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Trump Skips GOP Debate To Hold FL Counter-Rally Instead; House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Hunter & James Biden; Breast Implants Help Save Patient With Severe Lung Damage; Report: Nations To Blow Past Fossil Fuel Limits. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 08, 2023 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[14:32:56]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The elephant, again, not in the room tonight for the third Republican presidential debate in Miami -- Donald Trump.

Instead, the former president will be holding a rally in nearby Hialeah. A speech that, according to sources, is designed specifically to court Latino voters, the fastest-growing voting bloc in the country.

A group that Trump has steadily made considerable gains with since his first run for the White House. And according to new CNN polling, that momentum appears to be carrying over into 2024.

While President Joe Biden beat Trump among Latinos in 2020 by more than 30 points, our polling shows that lead has now slipped to only 4 percent.

Let's dig deeper on the numbers and their implications with Abraham Enriquez. He's the president Bienvenido U.S., a conservative-leaning Latino voter outreach program.

Abraham, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

We've talked about this before, you and I. It follows a long-running trend. Trump outperforming expectations, not just in Florida, but in key states like Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

Do you think that that jump in Latino voters is tied specifically to Trump or can that appeal be linked to the party, the GOP more broadly?

ABRAHAM ENRIQUEZ, PRESIDENT, BIENVENIDO U.S.: I think it comes down to one person, and that is Joe Biden. When you look at the numbers, I think it's really important to note that there are 35 million eligible Latino voters.

And as you said, we are the largest minority voting bloc and the fastest growing electorate. Anyone that wants a successful campaign knows that they have to court this giant voting bloc.

And so when you look at the percentage that makes up the Hispanic vote, 58 percent of my community believe this country is on the wrong path.

About 86 percent of Hispanics, according to the "New York Times," say that the economy is in poor shape. And over 70 percent of Hispanics believe that Joe Biden is too old and lacks leadership.

That doesn't mean that Hispanics are going to immediately sway into the Republican Party. You and I both know that Hispanic voters are loyal to values, not so much party.

[14:35:03]

So the candidate that's going out there, talking about economic opportunity, preserving the American family and preserving the American dream is the candidate that's going to court the Hispanic voting bloc.

And today, President Trump is approving doing that by going to Hialeah, a city that encompasses about 95 percent of its residents as Hispanics. A very important move from the campaign.

SANCHEZ: Abraham, I want to dig deeper on a point you made about values, in part, because Bienvenido U.S. helps to mobilize evangelical voters. It sort of goes to different churches and tries to push voters to the polls.

And one of the issues that I think Republicans had last night, at least according to some Senate Republicans, had to do with the issue of abortion and messaging on that issue.

The vice president, Kamala Harris, actually talked about this just moments ago from the White House.

She said that, quote, "One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body."

How big is the issue of abortion for Republicans right now when it comes to Latino voters?

ENRIQUEZ: I think that's a topic that Republicans need to have a better strategy and messaging on. Last night proved that.

But that's exactly why I started Bienvenido. As a grandson of a preacher, I know that the Hispanic evangelical is very conservative voting bloc as well as very pro-life.

However, the Hispanic evangelical church has been sidelined when it comes to civic participation for years.

And now with Roe v. Wade overturning and going into the states, this is the perfect opportunity for the Hispanic evangelical church to make its way.

Because we know, when the church votes, history is made. And I believe that it's this particular issue, that's going to give the Hispanic evangelical church involved. But based on last night, it's important to note a few things.

Republicans lack messaging, strategy and tactics. They also lack investment. In Ohio, pro-abortion activists outperform in raising funds for ads by $112 million.

It's not enough for Republicans just to say that Hispanics are conservatives and we believe in the sanctity of life. We have to put money in investing these campaigns, because Democrats do a really good job of grassroots work from the bottom up.

As Republicans, we just kind of sit back and wait and hope that the message itself will get Hispanics out to vote, when we know that we have to put something behind that.

SANCHEZ: The counterargument would be Glenn Youngkin, who argued he had a more moderate view of abortion in Virginia and it didn't work out for him last night. He ended up flipping the state House and Democrats held on to the Senate.

But I want to ask you about something else. You were actually alongside Donald Trump after his arraignment in Miami, helped lead a prayer with Trump at a well-known Cuban restaurant in Little Havana.

And Trump there talked about political persecution, about Socialism. We know that's going to be part of his speech tonight, according to his team.

I've spoken to Democrats who argue that part of Trump's success among Latinos is fearmongering about Communism to voters that have generational trauma, fleeing places like Cuba and Venezuela.

What's your response to that?

ENRIQUEZ: Well, first and foremost, Boris, we don't deny prayer for everyone. If President Biden were to call today and ask for prayer, we would be out on the next flight out to D.C. to pray for him. Prayer is very important.

I disagree with this idea of fearmongering, whether it's Cubans and Venezuelans in south Florida that understand the danger of Socialism, or Mexican-Americans in Tucson, Arizona and Cameron County, south Texas, where we know the dangers of open border policies.

President Trump is able to identify with Hispanics of all different backgrounds, whether you're Cuban, Venezuela, Puerto Rican, Ecuadorian, Mexican-American, and prove that there is no one topic that is just exclusive to the Hispanic voting bloc. We care about all issues.

That's why you saw this organic trend. Too much emphasis is placed on south Florida, when we should be talking about Tucson, Arizona, Cameron County, Texas, areas that were under Democrat control for over a hundred years, Boris.

And the last election cycle, were flipped to Republican. Why? Because the Democrats have chosen to turn a blind eye to open border policies and really embrace this idea that there is nothing going on at the border.

And that's what's causing these local small counties in south Texas, predominantly dominated by Hispanics, to turn over organically to the Republican Party and, more importantly, President Trump.

SANCHEZ: It appears this is not just statistical noise and it is a larger trend. I suppose we'll be talking about it again very soon.

Abraham Enriquez, thanks so much for the time.

ENRIQUEZ: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still ahead, a medical marvel. We'll explain how doctors in Chicago used breast implants to save the life of a man who needed a double lung transplant.

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[14:44:18]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Just into CNN, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee just subpoenaed Biden's son, Hunter, and his brother, James.

I want to go straight to CNN's Manu Raju.

Manu, this is the first time the panel has subpoenaed members of the president's family, right?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and this has been pushed pretty hard by Republicans, especially conservative members who have been urging a subpoena to be issued to Hunter Biden, the president's son, as well as James Biden, the president's brother.

But now the House Oversight Committee issuing the subpoenas just moments ago, ask for testimony from Hunter Biden by December 13th.

Now they also subpoenaed another one of Hunter Biden's business partners, Rob Walker, someone who has been part of their investigation, to try to figure out whether there's any proof to try to tie Joe Biden to Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings.

[14:45:00]

So far, they have not come up with any proof to show that the then- vice president took official action to benefit Hunter Biden in any way. But that has all been part of the investigation.

There have been some things they have turned up to show that Joe Biden had some interactions with some of Hunter Biden's business partners. But there has also been testimony showing that those interactions had nothing to do with Hunter Biden's businesses.

But if Hunter Biden were to testify, perhaps there would be maybe some evidence that would move Republicans in the direction that they are now marching towards, which is a potential impeachment of this president.

That's been the signal from the new speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, that he wants to move towards a potential impeachment, full- on impeachment, as this impeachment inquiry begins to take shape.

But still a lot of questions. Will Hunter Biden testify? We don't have any word of that yet. What will they learn? And what will Republicans do as a response.

All major questions as they take these steps to intensify a showdown with the Biden family with these new subpoenas -- Pam?

BROWN: Manu Raju, thank you so much.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now to an extraordinary story from the medical world. Doctors in Chicago used an unusual tool, large breast implants, to help save the life of a 34-year-old man who needed a double lung transplant.

CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us now with details.

Sanjay, this is fascinating. I have many questions. But first, how did this work?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the marvels of modern medicine, Boris. It really is an incredible story.

So, the person we're talking about is 34 years old. His name is Davey Bower. Pretty healthy guy, snowboarder, skateboarder. He was a smoker since he was 21, switched to vaping at some point.

And in April of this year, he got the flu, and it was a pretty bad case of the flu. Subsequently, got an infection in his lungs that was resistant to antibiotics. It was a bacterial infection.

He got really sick, to the point where he needed a transplant, Boris, but the problem was that, with the infection, he could not have a transplant.

So what the doctors did was they essentially removed his lungs. I don't know if you saw the x-ray of his lungs. You could see what normal lungs look like. And you could see what the diseased, infected lungs look like.

On the right, you can see those lungs that are infected. They're whited out. They needed to come out.

They built an artificial lung to sort of provide oxygen and remove gases from his body. And at the same time, Boris, what's really interesting is, without the lungs, his heart essentially was not anchored anymore. So they needed to use these breast implants, as you mentioned, essentially, they're very malleable and put them in there to basically hold his heart in place, because there was no lungs.

And it allowed him to recover, allowed the infected lungs to be gone, and ultimately, he was a candidate for a lung transplant, got the transplant, and is recovering well.

What I just described has never been done before. That was a medical first, and a pretty remarkable one.

SANCHEZ: Yes, remarkable, no doubt.

And, Sanjay, you mentioned that he switched from smoking cigarettes to vaping. Have doctors said which was actually more harmful to his health?

GUPTA: No, they haven't. And you know, I think when we talk to the doctors, they basically said, look, it was a combination of things.

Clearly, being a smoker, we have plenty of evidence on what smoking can do to your lungs. With vaping, it's newer, Boris. It took some 25, 30 years to get the cause-and-effect relationship between smoking and harm. Vaping will take some time.

But I think the doctors are very concerned that the vaping did cause an inflammation of the lungs. And when he got the flu, he was more susceptible, and that led to the infection.

So a combination of things probably in this case. But Boris, 34-year- old guy. Pretty healthy, otherwise.

SANCHEZ: A lot of questions about vaping and exactly how much healthier it is than cigarettes. No clarity on that yet.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, always appreciate the expertise. Thanks so much.

Still to come, an alarming new report shows that global fossil fuel production will be nowhere near the climate goals set for 2023. We'll break it all down with Bill Weir after a short break.

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[14:53:36]

BROWN: Scientists have been sounding the alarm when it comes to tackling climate change. But a new report says the world is about to blow past fossil fuel production limits meant to keep the global temperature from boiling over.

That goal is to keep temperature changes to two degrees below Celsius. But the report that analyzed fossil fuel producers in the U.S. found they plan to crank out 110 percent or double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030.

CNN chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, joins us now. How serious, how bad is this, Bill?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty serious, Pam, very serious. In fact, the European Space Agency saying this will undoubtedly become the warmest year ever recorded in human history.

If you look at the numbers, now we're 1.7 degrees above the pre- industrial averages for the month of October there. That's a full three degrees -- more than three degrees Fahrenheit above normal.

And if you put that in perspective historically, which, there's the big number, the top-line number, that's the warm October. But if you compare it to the anomalies of the last few decades -- look, at this line chart here.

At the bottom, the cooler colors are the 1940s. And as you move up, the white lines are the '80s. Look at us at the very top there, smashing records, obliterating previous records.

[14:55:01]

This is the result, of course, of all of that fossil fuel pollution in the sea and sky. But El Nino, the natural system, which is kicking in as well.

And this is affecting, of course, ocean temperatures. If you look at the bottom of the planet, Antarctic ice is off the charts in the wrong direction there as well. That affects sea level rise as well.

But this comes at the same time -- look at 2023, an upside-down hockey stick. That is a dire thing for ice scientists all around the world.

But this comes at the same time we get the other report out of Stockholm, a U.N. study, that just looks at the books of the big oil producers for the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and they are going to shoot past our carbon budget right now.

This is in addition to the fact that they made $7 trillion in subsidies just last year. So the big oil and gas producers, the big petro states, are making these pledges to keep the temperature but not acting it at the same time -- Pam?

BROWN: That's very concerning for all of us.

Bill Weir, thank you so much.

And still ahead, right now, Ivanka Trump is testifying in the civil fraud trial that could have an impact on her family's business. We're following the latest from the courthouse.

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