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Airline Passengers Arriving in U.S. from Uganda to get Enhanced Ebola Screening; Thailand Nursery Teacher Recalls Moments of Deadly Attack; U.S. Warships Move into Region After North Korea Missile Tests; GOP Warns Homeland Security Chief of Impeachment Over Border. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 06, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: And the reason why, the species of Ebola virus that's causing the outbreak in Uganda is the Sudan species. This is one we don't have a vaccine. We don't have an approved treatment. But a World Health Organization representative did say earlier today that he's positive we'll get this outbreak under control, have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. YONAS TEGEGN WOLDEMARIAM, W.H.O. REPRESENTATIVE TO UGANDA: More and more assets, systems being put and I am positive that we could control this in reasonably good time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: So Victor and Alisyn those are reassuring words and when it comes to Ebola virus disease, symptoms include fever, aches, abdominal pain, but bleeding is the key symptom here you see on this list. So that's something that really has health officials on alert. Victor? Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Yes, understood. Jacqueline Howard, thank you. It's the top of the hour on CNN Newsroom. I'm Alisyn Camerota.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

Thailand is reeling right now after a massacre inside a childcare center. At least 36 people were killed including 24 children. They were all gunned down or stabbed. Now, police say the massacre was carried out by a lone assailant earlier today in an area northeast of Bangkok. The children inside were sleeping at the time.

CAMEROTA: Investigators say the shooter was an ex-cop who had just been - who had been fired and just appeared in court on drug charges. One of the teachers described the moment she saw the shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through interpreter): Around noon, I saw him enter the gate and the staff was having lunch. I suddenly heard what sounded like firecrackers. So I looked back and the staff had laid down on the floor. Then he pulled a gun from his waist, loaded it and was about to point the gun at me. So I called to another teacher who was holding a kid and I didn't expect him to also kill the kids. The teacher was hiding inside the room, but he shot at the door and kicked it open and entered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Authorities say that the gunman later shot and killed his own wife and stepson then took his own life.

CNN's Blake Essig is in Tokyo. So Blake, it's so awful and mass shootings are extremely rare in Thailand, what else do we know?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn and Victor, this is a peaceful quiet area that is now believed to be the scene of Thailand's deadliest massacre ever carried out by a single person. According to officials with Thailand's Criminal Investigation Bureau the attacker armed with multiple guns and a knife enters the nursery while these kids were asleep. Out of the 24 kids inside the nursery police 23 of them, some as young as two years old, were killed and according to the police chief, most of the victims who were killed were stabbed saying it seems that if the victim was a kid, the attacker used a knife.

Now, one of the witnesses said she watched as the attacker used his knife to hit the dead bodies of these kids again and again before the attacker fled the nursery, really killing anyone at that point that he came into contact with, whether it's with his gun knife or striking by standards with his car in the process. And investigators immediately launched a manhunt for the suspect who returned home where he ended up killing his wife and two year old stepson before taking his own life.

And in the end, at least 36 people were murdered including 24 children, another 10 people injured, six of them seriously injured. And authorities have identified the shooter as a 34-year-old man, a former police officer who was dismissed, fired from duty and charged with a drug-related offense last year.

His police chief said that possession - this possession charge is a result of confessing to taking and possessing crystal meth and yaba, which is a - which means crazy medicine in Thai and is a combination of meth and caffeine. Now the police chief also said that the attacker appeared in court on that drug charge just a few hours before the massacre took place with a verdict expected today actually.

Now, police say that the attacker's two-year-old stepson was enrolled in this child care center that was attacked. Officials say the 34- year-old went there looking for this child who wasn't there at the time and it was then that this horrific attack played out, Alisyn? Victor?

CAMEROTA: Blake Essig, thank you. We have some breaking news right now. President Biden is taking his

first steps towards decriminalization of marijuana. This move would fulfill a campaign promise to erase some prior federal possession convictions.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins is with us now. Kaitlan, tell us what's happening.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Alisyn, this is incredibly significant. A major step by President Biden and maybe the first step that we've seen from a president moving towards the decriminalization of marijuana.

[15:05:00]

It is not the full decriminalization but what President Biden has just announced in the last few minutes is that he is going to pardon all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession. That is going to potentially affect thousands of Americans and some estimates from the White House about 6,500 Americans in addition to Washington, D.C., the District of Columbia, this is going to apply to them as well.

And in addition to this major step by President Biden, which the White House does say is in an effort to fulfill a campaign promise to ease violations on those who have been convicted of marijuana use, the president is also encouraging states and governors to do the same, to look at the same convictions and their states and potentially pardon them as well.

And he is also instructing the Department of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to conduct a review into what marijuana is classified is. Right now, as you know, it is a schedule one drug that is higher than fentanyl, which has caused to so many deaths and so many issues in the United States. And the White House clearly believes a review should be conducted, potentially a change made there.

And this is a huge step by President Biden he is making, you know, just 32 days out from the midterms. And when we asked the White House why now, why this timing on this decision, they said it was in part because President Biden wants to fulfill that campaign pledge that he made and also because it's a decision that he has been weighing for some time.

So this is incredibly significant news coming from the White House that President Biden is going to move to pardon anyone who has a prior federal offense for simple marijuana possession, something that could affect thousands, ultimately, of people.

BLACKWELL: Kaitlan, you say that this is significant, it is but it's stopped short of decriminalization. Is that the goal that the President is attempting to reach and how close can he get if they're indicating without action from Congress?

COLLINS: That's a big question of whether or not that is actually a move we take. This as an executive order that the President is going to be signing, executive action that he's taking. It is notable, he's calling on states to do the same, though, to take those steps, of course, which he cannot do. He can only handle them that conviction he said at federal level, but moving, taking this step and encouraging states to do so is significant.

It's not as far as some Democrats, some on the left would want to see President Biden go to, of course. But this is a policy that has gotten traction on both sides of the political aisle, from Republicans and Democrats alike who say that too often, this has been people who have been convicted of just simply possessing marijuana and end up facing years in jail, years in prison for that.

And so they are saying that they believe that this is the move that they're taking. They're also noting the demographics here, as the White House was just telling reporters on a background call when they were previewing this announcement, they were saying that they believe this is something that disproportionately affects black and brown people over white people who use marijuana as well, obviously.

And so they were saying that they are trying to address the racial disparities here and taking this step. There are some Democrats who want it to be that full decriminalization and that is not what this is today. But it is a major step by a U.S. president to pardon all of these prior Federal offenses when it comes to this matter.

And we'll see ultimately how many people it affects, of course, there's big questions of what happens if you're arrested tomorrow for this offense, what that looks like. That is clearly something that they want to pursue. A path that they want to go down. But right now this is the step that they're taking today.

CAMEROTA: And Caitlyn when they say that they're going to pardon all simple possession convictions, that's for a small amount?

COLLINS: I asked the White House how many people did they think this would affect on the federal level. And they said, without - with excluding Washington, D.C. which is included in this, they said that would include about a few a thousand people. They do believe it's going to be about 6,500 people that this could affect.

And so obviously, those are 6,500 lives that would be changed by this decision. That's a major factor going into - for the White House to consider here. And a major step by President Biden that was just announced a few moments ago from the White House.

BLACKWELL: All right. Kaitlan Collins with the breaking news, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Okay. Meanwhile, Russia's President Vladimir Putin declaring a Ukrainian nuclear power plant, the biggest in Europe, to be a Russian federal asset. This is just part of his illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

BLACKWELL: And those regions are not fully occupied by Russian troops and are actively fighting a Ukrainian counter offensive. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Ukraine. So now the U.S. is involved in this power plant dispute. The IAEA sent a representative there. What's the latest?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The IAEA have had people on the scene for a while now. But now Russia has formally annexed what it thinks is part of Ukraine that are now Russian territory, this puts in Russia's mind a whole set of different potential parameters about who's in control of that plant.

The Russian military are essentially around it and Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said there were 500 Russian soldiers at that stage. The concerns for a long time being that Russia was essentially using it to store ammunition, to have soldiers and essentially it's caught in a crossfire to some degree.

Now, there's some anger displayed by the Ukrainian president today in more muted terms, but certainly hoping to hear from the U.N. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi some more overt condemnation of what Russia had essentially done by signing a piece of paper declaring this nuclear plant part of its own territory.

[15:10:00]

But, of course, he's in a very difficult position of having to try and negotiate the safety of this plant between two warring sides, one, Russia having illegally occupied that area. He did say that the documents signed by Russia had no real import under international law. The annexation was not something recognized by international law and the U.N.-followed international law.

But there the U.N. in a very difficult place here, trying essentially to prevent, at worst case, a pretty awful nuclear accident. One, I should say that potentially has greater risk to Russia, I mean, to the prevailing winds around that particular area. But another element here, which Moscow seems to permanently bring back to the surface at times when it's looking for more leverage, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Nick Paton Walsh for us, thank you.

Now let's go to the Korean peninsula where tensions are escalating after another round of North Korean provocations.

CAMEROTA: In the last 24 hours, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles and conducted military exercises. CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now from the Pentagon. So Oren, how is the U.S. and our allies responding?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, a short time ago at a press conference here at the Pentagon, Gen. Pat Ryder said this was provocative and dangerous, but he wasn't just referring to these latest ballistic missile launches or the aerial exercise the North Koreans appear to have conducted in which they had fighters and bombers flying near the South Korean border.

It's what we've seen over the course of the past two weeks where North Korea has conducted some six different launches on different occasions here, in which they fired not only short range ballistic missiles but also an intermediate range ballistic missile, which flew over Japan for the first time in five years.

At each point, the U.S. has made it a point to conduct exercises either with the South Koreans or with the Japanese or both. And that's what we saw in response to this latest firing of South Korea - of North Korean short range ballistic missiles. The U.S., Japan and South Korea conducted a trilateral exercise in which they drilled the tracking, detection and interception of ballistic missile launches.

South Korea explicitly said this was in the event that they had to intercept or were forced to intercept another North Korean ballistic missile launch in the future. These three countries have also conducted aerial exercises, anti submarine exercises, firing ATACMS long range precision guided missiles over the course of the past few weeks.

So you see the U.S. making it a point to show its military force and not backing away, not deterred in any way in light of these North Korean ballistic missile launches. On the diplomatic side, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said look the U.S. is ready to engage in diplomacy, but the North Korea hasn't shown any interest in that and continued ballistic missile launches would only result in further condemnation and further isolation at the U.N.

Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, without naming Russia and China clearly said that it's two countries who sit on the Security Council who have given consistent and continuous protection and cover for these North Korean actions.

The big fear here, Victor and Alisyn, is that as we see these continued ballistic missile launches, the U.S. has said for months now that it is North Korea that's preparing for another nuclear test.

CAMEROTA: Okay. Oren Liebermann, thank you for the latest from the Pentagon.

BLACKWELL: Thirty-three days out from the midterm elections, Republicans are making impeachment plans if they win control of the House, but maybe not against who you think. They're in on Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

CAMEROTA: And the fallout continues for Herschel Walker. There's new details in this abortion scandal that the GOP Senate candidate is fighting.

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[15:18:03]

BLACKWELL: So, of course, Republicans are hoping to take the majority back next month and some members of the GOP are floating the idea of an impeachment of the Homeland Security Chief, Alejandro Mayorkas, as their first order of business.

CAMEROTA: It's unclear whether House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is onboard. CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju joins us now. Manu, what is McCarthy saying? MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is actually open

to the idea. He's certainly not ruling it out and he's getting a lot of pressure from his right flank, including some allies, such as Congressman Jim Jordan who in a Republican majority would chair the House Judiciary Committee which oversees this issue of impeachment.

Now, he said that he - McCarthy is open to this idea and is willing to sit down and talk about it. Now, also, McCarthy was asked by a colleague, Melanie Zanona, about this. He said what happens at the border is above anything else. It would not say specifically they would go this route.

And it would be a rather extraordinary move to do just that, because impeaching someone is charging them with crime of high crimes and misdemeanors under the Constitution. And that is just - he would only be the second cabinet official ever in American history to endure that fate. The last one happening in the mid 1800s for the Secretary of War. And there is a lot of concern and pushback within the Republican conference about going that route, even though there are congressmen like Congressman Chip Roy of Texas, who believe that is something that the conference should seriously consider.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): It is because I believe that he lied to me under oath. I believe that he has been denying the reality of the border purposely and as a result, Americans have died, migrants have died. But impeachment cases are things you build, you build and make your case and I think we ought to have those conversations.

RAJU: And what about Biden, there's been some talk about impeaching Biden? How do you feel about that?

ROY: That's a much bigger political question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So the Republicans are not, at the moment, pushing forward on the idea of impeaching Joe Biden, because that's simply something that is even more divisive within the Republican conference. But looking at the idea of going after the Secretary of Homeland Security, even though a lot of Republicans say that the dispute is not about whether or not he committed crime, but it is a policy dispute and something that should not be subject to impeachment.

[15:20:09]

One of those congressmen who have concerns about that is Congressman Steve Womack. He's a Republican from Arkansas, when I asked him last week about this issue, he said, there's a risk, he said, to this. He said, "The risk is people lose faith in the ability of Congress to even do its basic function." He said, "The people that I talked to from all stripes tell me they want a Congress that works, not a Congress that is preoccupied with the kind of revenge-type agendas. Because then a lot of other things that need to happen don't get to happen. And then that hurts the country." Now, the Homeland Security Department has defended its efforts to

secure the border. They have pushed back on these attacks. The - from the Republicans and presumably this could also go away if Mayorkas were to resign in the aftermath of the midterms, assuming Republicans take back control of the House. But we put that question to them, they said Secretary Mayorkas is proud to advance the mission of the Department of Homeland Security and: "He has no plans to resign." Guys?

BLACKWELL: Manu Raju with the reporting. Thank you.

Let's take this now to former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh and CNN Political Commentator, Alice Stewart, welcome to you both.

Congressman, let me start with you, 33 days out from the midterms, the economy and inflation are by far what voters care most about. So leading with an impeachment of the DHS Secretary, is that a smart play for Republicans?

JOE WALSH, (R) FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, ILLINOIS: No, it's a great move for Democrats, Victor, because this just shows how utterly unserious the - this Republican Party is. I mean, they're floating impeaching Mayorkas. They've floated impeaching Biden. They have put forward plans to impeach virtually every member of the Biden administration.

This is a gift to Democrats, because it tells - it's actually a gift to the American voter because it tells the American voter that if my former political party is in control of the House for the next two years, nothing is going to get done. All they're going to do is investigate, investigate and seek revenge.

CAMEROTA: Alice, we have to turn our attention now to Herschel Walker, because every day he - something comes up with this abortion scandal and today is no different. Now The Daily Beast is reporting he had said he doesn't know the woman that has the canceled check from him paying for her abortion, she says, that sent her a get well card. He said he doesn't know her. Today, she says, oh, he does know me, he actually is the father of my child and here's what he said on the Hugh Hewitt show this morning, trying to explain it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERSCHEL WALKER, (R) GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: If that had happened, I would have said there's nothing to be ashamed of there. People have done that, but I know nothing about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Alice, it is remarkable to hear how many right wing Republicans now say they don't care if he paid for abortion, they don't care. Now, suddenly the - this wing that is so anti-abortion suddenly - they'll give him a pass, why is that?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This story continues to grow and we learn new things every day. The one thing that I think would have been helpful from the very beginning, when you have a crisis like this, you engage in what is called rapid response communications. You put out a quick and swift response and let that be the answer. Unfortunately, this continues.

We learn new things every day. Here's what I'm hearing from Republicans. They look at this - they're taking Herschel Walker's word for what he's saying in terms of this - he did not pay for this abortion. I know I ...

CAMEROTA: (Inaudible) he does not have a track record of honesty.

STEWART: I'm saying this is what I'm hearing from Republicans across the country whether they're people in my home state of Georgia, family members of mine in my home state of Georgia and Republican leaders in Washington, D.C. They are taking his word for this because he denies it. Much like Donald Trump, whenever he is faced with an accusation, he does deny, deflect and demean the accuser. That is what Herschel Walker is doing in this case.

But they're looking at this from a different lens. They're looking at this from the standpoint that this happened back in 2009 and they're willing to forgive past transgressions, if this was the case. And they're looking at this from - through the political lens. He may or may not have done this, but what they're looking at is what he is promising to do if he is this - in the Senate. He is promising to impose policies and enact policies ...

CAMEROTA: Yes.

STEWART: ... that Republicans are supportive of.

CAMEROTA: He's promising to ban abortion nationwide for women, even when their health and life depend upon it.

BLACKWELL: No exceptions.

CAMEROTA: No exceptions. That's what he'd be - so personally, he may be pro-abortion, but for other women, no.

STEWART: That's the quandary that many Republicans are having. But they are - again, they are taking his word for it, this did not happen. But again, this is political calculation that Republicans are looking at this in terms of what are the alternatives.

[15:25:05]

Right now, we have a binary choice between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

STEWART: Don't get me wrong, Herschel Walker is a flawed candidate, very flawed candidate and we should have ironed this out in the primary. There are good candidates in the primary that should be on the ticket. But right now we're looking at a binary choice between Herschel Walker and Warnock. CAMEROTA: Yes.

STEWART: Republicans, I'm talking with family members and leaders, they're looking at the policies of Walker that are for strengthening our national security and fighting crime.

CAMEROTA: Yes, Alice, (inaudible) he has one page of policy. They're less than a paragraph each. I mean, Raphael Warnock is also, again, I mean, for supporting local police. Go ahead.

BLACKWELL: Congressman, go ahead.

WALSH: Alisyn, Victor, there's no quandary here for Republicans. This is all about winning the Senate. Principles be damned, morals be damned, character be damned. This is not a tough call for Republicans. They want control of the Senate. So they will support a candidate that every single one of them privately knows is an utter disaster. Just say that.

BLACKWELL: Yes. I - this reminds me of the Roy Moore situation in 2018. Now, I'm not comparing the allegations at all, but when Donald Trump said he changed his mind and was going to support Roy Moore, it was because of tax cuts. And this, I'm talking about the Senate candidate in Alabama, if it is just a binary choice that what we want control, then there is no floor for your candidate. If it's just, we don't want the Democrat, you'll accept anything from the Republican, will you not?

STEWART: That's not the case. We're looking at this through the political lens in terms of as a Republican, what policies do we want carried into the U.S. Senate. And Raphael Warnock is supportive of the Biden policies that have caused massive inflation, high crime and the crisis at the border.

CAMEROTA: That's not true. Raphael Warnock has supported a bill that gives more money to local police. That's even more - he - actually is more explicit than Herschel Walker is in terms of fighting crime.

STEWART: What people are looking at is the problems facing Georgians are high gas - high prices at the grocery store, high (inaudible) ...

BLACKWELL: Let's just say abortion doesn't matter.

CAMEROTA: Yes, say abortion doesn't matter.

BLACKWELL: Just say it doesn't matter as long as we get a Republican in there and we can take control of the Senate and we can now focus on inflation and economy and all of that, abortion doesn't matter. Is that what the position is today?

STEWART: It's not what the position is and that's not what I'm saying. They're saying that abortion is an important issue, the pro-life and the sanctity of life is an important issue. And they're looking at what Herschel Walker vows to do as an elected official. What he has done in his private life, we still don't know, but they're looking at what he is vowing to do as an elected official. Many felt the same way with regard to Donald Trump. What he promised

to do with regard to Roe v. Wade, they took his word for it and took a leap of faith and that's what many are doing here, to see the policies that Herschel Walker is advocating for which will help the economy with crime, with education in pursuing the American people.

CAMEROTA: Maybe. They're very, very scant on his website in terms of what he plans to do in terms of policy. But Alice, thank you for your perspective.

STEWART: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thank you. We appreciate it. Joe Walsh, thank you as always.

BLACKWELL: All right. People in Sanibel, Florida are returning to the island to see the damage firsthand and it includes the city's mayor. We'll speak with her about what's left of her home, next.

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