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Huge Blast Cripples Part Of Critical Russian Bridge To Crimea; NFL And Players Union Agree To Update Concussion Protocol; U.S. Economy Added 263,000 Jobs In September; Abortion Accusation Weighing Down On Herschel Walker Campaign; Police In California On The Hunt For Potential Serial Killer; October 28 Deadline For Elon Musk And Twitter. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired October 08, 2022 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:53]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. The top stories for you on this Saturday, Vladimir Putin facing even more grim choices after a massive blast partially destroys Russia's prized Crimea Bridge.

Also ahead for you tonight, after months of legal sparring, the clock ticks for Elon Musk to close the deal on Twitter.

And a toddler miraculously rescued after his parents' car is stolen with him trapped inside.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A prized achievement of Vladimir Putin and apparent target of his Ukrainian tormenters. This right here is the exact moment the Russian president suffered his latest blow in his war on Ukraine. The blast from an apparent truck bomb knocking out three of the four lanes of the bridge that links Russia to Crimea, its annexed territory in the south. Now a huge bottleneck chokes a critical supply route for Putin's war in Ukraine.

Now Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility for the attack but it is most certainly celebrating it. Ukraine will issue this commemorative postal stamp -- look at this -- with a nod to the "Titanic." And one senior Ukrainian official couldn't ignore that the explosion came just hours after Putin's 70th birthday.

So as you see there, that official social media post combines the smoldering ruins with Marilyn Monroe's iconic crooning of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy.

Meantime, President Biden uttered the word Armageddon to convey a stark warning on the extreme dangers of nuclear threats from Vladimir Putin. Although multiple U.S. officials tell CNN the warning was not based on any new intelligence, it's still unsettling to hear it from the commander-in-chief. And watching an increasingly desperate and reportedly unhinged Vladimir Putin continue to be backed into a corner lends credence to the anxiety.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger, and Jason Willick, columnist for the "Washington Post."

Great to have you both on. So, David, first to you. How do Putin's current threats compared to what happened during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 when the U.S. and Soviet Russia were on the brink of nuclear war? That is what President Biden invoked when he was talking about his concerns.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It's exactly what he talked about, Panela. And of course, the Cuban missile crisis was 60 years ago this month. So it's quite a moment for him to be raising it.

The Cuban missile crisis was much closer to actual nuclear confrontation with the then Soviet Union than I think we are today. Kennedy himself said that there was a 1 in 3 chance of a nuclear exchange during that time, maybe higher, he thought. But what we're seeing now is this slow progression toward escalation. And the concern is and the concern that the president discussed on Thursday night at that fundraiser in New York was that if Putin didn't have some kind of an off ramp, some way out of this, that he might turn to nuclear weapons because he felt like he could not rely on his military forces anymore.

And events like you saw today in that video might push us some more in that direction. In fact, I saw some Ukrainian Twitter commentary in which they said, Mr. Putin, you want an off-ramp, here it is and then a picture of the collapsed roadway.

BROWN: Wow. Yes, that is a really important point. Do actions like this from, we assume, the Ukrainians will that push Putin further toward that threat of using a nuclear weapon? You know, look, Ukraine scores a major tactical victory by blowing up this bridge linking Russia to Crimea.

[19:05:02]

So what do you think, Jason? How precarious is this moment?

JASON WILLICK, COLUMNIST, WASHINGTON POST: Well, it's pretty precarious. I mean, the question -- Ukraine is the country defending its own territory here, fighting for its survival, so they can take the risk. And they may be willing to push deeper and deeper into Russian occupied and eastern Ukraine and launch attacks in Russia itself, even if that means that there's a risk of a nuclear weapon being used.

I think the question for the United States is, you know, what does that mean for us? And you know, I argued this week that just because Putin uses a weapon of mass destruction does not necessarily mean that the United States needs to get involved kinetically because after all what we're doing is working. Ukrainian forces are pushing deeper. The Russians are in retreat. And the conventional weapons that we're giving them and the logistical support are working.

So, you know, we could see a situation where Putin uses a weapon in desperation and it doesn't do all that much for him on the battlefield.

BROWN: Well, let's talk about what he could use when it comes to nuclear weapons. There's talk about -- Russia has talked about in fact tactical nuclear weapons. Now those are designed for limited use. They have 10 to 100 kilotons of explosive. Russia's strategic warheads are designed to destroy large areas. They have 500 to 800 kilotons of explosives for comparison.

But this is important. The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they were 15 and 21 kilotons, respectively. So even these tactical bombs could do massive damage. And in 2018, former U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis told a congressional hearing, I don't think there's any such thing as a tactical nuclear weapon. Any nuclear weapon used any time is a strategic game changer.

David, your thoughts?

SANGER: Well, what Secretary Mattis said is very close to what President Biden said at that fundraiser on Thursday night. He said, if there is use of a tactical weapon, I think that escalates up to greater nuclear use. And he was pretty clear about it. He didn't see much of a difference. And there are tactical nuclear weapons, including a few in the U.S. arsenal, although U.S. does not have many of them, that are smaller than that and that would wipe out, you know, a downtown city but of course then you don't know which way the winds will blow the radiation.

It's the winds that might be one of the greatest restraints on Putin himself because he doesn't want the radiation to blow back into Russia. And for a lot of the places that he might be thinking of using the weapon, that's exactly what could happen.

To the interesting question of how would we respond, it's hard for me to imagine that the U.S. would not have some kind of a military response, even if it did that through the Ukrainians. Not a nuclear response, but I suspect some kind of military response.

BROWN: Yes, no doubt it's planning. I mean, it has to plan, right, for that scenario. It has to plan for every kind of scenario. Clearly this is something weighing heavily on the president.

And, Jason, you said earlier in this conversation you made the case for -- you said that military intervention in Ukraine from the U.S. side is dangerously weak. The case for that is. But here's what retired four-star Army general David Petraeus said last week, and I want to get your reaction to it on the other end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PETRAEUS, RETIRED FOUR-STAR ARMY GENERAL: Just to give you a hypothetical, we would respond by leading a NATO, a collective effort that would take out every Russian conventional force that we can see and identify on the battlefield in Ukraine and also in Crimea and every ship in the Black Sea.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: What do you think about that?

WILLICK: Well, look, as soon as we start to use American air forces, American troops, American naval forces to strike Russian forces directly, you're talking about a real risk of a nuclear war. That never happened during the Cold War for the most part. In Vietnam, this was fighting through proxies. I think if you start to do something like what General Petraeus suggested, you are assuming a risk of nuclear war because, as David said, our conventional forces are superior.

Russia may perceive that, hey, we have more of these battlefield nukes than the United States has. We also have, you know, a similar strategic arsenal that is an intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal. That looks more attractive to us than a conventional war, where the United States and NATO are clearly superior. So you start getting into a blinking contest of deterrents as the war escalates. And you have to be confident that they're going to be the ones to blink.

And I think frankly I think Vladimir Putin is essentially saying, I am willing to potentially destroy the world over parts of eastern Ukraine.

[19:10:08]

Are you willing to do that, NATO? And, you know, unless the answer is yes, I'm not sure you enter into a shooting war that will force you to ultimately confront that decision in this tit-for-tat escalation.

BROWN: All right. Jason Willick, David Sanger, great to have you on. Thank you for offering up your perspective on this.

SANGER: Thank you.

BROWN: And new tonight, the NFL and the players union have agreed to update their concussion protocol following a review of the scary injury sustained by the Dolphins' quarterback. Now Tua Tagovailoa was allowed to reenter and play in back-to-back games despite showing clear signs of a concussion. And now team doctors have to look for ataxia, that's any sign of issues with balance, motor coordination or dysfunctional speech.

Here's what legendary sports broadcaster Bob Costas had to say about the change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB COSTAS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's just another layer of protection to prevent somebody from playing because they want to play. We know that players historically say, I want to get back out there, I want to be there for my team, et cetera, et cetera. That gladiator mentality is not in their long range best interest. So this is another safeguard against that happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: And joining us now is Chris Nowinski, he is the CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting athletes affected by concussions and promoting safer athletics. He also played college football at Harvard and was a professional wrestler with the WWE.

Chris, you have personal experience with concussions. You experienced the seriousness of head injuries first hand when you were with the WWE. A series head injury forced you into early retirement and you have dedicated your professional life since to the study and prevention of concussions since. So with that backdrop, what is your reaction to this change by the NFL? Do you think it's enough?

CHRIS NOWINSKI, CEO, CONCUSSION LEGACY FOUNDATION: Well, the reality is this change isn't that much of a change. It's still up to the team doctor to determine if somebody shows ataxia, that it was from the hit to the head, it was a neurological cause of them having this motor instability. So it is a slight move in the right direction. They added, for example, speech issues so that you could be pulled out for now as a no-go if it's determined if it's from a hit to the head.

But the fact that a doctor still has to make that call, it's a judgment call, just shows you the pressure that the players feel under to not be pulled when they don't have a concussion, because that can cost them their reputation, that can cost them money in the next contract. And so it's not, you know, it's not erring on the side of caution. You still have to remember what the NFL is doing is not what you should be doing with your kids. If your kids show any of these signs, no matter what you determine the cause is, pull them out.

BROWN: I want to get your thoughts on what we heard from Dr. Bennet Omalu last week on this show. He was the first person to diagnose CTE in football players, and here's what he said. This is what he told me he thinks should happen if a player gets concussed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BENNET OMALU, FIRST DIAGNOSED CTE: I think if a player suffers a concussion, he should be off the game for the entire season, OK? And now, how independent could a neurologist or team physician be? So in my opinion, I think there has to be for every game, just like they're having in soccer, there has to be a panel of commissioners that may actually supervise, that would contemplate a player. Members of that panel should also be families of the players.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So what do you think? Are these the kinds of measures the NFL should be taking?

NOWINSKI: I don't think that's realistic.

BROWN: We just lost you. All right. We may need to reconnect, Chris. I think we're having some technical issues, which happens often when we do these remote interviews. But we have to check back in with you soon once we establish that connection. Chris Nowinski, thank you so much.

Up next, police in Stockton, California, now believe they're hunting a potential serial killer after six victims turned up dead. The leads investigators are now following.

And also ahead for you tonight, that fist bump with the Saudi prince feeling more like a slap in the face as OPEC decides to cut oil output to stop gas prices falling. We're going to talk about the domestic impact of that. Plus, Friday's job report with financial analyst Ann Berry.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:18:44]

BROWN: Well, Friday's jobs report coming in better than expected, although slower than we've seen in previous months. Here are the numbers. 263,000 jobs added in September. The Fed is rooting for a slowdown to take some of the air out of the ballooning economy and keep prices in check.

Let's bring in Ann Berry of Threadneedle Ventures.

Anne, it seems like there's a mix back here. Help us understand this. You've got pretty strong jobs report, but some signs of cooling in the labor market. Meantime, consumer prices are still outpacing wage growth. Is the Fed's strategy working and how long do you think it will be until these prices start to plateau and go down?

ANN BERRY, FOUNDER, THREADNEEDLE VENTURES: Pamela, I think we've got this real conundrum at the moment. And it's a timing issue. On the one hand what the Fed is doing to slow down demand I definitely think is working, but it just takes time. The labor market is not cooling off quickly enough I think for market to see enough data for the Fed to take its foot off the gas on interest rate hikes.

But at the same time we are seeing other symptoms of inflationary pressure is abating. We're shipping rates come down. We're seeing other areas of supply chain tightening and global demand begin to dwindle. So I think this will begin to untangle itself, but it's going to be 2023 before we get clarity on inflation being where it needed to be.

[19:20:00]

BROWN: 2023, huh. All right. So what are you predicting in terms of future rate hikes? Because as you said, the picture that's emerging right now is that the Fed hikes are working more slowly than perhaps people want. What do you think they're going to do next?

BERRY: Well, Pamela, the expectation for inflation for September is it stays at around about that 8 percent range that we saw in August. And that would suggest that the Fed would bump up rates by another 75 bases points. But, you know, some of the problem is big consumer price buckets not (INAUDIBLE) for pushing up these prices no matter what the Fed starts to do.

BROWN: Chief economist at the Burning Glass Institute Gad Levanon has this to say. The only option that leaves the Fed is to engineer a recession by continuing to raise interest rates. Expect to see that happen in 2023.

What do you think? I mean, you know, there's all this talk about, is a recession going to happen, is it inevitable? But I'm going to ask you, is a recession in the near future inevitable, in your view?

BERRY: You know, I think it really is. And not only in the U.S. but also internationally. Europe is technically in recession, has been for a while now. And we're seeing the slowdown in global demands tick through in numbers coming out of Asia, coming out of South America, Pamela. So I think when we look at it in the non-U.S. markets it's inevitable if not happening already. And there are real repercussions to that.

If you look at the S&P 500, something like 25 percent to 40 percent of revenue of some of the biggest companies in the U.S. comes from those international markets. And then the other thing we're seeing, businesses like Loreal in beauty, like Nestle in food, they are pushing up prices no matter what, testing the limits of consumer patience with pricing.

BROWN: Yes.

BERRY: But that is going to keep impact on consumer disposable income.

BROWN: I was going to ask about that. Just the fact like obviously inflation is bad for the consumer. But are these companies taking advantage of it to reap bigger profits? And it sounds like what you're saying is, yes, some companies are.

BERRY: Well, the biggest controversy, Pamela, has been in the energy sector. You know, we've seen this politically. We saw the Shell CEO astonishingly come out and say there should be a special windfall tax for energy companies, including his own, precisely because we've seen the benefit to the margin profiles of those businesses from oil price hikes.

So I do think we're seeing under the auspices of inflationary expectations large companies that do have pricing power take that price. Hopefully it slows down but for the moment until the end of this year I think they've got the air cover to continue doing what they're doing. And we're going to see grocery prices go up, we're going to see (INAUDIBLE) prices continue to go up even as we see some of the underlying drivers begin to go down.

BROWN: And we're seeing gas prices go up. As you talked about, that's obviously what happened with OPEC slashing the supply of gas. So tell us about when can we expect prices to really start going up? How long do you think this is going to be? What kind of a ripple effect will this have? BERRY: Well, certainly with respect to the consumer, we're seeing the

impact. We have been for a long time now the impact of prices at the pump. And I think it's going to be early in 2023 before we see that inflationary pressure really come down to a point where we get some confidence that a recession, which I happen to think is inevitable will be a relatively shallow one. That's the best I'm hoping for at the moment so I think it's going to be the beginning of next year before we start to see the data and as a result policy turn a corner.

BROWN: All right. Ann Berry of Threadneedle Ventures, thank you so much for your insight and in helping us all be a little bit smarter on this topic. We appreciate it.

BERRY: Thanks, Pamela.

BROWN: Well, the midterms are one month from today. And it is a tight race in Georgia between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker for Senate. So will new allegations against Walker shake up the race? CNN's Chris Cillizza and Shannon McCaffrey of the "Atlanta Journal Constitution," they are going to join us next to discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:28:23]

BROWN: The woman reportedly accusing Herschel Walker of paying for her abortion now says he asked her to have a second one. Walker still denies it, but confirmed to NBC that he knows her. Still, the controversy has rocked his campaign just one month out from election day. He chose to fire his political director amid the scandal.

Joining us now is CNN's political reporter and editor at large Chris Cillizza and Shannon McCaffrey. She is a politics reporter for the "Atlanta Journal Constitution."

Shannon, I'm going to start with you on this. How do these latest developments affect the race, if at all?

SHANNON MCCAFFREY, POLITICS REPORTER, ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: This campaign has just been bombshell after bombshell after bombshell. I think that's a word that's overused, but boy, it applies here. You know, it's a little early to see how it's going to affect the race completely. But right now you have people, you know, who are strong Herschel Walker supporters, who really just see this as a smear attack.

You know, they just are convinced that Democrats are behind this, the media is behind this and they're sticking with him. However, you are seeing, you know, some independents, and those are the people he's really going to need to win over in a close race, who are beginning to have some real reservations about this. I mean, it's just the sheer volume of the allegations against him at this point seem to be piling up.

BROWN: But I mean, there's also the video from the son that went viral where the son was calling him -- you know, a liar saying he wasn't there for him. I mean, how is that playing out down there on the race? Because you can say, look, Democrats are behind this smear of him with "The Daily Beast" reporting.

[19:29:59]

BROWN: But his son who identifies as a conservative, who has previously shown a support for his dad is coming out really strongly against him.

MCCAFFREY: Yes, he has, and I actually think the allegations from his son and his comments are potentially more damaging to Herschel Walker because he is close with him, because he is aligned in the same party. You've seen Herschel Walker now kind of making a play at talking about redemption, you know, almost couching this in very evangelical religious terms.

You know, he is talking about redemption. He is talking about grace and forgiveness. And, you know, it is almost being suggested that his son is having some issues with these, you know, new revelations and that perhaps he just needs a little bit of time to come to grips with this.

You know, he -- I think Herschel Walker is really starting to couch this in religious terms that it'll be interesting to see how they resonate in the next few weeks.

BROWN: Well, and Chris, you penned an analysis for CNN called "The Truth Republicans Don't Want To Admit About Herschel Walker." It goes beyond this latest abortion accusation. What sticks out to you?

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, here's the truth. Herschel Walker is a bad candidate and I don't say that as a partisan statement. It's just, I wrote down before we started the segment, because I want to make sure I didn't forget, Pam.

Okay, the latest stuff, obviously, whether it's Christian Walker and his comments, the abortion allegations, which by the way, as you've noted, CNN hasn't confirmed, but are out there.

He said that China was taking our clean air in sending us their bad air. There are multiple children he had not acknowledged until this campaign. He has been caught inflating his resume multiple times.

This is just a huge risk by Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell to get behind Herschel Walker, and I don't think it's a risk that's paying off.

BROWN: But do you think that -- he is a celebrity in Georgia, right?

CILLIZZA: He is -- yes.

BROWN: Do you think that the fact that he is a celebrity really works in his favor on this?

CILLIZZA: Yes.

BROWN: Where he can kind of maybe be a Teflon candidate in the way that we saw Donald Trump.

CILLIZZA: I was just going to say, it reminds me of someone else, you know, a celebrity candidate who all of these allegations don't wind up hurting him in the way we think they will.

So Shannon made the point, and I think she's right. It's still too early. I don't think we can conclude at this point, oh, well, this is it for Herschel Walker.

Bad candidates win. And he -- you know, just because I think he is running a bad campaign doesn't mean he can't win. I don't think we're going to see a poll that comes out next week that says Raphael Warnock is ahead by 15 points. This is Georgia, right? This is a swing state. It's going to be close.

I think Herschel Walker, as you know, University of Georgia football star, Herschel Walker is NFL star. Herschel Walker is Heisman Trophy winner, all of that protects him to some extent.

Does it protect him against this stuff that I don't think he has handled all that well? We're going to see.

I mean, the great thing about campaigns is they have an end, right? They don't just go on forever, thankfully, for all of us.

BROWN: Thankfully, yes.

CILLIZZA: There will be an end in about four weeks, and we'll find out how much did this matter. This is not what the walker campaign wants to be talking about. We know that. Does that mean that somehow it impacts him really negatively? We don't know that yet.

BROWN: Yes, we don't know it. Your analysis, as you said, you know, he is a bad candidate. You're saying that not as a partisan.

CILLIZZA: No, just look at --

BROWN: You're saying that objectively.

CILLIZZA: Yes.

BROWN: But it's interesting, because we've heard that from Republicans.

CILLIZZA: Yes.

BROWN: Even Republicans in the State of Georgia, even elected Republicans.

CILLIZZA: Yes.

BROWN: Georgia's Republican Lieutenant Governor did not mince words when he was asked about Walker. Let's take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (D-GA): Herschel Walker won the primary because

he scored a bunch of touchdowns back in the 80s and he was Donald Trump's friend.

I'm not voting for Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker hasn't earned my respect or my vote. And, you know, I'm like hundreds of thousands of other Republicans here in Georgia. We're confused. We don't really have anywhere to go right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So Shannon, is that a common sentiment among Republicans throughout the State?

MCCAFFREY: I think there's one thing you need to know about Geoff Duncan, and that he is not running for reelection. So, he is a little freer to speak his mind than other top Republican officials are.

Yes, I mean, Governor Brian Kemp has -- is still supporting Herschel Walker, but he hasn't appeared with him at all and he also is not out there defending him, either. I think, if you talk to Republicans privately, if you're not quoting them, if you're talking to them off the record, they will express a lot more reservations about this.

I mean, you know, at this point, they're worried about what is next? You know, what could possibly be next after this week? And you know, you would think it would be done. But, you know, up until this point, we just keep getting revelation day after day after day after day and at what point does it become too much?

BROWN: Right. And meantime, Democrats, for their part are just kind of staying back letting the story play out, but this is interesting. You know, you heard that from Geoff Duncan, but that is symbolic of a larger issue that I've heard from Republicans, from conservatives, concerned about their players on the field.

CILLIZZA: Yes.

BROWN: Right? Concerned -- you know, you've got Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania. You have Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, you have Blake Masters in Arizona who suddenly say --

[19:35:05]

CILLIZZA: JD Vance in Ohio.

BROWN: JD Vance in Ohio. Right.

CILLIZZA: Yes.

BROWN: I mean it seems like there's a larger issue for GOP when it comes to --

CILLIZZA: I mean, Mitch McConnell -- and I'm going to mess up the timeline on this, but Mitch McConnell, well, a month ago everything I feel like it's -- you know, I lose track of time close to election, but about a month ago.

BROWN: Yes. Fair enough.

CILLIZZA: He said, candidate quality matters in Senate races and he is exactly right, and I think what he was saying without coming out and saying it is, our candidates are a little dicey.

Now, what it all of those people that you just mentioned, Pam? What do they all have in common? All endorsed by that -- with the exception of Bolduc. He did not get endorsed by Trump. All of them endorsed by Trump in the primary, won narrowly, and then have struggled to translate what wins a Republican primary, which is adherence to sort of Trumpist policies and Trumpist rhetoric to translate that from a primary election to a general electorate where it just doesn't play as well.

Harry Enten was on earlier. He talked about New Hampshire where Don Bolduc is behind. JD Vance, that should not be erased. Ohio is not a swing state anymore. This isn't the year 2000. Right?

Ohio is a state where Republicans should win. Arizona, Blake Masters should be running closer than he is to Mark Kelly. Georgia, this race should be a win for Herschel Walker in a midterm election year, not a presidential turnout year. You know, candidate quality does matter. It matters more in the Senate than in the House. These races are more distinct, more money gets spent around them.

So, you know, I do think if we look back and Democrats have -- I'll say somewhat remarkably, if Democrats hold the Senate Majority, I think we will look back and say, gosh, you know, Donald Trump did a good job of getting these candidates through the primaries and sort of, you know, improving his record in that regard. But man, the candidates he chose were not the best candidates to win general elections and that is going to have played a role if Democrats wind up keeping the majority.

BROWN: Yes. We will see and as you said, four weeks, we're going to know.

CILLIZZA: I am literally counting the days.

BROWN: Fortunately. I know. Right. Especially for us political reporters.

Thank you so much. Shannon McCaffrey, Chris Cillizza, appreciate it.

Also, we want to note, Chris has a new podcast called "Downside Up." Be sure to check it out. It's really interesting. It's not about politics, surprisingly.

CILLIZZA: Yes.

BROWN: It's about a bunch of interesting fun facts that I bet you don't know, but you will know.

CILLIZZA: You will know. BROWN: If you will listen.

BROWN: All right, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM in Stockton, California. Six people have died since last year and police say it could be the work of a potential serial killer. How terrifying is that? Well, now police need your help. We're going to talk about this right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:43]

BROWN: Well, increased security apparently could not prevent a shooting of a high school football game in Toledo, Ohio. Police say shots were fired near the end of the fourth quarter. Three people were hit and suffered minor injuries. The City Police Chief called the incident terrible and traumatic.

Authorities were notified by an off duty officer who was working security at that game along with more than a dozen other off duty police. Local news reports also say there were metal detectors at the stadium.

Well, this story is truly terrifying. Authorities in California Central Valley they are on the hunt for a potential serial killer after seven people were shot and separate attacks that police say were connected.

Six of those attacks were deadly and five happened just in the last three months. Officials released this video showing what they are calling a person of interest in the shootings and a $125,000.00 reward is being offered for any information regarding the homicides.

CNN's Camila Bernal has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Six killings in Northern California, a number of connections in the cases, and at least one possible suspect.

CHIEF STANLEY MCFADDEN, STOCKTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: If you look at the video is we want our communities to pay attention to how he walks. He has an inconsistent walk about him and well, he has a very tall posture also when he walks.

BERNAL (voice over): The man, says the Chief, appears in some of the recent crime scenes.

MCFADDEN: To go by definition, you know, absolutely, you know we have, you know a series of serial murders occurring in the city.

BERNAL (voice over): But authorities can't say whether one or multiple people are involved. They do know that there is ballistic and video evidence connecting the dots, and add to that, that all the attacks happened during the evening or early morning hours when the victims were alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people are scared to come out at night.

RICHARD STOECKL, STOCKTON RESIDENT: I'm not going out by myself anymore. I've told family members like you know when it gets dark, make sure that you're indoors.

BERNAL (voice over): And while the Police Chief tried to reassure the public of their work during a Public Safety Community Town Hall, he is also warning people.

MCFADDEN: If you have to be out, be with someone, be in a lighted area.

BERNAL (voice over): The killings are believed to have begun in April of 2021 with the most recent reported late last month.

MCFADDEN: We believe that perhaps you know that this individual or individuals may be looking for their area during daylight to anticipate where cameras may be and what would be the best approach for this person or person to take.

BERNAL (voice over): In total, seven people have been shot. One survived, and now, police offering a $125,000.00 reward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe they'll catch the person. They just have to figure out who the person is.

BERNAL (voice over): Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Well, by the end of the month, Twitter's owner could be Elon Musk and my next guest says that should be making Washington freak out.

Rebecca Kern joins me next to explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:14]

BROWN: After a head spinning back and forth for months, the countdown is now on for Elon Musk and Twitter to close their $44 billion acquisition deal. Both sides have until October 28th or be forced again to prepare for a trial.

Now, the big questions are whether Musk actually has the finances and whether he puts Donald Trump and other banned politicians back on the social media platform.

POLITICO tech policy reporter, Rebecca Kern joins us now.

She just put up an article published this week. It is titled "Three Reasons Washington Is Freaking Out About Elon Musk Right Now." We're going to go through those three reasons. But first off, for those watching right now who may not even use

Twitter. Why should they care about this happening? About Elon Musk owning Twitter?

REBECCA KERN, POLITICO TECH POLICY REPORTER: Right. I mean, it really could transform the platform and make it something that is totally different from what we see today.

[19:50:10]

KERN: And he is talking about bringing Donald Trump back on. So, I think a lot of people who maybe have left Twitter because they followed him, maybe will get back on and a lot more conservative folks may be paying attention to it. So, I think it could be totally different than that, maybe you may want watch.

BROWN: So that takes me to my next question, will Trump return to the platform?

KERN: It's a good question and it was posed to him earlier this year when Musk made the offer. He said he doesn't want to. He created his own platform called Truth Social. He does not have the following nearly the following he had on Twitter.

So, I think a lot of analysts are thinking while he says no, he'll probably go back to Twitter, if he's allowed back on. He had like 90 million followers. And if he runs again, it would be such a big platform for him to use.

BROWN: It's hard to imagine if he runs again, that he wouldn't go back on if he was allowed back on.

KERN: Yes.

BROWN: Alright, , number two, using misinformation and hate speech could poison the platform.

KERN: Yes. I mean, that is something Musk has talked about. He is calling himself a free speech absolutist saying kind of anything will go and he doesn't like all the rules on the platform. He wants what he says more free speech, whatever that may look like.

But the rules are in place to prevent certain speech that isn't really good on the platform, like hate speech, racist content, extremist content. It is just not good for the platform and the advertisers on it to have that on there.

But if he takes away the rules, which he is saying he may want to do that, that content would proliferate, and it could push some people away and it can make it a less safe platform for a lot of minority populations and women and people who could be attacked more readily if rules aren't in place to ban that content.

BROWN: Yes, and just bad for society at large to have misinformation put out there without checks and balances.

So also, you talk about a potential exodus of politicians, whether that might happen, what do you think?

KERN: That's potential. I mean, people are saying if it turns into like a cesspool of just bad information, lies, hate speech. That is not something a politician or campaigns want their, you know, image associated with. You don't want to be next to anything that would ruin your own personal brand, let alone want to use the platform if there is a lot of lies on it, so it could push people off of it.

And you know, when politicians and journalists aren't on it, like, what's the use of it in the end? You know, it may become an echo chamber of people who just push misinformation and that just isn't useful. It's not useful and it is not why politicians are on it today.

So, that's like the theory if it went that far. Some people are saying, why would you spend $44 billion just to ruin the platform?

So these may be the worst scenarios we're imagining, right? Like it could be somewhere in the middle and we're not really sure. You know, Trump left the platform -- well, he didn't leave, he was forced off the platform, created his own, Truth Social, where he is also saying free speech, anything goes. But as a result, there is a lot of misinformation on and there aren't as many people on there as there are on Twitter.

BROWN: Yes, that's an important point. It is interesting. I know, as a journalist, I use it a lot as a resource more for lurking than tweeting. If you look at my Twitter account, I feel bad because it's very boring. But I really enjoy looking through it.

So, it will be interesting to see how this plays out whether Twitter turns into a different platform.

Thank you so much, Rebecca Kern, appreciate it.

BROWN: And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A school bus driver races to the rescue when a toddler is trapped in a stolen car. Not all heroes wear capes. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:58:34]

BROWN: Well, two school bus drivers in Kentwood, Michigan are being rightfully hailed as heroes tonight after tracking down a toddler who was caught up in a carjacking. The two-year old's parents left their engine running at a bus stop when a thief jumped into the car and drove off with the toddler still in the backseat.

The parents waved down a bus driver who got on the radio with other drivers and after about 10 minutes, they found the child and returned him safely to his mom and dad.

Wonderful ending there. Great teamwork and a huge relief there in Michigan.

Well tomorrow night on CNN, Stanley Tucci returns for an all new season of "Searching for Italy." Here's a sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STANLEY TUCCI, CNN HOST, "SEARCHING FOR ITALY": He starts things off with a sofrito of garlic and sweet tropea onion.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

TUCCI: I'd like to have a shirt like that --

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: And now, the tomato sauce. We use fresh tomatoes.

A pinch of oregano. The smell of Calabria.

It is almost ready. Shall we go and eat outside with my wife, Carolina?

TUCCI: Yes.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

TRANSLATION: Yes, let's go. We'll eat together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Don't miss the all-new season tomorrow night at nine right here on CNN.

And the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM on the Saturday starts right now.

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