NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

Trump weighs in on Biden controversy over 'garbage' comment; Harris hits battleground states after closing argument speech; Trump campaign claims voter fraud in Pennsylvania, despite evidence to the contrary; and more on tonight’s broadcast

Tonight, the countdown till Election Day and the controversial comment from President Biden throwing a new twist into the race with just six days to go. The remark from the president appearing to call Donald Trump's supporters garbage, before later clarifying he was talking about the comedian at a Trump rally who called Puerto Rico an island of garbage. Mr. Trump seizing on the comment saying, quote, you can't lead America if you don't love Americans. And how Kamala Harris is distancing herself from the president's remark after making her closing argument in Washington. All this as both candidates blitz the battlegrounds,

holding dueling events in two key swing states. Mr. Trump already ramping up his election fraud claims in Pennsylvania, the lawsuit, the legal strategy, and what it could mean. Also tonight, the severe weather threat. Tornadoes reported in the central U.S. And the record-breaking Halloween heat expected for millions. Catastrophic floods in Spain. Nearly 100 dead after a year's worth of rain fell in a single day. And a whole new view of fall,

why some visitors are seeing the season's beautiful colors for the very first time. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. With the Trump campaign trying to move on from the fallout of erasist remarks made by a speaker at a Trump rally over the weekend. Some off the cuff comments made by President Biden are generating their own controversy tonight,

shifting focus at a critical moment for both campaigns with under a week to go until the election. Vice President Kamala Harris fresh off making her closing argument speech last night. Today, facing questions over President Biden's apparent reference to Trump supporters as garbage. The White House quick to clarify the president's words and meaning as the Trump campaign was busy threading the president's remarks into its own closing argument. Harris responding this morning, saying she strongly disagrees with criticism of people based on who they vote for. It's where we start tonight with correspondent Garrett Haik. Tonight, former President Trump weighing in on the firestorm

over remarks by President Biden, where he appeared to call Trump supporters garbage, looking to turn Biden's controversial comments into a campaign rallying cry. Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them garbage. And they mean it. Later appearing in a garbage truck. How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden. While hours earlier, Vice President Harris separating herself from the president's comments.

He clarified his comments. but let me be clear. I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for. I will be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not. The president made those comments last night on a Zoom event with a Latino group referencing Trump's Madison Square Garden rally. Speak at his rally, call Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage. The Puerto Rican that I know are Puerto Rico, where I'm in my home state of Delaware. They're good, decent, honorable people.

The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization is unconscionable and it's un-American. Two and a half hours later, the president posting on X, he was not referring to all Trump supporters, writing, quote, earlier today, I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump's supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage. That's all I meant to say. But his comments sparked a backlash. Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro reacting when he first heard the audio. Kind of give you my fresh reaction to it. I would never insult the good people of Pennsylvania or any Americans,

even if they chose to support a candidate that I didn't support. While Trump and his supporters responding in real time, learning about the remark mid-rally from Senator Marco Rubio. Just moments ago, Joe Biden stated that our supporters are garbage. That's terrible. Trump comparing the remark to Hillary Clinton's 2016 comment, calling Trump supporters deplorables. Garbage, I think, is worse, right? But Trump has his own long history of divisive rhetoric, including these comments attacking Democrats just yesterday. This is a sick group of people, I'm telling you, and there's a great evilness. And repeatedly referring to his opponents as the enemy from within. Those people are more dangerous,

the enemy from within. While Trump last night distancing himself from the racist comments by that comedian at his MSG rally. I have no idea who it was. Never saw him. I don't want anybody making nasty jokes or stupid jokes. Probably shouldn't have been there, you know. And late today, news from Puerto Rican music star Nicky Jam, who endorsed Trump. You know, Nicky, she's hot.

Where is Nicky? We need you. We need you back, right? We need you to be the president. Jam now rescinding that endorsement, saying, quote, Puerto Rico deserves respect. Garrett joining us now live. Garrett, former President Trump is now moving on to another state tomorrow with its significant Latino population. Really several, Lester. From here in Wisconsin, Trump will head to New Mexico, another non-traditional battleground state. From there, it's back to Nevada, where he initially received that Nicky Jam endorsement. Lester. All right, Garrett Haig, thank you. Meanwhile, Vice President Harris was on her

own battleground blitz after last night's rally in Washington, making her closing argument. Peter Alexander is following the Harris campaign. Vice President Harris tonight taking her closing argument on the road. Are we ready to vote? Hitting three crucial swing states. Unlike Donald Trump, I don't believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. I'll give them a seat at the table. Harris today trying to capitalize on last night's massive rally in front of the White House. Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other.

That is who he is. But America, I am here tonight to say that is not who we are. Promising to promote unity and honoring those Americans who fought for freedom 250 years ago. They didn't do that only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant. Still a challenge for Harris. While polls show she has a significant lead among women, Trump has a large lead among men. Eric Vose runs a community theater in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He's supporting Harris. My wife is a breast cancer survivor, so she's got one of those pre-existing conditions. So I want to make sure we keep that Affordable Care Act. Electrician Eric Rapke is voting for Trump. Honestly, I think the thing with Trump is he is, I mean,

he says what's on his mind. He says what a lot of people are thinking. Also tonight, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger is endorsing Kamala Harris, warning if reelected, Trump will, quote, find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been. Lester. Okay, Peter, thank you. Already the Trump campaign is making allegations that there has been election cheating in Battleground, Pennsylvania, but they've produced no evidence.

Hallie Jackson has a reality check. Videos like these of long lines in Bucks County amplified by the Trump camp alleging something nefarious. The Trump-Vance campaign has just filed a huge lawsuit against Bucks County for turning away our voters. But in reality, Bucks County says they were trying to stick with business hours and miscommunicated that plan to some people waiting to submit mail ballots. Now, after a court order, they'll be open through Friday. Then there's this allegation.

They've already started cheating in Lancaster. They've cheated. We caught him with 2,600 votes. And every vote was written by the same person. I wonder how that happened. They weren't votes. They were hundreds of fraudulent registration applications. And officials also wonder how it happened, which is why they've rejected those applications, submitted by paid canvassers, and are investigating. It's exactly how the system is supposed to work. Safeguards kicking in to prevent any cheating, not accelerate it. When you have cases like this, it should encourage people to have more faith in the system, not less. It comes as former President Trump and his team are ramping up attacks on the election,

despite no evidence of widespread fraud, framing processes that seem standard as suspicious and potentially planting the seed now to dispute the results later. There is certainly a strategy right now to cast doubt on the results of the election before the votes have been cast. It's an echo of the former president's election fraud lies in 2016 and in 2020 when his allies lost dozens of court challenges. The Pennsylvania governor today says the state will again have a free and fair, safe and secure election. Lester. Allie Jackson, thanks.

And the director of U.S. cybersecurity telling NBC News that America's adversaries are waging an all-out effort to hack and influence the election. Tom Costello reports from inside the command center. This is our secure floor. All cybersecurity. So cybersecurity and physical security of critical infrastructure. It's in this room that America's director of cyber and infrastructure security, CISA, says the nation's shields are up with U.S. adversaries targeting the elections. What we are seeing are Russia, Iran, China conducting influence operations,

disinformation operations, focused on two goals, to undermine American confidence and the legitimacy of our elections, and to stoke partisan discord. Last week, Pennsylvania election officials quickly labeled this video a fake, which depicted somebody allegedly ripping up ballots for Donald Trump. FBI, the intelligence community and CISA came out affirming that it was a fake Russian video. Look, we are going to see more of this. Ahead of the elections, CISA has now role-played 200 response scenarios with all 50 states, from ransomware attacks to deep fake videos to bombings. There's a lot to keep track of. Nationwide, 132,000 polling places, 775,000 poll workers.

It's here that they watch for any signs of cyber or physical interference. Do you see any sign of a successful foreign attempt to hack into any bit of the election mechanics in the country? No, and in my view, that would not be possible. Not possible because every state runs their own elections. There is no single point of vulnerability. Voting machines are not connected to the internet. 97% use paper ballots, and every state has added layers of security since 2020. I think the greatest threat is this fire hose of disinformation. It's corrosive to our democracy. It does the work of our foreign adversaries for them. And oh, by the way, it's creating very real physical threats to election workers and election

officials and their families. Foreign and domestic disinformation turning Americans against each other. Tom Costello, NBC News, Washington. The U.S. economy grew at a solid pace in the third quarter, up 2.8 percent. And yet half of all voters say the state of the economy is poor, according to a CNBC poll. Christine Romans is here. And Christine, just days until the election, a lot of new numbers coming out of it. Yeah, Lester, there are. And one big report today showed a big private sector hiring this month and

wages rising a strong 4.6 percent. All those consumers are increasingly upbeat. You know, consumer confidence jumped 11 percent this month. And that latest reading on GDP, it shows the U.S. economy is in the middle of a two year long wind streak. So what gives? Inflation may be coming down, but the effects of the past four years still mean grocery prices are up 25 percent from the last presidential election. And Lester, we did this math. To buy an average-priced house today compared to four years ago, with 20 percent down and mortgage rates then versus now, the monthly payment today, look at that, it's double. So the economy may be humming, but it doesn't feel

that way really in the grocery aisle or in the housing market. All right, Christine, thanks very much. In 60 seconds, from record heat and severe storms here to dozens killed in flash flooding disasters in Spain, inside the Desperate Rescue Mission tonight. We're back now with a severe storm threat on the move tonight and the record-breaking temperatures expected for trick-or-treaters tomorrow on Halloween. Al Roker is here. Al, what are you watching? Well, Lester, right now we are watching some severe weather making its way all the way from Wisconsin down into Oklahoma. We have tornado watches and warnings till late this evening. We've got this area for 17 million people from Des Moines all the way down to Dallas

for 80 mile per hour wind gusts, a few strong tornadoes possible, especially from Kansas City to Oklahoma City as well. The nighttime tornadoes twice as deadly. And tomorrow, record highs in the northeast for Burlington, Portland, 81 in Hartford, Scranton, 79, Elkins, West Virginia, 79 as well. The good news for the trick-or-treaters, Lester, no coats over the costumes. Pretty awesome. All right, Al, thanks very much. In Spain, more than 90 are reported dead from dangerous floods in the Valencia region.

NBC's Keir Simmons has more on what's being described as the worst natural disaster in Spain in decades. Tonight, Spain hammered by catastrophic flash flooding that carried whole cars away in its deadly currents. This woman and her dog, initially struggling in the water, then saved one of many dramatic helicopter rescues. Here, a child. Drivers trapped by a year's rainfall in just eight hours. The aftermath like a pile up on the freeway and in southern eastern Spain's narrow streets. At least 95 people have died. Tonight it's unclear how many are missing. One witness saying a house at the entrance of the town just disappeared. Look how we have torn our clothes because we were saving dogs, says another. Climate change is causing more extreme rainfall events,

while Valencia has a history of sudden floods. More than a thousand troops have been deployed, amid criticism that local government was not prepared. The prime minister declaring the whole of Spain is crying with you and promising we won't abandon you. Many homes are rubble, the king calling it enormous destruction. In Spain tonight, they're calling it the storm of the century and there's more rain coming.

We'll turn now to the battle for Michigan. Both campaigns competing for a critical county, which also happens to be the hometown of our correspondent, Adrienne Broaddus. Tonight, she goes back home to find out what's motivating voters there. Front lawns in Saginaw County, Michigan. Maybe we're split. Proudly display. Maybe that means America's split.

The political landscape. Almost every other house is like Harris and Trump. Yard signs in the Adams Boulevard neighborhood reflecting expectations for Election Day. It's going to be very tight, very close. Voters here know they're in a swing county and a critical swing state. Donald Trump was the first Republican to win Saginaw since 1984. Then Joe Biden flipped it back blue by 303 votes. Nobody dislikes somebody for the way they're going to vote.

We may shake our head and say, oh, God, how could they? What's the sign in your yard? Who for president? Kamala Harris. I'm choosing not to vote for Kamala because there's no benefit to me. The split even runs through Dan and Linda Swofford's home, married 50 years. The January 6th attack on the Capitol made a difference. The insurrection was just terrible in my mind, and I said I wouldn't vote for him again.

Why will you vote for former President Trump? I don't like the guy personally, but I believe he did a good job with our economy when he was in office. Saginaw's economy once boomed. General Motors employed nearly 26,000 people at various plants in the city. But with the decline of the auto industry, the economy shifted gears in the 80s. James Volz helped build cars at GM nearly 40 years. Do you want to see more manufacturing jobs here? I'd like to see them come back. The county's population has dropped more than 17 percent since 1980. Saginaw is my hometown. These empty buildings are a reminder of the businesses that were once here. It's a

microcosm of Michigan, a blue-collar city working hard to get back on its feet again. And parts of Saginaw like this have already rebounded. Voters in this swing county are hoping the next president will prioritize the challenges they face. Harris supporter Morgan Carter has been reviving old shoes for 60 years. Can Saginaw come back? It will come back. Carter already voted early. Beth Pennington is waiting until election day to cast her ballot for Trump.

Your neighbor across the street is voting for Harris. If she needs help, would you help her? And I, yes, and I have in a million times, a million times over. Would she help you? Yes, she would, absolutely, and she has. That's what I love about this community. Because kindness is another sign around Adams Boulevard. Adrienne Broaddus, NBC News, Saginaw, Michigan. And up next tonight, the explosion of fall colors, how some are now able to enjoy them for the first time. Finally, there's good news tonight about a state park helping some visitors experience

the full beauty of fall in a way they've never seen before. Here's Valerie Castro. One of the unmistakable first signs of fall, the beautiful array of changing colors. But that seasonal rainbow drawing tourists to parks across the country was something Virginia State Park Ranger Ethan Howes hadn't actually seen for himself until recently. Looking out, it's just kind of mundane, I guess, kind of bland. Howes is colorblind, making the varied reds, oranges, greens, and yellows appear all one color. One in 12 men and one in 200 women are affected by colorblindness, making scenic vistas like this look drastically different. That is until Howes found viewfinders with special lenses that allowed people like him to experience the full color spectrum. With Howes' help, Virginia became the first park system in the nation to have these adapted viewfinders at every location,

unveiling them at an event earlier this year. For Howes, those meaningful moments for visitors, a reminder of the first time he tried the viewfinder himself, and called his mother to describe what he'd seen. She started crying and she probably wept for three or four minutes. I'm tearing up myself just kind of recalling that. The park has Enchroma glasses on hand for people to use on guided hikes and kayaking so park goers can witness the beauty every step of the way. How does it make you feel knowing that you've been instrumental in helping giving people that experience? Really proud. I never thought that I would have a large impact the way this has in my career. Valerie Castro, NBC News, Natural Tunnel State Park, Virginia. Quite a sight. That's nightly news for this Wednesday. Thank you for watching.

I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night, everyone.