Obama Implores Black Men To Vote
48:40 Share

The 2024 F-150 Lightning truck gets dirty and runs clean. With an EPA-estimated range of 320 miles with the available extended-range battery, it's the only electric vehicle that's an F-150. Visit Ford.com slash F-150 Lightning to learn more. Excludes platinum models. EPA-estimated driving range based on full charge. Actual driving range varies with conditions such as external environment, vehicle use, vehicle maintenance, high voltage, battery age, and state of health.

This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Cybersecurity Awareness Month is still going strong, and LifeLock is here with a message about phishing, the scam cybercriminals use to trick victims into allowing access to their devices so they can steal their personal info. Being aware of phishing scams is one way to help protect yourself. For comprehensive identity theft protection, there's LifeLock. Start protecting your identity today with a 30-day free trial at LifeLock.com slash podcast.

It's Friday, October 11th, right now on CNN This Morning. Do not just sit back and hope for the best. Get off your couch and vote. The final sprint. Kamala Harris bringing out the big dogs, former President Obama and Clinton hitting the trail. Plus this. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's your president. You're going to have a mess on your hands. Dissing Detroit. Donald Trump criticizing the Motor City while campaigning in that city. And then this.

It is my priority to keep the jobs in Pittsburgh. It's the biggest factor in Pennsylvania. In our battleground beat, we head to Pennsylvania, the state's most strategists think will decide the fate of the White House. And later... It was the most frightening thing I've ever lived through. A path of destruction. Hurricane Milton ripping through the state of Florida. Hundreds rescues and the death toll only climbing. 6 a.m. here in Washington. Here's a live look at New York City.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Manu Raju, in for Casey Hunt. It's great to be with you. It's hard to believe, but yes, there are just 25 days left until Election Day. More than 3 million votes have already been cast across 36 states. And next week, early voting will begin in the swing states of Georgia, North Carolina, and Nevada. And as the race for the White House enters its final stretch, a familiar face returning to the campaign trail. It's better! It's better!

And that's former President Barack Obama making his first appearance on behalf of Kamala Harris since his speech at the DNC in August. Obama, still one of the more popular figures in the Democratic Party, leaned into Harris' quote "not going back" slogan and did not hold back when it came to the former President Donald Trump. Even if you had a family member who acted like that, you might still love them, but you tell them you've got a problem and you wouldn't put them in charge of anything.

And yet when Donald Trump lies or cheats or shows utter disregard for our Constitution, when he calls POWs losers or fellow citizens vermin, people make excuses for it. They think it's OK. Now, as the 44th president brought his message to voters in must win Pennsylvania, his successor was was in another blue wall state.

Donald Trump appearing in the crucial swing state of Michigan, where he debuted a new proposal to make interest on car loans tax-deductible. He also claimed that if re-elected, he would "save the American auto industry," adding this: So here is the deal that I will be offering to the world, to companies outside of our world, big companies, powerful companies that have become powerful because we were stupid.

We were stupid. We allowed them to come in and raid and rape our country. That's what they did. Oh, he used the word "rape." That's right. I used the word "rape." They raped our country.

All right, joining me now to discuss Elliot Williams, CNN's legal analyst and a former federal prosecutor. Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator and former Biden White House communications director. And Doug High, Republican strategist and former communications director for the Republican National Committee. Good morning to you all. I want to start off there in Detroit, where Trump was talking to Michigan voters, talking to the economic forum there, and also had a little jab at the city he was speaking in.

We are a developing nation. Well, we're a developing nation too. Just take a look at Detroit. Detroit's a developing area a hell of a lot more than most places in China. The whole country is going to be like, you want to know the truth? It'll be like Detroit. Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she's your president.

And just a reminder, but where the race is in Michigan right now, Donald Trump winning, leading according to the Quinnipiac poll by three points. That is with barely within the margin of error, which is at 3.1%. So Doug, you are a Republican strategist. Do you advise a Republican candidate to belittle and demean the city you're trying to win voters in?

The short answer is obviously, absolutely not. And this is one of those things that Donald Trump does, and he seems to get away with it because he's done things like this before. But it also shows that he's not really keeping up with the times. Detroit was a punchline for decades, but that's not true anymore. It's a thriving city. It's a growing city. Jobs are flooding into Detroit. It's a real success story in the American economy right now. And so it's bizarre to me, one, that he would go after them like that. Two, we could talk about sort of the economic wiseness of

saying, here, let's go more in debt on a depreciating asset. Let's make your car loans free and tax deductible now. Doesn't seem to be the smartest economic strategy, but it sounds good in a soundbite where he doesn't often sound good in a soundbite. Whether it's Detroit or Philadelphia or Chicago, going after big, and let's say it, predominantly black cities, has worked as a talking point. So it's stunning that he's doing it now, 40, however many days, 30, however many

- 25, 25. - 25 days before election day, but it's part of the trend. Now, the interesting thing is even if the room were receptive to what he said there and it was a friendly crowd, he still has to worry about the voters in Detroit who might be voting for Harris and just keeping their votes down. And it's statements like that are only going to animate his opposition.

mind-boggling. Yeah, and also, crime is down in these cities. I mean, this is the other thing. Yes, it is a talking point. Yes, it is like textbook Donald Trump fear-mongering. But the fact of the matter is, crime is down in major cities across the country. It's down across the country, period.

So there is effective, you know, Democrats have effective pushback here to say, you know, not only are you attacking the people living in these swing states who you, in theory, want to vote for you, but also you're not telling the truth about what's going on in these cities. So it gives Kamala Harris

and Democrats an opening to go back to a really fundamental argument against Donald Trump, which is that he's a liar. There's been a lot of opportunities for Democrats to provide that pushback, but Kamala Harris is still underperforming with African Americans, African American males, certainly. We could have that same conversation about Hispanics. It's part of why this campaign is so difficult to figure out. And speaking of this campaign, just where things are in the blue wall states, you saw those Michigan numbers, but also the Pennsylvania numbers, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. She is up

by three points, according to the Quinnipiac poll, and that is barely outside the margin of error. And also, she's losing in Wisconsin, but she's still within the margin of error, according to Quinnipiac as well. As the Democrat here at the table...

You must be concerned. Well, look, I think across the board, there is reason to be concerned that she is underperforming with some of these constituencies, which are pretty core to the Democratic coalition. You know, I do think she's continuing to make progress. And if you look at where she was when she went to the top of the ticket, you've seen kind of steadily these numbers have crept up over the course of the last couple of months as she's making this argument. But this will be a big task for her in the final push here is getting...

african-american voters particularly men the other kind of big overlay here is the gender gap she is uh leading by double digits uh with women but losing by double digits with men so trying to drive down those margins uh with african-american audiences latino audiences but particularly men and so i think looking at what the harris campaign does in terms of their paid spending to try to target some of those audiences and then listening to how she's reaching out

Again, she doesn't have to win men to win this election and she probably won't, but she does have to drive down those margins a little bit. And I think that's part of where the campaign will be focused for this final three weeks. - Yeah, and some of those margins are significant. 15 points or so she's losing to male voters in Pennsylvania, according to one of those polls. All right, we're gonna have a lot more to discuss and coming up on CNN this morning, battling misinformation in the wake of two deadly hurricanes. - Mr. President Trump, former President Trump, get a life, man, help these people.

President Biden calling out Donald Trump as he continues to push unverified claims. Plus, Boeing is expected to plead guilty for its role in two deadly plane crashes. The details in our morning roundup. And how the top of the ticket could impact down ballot races critical to the Senate's balance of power. Harris is obviously making this harder for you. You're not endorsing her. Well, that's because I don't want this race to be nationalized any more than they want it to be nationalized. I want to talk about Montana.

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Roof repair? Done well. Kitchen sink install? Done well. Deck upgrades? Done well. Electrical upgrade? Done well. Angie's been connecting homeowners with skilled pros for nearly 30 years, so we know the difference between done and done well. Hire high-quality, certified pros at Angie.com.

The 2024 F-150 Lightning truck gets dirty and runs clean. With an EPA-estimated range of 320 miles with the available extended-range battery, it's the only electric vehicle that's an F-150. Visit Ford.com slash F-150 Lightning to learn more. Excludes platinum models. EPA-estimated driving range based on full charge. Actual driving range varies with conditions such as external environment, vehicle use, vehicle maintenance, high voltage, battery age, and state of health.

There is false information that federal employees who are there to help people will actually take their land. And what we have seen is people reticent, reluctant to access the relief to which they are entitled and which will help them because of the fear that that false information has instilled in them.

And that was Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas pushing back on just one of the rumors which have popped up during Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The storms in their aftermath have quickly been turned into a campaign issue by Donald Trump and his allies. They're dying and they're getting no help from our federal government because they have no money, because their money's been spent on people that should not be in our country. It's been a terrible response from the White House.

Now the Biden administration is pushing back and former President Obama also chiming in on this on the campaign trail. - The idea of intentionally trying to deceive people in their most desperate and vulnerable moments. And my question is, when did that become okay? - Mr. President Trump, former President Trump, get a life man, help these people. - All right, my panel is back. Do you think voters are just tuning all this out? - No, I don't. And here's why.

According to the Pew Research Center, earlier this year, about 22% of people trust government all the time. I think what you're seeing from many people, particularly former President Trump, is capitalizing on that with the lies and misinformation to further drive a wedge between what people think of government and so on. So do I think they're tuning out the sort of daily chatter? All the noise. All the noise. No, I don't, Manu. And I think...

this message of your government does not serve you well and is lying to you and is doing bad things and is taking away from you in a time of disaster, I think absolutely there are people for whom that is buying now, pardon me, who are buying that message. - Yeah, and Doug, you're from North Carolina, so,

This obviously is critical to the presidency. What impact is all this having and what Trump is saying having on voters there? - Yeah, I'm hearing two sets of things. One is a lot of this disinformation. People asking me, "Did you hear about this? Did you hear about that?" And me having to debunk that through, you know, to them.

The other is from elected officials. Senator Kevin Corbyn, who represents that part of North Carolina. Chuck Edwards, who represented in Congress. Virginia Fox. They're pushing back very hard, even if they're not going after Donald Trump necessarily by name, though sometimes that's happening. They're pushing back on this as well. But the impact we still don't know electorally.

because you have 25 counties that have been declared disaster emergency declarations, and a lot of those still have offices for boards of elections that are closed. Real questions about how are we going to do early voting in those areas? That's coming just next week.

What do you make of this? Before you jump in, I just want you to get in to weigh in on Biden. He used to work for Biden. Coming out and really calling out Donald Trump by name in this. What was behind that decision? Well, I think a genuine frustration and anger about the fact that Donald Trump is using a moment where people need help and need to be able to get accurate, good information about where they can get resources, and they're not getting it. And Trump is muddying the waters and making it harder for people who are in need to get what they need. So I think there was a humanity behind it. I think he was...

expressing a genuine frustration. You know, I also think these moments, you know, natural disasters like this create leadership tests for leaders. And Donald Trump, I think, is failing this one pretty miserably. And I think this is the kind of thing that people do remember. I mean, sort of to the point, it's, you know, not only do people absorb the information day to day, but, you know, they're looking at how are our leaders reacting to this moment where

I need help I'm looking to somebody to say you know this is the direction that you need to go I'm and you're not getting it and and I do think people remember that I mean obviously there's been a lot of discussion of 2012 and you know Obama and Chris Christie embracing in the wake of a superstorm sandy

These are the kinds of things in the last few weeks in an election that kind of sear into people's minds. What kind of leader is this person? And that's where I think Donald Trump is really, is not meeting the moment. - Yeah, we'll see him. - It's funny, we have elections during hurricane season. I think as for baseball fans at this table here, often when they take a picture out of the game, they'll say he can lose it, he can't win it. One may not win an election based on how they performed during a crisis, but they can certainly lose it.

by mismanaging how their approach. Yeah, we'll see how voters ultimately react. All right, still ahead on CNN this morning, the tales of destruction and survival in the wake of Hurricane Milton. Hello, he was frantically wailing his arms. We went over and it literally was like a scene out of a Castaway movie. We are live in Florida's Gulf Coast where rescue and recovery efforts are now underway for the state's second disaster in two weeks.

Plus, in our morning roundup, more evidence could soon be unsealed in Donald Trump's election interference case, how Trump is fighting against the release. I have lived in Florida since 1989. Never, never have I experienced damage or the amount of tornadoes that came to this area. And it was the most frightening thing I've ever lived through.

This morning, the debt toll from Hurricane Milton, now it's 16. That number could climb as some Florida residents are still unaccounted for. Six of those deaths reported in St. Lucie County, where several tornadoes touched down. And this morning, many schools in the county remain closed. And that's where we find CNN's Ivan Rodriguez. Ivan, how do things look right now just before sunrise?

Manu, we're still seeing a lot of debris, a lot of destruction here where we are in Fort Pierce. To my left here, you can see a semi that has been toppled on its side. Walking now near the front of that semi, you can see the wheels still there sticking up, laying on top of a tree. Interestingly enough, Manu, on the other side of the road, this main road to my left, there's another semi, same exact.

thing. It's trailer completely crushed as well. We've been able to drive around in the last 24 hours through this neighborhood. A lot of homes are damaged from what we can tell the sheriff's office saying that there's more than 100 homes that were damaged in this area. We also know that search and rescue crews are still working around the clock here. What the sheriff here had to say.

And our search and rescue efforts are currently, they're active. We're looking to rescue as many people as we can. We're talking about entire modular homes that were lifted off their foundation. And you can't even recognize, it's just a 12-foot pile of rubbish. These tornadoes came out of nowhere. Our deputies reported back. I heard for myself, I was out there with them, six different tornadoes touched down in a matter of 20 minutes.

Just absolutely incredible devastation, Manu, that nobody here was expecting. Longtime residents saying that they've been absolutely shocked. St. Lucie emergency responders saying that they actually received 900 calls for assistance in the span of just 90 minutes. We know that at least three tornadoes struck down in this county yesterday.

in the span of about 25 minutes as well. Also hearing from the National Hurricane Center that yes, we typically do see tornadic activity when it comes to hurricanes prior to landfall, as they're making landfall, but these ones were just so different. They were more powerful and they lasted a lot longer as well.

Just stunning devastation. That pickup truck on top of the tree. Just wow. Ivan Rodriguez from Fort Pierce, Florida. Thank you for that report. And for more now, let's go to meteorologist Derek Van Dam. So, Derek, you heard the officer there saying six different tornadoes touched down in a matter of 20 minutes.

Yeah, we know that landfall and hurricanes are prolific tornado developers and they can spawn them, but they're usually short-lived and they cause generally minor to considerable damage. But when we're talking about the significant damage that we've seen in Fort Pierce,

What Palm Beach County like this one coming out of Wellington, Florida. This is on the eastern side of the state, well in advance of the landfall of the storm, which, by the way, was on the other side of the Florida Peninsula on the Gulf Coast side. So Milton is now moving away. It's becoming extra tropical. It's just a low pressure well to the east of the United States. But we're still getting the impacts in terms of rough surf and some coastal advisories have been lifted or rather,

maintained across the border of florida and georgia. So this is the atlantic side, minor coastal flooding, dangerous rip currents and large waves. And there are still of course the two and a half million plus customers that are without power this morning. It has been a difficult past several days. We're watching the tropics again, nothing in sight at the moment, but we're gonna keep our eye on the western Gulf of the western Caribbean. And I have to end with this, Manu, because it's quite a sight. We had a coronal

mass ejection, that is a solar flare ejected towards the earth and it created beautiful sights of the Northern Lights as far south as Key Largo, Florida this overnight period. Amazing. Yeah, some people in DC also saw it too. I missed it. Right, exactly. But it was very, very beautiful. All right, meteorologist Jarek Van Dam, thank you for that.

And still coming up on CNN this morning, with the Senate up for grabs in November, can Democrats hang on to their thin majority? New polling shows just how tight it could be. Plus, less than a month until Election Day, both campaigns have their eye on Pennsylvania, where voters are split practically down the middle. "It's not about him. It's not about the country." "She doesn't represent my values, my beliefs about policy."

This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Cybersecurity Awareness Month is still going strong, and LifeLock is here with a message about phishing, the scam cybercriminals use to trick victims into allowing access to their devices so they can steal their personal info. Being aware of phishing scams is one way to help protect yourself. For comprehensive identity theft protection, there's LifeLock. Start protecting your identity today with a 30-day free trial at LifeLock.com slash podcast.

Oh, it's such a clutch off-season pickup, Dave. I was worried we'd bring back the same team. I meant those blackout motorized shades. Blinds.com made it crazy affordable to replace our old blinds. Hard to install? No, it's easy. I installed these and then got some from my mom. She talked to a design consultant for free and scheduled a professional measure and install. Hall of Fame's son? They're the number one online retailer of

Custom window coverings in the world. Blinds.com is the GOAT. Shop Blinds.com right now and get up to 45% off select styles. Rules and restrictions may apply. Donald Trump does not care that a mob might attack his own vice president. Do you think he cares about you? Pennsylvania, we do not need four more years of that.

It was no coincidence that former President Obama's first rally for Kamala Harris yesterday took part in Pennsylvania. Both candidates are vying for the Commonwealth's potentially decisive 19 electoral votes. Polling indicates the race remains extremely close, as it was in the past two elections. Now, in 2016, Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by just 44,000 votes. Then in 2020, Joe Biden came out on top by some 80,000 votes. Here

Here's a little bit about what we heard from Pennsylvania voters around this time in 2016 and 2020. I don't care for Hillary. I think she's a liar. I think she's a fraud. I think she covers up a lot of things. I have a big problem with his rhetoric. If he shut his mouth and said nothing through the campaign...

Maybe. So you're not phased and you're headed in for Trump? I support him 100%. I regret the decision that I made to vote for Donald Trump in 2016, and I do feel ashamed for it.

All right. Joining me now to discuss is Democratic Congressman Chris DiLuzio of Pennsylvania. Congressman, thank you so much for waking up this morning and joining me bright and early. Really appreciate your time. Yeah, man. I want to ask you about what's happening on the ground here in your state and just about the gender gap that we are seeing. There's a Quinnipiac poll out that has Harris doing better than Trump among Republicans.

women voters up by 55 to 40, but she's still struggling with male voters. She's down 11 points to Trump in this, in your state among male voters. What is your level of concern about that?

Well, look, I think we have a lot of game left to play between now and election day, and we'll see where folks ultimately sort out. But I think a couple of things, of course, are happening. Women in particular are very fired up about protecting their reproductive freedom. And we've got Republicans up and down the ballot to include Donald Trump, who have attacked

That freedom, we've got an economic message to take, I think, to voters who may not know the Vice President as well as President Biden and others about rebuilding manufacturing, about protecting our jobs, about bringing down costs. On all those issues, I think we've got the winning message. We've got to get out to voters and make sure they hear it and see the contrast with the trickle-down economics of the Republicans that has never worked for us in the last... But why is she struggling with male voters?

Well, I can't answer for every voter in the Commonwealth of the country. I think we've seen gender splits for some time now, for several election cycles. And I represent a region that's got an economy that's, you know, healthcare, manufacturing, everything in between. And folks, men and women are in those industries that are affected by the disastrous, tributing economics we've seen from the right.

that Donald Trump is champion handing out tax cuts to the very corporations price gouging us. So you've got to be strong in our economic message and reminding folks we are the ones standing up for reproductive freedom and for our democracy against the threats that guys like Donald Trump pose. - So speaking of the economic message yesterday, Donald Trump was in Detroit. He pitched an idea involving car loans and deducting the interest from those car loans. I want you to listen to his pitch.

Today I am also announcing that as part of our tax cuts, we will make interest on car loans fully deductible. That sounds like something consumers might support, no?

Well, I think he's big enough as he goes along. And I'm a guy who's gonna support whatever can bring down costs for folks. Remember, we passed in the House a little piece of the tax cut extension that included not just a child tax credit, but also a business government that's guiding Republicans in the Senate. If he's serious about any sort of bringing down costs, he should talk to his colleagues in the Senate. And look, the other part of this is when he was president,

He allowed antitrust enforcement to continue to be effectively absent. One of the main causes of these rising costs is price gouging by big corporations. And we're finally seeing a DOJ, a Justice Department, take action there. But Congressman, would you support what Donald Trump is proposing there? Look, let's see what the details are. But if something is going to bring down costs for folks, that's always going to be something that can earn my support.

I want to ask you about what's happening in the race for the House. This is, of course, incredibly competitive. The House Republicans have a narrow majority. There are very few battleground districts here in what's considered a frontline district in Pennsylvania. What is your level of concern right now, 25 days out, that Republicans may hang on to the House?

I think we're going to take the House. I have colleagues in tough districts all over the country, including several in Pennsylvania. I'd rather be us than the other guys. I mean, they're running away from their anti-abortion records. My opponent is one of these exact guys who's trying to squirm out of trying to ban abortion in Pennsylvania and put doctors in prison. And on economics, these guys have no plan other than more tax cuts for billionaires and huge corporations.

Guys like me want to fight against price gouging, want to hold big corporations accountable. As President Obama has once said, right, Republicans could have an asteroid coming from the earth and their plan would be tax cuts for the ultra-rich. It's never worked. It's never worked for places like Western Pennsylvania. All right, Congressman Chris DeLucia from Pennsylvania, thank you. It's going to be a very close race for the House. We will see what happens in 25 days. Thanks, Bobby.

In the November election, beyond the White House, the balance of power is up for grabs in the House and also in the United States Senate. Democrats currently have an extremely slim majority in that chamber, 51 to 49. That includes, of course, four independent senators who caucus with Democrats.

Republicans are all but certain to pick up at least one seat. That's in West Virginia because of the retiring Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia who said he would not seek re-election. And new polling shows just how difficult it could be for Democrats to hold on to

their seats in at least two competitive states. That's in Ohio and Montana, both places where Republicans have done well and where Donald Trump won twice. Now, in Ohio, a new poll shows Democratic incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown is virtually tied with Republican challenger Bernie Marino. And in Montana, polling shows an even bigger problem for Democrats. Democratic Senator Jon Tester is trailing Republican Tim Sheehy by eight points.

Now, I was just in Montana where I asked Senator Tester how the presidential race is impacting his Democratic campaign in that red state. Harris is obviously making this harder for you. You're not endorsing her. Well, that's because I don't want this race to be nationalized any more than they want it to be nationalized. I want to talk about Montana. That's what this race is about. But would you vote for her? That's between me and the ballot box.

And this is such a difficult map for Democrats. I mean, they have to have an absolute perfect night simply to have a 50-50 Senate. And that would, if Kamala Harris wins, she could almost certainly or very likely face a Republican Senate. It is definitely a tough map for Democrats. There's no question about it. And, you know, I think in places like Ohio and Montana, you know, look,

You have people like Tester and Sherrod Brown who are well-known and well-liked by their constituents. I think their best shot is to run as independent a campaign as they possibly can. That doesn't mean attacking Kamala Harris every day, but it means talking with clarity about the ways in which you differ and making sure that your voters understand that their interests are always going to come first for you. I think Brown is doing a really, you know, he's somebody who...

has always been really effective in the way that he talks particularly to blue-collar voters, the way he talks about manufacturing, union jobs, and has been successfully re-elected in Ohio many times. So I don't think this is a done deal. But look,

There's no question it's a tough map for Democrats. - It's so hard to separate yourself from the top of the ticket when you're someone like Jon Tester. He's gonna run like 20 points out of Kamala Harris. - Yeah, all politics are national now. Sorry, Senator Tester and every Senator. But we often say that politics is like football, it's a game of inches. It's also a game of time of possession.

And every race that we're looking at, Republicans feel that they're in a good place because they have the ball and they're on offense. It's hard to identify anywhere that they're on defense. You could sort of argue Texas, but that's not real, most likely. So they're on offense. They have the ball. It's why they feel comfortable. I sat down with the comms director at the NRCC a couple of weeks ago, and it wasn't we're going to run the table. It's here's where we are and we feel confident.

That's a great place to be 25 days out from the election. What's remarkable is that what's going to happen here is that there's probably going to be a narrow majority, one side or the other. Republicans favor to take it. The House will be a narrow Republican majority or a narrow Democratic majority. Very unlikely one side is going to have a blowout. And the president's going to have to face potentially a

divided Congress in the next two years, a recipe for gridlock. And not just a divided Congress, but a polarized Congress, particularly in the House. A lot of the folks are coming in are not coming in as centrists. They're coming in as sort of the more fire-breathing type of member that we've seen in the last years. Even assuming a Republican flip in the Senate, what I continue to be struck by is even how close some of these

obvious races are Texas, which I totally agree, Doug, that it's not, Ted Cruz is going to win that race. I think we can agree on that. But he's still only up by five points now. How is that humanly possible? Now, some of that is an unpopular candidate, but all of these races are remarkably close to Manu's point. It's on a race level, but also on a body-wide level of the house. And so-

Good luck to the next president in the United States. - And Manu, one thing to remember that's really important is these members who win and senators who win, they get sworn in before January 20th. That means certifying the vote, something we've all paid attention to in past elections, very critical in this race. - Yeah, I mean, January 3rd is the day that Congress gets sworn in.

That means they're going to elect a speaker. And then who's the new speaker? They might elect a speaker. Might elect a speaker. We saw what happened last time. Yeah, we'll see. January 6th comes on. That's a whole other recipe. And again, another recipe for can they actually legislate in this environment? We shall see. That hasn't worked so well in the last couple of years.

All right, after the break on CNN this morning, walking a fine line, Kamala Harris' battle with staying loyal to the president while differentiating herself. Plus, closing the gender gap, former President Obama's appeal to black men who plan to vote for Trump. If anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?

There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of, and I've been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.

All right, two and a half months into her candidacy and less than four weeks until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris has faced renewed pressure to differentiate herself from President Biden, while also remaining loyal to the man with whom she has served for the last four years. Despite proposing some policies that are different from Biden's, Harris has mainly pointed to her age as proof that she will not be Biden 2.0. Clearly, I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump.

And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country. All right, joining me now, CNN political commentator Michael Smirconish. He's also the host, of course, of CNN Smirconish. Michael, good morning. It's so great to see you live from Philadelphia this morning. So, you know, poll after poll, Michael, as you know, says that voters do want change. They want change. That answer from The View this week really undercuts that message. How much do you think that hurt her in this campaign?

Manu, I appreciate always being with you. When I saw that video clip for the first time, what immediately ran through my mind is Joe Biden would have had a different answer, right? I mean, I'm sure if you said to President Biden, what would you have done differently? He would have said, well, of course, I have lots of regrets. So what would be wrong by extension with his vice president saying, I'm proud of our record. I'm proud of the NATO alliance. I'm proud of the CHIPS Act. I'm proud of the

I'm proud of restoring jobs. I'm proud of having less chaos in the White House. But in retrospect, geez, I wish we'd been quicker to act on the border. Of course, losing 13 on the way out of Afghanistan is a huge regret. I think acknowledging one's shortcomings would be well received by the American public. But she struggles with this. Now, on the other hand, I have to say to your point.

You look at that Times-Siena College survey, and for the first time, she is seen as more of a change agent than he, meaning Trump. So maybe it's winning for her. I don't know. I just thought that it was a poor response and then repeated with Colbert. It's not as if it was gotcha and she didn't see it coming. Yeah, I was surprised that she didn't have a better answer for this. What do you think?

that she is struggling right now to really close the deal. Look, she, of course, had that surge in the immediate aftermath of becoming the candidate. But the race, poll after poll, swing state after swing state, she's within the margin of error. Maybe she's a little bit ahead. Maybe Trump was a little bit ahead. What do you think are biggest challenges right now in the last 25 days? She's just not been able to close the deal. And meanwhile, he gets darker and darker. There's just like no effort left.

at all on his part for persuasion. It's all about motivation. And I can only think that the mindset on Trump's side of the aisle is we're tapped out at 45 or 46 percent of the vote. All we want to do is make sure that hours show up.

There's some reticence. There's some reluctance on the part of certain voters who don't like Trump but are not willing to go with Vice President Kamala Harris. And I think and you've been covering this this morning. I think this is a large part of the President Obama pitch, especially to men, especially to men of color, because that's the group that seems to be hesitant for whatever reason.

And Trump is winning with those male voters, but he is underwater significantly with women voters struggling with suburban women voters. Can he win the presidency, say, losing Pennsylvania women by 15 points, according to the Quinnipiac poll? Is that enough for him still to make up the margin, the difference with men and become president again?

Manu, you could fact check me on this. I don't think since he entered the stage in 2015, I don't think he's ever been above water with a majority of Americans. I mean, he's been able very carefully to assemble these elements that get him just enough. Of course, in 2016, there was an active, robust third party factor that there isn't in this cycle. That might be the difference. Can he win Pennsylvania being so far underwater with women in the Commonwealth?

I don't think so. I don't think so. But it's a game of inches. You see all the data. You've got the Quinnipiac, the Q study, same as I do. It's a toss-up in PA right now. I have no idea what happens. Yeah. Toss-up across the board in the seven key swing states. Michael Smirconish, thank you so much for joining me this morning. Thanks, Manu. Really appreciate it. Absolutely. You too. For our viewers, remember to tune in to Smirconish tomorrow morning, 9 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Alright, 51 minutes past the hour, so here's your morning roundup. Today, Boeing expected to plead guilty to a federal fraud charge over its role in two fatal 737 MAX plane crashes in 2018 and 2019. The company will pay up to $487 million in fines, a fraction of the nearly $25 billion sought by the crash victim's families.

And nearly 1,000 people have been rescued from floodwaters following Hurricane Milton in Florida. 200 of those rescues happening in Hillsborough County alone, where a 14-year-old boy was found stranded alone in deep water. He was waving us down, flagging us down. Most people were saying hello. He was frantically wailing his arms. We went over. And it literally was like the scene out of the Castaway movie, how he's hanging on for dear life.

A trip to a gold mine turns deadly for some tourists in Colorado. One person died and 23 people were rescued after an elevator malfunctioned, trapping them in the mine. They were trapped 1,000 feet underground for up to six hours.

Now, Donald Trump's legal team has one week to appeal the release of sealed evidence in his January 6th criminal case. Judge Tanya Chutkan has approved redaction to the exhibits that prosecutors filed in support of a recent 165-page brief in the case. But Trump is opposing the release, claiming it interferes with the election. Now, turning to this, former president of... Well, I want to ask, before we turn to that, I want to ask you about this, Elliot, uh,

Trump wants to delay the release. Will he be successful? No, and here's, look, big picture. Pretend this is not about Donald Trump at all. There is a presumption that anything that is filed in a court is going to be made public. Anytime something is sealed, like documents like this are, eventually the court seeks to get them out.

Now here, even if Trump were to win, a lot of stuff would be, number one, would be redacted, names, important information, identifying information, number one. And number two, even if it did come out, much of the evidence is already out there in the record and people's views about Donald Trump are pretty fully baked in. So not a big deal in the grand scheme of this long running litigation.

he's got a right to appeal it but even if it gets out there not so much yeah we'll see i'm sure the democrats will make hay of it will it make a difference to voters but you're right baked in that's the question it says how much of this is baked in maybe a lot of it we'll see what's new all right now turning to this former president obama hitting the trail for kamala harris obama kicking off the final sprint election day in pennsylvania where he spoke directly to a specific group of voters i'm sorry gentlemen i i've noticed this especially with some men

who seem to think Trump's behavior, the bullying and the putting people down, is a sign of strength. And I am here to tell you that is not what real strength is.

Men, a group that Harris has struggled with. A recent poll of registered voters showed Donald Trump leading Harris 51 to 43 percent among men. But on the flip side, Harris appears to be winning among women registered voters. That same poll shows her up 52 percent to Trump's 43 percent. And Trump recently has tried to directly appeal to those women voters. Women are poorer than they were four years ago, are less healthy than they were four years ago.

are less safe on the streets than they were four years ago, are more stressed and depressed and unhappy than they were four years ago. I will fix all of that, women. I will fix all of that. Women will be happy, healthy, confident, and free. All right, Kate. Trump is on the... Trump is back. Obama's out. Trump is making his pitch. How do you see this playing out?

Well, look, that's Trump's effort to reach out to women. I mean, first of all, he's got some huge problems here. One, he put three justices on the Supreme Court who overturned Roe. That has been a massive hurdle for him, I would argue, as it should be, but has been a massive hurdle for him with women, particularly suburban women.

His behavior over the course of this campaign has really done nothing to assuage concerns that women have about the fact that he's brutish, that he's a bully. I mean, we've really seen that. He's tripled down on that kind of behavior. That doesn't really go a long way toward assuaging, again, particularly suburban women who...

might have some policy agreements with him, but see his conduct as unacceptable. Obama out for Kamala Harris, first of all, there's really no greater order in the Democratic Party than Barack Obama. When you see him out in force on the campaign trail, you remember just how effective and powerful he can be. And I think he sort of called out some of the hesitation

that some men have in a really direct way that I think is productive. And he can do that in a way that others can't. He can do that in a way that's hard for Kamala Harris to do. And so that's helpful. But is that enough to close the gap? Obama on the trail trying to appeal to

male voters. I think every little bit helps. Yeah. Every little bit helps. Well, and it's also, he's not just the greatest order in the Democratic Party. He's an individual who a generation of black families literally had a picture of in their homes. Now, if it's a question of closing the gap and winning or simply chipping away at that segment of the black male population that finds Donald Trump appealing and it's there and it's non-zero and it's

frightening to the Harris campaign, certainly it has an impact. Now, a lot of these guys were toddlers when Obama was president. There was also footage of Obama speaking to a smaller group. And the messaging that he was doing was lecturing them. And

And that doesn't seem to me to be really motivational to get your voters out or to change their minds. That might turn some of those voters off. People don't like being lectured. And look, you know, we're seeing all the Democratic all-stars. We're seeing, that's how I viewed it. I think he was calling it out directly. I get that. But

Look, we see all the Democratic all-stars coming out for Harris right now. And it sort of reminds me of 2016, except in 2016, that was sort of the coronation of this is Hillary's time. We're going to do it. This is if we're in a vibes election. This is coming to rescue the ship. Let me ask you a quick question. Name a better surrogate, either party-- Oh, sure. --for who their target audience is, whether it's a question of turning off sort of the other side.

either party, whether it's Mitt Romney or, I don't know, Kim Rock. Sure, but in communications, the messenger and the message matter. And some of this messaging from a great messenger, I think, is a bit off. See, I don't think it's lecturing, though. I think it's calling Trump out directly in a way that, you know, is saying, we're not going to dance around this. But he's calling out those voters. We're not going to pretend. We're not going to be afraid. No, but it's, I think there is taking it to voters directly in a way that works for,

for him. I mean, it's you say messenger and message. He is such an effective messenger that he can do it. And I think not having Democrats not sort of stand back and say, like, well, we have to kind of like fear the Trump, you know, the great power of the almighty Trump and just say no. Like, you know what? What he's doing is not, you know, it's not strength and calling it out directly, I do think is effective. And I don't see that as lecturing so much as as piercing that veil directly. And I think that's important. Very quickly. Right.

- Yeah, going after Trump one thing and piercing his veil, yes, but going to the voters and saying, "You're doing this wrong," that's what I think can come off as lecturing, and that's the off messaging.

All right. We'll see how Voda, again, just 25 days. Can you believe it? A blink of an eye, it will be here. It's already here. All right. And don't forget to join me on Inside Politics Sunday this Sunday at 8 a.m. Eastern and 11 a.m. Eastern. We'll take a deep dive into the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. And, of course, we'll look at the state of the race with just over three weeks until Election Day. Thank you to our panel for joining me this morning. And thank you for joining us. I'm Manu Raju. CNN News Central starts right now.

Don't let CNN's John King have all the fun. Experience the CNN magic wall on your mobile device. Get live results, expert insights, and an immersive election experience. Find it at cnn.com slash magic wall or the CNN app today.