling to Mexico during the epic ice storm, which shut down the state in 2021.

ALLRED: When the lights went out in the energy capital of the world, he went to Cancun.

LAVANDERA: Cruz avoids the talk of abortion. Instead, he argues Republicans are stronger on the economy and border issues.

CRUZ: We produce the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years.

LAVANDERA: Another prominent theme in Cruz's campaign is tying Allred to transgender issues.

CRUZ: You know what he argued for? Military bases should have drag shows and should be able to fly a transgender flag above it. Look, call me old fashioned, I think the only flag that should fly above our military base should be the American flag.

ALLRED: You don't have to be a former NFL linebacker to recognize a Hail Mary when you see one. Of course, I don't support this ridiculous things.

LAVANDERA: Allred focuses on endorsements from anti-Trump Republicans, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger over his party's ties to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.

Would you agree with that? ALLRED: But I think we're building a broad coalition. There are Texans

out there who are actual conservatives. They don't want to be embarrassed anymore by their senator.

LAVANDERA: Does it concern you that he got supporters like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger?

CRUZ: Oh, I am crushed, I am crushed.

And I got to say it's sad.

[18:55:01]

I've known Liz Cheney a long time and she's completely lost her mind.

LAVANDERA: And on this Senate debate stage, the events of January 6 still loom large.

ALLRED: You can be for the mob on January 6 and for the officers, you can't, and it's not funny. Zero threat to democracy.

CRUZ: Congressman Allred votes no to protecting our elections and ensuring that people don't vote illegally. That is a threat to democracy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (on camera): And in another sign of how tense this campaign is on the Cruz side is that the Ted Cruz spends a lot of time asking supporters for financial help in fundraising. The Allred campaign and Democrats have outspent Cruz and Republicans by almost $30 million in campaign ads, Wolf.

BLITZER: Ed Lavandera, thank you very much.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Finally, tonight, America's oldest living former president has cast his 2024 ballot.

That would be Jimmy Carter. The Carter Center says the 100-year-old Democrat who is in hospice care voted by mail in Georgia today. His grandson has said Carter has been determined to, quote, make it, so he could vote for Kamala Harris for president.

Thanks very much for watching.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.