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Jury Selection Begins in Trump Case; Trump Officially Subpoenaed by January 6th Committee; Dr. Juan Salazar is Interviewed about RSV Surging; Warning of Variant-Fueled Covid Surge; Record Early Voting in Georgia; DeSantis and Crist Debate in Florida; Sunak to Become Next British Prime Minister. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 24, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

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[09:01:04]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: (INAUDIBLE) indicted. The trial could impact the future of his business empire. We're live for you there outside the courthouse.

Across the U.S., RSV infections spreading in children, and that is also sparking concern about what the rapid spread of this virus could mean for the weeks and the months ahead. Cases now reaching a two-year peak, sending more kids to the hospital. In fact, three quarters of pediatric hospital beds now in use across the country.

And in the U.K., a possible new prime minister today. This hour, the candidates to replace Liz Truss will be announced. Do either former Finance Minister Rishi Sunak or House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt have the 100 needed nominations from their conservative party lawmakers? We are live on Downing Street.

Let's begin, though, here in New York with the Manhattan district attorney's tax fraud trial against the Trump Organization.

CNN's Kara Scannell outside court for us right now.

So, what do we expect to see today? And just remind us as well, Kara, what's at stake here for the former president and for his business?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Erica.

So just this hour jury selection will get underway for the criminal tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization. The judge will begin the process of screening the hundreds of jurors who show up today and try to root out anyone who could have some kind of bias. Ultimately, he's looking to seat 12 jurors and alternates to hear this case, which could last more than a month.

And just to remind everyone, the Trump Organization is facing nine felonies. That includes grand larceny, tax fraud and falsifying business records. The company has pleaded not guilty. Now, important to remember that former President Donald Trump is not a

defendant in this case and he's not expected to be implicated in any of the wrongdoing. But the charges themselves are a symbolic moment. The former president has been swirling in - swirling in investigations. He's faced a number of different criminal inquiries. This is the one that has hit him closest to home, the company that he has built from the ground up for more than 40 years now on trial.

Now, if convicted, the Trump Organization would face a maximum fine of $1.6 million. That's the most allowed under New York law. The other question, though, is, what kind of impact this could have on the business. Now, there will be no immediate repercussions from a guilty verdict, if, in fact, the jury were to find them guilty. But it could affect other people's willingness to be a counterparty to their business, including their ability to perhaps get loans or different types of financing. That all remains to be seen.

But, today, the main focus is on seating this jury. And we expect this process to last several days.

Erica.

HILL: Kara Scannell with the latest for us.

Kara, thank you.

Well, the January 6th committee has now officially, of course, subpoenaed the former president, ordering him to appear before the panel on November 14th, also to turn over requested documents.

Here's what committee vice chair Liz Cheney said about a possible court battle in terms of that subpoena.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you don't get cooperation from him, do you have time for this legal fight?

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): We have many, many alternatives that we will consider if the former president decides that he is not going to comply with his legal obligation. The legal obligation every American citizen has to comply with a subpoena.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN's senior crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz joining me now.

So, Cheney there also warned that the committee will not let the former president turn all of this into a circus. What more did she say, Katelyn?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Right, Erica. She's saying that this is going to be a serious endeavor. At least the House wants it to be taken very, very seriously and solemnly. And they are going to, ultimately, have two goals here. One is, they want to have Donald Trump under oath. That's very clear from all of the information they're getting from him. But they also want to get answers to questions that the committee has not been able to get to. They're subpoenaing lots and lots of possible documents from them and they also want him to be able to answer, because there are people they've interviewed that haven't answered the questions that they've wanted to.

Now, the ball, at this point, is going to be in trump's court. He has a few weeks to determine how he's going to respond to this.

[09:05:02]

And he has multiple options here. He has a legal team put together that is going to be poised to respond to a subpoena like this. And in many of these situations with House subpoenas, people negotiate. There's all kinds of things that they can do, talking about what is called the accommodations process. They can talk about timing, venue, scope of the subpoena.

Trump also is very likely to raise these ideas of confidentiality around the presidency. Executive privilege is something he's tried to assert regularly over this House investigation and the information the committee is trying to get.

And, of course, he could always sue. He could go to court. But then, as Cheney points out, there are many, many alternatives that the committee also will have as they're trying to respond. One of them is they may try and ask for the Justice Department's help for a prosecution. They, too, could sue. But, of course, as Chuck Todd asked -- mentioned there, there is not a lot of time for the committee. And so we're going to have to see how this response comes together, both from the Trump side and from the House side.

Erica.

HILL: Yes, the clock, as we know, is ticking. And that is definitely in the former president's favor.

Katelyn Polantz, appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, right now you're hearing a lot about this surge in a common respiratory virus known as RSV. That surge is putting some incredible pressure on a number of children's hospitals across the country. Nationally, pediatric bed capacity is higher than it's been in the past two years of the pandemic. Look at this, an estimated 74 percent of those pediatric hospital beds are now full. And in some states, they're already in crisis mode.

CNN's Rosa Flores had access inside one Texas hospital. Take a look.

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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dr. Melanie Kiragowa (ph) says more than 40 children are hospitalized at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, including more than ten in pediatric ICU.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's awful. It's terrible to have any family go through this.

FLORES: Nine-month-old Koa (ph) is on a ventilator and the pumps by him are filled with medication to keep him comfortable. Down the hall, seven-month-old Myles (ph) was flown from Beaumont, a city 85 miles from Houston, where the local hospital didn't have a pediatric ICU says his dad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Just heartbreaking. So we're going to bring you more of Rosa's reporting in our next hour.

Look, space is running out, not just there in Connecticut, but in other areas as well. In fact, running out so quickly at Connecticut Children's Hospital they've actually had to convert some play rooms into patient rooms.

Joining me now is physician-in-chief at Connecticut Children's, Dr. Juan Salazar.

Dr. Salazar, it's good to have you back with us.

I know you were talking about the surge with my colleague Kate Bolduan last week. That surge, as I understand, in cases has continued throughout the weekend, specifically in kids under five.

What do you attribute this rise in cases and serious cases to, especially at this point in the calendar year?

DR. JUAN SALAZAR, PHYSICIAN-IN-CHIEF, CONNECTICUT CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER: Yes. Yes, thank you, Erica, for having me this morning.

And, indeed, this is a situation that's going on throughout the country. I've spoken to many of my colleagues at children's hospitals and everyone is in a surge mode. And here at Connecticut Children's, we have been seeing this now for the last four weeks where RSV has been the predominant pathogen that has brought kids into the hospital. And, you know, as of this morning, 14 of our kids were in the emergency department waiting to be hospitalized into one of our units simply because we're full.

Now, you ask, why is this occurring in the U.S. now. And there are many reasons perhaps that this could have happened. But the most important one is that during the pandemic, the peak of the pandemic, most of the kids were socially distant. They were not exposed to the typical viruses. And so their immunity did not build up. And now we're hitting a time where the kids are back in school, everyone's together, everyone's gathering in daycares, et cetera, and as a result this virus has found a lot of susceptible hosts where they can come in and actually create some issues for us. And this is why we're seeing this, unprecedented numbers of kids coming into the hospital and requiring our services.

Now, here's -- the good news is that most of those kids that are coming in will recover. So, this is very different than severe Covid, very different than severe influenza. So we are hopeful that as we move on over the next two, three weeks this will begin to subside and we'll get through this crisis, as we are doing here at Connecticut Children's.

HILL: The fact that this is targeting primarily young children, and for reasons that I have to say seem to make a lot of sense, right? They were masked. They weren't in groups of kids. You know, you're not - they're not bringing home the runny nose like most preschoolers and kids in daycare.

Do we need to be concerned, though, for perhaps older people in the family, those who are immunocompromised, in the way that we were concerned about passing on Covid?

SALAZAR: Yes. And, you know, an unknown fact about RSV that is not really well-recognized is that, in fact, there are many more adults over the age of 70 who are diagnosed with RSV, and there are many more deaths associated with RSV in the older population.

[09:10:08]

So, this is something that we have to pay attention to. The kids, for the most part, will do OK. They will come into the hospital for a few days and hopefully go home soon. The ones that are higher risk, obviously, will require greater care.

But, of course, the adults, the elderly, those that are higher risk, very similar to Covid, we have to watch out for that. So, clear, clear recommendations. Wash hands. You know, if somebody is ill, if your child is ill, you know, keep the child away from the grandfather or somebody who may be immunocompromised. You probably will save that individual's life or situation that they won't have to come into the hospital because of RSV.

HILL: Yes. And we certainly know, as we learned so well during Covid, we do not want to overwhelm our hospitals and our health care workers.

Dr. Juan Salazar, really appreciate the update this morning. Thank you.

SALAZAR: Thank you, Erica.

Well, the CDC announcing that Director Rochelle Walensky is experiencing mild symptoms after testing positive for Covid-19 on Friday. Covid cases, of course, are declining nationwide but virus experts are warning this downward trend could reverse itself and perhaps fairly quickly. There are several new Covid variants, now appear to be gaining traction around the world.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now with more on this.

So, you hear that there are new variants. We hear that there could be more coming. For a lot of folks the question is, is this going to be a surgery the likes of which we saw over the last couple of winters? We have a lull and then all of a sudden it is back on? ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. So, let's

actually separate out those two issues, Erica. Let's first talk about the new variants.

Not all variants are created equal. Some new variants are like, oh, no, look at this variant. We're in trouble. That is not the case with these. Are they new variants? Yes. But they're quite similar in many ways to the other omicron variants that we've seen. These are really subvariants.

So, the vaccine is still going to work against these variants. It is still going to protect you from getting very, very sick with Covid-19. And so that's -- that's really a good thing.

But let's talk about the winter surge.

So, in the winter we have seen surges, last winter and the winter before. So, let's take a look at last winter. You can see, in December, those numbers started picking up. Now, one of the reasons was because omicron was new. But the other reason is just respiratory viruses tend to kind of do their thing. It's like party time for them in the winter for various reasons, including the fact that we're more indoors, we're sort of with each other more often. So, could there be a winter surge? Absolutely. I think there's every reason to expect that there will be. Will it be as horrible and deadly as the other ones, it certainly doesn't seem that way, and let's hope not.

Erica.

HILL: Yes, let's hope not, indeed.

Elizabeth, appreciate it. Thank you.

This just into CNN, the U.K.'s ruling conservative party has just elected the person who will become the next prime minister. Rishi Sunak will replace Liz Truss after his only challenger withdrew from the race. He will officially take over once he's appointed to the role by King Charles. He'll be the youngest leader. He's just 42. We're going to have a live report for you from London just ahead. Stay with us for that.

Plus, Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, set to face-off against his Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, in their one and only debate tonight. We'll take you to Florida as well. A closer look at what to expect both for the state and what it means nationally.

Plus, the NYPD is searching this morning for this man, there you see, caught on video pushing someone on to New York City's subway tracks. How the mayor says he plans to curb a rise in crime and concerns from those riding the rails.

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HILL: This morning, just 15 days now until the midterm elections and early voting is breaking records in one key battleground state. In Georgia, more than 750,000 people have cast their ballots so far. Yesterday alone some 18,000 people came out to vote. That's another record according to Georgia's secretary of state's office.

CNN national politics reporter Eva McKend is in Atlanta this morning with more.

So, what more do we know about this voter turnout there in Georgia?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Erica, candidates are really pushing this, both Republicans and Democrats, imploring their voters to take advantage and get out and vote early. Actually, incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock saying that we should think of this period as election season and saying -- joking at a rally over the weekend that the voters voting on Election Day are the stragglers that folks will have to pull over the finish line.

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MCKEND (voice over): Midterm campaigns entering their final stage with early voting underway in several key states. Georgia's secretary of state released early voting figures Sunday. Over 740,000 Georgians have cast their ballots in-person so far, 300,000 more than at this point during the 2018 midterms.

Over in Arizona, two armed men, dressed in tactical gear, were spotted at a ballot drop box in Maricopa County, which left election officials concerned. The sheriff's office responded, and the two men left the scene.

With early voting already in progress, prominent progressives like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders worry the party's economic message not strong enough.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): I am worried about the level of voter turnout among young people and working people who will be voting Democratic. And I think, again, what Democrats have got to do is contrast their economic plan with the Republicans. What are the Republicans talking about? They want to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, at a time when millions of seniors are struggling to pay their bills. Do you think that's what we should be doing?

MCKEND: President Joe Biden, for his part, criticizing the Republicans' economic plan head-on.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mega MAGA trickle down. Mega MAGA trickle down. The kind of policies that have failed the country before and will fail it again.

[09:20:02]

MCKEND: Still, some Republicans feel the momentum is in their favor given inflation and rising gas prices.

SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): We've brought in over $4 trillion into the federal government's coffers last year. We spent nearly 7. That is literally what causes inflation.

We've got a Democratic Congress that rubber stamps everything Joe Biden does. And he wants more spending. That results in inflation.

MCKEND: Democrats ramping up their campaigning in the final two weeks with the help of former President Barack Obama. The key Democratic surrogate has already been featured in a series of digital and radio ads in key battleground states. He will hit the campaign trail later this week with his first stop in Georgia, where a nail-biting Senate race between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker could determine control of the Senate. Georgia is one of seven battleground Senate seats up for grabs.

Over in Pennsylvania Tuesday, Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman will debate for the first and only time since Fetterman suffered a stroke earlier this year. Both parties laser focused on these races.

SEN. ROY BLUNT (R-MO): Just one or two seats need to change and suddenly your side is in charge.

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MCKEND: So, all of the candidates here in Georgia, packed schedules today. We're going to be on the trail with Herschel Walker later today in Dalton, Georgia. Senator Raphael Warnock campaigning here in Atlanta tonight.

Erica.

HILL: A busy 15 days ahead, that is for sure. Eva, appreciate it. Thanks so much.

In Florida, early voting kicks off today. Same day as the first and only gubernatorial debate in the state. Tonight, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will go toe to toe with Democratic challenger Charlie Crist.

CNN reporter Steve Contorno is following all the developments there in the sunshine state.

So, what do we expect the major topics will be tonight at this debate?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Erica, like so many Democrats in tough contests, Charlie Crist has tried to make this race about one issue, abortion. Florida is one of those states that recently moved to further restrict abortion. It's now banned after 15 weeks in most cases. That's after Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law this year.

Governor DeSantis has said he would do more to, quote, further protect life in the wake of the Dobbs decision, but he's been really coy about what that means. So I think Charlie Crist is going to try to pin him down on that tonight.

Crist has also spent a lot of time talking about how expensive Florida has become. Home prices, rents, cost of living are up faster in Florida than just about anywhere in the country. And he's made that a central part of his campaign. I expect that to come up tonight as well.

Meanwhile, Governor DeSantis has spent a lot of time reminding voters that he was the governor that opened up schools before most states during the pandemic, that he was the governor that didn't require employees to get vaccinated, that he's the governor who didn't require vaccines to open businesses. That's something that he has spent a lot of time reminding voters in the last couple weeks.

And then, lastly, you know, we were just hit by a massive hurricane in this state, and that is still on the minds of a lot of people. I expect a robust discussion about the impact of this storm on the state, about how to harden Florida against future storms, maybe even a debate about climate change. Those are the kind of topics that we heard from a couple weeks ago during the Senate debate between Val Demings and Marco Rubio in Florida. And I think you're going to hear that a lot tonight as well, Erica.

HILL: Steve Contorno, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still to come here, as civilians evacuate the Ukrainian city of Kherson, there are reports this morning new Russian military units are moving in.

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[09:28:28]

HILL: This just into CNN, we now know who will become the next British prime minister. Conservative lawmaker Rishi Sunak will assume leadership on the ruling conservative party. His challenger, Penny Mordaunt, withdrew from the race just moments ago.

CNN's Bianca Nobilo is live at 10 Downing Street.

OK, so what is the - what is the plan now? We've got the person. When does this all starting to into effect, Bianca?

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: That's the question because this entire process has taken almost no time at all. The last leadership contest took six, seven weeks. Now, we have a prime minister who was ultimately running unopposed, the only one to be nominated by fellow conservative lawmakers. And it is a historic moment because Rishi Sunak will become this country's first ever prime minister of color, first ever Asian prime minister and first ever Hindu prime minister. And serendipitously on the day of Diwali, on of the biggest Hindu festival of lights here in Britain.

Now, Rishi Sunak, we understand, will be speaking to his back benches and all of his MPs as the new leader of the conservative party in one of the back rooms of parliament about now. From what we know, that meeting and that speech will be private. But later today we can probably expect to hear from what will be the new prime minister. But the choreography is still slightly vague. There are question marks because this has all happened so quickly. It's entirely plausible that Liz Truss could go to visit King Charles III and resign and Rishi Sunak go to King Charles himself and become the new prime minister and begin the process of moving in here to number 10 Downing Street, but we don't know.

[09:30:04]

There are reports that the king might be moving, but we can't confirm that just yet.