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Russian Forces in Disarray?; North Korea Tensions; Oil Producers Slash Production. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 06, 2022 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:01]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: A special master is reviewing that trove of documents, even as the Justice Department challenges that process. Worth remembering, more than 100 classified documents found and recovered at the Trump estate now in the hands of the Justice Department.

Thanks for your time today on INSIDE POLITICS. We will see you back here tomorrow.

Ana Cabrera picks up our coverage right now.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello. Great to have you with us. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

We begin with a White House doing damage control and a world economy teetering on the edge. That's the situation one day after the world's leading oil producers decided to slash production by double the expectation, this move prompting an analyst to accuse Saudi Arabia of siding with Russia over the U.S.

And, this morning, President Biden was asked about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: What's your reaction to the OPEC Plus decision, Mr. President?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Disappointment. And we're looking at what alternatives we may have. There's a lot of alternatives. We haven't made up our mind yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: The White House evaluating how to respond, as some key global economic forecasts have gotten gloomier.

So what do all these forces mean for you at home and your wallet?

Let's discuss with CNN's Matt Egan. He's at the New York Stock Exchange. And CNN is Kaitlan Collins is with us from the White House.

So, Matt, lay it out for us. Is there a direct cause and effect between this production cut and prices at our local gas station?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Ana, yes, the simple answer is yes.

We're already seeing an impact. Just 10 days ago, recession fears drove world oil prices down to eight-month lows, but they have since raced back to life, in large part because of rumors of this OPEC supply cut and now the actual official confirmation. And prices at the gas pump are responding swiftly.

A gallon of regular now fetches $3.87 nationally. That is up from $3.83 just a day ago, up nine cents over the past week. Prices are still lower, of course, than they were over the summer, when they hit $5. But they have moved up.

And this makes sense because, if demand stays the same, but supply takes a hit with OPEC intentionally withholding supply, well, then prices have nowhere to go but up. Now, OPEC would argue they're trying to get ahead of a potential recession, which would hurt demand. But we're not there yet on a recession.

And we are still in the middle of this war in Ukraine, which means there are risks to Russia's supply. Just yesterday, a top Russian official reiterated that Moscow will not supply oil to countries that impose the oil price cap that the G7 and European Union have agreed.

Ana, if Russia further weaponize his energy, that's only going to raise prices on consumers even further.

CABRERA: Kaitlan, what alternatives might the White House be weighing then? How do they plan to minimize the economic and political impact of all this?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They're still contemplating that. And they are very worried about the political impact, because, really, the timing of this decision by OPEC Plus could not be worse for President Biden with the midterms just a few weeks away.

And so they have been asked, what are the next steps that they are considering? Because you saw yesterday they said they'd be consulting with Congress. That raises questions about whether or not they would try to repeal that longstanding exemption that exists when it comes to antitrust laws.

There are also questions about whether or not President Biden would tap into the Strategic Reserves once again, something he's already done. And it really does speak to the moment of where the White House finds themself in right now, openly saying that they are disappointed with this decision.

And if you look at White House language, they don't often say they're disappointed unless they are actually quite upset about a decision. And they certainly are when it comes to this one. It was a decision they tried to avoid. And when it comes to those potential releases, the additional releases from the Strategic Reserves, that's something that just earlier this week, Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary, said they were not considering doing those additional releases.

Now that OPEC Plus has made this decision to cut back on their oil production, the White House is saying that President Biden still has that authority, he may consider doing so if he decides it's appropriate. And so there are some questions being raised by more progressive Democrats that maybe Saudi Arabia should be cut off from their weapons shipments, and the -- what the aspects and the benefits that they get from that U.S. relationship there.

The White House, notably, was asked about that today, did not say that that's not something they're considering. But they said it's not something that they have any announcements on right now. And if you talk to people, obviously, they will say that that is unlikely, but it does speak to the moment of where the White House is in all of this, because they tried to avoid this situation. Obviously, they did not avoid it.

And now they are dealing with it with President Biden openly saying that he is disappointed. One really interesting part about this, though, is that President Biden said today he doesn't regret the trip he made earlier this year to Saudi Arabia, one that brought him so much political blowback to meet with the Saudi crown prince after the murder of that reporter, with the president saying he did not regret that.

He said that trip wasn't about oil, but they did walk away from that thinking they had an unreal an unwritten with the Saudis that oil production would stay boosted through the fall.

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CABRERA: OK, Kaitlan Collins, Matt Egan, thank you both.

Let's bring in a pair of CNN political commentators now, former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.

Good to have you both here.

Maria, President Biden and the Democrats, they were gaining some momentum. A new NPR/Marist poll has the president's approval at 44 percent. That's up from a low of 36 percent in the same poll back in July, but voters still say inflation and the economy, that is their top concern, their biggest issue.

So how damaging could this OPEC development end up being for Democrats?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it depends on what happens between now and the election, Ana, and what the White House is able to do about it.

And, as Kaitlan mentioned, they are looking at every option that they have on the table. But, look, I think that at this point, voters, absolutely, they're concerned about inflation, they're concerned about the economy. And the administration has a lot to say, a lot of accomplishments on the economy, 11 million jobs.

They have presided over the creation of all of those jobs, as well as the growth of the economy itself. And on inflation, they have passed the Inflation Reduction Act that deals with the climate crisis, deals with energy costs. And I think all of that is something they need to underscore.

But in addition to that, Ana, we know that there are other issues also that voters are going to be very concerned about. One of them is choice. And this is something that I think is not just underreported, but underreported in polls, because we know that a lot of the younger women, energized women, first-time voters that are women, as well as men who are energized about this issue, are not showing up in polls because pollsters do not measure them.

CABRERA: Sure. Well...

CARDONA: And I think this is going to be something else we're going to be seeing across the board.

CABRERA: Well, look to that election that happened in Kansas, more recently, on the ballot.

CARDONA: Exactly.

CABRERA: Abortion was directly there and really spurred some big...

CARDONA: And New York 20 as well.

CABRERA: Well, it spurred a big turnout among especially Democratic voters in those areas.

However, of course, the economy affects everybody. And we do know poll after poll shows Republicans taking the support there in terms of who would handle the economy better.

But I want to flip the table here, Charlie, Congressman Dent, in terms of the challenges facing Republicans and your party. Let's talk about the Georgia Senate race. Herschel Walker, a hard-line abortion opponent, is denying an allegation that he paid for a woman's abortion in 2009.

Now, The Daily Beast is also reporting that that same woman who had the abortion also claims to be the mother of one of his children. CNN has not been able to independently confirm these reports. Here's what Walker's saying today.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HERSCHEL WALKER (R), GEORGIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I will say the same thing I have said, that I know this is untrue. I know it's untrue.

And they keep telling me things like that, and it's totally, totally untrue. If that had happened, I would have said it, because there's nothing to be ashamed of there. People have done that. But I know nothing about it. And if I knew about it, I would be honest and talk about it. But I know nothing about that.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CABRERA: Congressman, how do you see Republican voters reacting to this in a race that could determine the control of the Senate?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, this is certainly very bad news for the Walker campaign.

Look, you're going to hear the Ralph Reeds of the world and some on the evangelical right, they're going to say, hey, red team, blue team, we're sticking with our team. But, on the margins, suburban women in Atlanta and other swing voters, I think, are probably not going to appreciate any of this information and this hypocrisy.

So I think it is a very real problem, and they're in a damage control model. I should note, however, I just received an e-mail from Herschel Walker's campaign. They're raising money off of this right now, saying it's not true, and, hey, chip in 25, 35 50 bucks.

I mean, so they're raising money off it. But I think there's -- that this is not good news, under any circumstances. And I have to say something else, Ana.

I remember, eight years ago, myself and other pro-LGBT and pro- abortion rights Republicans were excoriated by the Family Research Council, saying that -- and I ain't going to read the quote, what they said about people like me. They said, we cannot sit by when people calling themselves Republicans seek high office while espousing positions antithetical to the overwhelming majority of Republicans.

That's what they said that. Now, here we are, and they're willing to turn a blind eye on something this serious, at least a serious allegation. And I don't know if it's true. It hasn't been verified. But that's where we are in politics.

It's so tribal that people may overlook this. But, on the margins, it's a problem.

CABRERA: And the Republican Party, leaders of your party still seem to be politically and publicly supporting Walker.

What are your thoughts, Maria?

[13:10:00]

CARDONA: I think that this is going to be a race that is going to be won or lost at the margins.

And this is not something that is going to help Herschel Walker on those margins that he needs so desperately. He is behind right now, right? Raphael Warnock is not running away with it.

But he does have a lead. And when you have a campaign that now has this kind of news, and it's the kind of news that is going to move independent women, suburban women, all of those folks who take a look at the contrast and they say, OK, I can vote for Herschel Walker, who has never had a role in public service, has zero experience in politics or policy, is a philanderer, has been accused by his own family of threatening them with violence, is an alleged abuser of women, and now for Republicans themselves, under their own definition, is probably a baby killer?

I think that is a contrast that is going to sound the death knell for a campaign that desperately needs those margins in order to win. And it also belies the huge hypocrisy of the Republican Party. Like Charlie was just saying, this is Donald Trump all over again, who said, famously, I can kill somebody on Fifth Avenue, I can shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue, and my supporters won't care.

Well, now you have Herschel Walker, who has allegedly committed the sin that supposedly is sacrosanct among evangelicals and Republicans, the sanctity of life, and they don't give a flying fig.

And that should worry Americans about what this party is about, its bankrupt values, and its complete lack of leadership and utter understanding of what is decency in this country.

CABRERA: Well, it's up to the voters, though, to ultimately make the choice of what's most important to them.

CARDONA: That's right.

CABRERA: Congressman, I want to look at another crucial battleground race in your stomping grounds of Pennsylvania, lots of twists and turns.

The latest now is GOP Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz vehemently denying allegations that he oversaw animal abuse, including the deaths of hundreds of dogs, during his time at a medical research lab at Columbia University.

Democrat John Fetterman has been up in the polls, but they have been tightening. What's your sense there on the ground? Could this shake things up?

DENT: Well, look, I think that that race is tightening very much. I think Mehmet Oz is actually in a pretty good position to win, because John Fetterman has understated the seriousness of his health situation, which we all feel badly for him about.

And, also, he's also taken on a very hard left position as a Democratic justice -- democratic socialist. That's where he is, that Bernie Sanders wing. I think Fetterman is in big problem -- having big problems, and particularly with senior citizens.

I mean, this guy, he's -- he likes talking about wearing a hoodie all the time. But I got to tell you, if my 92-year-old mother was still alive, she said, would it kill the guy to put on a collared shirt in front of the president of the United States?

I mean, I'm telling you, senior citizens, I don't think, are really excited about his whole shtick. And so I think Oz is closing. CABRERA: Well, maybe there's some appeal to that sort of everyday Joe look that has worked for him in the past, right?

(CROSSTALK)

DENT: Yes. No, I get it. I wear a hoodie too when I walk the dog and stuff.

But the point I'm making is, I don't know that that -- that might appeal to some younger voters, but he's got a problem with senior citizens. Republicans are coming home for Oz. They're going to be a lot of Shapiro/Oz voters in Pennsylvania who are going to reject Mastriano, but then turn around and then vote for Oz, because a lot of Republicans aren't going to go to Fetterman.

I can see that. That's going to be very tight. It's probably a coin flip right now. But I think that Fetterman is in a very defensive position right now.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Quickly, Maria, final thought.

CARDONA: Yes, people love their dogs, Ana.

And this is a horrible, horrible story. I think that this -- again, this is another race that is going to be won or lost on the margins, and every single thing counts. And while Charlie thinks that Fetterman is not going to be appealing to older voters, he is appealing to working-class voters, which is something that has been a big base for him.

And he is ahead right now. It's definitely tightening and, we knew that was going to happen. But, right now, every single margin counts. I also think the abortion issue is going to be huge in Pennsylvania, Charlie, a lot of suburban women there.

CABRERA: And who else knows what could happen?

CARDONA: Right.

CABRERA: What could happen in the next month?

(LAUGHTER)

CABRERA: There is -- there have been so many twists and turns in this race and others.

CARDONA: So much.

CABRERA: Congressman, I can't let you go without asking you about this new development regarding your party. If they take back the House, there's talk about impeachment, but not of President Biden.

We're learning this the new target for the GOP is DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. What do you make of that? DENT: Well, first, it's a very misguided attempt.

The differences with Mayorkas is over policy. This is not an impeachable offense. And, by the way, history has a funny way of repeating itself. You may remember, in 2016, it was Jim Jordan who proposed impeaching John Koskinen, the IRS commissioner, back then, terrible idea, terrible idea. Scrapped it, again, over policy disagreements.

[13:15:11]

So bottom line is, this is a mistake. They need a more measured approach. This is seen -- this will be seen as vindictive. Have hearings. Torture him over his immigration policies being too passive. But impeachment is over the top.

CABRERA: Charlie Dent, Maria Cardona, great to have you both here. Thank you so much.

CARDONA: Thanks, Ana.

DENT: Thanks.

CABRERA: Now to just an unimaginable story out of Thailand, where 36 people, most of them children, are dead in a gun and knife attack that started at a day care center.

Officials say the attacker, who's also a former policeman, began shooting and stabbing people inside the day care while kids were taking their lunchtime nap. Investigators say the suspect was looking for his 2-year-old stepson, who was enrolled at the facility, but not there when this massacre began. Police say he later drove home, killed his wife and stepson, before taking his own life.

CNN's Blake Essig is following this tragic story for us.

Blake, we're learning this suspect was in court just hours before this mass killing. What else are you learning?

We just lost Blake. And so we're going to work to try to get him back. And we will bring you an update on that story as we get some new developments.

Do we have him, guys? OK, let's move on.

Tensions are soaring, missiles are flying as North Korea continues to defy warnings to stop launching weapons near or even over Japan. Now how the U.S. and allies are responding.

Plus, CNN obtains stunning new video showing Russian recruits complaining of not being fed, properly trained and having fevers from being left in the rain for days.

And a tragic ending to another disturbing story, a California family kidnapped at gunpoint while surveillance cameras were rolling now found dead. What we're learning about this case. Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:21:22]

CABRERA: Today, tensions are escalating even further on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea firing to more short-range ballistic missiles, as they keep breaking their own record of recent missile launches, in all, 24 launches this year, six of those in the past 12 days.

The provocation now prompting the U.S. Navy to move a strike group into waters nearby, two U.S. warships today holding drills with South Korea and Japan to practice tracking and intercepting missiles.

Now to Russia's war in Ukraine. A Ukrainian defense official is now claiming Russia is burning the bodies of its dead soldiers, including those recently mobilized, all in an attempt to conceal their losses.

Now, CNN cannot independently confirm this claim, but we have geolocated remarkable new video showing dozens of Russian recruits. This is in the Russian region of Belgorod. They're standing around a train complaining of not being fed or properly equipped after being recruited to fight. Many say they have fevers after being in the rain for days.

As for those not joining Putin's war, Ukraine claims to have intel on the lengths some Russian men are taking to avoid the front lines. They say men are fleeing the country, paying bribes to not be drafted, faking illness, even harming themselves.

With us now is retired U.S. Army Major John Spencer. He is the chair of urban warfare studies at the Madison Policy Forum and author of the new book "Understanding Urban Warfare."

First, Major, your reaction to this new video and these reports from Ukrainian officials.

MAJ. JOHN SPENCER (RET.), MADISON POLICY FORUM: Sure.

It's not a surprise at all what we're seeing in those videos and other videos of the state of the mobilized people in Russia.

I am a little surprised at the number of mobilizing that Russia reported, up to 200,000, is that three times that are being reported to having fled. And we have seen those long convoys of Russian men just trying to escape Russia. But those people on those trains, I'm, as a human, a little, let's say, sad, but that's just cannon fodder.

CABRERA: The Russians say, as Ukraine advances, they are regrouping right now. But can they regroup?

SPENCER: I'm not sure how you regroup when you're withdrawing -- you're running, not even withdrawing, but literally abandoning all your tanks, all your artillery. There are forces being encircled in the south. And those advances are

real. And the Ukrainians in the east haven't stopped moving forward. They're really desperate.

And that -- and you can see that in those soldiers, but also in the words coming out of the Kremlin. They're in a really bad -- it really doesn't make common sense at this point to keep going.

CABRERA: We're also approaching winter. So many of these bombed-out Ukrainian cities are without power, without heat. Who has the advantage, do you think, strategically as the battlefield literally changes with this winter weather moving in?

SPENCER: Absolutely, Ana. Winter's coming.

And it completely gives the advantage, more advantage, although the quality is so higher already in the Ukrainian military. That cold weather, which usually saps your motivation, but just think about those soldiers that you saw on that train being sent to the front line. And now the weather is already in the 40s. In a couple of weeks, it will be in the 30s at night.

[13:25:02]

Unmotivated, untrained, unfed soldiers who are freezing are just logs. They won't move.

And the Ukrainians, even the U.S. aid packages include cold weather kits. They're going to be winterized. They're going to be ready and they're not going to stop. So this just means a lot more, as in tens of thousands, Russians dying in winter.

CABRERA: Today, Ukraine says it's now liberated more than 400 square kilometers in the southern Kherson region. A Russian-appointed deputy in that region blames incompetent Russian commanders.

How does Ukraine capitalize on this moment, then? How do they hold on to their momentum?

SPENCER: They -- I mean, they're doing it, and only they can answer it, because of how smartly they have been fighting.

They have up to 15,000 Russian soldiers encircled in that Kherson pocket. And it's -- and I think that representative is right. This is a complete failure of the Russian military leadership to even fight smartly, to -- not to withdraw when they need to, just leave people to die.

And that leads to other videos we're seeing Russian soldiers completely surrendering under a white flag, which is the right thing for them to do.

CABRERA: Major John Spencer, it's great to have you back. Thank you so much for joining us today.

SPENCER: Thank you. CABRERA: And now to a desperate plea to Vladimir Putin for mercy from

the wife of detained WNBA player Brittney Griner.

Griner's wife, Cherelle, appearing on CBS this morning, she called her wife a hostage and then opened up about the negotiations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GAYLE KING, CO-HOST, "CBS THIS MORNING": What do you believe that it will take to bring her home now?

CHERELLE GRINER, WIFE OF BRITTNEY GRINER: I feel like, at this point, it's going to take Putin to have that same mind-set and say, you know what, Brittney Griner, who came to my country for seven, eight years and helped my country be recognized through sport, pay taxes in my country, help my country, I'm going to sit at a table and I'm going to be clear about what I need in return for her release, so that we can actually get a meeting of the minds between these two governments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Griner was detained about eight months ago. She is facing nine years in a Russian prison after pleading guilty to drug smuggling.

An entire family, including a baby girl, found dead after surveillance cameras captured them being kidnapped at gunpoint. A suspect is now in custody. What we're learning next.

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