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The Situation Room

Harris Defends True Patriot Liz Cheney After Trump Attack; Inside Trump's Push To Close Huge Gender Gap In Final Days of Race; John King In Pennsylvania As He Hits Battlegrounds In Five Days; Supreme Court Rules Pennsylvania May Count Back-Up Votes When Mail Ballots Are Rejected; Trump: Anti-Vaccine RFK Jr. Would Have "Big Role" In Health Care. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 01, 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, Kamala Harris is defending Liz Cheney as a, quote, true patriot after Donald Trump took his violent rhetoric to a new extreme, suggesting the former Republican congresswoman should be fired upon.

We're also taking a closer look at the massive gender gap in this year's presidential campaign, what sources close to Trump are now telling CNN about the former president's laser focus on appealing to young men, potentially at the expense of more reliable female voters.

Also this hour, we'll check in with CNN's John King on the fifth and final leg of his battleground tour. John is now in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state for both presidential campaigns.

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 our coverage tonight with a fallout from Donald Trump's latest attack on Liz Cheney, the former Republican representative turned Harris supporter. CNN journalists are covering both campaigns in battleground Wisconsin right now, one of a handful of states that will decide this historic race.

First, let's bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes. She's following the Trump campaign for us in Milwaukee right now. Kristen, Trump has been responding to questions about his ugly Cheney comments throughout the day.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, that's right. And one of the things that's so surprising about this is when is the last time you heard Donald Trump actually try to clean up his own remarks. Generally, he says something and then lets his campaign deal with the fallout. But this clearly has an impact that his campaign and he think could potentially touch voters who are heading to the polls in just a matter of days in some states already there before he even commented on it, he posted on Truth Social trying to clarify those remarks. Then he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think that Liz Cheney is a disaster. All she wants to do is blow people up. She's a war hawk and a dumb one at that. And if you ever put her into the field of battle, she'd be the first one to chicken out. She wouldn't fight, she'd chicken out so fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, they're clearly trying to clean up some of what he said last night. They have been calling me since 5:00 in the morning, trying to characterize and clarify and contextualize all of that information. I do want to play for you the remarks themselves in full of what he said about Liz Cheney last night at that event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrel shooting at her, okay? Let's see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face. You know, they're all war hawks when they're sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, oh gee, well, let's send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, according to the campaign, these are remarks that others have said before, using the term chicken hawk, somebody who talks about war, but would never go to war themselves. But, of course, because it's Donald Trump and he has used violent rhetoric in the past, that is part of the reason it is so hard to clean up these kinds of remarks. He hasn't built a lot of goodwill, particularly given that he has called Democrats the enemy within. He has said he would seek retribution and revenge.

But they are trying to move forward, move away from these remarks, particularly in the last four days of this campaign. They want to be focused on anything else, particularly here in Wisconsin. They want to be really focused on the economy, immigration, and crime. We'll see what Donald Trump does when he takes the stage here in just a matter of hours.

BLITZER: Kristen Holmes in Milwaukee for us, we'll get back to you, thank you very much.

I want to bring in our Senior White House Correspondent M.J. Lee right now. M.J. is also in Wisconsin tonight tracking the Harris campaign. How is the vice president reacting to all of this, M.J.?

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was yet another day on the campaign trail where Vice President Kamala Harris had to respond to the latest incendiary comments from the former president. As soon as her plane landed here in Wisconsin a few hours ago, she gave a brief response to the former president, saying that he would like to see guns aimed at Liz Cheney's face. The vice president saying that these comments were disqualifying and also warning that the president -- the former president's rhetoric recently is only getting worse by the day.

[18:05:07]

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He has increased his violent rhetoric, Donald Trump has, about political opponents and in great detail, in great detail, suggested rifles should be trained on former Representative Liz Cheney. This must be disqualifying.

His rhetoric has grown more extreme and he is even less focused than before on the needs and the concerns and the challenges facing the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Liz Cheney, of course, is one of the most prominent Republicans to have endorsed the vice president this cycle, the vice president referring to her as a courageous and tough patriot who put country over party.

Something else, Wolf, that the Harris team is wary about right now is the possibility and actually the real likelihood, according to the campaign, that Donald Trump is going to declare victory prematurely as early as Tuesday next week. The campaign is trying to project calm and confidence about what they expect as potential chaos and confusion that Donald Trump and his campaign could try to sow next week.

They are talking to reporters about the fact that they have had a legal team, for example, in place since 2020 to try to be prepared for all different kinds of misinformation, disinformation, potential lawsuits, other kinds of confusing rhetoric that could come from the Trump campaign, essentially saying they are prepared for anything and everything that could come from the Trump campaign.

I should quickly note, we are in the Milwaukee area, actually just five miles away from where Kristen was reporting from, it just goes to show you these dueling rallies how important the state is going to be come next week. Wolf?

BLITZER: Wisconsin clearly a key battleground state right now. M.J. Lee, thank you very, very much.

Our political experts are joining us for some analysis right now, and let me start with Jamie Gangel, who's very well plugged in into all of this. So, Liz Cheney, as you know, Jamie, reacted by saying in part, and I'm quoting her now, this is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death with a notable hash tag, as she said, women will not be silenced. What are you hearing from your sources about all of this?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So, first of all, on both sides of the aisle, when I've been speaking to Democrats and Republicans, they do say that this is dangerous political rhetoric, that there is no place for it Republican sources have said to me, it also hurts Donald Trump to be saying something like this four days before the election. This does not, as one source said to me, help close the deal with those critical independent, suburban women voters and swing voters.

One other thing that a source mentioned to me, Wolf, is that there is real concern about what this means for a second Trump term. As we've reported it's believed the guardrails will be gone. There will be no General Kelly Mattis, General Milley, Vice President Mike Pence. And so they're really worried that this forecasts what Trump would do.

One last thing a source close to Liz Cheney pointed out to me this afternoon that we have to notice that Donald Trump goes after her over and over again. The source said to me this is because she gets under his skin and because he has no defense for what he did on January 6th. Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, very important reporting. Thank you very much for that.

Scott Jennings, let me get your analysis. You worked for the Bush- Cheney administration. You know, Liz Cheney, and I believe you do respect her. Is this kind of talk from a former and potentially future president of the United States acceptable to you?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you're right. I do know Liz Cheney and I do respect her and I don't begrudge her views on this, but I personally think that any fair review of this remark is really simple. He was making a crude, if well worn, argument that often comes from the anti-war left. And that I heard repeatedly during the bush years about politicians who vote to authorize wars being forced to fight in them. It's called the chicken hawk argument. It's been around probably since Vietnam or maybe before.

So, I actually disagree with the argument. I think it's a bumper sticker way of dealing with complex matters of national security. So, here I am a Republican, who disagrees with Trump, but I'm absolutely appalled by the disinformation about what he actually said. It started with a deceptively edited clip this morning and took off like wildfire. He did not call for her to be put in front of a firing squad. That did not happen. Even his most persistent critics, some of them today, have admitted as much.

[18:10:02]

I think this episode, Wolf, to be honest, goes on the ever expanding bonfire of credibility of the hysterical anti-Trump left. And I think the people pushing this today, honestly, Wolf, are one of the principal reasons I'm going to wind up voting for Trump. I don't like -- if you want to criticize this man, there's plenty. You do not have to make things up to criticize Donald Trump, and I think some of it, frankly, was spun up to distract from a terrible jobs report, if you want my honest opinion.

BLITZER: Scott, with all due respect, if you listen to that full statement that Trump delivered last night, he's evoking the image of Liz Cheney, his political enemy, being shot in the face. He claims says she's guilty of treason. He said that before and said she should be jailed. Are you really suggesting his primary disagreement with her is her foreign policy, her national security views, rather than her criticism of him over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election?

JENNINGS: Like I said, I think it was a crude remark, I think it's a well-worn argument, and I don't agree with the actual policy argument that he is making. But the way this has been spun today, that he called for her to be put in front of a firing squad, simply is not true. She probably hates Donald Trump more than anybody in this election. And I don't begrudge her her views. She has strongly held convictions, but so does he. And he's running an anti-war campaign. And the people who dislike him the most have come from the more pro- war wing of the Republican Party. And that is a big dividing line in this party right now.

So, crude, I don't like the argument, but I think this has been totally spun out of control today.

BLITZER: Mandela Barnes is with us as well. He's the former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, where all these candidates are out there tonight. What's your response to that, Mandela?

LT. GOV. MANDELA BARNES (D-WI): Well, my thing is how many lines does the former president gets across. He's went into some very obscene places, not just in this campaign cycle, but in every election cycle that he's participated in, he has called for violence before. This isn't anything new. So, even if -- you know, even if Scott is right, even if it wasn't as bad as people are making it out to be, this is certainly not the first time. And it's not even the worst thing that the former president has said.

So, I think he should be fully held accountable for his words. He's called in many instances for his political opponents to have violence visited upon them. And this especially happens with women who whom he disagrees with.

So, I think that the former president knew exactly what he was saying. He knew exactly what type of picture he was trying to paint. And he knew exactly who he was talking to when saying that. If we are to dismiss this, we are to also dismiss the rhetoric around January 6 in his rally leading up to the assault on the Capitol. So, of course, people are going to take every single word he says in this manner seriously, as we should.

BLITZER: Sarah Matthews is with us as well. I'm anxious to get her thoughts. Sarah, what impact do you think this will have on disaffected Republicans and swing voters who, like you, aren't supporting Trump because they think his conduct goes way too far?

SARAH MATTHEWS, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: There's a reason that Donald Trump is trying to clean up these remarks. And as Kristen Holmes noted earlier in the program, that doesn't happen often, that he will walk something back or try to clean something up. Usually, he'll double down on things like this. And so, clearly, I know his campaign advisers are telling him, look, you need to walk this back. You need to make clear what you were trying to say. But in my view, in these highly charged times that we live in, I don't care if he disagrees with Liz Cheney's foreign policy and what point he was trying to make. It is unacceptable to suggest that nine barrels should be pointed at her in the face. And this is someone that he has already said should face a war tribunal.

And this isn't the only person that has criticized him, who he has kind of alluded to wanting to go after. His own former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, he has suggested that he should face execution, okay? So, this is someone who is unhinged, increasingly unstable.

And so I do think that these remarks, I don't care what the context is, they're unacceptable. And this kind of rhetoric should be condemned. And it is really pathetic in my view that the Republican colleagues who served with Liz Cheney are defending these remarks and aren't saying, hey, you know what? We need to tone it down because I remember a lot of Republicans after two assassination attempts taken toward Donald Trump, who were saying we need to bring down the rhetoric and bring down the tone. Okay, so where are the calls then for the same? Because I don't think that under any context, you should say that guns should be pointed at someone's face.

BLITZER: A good point. And on that point, Jamie, why aren't more Republicans speaking out on this?

GANGEL: So, different Republicans have different issues. Some of them have privately said to us in the past that they are scared of Donald Trump. They fear for their own safety. Some of them want to stay in power, get reelected.

We did reach out to former President George W. Bush's office, and he declined to comment. The office said he declined to comment about this, which is notable because, after all, Liz Cheney's father was his vice president. Liz Cheney worked in the State Department.

We do not know the reasons why President Bush declined to comment. I don't think there is any -- he is not a supporter of Donald Trump. His daughter is campaigning for Kamala Harris. But people want to stay out of it.

BLITZER: Good point. Everybody stand by. We're going to have more on all of this coming up.

Also just ahead, there's new CNN reporting right now with a closer look inside the Trump campaign, the question the former president is asking about women voters as polls show a large gender gap.

Also we'll take a closer look and have a conversation with a key supporter of the Harris campaign, the Wisconsin governor. Tony Evers, he's standing by live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

BLITZER: Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are in Wisconsin tonight, a sign of just how important its ten electoral votes are in the race for the White House.

Joining us now, Wisconsin's Democratic Governor Tony Evers. Governor, thank you so much for joining us.

Kamala Harris is calling Trump's comments that Liz Cheney should be fired upon clearly disqualifying. There's been relative silence though from Republicans about these violent and ugly comments. Why do you think that is?

GOV. TONY EVERS (D-WI): Well, probably because they're embarrassed about it. And thanks for having me, Wolf, really important, important comments. They just come seemingly every week and maybe even more so from the former president. And I just think they're -- I think the Republicans don't respond because they don't know, they don't know what to say. They're not going to be criticizing Donald Trump because that'll be the end of their political career. So, we'll just -- obviously we'll condemn it.

But, you know, Wolf, one of the things that does bother me about it is during this every day, every week conversation about what he has said, you know, there's kids around the state of Wisconsin, around this country, frankly, are thinking that that's appropriate behavior. And believe me that is inappropriate behavior. And he just needs to end it, but, frankly, it'll never happen. I mean, that's part of his DNA.

BLITZER: It's really ugly, indeed. In our new CNN poll from your state, the Badger State, Kamala Harris leads Trump 51 to 45 percent. That's a relatively slim lead in a must-win state for her. But I'll remind you that in the final CNN poll of the presidential campaign back in 2020, President Biden held an even larger, eight-point, lead at this time, but would just eke out a very narrow win of less than one point. Given that, Governor, are you confident Kamala Harris will win your state of Wisconsin?

EVERS: Well, of course, I am, but it is going to be close. We are a purple state. You know, last time I won by 3 percent, the time before, that it was 1 percent. And so we're a purple state. I anticipate this is going to go right down to the wire.

Do I think Kamala Harris is going to win? Absolutely, but it is going to be really close. We're spending our time making sure people vote early if possible and also making sure that they get out to vote and really talk to their neighbors about this. This is this is a really important race for Wisconsin and for our country. We're not holding back thinking it's going to be a cakewalk because it is not. It's going to be close. We're working very hard every single day to make sure that she wins.

BLITZER: CNN has learned, Governor, that former President Obama will travel to Milwaukee on Sunday as part of an effort to boost turnout in Wisconsin. Is there a concern among Democrats about the early voting numbers there? EVERS: Not necessarily. I mean, I think it's about even what it has been in the past. We welcome President Obama. In fact, I'll be there with him. And it's always great to have him here. Certainly, he has lots of support in the Milwaukee area, and we anticipate that he will bring out, you know, making sure that people vote.

But at the end of the day, it is really important that we listen to the messages that the Democrats, whether it's President Obama, whether it's the vice president, you name it, we have to make sure our voices are heard, and, frankly, getting people out to vote. This is an all- hands-on-deck for Democrats here in Wisconsin, and we're doing a good job. I'm really pleased with the things we've heard.

You know, early voting in the campuses across the state of Wisconsin is going well. I think that that bodes well for Wisconsin, but we are taking nothing for granted.

BLITZER: And you shouldn't. In a public statement released today, the U.S. intelligence community warned that Russians were behind recent fake videos claiming to show voter fraud here in the United States. Are you seeing disinformation swirling in your state of Wisconsin, Governor? And how are election workers prepared to handle that?

EVERS: Yes. Well, the good thing about our election workers, they are local and they're our friends and neighbors. They're just regular people doing a good job. And, yes, our voter workers, the people that are working in the polls, are doing a great job. Anytime we hear of something that might be disconcerting and, frankly, you know, being put together out of this country and making it more difficult for people to vote, we get out there and talk about that right away, providing that information to people.

It is really important and people can check on that by going to myvote.com here in the state of Wisconsin,

[18:25:01]

BLITZER: Wisconsin, Governor Tony Evers, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it very much.

EVERS: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up, new reporting on the concern inside Donald Trump's campaign about the gender gap prompting the former president to ask close allies this question, why women don't like him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're now getting a behind the scenes look at Donald Trump's strategy to close the massive gender gap in these, the closing days of the campaign. Sources tell CNN the former president has been asking allies why women don't like him as polls show female voters breaking heavily for Kamala Harris.

[18:30:02] Our political experts are back with us for some more analysis. And, Sarah, let me start once again with you. Why does Trump -- if Trump is aware that he has a problem with women, why does he keep making comments like that he will be women's protector, quote, whether they like it or not?

MATTHEWS: Yes. What I found really interesting about those remarks when he said it was he was saying, oh, well, my people, I pay them a lot of money, they keep telling me it's inappropriate to say that. And so the Trump campaign is trying because they know they clearly have an issue with women and trying to get him to change that language.

But that language is so condescending when you're saying to women, I'll be your protector whether you like it or not. What it means to someone like me is that Donald Trump doesn't think that women can speak for ourselves that we need his protection when, really, I believe we need protection from him.

And so it's clear that this is why they have a problem with women and the language that he's using. It's not going to resonate with those on the fence female voters who are maybe disaffected Republicans like myself. They find it to be offensive when he uses that type of language. And so it makes a lot of sense why they're struggling and why the gender gap is so wide.

BLITZER: Let me get Scott Jennings back into this conversation. Scott, a key conservative organizer for Trump, Charlie Kirk, said, and I'm quoting him now, early vote has been disproportionately female. If men stay at home, Kamala is president. It's that simple, close quote.

Trump has bet this election on his outreach to men, even though, statistically, women turn out in higher numbers than men do. Could it cost him the election? What do you think?

JENNINGS: Well, yes. I mean, if he loses women by more than he wins men, and women vote more than men do, I mean, it's basic algebra, so you could, you could assume that. I mean, I think there are other divides in this election that are cutting against the Democrats, such as the working class college education divide. And that's why Harris is scrambling among that demographic. I mean, to me, the two biggest divides in the election are gender and this education divide the working class versus, you know, the more white collar people in this country.

I don't know how it's all going to turn out, to be honest with you. I've seen different polls this week. Some have larger gender gaps than others. Some are smaller depending on the state. But, you know, I think both campaigns are trying to maximize turnout among the groups that they think will vote for them the most. For Harris, it's women. For Trump, it's men. And it's been that way for several months.

BLITZER: Mandela Barnes is with us still, the former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. Mandela, if the polls are right and the gender gap is as big as these polls are suggesting, how much of a Harris victory would be credited to black women. BARNES: Well, so much of it will be credited to black women. But I'll say women, in general, this is just indicative of Donald Trump's misogyny coming home to roost. Women don't want a predator and not to speak for women, but it seems as if women do not want a predator in the highest office of the land. If he feels that he can grab women or feels that he has to protect women, whether they seek his protection or not, I think it's at least off putting at most enough for a person to say, well, look, I may have voted for Republicans in the past, I may still be a Republican, but that is not the type of Republican I want. That is not the kind of person I want leading a country where I am raising children. That is not the kind of country I want to be led, especially raising young women.

But, you know, black women have certainly shown up for the Democratic Party whatever the election outcome has been has been the most consistent demographic and we will surely see a repeat of it with this election. But now we see more women at large across the country be fed up with policies championed by Donald Trump and also echoed by many Republicans running for the U.S. Senate and running for Congress.

Also think about the number of people who have yet to denounce the former president's comments. Those people are running for statehouse seats and other elected office on your ballot. So, please pay attention to those as well.

BLITZER: Jamie, what stands out to you about the Harris campaign's outreach and outreach that's very dramatic to women?

GANGEL: They know where the votes are, and they're already seeing it, Wolf. Look, if we look at the battleground states, more women across the board are turning out in than men. We don't know how they voted yet but that speaks to the gender gap.

The other thing is, to go back to Sarah's point about his tone being offensive, people want to be respected, men and women. The remarks that Donald Trump made this week are not in a vacuum. He has attacked women, called them names for years now.

And the other thing I would add is, we have that personal tone that he puts out there, but there's also the policy question. Reproductive rights, abortion rights, this is a rallying cry for many women.

[18:35:04]

And I think that the campaign, when they tried to get him to walk back these remarks on Liz Cheney, they are aware that, going into these last four days, he should not be alienating women even more, Wolf.

BLITZER: Good point. Mandela, let me get your thoughts on this. Trump, as you probably know, went to Dearborn, Michigan, today to appeal to Arab Americans, as Harris touted her support with that group, even though most advocacy groups haven't endorsed her and are torn up over the wars in Gaza and Lebanon. How precarious is her support with this key group?

BARNES: What I'll say is Donald Trump has been no fan to Muslim voters. I would like to remind people about the Muslim ban. And so for him to show up in this last-minute effort is completely disingenuous, but the entire campaign has been disingenuous. We're talking about a person who has not just stoke fear but literally has tried to alienate Arab Americans, Muslim Americans in an effort to appeal to the ultra right wing of the party in this country.

And so for him to show up there, you know, it just doesn't make sense. It doesn't add up. But none of this adds up. None of this makes sense. And I can assure you this will fall on deaf ears. And I think that Kamala Harris has been making a good effort in doing her outreach to Arab American voters.

BLITZER: Scott Jennings, what do you think?

JENNINGS: Well, I saw that Kamala Harris was advertising one thing to Jewish Americans today, and one thing to Arab Americans today. And I think it speaks to the fact that she's angered people in both communities because of her public waffling and equivocation on the matter. And now she's left to pander here at the 11th hour.

I mean, I want the U.S. government to strongly stand with our ally, Israel, and this terrible situation that they are in the Middle East. And she's tried to have it both ways, and that has led to this last- minute pandering.

And I do think, contrary to what Mr. Barnes said, Trump does have some strength, interestingly, in the Arab American community in Michigan. And I think the campaign believes they have some room to run there. I've seen some polling among Arab Americans and it has showed Trump doing well.

So, I think it's an interesting issue because Michigan, of course, as you know, Wolf, is one of the most important swing states, and who wins is going to have a great chance to win the election.

BLITZER: Michigan, like Wisconsin, like Pennsylvania, all critically important in this battle for 270 electoral votes.

Guys, thank you very, very much.

Just ahead, CNN's John King is live in Pennsylvania, the swing state with the most electoral votes, up for grabs, as he continues his tour of five battleground states in five days. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: The Harris campaign is tapping the very popular Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, for a new T.V. ad in the state during these final days of the presidential campaign. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): This election, it's bigger than us. It's about the future. Do you want more chaos? Or like me, are you ready for some common sense? That's why I'm with Kamala.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Vice President Harris is hoping Governor Shapiro can help her get across the finish line in the state where the latest CNN poll of polls shows the race remains dead even.

Right now, I want to bring in CNN's John King from the final stop of his tour of five battleground states in five days. He's been a very busy guy.

John, you're in Delaware County right now. That's one of the Philadelphia so-called collar counties that could determine this election. What are you seeing? What are you hearing?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a lot of anxiety from the Democrats we've bumped into today. They say they have good turnout, but they're a little nervous again because they lived here in 2016. They thought they had a win. Hillary Clinton lost Pennsylvania, and she lost the presidency. In 2020, of course, Joe Biden won big in these suburbs, and he became president.

Let's use the mini magic wall to pop up where we are. Again, look at all that red in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, right? Donald Trump runs it up in rural Pennsylvania. We know that. He did it in 2016. He did it again in 2020.

So, where am I? I'm south of Philadelphia here in Delaware County. You see Biden got 63 percent of the vote here, right? This is a blue area, but there are pockets of Trump support. The big question is what will the margin be this time in 2024?

Listen here. This is Kristin Caparra. She's a Republican. Her neighborhood used to be Republican. She says she's outnumbered now in Drexel Hill. It's about six miles from here by Democrats. But she is going to vote for Donald Trump. She says she's glad the campaign is going to be over because of all the T.V ads. She wishes the Democrats would vote Trump policies and not be so annoyed by his character.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTIN CAPARRA, TRUMP VOTER, DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: I am. It's been going -- I feel like it's been going on forever, all the endless text messages and the emails. And then now, in a blink, it's upon us.

So, I've already voted. I voted early in Pennsylvania. And, you know, I just -- I wish that everybody could vote. I wish they could, quite honestly, get over some of Trump's bad behavior and look at the broader sense of what he means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: And just up the street from where I'm standing, Wolf, there's a little gift shop, a mercantile shop on the corner. Shannon Elliott is the owner. She has two teenage sons. Her husband lives here as well. She used to be an independent. She's a Democrat now. She says she is nervous and she is worried because she's starting to hear some hints of sexism when people are talking about can they vote for a woman president.

But she wants Harris to win and she says she could never vote for Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHANNON ELLIOTT, HARRIS VOTER, DELAWARE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA: I'm worried about a Trump presidency because I will say that during the years of his presidency, I woke up every day worried, worried that he was going to piss off the wrong person, to be honest, that he was going to just make some mistake that was going to just cost us our democracy, cost us our rights.

[18:45:03]

And I'm more worried about that now because he's been more vocal, more -- more outlandish in terms of things he thinks that we should do to make America great again. And I'm -- I'm on team I'm not going back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: And, Wolf, you know the math here well. Again, you see all that red where Trump runs it up I'm just going to draw a circle here around Philadelphia, and the three collar counties. You know nearly about 40 percent of the vote is going to come right down in there.

And yes, Hillary Clinton did win all these counties back in 2016. But Joe Biden had a bigger margin over Donald Trump. He won the state, won the blue wall, became president. The vote here matters on Tuesday.

BLITZER: It certainly does. John King thank you very, very much. And we'll be right back

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's breaking news just coming in to CNN. A United States Supreme Court decision on voting in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.

[18:50:01]

Let's go right to our senior Supreme Court analyst, Joan Biskupic.

Joan, what did the high court just decide?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SENIOR SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Sure, Wolf. It's good to see you.

This is a rejection of the Republican National Committee's arguments that would have stopped the counting of certain provisional ballots in Pennsylvania, this key state of Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court essentially unanimously said that a state Supreme Court ruling that had said these ballots could be counted should stand. In dispute, Wolf, were ballots that would be cast provisionally after voters had been notified that their mail in ballots were flawed, that they hadn't put their vote inside what's known as a secrecy sleeve before they put the full ballot into the mail. And there had been a dispute over whether those people who had ballots that were essentially voided because of how they voted in error by mail without the secrecy sleeve could do a provisional ballot so that allows these ballots to be counted in Pennsylvania.

And I just want to say that this is a win for the more Democratic interests in the state. And it comes just two days after the Supreme Court actually sided with the Republicans in Virginia and allowed the purging of some 1,600 voters there who were suspected of not being citizens -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yeah, you're absolutely right. In Pennsylvania, this is a clear win for the Democrats, a loss for the Republicans.

I want to bring in CNN legal analyst Steve Vladeck.

Steve, do you expect there to still be some outstanding questions about all of this, even after the Supreme Court ruling?

STEVE VLADECK, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I do, Wolf.

And I think it's worth stressing that the one separate opinion we got from the Supreme Court was a statement by Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justices Thomas and Gorsuch, saying, were not actually deciding very much that there's not a lot we actually can do, given the particular way this case got to the court.

Wolf, if Pennsylvania turns out to be razor thin, where a small category of provisional ballots like what were seeing in these cases might make the difference, this order does not tell us how the Supreme Court would deal with that issue a week, two weeks, three weeks from now. It just says we're not stepping in today. If Pennsylvania turns out super close, I think were going to see a rerun of this very dispute, you know, on the far side of the election as well.

BLITZER: All right. Steve and Joan, to both of you, thank you very much. And we'll be right back with more news.

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[18:56:51]

BLITZER: With the election now just four days away, Donald Trump is giving new clues about what a second term in the White House would potentially look like.

CNN's Brian Todd is with us with the latest -- Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is all about Robert Kennedy, Jr. Now, every time Donald Trump talks about Kennedy's potential role in his administration it draws concern from health advocates and Kennedy is not Trump's only controversial potential appointment. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): If he's elected again, Donald Trump is poised to elevate two well-known conspiracy theorists to positions of power in his second administration.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's going to have a big role in health care.

TODD: Trump has promised to give Robert Kennedy Jr., one of Americas most prominent anti-vaxxers, a top role in shaping White House health policy.

TRUMP: I'm going to let him go wild on health I'm going to let him go wild on the food. I'm going to let him go wild on medicine.

TODD: The man Trump's going to let go wild has repeatedly baselessly called the COVID-19 vaccines unsafe and espoused outlandish, false conspiracy theories about the COVID virus.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people, the people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.

TODD: Vice President Kamala Harris saying this today about Trump's plans for Kennedy.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The exact last person in America who should be setting health care policy for America's families and children.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: There could be widespread disinformation to the public about what they should or shouldn't be doing in terms of their public health.

TODD: The co-chair of Trump's transition team told CNN's Kaitlan Collins this about what Kennedy might try to do with the COVID vaccines that are in place now which have been proven to be mostly safe.

HOWARD LUTNICK, CO-CHAIR, TRUMP-VANCE TRANSITION TEAM: He says, if you give me the data, all I want is the data and ill take on the data and show that it's not safe and that if you pull the product liability, the companies will yank these vaccines right off, off of the market.

TODD: No less controversial is Trump's plan to give billionaire Elon Musk a huge portfolio to be in charge of downsizing the federal government.

TRUMP: I love Elon, by the way.

TODD: Musk, the man who's crippled X's value since buying the platform formerly known as Twitter for $44 billion two years ago. The man who's repeatedly pushed false claims about election fraud, but it's Musk's ownership of SpaceX that could cause the biggest problems in a Trump administration. HANS NICHOLS, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: There are clear conflicts of

interest, right? He receives massive amounts of federal contracts from the federal government.

TODD: Trump's transition co-chair says Musk would be, quote, adjacent to the government, not in it.

As for Kamala Harris, she said shell appoint a Republican to her cabinet.

HARRIS: I want different views. I -- I enjoy and benefit from diverse views, from different perspectives.

TODD: On other appointments, it's been reported that Harris's team is considering keeping some Biden administration officials in place, people who've already been confirmed by the Senate and wouldn't need to be confirmed again by a possible Republican-controlled Senate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): But overall, Kamala Harris and her team have been keeping those cards close to their vest and have been resistant to having public conversations on who she would tap for her first term -- Wolf.

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

I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. I'll be back on Sunday this coming Sunday at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, counting down to an Election Day special two-hour edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.