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Campaigns Enter Final Stretch With Control Of Congress At Stake; GOP Focuses On Suburban Districts To Win Back The U.S. House; Beloved Actor & Comedian Leslie Jordan Dead At 67; Math & Reading Test Scores Plunge In U.S. Amid Pandemic. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 24, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: CNN has reached out to West representative for comment, we have yet to hear back.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: And after being criticized for staying silent, his ex-wife Kim Kardashian is now condemning his hate speech. She wrote on social media: "Hate speech is never okay or excusable. I stand together with the Jewish community and call on the terrible violence and hateful rhetoric towards them to come to an immediate end."

GOLODRYGA: Well, it is the top of the new hour at CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell.

Fifteen days now until Election Day and candidates are out battling for every ballot. In the Florida governor's race, Democrat Charlie Crist hopes tonight's debate will help shift the momentum as he tries to unseat the Republican incumbent Ron DeSantis. And in Pennsylvania, there's a debate tomorrow in the much tighter Senate race there. Polls show the Democrat John Fetterman has a small lead over his Republican rival, Mehmet Oz.

GOLODRYGA: Nearly 7.3 million Americans have already cast a ballot in 39 states, with the early vote turnout in the battleground Georgia breaking records. CNN has just released new poll averages showing just how tight the race for Senate is in critical swing states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

BLACKWELL: President Biden just made another pitch to voters: "We're coming up on November 8th." Of course, that's the midterm Election Day. He just spoke at Democratic Party headquarters in D.C. to make his closing argument.

GOLODRYGA: CNN Senior White House Correspondent Phil Mattingly is here. So Phil, what is that closing argument?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What's interesting and we actually saw this a little bit on Friday, guys. The president is starting to take a sharper political tone and really trying to frame things in the way that White House advisors and I think Democrats feel like will be most effective in this closing period, even fully acknowledging that polls that seem to be shifting toward Democrats over the course of the summer have shifted the other way.

The effort now from the President and top Democrats is to get them to head back their way. The President predicts that's something that could happen. He's trying to frame things as a choice, between Democrats and Republicans, not a referendum on the Biden administration and Democratic control of Congress. That would be fighting against history. A tide of history that traditionally sees the president and the incumbent party in their first midterm take pretty steep losses.

The President saying, though, think about what Republicans would do in power. That is the pitch. This is how he framed it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Democrats are building a better America for everyone with an economy that grows from the bottom up and the middle out, where everyone does well. Republicans are doubling down on their mega MAGA trickle-down economics that benefits the very wealthy. It failed the country before and will fail it again if they win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: And guys, there's no question when you talk to Democratic officials, they understand there is a tough hill to climb right now, really punctuated by concern about the economy that you see in poll after poll after poll. And in particular, concern about inflation that remains at a four-decade high.

The President - he was in D.C. today - there's not a lot of concern about the D.C. delegate to Congress' race that he would need to help and step in on. However, the DNC is the home to his entire campaign infrastructure. It will be critical to the push ahead, a push that will include the President getting out a little bit more and the country making some campaign stops as well as some official stops to tout what the administration has done on the policy side of things, some of the major legislative wins.

There's no question, though, Democrats right now feel like they need to shift things quickly to be able to maintain their majorities in the House and the Senate. The President though, seems optimistic that he thinks they can, guys.

BLACKWELL: All right. Fifteen days. Phil Mattingly, thanks.

GOLODRYGA: Well, control of the U.S. House could come down to a few key suburban districts. Districts Republicans are focused on winning back after they were lost during the Trump presidency. Republicans only need a net gain of five seats to control the House.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Maeve Reston joins us now. Maeve watching the burbs for us. Which races are you watching specifically?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, obviously, during the Trump years, Republicans lost a lot of ground in some of these suburban districts. And so there's a real fight in the suburbs now and one of the issues that we're seeing pop up in a lot of these districts is the crime issue. This is obviously a - been a huge issue following the death of George Floyd.

And in some of these suburban districts, you are seeing Republicans, particularly in cities, in suburban districts around cities like Portland and in Minneapolis, who are really playing up this - the crime message, trend which are sort of playing on people's fears after they watched many nights of protests and rioting, particularly in Minneapolis and the violence that we saw in Portland.

And so in these races, in the two Oregon districts in particular, the Republicans have been trying to tie their Democratic opponents to, inaccurately often, to the movement to defund the police.

[15:05:05]

And, of course, that's been just a big issue everywhere for Democrats, even though most Democrats did not agree with those policy calls by some on the progressive left. You're also seeing those same themes play out in Minnesota's second district with Angie Craig, whose record on police funding has also been inaccurately attacked.

So that is - those issues are huge at this cycle and then, obviously, issues - the issue of inflation is dominating every single suburban race and just being out in, in Nevada, talking to a lot of these suburban voters. There is no issue that matters more to them than what they're seeing with inflation and gas prices.

And I was in Nevada's Third Congressional District where Susie Lee is looking to defend her seat against a challenge from April Becker. And that has been such a fascinating race because it's a state where you have a competitive governor's race, a competitive Senate race and the money is just flooding into these Nevada House districts, hitting the Democrats on inflation saying that they haven't done enough to bring prices down and we'll see how that all plays out in November.

GOLODRYGA: It's just so important to have you out there in the suburbs talking to these voters. Maeve Reston, really fascinating, thank you.

RESTON: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Joining us now to discuss, CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist Alice Stewart and CNN Political Commentator and Democratic Strategist Maria Cardona, co-host of the podcast Hot Mics From Left To Right, new episode on gas prices, which is exactly where we're going to start. It's the perfect segue from Maeve to you two, this framework of trying to win back the suburbs on two issues, crime and inflation. Maria, what do you think about that framing of the race?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, what I see is certainly Republicans doing it in a disingenuous way - shocker, right - about this election (inaudible), Victor. If it were, we wouldn't even be talking about Democrats being competitive in this election cycle, because as you know, history and conventional wisdom after a President's first term, the party in power normally loses seats and houses of Congress if they're in control.

But the reason that we're not there right now and that we're talking about how competitive these races are, Victor, is because there's nothing normal, and Bianna, about the GOP candidates that are running. And so what I see is a Democratic Party that is focused on what voters want.

Yes, inflation is a critical issue. That's why you see President Biden and the Democrats focused on what they have done and what they continue to do to actually try to help struggling working class and middle class families. Republicans can only point the finger at Democrats. That's the only thing they have. They have no solutions.

And Victor and Bianna, if - don't take my word for it, look at history, Democrat - under Democratic (inaudible) administrations where the economy has surged and recessions (inaudible) push to recession, Trump recession, (inaudible) you had the Democratic (inaudible) president and administration and the congresses bring in a flourishing economy that is working for everyone and that is what Democrats are focused on.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Alice, let me get you to weigh in, because among the findings in CNN's latest polling, the key battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the Republicans seem to have a broader advantage among voters focused on economic issues. This is a top priority for so many voters and it's a priority that the President said and it's a top domestic issue as well. What are the specifics that these candidates are laying out to counter what they see day to day under a Biden administration?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Bianna, I think you make an important point to distinguish different states and different districts and different races are different priorities, but we are seeing crime as one of the key issues, crime in many cities across this country. What we're seeing in Wisconsin, their voters are concerned with that as well as economy as well as inflation and Pennsylvania in the key Senate race with Mehmet Oz and John Fetterman.

Crime in the Philadelphia suburbs is completely out of control and Fetterman has a record on the border paroles that has been soft on crime and Mehmet Oz in the debate this week will focus on this. But with all due respect to my friend, Maria, I think she is really missing the point with Democrats.

We had President Biden touting what he sees as accomplishments for his administration, but is completely out of touch with Americans. And we heard that, not just me, don't take just my word for it. Bernie Sanders said that over the weekend, as well as Democrat pollster Stanley Greenberg says that we need - the Democrats have missed the mark when it comes to showing compassion and concern about Middle America and their concerns about the economy as well as inflation.

[15:10:05]

And if they don't show in the next 15 days, a real economic plan to go against Republicans, it's going to be doomsday for Democrats. And regardless of what President Biden says, this is a referendum on his administration and Republicans and independents have a choice whether they can continue that or not and we're going to see in 15 days Republicans are going to offer that change that many people want.

BLACKWELL: Alice, what's the Republican plan?

STEWART: First and foremost it's not to continue to spend money. It's not to spend money like the current Democrats have been doing, so work on lowering taxes and really putting an emphasis on energy plans that will help reduce the cost of gas even more and also work on improving the supply chain, which has been a huge problem with regard to getting goods and services onto our grocery store shelves.

But the number one thing that Republicans are going to do is put up a rein on outlandish spending and reduce federal government regulations that have been a hamper on a lot of what needs to get done in this country. But outrageous spending is the number one thing Republicans wanted to ...

BLACKWELL: I mean, we should also point out that there was extensive - the growth of the deficit during the Trump years even before the pandemic, so when Republicans say that they want the reins of the economy back, we can just look back a few years and see how much was spent before we got into a crisis situation. Maria?

CARDONA: So, yes, so ...

BLACKWELL: Yes, let me ask you on a different topic here. I want to get - well, something's happening tonight, Charlie Crist debating Ron DeSantis. He's about eight points behind in a recent poll. What can he do to turn this around? This might be his last shot.

CARDONA: I think he can show and this is what Democrats are doing across the board, how extremist of a governor Ron DeSantis has been, will continue to be and what an extremist MAGA agenda he is following. And look, in addition to the inflation and to the economic issues, which I'm talking about with compassion, that's the best thing that he does is talk about things with compassion and will continue to do that.

He and the Democrats are also focused on underscoring how a Republican House and Senate will take away our freedoms, our liberties, our privacy and will be a huge threat to democracy. And this is what I'm talking about, Victor, about how up in the air and what a jump shot this election is, and frankly, shouldn't be if Republicans really were offering sane, credible solutions, because we would see history repeat itself, as I said at the very beginning, but we're not.

And so therefore, Democrats do have a chance to underscore how women are second class citizens today in this country, and how people like Ron DeSantis, and all of the candidates for Senate and for the House will continue that MAGA extremist agenda.

BLACKWELL: I hear you. I hear you, Maria.

CARDONA: And I think that will work for Democrats. BLACKWELL: However, when we look at the polls across the board, specifically, we go to state races, the economy in top of these lists of what people think is most important. Yes, we may see in some states, double digit registries for abortion rights and for the democracy. But when you look at what is number one, it's the economy, so we'll see how much that stays at the center of the conversation tonight.

CARDONA: No, that's right and Democrats and Biden are (inaudible) ...

BLACKWELL: We got to wrap it here. We got to wrap it here.

GOLODRYGA: We'll have you back.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Maria, Alice, Hot Mics From Left To Right ...

GOLODRYGA: We have a fan over of the podcast.

CARDONA: That's right.

BLACKWELL: ... thank you very much.

STEWART: Thank you, Victor.

CARDONA: We'll continue it there.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Well, just moments ago, top Justice Department officials assured voters that they were taking election security measures ahead of the upcoming midterms.

BLACKWELL: The DOJ says top law enforcement agencies will do everything possible to make sure the midterm elections are not impacted by voter intimidation or election interference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: As far as the election itself, the threat of any nation state to our election system to influence, to interfere is something that we have to all remain vigilant about. In many ways, malign foreign influence, whether it's from the Chinese government, the Russian government or other governments is not just an election cycle issue, but a 365-day-a-year problem.

MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The Justice Department has an obligation to prevent, to guarantee a free and fair vote by everyone who's qualified to vote and will not permit voters to be intimidated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: While the Justice Department made these comments just a few moments ago also announced charges against more than a dozen alleged Chinese spies in three different cases involving spy recruitment in the U.S. GOLODRYGA: The January 6 Committee believes former President Donald Trump will comply with their subpoena. Vice Chair Liz Cheney telling NBC's Meet the Press that she expects Trump to testify and turn over the requested documents.

[15:15:05]

BLACKWELL: CNN's Sara Murray joins us now from Washington.

So Sara, the November 14th deadline for testimony under oath, only a couple of weeks away. There seems to be some optimism from Congresswoman Cheney, what do you hear?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, I think that the Committee has been very optimistic publicly about their odds of hearing from the former president, in part because they think he should want to appear before them to at least answer for his actions or perhaps to try to make some attempt to clear his name. But take a listen to what Liz Cheney had to say about this over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): It will be done with a level of rigor and discipline and seriousness that it deserves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Television spectacle is not going to be ...

CHENEY: We are not going to allow the former president - he's not going to turn this into a circus. This isn't going to be his first debate against Joe Biden and the circus and the food fight that that became. This is far too serious set of issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: So she's saying she wants to see the former president testifying under oath there and she also said there are many, many options alternatives for them, if he does not comply. She didn't lay out what those were. We still don't know how the Trump team is going to respond to this. We got a statement from the lawyers last week essentially saying they're going to look into this, analyze it decide how to respond. We're still waiting to see what that response actually looks like.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Sara Murray, thank you.

BLACKWELL: An alarming report that America's children are falling behind in education, the largest decline ever in math. We'll talk about what's behind that drop.

GOLODRYGA: And we're following sad breaking news out of Hollywood, actor and comedian Leslie Jordan has died. We'll have more on his life and legacy when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:21:06] GOLODRYGA: Well, we have some sad breaking news to bring you, beloved actor and comedy legend, Leslie Jordan has died at the age of 67. Jordan was a familiar face on so many popular shows like Will & Grace and American Horror Story.

BLACKWELL: And recently he became a social media sensation with those funny Instagram videos that carried us through the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLIE JORDAN (Late Actor): Well, (inaudible) this is awful, it's still March. How many days in March? When is (inaudible), my mother holding up the steps asking me who I'm talking to. I'm talking to my friends, mama. Quit bothering me. How much more this is going to take.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Oh, that was the first one that I saw and felt it. How many days in March? Jordan even appeared right here on CNN New Year's Eve Countdown bringing in 2022 with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Chloe Melas joins us now. He made us laugh just when we needed it, but really sad to hear this news. Chloe, what more are we learning about his death?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: So sad and incredibly unexpected. We know that Leslie Jordan was involved in a fatal car accident in Hollywood earlier today. We don't know what exactly led to the car crash. We believe that he was driving and alone. Perhaps experiencing some sort of a medical episode. We're still waiting to confirm those details.

But like you said, he brought so much laughter and joy into so many people's lives. I met him this past New Year's Eve when I was a correspondent in Times Square. We had like dressing rooms near each other and he was just always talking about his mother, Peggy Ann, who passed away recently. He grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee and he was always talking about how he loved his mother, his family. He had a lot of brothers and sisters.

I remember first discovering Leslie, of course, on Will & Grace, where he played Beverley Leslie. He won an Emmy Award for that role on the show. He's also talked about how he - came out as LGBTQ, how he came out as gay and that for a while it caused some tension with him and himself because he was grappling with his very religious upbringing. And he's talked also in the past and previous interviews about his struggle with addiction and alcoholism, but always looking to teach and to tell others about how he overcame personal obstacles in his own life and, yes, the fun, sweet, endearing videos that we all came to know and love during the COVID 19 pandemic.

And in those videos, he would talk so often about his mother and his family, and God and religion. He also loved music. He brought - released a gospel album, not too long ago. He was a judge on The Masked Singer. I mean, also let me point out because he was a busy guy, currently, he was on a TV show called Call Me Kat. So he's been very, very active in television, like I said, winning an Emmy Award for his role in Will & Grace and always just bringing joy and laughter. Such a kind human being.

GOLODRYGA: And a true talent. I just imagined so many people now going back and we'll be watching his old videos. Our thoughts are with his family. Chloe Melas, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: An alarming new report is more evidence of the toll the coronavirus pandemic took on children across this country. Now, this is called The Nation's Report Card and it found that fourth and eighth graders had the biggest ever test score decline in math since the assessment started more than 30 years ago.

[15:25:08]

GOLODRYGA: And this was during some of their most formative years, their reading skills also dropped significantly. U.S. Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona, told CNN today that it's imperative to turn this around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIGUEL CARDONA, EDUCATION SECRETARY: If this is not a wakeup call for us to double down our efforts and improve education, even before it was - before the pandemic, then I don't know what will. We need to make sure we have highly qualified teachers in every classroom. We have programs for students after school in the summer. We know what to do. We just have to make sure we have the urgency across the country to get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Gabe Cohen more on what this new data shows.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An alarming snapshot of learning loss from the pandemic. New test results from The Nation's Report Card show in most states, fourth and eighth graders are falling behind in reading and math. The math scores are historic the worst decline ever recorded with roughly 25 percent of fourth graders and 38 percent of eighth graders performing below the basic level, the lowest of the three achievement levels for the test.

Students who are already struggling in school showed the most dramatic drop off. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona calling the results appalling and unacceptable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE BURKE, TEACHER: They were isolated for a year and a half to two years. That's a huge, huge problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN (voice over): Michelle Burke (ph) is an eighth grade teacher on Long Island and has a daughter in eighth grade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURKE: My daughter is struggling with - in math, exponentially. A lot of the things that we're seeing emotionally, behaviorally are putting a huge strain on what you're seeing in the classroom. Huge strain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN (voice over): The findings come more than a month after similar results showing math and reading scores for nine year olds fell by a level not seen in decades. The federal government is pumping billions in relief funds into districts requiring them to spend at least 20 percent on learning loss.

Schools nationwide had been trying to hire more staff, but with teacher burnout and fewer new teachers, many schools face a teacher shortage, especially in rural areas and those with more low income families and students of color.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACY BRADY, BIOLOGY TEACHER, CASA GRANDE UNION: Afternoon. IDs please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN (voice over): At Casa Grande Union High School in Arizona, some classes have more than 70 students and in other rooms para-educators are teaching lessons prepared by a certified teacher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRADY: I think of myself I struggled with math and if I was sitting in that classroom, I needed help, I had questions, I need somebody to break it down a different way. If there's nobody who has the content knowledge to do that, I'm going to shut down and I'm thinking many of our students might be shutting down as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (on camera): Now the education secretary says they're proposing a 21 percent increase in the education budget. But Victor, Bianna, in the short term, you have kids dealing with mental health and behavioral issues and a lot of teachers burned out in schools that are understaffed. And so some experts think the problems that these test results illustrate may not be resolved for years.

BLACKWELL: Gabe Cohen, thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, joining me now to talk about this is Arne Duncan. He was the secretary of education under President Obama. Secretary Duncan, thank you so much for joining us. It struck me to hear Secretary Cardona call this a wakeup call, because I did cover education during COVID and every single expert I spoke with said that COVID only exacerbated a problem that already existed, whether it's teacher shortages, whether it's low scoring tests for students, so is it fair to call this a wakeup call?

ARNE DUNCAN, EDUCATION SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I think it's - maybe a more accurate term would be a call to action, that this is extraordinarily disturbing news, but it's truly, to your point, is not news. We know how devastating the pandemic was for all kids. We know the kids that were the furthest behind got hit the hardest and we can't afford to wait years, we need a year-long sprint between this fall and next fall coming back to school on an individual basis, child by child, to do everything we can to help them catch up.

This is about whether they're going to graduate from high school eventually, this is about whether they're going to be able to get a good job eventually and I worry about our democracy framing at the edges if we don't give every child a chance to fulfill their true academic and social potential. So the stakes here couldn't be higher, the sense of urgency couldn't be higher.

GOLODRYGA: Well, as far as at least the last couple of years. You can't say the money wasn't there. According to the - well, thanks to the American Rescue Plans and $123 billion which broke down to about $2,400 per student was spread throughout the country to help bring students back during COVID and post-COVID. And as we heard from Gabe's piece that averages about a 20 percent threshold that were set for districts to focus on education.

[15:30:00]

Was that too low of a threshold? Should it be higher than 20 percent?