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Rep. Fred Upton is Interviewed about the Primaries; Heavy Rainfall in Southwest; Scorching Temps Shut Down Factories in China; Little Leaguer out of ICU. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired August 19, 2022 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:06]
REP. FRED UPTON (R-MI): Well, they're winning for now. And you got to remember, in primaries you often have even no more than 20 percent of the electorate that vote, you know, even when you combine the Dems and the Republicans together.
So, in those, you know, often close contests or people can't vary to get out of the - their - you know, what they might be registered, you know, some states have registration, Michigan does not, you really have a very small base.
But, let's face it, the Trump base, hardcore base, is very loyal. They're not going to - they're not going to go away. They're there. And the real question will be, what comes in November. And, again, as to your previous guest, and really what Mitch McConnell said just yesterday, for a lot of these congressional seats, unlike a Senate district, they're gerrymandered. You know, they're - they're R-30, R- 30, B-30, B-20. I mean the election may be determined.
You talk to Charlie Cook and, you know, there may only be about 40 or so actual swing districts that might go one way or the other just because the lines that were written are so overwhelming in support of either the Republican or the Democratic candidate.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Let me ask you this. I was reading your website and the positions you take on a number of issues, for instance, gun control. You're in support of background checks, which a vast majority of voters are. Your positions are quite middle of the road and on issues that voters in polling say they want representatives like that, that are willing to occupy the middle road. Fact is, you're retiring. A lot of those folks have lost their primaries, right? I mean they - you could say a politically endangered species, right? And I wonder, what is the future for folks who hold positions like that, that are willing to vote in -- for bipartisan pieces of legislation, that are willing to try to work the middle? Is there a future for folks like you?
UPTON: Well, I'd like to say -- I use not middle of the road but common sense, thoughtful. I get a lot of good adjectives that are there. But I'll tell you one of the things that gives me real hope, I'm a vice chair of the bipartisan group Problem Solvers Caucus. Sixty members, equally divided between the Republicans and the Democrats. We were the ones, quite frankly, that were able to get the infrastructure bill through the House. Now, of course, it's different in the Senate. The Senate has different rules. It requires 60 votes.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
UPTON: But in the House, what we did as Problem Solvers is, we took the very strong bipartisan vote in the Senate and made it somewhat bipartisan in the House. We did that with the chip legislation that passed and the president just signed. We did that with some of the common sense gun stuff that Senator Cornyn led the fight on over in the Senate. We did that, obviously, with the infrastructure bill from last year.
So that is, I think, you know, we have a closely divided country, and it's going to be a close -- as Mitch said yesterday, it's going to be slightly Republican, slightly Democrat in the Senate. It's going to be the same way in the House. You know, Speaker Pelosi has a very narrow margin right now.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
UPTON: My sense is Kevin McCarthy will have a very narrow margin come November. And I think the House will flip. But the only way you're going to get something done, actually get it enacted into law, signed by the president, is to make it bipartisan. And that's where groups like No Labels and Problem Solvers Caucus really makes the difference.
SCIUTTO: But you know that despite folks like you making the case, and despite a lot of voters, frankly, expressing their desire for something like that, that's not where the Republican Party is right now. I mean that's not where the leadership is. It's not where primary voters certainly are. We'll see in the general election.
So, what gives you hope, I suppose, that - and, by the way, you know, that -- folks willing to work with the other side survive on the other side, in the Democratic Party as well?
UPTON: Yes, it's a -- you know, it's the same on both sides. But, you know, our group's not going to go away. And, you're right, I mean, the leadership on both sides, oh, we can't have Biden win, oh, we can't let the Republicans win, you've got to stay together, we've got to, you know, it goes back to the old issue, you'd (ph) call it the Hastert rule, former Speaker Hastert demanded that any bill that moved forward had to have 218 or a majority of the votes on the Republican side before he would even schedule it on the House floor.
Those days now are not so clear, but it's -- the only way you're going to get a bill done is if you're going to go to -- you know, Brian Fitzpatrick, the Josh Gottheimer, Fred Upton and Debbie Dingell, et cetera, leaders in the House on either side that are willing to work with both sides of the aisle to actually get something done, versus just vote no, or just vote yes, no matter what the bill is, just to be aligned with your leadership who are going to want to demand 100 percent.
[09:35:02] SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this, and you see that we have a statistic on our screen right now, 21 of 36 GOP nominees for governor question or deny the results of the 2020 election. You have others who won their primaries who are straight up election deniers. And in key swing states here.
Should voters be concerned that there will be officials in positions of power in upcoming elections, particularly 2024, that if called upon by Trump or someone else would actually act to overturn the election? Should folks be concerned about that?
UPTON: Yes, I think -- I think -- I'm one that believes that every ballot ought to count. They ought to be counted correctly. And if some election official or state statewide official or the governor or secretary of state says -- has the authority to overturn what those actual numbers are, yes, I have a real -- I have a real concern with that. And we have a lot of election deniers that are on the ballot in my state of Michigan where Biden won by 154,000 votes and nearly two years later there is still not a shred of evidence, even as a Republican state senate investigation saying that there was no fraud that would overturn the election. I think they found maybe two people that may have died that actually voted in the election in 2020.
SCIUTTO: Yes, sometimes the facts simply aren't enough.
Well, Congressman Fred Upton, we do appreciate you joining us this morning.
UPTON: You bet. Have a good weekend.
SCIUTTO: You too.
Well, prices for everyday items are, of course, already high across the U.S., and now severe heat in China could have an impact on the global supply chain, making your trip to the grocery store and elsewhere more expensive. We're going to have a live report coming up.
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[09:41:16]
SCIUTTO: The climate crisis is worsening an extreme drought in the western U.S., but heavy rain is expected this weekend. And that's now put much of the area under a flood risk.
CNN meteorologist Chad Myers joins us now.
Chad, flood watches across the southwest. The Colorado River at record levels. I mean the rain is good news, but I suppose when the land is so dry, a massive dump of rain can cause other dangers.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It doesn't soak in.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
MYERS: You would -- you would think that it does, but it acts like a brick.
SCIUTTO: Wow.
MYERS: It's been sitting out there in the sun for so very long it just doesn't want to go in. Now, if the ground is cracked, that helps a little bit, but you don't want your ground cracked, period.
Here's the rainfall coming down right now. There will be a flood event this weekend. There will be. All the way across southern parts of Arizona, into New Mexico, and possibly even into Texas.
And you're thinking, well, that's good, at least if people stay out of the way. That's the hard part because it will still rain in the overnight hours as well. The heaviest rain, as we talked about, about Lake Mead, doesn't get there. This is the Lake Mead drainage right through here. Colorado, all the way up through the Green River.
But look at where most of this rain will be. Down here, into the Rio Grande. Down here, into the Hila (ph). Not into Lake Mead itself. And we could really use a good dosing.
Now, Mead is up two feet since we've had our low a couple weeks ago. But back in '83 and '99, we were up around 1220 feet above sea level. Now we're still way down there. Two feet compared to being down 170, That's really hardly even worth talking about. But it is up. At least it's up.
Most of the rain, again, south of Phoenix, south of Tucson, but some of this will slide to Texas. Jim, another area that's been very dry. That has basically bricks for dirt. And some spots here could be 10 to 20 inches of rain over the next seven days. There will be flooding. You need to pay attention if you are in these areas, no question.
SCIUTTO: That's a good description, it's like a brick.
Chad Myers, good to have you on.
MYERS: Good to be here.
SCIUTTO: All right, in China, an extreme heatwave there is now shutting down factories. Businesses have been ordered to turn off their air conditioners. People are facing rolling blackouts at home.
CNN's Selina Wang shows us how the ripple effect of that could impact the global supply chain, even here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A scorching heat wave grinding work on the world's factory floors to a screeching halt. As China battles the worst heat wave on record, factories in the key manufacturing hubs of Sichuan province and Soching (ph) City have come to a standstill. For about a week, power is being saved for its more than 100 million residents amid a crippling crunch. But the diversion threatens an economic jolt. It hits factories for semiconductor companies, like Intel and Texas
Instruments, and suppliers of Apple and Tesla. Most importantly, Sichuan is rich in one of the world's most important commodities, lithium.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sichuan produce like 30 percent of the lithium (INAUDIBLE) for China. So we think that this is going to affect the lithium supplies in the short run. Very likely we are going to see the lithium price going up.
WANG: Lithium is essential for technologies, like electric car and smartphone batteries. While experts say the impact will be minimal if the shutdown only lasts a week, if they drag on, it threatens to snag already strained global supply chains and hike up prices for global consumers.
The power cuts are yet another headache for factories after Covid- related shutdowns. It could encourage the U.S. and Europe to move more of their battery supply chains back home.
[09:45:02]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Also kind of strengthens people's belief that you can't rely on China too much for the battery materials processing.
WANG: This is China's strongest and longest heat wave on record. Lasting for more than 60 days, pushing temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit in some regions. It's put extreme pressure on the power grid, because of spikes in air conditioning use and hydropower plants that are struggling to meet demand. Droughts are sweeping across the country. Parts of China's longest river, the Yangtze and other reservoirs have completely dried up. Fire trucks are sending water to places struggling to get enough drinking water. Villagers line up with their buckets.
In the south, the heat and droughts are ravaging crops, impacting 159 million acres of airable land. Many regions are taking desperate measures. Central Hubei province is firing rockets into the sky with chemicals to help clouds produce more rain. Videos of staff pouring ice cubes into swimming pools have gone viral. As did this woman's video diary showing her bag of live shrimp cooked after she was outside for an hour.
Office workers are sitting around giant ice cubes to cool down because of power cuts. Some cities are operating subway stations in near darkness to save energy. Other residents are sleeping in subway stations to take refuge from the heat.
China's heat wave is expected to get worse. So, all of this might be the new normal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WANG: And, Jim, millions of acres of farmland in China have been impacted by these droughts and more than a million people are facing water shortages or struggling to get enough access to drinking water. The human and economic toll of this heat wave is massive, putting even more pressure on this economy that's already in bad shape because of the country's zero Covid restrictions.
When it comes to global businesses, global factories, these power cuts are just the latest headaches after months and years of Covid-related shutdowns. The whether or not this hits consumers in the U.S. and the global supply chain depends on just how long this drags on for. But the compounding impact of this on top of zero Covid is a lot.
Jim.
SCIUTTO: No question. I mean the scale of it just remarkable to see there. Selina Wang, thanks so much, from Beijing.
Coming up next, great news, a relief really about the 12-year-old boy who was set to play in the Little League World Series before he fell from a bunkbed, fractured his skull. Doctors now say thankfully he's eating on his own and is expected to make a full recovery.
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[09:52:19]
SCIUTTO: All right, some good news and some relief. A little league player has taken another major step toward recovery after falling from a bunk bed and fracturing his skull. Twelve-year-old Easton Oliverson's family says he was moved out of intensive care, that's good news, and into a regular hospital room Thursday. He has been able to stand up, eat on his own, as you're seeing there, as well as communicate more frequently.
As CNN's Jason Carroll reports, his team is now preparing to play in the Little League World Series in honor of their teammate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, buddy, food.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With every scoop, Easton Oliverson is defying the odds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just like you're scooping a ball in left field.
CARROLL: He's awake, alert and communicating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel like it's going the right way, or does it feel like it's getting stuck?
EASTON OLIVERSON: It's going the right way.
CARROLL: The 12-year-old little lighter now out of intensive care. His father says it was just days ago when doctors told him he may not survive.
JACE OLIVERSON, EASTON'S FATHER: Doctors are saying he's 30 minutes max from dying with so much pressure on his brain stem, that here we are, not even three full days later, he has his mobility, his brain function, and it's not by coincidence.
CARROLL: Easton is a player on the Snow Canyon Little League team, the pride of Utah. They're the first team from the state to make it to the Little League World Series in its 75-year history. So, you can imagine all the excitement the team, his family had leading up to it. All that crushed Monday morning during an unimaginable accident when Easton fell out of his bunkbed while sleeping and hit his head.
J. OLIVERSON: It was so heart wrenching and couldn't believe what we had just experienced hours before, living the highs of highs, and now having to feel like Easton is now fighting for his life.
CARROLL: Doctors told them Easton had severely fractured his skull and punctured an artery outside his brain.
DR. FRANK MAFFEI, CHARI OF PEDIATRICS, GEISINGER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: There are some children that arrive in a very, very poor neurologic state. And Easton's state, upon arrival, was among the poorest I've seen.
CARROLL: Despite the injuries, Easton surprised doctors at Geisinger Janet Weis Children's Hospital, when hours after surgery, he showed signs of improvement.
DR. ODED GOREN, NEUROSURGEON, GEISINGER MEDICAL CENTER: He's making tremendous strides toward recovery. And we're expecting him to have a really near complete or complete recovery. We're all so happy.
CARROLL: His family says well wishes have come in from all over the world, including from Easton's favorite players.
MOOKIE BETTS, LOS ANGELES DODGERS: Hey, Easton, it's Mookie Betts. I just want you to know that we are praying for you, thinking of you.
[09:55:04]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you, man. We're praying for you. Hoping that your recovery goes well.
CARROLL: The family says it's not just doctors they have to thank.
J. OLIVERSON: The only reason that he's at this point in such a short period of time is - is because of our Heavenly Father and the way that he is showing people now that miracles do happen.
DEREK OLIVERSON, EASTON'S UNCLE: We 100 percent attribute that to the prayers that we've been receiving across the nation. We know, and the doctors agree, there was divine intervention here.
CARROLL: Just one more thing, there will be an Oliverson on the field during the game. Easton's 10-year-old little brother Brogan (ph) will take his spot and says he's ready to represent his brother and take on Tennessee.
BROGAN OLIVERSON, EASTON'S BROTHER: Be ready. We're coming.
J. OLIVERSON: That's right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, he's proven himself to be just as tough as his big brother.
And, Jim, speaking of tough, you that Easton's nickname is actually "Tank." You can see how he got that nickname, seeing how tough he's proven himself through all of this. His doctors and family say he's already won something much, much bigger than any tournament here.
Jim.
SCIUTTO: Goodness, that poor -- that poor little guy. Really hope he turns around quickly. Our best to him and his family.
Jason Carroll, thanks so much for covering.
Well, just ahead, our top story, six words that could spell real legal trouble for Donald Trump. Quote, willful retention of national defense information. How newly unsealed documents in the DOJ investigation could put a new focus on the former president.
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