Kamala's Beyhive of Activity
47:59 Share

It's Friday, October 25th, right now on CNN This Morning. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president. Get out there and vote! Star power Kamala Harris' A-list supporters in the Peach State. The most anticipated name yet headlining for her tonight. Plus. We're a dumping ground. We're like a garbage can for the world.

Trash talk. Donald Trump goes somewhere even he admits he's not gone before. And the fight for Congress. We're getting a clear picture of where voters stand with the balance of power hanging in the balance. And abortion on the ballot. Florida voters will decide whether to enshrine abortion rights. We're going to speak live with Democratic challenger to Senator Rick Scott, Debbie Mercosel-Powell.

All right, 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at New York City on this Friday morning. Good morning, everyone. I'm Casey Hunt. We made it to Friday in this late in the election season. It's wonderful to have you with us. So if Bruce Springsteen is performing at a Democratic political rally, it must almost be Election Day. Even if we're just dancing in the dark.

Springsteen along with Samuel L. Jackson, Tyler Perry, Spike Lee all headlining for Kamala Harris in Metro Atlanta on Thursday. Also appearing together with Harris on the same stage for the first time, Barack Obama. With 11 days to go, I gotta tell you to this reporter it feels a little familiar because I remember these scenes from 2016 when Hillary rallied, Hillary Clinton rallied in Philadelphia with Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen.

That event was basically a victory rally that was held before all the votes were cast. And we all know how it turned out. And now, once again, the same cultural clash, the split screen, is on pretty sharp display. I get why people are looking to shake things up. What I cannot understand is why anybody would think that Donald Trump

will shake things up in a way that is good for you. This is not 2016 or 2020. The stakes are even higher because over the last years, and in particular the last eight years, Donald Trump has become more confused, more unstable, and more angry.

So much has happened since this moment over eight years ago when Donald Trump descended that golden escalator in the speech he gave then saying migrants were bringing drugs and crime as he announced he was running for president. Donald Trump's rhetoric now is much darker and it puts this cultural divide on a display that is much sharper. Here's what it sounds like now. We're a dumping ground. We're like a garbage can for the world.

That's what's happened. That's what's happened to her. We're like a garbage can. You know, it's the first time I've ever said that. And every time I come up and talk about what they've done to our country, I get angrier and angrier. First time I've ever said garbage can. But you know what? It's a very accurate description. Americans do now know what it was like to live under a Trump presidency. That is the key difference from 2016. A familiar face is making the rounds pointing that out.

I tried to sound the alarm about him back in 2016, but it was really an uphill climb because people could not literally imagine that he posed a danger or that his character was so lacking when it came to the responsibility of being president. So I totally understand that, but now there's just too much evidence about what he wants to do.

So now in 2024, despite all of that, the race is tied and the echo is unmistakable. Joining us now, Mark Preston, CNN senior political analyst, Annie Linsky, reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator and former Biden White House communications director, and Brad Todd, Republican strategist. Thank you all for being with us. Mark Preston, I want to start with you because as I was watching all of these clips come in yesterday of this rally, I could not help but think back to

to what happened in 2016. And the language that Obama used in particular when he stood on that stage and he said, I can't understand. What I can't understand is why anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for them and good for you. And it just seemed to put on display to me this...

There's just a lot there. Trump has won. 50% of the country is supporting him, and yet top Democrats are still saying, I don't understand. Yeah, because, I mean, look, there is this thing they call election or this anti-Trumpism. I think Brad Todd knows it because we used to talk about it years ago where people were so flustered and didn't really understand Trump.

why Trump was appealing to voters, you know, what his appeal was. They were flabbergasted and dumbfounded. And I think that is due in part to, you know, this thought process, you know, from the rest of the country that this Acela corridor that we live in between Washington and New York City is out of touch with the rest of America, don't understand the economic demands

that people are facing. And I think when you hear Barack Obama say that, he really is just echoing what a lot of people in the party still believe. How? Why? How come Donald Trump is actually receiving all the support?

Brad Todd, your name has been invoked. Jump in. He didn't take it in vain, at least, though. It's a little early for too much combat. With love, my friend. You know, I think the thing that's missing in this conversation from

the Harris campaign here at the end is they're asking the voters to have amnesia. And that's a big ask. They're asking the voters to forget what they know about the Harris-Biden administration for the last four years. 70% of the country thinks we're on the wrong track. They know we've had 10 million people come across the border illegally. You can't ask the voters to forget all that. And what she's not doing is saying what she would do differently. And right now, I think that's the thing that's looming over the election more than anything that happened during the Trump years.

Kate Bedingfield? Yeah. Well, I would say, I don't know that she's asking people to have amnesia. I mean, look, she's going today to Houston to shine a light on what's happened to women in this country since Donald Trump was president. I mean, she's trying to raise the specter of what Trump did when he was in office, which is to say, effectively put justices on the Supreme Court who overturned

Roe v. Wade and made life worse for women in this country. So that's, you know, today she's going to spend a lot of time trying to remind people that there are actually real consequences. There is kind of a haziness, an amnesia, to use Brad's term, around the four years that Trump was in office. I think that's in part due to the fact that the pandemic was

so challenging and traumatic for people all over the country. And so part of the thing she's trying to do now is remind people, you know, hey, a Donald Trump presidency has consequences. We lived through it. And one of the ways in which your life is tangibly worse because Donald Trump was president is because women's reproductive freedom, women's health care is no longer as easy to access. And so we're going to see her do that today. And that's part of what the Harris campaign is trying to do in the final push here. Remind people there are real stakes here.

You know, though, Houston, I think, is a big choice for her that she can make. No major American city has been negatively impacted as much by illegal immigration as Houston. The people of Texas understand that. Their hospitals are more crowded. Their schools are costing more money for taxpayers locally. I think if I were her and I was going to Texas tonight, I would go to Texas and say, we messed up on the border. I realize that now. We're going to do things a little differently next time. I think it's a huge, huge chance. I don't think she'll do it, though.

- Annie Linsky, let me bring you in here. We do have a new poll out this morning from Times Siena. They're looking at, from what I can see, likely voters in battleground states

And it's a dead heat, 48 to 48 percent, which, again, underscores that this is an incredibly divided country. There are obviously some things that are different from 2016. Abortion rights is certainly one of them. It is absolutely central for Democrats. But there are also some dynamics that are pretty similar in that. And I think Brad sort of touched on this, that.

Democrats are incumbent, right? And the question has been, can Harris convince voters that she is not the unpopular incumbent, that she is different, and that she is the one who represents change? It seems like here in the final weeks, it may be that Trump, and maybe it's due to this, you know, depending on who you want to apply the amnesia idea to, people may have amnesia about what it was like under Trump, and they're trying to convince people to get rid of that. But he seems to be the candidate...

When you directly ask this question, voters say she seems to represent change, but it's not actually how they're acting. - Yeah, yeah, I know. I think that's one of the really interesting challenges for Harris in her kind of closing arguments here. She has not separated herself from Joe Biden. She's made very subtle policy differences. She'll kind of point to herself and say, "I'm a woman, I'm a different race."

and I'm a different person than Joe Biden, but she hasn't made a really clear break from him. And that is also related to another weakness she does have, according to polling in the final weeks, which is there's a large number of people and particularly a big number of independent voters

who say they don't know enough about her. So, you know, she's said, look, it's gonna be a new page, it's gonna be a different administration, but she hasn't really talked a lot about exactly how it would be different. And I think that's where you have some of that confusion and where people are reverting to this idea that, look,

Look, it looks it would be a continuation of the Biden-Harris administration because, look, you know, Harris is part of the Biden-Harris administration. So, you know, I agree that, you know, there's moments here where she could try to make that separation and she's got time left. But so far, she just hasn't done it. All right. Still ahead here on CNN this morning. If we we were just talking about polling in the presidential race, it's still neck and neck.

But control of Congress also hangs in the balance. We're going to dive into the latest numbers. Plus, you're fired? Donald Trump making a promise to special counsel Jack Smith if he wins reelection. And the Trump campaign punches back over attacks from previous administration officials being used against them by Kamala Harris.

I am offended for my fellow American citizens when a person is running for president of the United States, not on what she's going to do for the American people, but on a bunch of petty grievances from years ago. You're either going to have to pardon yourself or you're going to have to fire Jack Smith. Which one will you do? Oh, it's so easy. It's so easy. It's so easy. I would fire him within two seconds.

All right, Donald Trump painting a picture of what special counsel Jack Smith's future might look like. If he wins again in November, Smith was appointed by the attorney general and is overseeing the investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. If Trump wins, he could use his presidential powers to end investigations into him. Trump has, of course, been at the center of a number of legal battles this year, you might remember.

claiming without evidence that the legal system has been used against him as a political weapon. He has also suggested he would use the justice system to go after his own political rivals. Trump actually went a step further than just saying he would fire Smith. In a separate interview, he was asked about the immigration system and instead took that opportunity to vilify Smith.

You have to let people in, but they have to come in legally. And you have to get the killers, the murderers, and the mentally deranged. You have to get them out. And we should throw Jack Smith out with them, the mentally deranged people. Jack Smith should be considered mentally deranged, and he should be thrown out of the country.

Jack Smith should be thrown out of the country. Mark Preston, can you weigh in on this here? I mean, I think everyone has widely assumed that if Trump were to win reelection, he would immediately order that these investigations into him be stopped. That said, he went a step further there.

Yeah, I mean, look, I mean, no doubt, you know, it's interesting. Anytime Donald Trump is being pushed into a corner, if he feels threatened, he immediately comes out and says that his opponent is stupid, that they're mentally deranged, that they're criminals, that they should be thrown in jail, what have you. I mean, it's a simple pattern. You know, when we talk about this election, though, Casey, and I was just thinking about this as we were coming out of break and, you know, really just thinking about how this could play out.

Let's move beyond just kind of the 35,000 foot look at the election. My God, if Donald Trump wins, what could that mean for the country? Let's think about it from a foundational standpoint. If he does win, he has criminal cases that are against him, and he's going to fire the people who are

who are leading those cases against him. Like the foundation of our country now has become fractured because it shows that once you get in power here in the U.S., then you are pretty much able to do what you want. And yes, I know people don't like to use this word,

and it is explosive, but it does come down to the word of being a tyrant. And I think that is really concerning, you know, the foundational fractures that we could see happen after this election.

And also, let's remember what Jack Smith is holding him accountable for, which is an effort to prevent the peaceful transfer of power when he lost the election in 2020. So, you know, I mean, yes, there are foundational elements here. The idea that a president would say, you know, I'm not only going to fire, but I'm going to deport people.

the justice official who is looking into my behavior. But also let's not forget the underlying issue that Jack Smith is investigating here, which is Trump being unwilling to peacefully hand over power when he lost the election. So it is a frightening statement. I think there was a lot of pearl clutching around Kamala Harris using the word fascist to talk about Donald Trump. But I mean, that's pretty textbook

fascist behavior. So that's a frightening thing.

Hold on. No, I mean, first off, that's just Jack Smith's latest case. That's just, that's just Jack Smith's latest case after previously having his other case thrown out. And we all know Donald Trump's not going to send Jack Smith to another country if somebody else would take him. Uh, I think I coined this phrase back in 2016. The challenge, Brad, is that we're not sure about that. I mean, I didn't, I, if you had told, but if you had told me, I mean that, you know, I'd be sitting at the Capitol on January 6th, uh,

and waiting for my president to call on the people that were breaking the windows and writing Kill the Media and chanting Hang Mike Pence, waiting for him to say, hey, stop, and he doesn't for hours, and there's nobody coming for you. I mean, everyone...

If you had told me that that's what was going to happen, I would have told you, like, clearly you were not you were not saying at that moment. But that actually happened. Yeah, of course. He should have. He absolutely should have told people to stop sooner than that. But, you know, the thing about Donald Trump with the American people is they know when to take him seriously and they know when to take him literally. I coined that phrase in 2016. And that's still true. And I.

All the bad things about Donald Trump are factored into the stock price here. And he's still on the verge of winning this election. And that's because the voters see value in a lot of things that he brings them. I really, can I just quickly, I really disagree with the idea that after this man has been president for four years and we've seen some of the things that he's done, that we should, there should be some sort of magical floating understanding of when you take him seriously and when you don't. I mean, the man had power. He wielded it in a way that

again, really, you know, nearly undermine one of the bedrock fundamental foundations of America since inception, which is that we have free and fair elections and we peacefully hand over power. I just I think that the idea that, you know, when he says something outrageous, we should all kind of stand back and go, oh, well, we know he doesn't really mean it.

I think is ludicrous given what we've seen from the man. - Well, he says things outrageous, Kate, but the voters think that the Democrats will do things that are outrageous on policy and that's the tension you have in this election.

Yeah, look, Brad, I totally agree with you on where the tension points are in this election. I will just say I was willing to understand what you meant in 2016. I remember that voter, you know, take him literally not seriously. And there were a hell of a lot of Republicans who in the hallways of Congress where I spent those four years who would consistently say, oh, he doesn't really mean it. Oh, it's not really going to happen. And I'm sorry, but after January 6th, that that whole that whole.

premise was completely shattered for me. So and Mitch McConnell, when he voted against impeaching, when he voted to acquit Donald Trump on that second round, you know, he went down to the Senate floor and he said, we have a criminal justice system in this country. And here's where we are with that. Anyway, coming up here on CNN this morning, the race for the president, of course.

is all about battleground states. New York is not one of them. So why is Donald Trump planning a huge rally at Madison Square Garden? Plus, Team Trump trying to discredit the former general who's called the former president a fascist. She did call me a fascist, and everyone knows that's not true. They call me everything until, you know, something sticks.

Denials from Donald Trump, the former president, insisting he's not a fascist while also berating his former chief of staff, the retired general John Kelly, for suggesting it.

John Kelly was a stupid person. He was a stiff. He had no, no anything. He had very little. He had two things. He was tough, but ultimately became a marshmallow. At the end of his time, I fired him. He sat in his office and he was as weak as anybody I've ever seen. But he was a bully and bullies are that way. He was a nasty bully.

Trump's running mate, J.D. Vance, is even alleging that Kelly fabricated the entire story about Trump expressing a desire to have generals like Hitler's.

John Kelly was fired by Donald Trump and he's pissed off about it and he won't stop talking about it. Now look, here's the thing, every time that John Kelly says something happened, you've got three or four people who are allegedly in the room when it happened saying he's making it up. Even Mike Pence's chief of staff said that John Kelly is making up a bunch of crap about Donald J. Trump.

So, Brad Todd, can I start with you on this one? Because obviously John Kelly is a man of great esteem. He is someone who devoted his life to serving the country. He lost a son in Afghanistan. Obviously, Vance there directly basically calling Kelly a liar. There's New Politico reporting this morning with a number of other Trump officials coming out to say they back up what Kelly had to say.

What do voters hear when they hear all of this? And is it is it that they simply believe that these reports are incorrect? They they they believe Trump and Vance when they say that John Kelly is a liar. Or is it that they're not concerned about what the warnings that they have? What is it?

Well, first of all, we all sort of have gratitude to John Kelly for his military service to the country. And we need to state that up front. But there's something going on here. There are plenty of other people who worked in the White House at that time who have come out on the record and said John Kelly's not telling the truth about this. You know, there's something about having a falling out with Donald Trump that tends to make a person cry.

literally lose it, I think, sometimes. And it's not the only indication. And I wasn't there. I don't know what happened in that White House. But I can tell you, people I do know have been willing to say that John Kelly's not got his facts straight on this. And John Kelly does have an ax to grind with President Trump. We should be clear on that. And President Trump has an ax to grind now with John Kelly. I think the American public knows enough about Donald Trump that this is not going to decide their vote on him. You know, I

I think one thing about the way people think about Trump is a good metaphor is to say you can't make the ocean more salty and you can't make the ocean less salty. It's so vast. And the American public's opinion of Donald Trump is based on so many things that they've known for so long. None of these individual spats he has with people changes how they think of him. Kate?

Look, I mean, John Kelly is not the only person who served with Donald Trump in a particularly in a national security role who's saying they can't support him and that he has done and said things that are appalling. And it's this is also not the first instance we've heard this. The things that Kelly has said in this most recent interview, that's not the first time that we've heard that he's you know, that he's been critical of veterans, people who've served this country.

And so I think you've got to look at the fact that you've got Donald Trump, who is probably one of the most sort of bald-faced liars in modern American public life, just absolutely has no compunction about lying. And then you have people who have served for him in serious and important roles that are responsible for our national security who say, I saw him up close. I saw the awful things he said. He's somebody who should not be within 100 yards of the Oval Office ever.

you know, you got to weigh those two things. And I think for people who are trying to decide, make a decision in this election, I do think it carries weight to say, you know, nobody who served with Donald Trump in these important roles thinks that he should go back to the White House. And that, I think, gives voters some pause. I agree that one given story in this media environment is probably not enough to puncture. But I do think that the full tapestry of

of these stories and the people who are saying, I can't support him 'cause I saw him up close in this role. I do think that that has an impact with voters. - Well, you know, there's a new poll out yesterday. Go ahead, Annie. - Well, no, I was just gonna say, I mean, I think Kate has a good point here. And partially because, look,

The fact that that J.D. Vance and Trump are taking the time out of the very end of the campaign to deny these reports. I mean, it's very rare as a journalist, quite frankly, that somebody goes on the record with their name and lies. I mean, I you know, that that hasn't been an experience that I've had in my career. So I think, you know, given John Kelly's credit, I think his credibility is fairly clear, but they're denying it. And I think that's

the reason for this denial is that they are seeing something that it is impactful, that this does get voters' attention. It does surprise me. I mean, I would think at the end of the campaign, the decision really is about economics. And when we look back at, you know, why this campaign goes the way it does, it very well may be because of economics and inflation. And those have been like

the larger issues that have voters that I talk to talk about. But the, you know, the end here has been about character. And Harris is seeing something in her data that shows that it's a useful closing argument. And Trump is making a show out of denying it. So he's clearly has some concerns about it as well.

If you look at polls, Harris leads on temperament, right? She leads on that. You can see the CNBC poll yesterday was a great example of it. She leads on a lot of things, frankly. But what she doesn't lead on is control.

controlling the borders, foreign policy, and the economy. And that's what the election is being contested on. Donald Trump, a lot of people have an issue with the way he talks, things he says, the way he acts. But they believe that they were better off when he was president than they've been when Harris and Biden have been in office. And that's the crux of this election. Mark Preston, you want the last word here?

Look, I think when Brad said earlier in an earlier segment that the voters have, you know, you look at this as stock and they baked it into the Donald Trump stock price. And let's not forget all these little things that we're hearing in this micro targeting we're seeing at the end, abortions, you know, the sanctity of it, the the border, what have you.

Yes, it's being targeted. But remember, it's being micro targeted at a very small group of people right now, even though it seems very big and they're going to Texas. They're really reaching out to that very small group of voters, you know, in the you know, the blue wall states in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and of course, down in the Sunbelt states of Georgia, Arizona, Nevada.

All right. Still coming up here after the break. Control of Congress also at stake on Election Day. New polling on where that stands. Plus, Trump and Harris planning their final pitch to voters with an emphasis on the venues.

This week on The Assignment with me, Adi Cornish. This is a 24-7 effort. Bill Gates, and not that Bill Gates, but Bill Gates of Arizona, he represents District 3 on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. The refusal to respect the peaceful transfer of power is a major difference from what those of us were doing back in the 2000s. We spoke with him at the county's voter tabulation center in downtown Phoenix.

Listen to The Assignment with me, Audie Cornish, streaming now on your favorite podcast app. All right. So we obviously talk all the time about Harris and Trump vying for the White House. Sometimes you overlook that Republicans and Democrats are also fighting for control of Congress, both the House and the Senate, of course, on a razor's edge, controlled by a slim margin. Democrats, of course, currently the majority in the Senate. They're trying to flip the House. Republicans hoping to take control of the Senate.

A new CNBC poll shows this: 48 percent of registered voters would prefer Republicans control Congress, while 44 percent said Democrats. And Brad Todd, this number really stood out to you. We were trading notes about it. Why?

Well, it's wider than the presidential. The same CNBC poll has Trump leading Harris 48 to 46. And so if the Republicans, you know, the Republican vote is less concentrated than the Democrat vote. The Democrat vote is very clustered in urban areas and on the coast.

And so therefore Democrats could win the national popular vote for House, right? If you'd add up all the congressional House members votes, Democrats could win that by a couple of points and Republicans still control Congress. And so if Republicans end up with a plus four advantage in the vote for Congress, and I'm not saying that's where this goes, you've got some undecided people that have to vote there. And of course it's a generic vote, doesn't always translate to a district, but a 48, 44 Republican advantage would give Mike Johnson a lot of comfort going into election night to hold the House.

- Kate, what do you make of this survey?

Well, I think it's interesting that you have this gap. I mean, I think there was, when Biden was at the top of the ticket and there were really concerns about where his numbers were going, there were a lot of congressional Democrats who were talking about running explicitly as a check on Trump. Obviously, as Harris has made this race much more competitive, I think that has fallen by the wayside in a lot of districts, although not entirely. Some more Republican districts, moderate Republican districts, you're still hearing that messaging. So,

I think the other thing to think about is split ticket voting is largely a thing of the past, not entirely, but largely a thing of the past. And so I think particularly for the House,

You know, where the presidential race goes will probably determine where control of the House goes. It's just there aren't all that many people in this country who are going to go, especially in such a nationalized election like this, where people are going to go pull the lever for, you know, Donald Trump and then the Democrat for Congress. So it will be it will be interesting to see. I think the House is probably going to be tied. The fate of the House is going to be tied very closely to the presidential. The Senate, obviously, is slightly different. Obviously, it's a tough map.

for Democrats in the Senate, but we're seeing encouraging signs in places like Texas where Kamala Harris is gonna be tonight. So we'll see. - Yeah, Mark, I was gonna say, I mean, Sherrod Brown is certainly counting on running ahead of National Democrats.

No doubt. And he has not really connected himself to Kamala Harris. Hasn't been, you know, somebody who's been out there vocally. I mean, he says he supports her and what have you, but he has been somebody who's trying to run his own race. But, you know, Casey, you know, the geek in me and the geek in you, you know, looks beyond the election and says, hey, what's going to happen after Election Day? And what's going to happen to the House of Representatives? And I will say this, regardless of who wins election,

and who controls the House and who controls the Senate, I would say that the Democratic Party, shockingly for me to even say this, will be more operationally ready after the election because they will not have the infighting that we have seen over the past couple of years in the House Republican conference. And we're going to see continue Democrats

more united in the U.S. Senate. Same thing. We're going to see Mitch McConnell step down at the end of this year. He's been there a long time. You're going to see this fight over control within the United States Senate, within the Republican conference. So again, let's go six months down the road and have this discussion. Even if Republicans win, it's going to be really difficult for them.

I think that's I might take issue a little bit with that, Mark. I think that Mitch McConnell's been a very divisive leader in the U.S. Senate for Republicans. You know, he's not popular with Republicans nationally. Democrats are using him as a foil in their attack ads everywhere. And he's got a chunk of senators in the Republican conference in the Senate who not like the way he's led the Senate lately. And so I think the next Republican leader in the Senate actually will have a lot more support. I think you'll see a Senate conference that's united on the Republicans.

The House is a different story. You know, we don't herd very well as Republicans. And to say we herd like cats is an insult to cats. You know, and so I think that narrowly- I feel like, Brad, you're talking about how people used to talk about Democrats. Well, there's a lot of truth to that, Casey. There's, you know, in many ways, the Democrat Party is more ideologically homogenous than the Republican Party is today. That's why we fight so much. Maybe we've got some other contrarian problems we need to work out. I'm not sure. But-

I think if you called Nancy Pelosi, she might have a different version of this story. But I do take your point. All right, still ahead here on CNN this morning, former President Trump, very popular in his home state of Florida. Will that popularity help keep the state's open Senate seat red? Most likely, but we're going to talk to the Democrat who is hoping to flip it. Plus, closing messages from both candidates. It's not just what they say, it's where they say it.

All right. The Republican Party has set its sights on flipping the Senate while Democrats face a daunting election map and a narrowing, if all but impossible, path to 51 seats. Despite the political landscape, Democrats this month have poured money into Senate races in Texas and Florida. There are only two opportunities to pick up seats in the upper chamber. In Florida, incumbent Republican Senator Rick Scott, hoping that Donald Trump's popularity in the Sunshine State will help push him over the edge to reelection.

If he doesn't win, we don't get a majority in the House and a majority in the Senate, then all the Trump's hackers, most of them go away. He's going to help all of us win. He'll help us get the Senate, help us keep the House, and put us in a position for a greater future. All right, joining us now, Florida Senate candidate, former Congresswoman Debbie Mercosel-Powell. Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Good morning, Casey. Let me start with the money, because while there has been some late here in the game, it's not nearly what it was in the past in Florida. I mean, Democrats spent, you know, 60 million plus dollars in previous Senate races, and they have sent less, considerably less to your race this time. Is that a sign that they've given up on on your seat?

Absolutely not, actually. Casey, just yesterday I saw yet another poll that has me and Rick Scott tied. I mean, we are tied and everywhere I've been, everywhere I've traveled to, I have Republicans, Independents, Democrats, they're coming to our events. They're voting for me in this election. Rick Scott is one of the most vulnerable Republicans running for reelection. He has not been able to cross a 46, 47 percent mark in any of the polls. He's below 50 percent.

We still have a group of undecideds. And we know that in the past year, independents have been voting for us in all the special elections, in the primary elections. We were able to defeat the Moms for Liberty candidates here for school board, and they were outspending us two to three against our candidates for school board. So

I'm telling you, Casey, I think there's a lot that a lot of people are missing about Florida. This is not the same election that it was in 2020 or 2016. And we are seeing larger numbers of turnout. I'm going to be visiting students all over Florida, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Orlando, and a lot of young voters, first time voters are coming out. So I'm optimistic about this race.

All right, fair enough. And I do take I take your point on the polling. Can I ask you, though, about Kamala Harris's pitch in the final weeks here? Because she really has shifted and is making overt appeals to moderate Republicans, to independents and campaigning with Liz Cheney. She's calling Donald Trump a fascist.

Is that the kind of messaging that you feel like is helping you win in the final days? Or is your message a little bit different than that? Well, our message here in Florida is about Florida and about lifting up every single family that has been struggling under extreme policies that started under Rick Scott. We have a property insurance crisis. We know that we're paying four times the national average. We just were devastated by two different policies

Hurricane Milton, Hurricane Helene, people are left with absolutely nothing. Rick Scott voted against funding FEMA. And a lot of families here have been struggling for too long. Our teachers are the lowest paid teachers when you look at the national average for the rest of the country. We have students that have been attacked because of who they love and who they are.

And now, of course, we are living under one of the most extreme bans on abortion, a six-week ban that Rick Scott supports. And let me just say this, Casey. He wants to go back to the Senate, become Senate Majority Leader. And I want everyone to just think of a world where you miss Mitch McConnell as Senate Majority Leader. He would be catastrophic, not only for Florida, but for America. He wants to eliminate Medicare and Social Security and raise taxes on families. So we just can't allow that to happen.

Congresswoman, of course, one of the other things in Florida is the ballot measure that would protect abortion rights. I want to play a little bit of an ad that's airing around that initiative, and then we'll talk about it on the other side. Watch. I remember the doctor handing me a baby boy that was blue, and I just held him because he was so cold.

Due to the abortion ban, I was being forced to carry the baby from 23 weeks all the way to 37 weeks. And knowing that my son was going to die, this ban is torture.

This ban is torture, she said. It's really difficult to watch. Where do you think Florida voters are right now on this? We have seen voters across the rest of the country often when they're given this choice about whether to enshrine abortion protections or at least prevent restrictions. They've said that they want to protect abortion rights. I'm curious where you think people are in Florida and

if you think people who are gonna vote for that are also gonna vote for Democratic candidates, because that may not always be the case. - So, yes, that's a very emotional ad. And, Casey, I just heard a similar story yesterday. A woman who was carrying her pregnancy, she already had a six-year-old daughter, she was seven months pregnant,

And the doctors told her the baby wasn't living anymore inside her body and they wouldn't terminate her pregnancy. And so she was forced to travel, leave her six-year-old daughter here in Florida and had to go to New York to get that critical health care. It's really devastating. I'm a mom.

I have two daughters. I'm the youngest of four sisters. This is such a central issue for us, for health care, for safety, for our livelihood. And most of the people that I talk to, whether Republicans, Democrats or independents, really, regardless of political affiliation,

They are supporting Amendment 4. They are protecting a woman's right to choose. It will pass. It will cross the 60 percent threshold. And just last week, I was at an event where three different women came up to me. They were Republicans. One of them said, I'm very conservative. I've never voted for a Democrat. I'm voting for you. And I asked her, you know, what was her reason to do that? And she said it was abortion. They've crossed the line. Florida, we're not extreme like that. We've just been hijacked.

by the former president coming here in 2018, and then this governor who has just crossed the line in every single policy. We are not extremists. Floridians understand that we don't like government telling us what to do. This is government interference, and we will pass Amendment 4, and I can tell you they need 60%. I need 50 plus 1. I need people with me. We can win this race. You want the Senate majority? I will deliver that Senate majority, and that's exactly what we're going to do in about 11 days.

All right. Congresswoman Debbie Mercosel Powell, of course, running against Rick Scott in Florida. Thank you so much for being with us. I really appreciate it.

Thank you, Casey. All right. The Harris and Trump campaigns looking ahead to their closing messages. The last chance, of course, to win over undecided voters. And of course, no detail is left to chance. It's not what they say. It's where they say it. The vice president is going to speak Tuesday at the Ellipse. It's the exact site where Trump told his supporters to fight just ahead of the January 6th riot. And

Trump will realize a longtime dream this weekend when he headlines a rally at Mattis Quinn Square Garden, New York, not considered to be in play for the former president for obvious reasons. It is, of course, his hometown. There are a couple of house races nearby that might be relevant. But Mark Preston, symbolism abounds here in the final two weeks. I normally would say, why is he not in a battleground state? But also our politics is so national now.

Absolutely. Look, a campaign is about moments. It's about good moments. It's about bad moments. And certainly this campaign, I think we can all agree, is probably going to be decided on a good moment or a bad moment by one of the candidates. How do you make those moments? You try to hold these big speeches. You try to do them at places that are symbolic. We're seeing Donald Trump do it in New York. We're seeing the vice president doing it here on the Ellipse. It's all about moments.

I actually, Brad, sorry, Kate. Yeah, go ahead. No, no. I just, I think the con, the contrast here actually could not be more perfect because Madison square garden is in so many ways about Trump's ego. He we've, we've heard reporting on this. We can see, you know, grew up in New York, wants to fill the garden. This is like all about his ego and showing that he can, uh, that he can fill that arena. Uh,

And then you've got Kamala Harris delivering on the ellipse, presumably talking about, of course, Donald Trump and what he did on January 6th, I imagine, but also presumably talking about her vision for the country and explaining to voters that she views public office

as about serving them. So in some ways, I think the Trump campaign has kind of done the Harris campaign a favor here by doing their kind of final big set piece in a place that really just underscores how much this entire campaign is about Donald Trump for Donald Trump. - Well, really for both of them,

I was going to say, really? I mean, you're going to have Donald Trump, as Kate mentioned, talking about Donald Trump, but also Kamala Harris, Vice President Harris, will clearly be talking about Donald Trump as well in her closing message. And, you know, in talking to the Harris campaign about this, why democracy at the very end? Why is this a

good closing issue for you. I mean, what they are saying is that it is the top motivating issue for their persuadable voters and for undecided voters. And this is such a small sliver. So, you know, she's on the biggest stage, but talking to the smallest number of people. Brad, you got 10 seconds. Well, if Donald Trump can cut his margin of defeat in some of those New York House seasons by three or four points, it might mean Republicans control Congress.

All right. Fair enough. Guys, thanks very much for joining us on this Friday. Thanks to all of you for joining us as well. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.