The Hamas Attacks One Year Later
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for every life-saving treatment, for every next step, for every care in the world. Cleveland Clinic. It's Monday, October 7th, right now on CNN This Morning. One year later, Israel marks the somber anniversary of the October 7th Hamas terror attacks as it fights a war now expanding to multiple fronts. It's frankly ridiculous and just plain false.

Debunking the rumors, the FEMA administrators setting the record straight about the response to Hurricane Helene as the Trump campaign pushes false claims. And this: If you are in an evacuation zone, leave. In the storm's path, Florida's Gulf Coast preparing for another major hurricane as they're still reeling from Helene's impact. And later: Families come in all kinds of shapes and forms, and they're family nonetheless.

Pushing back, Kamala Harris dismissing right-wing criticism over not having biological children. All right, 6 a.m. on the East Coast, a live look at Capitol Hill on this Monday morning. Good morning, everyone. I'm Casey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. A sorrowful anniversary.

Israel today mourning the lives lost during the October 7th Hamas terror attacks and holding out hope for the safe return of the hostages still in Gaza. It was one year ago today, a Saturday. Thousands of people gathered for a music festival near a kibbutz. The music, the celebration, the joy shattered by the sight of rockets in the sky.

Attendees ran looking for safety and instead found unimaginable violence as thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza. In the hours that followed, members of Hamas and its allies killed 1,200 people, wounded thousands more. Hundreds of others they kidnapped, forcing them back into Gaza. Twelve months later, more than 100 still remain in captivity.

And in the year since that day, Israel has sought to destroy Hamas. Airstrikes and a ground invasion of Gaza leaving more than 41,000 Palestinians dead. Israel is now fighting Iran-backed terror groups on multiple fronts in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Yemen. The region and the lives of those in it forever altered by an attack that the Israeli president today called a scar on the face of the earth.

One survivor of the massacre at the music festival described what it was like to return to those grounds today. We've been here a few times since then. It's like leave the last moment with them again. The healing process is not something that you can finish in one day. There's no magic that can heal that wound. But we're strong. We have each other.

All right, our panel is here. Alex Thompson, CNN political analyst, national political reporter for Axios. Isaac Dover, CNN senior reporter. Kendra Barkoff, former press secretary to Joe Biden. And Matt Gorman, former senior advisor to Tim Scott's presidential campaign. Welcome to all of you. Thank you for being here. Kendra, I actually want to start with you on this kind of somber, incredibly somber anniversary. We obviously speak all the time in

in terms of your having worked for the White House and for President Biden, but you've also done so much work with the families of those who were taken into Gaza on this horrible day. What are your reflections having gotten to know many of these people about what happened that day, what those families are feeling right now and what happens next?

Yeah, I mean, they've been living in agony each and every day for all of them. There are seven Americans that are still being held hostage in Gaza. There are more than 101 total that are being held from around the world, different ethnicities, different races from different countries. And I think the thing that is so remarkable is how these people get up each and every day and fight to ensure that their loved one is still remembered.

that politicians are still paying attention. You know, they have met with President Biden twice in person. They've met with him in Zoom. They have regular calls with

with Jake Sullivan, with Brett McGurk, and they keep in contact with each other. And their number one goal is to keep this in the news because that is the only way in their mind to continue to keep pressure on Bibi, on Qatar, on Egypt, because Hamas is really something that, you know, it's sort of an enigma in so many ways. They're obviously a terrorist organization.

And they want to ensure that their loved ones are brought home. And they go out there and they do interview after interview. They keep the hope alive, which I think is incredible. I don't know how they do it, to be honest with you. And it is a remarkable thing. Isaac Tavares, this is obviously stretched on. This war in Gaza has stretched on for a year as Israel has tried to destroy Hamas. And there have been times where it seems as though these hostage families have happened.

have been very unhappy with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, have tried to put pressure on him to do more to bring them home. And at this point, of course, we're now in a three-front war in the Middle East with the administration backing them up, but not seem to be able to really...

pressure them to act in any different way that they may want to i mean what are your reflections what you're reporting about the state of things inside the white house and on this issue joe biden has been pretty clear that he's very frustrated with benjamin netanyahu and has not been able to get him to agree to even come close to agreeing to a ceasefire or an end to the hostilities last week the white house felt pretty good that they kept the

the Iranian missile attack from escalating into so much more. But that is the range of victory that we're talking about when it comes to how the Biden administration is looking at this. And it's obviously been a difficult thing politically for them, but it is an incredibly difficult thing in national security terms and what all this is. We are in an unprecedented situation. This war is the longest war that Israel has ever been in.

We do not know where things might end up with Iran, and any violence between Israel and Iran is not a good situation. And obviously there's what's going on in Lebanon now, this attack on Hezbollah.

And we can forget, because it's not at the forefront of the news every day, that the fighting continues in Gaza and that 100 hostages are still being held. And I don't think it's that at times the hostage families have been frustrated with Netanyahu. I think it's almost every day that they're frustrated with Netanyahu.

In some ways the American political discourse overlooks the fact of how much of Israel is opposed to what Netanyahu is doing. Yeah, it's a very interesting point. Alex Thompson, of course,

We were just talking to David Sanger earlier in the show, and he was looking at how this is overlapping right on top of the presidential campaign, this conflict potentially exploding with less than 30 days to go. I mean, how are each of these camps, I know you cover and you talk to campaign aides and operatives every day,

preparing or thinking about the possibility that this could explode here in the final weeks. Yeah, this issue divides the Democratic Party and so what you're seeing is that Kamala Harris is trying to straddle both those sides of the party. She met with Muslim and Arab groups in Michigan in a private meeting last week. She's going to speak out about October 7th this week in her 60 Minutes interview that's premiering tonight. She is also basically saying that we are allied with the Israeli people but not necessarily allied with Netanyahu. Now Donald Trump has basically said, I want Netanyahu not only to...

not to de-escalate, but to actually escalate and get it over, as he said, quickly. Now Democrats argue that could then further spiral the conflict. - No, it's true. I mean, like for how much, of course, October 7th changed the Middle East, it also changed Washington in a lot of ways. I mean, Alex is right. The GOP largely aligned behind Netanyahu in Israel, and we're seeing right now the 60 Minutes, at least the clips that have leaked out from Kamala Harris' interview,

that'll air tonight, really put those visions on display in terms of the ally with Netanyahu or the Israeli people. Also her answer on whether or not she was able to influence the Israeli government, I thought were very interesting and somewhat incomprehensible. But really, that is stark terms of display. And a lot of it, when we talk about electoral politics, will result in the Michigan kind of.

And in other places too, right? Yeah. I think that this can be simplified as like Arab Americans in Michigan are upset about it. They are. They are. And it could be definitive in that way. But it's also where a lot of Jewish Americans are that are not aligned with Netanyahu or Israel necessarily. Some are, some aren't.

but even in the way that joe biden and kamala harris are approaching today you see this playing out where they are going to be separate they will not be together joe biden is doing a ceremony at the white house kamala harris is doing a separate ceremony at the naval observatory he's lighting a candle she's planting a tree they are not together that is not a mistake yeah it's really interesting point all right coming up here on cnn this morning our coverage of the one year anniversary of the hamas terror attacks on israel continues

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is going to join me live to talk about how the years since the attacks have shaped U.S. politics. Plus, back-to-back major hurricanes, Florida's Gulf Coast preparing for another strong storm. And in the wake of Hurricane Helene, disaster politics takes center stage. These moments of crisis bring out some of the best of who we can be. They've abandoned us. And you know, it's largely a Republican area. So some people say they did it for that reason.

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This has been a massive, unprecedented response. We are deeply grateful for the federal resources that we have. FEMA has been on the ground with us since the very beginning of this. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, at least 232 people have lost their lives across six states. North Carolina has taken the brunt of that toll, where flooding left at least 117 people dead and many others still unaccounted for.

State and local officials from both parties have praised response efforts from FEMA so far, but online, misinformation and rumors are swirling about the storm, some of the rumors also being pushed by Donald Trump on the campaign trail. Kamala Harris has left them stranded. This is the worst response to a storm or a catastrophe or a hurricane that we've ever seen, ever. Probably worse than Katrina, and that's hard to beat, right?

President Biden responded to some of these claims online. Over the weekend, he called Donald Trump a liar and said his administration is, quote, moving heaven and earth, end quote, to make sure states get what they need. Republican North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis was also asked about some of Trump's comments this weekend about the federal response in his state.

We have the resources that we need. We're going to have to go back and pass more resources. We could have a discussion about the failure of this administration's border policies and the billions of dollars it's costing. But right now, not yet, is it affecting the flow of resources to Western North Carolina. It is not a factor, to be clear. Okay. Not at this time.

Interesting. Okay, panel's back. Matt Gorman, I mean, Trump is out there saying these things, kind of putting it out there. Officials, Republicans and Democrats on the ground are saying this is not the case. They are getting what they need. You heard Tom Tillis there again. Republicans say that.

Now, that said, the scenes that are still occurring, I mean, they are still doing rescue operations in parts of North Carolina, which is a difficult reality for the sitting administration. It's terrible. It's a terrible look. And I think my biggest critique of this whole thing is it's very clear that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris failed to recognize the

the kind of level of the storm at first, right? You had Joe Biden at home in Rehoboth, you had Kamala Harris still raising money out in the West Coast. They acted kind of physically and optically late to recognize what a potentially damaging storm this could be. And also I think, you know, that is kind of where my critique lies. It seems like Trump beat them there in terms of being on the ground, just like he did with East Palestine with the train derailment in Ohio a couple years ago. And it just seems like Trump has a little bit more of a keener eye for the pure opposite

of these sorts of things than they do. I want to jump in here, though, because I do think a sitting president and a sitting vice president, there is something to be said for not taking resources away from those things that are being done on the ground, especially given the fact that they still are doing the critical things that they need to be doing of rescuing. You don't want to get in there too soon, but you want to get in there soon enough. I would also just add that

the hypocrisy here that Trump is doing, you know, he withheld dollars from Puerto Rico until the very end, FEMA. You know, there was talk of the California wildfires and asking if those people, you know, voted for him before he gave money afterwards. I do think there's some major hypocrisy going on with him as well. Isaac, how is the administration looking at this right now? I mean, do they feel like this is something that is a

threatening them politically, the fact that this rescue is still happening? It's North Carolina, it's Georgia. These are battleground states. They would like Kamala Harris to win them.

their their approach to it has been largely to focus on the emergency response a I said last week and this program and will repeat it that I do not think that it makes any difference to the actual rescue operations to have anybody go and visit it's just about the theater and the visuals whatever it didn't matter the Donald Trump was there to matter but Joe Biden was there it did matter the couple Harris was there on Saturday it they have to focus on actually

rescuing the people, on the recovery, on getting people things like diapers that they need or the homes that they're going to need for the next couple of weeks at least. But

This does get tangled up in other things. I mean, I had a story over the weekend that got into how some of this is about the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris dynamics. One of the things that's going on here is that Joe Biden went earlier in the week, which made Kamala Harris have to delay her own trip to North Carolina until Saturday.

And that was a point of some tension between the White House and the campaign because, though I can sit here and say this is all theater, it is theater that people pay attention to. That matters. Have you been paying attention to that dynamic also? Oh, absolutely. There are things that people pay attention to. You know I'm here for it. Any messy drama, I'm there. Yeah, I mean, the...

Clearly, Joe Biden still wants credit for like you saw it when he came out on Friday and he was like, all these things are going great. He made a list. He said, like, jobs report, everything else. And then Kamala Harris's message is like, we still have more work to do. And there is tension between those two things. Yeah, that's really interesting. And, you know, I think I think SNL even hit on that this weekend. We'll watch some of that later on in the program. All right. Coming up here on CNN this morning, Florida now preparing for another strong hurricane.

Hurricane Milton expected to make landfall as a major hurricane, the urgent warning from officials. Plus, one year after the Hamas terror attacks, Israel now fighting a war on multiple fronts.

All right, breaking news right now. Hurricane Milton now a category two storm and it's expected to rapidly intensify before making landfall later this week on Florida's Gulf Coast. In many places, mountains of debris from Hurricane Helene is still lining the streets, making preparations for this storm even more difficult. The mayor of Tampa is urging residents to evacuate.

Please heed the warnings. If you can go now, go. You cannot wait and see. You have been told what's going to happen. We're fortunate if it wobbles one way or the other and we don't take the direct impact, but let's plan on that.

Let's get to our meteorologist Derek Van Dam this morning, who is also a birthday boy. Happy birthday, Derek. Unfortunately, you've gotten a strengthening hurricane for it. What are folks in Florida set to be prepared for here?

Look, this storm has already rapidly intensified yesterday at 5 a.m. It was at 50 miles per hour. Casey. Now it sits at 100 mile per hour sustained winds. So it's gathering strength and it will continue to do so until it makes its way towards the eastern Gulf of Mexico, where it could go undergo some weakening. But that is still to be determined. There's a clear defined eye on this in the Bay of Campeche.

It is kind of an erratic motion to the east southeast. This is new as the five a.m. update from the National Hurricane Center. We do have hurricane watches in place where you see that shading of pink and watches for tropical storms intensity across the Big Bend and into the Florida Keys. But this is what the area we're really focusing in on Tampa Bay in particular.

We know this area so vulnerable. Here's the official forecast track. This is important. It has slowed down considerably since yesterday when we were talking about this storm and we do anticipate a landfall in major hurricane sometime late Wednesday into early Thursday morning now. So that's stalled by about 12 hours. Very important information there as well in terms of the preparation ahead of this storm. This is the first initial storm surge forecast from the National Hurricane Center. I'm going to point this out 8 to 12 feet near Tampa Bay.

That is higher than the actual realized storm surge values from Hurricane Helene not two weeks ago that set record values here for this region. So we know that there is still destruction and debris on the ground. So this is something to consider as well. It's raining already ahead of the storm. Flash flooding will be a major concern along with the traditional tornado threat that comes with landfalling hurricanes. Casey, a busy week ahead. All right, really tough stuff indeed. Derek, thank you very much for that.

All right, coming up next here on CNN This Morning, Israel at war, how the violence in the Middle East is shaping the political landscape here in the U.S. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joins us. Plus, CNN anchor Chris Wallace is here to talk about his new book and how history is repeating itself six decades after JFK's presidency. The election may have been a close one, but I think that there is general agreement by all of our citizens that a supreme national effort will be needed in the years ahead

to move this country safely through the 1960s. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. I'm taking care of my kids and I'm running myself into the ground and selflessness terrifies me. That's Dr. Becky Kennedy,

Time Magazine dubbed her the millennial parenting whisperer. Our conversation got pretty personal. But the reason that I'm sharing this is because I hope this will help some of you out there the way that it helped me. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome back. One year ago today, Hamas terrorists stormed across Gaza's border with Israel, murdered 1,200 people and took hundreds of hostages. Today, more than 100 of those hostages are still held captive, and Israel finds itself at war on multiple fronts, hitting Hezbollah targets in Beirut and its southern suburbs with more airstrikes overnight, while also continuing its fighting in Gaza. Strikes on Sunday damaging a school and a mosque, killing at least 26 people.

Two people were injured in Israel after Hamas launched its own rockets from Gaza. Israel also hitting Houthi targets in Yemen, all while the Israeli war cabinet considers how to retaliate against Iran for last week's deadly missile strike.

A year ago, we suffered a terrible blow. For the past 12 months, we've been changing reality from end to end. The whole world is astounded at the blows you inflict on our enemies, and I salute you and tell you, you are the generation of victory. Together we will fight, and together we will win, with God's help.

All right, let's bring in CNN anchor and chief national security analyst Jim Schudo. He's in Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. Jim, good morning to you on this somber day. How is Israel marking this anniversary and how does it fit into the broader geopolitical situation confronting them right now?

You know, Casey, as I'm here with my team at Hostage Square, I'm reminded it's actually been 366 days since October 7th. This was a leap year, 366 painful days for Israel, but certainly most of all for the families of those who were lost on that day and the families of those who were still being held hostage there. And I'm joined now by one of those family members, Michal Mayo, whose cousin, Doron, you can see her here, was captured yesterday.

On the morning of October 7th, she actually turned 31 while in captivity. I have to say, my heart goes out to you. How do you and the rest of your family manage a day like today? To be honest, we take it day by day. There is nothing that we can be prepared for. We never thought that this would be a year, and today a year and two days. I think we're just trying to hold on and be strong.

We don't know if she's alive or not. We had a sign from her like nine months ago, but if she's alive, we need to stay alive for her. We're waiting for her. Tell me a little bit about her. So, she's such a good-hearted soul. She's such a shy and she loves animals.

She's a veterinarian nurse. She loves animals. She loves her friends. She loves to cook. She's my youngest cousin. She was 30 when she was taken and she's now 31. She had her birthday on March.

She's such a kind soul and we are very much worried about her. You can see, I mean, her smile speaks volumes and you can only hope she doesn't celebrate another birthday there or suffer through another birthday there. As you wait for her freedom, what would you like to see to get her home, to get a hostage ceasefire deal to get her home? I think that us as families, we say everything.

in all costs. There is no cost for her life. I can't even bear the thought that she will pay in her life for our safety here in Israel. I want to be safe here, and I'm sure everyone wants to be safe, but she's my cousin. She's an innocent civilian that was taken from her home on October 7th. She needs to be back. She needs to be back alive.

We keep getting news of hostages that were murdered in captivity and we can't bear the thought that she would lose her life there.

Well, listen, we can only hope that you get good news in the coming year. And we appreciate you sharing your story and some of Daron's story and her smile. And I'll tell you, as we've been covering this, Casey, there may be lots of debates in this country about next steps, about war in Lebanon, the coming attack on Iran. But one issue of agreement here is that everyone wants hostages like Daron home and home soon.

Indeed. Jim Schuto, thank you very much for that interview. And our heart goes out to her and to all of the families that are affected by the aftermath of that terrible day.

All right, let's turn out of this. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will both commemorate the anniversary of the October 7th attacks here at home today. Trump attending a memorial in Queens. Harris set to plant a memorial tree outside her residence in Washington. One year after the attacks, both candidates face a political environment fundamentally shaped by the Israel-Hamas war, and it strained one of the U.S.'s most enduring alliances and made some of the country's most intense political divisions even more apparent.

You put Trump back in the White House, you're not going to have all of that stuff is going to heal. October 7th would have never happened. The attack on Israel would have never happened. Do we have a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu? I think with all due respect, the better question is do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people? And the answer to that question is yes.

All right, joining us now is Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. She is a member of both the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committee. Senator Gillibrand, I'm very grateful to have you on the program on this somber day. I know this is something that you have worked on quite a bit, meeting with some of these families, as well as focusing in on some of the horrible sexual violence that we saw on October 7th. What are you reflecting on today and what needs to happen going forward?

Well, today is a very somber day. It's been a year since the horrific terrorist attack that Hamas perpetrated on Israel. And we mourn with the families who still have not seen their loved ones returned, who are still being held hostage by Hamas. There are people who are waiting for even the bodies of their loved ones to be returned so they could have proper burial, including New Yorkers. And so it's

It's a very, very rough day, I think, for the Jewish community in New York and around the country. And I think we just have to remember that what happened on October 7th was brutal. It was horrific. It was the most barbaric terrorist attack we've ever experienced.

And it's something that is very difficult to resolve because without the hostages returned, with the continuing attacks from Iran, from Hezbollah, it's a challenge. And we as New Yorkers stand in solidarity with Jewish families across this state.

Senator, you heard Vice President Harris there answering a question about whether or not Benjamin Netanyahu is an ally of the United States there. And she talked about the people of Israel being allied with the people of the United States. Do you think Benjamin Netanyahu is an ally of the U.S.? We are very strong allies of Israel and the Israeli people have their own elections. We believe in democracy.

And so we stand with Israel in these terrible times. We don't always agree with elected leaders on different policy positions or how they may approach any given decision. But I stand with Israel and I think we have to, as a democracy, support our greatest friend and ally in the Middle East in trying to preserve that democracy, to try to help Israel defend itself from the terrorist attacks

that are being perpetrated constantly. The fact that Israel has had to defend itself against hundreds and hundreds of missile attacks from multiple terrorist groups, including Iran itself, is a very tough hour for this country, and we should stand with them.

Senator, President Biden has said that he doesn't think that Iran or that Israel should strike Iranian nuclear facilities as retaliation for the most recent rocket attacks. Do you agree with the president or would you be comfortable with Israel making a strike against Iran's nuclear facilities now to take advantage of an opportunity, as some Israeli officials have called it?

Well, I would never call this horrific war perpetrated by Hamas as an opportunity for any country. And if you listen to the families who have been suffering, I mean, just the most recent

Missile attacks from Iran. I think hundreds of thousands of people had to take shelter in bombs in bomb shelters The fact that this country is living under this threat of terror over and over again is very difficult and so I would never be so crass as to

frame any of this as an opportunity. Nobody wants war in their country, and no one wants a world war. And so the challenge for Israel is how do they stop Iran from launching missiles on its people?

And if they believe that their best military action is to take out the production of nuclear weapons or the production of any particular military asset, that's a decision that Israel will make. It's a decision that President Biden will give his advice and guidance to an ally, and our military will give advice and guidance. But the United States does not want a greater escalation into a larger conflict.

But we do know Israel has to take certain actions to stop the terror attacks. 1,200 people died a year ago. Innocent people who were celebrating a concert, young people. If you were in the kibbutz that was hit hardest, children were taken, babies were taken, grandparents were taken, people were slaughtered. The death toll was incomprehensible. The sexual violence perpetrated on the women

was the most horrific use of sexual violence in wartime that I've ever seen or witnessed. I've seen footage, I've seen

the photographs taken by Hamas to celebrate the terror they wrought on these innocent people. And so to keep Israel safe, it's going to be very difficult. And choosing your targets is not easy. And it is something that Israel takes very seriously. And I am quite certain that President Biden will be in constant consultation with the Israeli leadership as well as their military leaders

decision makers about what targets they're going to take. All right, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for us. It's a somber day. I really appreciate you being on the program. I hope you'll come back in happier times.

Thanks, Casey. All right. Still ahead on CNN this morning, this year's election just 29 days away and has been unprecedented in let us count the ways. Chris Wallace joins us to talk about his new book detailing the 1960 campaign and how that race parallels our current political climate. Plus, Kamala Harris kicking off a new strategy this weekend as we head into the election's final stretch. Family comes in many forms. And I think that increasingly people,

You know, all of us understand that this is not the 1950s anymore. I am today announcing my candidacy for the presidency of the United States. The presidency is the most powerful office in the free world. Through its leadership can come a more vital life for all of our people. In it are centered the hopes of the globe around us, of freedom and a more secure life.

January 2nd, 1960, then-Senator John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for president in a move that would ultimately usher in the modern era of presidential politics. His campaign against Richard Nixon would be defined by highly watched televised debates, private planes, sophisticated advertising, and ballot results that had Nixon's Republican allies claiming that the election was stolen.

Perhaps that sounds familiar, as CNN anchor Chris Wallace writes in his new book, quote, "In the end, what stands out is that in 1960, with the most powerful position in the world at stake and with the difference between victory and defeat on a razor's edge, Richard Nixon chose to do the right thing, what was best not for himself but for his country. As we learned so painfully, that choice is not always guaranteed."

Joining me now is Chris Wallace, CNN anchor and the author of the new book, Countdown 1960, the behind-the-scenes story of the 312 days that changed America's politics forever. Chris, I'm so happy to have you. Well, thank you for having me and talking about my book. Congratulations on the book. Yes, for sure. So tell us, you know, we've kind of summed up what you're looking at here, but tell us what is the story of this election that had you interested in writing about it right now?

Well, it was, as you mentioned, kind of the first modern election. It was the first presidential debates, period. And then they also were televised and 70 million people watched. And Kennedy ran the first, I think you could say, modern campaign. He had his own personal pollster, Lou Harris, who then went on to become pretty famous.

uh... that he had a sp is playing with the family bought in the caroline named after his daughter he used television in a sophisticated way that that it hadn't been used up till that time uh... and and if you know they're just a number upset pieces that the debates

The whole question at one point, Martin Luther King is arrested and Kennedy and Nixon have to decide if they're going to try to intervene to get him out. Kennedy does, Nixon doesn't. I think that helped him a lot in some of the big urban cities. But the other thing that fascinated me about it is the parallels or in a sense the differences to 2020 and after because

There is some evidence that this election was stolen. There was a pretty egregious vote fraud in Illinois, in Texas. And Nixon came under considerable pressure to contest it. And in the end, he decided for a variety of reasons not to contest it. And in fact, on January 6th of 1961, as the vice president, he presides over the counting of the electoral vote. And he

does it and declares John F. Kennedy the winner. Contrast that to 2021, when Mike Pence is under tremendous pressure to contest the electoral vote, and of course you get the riot, the storming of the Capitol. So it's an interesting story, but the point I think that's most telling to me is exactly what you had in the quote there, which is,

Back in 1960, and through all of our lives, the idea that the loser would contest the winner was unthinkable. And, you know, we accepted the peaceful transfer of power. We didn't get that in 2020, and Trump is not promising it in 2024. Yeah, I mean, one of the other things you write here is that, quote, Richard Nixon understood that challenging the results was a double-edged sword.

if the recounts and investigations weren't successful, Nixon would come across as a sore loser and that could hurt him if he ran for office again. It's sort of this idea that he could, he was sort of shamed out of doing it, right? I should be ashamed of myself if I

challenge this because it's not kind of what you do, whereas now those norms are completely broken. Completely broken. And yes, part of it was a political calculation. He was a young man. Kennedy was 42, but he was 47. And as we know, he ended up having a long political career ahead of him. But part of it also was we were at the height of the Cold War.

Khrushchev was threatening the United States. And to Nixon, the idea of contesting who's the leader of the free world, who's the president of the United States, and having that uncertainty and going into the courts to contest it would have put the country in very bad shape. And he just wasn't going to do it. So how would you compare Donald Trump and Richard Nixon at this moment?

Well, the funny thing is you could almost compare Richard Nixon to Richard Nixon because, of course, by 1968, I think he was pretty bitter, and I...

believe that part of Watergate was that he was so bitter about what had happened to him in 1960, he came to the conclusion that all bets were off and you did whatever you could to win, and that led him to a very bad path. I think the astonishing thing is the degree to which not only Trump has changed the norms, but the entire Republican Party as it now exists, which is certainly not the party of Richard Nixon, has gone along with him on this. Well, because the party, it was the party really that forced Nixon to step aside in

in Watergate, right? Yes, absolutely. You know, there were the elders who came to the White House and said, you don't have any votes. But now, you know, anybody who would say that to Trump would be in terrible political trouble themselves, not Trump. Indeed. All right. Chris Wallace, you're going to join us on this next panel. Thank you so much for being here. Well, thank you. This book is excellent. Highly recommend it. I'm still working my way through it, but it's really fascinating stuff. And it comes out

Tomorrow, right? Tuesday? It does. Yes, excellent. All right, let's turn you back now to the 2024 race for the White House and to this response from Kamala Harris to these comments from Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. My kids keep me humble. Unfortunately, Kamala Harris doesn't have anything keeping her humble.

Trump's former press secretary making those comments at a campaign event in Michigan last month. Harris does have two stepchildren, Cole and Ella, through her 10-year marriage to the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff. In an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast released Sunday, Harris described what she called her, quote, very modern family. They are my children, and I love those kids to death. And family comes in many forms, and I think that increasingly parents

You know, all of us understand that, you know, this is not the 1950s anymore. Families come in all kinds of shapes and forms, and they're family nonetheless. In a statement to Politico this weekend, Gov. Sanders said this, quote, "I would never criticize a woman for not having children. The point I was making, and that Kamala Harris confirmed by her own admission, is that she doesn't believe our leaders should be humble."

Okay. Chris Wallace, this issue of children, I mean, the childless cat ladies, it has started to permeate this campaign. I know you and I have talked a lot about masculinity and femininity and how all of that is also swirling through this campaign. How do you think Kamala Harris handled this? Because the reality is there are so many American voters who...

don't have families that look like you know mom dad married for thirty years what do you know you use an expression in your lead in your to use modern family which of course was the name of a very very popular sitcoms and there were all kinds of families and and I a same-sex couple that had children and and other couples and

In America in 2024, they do come in all shapes and sizes and there are blended families and parents and step-parents. And the idea of shaming somebody because she didn't have children the old-fashioned way, she has step-children,

it is really out of touch with where the country is now and not something that the republican party should pursue I mean it seems like a risk also love alienating a lot and there's a lot of republicans who have step kids or you know I mean you name it

Modern families. That is exactly right. I also think it is super smart for the Harris campaign to be going out there and doing all of these types of interviews and reaching voters who may not normally be paying attention to the quote-unquote traditional media. No offense to CNN, we love you. But, you know, she's going out there and she's talking to women. She actually did do an interview with CNN, I will say.

- Don't say that. - They're getting their news from podcasts like this, and I think it is super smart to be talking about issues like abortion and family and the economy in places where women are paying attention to, not in the normal mainstream. - I mean, look, she's certainly, it's a strategic shift

and going out there more. Certainly Tim Walz in a Sunday show yesterday. She's doing, obviously, Call Her Daddy and a couple other shows, I believe, Cold Bear and others. Some of the hosts, most of them are openly supportive. She's doing CNN. We'll see where, excuse me, 60 Minutes. We'll see how that shapes out, obviously, a more mainstream interview. But it does represent both in tone and also just going out there more in this last quarter

four weeks the campaigners if they obviously feel a need they need to get out there more and fill the vacuum uh... that was a big full i think i want to get to your reporting quickly to consider this even into recent days and this is related to the biden harris back and forth right people have spoken with close by divisor still seen any for complaints that the president would be in the same spot or better right now had he stayed in the race several leading democratic operatives officials laughed out loud when told by c_n_n_ about that sentiment with one veteran consultant even saying that's literally insane

Yes, and this gets into a dynamic that Harris is having to navigate here, which is how much to detach herself and contrast herself to Joe Biden and the administration she's been a part of and how much she can credibly do since she has been part of that administration. It's not just on her, though. Joe Biden does keep popping up on Thursday when Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris.

Joe Biden felt compelled to go over and talk to reporters about how he felt about the speech. On Friday, when Joe Biden felt like he had had a good week at the White House and wanted to go to the briefing room to talk about it, they did not coordinate that with the Harris campaign. The Harris campaign found out about that a couple minutes before he showed up. He showed up right after Kamala Harris went on stage in Detroit. I can tell you that a lot of people on the Harris campaign did not find that helpful. Biden in the next couple of days is headed to

Angola and Germany, it's not like a really pressing foreign trip they have to take. A lot of people in the Harris campaign wish that he would maybe go away for longer at this point. This is a tricky situation over this last month of the campaign where you see voters are saying that they want change from where things are.

and Harris has to embody and embrace that change and speak to that change while also being a quasi incumbent and having Donald Trump and JD Vance attack her as if she has been the one signing the executive orders. Chris, what do you make of all this?

Well, look, the whole thing is awkward. I mean, you know, we had something that we've never had before, which is a not only a presidential candidate, but the president drop out of the race on what, July 21st. So it's pretty extraordinary, the whole thing. I will agree, I think, from the Harris campaign's point of view, that if Joe Biden just kind of took the next

30 days, whatever it is, off, they'd be perfectly happy with that. But this on this blitz, she should have started this a long time ago. She's too late. There's obviously a feeling among a lot of voters that they're picking up. We still don't know who this woman is. We don't know what she believes and what she would do. She should have started this in August, but better late than never. Do you think it's too late? No. But it

it should have started a month ago but I do think it's a situation where we have a little bit of the bias towards what she is doing versus what Trump is doing as he's been not doing much fair enough all right we are over the top of 7 a.m. thanks guys for joining us thanks to all of you for being with us as well I'm Casey hunt don't go anywhere CNN News Central starts right now

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