Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Democrats, GOP Battle for Votes with Two Weeks Until Election Day; State Department Says, Griner Legal Process Has Been a Sham; Rishi Sunak Becomes New British Prime Minister. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 25, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Jennifer Newsom wrote an email just a few years ago to Weinstein, asking for opinions on how to deal with the scandal involving her husband.

[10:00:11]

So, why, if she was raped, was she going back to Weinstein, being friendly to him, being seen at events with him? So, this is what you're going to see, this dynamic that we saw in New York when I was in that courtroom in New York. But, they found him guilty, 23 years in New York. Will we see the same thing happen in Los Angeles? But it is a highly publicized trial that is expected, Erica, to go on for several weeks.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. We'll be talking about it more as those weeks come. Chloe, I appreciate it, thank you.

MELAS: Thank you.

HILL: Top of the hour now, I'm Erica Hill. Good to have you with us this morning.

Election Day, two weeks away exactly. Today, there is a major focus on Pennsylvania. Voters gearing up for a key Senate debate tonight. Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman will face-off in their first and only debate. This is a new CNN poll shows Fetterman leading with a narrow margin. We're on the ground in Harrisburg with a preview of tonight's debate.

Plus, overnight in Florida, Incumbent Republican Governor Ron DeSantis vying to keep his job facing off against Democratic Challenger Charlie Crist in their debate, the two trading barbs, insults, sparring on a number of topics at their final debate ahead of Election Day. The Democratic candidate, Charlie Crist, will join me in just a moment.

But let's begin this morning with what is expected to be that fiery debate tonight in Pennsylvania. CNN Congressional Jessica Dean is on the trail in Harrisburg. And it is important, this will be the only debate for voters between Oz and Fetterman, Jessica. So, what are we expecting them to tackle tonight in addition to the expected fireworks?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, we're going to see these two men meeting for the very first time when they come together, Erica. This is going to be inside of a local television news station here, no audience, so just the two of them, the moderators. And we also know that Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, who's been recovering from a stroke that he suffered back in May, will be using that closed captioning throughout the debate to be able to make sure that he's understanding everything he's talked about.

This auditory processing issue that he's had left over from that stroke. And so the Oz campaign agreed to allow him to use that closed captioning technology, which he kind of took out for a public spin at an event over the weekend. What you're looking at right there, you're seeing him with Senator Amy Klobuchar. We saw kind of working through that.

So, that is kind of an interesting piece of this that will be at play. Of course, Fetterman, who his own campaign has admitted, this isn't like his strongest suit, debating, kind of lowering those expectations, up against celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee who really has pushed for more debates, wanted more time together on the stage. Of course, they ended up with this one 60- minute debate.

Oz spending years and years in front of a camera talking to people at home, so it is a place that he feels very comfortable in front of a camera. But what we expect to see from both of them last night is who can kind of land the most arguments and punches. Both of these candidates ironically trying to paint the other as the most extreme, that if you send either of them to Washington, you will be getting the most extreme version of someone in their party.

And so we expect to hear more about that. Of course, both of them trying to find where they can kind of get an edge in with any of the voters out there who may still be undecided in this race that continues to tighten and is a critical race. It is most likely going to determine who controls the U.S. Senate, which is incredibly important and it means that there are a lot of eyes on this race, millions and millions and millions of dollars being spent here. I'll tell you in the hotels, you turn on the T.V., you are flooded with ads every commercial break.

And one more thing to expect tonight, it will be interesting to see what issues they really try to go to. Of course, the moderators will decide what questions will be asked. But when we asked in our most recent polling what mattered most to the voters, far and away, it's what we've been talking about this entire campaign cycle, it is the economy, it is inflation.

And so I talked to one person here who has been monitoring voter trends in this commonwealth for years and years, and he made the case that neither of them have really talked a ton about the economy. So, maybe we'll hear about that tonight as they try again to really single out any of those undecided voters who may be out there or sway anyone who might be persuadable.

Erica, of course, Oz leaning in crime as well and the Fetterman campaign really leaning into the issue of abortion rights. So, we expect to hear about all of those topics this evening. HILL: Yes. But to your point, interesting to see and hear just how much there is when it comes to the economy and inflation. Jessica, I appreciate it, thank you.

DEAN: Yes.

HILL: Happening now in Arizona, a group of voters in Phoenix is asking for a temporary restraining order against an organization, which they are now accusing of voter intimidation, asking a federal judge to take action against Clean Elections USA, who they maintain are photographing and following voters at ballot drop boxes.

CNN's Kyung Lah is live in Arizona this morning. So, what more do we know about this group, Kyung, and these allegations?

[10:05:00]

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's start with the allegations, Erica. It is in regards to two outdoor drop boxes where early voters, early ballots can be returned. This is one of them here in Phoenix. And what the allegations are is there have been people who are basically putting lawn chairs right where I'm standing, and they are watching and photographing people as they return their ballots.

But I want you to look at this video of what is happening in Mesa, Arizona. And there is a lot of concern about safety in regards to this because there have been armed men who were showing up at that ballot drop box. There have been a few confrontations that have been captured on some citizen videos and posted on Twitter.

The lawsuit that has a status conference today in federal court here in the state of Arizona, the plaintiffs have filed, and this is a group of retirees, as well as a Latino organization, saying that they believe that this is a campaign of vigilante voter intimidation. The lawsuit is against an organization here in Arizona, the Clean Elections USA, as well as its founder, saying that this is being coordinated, that this is being organized and they believe that this is a violation of civil rights for anyone who wants to try to return their ballots.

As far as whether anything is illegal in this, on its face, the Maricopa County sheriff says there isn't anything illegal, that there is the right to carry, the Second Amendment is here in Arizona as it is in the rest of the country. There is open carry in the state of Arizona. And as long as they don't directly try to stop somebody from coming in and dropping that ballot, the sheriff says that they don't believe that there is anything illegal.

The sheriff did point out, though, that the department is in conversation with the Department of Justice to see if there is any violation of any sort of federal statutes. There have also been six cases referred to the Department of Justice, Erica, because the secretary of state here believes that this is indeed voter intimidation. Erica? HILL: I have to feel like you would know much better than me based on all of your excellent reporting over the last several years, Kyung. It does feel like this is just the beginning as we look to these incidents. I appreciate it. Thank you.

And this morning, a Russian court has upheld American basketball star Brittney Griner's conviction for smuggling drugs into the country, essentially keeping her nine year prison sentence mostly in place. U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told me last hour the U.S. is still engaging with Russia, trying to bring Griner and her fellow detained American, Paul Whelan, home, say that they're continuing to put that out there, and yet here we are this morning. So, what else can be done, if anything?

Joining me now to discuss, Josh Rogin, Washington Post Columnist and CNN Political Analyst. Josh good to see you this morning.

I would say, unfortunately, in many respects, this is probably not an unexpected outcome this morning, what we saw out of Russia, but based on what we're hearing publicly from the government, what could potentially be happening behind the scenes. Do you believe there is more that can be done?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALST: Well, Erica, it is clear that today's ruling by the appeals court confirmed largely the sentence of Brittney Griner was expected both by her lawyers and by the U.S. government. It could be a signal that the path forward negotiation behind the scenes solution is moving forward because now there are no more legal procedures that the Russians can point to as a reason to delay. So, in that sense, it could mean that there are behind the scenes negotiation actually could have a breakthrough. At the same time, it also means that the Russians will claim they have more leverage in that negotiation because now Brittney Griner has no more appeals to hope for. So, it kind of cuts both ways.

What we do know, again, according to CNN's own reporting, is that the trade for Viktor Bout, the merchant of death, serving a 25-year sentence in Illinois federal prison for murder conspiracy and weapons selling to terrorists for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan was rejected by the Russians. They want more. They are not likely to settle for that. And that's where the rub is. And what more do they want and what more can the U.S. government give? Well, that is exactly the subject of the secret negotiations from this point forward.

HILL: Yes. And so we'll wait, I guess, until they want to tell us what they want to tell us, as we see what comes out of that.

I do want to get your take on another story I know you've been following very closely and I think a lot of people were alerted to based on a column that you wrote just last week about another American who is being held but in Saudi Arabia, 72-year-old Saad Ibrahim Almadi. You've been in touch with his son.

And his son said, look, I'm really ready to talk now because I don't feel like the government is doing enough. My dad's name is in the headlines. He also really wants the U.S. to say his father is being wrongfully detained. I asked Ned Price about that his morning point blank, is he being wrongfully detained.

[10:10:03]

I'm not sure if we have that sound. I'm just going to check with the control room. We don't have that sound. But what I can tell you is it was a non-answer, talking about how there are very specific -- there's almost -- he didn't say a checklist, but for lack of a better term, almost a checklist, right, that you have to go through to say, yes, this person is being wrongfully detained.

Why is it so important to of that designation and what would it change for Mr. Almadi?

ROGIN: Right, Erica. Well, there are dozens, if not, hundreds of Americans wrongfully detained in dictatorships all over the world. Some of them get that status from the U.S. government, like Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. And to be sure, they definitely deserve it. But Saad Almadi, who is rotting away in a Saudi prison for 16 years because of some tweets also clearly fits the definition of wrongfully detained.

There is a checklist but you only have to meet 1 out of the 11 things on the checklist, and one of them is freedom of speech, if your freedom of speech is impaired. That clearly seems to be the case with Saad Almadi. Another one is whether or not the sentence outweighs the proportionality of the alleged crime, and 16 years for some tweets definitely fits that. So, it is pretty clear that the State Department is avoiding giving him that wrongfully detained status.

Now, according to his son, the reason that they're doing that is because they want to preserve U.S./Saudi relations. It is really easy to see that Americans held in friendly countries, like Saudi Arabia, are supposedly friendly countries don't get the same level of attention from the U.S. government as those in adversary countries, which is ironic. You would think the friendly countries would be nicer to Americans but they are not.

And so I think that Brittney Griner is wrongfully detained, that she deserves all of the attention and all of the focus that the U.S. government is giving her case. And Saad Almadi is also wrongfully detained but he's not getting that focus, that attention, that much is clear, and I hope on behalf of the family that the State Department will acknowledge that sooner rather than later.

HILL: There's been certainly more attention to his case in the last week since your piece. Is it your sense that there is more action? Is anything else happening in terms of traction behind the scenes?

ROGIN: According to his son, so far, no. And that is a real shame. Because what happened was the State Department asked Ibrahim, the son, to stay quiet for 11 months, and he did stay quiet. And he thought that that meant that they were working behind the scenes but it turns out they weren't.

Brittney Griner, when she had her hearing today, the charge d'affaires, the head U.S. diplomat in Moscow, attended the hearing. When Saad Almadi had his hearing, nobody from the embassy attended at all. They just forgot about it. They had a snafu, a mix-up. That just shows you the difference and the level of attention.

So, I think, unfortunately, what a lot of these families are learning, whether or not your family member is in prison in Russia or Saudi Arabia, or Iran or what have you, the best thing that you could do is make a public stink because that is the only thing the U.S. government really responds to.

So, again, I think Saad Almadi deserves more attention. I just don't think he's getting it.

HILL: Josh Rogin, always good to talk to you, thank you.

ROGIN: Thank you.

HILL: Still to come, the new British prime minister delivering his first message to the world. He vows to bring economic stability and confidence to the U.K. We're going to take you live to 10 Downing Street.

Plus, Adidas cutting ties with Kanye West after his string of anti- Semitic comments. Let's take a deeper look though at the alarming rise of hate against the Jewish community nationwide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:00]

HILL: Incumbent Florida Governor Ron DeSantis clashing with Democratic challenger Charlie Crist in a number of topics had a heated debate in Florida last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE CHARLIE CRIST (D-FL): Yes or no, Ron? Will you serve a full four-year term if you're re-elected governor of Florida? It is not a tough question. It is a fair question. He won't tell you.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Well, listen, I know that Charlie is interested in talking about 2024 and Joe Biden but I just want to make things very, very clear. The only worn out, old donkey I'm looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now to talk about last night's debate, Florida Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Charlie Crist. I do want to note too, CNN did extend an invitation to Governor DeSantis to appear on this show. He did decline. Good to see you this morning.

I saw you smiling as we just came out of that sound bite there. I know you broke the rules a little bit with that question but you seemed happy with the response. You told me in the break you felt good about the debate. I'm hoping we could, for folks who are watching, get some more specifics on a couple of really important topics that came up.

So, let's start with housing in Florida and insurance rates, which, as you know, are astronomical, if you can even get insurance for many homeowners. I believe it is six insurers in Florida that have gone insolvent this year. Can you give us a better idea of what is your plan to decrease those costs and also to increase coverage for Floridians for their homes?

CRIST: It is an interesting question. And what I would point to is the term that I served as governor already. I mean, I've done this job before. I know how to do these things and I know how to get it done. And so I called a special session when I was governor the first time. We actually reduced property insurance rates by 10 percent, helping the people of Florida in a time of need. It was during the great recession. That is the kind of leadership that we need.

The only thing that's worn out in this campaign are the antics of Governor DeSantis. I mean, the fact that he pits group against group, chastises children, really is making it harder for us to vote in our elections in Florida, more difficult to have mail-in ballots for our senior citizens, I mean, he is not helping our state and he's making it less affordable every single day.

[10:20:06]

The other thing is housing, as you suggest. It is almost impossible to buy a home in Florida or even rent an apartment, the prices through the roof. And what you can do is utilize a specific trust fund for housing in the Florida budget, hundreds of millions of dollars, specifically for people to be able to put a roof over their head. He has gotten rid of it, and I would restore it. I think that is what is important. People need to know what you're going to do going forward.

HILL: A question for you too in terms of you saying that you can bring better coverage back, you can lower costs. And based on what we saw even most recently with Ian, we know that the storms are getting worse, they're getting more frequent. Florida is often a target. You can't control Mother Nature. But there is concern on the part of all those insurance companies.

So, how do envision that dance going to get them back and to make sure that people cannot only get coverage but get affordable coverage?

CRIST: Well be better prepared. I mean, our governor didn't encourage Lee County, Fort Myers, where the storm hit, to evacuate in time to get out. That costs over 100 of my fellow Floridians their life. So, number one is you have to be responsible, you can't be reckless and you have to been on the job and do what is right for your fellow Floridians. That is how you have a stabilized market. That's how you drop rates by 10 percent. When you don't do that and exercise that kind of leadership, people get hurt and people die. Now, that will scare an insurance company any time.

HILL: Let's talk immigration. You said last night you acknowledge we have a problem at the border, we need to secure the border. What specifically is your plan to stem the flow of migrants? CRIST: Well, to secure the border even more. I have voted for --

HILL: But how.

CRIST: -- for millions of dollars to secure the border more by utilizing the funds to appropriate to border security, which I think we need to do. But in addition, with we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform, something I voted for as a member of Congress, something that DeSantis voted against. He doesn't want to solve this problem because it is an exciting wedge issue for him. And that is why he pulled the stunt that he did, flying people from Texas to Martha's Vineyard who were lied to, to lure them on to a plan.

These were Hispanics. These were Venezuelans in particular. And he thought it was a funny stunt to do that to make a point. If you want to change policy, you need to support the policy. He voted against the kind of policy that would stop the problems at the border. That is not good leadership. And if you want better leadership in Florida, you should go to charliecrist.com and help us win. We have two more weeks left in this campaign.

HILL: You have two weeks left, you are down in the polls, you are running out of cash. The president is making his way to Florida, and as I understand it, he will be -- the two of you will be campaigning together. What do you think the president is going to do for you? Who do you think he can reach, because we know his approval numbers in your state are not very high?

CRIST: Well, I think he can reach a lot of people. He's the president of the United States of America. So, he's coming, he's going to do a fundraiser for us. We're going to do a rally together. I'm excited for him to come here. I think the world of President Biden. He's a good, decent man. And that is the kind of governor we need, a good, decent man. That is why I'm running.

HILL: Florida Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Charlie Crist, thanks for joining us this morning.

CRIST: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: Just ahead, you're officially on the job, the U.K.'s newest prime minister laying out his focus as he takes office. We have the latest for you from 10 Downing Street, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:00]

HILL: Britain's new prime minister, Rishi Sunak, promising to bring economic stability back to the country. He official took over at 10 Downing Street earlier today after being appointed by King Charles this morning. He is now the third prime minister in the U.K. just seven weeks.

CNN's Scott McLean is live on Downing Street. So, he is coming in and, boy, does he have a lot on his plate, Scott. SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He sure does, Erica. Look, Rishi Sunak is the youngest British prime minister in more than 200 years, he is also the first one to be not white. And yet he spent zero time dwelling on either of those milestones in his first speech as prime minister perhaps because there is so much for him to do.

He will have to get to work trying to tackle inflation, which is having a very direct impact on a lot of people in this country given that most people's mortgages are only fixed for two or five-year periods.

He will have a heck of a task in trying to repair public finances and the tens of billions of dollars in deficits that will be racked over the next couple of years in part because of the massive spending due to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and, of course, the rising energy prices as well.

He also has a big task in uniting his party in reaching out to the other wings of his party, those people who supported Boris Johnson or perhaps Liz Truss. And in his own moderate wing of the party, he says that he is under no illusions about how much work he has to do but he has not daunted. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RISHI SUNAK, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government's agenda. This will mean difficult decisions to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:30:01]

MCLEAN: Now, Erica, of course, no one expects his tenure in office as British prime minister to be any shorter of Liz Truss.