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Buttigieg Requested for Campaigns; Over-The-Counter Hearing Aids Now Available; Biden's Time Working from Delaware; Shootings Highlight Rise in Violence Against Police; Steve Bannon's Sentencing; Kanye West to Acquire Parler. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 17, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That kind of fresh face that they can look to maybe as well as being a little bit of a political celebrity and for Democrats who are looking for anything that they can do to help rev up energy in these next couple of weeks, that's -- that has them turning to him.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Is it too soon to tell if it's helping at all?

DOVERE: Well, look, a lot of things are going to go into these next couple of weeks in the midterms. But, you know, there's a - one of the people that I talked to was describing a campaign who was deciding whether they wanted the president or the vice president to come and they said, look, for our donors, for our San Francisco donor, they love Secretary Pete.

So, everything that the Democrats have is on the line in their minds in the next couple of weeks and they're going to look for everything they can get. And whether this builds to Buttigieg being out there for them now or maybe to build up his own credentials going into what could be another presidential race, we'll have to see.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, it's really just coming down to the wire.

Isaac, let me ask you about this New Hampshire poll of anticipated Democratic primary voters. Buttigieg tied with Biden essentially. What does that suggest to you?

DOVERE: Well, look, Buttigieg came in second. Very close second in the 2020 New Hampshire primary. Joe Biden came in fifth. So, Joe Biden has never been very strong in New Hampshire. But I think that what it shows there is not only Buttigieg's strength over theoretically Biden, but over other potential candidates in the field there.

We don't know what a presidential race would look like or whether there even will be an open primary in 2024. President Biden says he intends to run and everything seems to be pointing in that direction so far. If that changes, then it -- I think that poll is one of the indicators that we're going to have potentially a very active race on the Democratic side. GOLODRYGA: We saw him on the morning TV circuits over the weekend.

DOVERE: Indeed.

GOLODRYGA: So, maybe that's a sign of what's to come.

Isaac Dovere, thank you.

DOVERE: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Trump-backed Arizona Republican candidate for governor, Kari Lake, refusing to commit to accepting the results of her upcoming election if she loses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Let's look forward then.

KARI LAKE (R), ARIZONA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Can we talk about the issues facing Arizonians?

BASH: Will you accept the results in the election? In your election, will you accept the results?

LAKE: Can we talk about the issues? I came on here thinking we were going to talk about the issues facing Arizonans right now.

BASH: We did. Let's talk about the 2022 election. Will you accept the results of your election, Miss Lake?

LAKE: I'm running against a twice convicted racist who cost the state taxpayers $3 million because of her hatred for people of color.

BASH: My question is, will you accept the results of your election in November?

LAKE: I'm going to win the election and I will accept that result.

BASH: If you lose, will you accept that?

LAKE: I'm going to win the election and I will accept that result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Wow.

Well, Lake, a fervent Donald Trump supporter, has repeatedly pushed false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. She's set to face off against Democrat Katie Hobbs, who currently serves as Arizona's secretary of state. Hobbs said Lake's refusal to accept the results of their election was, quote, disqualifying.

Early voting kicks off in Georgia today, just three weeks out from the midterm elections. The state could play a key role in Democrats keeping the Senate. Now, right now, incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock is expected to vote

this hour. Republican Herschel Walker is vying for his seat. Walker, of course, is facing increased criticism over claims that he worked in law enforcement. In Friday night's anticipated debate, Walker pulled out an honorary badge as proof of his claims. NBC pressed him on the use of that badge overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERSCHEL WALKER (R), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: This is from my hometown. This is from Johnson County. From the sheriff of Johnson County, which is a legit badge. Everyone can make fun. But this badge gives me the right - and, wait, let me finish. If anything happened in this county, I have the right to work with the police in getting things done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does that have arresting authority or it's an honorary badge?

WALKER: It is an honorary badge, but they can call me whenever they want me and I have the authority to do things for them, to work with them on things.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The National Sheriff's Association said an honorary badge, quote, is for the trophy case. Why make the decision to flash it at the debate?

WALKER: Well, that is totally - that is totally not true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Walker went on to acknowledge sending a woman a $700 check, but says he didn't know what it was for. The woman says that check was payment for an abortion she had at Walker's request.

And still ahead, President Joe Biden has been away from the White House frequently. But it's not all been for the campaign trail. How the presidents' days in Delaware are passing his predecessor's at Mar- a-Lago. More on that up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:39:15]

GOLODRYGA: Starting today, millions of Americans with hearing loss will be able to buy over-the-counter hearing aids in stores and online. The rule changed from the FDA is, quote, a game changer as the agency estimates U.S. consumers could save about $2,800 per pair of hearing aids.

Let's go to CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard for more on this.

So, Jacqueline, who exactly are over-the-counter hearing aids for? JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Bianna, these over-the-counter

devices will be for adults with moderate and mild hearing loss. They're not for those with severe hearing loss and they're not for children. But, overall, this is a game-changer. Like you aid, Bianna, this could change the life of millions of people here in the United States.

If you look at the statistics, about 28.8 million adults could benefit from using a hearing aid.

[09:40:03]

But not everyone has access and not everyone can afford one. If you look at older adults, 70 and older, few than 30 percent who could benefit from wearing hearing aids have ever used them. Among adults 20 to 69, about 16 percent who could benefit from wearing hearing aids have ever used them. So, the goal here with these over the counter hearing aids is to make them more accessible, more affordable for those millions of people who could benefit from wearing them.

And starting today over-the-counter hearing aids will be available at retail stores and pharmacies, like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Best Buy, Hy-Vee, as you see there. And they're be more affordable, costing in the hundreds of dollars instead of the thousands of dollars that some prescribed devices cost.

Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Really helpful to the quality of life for so many Americans that need these hearing aids.

Jacqueline Howard, thank you.

HOWARD: Absolutely.

GOLODRYGA: Well, also new this morning, a CNN analyst has found that President Biden has spent more than a quarter of his presidency working from Delaware.

CNN White House correspondent Kate Bennett has more on this.

So, Kate, Biden has now surpassed former President Donald Trump's time away. Break down the numbers for us.

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So, certainly time away, time away at their homes. So President Biden is now at about 174 days. He's currently in Wilmington right now, scheduled to come back to the White House today. President Trump, at this point in his tenure, was at about 135 days at his home is how we - how we determined it, meaning Mar-a-Lago or the Bedminster golf club where he also has a home. So certainly - you know, and it's nothing new for President Biden to go home to Delaware. He was known as Amtrak Joe during his time in the Senate for all the time he spent there.

And, honestly, this is an interesting time to be working from home. I mean, I don't want to go so far as to say the president is modeling work from home behavior or quietly quitting or all the sort of macro trends, but certainly, you know, he could work from anywhere more than probably anyone else in the world. He travels with a - essentially a mobile Oval Office as all presidents do.

But I do think it's worth pointing out that at this juncture in his presidency, Delaware has certainly become a place where the president spends time, rejuvenates, sees his family and does his work. And as all of us sort of post pandemic think about how we work and where we work, it's very interesting to see that if anything he's ramped up his time in Delaware rather than pulled back from it.

GOLODRYGA: And as you noted, just a train stop or two away from the White House in Washington, D.C.

Kate Bennett, thank you.

BENNETT: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, still ahead, new body cam footage from the ambush in Connecticut that resulted in two police officers being shot and killed after responding to a 911 call. We have a closer look at how police officers are facing one of the deadliest years in the line of service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMISSIONER DANIELLE OUTLAW, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: We sign up to do this understanding the risk, understanding the danger. But we did not sign up for these jobs to be martyrs (ph). We just didn't.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:47:28]

GOLODRYGA: New detail this morning about a deadly shooting in Bristol, Connecticut, where two veteran police officers were killed. The state's inspector general's office says over 80 rounds were fired by the gunman that night. And the IG's office also released this portion of police body cam footage showing the moment the surviving officer who had been shot in the leg managed to make his way around the house and back to a police car before firing the shot that ended the ambush.

CNN's Josh Campbell has more on the rising number of police officers shot in the line of duty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm shot in the hip. My partner's shot in the leg.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Three Philadelphia SWAT officers shot last week in the line of duty. So far 2022 has been an especially violent and deadly year for law enforcement in America.

COMMISSIONER DANIELLE OUTLAW, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: I'm outraged. I'm disgusted. I'm wondering where the level of outrage and upset is outside of the law enforcement community. CAMPBELL: Danielle Outlaw is Philadelphia's police commissioner.

OUTLAW: And right now things are wrong, because the level of violence that we're seeing against our law enforcement officers is just beyond outrageous.

CAMPBELL: Across the country there have been 252 officers shot in the line of duty through September of this year according to the National Fraternal Order of Police. Fifty were killed. It's a continuation of a rising violent trend. According to the FOP, 44 law enforcement officers were killed by gunfire in the line of duty during the same time period last year, adding up to officers being fatally shot more often than once a week during that time.

In El Monte, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, two officers were killed this summer as they responded to a call about a stabbing.

MAYOR JESSICA ANCONA, EL MONTE, CALIFORNIA: They were acting as a first line of defense for our community members when they were essentially ambushed.

CAMPBELL: In fact, there have been 63 ambush style attacks on law enforcement through September of this year according to the FOP. At least 93 officers were shot during those onslaughts, 24 died as a result.

In Bristol, Connecticut, last week, three officers were allegedly ambushed and shot. Only one survived. The gunman may have lured them there by making a false 911 call according to investigators.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots fired. Shots fired. More cars. Send everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One down. Suspect down.

CAMPBELL: In 2021, data from the FBI showed the highest number of law enforcement officers were intentionally killed in the line of duty since the September 11th terrorist attacks 20 years earlier. The data mirror a rise in gun violence in many parts of the country in recent years, now rising to levels not seen since the mid-1990s.

[09:50:08]

A teenager gunman killed five people in Raleigh, North Carolina, last week. A responding police officer injured in the shooting. The increasing violence against police has law enforcement leaders around the country sounding the alarm.

CAMPBELL (on camera): Three of your officers have been shot. What - what's that like?

OUTLAW: It's a pit in your stomach. These are folks that answered a call to serve. They want to give back. We signed up to do this understanding the risk, understanding the danger, but we did not sign up for these jobs to be martyrs. We just didn't.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CAMPBELL: Now, I've talked to law enforcement leaders who say that in addition to their concern for the safety of their own people, there's also a concern here over recruitment. Of course, the big question, will this wave of attacks that we've seen on police dissuade people from raising their hand and joining the force possibly impacting public safety for years to come?

Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Josh for his critically important story.

And this just in to CNN, federal prosecutors want President Trump's former top adviser Steve Bannon to be sentenced to six months in prison according to a recommendation filed today. Jessica Schneider joins us now with the very latest.

So, Jessica, what are we learning?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bianna, we know that Steve Bannon was convicted on those two counts of contempt of Congress back in July. His sentencing is set for Friday. In advance of that, the government has submitted their sentencing proposal to the court here. And what they're saying is that they want Steve Bannon sentenced to the maximum at the top of the sentencing guideline range. That is six months in prison, plus they want him fined $200,000. That's also at the highest.

And the reason for these hefty penalties that they want imposed, the $200,000 is very interesting. They say that Steve Bannon has said he doesn't want to provide any financial documents to prosecutors. When he was going through his presentencing review, he actually handed over a lot of information they say about his family, his professional life, his personal background, his health. But one thing he won't hand over were his financial documents. And in exchange for that, he said that's fine, fine me the maximum amount. So that's why prosecutors now want to fine him $200,000 and they want the judge to implement that six month sentence at the very high end of the sentencing guidelines here.

And interesting, in their sentencing report that they're submitting to the court, they wrote this about Steve Bannon. They said, the rioters who overran the Capitol on January 6th did not just attack a building, they assaulted the rule of law upon which this country was built. And then they said, by not complying with the January 6th committee's subpoena, as Steve Bannon was convicted of not doing, they said that he exacerbated that assault.

So, Bianna, this is going into the court just days in advance of Steve Bannon's sentencing. That will be on Friday. Prosecutors saying they want the maximum sentence for him, six months in prison, plus a $200,000 fine.

Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: We'll be hearing from the judge on what the judge decides Friday, as you noted.

Jessica Schneider, thank you.

And still ahead, a week before he was blocked by Instagram and Twitter, now Kanye West is set to buy the conservative social media platform Parler. Or is he?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:57:30]

GOLODRYGA: New this morning, Kanye West is buying Parler, the alternative social media platform favored by many conservatives. Parler's parent company announced the deal this morning, saying West had made a, quote, groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never fear being removed from social media again. No price tag on the takeover has been announced yet.

CNN's Brian Fung has more on this.

So, Brian, obviously this comes after Kanye was blocked by Twitter and Instagram last week after really distasteful anti-Semitic, just disgusting posts. What is the latest here on this potential acquisition?

BRIAN FUNG, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, well, as you said, there's no price tag yet for this deal. But it's supposed to be closing by the end of this year. So, it seems like the two parties are moving pretty quickly. And this could make Kanye, or Ye as he's now known, the latest celebrity owner of a social media platform. Of course you have former President Donald Trump owning Truth Social and you have Elon Musk potentially buying Twitter. And Twitter and Elon Musk are set to go to trial later this month or early next, rather, to determine whether or not Musk will have to buy Twitter.

And, you know, what this could all signify is the further growth of a right-wing eco-system of social media that's a distinct sort of fact pattern or distinct sort of world where conservatives can live online. And that's important to remember here that Parler is much smaller of a platform compared to Truth Social or Twitter.

I spoke to Atopia (ph), a market research firm that looks at these things and they said, you know, Parler only has about 40,000 daily active users. That's compared to the hundreds of millions of active users on Twitter. So that just gives you a sense of scale here as to how big this deal might be.

And it's also important to remember here that, you know, Parler has been implicated in much of the investigations surrounding the January 6th Capitol riots with many of its users having been, you know, cited as creating posts that incited violence. And, in fact, Parler was removed from Google and Apple's respective app stores for not doing enough to remove the violent material. Parler has now been restored to those app stores after implementing more concrete content moderation policies.

[10:00:02]

But, you know, overall, this is a sign that Ye is more closely aligning himself with the conservative movement.