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Soon, Trump, Harris In Wisconsin Amid Fallout Over Biden's Garbage Remark; New CNN Polls Show Harris Leads In Wisconsin And Michigan, Tied With Trump In Pennsylvania; John King In Wisconsin As He Hits Five Battlegrounds In Five Days; Haley: Trump's "Bromance" Stuff Makes "Women Uncomfortable"; New Biography: McConnell Slammed "Sleazeball" Trump. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 30, 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 HOST: Happening now, breaking news, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will soon be holding dueling events in Wisconsin as President Biden denies he labeled all Trump supporters as garbage tonight. Harris is on damage control while Trump is seizing on the president's remark despite his own repeated references to the United States as a garbage can.

Also this hour, CNN's exclusive new battleground polls show Vice President Harris has a slim lead in Wisconsin and Michigan and is tied with former President Trump in Pennsylvania. Stand by for new snapshots of the race with just six days to go.

Plus, as early voting in Wisconsin is breaking records, CNN's John King is on the ground there tonight. He'll join us live as he hits five battleground states in five days.

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

We begin with breaking news from the presidential campaign trail. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are both heading to Wisconsin tonight as fallout from an unforced error by President Biden is weighing on the race with the election now only six days away. CNN has exclusive new polling showing Harris holding a lead over Trump in Wisconsin, one of three so called blue wall battleground states. Harris is also leading in Michigan. But in Pennsylvania, she's dead even with Trump.

Our correspondents are in Wisconsin awaiting heiress and Trump events there and getting new reaction to the controversial remark by President Biden.

Let's go to CNN's Jeff Zeleny in Madison, Wisconsin first. He's covering the Harris campaign for us tonight.

So, Jeff, how is Harris navigating this very delicate moment?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Vice President Harris is trying to turn the page. Her candidacy, her election next week depends upon that. That was the entire theme of her address from The Ellipse last night.

Of course, as she set off for North Carolina, Pennsylvania and a closing rally here in Wisconsin tonight, it has all been complicated by those comments from President Biden that he was making about the former president supporters and the Puerto Rico voters.

Take a listen to what President Biden said, words that have been hanging over the campaign all day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. Well, let me tell you something. I don't know a Puerto Rican that I know, or Puerto Rico where I'm in my home state of Delaware. They're good, decent, honorable people. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable and it's un- American. It's totally contrary to everything we've done, everything we've been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: As the White House rushed to clarify the president's comments saying he was not trying to demean some 75 million of former President Donald Trump supporters. It was Vice President Harris, before she set off today from Joint Base Andrews, who put distance between herself and the president's remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think that the president has explained what he meant. But I 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 a president for all Americans and including those who may not vote for me in this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, that is Vice President Harris closing message, trying to draw a sharp contrast between her candidacy and Donald Trump's candidacy, Wolf, but it has been complicated. It's an open question how much electoral damage this could cause. There's no doubt both sides are really locked into their own support, but there is a sliver of undecided voters in the middle. So could that motivate Trump supporters?

The Harris campaign is trying to move on beyond it. She will be here in Madison tonight. Wolf, they're focused on early vote, trying to get people to the polls early before that ends on Sunday. But it is no coincidence that both she and Donald Trump in the state of Wisconsin tonight.

[18:05:01]

Of all those blue wall states, this is the closest in 2020. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Jeff, I want you to stand by as we bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes. She's over at the site of the Trump rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, tonight.

Kristen, Trump is seizing on President Biden's remark. Update our viewers.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, there's no denying that there is somewhat of a gift that this was given to the Donald Trump campaign and to Donald Trump himself because of these remarks from former president -- excuse me, from President Joe Biden. They have been trying to take this opportunity to change the narrative. We have been talking about for three days the vile, racist comments that were said at a pre program to his Madison Square Garden rally, and they wanted to shift this talk and now they believe they have the opportunity. It's a little bit reminiscent what we saw in 2016 after Hillary Clinton called his supporters a basket of deplorables.

Here's what Donald Trump said earlier today in North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them garbage, and they mean it.

My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple. You can't lead America if you don't love Americans. You just can't. And you can't be president if you hate the American people. And there's a lot of hatred there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And, obviously, we've heard Donald Trump say a lot of nasty things about Democrats. And, in fact, shortly after those remarks, he had this to say about Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Four more years of gross incompetence, the most corrupt, horrible people. These are horrible people. Oops, we should get along with everybody. They're horrible people.

And then they, those lowlifes, call you garbage. No, no. Think of that. Think of how bad it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, again, this is kind of par for the course for Donald Trump. He has also said the Democrats are the enemy within and he has used this narrative over the last several months, multiple times. But one thing to point out here is that what they want is they want to drive out voters. They want to get people who might've been complacent in this election and bring them to the polls. And they believe comments like this could help Donald Trump.

BLITZER: All right. Kristen Holmes and Jeff Zeleny, to both of you, thank you very much.

Our political experts are here to break all of this down for us. And, David Axelrod, I'll start with you. With the end of the election now just six days away, the political narrative today has turned into a back and forth on the word garbage and the insults that are going on. What do you make of all of this?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, Wolf, there's no other way to put it. This was an unforced error, and it wasn't an unforced error by the candidate, it was an unforced error by the president. This is the second week in a row this has happened. Remember, he talked about locking Trump up last week and then quickly corrected himself.

This is -- yes, now we're talking about this tonight, the day after she gave what was to be the summary speech of her campaign. And, by the way, the most powerful line in the speech was, 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 the table.

The whole spirit of her speech was contrary to what the president said, and he tried to clean it up later. And, you know, I'd take him at his word that that's what he meant. But these, you know, it's neither the campaign nor its supporters can afford to do this.

I will say that it is unbelievably rich for Donald Trump, who has roundly insulted people 12 different ways in every speech and talked about Democrats as, you know, enemies of the people and talked about unleashing the military on political opponents and so on. For him to feign umbrage is a little bit rich.

But, nonetheless, here we are talking about it today instead of what Kamala Harris wanted us to be talking about today, and that's not her fault.

BLITZER: And speaking of what you just pointed out, David, I want to play a little bit of what we've heard in recent days from Trump. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Any Jewish person that votes for her, especially now, her or the Democrat Party, should have their head examined.

Anybody that votes for her, you should have your head examined.

I'll tell you what, any African-American or Hispanic, and you know how well I'm doing there, that votes for Kamala, you got to have your head examined.

These are bad people. We have a lot of bad people. But when you look at Shifty Schiff and some of the others, yes, they are, to me, the enemy from within. We're like a garbage can. We're like a garbage can.

We're like a garbage can for the rest of the world to dump the people that they don't want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:10:01]

BLITZER: Erin, is this a double standard from the former president? What's your assessment?

ERIN PERRINE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, AXIOM STRATEGIES: I think that the comments by President Biden were just a get out the vote gift for Republicans. This is going to motivate the Trump base to get there on Election Day or ahead of it. And, of course, they're going to make hay out of it.

I don't think it's going to move any persuadable voter, but I do see it as something that, listen, when it's going to come down to a state like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, you need to get every base vote out you can. And so Republicans putting it out there and highlighting and talking about the fact that the sitting president of the United States said that Republicans and those who support Donald Trump are garbage. And, yes, he cleaned it up and he put out other statements.

But to David's point, I mean, that's what we're talking about today. So, instead of talking about Kamala's speech yesterday, it is now Republicans who are on offense talking about the fact that Joe Biden made this comment and now they got to get to the election, make sure that they go out and vote so that people who think that of them aren't in office.

BLITZER: Ana, I'm always anxious to get your thoughts. Go ahead.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, listen, the only reason the word garbage is part of this political cycle is because Donald Trump has put it out there, calling us the garbage can of the world, and then you had it repeated, regurgitated at his Madison Square Garden rally by that comedian. This is nothing like that.

Let's just compare how Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have reacted and how J.D. Vance and Donald Trump reacted. Kamala Harris quickly disavowed those comments, distanced herself from them, said she disagreed, acknowledged she had seen and heard them and said she disagreed. J.D. Vance told Puerto Ricans, told Latinos to learn how to take a joke and that he had not heard the comment. Donald Trump, who was at Madison Square Garden, also said he had never heard the comment and really never clarified, never apologized, never acknowledged, just kind of moved on.

So, the difference is tomorrow we're not going to be talking about this because it's no big deal. It's completely out of step with the campaign that Kamala Harris is running. But we are still going to be talking, and in Pennsylvania, Puerto Ricans are still going to be talking and feeling the reverberations of what happened at that Madison Square Garden rally.

Today, Nicky Jam, a pretty big Puerto Rican singer with 43 million followers on Instagram who had come out last month to endorse Donald Trump. Remember, he's the guy who he thought was a girl, called her a woman. Well, he came out today and withdrew his endorsement, renounced it, and said that Puerto Rico must be respected. So, these two, you can't compare these two.

BLITZER: Yes, that's an important point. Alex Thompson is with us as well. Are you hearing frustration, Alex, from your sources in the Harris campaign that the vice president has to spend some time cleaning up President Biden's comments?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I've received many profanity-laced text messages late last night and this morning in response to this, because they felt that the event last night had gone really well, a huge enthusiastic crowd of 75,000 people. But, you know, I've been talking to people in both camps for the last two weeks, and the reason this came about is because of the fraught dynamic between the Biden world and the Harris world right now.

The Biden team has really had trouble adjusting to being in a supporting role after he went off the ticket. Joe Biden himself wants to campaign for her and Harris' team has kept him at arm's length, worried that he is an undisciplined candidate and an unpopular candidate. But Joe Biden wants to get out there in part because of his ego, but in part because he knows his legacy is very caught up in Harris winning and he wants to be part of the campaign.

The Harris campaign wants to say, hey, just take a break, don't do anything the last week and this is how we got to this place.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. Everybody stand by. We have more to discuss.

And just ahead, we'll dig deeper into CNN's exclusive new battleground polls and what they reveal right now about the Harris-Trump race.

Plus, fresh from the Harris rally in North Carolina today, the state's Democratic Governor Roy Cooper is standing by to join us live from his battleground state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

BLITZER: We're following breaking news on dueling Kamala Harris and Donald Trump events in Wisconsin tonight with the election now less than a week away. CNN's new battleground state polls show the vice president has the same advantage over Trump in Wisconsin that she had back in August, her lead in Michigan also holding steady. And in Pennsylvania, our new polls shows Harrison Trump are tied just as they were this summer.

Let's get back to our political experts for some serious analysis. David Axelrod, the margins in these states are essentially the same as they were back in August. But now, look at this, just 6 percent of Wisconsin voters say they're movable, 7 percent of Michigan voters, 8 percent of Pennsylvania voters say they're movable. How does the Harris campaign expand its margins with this relatively small sliver of voters?

AXELROD: Well, look, I think part of what she was trying to do last night was make an argument that might attract those voters and the idea is to link some of these character issues of Trump, this fixation on his enemies, and on settling scores, and on vengeance, and assign a cost to it in terms of the ability to work with others to get things done, and to actually address the problems that are touching people's lives. That was part of what she was trying to communicate last night, what I think she'll continue to communicate.

[18:20:00]

But, Wolf, at this point, this is also a ground war. These races are very close. The margins in these polls in Michigan and Wisconsin are a little bit larger than some of the other polls that are out there and some of the other polls I've seen.

I think these are all very, very close races and they're going to be determined by organizational efforts and who comes out to vote in these states. And, you know, I think I expect you'll see President Obama in some of these states again, and all of these folks who are geared toward turnout as well. This is a turnout election now, and it's going to be a battle in the trenches.

BLITZER: Ana, take a look at the remarkable gender gap in these blue wall states as well, Harris leading with women, Trump with men in Wisconsin. The gap is very dramatic. What does that tell you?

NAVARRO: It tells me that women are very worried about their reproductive health and their rights. It tells me that women are excited about voting for a woman, a qualified woman for president. Look, I think that Nikki Haley had some very wise words today for Donald Trump, except he doesn't want to hear, saying, the way you are campaigning, you've got the bros already. You've got the crypto bros already. Expand the tent. But that's not something he wants to do.

On the opposite side you see Kamala Harris who's got all hands on deck trying to precisely do that. And today, she's got three rallies. Tomorrow, she's got two huge rallies with very big Latin stars. Los Tigres del Norte and Mana are going to be with her in Nevada and in Arizona.

BLITZER: Ana, I'm going to interrupt you for a moment. Stand by for a moment. Trump is answering some questions from reporters.

TRUMP: Joe Biden, to make that statement, it's really a disgrace.

(CROSSTALKS)

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) military could be used, military or active guardsmen to be used on Election Day, if necessary. Can you explain what you mean by that? TRUMP: You know, I don't think they'll have to be used. I think we're going to have a big victory. And I think 250 million people in this country are going to be very happy, because we're going to bring the country back. We're a nation in decline, very, very serious decline. And we're going to bring our country back.

REPORTER: Did you know that Elon Musk was in close contact with President Putin? Did you know about this? Did you know about Elon Musk at all (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: No, I don't know. Elon is a great guy. He's one of our geniuses, and we have to protect our geniuses. We have to take care of our geniuses. There aren't too many of them.

Yes, please?

REPORTER: President Trump, do you owe the people of Puerto Rico an apology for what the comedian said?

TRUMP: No, I love Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico loves me. I don't know anything about a comedian. I just -- I love Puerto Rico. Nobody's done more for Puerto Rico than me. I took care of them when they had the big hurricanes. And nobody gets along better with Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican people than me. They love me and I love them.

Go ahead.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: About what?

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: I don't know anything about the comedian. I don't know who he is. I've never seen him. I heard he made a statement but it was just a statement that he made. He's a comedian. What can I tell you? I know nothing about him. I don't know why he's there. You put comedians up and I guess he went on earlier to the show. I don't know who he is.

REPORTER: Is Steve Bannon going to campaign (INAUDIBLE)?

TRUMP: I don't know, but I think he's a terrific guy. I think he was treated very unfairly.

REPORTER: You've been talking about Democrats cheating. Can you imagine any circumstances under which you would be defeated but not say that the election was stolen?

TRUMP: If it was a corrupt election, that could happen. But so far, we're doing pretty well. 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's been taken care of.

REPORTER: You called for law enforcement to investigate. I was going to say do you anticipate to declare a victory on election night? TRUMP: I hope that we're going to declare a victory. I mean, they spend all that money on machines. Paper ballots cost you 8 percent of what a machine costs, 8 percent. And it's encrypted paper. It's watermark paper. It's very secure. Your elections would be over at 10:00 and that's when the -- you can announce something and there would be no question.

And we're not talking about more money. We're talking about a tiny fraction of the money. You want paper, ideally. You want one day voting. And I think it's just very important. You have to have the country and you have to have voter I.D. and you have a great election. And you're talking about 8 percent of the cost. It's like very sad when you get machines, you pay all that money, and they talk about that three days later.

[18:25:02]

I think we're going to have a big enough victory to maybe have it that night. You should always have it be, you know, every night. If you look at France, 38 million votes, at 10:00 in the evening, it was over, all paper ballots, all voter I.D., one day voting, and it was over. How do you like my garbage truck?

This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden.

REPORTER: President Trump, you asked for law enforcement to investigate in Pennsylvania. If they find no evidence of cheating, will you accept the result if you lose?

TRUMP: Well, I guess they had quite a few ballots, 2,600 ballots, where the same person was signing them.

REPORTER: But if they find no evidence of cheating, will you accept the results?

TRUMP: From Pennsylvania, certainly. Oh, if they find no evidence of cheating anywhere, I'll accept the results. I hope that's going to be the case. Win, lose, or draw, I hope that's going to be the case.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: Now, listen, I have to do something because Brett Favre is a great guy. He just endorsed me and he's very important at this moment. I mean, you know, he's got he's got a little problem for himself and I thought it was very brave that he came out and I want to go over and see Brett Favre. We're all going together. I assume you're going over. I'm going to make a speech.

We're going to then try and beat the weather out because we have some bad weather coming in. But I just wanted to let you know that 250 million people, that's what I think the real number is for making America great again, 250 million, the real number, they don't think in terms of garbage, okay? They don't use terms like that. And it's a shame. And Joe Biden should be ashamed of himself if he knows what he's even doing. And she should be ashamed because she shouldn't let him do it. She's the vice president, but I assume she's acting as the president. She should never have let that happen.

I hope you enjoyed this garbage truck. Thank you very much.

BLITZER: All right. Trump sitting in a garbage truck in Green Bay, Wisconsin, getting ready to deliver his speech, answering a few questions from reporters.

Kristen Holmes is there in Green Bay for us. Kristen, what's your analysis based on what we just heard from Trump.

HOLMES: Wolf, my analysis is exactly what we talked about before. They are trying to milk this for every single drop that they can. They want this to turn into what happened in 2016 when Hillary Clinton said that Trump supporters were a basket of deplorables. I cannot stress enough how we have spent the last year. We have talked about how Puerto Ricans have been pulling back from Donald Trump, how they have been calling for him to issue an apology, how that he has not condemned those remarks in any way.

Now, he has flipped the script. He is trying to change the narrative and he is trying to latch on to these garbage comments to try to drive people out to polling places so that they cast their ballots and get the everyone who was already somewhat interested in him more energized and getting to the polls.

BLITZER: All right. Kristen, stand by we'll get back to you and we'll take a quick break. We'll be right back

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

BLITZER: Kamala Harris went on the offensive in North Carolina today, holding a rally in Raleigh as she tries to pick off a state Donald Trump narrowly held back in 2020.

Joining us now is North Carolina's Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. Governor, thanks so much for joining us.

I know you've been publicly pretty optimistic about Harris' chances in your home state of North Carolina, but yesterday, her campaign actually removed, we're told, some $2 million in ad buys in North Carolina. And one of Trump's campaign managers posted this in response, and I'm quoting now, Kamala Harris, giving up on North Carolina, pulling money out.

So, governor, is is that is what happening?

GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): No, sir. That is not true. And in fact, the Harris campaign is increased its buy in North Carolina. She's here today. She's coming Saturday. Tim Walz is here today. And if you don't think Donald Trump is worried about North Carolina, why has he and J.D. Vance been here time after time after time? They know that North Carolina is on the razor's edge. There's an excitement here today, just like there was in 2008 when Barack Obama won North Carolina. She's going to win this thing. Donald Trump knows it and they have doubled down the Harris campaign. We have a great door-to-door, telephoning, get out the vote organization here. And they're continuing to run ads on T.V.

Look, I like to watch the World Series. I kept seeing one after the other last night.

BLITZER: A new economic report, Governor, released today shows that the U.S. economy is growing while inflation is cooling. Voters have consistently ranked the economy, as you know, as the number one issue in this campaign. But is this positive economic news too late for Kamala Harris, especially in North Carolina?

COOPER: No, it's not because she has been emphasizing that she is going to be focused on lowering costs for the middle class, lowering costs on prescription drugs, on groceries. Her plan of attack has been very specific and I think it's catching on. You add to that the jobs that have been created here in North Carolina, the fact that gas prices are dropping. I think as we roll to Election Day and as people continue to vote this week, this positive economic news, along with the plan that Kamala Harris has for our economy is going to tip the balance.

[18:35:05]

And, you know, there are a lot of people right now who are undecided. I know it's hard for those of us in politics to believe that that's the case, but it's true. There are a lot of people who don't like things about both candidates.

When you look at Harris' economic plan, and when you listen to the ultra conservative leaders who worked with Donald Trump as president, his chief of staff, his attorney general, his military generals, even his vice president, telling us that Donald Trump does not need to be president again, that he's dangerous, that he's a threat to the Constitution.

There are a lot of people who haven't decided yet, who love our country, love our democracy, love our Constitution, they should listen to these leaders because Donald Trump's not going to make the same mistake again. He's got a lot of yes men he can put in these positions who let him do anything he wants. It's so important now for people to go to the polls and vote for Kamala Harris as president of the United States.

BLITZER: Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina, thank you so much for joining us, especially during these busy days. I appreciate it very much.

And just ahead, CNN's John King is standing by to join us live here in The Situation Room from the battleground state of Wisconsin. We'll get his insights on one of the closest contests in the race for the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00] BLITZER: Tonight, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are in Wisconsin as both candidates try to close the deal in these final six days of the campaign. According to our CNN poll of polls average in the state, neither one holds a clear advantage.

I want to bring in CNN's John King who's been on a whirlwind tour of battleground states for us. John, today you're joining us from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This is your fifth trip to the Badger State this year. What are voters telling you now and is it different than your earlier visits?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's different about it now is early voting is underway here, Wolf, through Friday. We stopped by one side in Milwaukee today, pretty healthy lines, consistent voters showing up there.

Look, this is a very complicated state. I have my friend, the mini magic wall, with me. Let me bring up the state of Wisconsin. You see all those counties. There are 72 counties in Wisconsin. Joe Biden won this state in 2020, even though he won only 13 of those.

So, how did he do that, 13 out of 72? Well, the Democratic Foundation is here where I am in the city of Milwaukee. That is the largest county is the foundation of the Democratic base, African-American voters. Can you get high turnout and high victory margins?

Well, we met earlier today. Zakiya Courtney is her name. She's a vegan soul food chef in the heart of north side Milwaukee, predominantly black neighborhoods. She says the energy and excitement here matches, maybe even exceeds 2008 in Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZAKIYA COURTNEY, WISCONSIN VOTER: And now with this election, it's the same thing. You know, first female, you know, president, the first, you know, African-American president, first president of Asian descent, all of that combined together. But outside of her ethnicity and her race is what it is that she stands for, you know, and how it is that we, as working people or middle class people, can benefit from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So, Wolf, that's challenge number one for Harris, turn out a big vote in the black communities in Milwaukee.

Then you move out to the suburbs. This is Waukesha. Let me bring this up, Waukesha County, just to the west of Milwaukee. You see Donald Trump won it with nearly 60 percent of the vote in 2020. But Joe Biden did better than Hillary Clinton did. Those margins matter in the suburbs. In our new poll, Vice President Harris is actually holding her own a little better than that in the suburbs right now.

But we met today with the CEO of a startup coffee company out there. Adrian Deasy is his name. He has twice voted for Obama, but this will be his third vote for Trump. He says Trump is better for business, and he believes Trump is running stronger in the suburbs this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIAN DEASY, WISCONSIN VOTER: I am very much a Make America Great Again. I'm a small business. I'm an entrepreneur. I like to create things, build things, grow a business. And I think that America is the best place in the world to do that. And so I think that he really gels with that mindset. And so I would say, yes. Does he have some downfalls? Does he have some character or personality, things that go on? For sure. But I would say you have to separate the message from the messenger sometimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So, Wolf, Wisconsin, one of the blue wall states, right, Donald Trump won all three. Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania in 2016, he was president. Joe Biden flipped them all back to blue in 2020, he won the presidency. They are huge battlegrounds this time as well as we head into the final days.

BLITZER: And as you point out, John, a huge part of this race will be decided in the suburbs. Tell us why they are so key for both Trump and Harris.

KING: Right. So, if you look at this state here, number one, you know, Waukesha County is the third largest county in the state. So Milwaukee and Dane, where the University of Wisconsin is, those are your Democratic strongholds, right? Democrats need to run it up there. But then Republicans traditionally win this state by performing in the suburbs. Go back to the 2018 midterms, right? Nancy Pelosi was speaker because Donald Trump struggled in the suburbs. Donald Trump's struggles continued in 2020.

A defining question in this election, can Trump improve his standing just a little bit? If Harris holds where she is in our poll now, Wolf, she's in pretty strong shape.

BLITZER: All right. John King on the scene for us, I appreciate it very, very much.

Coming up, is Donald Trump's embrace of what's called bro culture backfiring? Why some of Trump's own supporters are warning him against reaching out to young men with rather crude and misogynistic messages.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:48:46]

BLITZER: With huge gender gap in this year's presidential election, Donald Trump's outreach to male voters is drawing criticism from his former rival, Nikki Haley, who's warning Trump his campaign is making women uncomfortable.

Brian Todd has more on Trump's bid for the so-called "bro vote".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New warnings from some key female supporters of Donald Trump about an apparent political strategy to reach younger male voters.

NIKKI HALEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This bromance and masculinity stuff, I mean, it borders on edgy to the point that it's going to make women uncomfortable.

TODD: Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, weighing in on racist, vile, and misogynistic remarks at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally. Much of it targeting Kamala Harris.

GRANT CARDONE, BUSINESSMAN, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Her and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.

HULK HOGAN, PRO WRESTLER, TRUMP SUPPORTER: When I hear Kamala speak, it sounds -- yeah. It sounds like a script from Hollywood with a really, really -- bad actress.

TODD: Conservative commentator, Megyn Kelly, also raising concerns about the rally.

MEGYN KELLY, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: It was too bro-tastic, okay?

[18:50:03]

It was. You clean up the bro talk just a little, so you don't alienate women.

TODD: Some analysts say, Trump has really been leaning into the bro culture recently between his cruelty.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You're a shit vice president.

TODD: And his hyper-masculinity like when he praised the physical attributes of a late hall of fame golfer.

TRUMP: Arnold Palmer was all man. When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, oh my god.

TODD: Trump's male allies have joined him. Tucker Carlson referring to the former president as dad.

TUCKER CARLSON, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST: When dad gets home, you know what he says? You've been a bad girl. You've been a bad little girl and you're getting a vigorous spanking, right now.

TODD: So what exactly is the so-called bro vote?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Targeting young men who through a variety of measures polling shows are more alienated from opportunity, from government, in many ways, even from community.

TODD: And analysts say there is a real targeted strategy by the Trump campaign on this. MERIDITH MCGRAW, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: And the Trump campaign is really focusing on young men who they think could be critical to get him over the edge on November 5th and they're seeing data that young men are skewing more conservative, and that's really informed a lot of their strategy here in this final stretch.

TODD: Trump has spent precious time talking to podcasters who appeal to young men like Joe Rogan. But it's a strategy that could backfire.

MCGRAW: We've already seen some criticism said that the Trump campaigns focus on the bro vote, could alienate young women or female voters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Kamala Harris, meanwhile, has been doubling down on her targeting of women, with the language she uses and her appearances, speaking off on about abortion rights and appearing on shows like "The View" and popular podcasts like "Call Her Daddy", and "The Shade Room" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Brian Todd, thank you very much.

And we'll be right back

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:56:23]

BLITZER: A brand new, very revealing biography of outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is shedding new light on the powerful politician's complicated relationship with Donald Trump whom he once called a sleazeball but now supports.

Joining us now is Michael Tackett. He is the author of the new book, very important book entitled "The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America and Lost His Party".

Michael, thanks very much for coming in.

Excellent new book that I've gone through. He's very critical of Trump, Mitch McConnell, as you know, especially the wake of the January 6 insurrection, the riot up on Capitol Hill. And you quote him, McConnell as describing that event and I'm quoting you now, a shocking occurrence and further evidence of Donald Trump's complete unfitness for office. That's Mitch McConnell.

So why is McConnell now supporting Trump?

MICHAEL TACKETT, AUTHOR, "THE PRICE OF POWER": He really thought he had no choice. His choice was if he wanted to stay as leader in the Senate, he couldn't not support the Republican nominee. A lot of people find that very unsatisfying, but that was his reason.

BLITZER: But do you believe that the McConnell is sincere in his support for Trump or just talking? TACKETT: You haven't seen him out stumping for him. I would call it

like a half throated endorsement as opposed to a full-throated one.

BLITZER: They have a complicated relationship Trump and McConnell as all of us know. Here are some of the things Trump has said about him over -- over these months. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We do have to do something about Mitch McConnell. He's -- he is a disaster.

These Washington Republicans like Mitch McConnell, who is the absolute worst.

I had a fight Mitch McConnell, another beauty.

Mitch McConnell and his wife, Coco Chao, Coco, we got to get the McConnells of the world to do their job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And the almost racist comment about Mitch McConnell's wife. How does he deal with that?

TACKETT: Oh, he was a furious about it and he also said that his wife wasn't really used to getting bank around like he is because in the Senate, you know, he catches a lot of slings and arrows. But this time it was very personal, deeply personal.

BLITZER: And she served in Trump's cabinet?

TACKETT: Yes, and then resigned after January the 6th. And so this is a really complicated time for McConnell. And, he ends up saying, well, three years ago, I said I would endorse the Republican nominee, he thought after January the 6th that Trump would fade from the scene. It ended up being the worst miscalculation of his career.

BLITZER: And McConnell notes in your excellent book, how the GOP has changed from Reagan's Republican Party. Does he think that can be reversed now and go back to what Reagan was all about?

TACKETT: I don't think he thinks that, but I do think he thinks there are fights to be had, and one of those fights would be on Ukraine, to sustain the United States role in the world, to become -- you know, still be part of alliances, to be, you know, forward leaning in that respect, robust national defense. But it won't be easy.

BLITZER: After McConnell, what does the post leadership in the Senate look like? And you write a little bit about that in your new book.

TACKETT: You know, we really don't know yet. There's going to be quite a struggle and a lot of its going to depend on what happens on November the 5th.

BLITZER: What do you think? TACKETT: Well, I think that the Republicans have two directions they

can go. If they go the direction of Mitch McConnell, there'll be one Republican Party. If they go the direction of Donald Trump, there'll be another.

BLITZER: How does he deal with all the criticism he's been getting, McConnell, from Trump?

TACKETT: You know, he -- he really is pretty immune to that. He makes very clinical decisions. He divorces the emotion from the decision. That's one of the reasons he's been effective.

It's really hard to be a party leader in Congress because you have to represent the party's cause more than your own cause.

BLITZER: Thanks for writing this book. Michael, appreciate it --

TACKETT: Thank you very.

BLITZER: -- very, very much.

And once again, the book is entitled, "The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America and Lost His Party".

Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT' starts right now.