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CNN Crew Witnesses Shelling in Front Lines in Ukraine; Study Finds Racial Disparities in Advanced Heart Failure Treatment; Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA): Strategic Petroleum Reserve Sale, Saudi Arabia and Midterm Election Issues. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 20, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But you can see there what's going on in those places and how the people, the few people who are still there, are witnessing all this. Ukrainians say they've come under such fire several times a day from a lot of the artillery that literally just and update a couple of minutes ago, Victor, that the Ukrainian military command said the Russians are still trying to take that town. There have been several air strikes today.

It's definitely a key focal point for them and the Ukrainians say they're going to do everything to hold it. But you know, with all these reports that we keep getting out of Ukraine, the Ukrainians making headway in the south of the country. In some places of the east of the country, it is very difficult for them and I can tell you from having been here on the ground, it's an extremely tough and extremely brutal fight with losses on both sides.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Fred Pleitgen there, we appreciate the risk you're taking to bring us the stories. You and your team stay safe. thank you.

There's a new study that shows heart failure patients who are black are less likely to get the advanced therapy they need in compared to white patients. We'll dive into the findings ahead.

[15:35:00]

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BLACKWELL: There's a new study finding that disturbing inequalities in how heart failure patients might be treated based on their race. Now according to the findings, white patients are twice as likely as black patients to receive mechanical heart pumps or heart transplants. CNN's health reporter Jacqueline Howard joins us now. Jacqueline, it feels like every day we've got a story about how black people are underserved by the medical community or there's another disparity. Tell us about this study.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, that's so true, and this study just adds to our understanding of those inequities when it comes to medical care. And for this particular research, researchers looked at 377 heart failure patients. They were around the same age, had similar conditions, and among those patients when it came to the advanced therapies that they received, 11 percent of black patients received advanced therapies like heart pumps or heart transplants, but that's in comparison with 22 percent of the white patients. So, you see there the white patients were twice as likely to get these advanced therapies.

And cardiologists I talk to, especially black cardiologists said that they're not surprised. They've seen these inequities before and they are not surprised by them. The researchers the these inequities do not have to do with the type of care patients asked for or the care they preferred. Instead, the researcher said this.

Quote: The residual inequity may be a consequence of structural racism and discrimination or provider bias, impacting decision-making.

So just to translate, it was the provider's decision when it came to giving advanced therapies and the researchers say it's provider bias that might drive some of these inequities that we see here with heart failure patients and we've seen before with maternity care, with pain management. Like you said, Victor, we tend to see these inequities arise when it comes to medical care, and researchers are trying to raise awareness around this.

BLACKWELL: Certainly, but to do more than raise awareness to affect some change hopefully.

HOWARD: Exactly, yes.

BLACKWELL: All right, Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much.

President Biden is shifting strategy in an effort to get down gas prices ahead of the midterm elections, but will this move be enough to hand Democrats a victory next month? Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna is with me next.

[15:40:00]

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BLACKWELL: President Biden announced the sale of 15 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve. Now the sale comes less than three weeks before the midterm elections. Congressman Ro Khanna of California joins me now from Washington. Congressman, it's good to have you back.

Let's talk about the decision here. OPEC's cut of production of oil is going to be about a million barrels a day or so. So, 15 million barrels to offset last, what, two weeks. What's the longer term strategy you think that this administration should employ?

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Victor, you're right. I mean, it's a short-term solution, but we need to be far tougher on the Saudis and demand that they reconsider their decision. We've supply them with all their weapons. They are basically being ungrateful and slapping American consumers on the face. Second, we need to ban and export foreign gas gasoline other than to our European allies.

BLACKWELL: You've been talking about this ban -- especially in sales to China for months now. Are you getting any engagement from the White House on this?

KHANNA: Victor, we finally are. They're saying they're open to looking at the proposal. They're saying that there's going to be consequences also for the Saudis. But I think it's time to act. I have called on the president to give a prime time address, to lay out exactly what we will do on gas prices, and two concrete things are an export ban and also being tougher on the Saudis.

BLACKWELL: So, I want to talk about the consequences for the Saudis and your bill in just a moment, but more on the SPR. It's now at its lowest level since 1984. Should the president tap into it again to keep prices low?

KHANNA: Yes, Victor, but I had written an op-ed in "The New York Times" in June saying that the government should be buying at the dips, and this would have been replenishing the supply when oil was at a low price. So, if we're going to now tap it further, we need to have the government also engage in the purchasing of oil when oil is dipping so that we're not depleting the reserve.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the president says that will happen once oil hits about $70 a barrel. Let me ask about the consequences that you want to see for Saudi Arabia.

[15:45:00]

You've now introduced a bill which mirrors the one in the Senate introduced by Senator Blumenthal which would call for a freeze of arms sales to Saudi Arabia for at least a year. I want to you listen to the former ambassador for the U.S. to Saudi Arabia, what he thinks about that idea. This is Robert Jordan.

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ROBERT JORDAN, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SAUDI ARABIA: That'll probably be the greatest gift we could give to Iran. I think it makes no sense at all to pause arms sales that are legitimately needed. If these were just decorative items it would be another matter, but obviously they've made some determination they have a need for the weapons. We have to maintain their security. They need to be responsible for more of their own security, but it doesn't help us if they're going off to China or Russia to buy arms if we're not going to sell them to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What's your response to that?

KHANNA: With all due respect to Ambassador Jordan has been responsible for our failed policy with the Saudis. The Saudis blatantly murdered Khashoggi, a "Washington Post" journalist. The Saudi's are responsible for the brutal war in Yemen. They absolutely can't go to China and Russia and anyone who knows national security knows it would take them ten years to get that, and all the folks on the national security really understand the issue and know that it's U.S. technicians that are responsible basically for flying the Saudi planes. So, this is calling for strategic pause. It would do nothing in terms of having a tough relationship on Iran and, you know, frankly people like Ambassador Jordan have been responsible for the failed policy to the Saudis over the last decade.

BLACKWELL: Let's move onto some of the other issues that are top of mind ahead of the midterms -- 19 days away from the vote. The president says that if Democrats maintain control of both chambers, that the first bill he'd send over would be to codify Roe, specifically on abortion rights. Do you think that that should be the first priority for Congressional Democrats?

KHANNA: Yes, because it's a matter of human rights. But right with should be a second priority and that is on the economy. And we have to have policies, one that are going to go after the price gouging of corporations that are charging too much for food, for gas, and we need to be bringing manufacturing home to tackle inflation. I have been pretty candid that I think the Democrats have not done enough on making the economic argument. We have to have legislation on the economy as well.

BLACKWELL: You know who agrees with you is Senator Bernie Sanders. He was on with Anderson Cooper last night. Let's play a bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): I happen to believe that a woman's right to control her own body is absolutely what -- where we should on the supreme court decision and was a total disaster. But I also happen to think that given the fact that the last 50 years, real wages for American workers are lower today than they are 50 years ago, that people can't afford health care. They can't afford prescription drugs. I think those are issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: I hear you saying that you think that Democrats are not spending enough time making the economic argument. Do you believe that there will be a price to pay, that there will be a consequence in these races for not making that argument over the next 19 days?

KHANNA: Well, victor, we still have 19 days to make the economic argument. Senator Sanders is exactly right. We have to talk about how wages have stagnated. What are we going to do to put more money in the pockets of working families and bring more jobs back. And president Obama made the same exact point on Pod Save America. He said we have to be talking about pocketbook issues, gas, the cost of groceries and he obviously had two smashing victories and won many red states. So, I think absolutely let's codify Roe versus Wade when we have the majority. But we have to have bill number two, three, four, five about what we're going to do on the economy.

BLACKWELL: Congressman Ro Khanna, always good to have you on the show. Thank you.

KHANNA: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Brace yourself, winter is coming, and the forecast shows it'll be even colder than years past. Stay with us.

[15:50:00]

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BLACKWELL: Get ready to bundle up. NOAA's new winter outlook shows a colder than normal winter on its way. CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray is with me now. So, how cold are we talking?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it looks like below normal temperatures. That's really all they'll say. So, it doesn't mean you'll be cold the entire summer, if you're warmer than normal in the southern tier it doesn't mean you'll be warmer than normal the entire winter. It just means all in all, this is how it's going to shake out.

And it looks like we'll see below average temperatures across the extreme northern tier of the country -- Pacific Northwest. Above average temperatures across the South -- that includes the Southwest, California. That even extends to the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. So basically, the driving force behind this is La Nina. When you have cooler than norm wall waters across portions of the Pacific, it really drives the weather pattern across the U.S. and can create the cooler than normal scenarios, wetter than normal across the Pacific Northwest.

This is an area we really need the rain, but across the south, we could stay dry and warm which is really not what we need. Because when you put the drought map on top of that, areas that are extreme drought look like they're going to persist over the winter. However, drought conditions could improve quite a bit across the northern tier of the country.

[15:55:00]

We're almost 50 percent in drought across the country, Victor, and that's the highest we've been since March. It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next couple months.

BLACKWELL: Sure will, Jennifer Gray, thank you.

The finalists have been announced for the 2022 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. We want to show you just some of the 40 pictures that made the short list. Here we have a petulant penguin who is not into what his buddy is saying here. A waving raccoon looks like he really wants to be your friend. And there's a monkey who cannot believe whatever he just saw. And this was my favorite, a farting zebra. Better out than in I say. You can vote for your favorite until the end of November when it will be announced December 8th. And "THE LEAD" starts after a quick break.

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