• Last night, Vice President Kamala Harris was in the Philadelphia suburbs for a CNN Town Hall with Anderson Cooper and an audience of what the network called “undecided and persuadable voters.” Harris fielded questions about whether former President Donald Trump is a fascist, and was asked by audience members what she’d do about the price of groceries. There’s a reason the CNN town hall was in Pennsylvania. It’s the state both campaigns have visited the most – and where they’ve spent the most money on ads. It’s also the swing state with the most electoral college votes up for grabs in the election. And on top of that – Pennsylvania is also home to an extremely tight race that will help decide which party controls the Senate. Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey joins us to talk about his race and what Democrats can do to help Harris take Pennsylvania.
• And in headlines: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea sends troops to Russia, RFK Jr. asks the Supreme Court to take him off another swing state ballot, a report from Microsoft warns of Chinese, Russian, and Iranian interference in the election, and former Republican National Convention Chair Ronna McDaniel warns the GOP about neglecting young voters.
  

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TRANSCRIPT

Jane Coaston: It’s Thursday, October 24th. I’m Jane Coaston. And this is What a Day. The show that will not be calling goldfish crackers, chilean sea bass. Yes. The company that makes goldfish says the name change is a, quote, “playful nod to adults that the iconic fish shaped snack is for grown up tastes, too.” I do not want a playful nod. I want goldfish. [music break] On today’s show, North Korean troops in Russia? Plus, deep fakes abound. But first, yet another former member of the Trump administration is saying, yeah, Donald Trump is a fascist. In a series of interviews with the New York Times published on Tuesday, John Kelly, the former president’s first and longest serving chief of staff, said Trump would sometimes talk glowingly about Adolf Hitler. 

[clip of John Kelly] He commented more than once that Hitler did some good things too. And of course, [laugh] if you know history um, again I think he’s lacking in that. But if you know what Hitler was all about, it would be pretty hard to make an argument that he did anything good. 

Jane Coaston: It would be, indeed. And Kelly didn’t mince words about his former boss. 

[clip of John Kelly] He’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators. He has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of a fascist for sure. 

Jane Coaston: Kelly also confirmed reports that Trump had called members of the military who were injured or killed, suckers and losers, not just once, but multiple times. And asked, why do you people think that people getting killed are heroes? Of course, the Trump campaign dismissed Kelly’s comments as debunked stories. Funny how so many people keep telling the stories and no one has debunked them. And on Truth Social Wednesday, Trump slammed Kelly as a, quote, “total degenerate” who was, quote, “tough and dumb.” How nice. He didn’t address Kelly’s comments directly during a campaign rally outside Atlanta Wednesday night. But he did add this line to his monologue of lies about immigrants. 

[clip of Donald Trump] Historically, when you have swastikas on your forehead and swastikas all over your cheek and lots of other symbols all over your face, historically that person isn’t going to be a tremendous help to our economy. And yet they walk. They walk through. 

Jane Coaston: Vice President Kamala Harris seized on Kelly’s comments early Wednesday, speaking outside a residence at the Naval Observatory in D.C., Harris said the comments highlight the risks of a second Trump presidency. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable, and in a second term, people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions. Those who once tried to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses would no longer be there. 

Jane Coaston: Later Wednesday, Harris headed to the Philadelphia suburbs for a CNN town hall with Anderson Cooper and an audience of what the network called undecided and persuadable voters. Cooper asked her directly whether she thought Trump was a fascist. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] Yes, I do. Yes, I do. And I also believe that the people who know him best on this subject should be trusted. 

Jane Coaston: The vice president also fielded questions from voters about how she’ll work across the political aisle. She was asked by an audience member about the high price of groceries. 

[clip of concerned voter] Concerning groceries. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] Yeah. 

[clip of concerned voter] Grocery prices have gone up quite a bit in the last four years. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] Yeah. 

[clip of concerned voter] And some people blame former President Trump. Some people blame President Biden. Who would you say is correct and what would you do to bring prices down for Americans? 

Jane Coaston: Of course, she didn’t blame either president. She spoke about how she would take a new approach to lowering the cost of living. 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] Part of my plan is to create a new approach that is the first time that we will have a national ban on price gouging. 

Jane Coaston: Cooper pressed her, asking why the Biden administration hasn’t done more for the economy. 

[clip of Anderson Cooper] Some voters, though, might ask, you’ve been in the White House for four years. You were vice president, not the president. But why wasn’t any of that done in the last four years? 

[clip of Vice President Kamala Harris] Well, there was a lot that was done, but there’s more to do, Anderson. And I’m pointing out things that need to be done that haven’t been done but need to be done. And I’m not going to shy away from saying, hey, these are still problems. 

Jane Coaston: There’s a reason that CNN town hall was in Pennsylvania. If the campaigns had to rank which swing state was the most important. Pennsylvania would almost certainly top their lists. It’s a state they’ve visited the most and where they spent the most money on ads. It’s also the swing state with the most electoral college votes up for grabs in the election, 19. And on top of that, Pennsylvania is also home to an extremely tight race that will help decide which party controls the Senate. The race pits incumbent Democrat Bob Casey against Republican Dave McCormick, a former hedge fund executive. Senator Casey stopped by to talk about his race and what Democrats can do to help Harris take Pennsylvania, Senator Casey, welcome to What a Day and I am very sorry about the Phillies. 

Bob Casey: Jane, we can focus on next year, but we got to get the Eagles and the Steelers to keep winning now. 

Jane Coaston: I wish we could discuss that in excruciating detail, but I actually do need to talk about your race. Cook Political Report just changed your race to a toss up from lean Democrat. Why do you think that Republicans have been able to effectively close the gap in recent weeks? And how is your campaign responding? 

Bob Casey: Well, I expected that to happen all along, not because I’m I’m clairvoyant. It just happens to be Pennsylvania. We know that in presidential races it’s close. But the biggest factor, the singular reason this race is close is because he’s got this billionaire funded super PAC. These out-of-state billionaires came in and put together a super PAC, which by the end of the race will have spent at least 50 million. There’s no Senate candidate in the country in either party that has a super PAC set up just for them by a group of billionaires that is spending that kind of money. 

Jane Coaston: So how do you effectively counter that? What will it take? 

Bob Casey: Basically, what we have to do is continue to point out not only how I’ve delivered for the state, but the big differences between me and my opponent while I was delivering for the people of our state, whether it’s infrastructure projects or capping the cost of insulin or the Pact Act for veterans who served near these toxic burn pits, or delivering the child tax credit for our families and working every day to try to lower costs for families. While I was doing that, my opponent was running the biggest hedge fund of the world, living in Connecticut, not living in Pennsylvania, and later lying about it. So I think it’s a pretty clear contrast on our records, but also on basic rights, whether it’s women’s rights, workers rights or voting rights. 

Bob Casey: Pennsylvania is seen as the biggest swing state prize, and to win, Democrats are going to need to turn out voters in and around Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. But a Politico report last week said that many state Democrats are worried about the Harris campaign’s operation in that state, especially in Philadelphia. Is that a concern you share? 

Bob Casey: I think the overall campaign, both Vice President Harris’s campaign, our campaign, the state party, the national party, all of the different organizations that form a coordinated campaign are working well together and will continue to work well together. I’ve been around a while. I’ve heard these arguments before that there’s always some this isn’t working or this, you know, kind of the critiques. But I think people are have come together and we’re seeing record numbers of volunteers. We’re seeing a lot of intensity, some early voting that bodes well. But I think the most important thing is people know what’s at stake and that’s driving them to vote. It’s driving them to not only contribute to campaigns, but those same people are often knocking on doors, writing postcards, making phone calls, doing everything they can. 

Jane Coaston: So what do you think the state party can do better to connect with voters of color and young voters, big blocs for the Democratic Party. Both might be feeling disillusioned with politics. 

Bob Casey: Well, I think it’s a joint effort. Obviously, candidates play a role in that. I’ve got to earn the vote of every Pennsylvanian. That means making sure that I’m going on a regular basis, as I have been into every community, including Black and Brown communities, to say, look, this is what I’ve been working on to help advance the interests of your families, whether it’s the child tax credit or delivering money in urban areas to remove blight, delivering dollars to places like Philadelphia to reduce gun violence. And guess what? Gun violence numbers in Philadelphia are down. And part of the reason is not simply the the investments in proven strategies to reduce gun violence, but also the bipartisan legislation passed just a couple of years ago to reduce gun violence. Also focusing on health care and and the cost of living, taking on big corporations when they’re jacking up the prices of food and household items and ripping off people, especially in middle class grocery stores or low income communities where they’re trying to make ends meet, working on child care, working on issues that are directly relevant to families in Black and Brown communities. 

Jane Coaston: We’ve seen reports nationwide that Republicans are turning out in some pretty big numbers for early voting because Republicans have changed their message to voters on this. What do Democrats need to do to similarly boost turnout, especially in Pennsylvania, Michigan, these big swing states? 

Bob Casey: I think we have to continue to make sure that people know what’s at stake, to make sure they know that basic rights are on the ballot. You’re starting to see it build. More and more people know that women’s reproductive rights are on the ballot, that voting rights are on the ballot, and that workers rights are on the ballot. And the more that I can tell them as a candidate, this is where I stand and this is where my opponent stands. I’ve already voted to provide a remedy for the Dobbs decision, but a restoration of Roe v Wade. My opponent is unalterably opposed to that legislation and will never vote for it. He’ll never vote for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. He’ll never vote for the protecting the right to organize the union legislation. So it’s really just a question of candidates continuing to earn the vote of the people by making sure that they know what the choice is. 

Jane Coaston: There’s been a lot of talk about the so-called blue wall for Vice President Kamala Harris. What’s giving you hope right now that the blue wall will hold for Harris? What signs can you point to? 

Bob Casey: Well, I think some of that that voter enthusiasm we’re seeing in early voting, but I also see it on the ground, not simply in a big city like Philadelphia. I just happened to be here today, I was with a group of young people from Temple University and a few other universities. But what I’m seeing in small towns and rural areas where Democrats are often outnumbered and often outvoted in big elections, but they’re coming out, they’re putting up signs in their yards. They’re going to events. They’re engaging they’re they’re going to phone banks. They’re knocking on doors. So there’s a lot of intensity, not just in big cities, but in small towns and in rural areas, but also suburban communities where so many Republican voters are that I think we have a shot at earning their vote as well, because they know that basic rights are on the line and because they know that candidates like my opponent have been on the extreme right. 

Jane Coaston: You have a direct line to our listeners, listeners who are deeply committed to helping you and helping Vice President Kamala Harris win Pennsylvania. What can our listeners do to help get out the vote? 

Bob Casey: Jane, I think the short answer is probably keep doing what you have been doing, meaning a lot of your listeners are already going to events and knocking on doors and contributing money and writing postcards and doing everything they can. So just continue to amplify that. If you’re signed up for a day or two a week, can you make it three days, four days a week? This is not my my line. I’ve heard it from a number of people. It’s not the margin of error that matters. It’s the margin of effort. And I think the margin of effort is being closed every day. More and more people coming out to make it clear to their friends and neighbors what’s at stake on rights and on on basic fights we’re having on health care or tax policy, but also what’s at stake for democracy itself. I’ve never seen a more consequential presidential and Senate election as we’re seeing this year. 

Jane Coaston: Well, thank you so much, Senator. I really appreciate your time. 

Bob Casey: Jane, thank you. 

Jane Coaston: That was my conversation with Pennsylvania Democratic Senator Bob Casey. We’ll get to the news in a moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. [music break]

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Jane Coaston: And now the news. 

[sung] Headlines. 

[clip of Lloyd Austin] As we continue to look at this, there is evidence that there are DPRK troops in Russia. 

Jane Coaston: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or DPRK, has sent troops to Russia amid the war in Ukraine. Austin made the remarks during a press conference in Rome just two days after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and he told reporters that what the troops are doing on the ground is unclear but could mark an escalation of the war. 

[clip of Lloyd Austin] If there are co-belligerence. Their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf. That is a very serious issue and it will have impacts not only in Europe. It will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific as well. 

Jane Coaston: Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Supreme leader Kim Jong Un have both denied these claims. But we know that North Korea is an adamant supporter of Putin’s yearslong invasion of Ukraine and consistently supplies his military with weapons. It’s unclear how many DPRK troops are in Russia. Zelenskyy said earlier this week that North Korea was preparing to send as many as 12,000. South Korea responded to Wednesday’s news, saying the country would consider sending arms to Ukraine if these reports are confirmed. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked the United States Supreme Court on Wednesday to take his name off the ballot in Wisconsin, where voting is already underway. Just last month, the court rejected an appeal made by RFK to stay on the ballot in New York. The latest appeal is a longshot attempt to keep him from siphoning votes away from Trump in the crucial battleground state. He said he plans to make a similar request to get his name off the ballot in Michigan. RFK suspended his presidential campaign as an independent candidate in August and endorsed Trump. He is hoping for a gig in his cabinet. I am hoping for the exact opposite of that happening. Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center released a report on Wednesday cautioning voters about foreign influences from China, Russia and Iran interfering in the election. The report says Harris’s campaign has been targeted by Russian accounts using artificial intelligence and deepfake videos to show her making a, quote, “crass reference” to assassination attempts against former President Trump. 

[clip of deepfake Kamala Harris] So but we have some work to do. Okay. We got some work to do. Because we know Donald Trump can’t even die with dignity. He has a very different plan. [clip of booing] Just look at his project 2025 Agenda. Right.

Jane Coaston: Weird. The report also mentions other Harris deepfakes, including one that shows her illegally poaching in Zambia. Earlier this week, U.S. intelligence officials accused Russian operatives of targeting Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz with a fake video accusing him of inappropriate behavior with his students, which got millions of views on social media. In the past, these operations have largely focused on the presidential race, but this year, the attacks have moved down ballot. Dozens of fake Twitter accounts connected to China are trying to influence congressional races in Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas. The accounts have accused candidates critical of China of corruption and promoted their opponents. Intelligence officials warn that these influence campaigns are aimed at inciting violence and doubt in democracy. Former Republican National Convention chair Ronna McDaniel. You know, Mitt Romney’s niece who changed her name to please Trump, who ultimately replaced her with his daughter in law. Yeah, her. Ronna is sounding the alarm because the GOP isn’t doing enough to reach Gen-Z voters. In an opinion piece for The Hill, she wrote about the dangers of Republicans neglecting young voters. And she’s not wrong. Just this week, a new poll from Data for Progress found that young people favor Vice President Harris over former President Donald Trump. McDaniel wrote that she’s seeing the GOP’s failures within her own family writing, quote, “Already my kids have been inundated by Democratic mail and texts, and my son has even had Democratic organizers knock doors in his college apartment complex.” Woo! Voter outreach. So scary. McDaniel was ousted from the RNC chair earlier this year when Trump and his GOP allies blamed her for the party’s low fundraising numbers and in turn, 2022 midterm losses. She hasn’t made a public appearance since March, and that’s the news. [music break] One more thing. So we talked earlier about former Chief of Staff John Kelly’s statements on the record regarding Donald Trump’s longtime admiration for noted failure, Adolf Hitler. Lots of people are talking about it, in fact, like Tennessee Republican Senator Bill Hagerty. 

[clip of unnamed reporter] What good things would you say Hitler did? 

[clip of Bill Hagerty] Well, I wouldn’t say Hitler did any good things. And I would also say this. I worked both with General Kelly and President Trump in the last administration, and it was not a good fit. General Kelly’s been on record many times criticizing President Trump. Obviously, he doesn’t like President Trump. I would take that with a grain of salt, just as I would some of the other things that have been reported that have been debunked consistently. 

Jane Coaston: And the good people of Fox and Friends. 

[clip of unnamed Fox and Friends reporter] That he obviously has frustration. And I could absolutely see him go now, you know what? It would be great to have German generals that actually do what we asked them to do, knowing that to uh, maybe not fully and fully being cognizant of the third rail of German generals who were Nazis or whatever. 

Jane Coaston: And New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu. 

[clip of Chris Sununu] Look, we’ve heard a lot of extreme things about Donald Trump from Donald Trump. It’s kind of par for the course. It’s really, unfortunately, with a guy like that, it’s kind of baked into the vote at this point. 

Jane Coaston: And hedge fund billionaire and notably gullible online figure Bill Ackman. 

[clip of unnamed reporter 2] How do you get your head around that? 

[clip of Bill Ackman] Well, one, it’s one person stating a series of things. 

Jane Coaston: It keeps happening over and over and over again. Donald Trump says something and his biggest supporters don’t believe it or say that it’s baked in because they want it to be. It’s just someone saying something, right? Except it’s Donald Trump who was president of the United States and could be again. Here’s what gets me. If you’ve talked to a supporter of Donald Trump, you’ve probably been told that Donald Trump simply won’t do the things he constantly talks about wanting to do, things like promising to jail opponents, investigate journalists, shut down media networks and mass deport millions of people, including immigrants who are here legally. And they will tell you that Donald Trump will do a host of things he has had literally no interest in, like cleaning up America’s nutritional standards and getting big corporations out of our food supply. So in short, the absolute best pitch for Donald Trump’s presidency is that he will not do the stuff he says he wants to do. He’s lying. He won’t keep his promises. You just can’t believe the things he says, even about his desire for generals just as good as Hitler’s. And that’s a good thing? [music break]

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Jane Coaston: That’s all for today. If you liked the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a review. Join a phone bank and tell your friends to listen. And if you’re into reading and not just thinking about how Adolf Hitler was a murderous asshole who slept through D-Day and died like a coward in a bunker while people like my grandfather stormed the beaches of Normandy to save the human race like me, What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Crooked.com/subscribe. I’m Jane Coaston and go volunteer. [music break] What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It’s recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producer is Raven Yamamoto. Our producer is Michell Eloy. We had production help today from Tyler Hill, Johanna Case, Joseph Dutra, Greg Walters and Julia Claire. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison and our executive producer is Adriene Hill. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. [music break]

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