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Democrats Changing Strategy Nine Days Before Election Day; New Details About The Attack On Paul Pelosi; Supreme Court Possible To End Affirmative Action; Elon Musk Tweets Conspiracy Theory On Attack On Paul Pelosi; Former Governor Of Virginia Terry McAuliffe Is Interviewed About U.S. Democracy And Paul Pelosi; Flu Season Comes A Month Early; Bridge Collapses In India; Two Americans Killed In Crowd Surge In Seoul. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired October 30, 2022 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A fundamental choice. A choice between two very different visions for the country.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're using the bully pulpit in a way that is promulgating hate.
UNKNOWN: This is our year. The Democrats can't run on anything they've done. People don't like what they've done.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They're not interested in solving problems. They're interested in making you angry, and they're hoping that that will distract you from the fact that they don't have any answers of their own.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Already, more than 1.3 million Georgians have participated in person in the early voting process.
UNKNOWN: Look at the opportunity that we have now. For our simple vote, that could change a whole election. The power and the privilege that we have.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Two Americans are among the dead in a crowd surge that killed over 150 people in Seoul.
UNKNOWN: There were 4,100 missing persons cases filed. There are about 100,000 people out here last night.
UNKNOWN: I had told the crowd, you can't come this way. People are dying.
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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington and you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. In the midterm elections, the marathon campaign season is now a full-
on sprint to November 8th. In just nine days, American voters will decide key races at the state and national levels including who controls the House and Senate. And big stakes mean big names.
Top power brokers from both parties are fanning out across the country in coming days. Former presidents Trump and Obama will lend their influence in tight races, as will President Biden. Barack Obama is on a five-state tour to rally support for Democrats. He campaigned in Georgia Friday and in Wisconsin and Michigan yesterday.
And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is also on the stump this weekend. The rising GOP star rallied support for Lee Zeldin in the race for New York governor. Polling shows pretty clearly that the national momentum has tilted toward the Republicans in recent weeks, and now top Democrats and strategists are telling CNN of a shift in strategy among some candidates.
They're focusing on the larger picture, the threat to democracy tied to the January 6th insurrection and the election lies and intimidation that have flourished since. Edward Isaac Dovere is a CNN senior reporter who covers Democratic politics and campaigns across the country. So, what form is this message taking, Isaac?
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Like Democrats are looking at this and they're saying, we have failed so far to get voters to care about democracy. We've failed to connect it to economic things that people are concerned about. But what they are hoping is some groups, it's not going to be the major focus of really any of the campaigns in key races in this final week.
But they're hoping that they can go to key Democratic voting blocs and appeal to them and get them focused on it. There's a group, for example, called BlackPAC, which focuses on turning up African-American turnout all across the country, especially in seven states is where they're really focused at the moment.
And they have a script that they are using when they are appealing to people, knocking on their doors and they say, Republicans tried to throw out our votes in Atlanta and Philadelphia and Detroit in 2020. We have to push back on that. That kind of appeal to say you are trying to be pushed out -- they're trying to push you out of the picture, out of a role in things, and you need to stand up and vote for Democrats. But, again, it's something that so far really, they've struggled to connect with voters.
BROWN: Right. I mean, if strategists are saying this appeal hasn't worked before, why are they ramping it up now?
DOVERE: Well, look, part of it is it's the end of the campaign and people are trying for everything here. Part of it is the panic that Democrats feel very much about where they think things could go. Chris Van Hollen, senator from Maryland, said at an event in Baltimore I was at yesterday, that authoritarianism is on the rise from Moscow to Mar- a-Lago. That's what Democrats feel about this. But they also think that they can go to these core Democratic voters, who maybe voted in 2018, voted in 2020, but are not so enthusiastic about this year and say this is what you were caring about the last two times around. We need you to care again and show up to vote, either early voting over the course of the next week or on election day next Tuesday.
BROWN: Alright. Last-ditch effort here. We'll see how it all plays out. Edward Isaac Dovere, thank you.
DOVERE: Thank you.
BROWN: Well, First Lady Jill Biden is on the campaign trail today, making three stops in New York. It's part of the Democratic party's effort to get their biggest names in critical states before election day. Let's go now to CNN's Kevin Liptak in Wilmington, Delaware where the president is spending the weekend.
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So, Kevin, how are the President and First Lady lending support to this final push to November 8th?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, they're both trying to narrow down their closing arguments in this final stretch and it's really all about this warning, about what would happen if Republicans were to gain control of Congress. And you're hearing it from the President, the Vice President, the First Lady, even President Obama really trying to narrow down on these economic issues, social security and Medicare, really trying to bring those to voters as Democrats do become more anxious about what will happen on November 8th.
Of course, they are facing some serious headwinds, economic headwinds, political headwinds, and just historical headwinds. Obviously, the president's party typically fares pretty poorly. Now, listen to what President Biden said yesterday about his message in this final week.
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BIDEN: So, I'm going to be spending the rest of the time making the case that this is not a referendum. It's a choice, a fundamental choice, a choice between two very different visions for the country, and that's what it's about.
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LIPTAK: Now, you see there President Biden is in Wilmington. He's not on the campaign trail this weekend. We won't see him campaigning again until Tuesday. That's when he's going to head down to Florida. He's going to stump for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate there, Charlie Crist. The White House has been trying to put this trip on the books for a while. It had to be canceled for various reasons. But this will be interesting because that race has such a national dynamic.
The Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, eyeing national office. Former President Trump also lives in Florida now, so it will be interesting to see whether President Biden incorporates any of that into his speech later in the week. He will be visiting New Mexico. We expect him back in Pennsylvania. He will be spending election night, eve in Maryland. So not necessarily the most high-profile races of this cycle, but certainly an opportunity for the president to get his message out there to voters before November 8th. Pamela?
BROWN: Alright, Kevin Liptak, thanks so much for that. Well, CNN has exclusive new details about the vicious assault on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband. A source tells us the suspect was carrying duct tape and zip ties when he allegedly broke into the Pelosi's' San Francisco home.
Sources say the suspect tried to tie up Paul Pelosi before striking him with a hammer. Late yesterday, the House Speaker released her first statement since this attack, and we want to bring in CNN's Sunlen Serfaty to talk a little bit more about that. So, tell us, what did Pelosi say, Sunlen?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you can really sense in this statement, Pam, the raw emotion here from this Friday morning attack. She uses words like traumatizing and heartbreaking to describe the incident and says, quote, "a violent man broke into our family home, demanded to confront me and brutally attacked my husband, Paul. Our children, our grandchildren, and I are heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop."
And she does say that her husband's condition does continue to improve, which is of course good news. And we -- in this Pelosi statement, in addition to that on Capitol Hill, of course, there is so much anxiety from lawmakers and staff members, Pam, as you know, about the safety of themselves and their family. They received a letter over the weekend, of course, from the U.S. Sergeant-at-Arms and the chief of police updating them about the safety protocols already in place, recommendations on how to keep them safe.
But a lot of members think that's inadequate and they want to see more stepped-up security. Now, as far as what will happen this week, we know according to sources that the timing, Monday there will be charges against the suspect in San Francisco. Multiple charges. And Tuesday will be the arraignment.
BROWN: Alright. Of course, we'll be covering that. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you.
SERFATY: Okay.
BROWN: Well, there is a small rally right outside the U.S. Supreme Court today where tomorrow the justices will take up another issue right at the heart of America's culture wars. Monday's focus, affirmative action. The court will hear arguments in a pair of lawsuits arguing whether major universities should consider a student's race in the admissions process.
CNN's Jessica Schneider joins us right outside the court. So, Jessica, opponents of affirmative action say it makes our society, quote, "less colorblind." Tell us more about this case and what is at stake here. JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the arguments are
tomorrow morning, Pam, in these cases against UNC Chapel Hill and Harvard. And what's at stake here is that it is quite likely that this solidly conservative court could end up banning affirmative action at universities and colleges all over the country, banning them from using race as a factor in their admissions decision despite the fact that the Supreme Court has approved it going back all the way to 1978.
Now, the reason why these two cases will be heard before the court tomorrow morning is that these have been winding their way through the lower courts for several years now.
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A group called Students for Fair Admissions have been bringing this case -- these two cases up through the courts. They're arguing saying that Asian-Americans and whites are disadvantaged by affirmative action in favor, instead, of blacks and Hispanic students.
So, this case has been working its way up, specifically against UNC Chapel Hill and Harvard. However, the lower courts here have consistently ruled in favor of the colleges, saying that they can use affirmative action because the Supreme Court has repeatedly said affirmative action is okay. It is possible that this court could overturn that precedent.
Now, earlier today there were a group of Asian-American students here rallying together and saying that affirmative action should end. Take a listen.
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UNKNOWN: Diversity, as important as it is, cannot come at expense of Asian-Americans.
UNKNOWN: Diversity makes us strong but discrimination in the name of diversity is wrong!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
It's time for Asian-Americans to break up with woke diversity.
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SCHNEIDER: And what's interesting here is that over the past several years, nine states around the country have actually banned affirmative action at their public universities. And a recent "Washington Post" poll found that 63 percent of the Americans polled do believe that affirmative action should go away.
So, Pam, this will really be a closely watched and high-interest case here. What's also interesting is that a lot of colleges and universities say they need affirmative action to continue making their campuses diverse. In particular, two schools who are in states that ban affirmative action -- the University of California as well as the University of Michigan. They say in the years since their states have banned affirmative
action, they just haven't been able to get the diverse student body that they had previously gotten when they used affirmative action. So, there is a lot at stake here for these colleges and universities and, in turn, the students who go to these colleges and universities.
But, Pam, it is quite likely that this conservative court could once again upend precedent and tell these universities and colleges to stop using affirmative action. We'll see. The oral arguments begin at 10:00 tomorrow morning. Pam?
BROWN: Yeah. Really big case. High stakes. Jessica Schneider, thanks so much.
And still ahead for you tonight in the newsroom, "CNN Newsroom," the time running out, what do Democrats need to do to win over undecided voters? I'll ask the former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, coming up.
Also, for you tonight, President Trump is back in Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' reelection bid. Could these two Republican stars soon be battling each other?
But next, Twitter's new owner wastes no time pushing a conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi's attack. Is this the new future of the social media platform under Elon Musk?
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BROWN: Well, officials in Jacksonville, Florida are condemning anti- Semitic messages that appeared in the city this weekend. During the Georgia-Florida football game on Saturday, this message appeared outside, scrolling on the stadium wall reading "Kanye is right about the Jews."
It is a reference to the series of anti-Semitic comments Rapper Kanye West made recently. It's not clear how this disgusting message got there or how long it was displayed. Other videos on social media showed the same message visible on at least one building in Jacksonville Saturday night. Truly sick.
Well, two days into Elon Musk's tenure as the head of Twitter and he is already using his new megaphone to push a conspiracy theory. This morning, Musk re-tweeted an article from a widely discredited news site. Hours later, he deleted it. How about that? CNN's Donie O'Sullivan joins us now. So, Donie, what did Elon Musk say in this tweet?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Pam. Yeah, I mean, what's kind of crazy about all of this is that Twitter, as we go into the midterms, as people are already voting, they are working on countering mis and disinformation about the election, and now their new boss is out there tweeting nonsense. I want to show you the tweet that Elon sent. It was actually in
response to a tweet from Hillary Clinton who was condemning that attack on Paul Pelosi, of course. We've blurred out the actual website that Musk linked to, but he said there is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye.
The website he actually linked to has baseless theory about what happened in the Pelosi's attack. But that website has previously claimed that Hillary Clinton was dead in 2016. It claimed that it was a body double of Clinton who is on the campaign trail. So, clearly a discredited site. But as you mentioned, he did delete that tweet, so perhaps even he is acknowledging that he made a mistake on this one.
BROWN: Yeah, but he tweeted it to millions of his followers and it got re-tweeted. I mean, that's the issue. So, what about people leaving the site? I mean, look, I was already going to leave twitter, and now this -- you know, this could be the final straw for someone like me or other people who are saying, look, I've had enough. I don't want to be part of this anymore.
O'SULLIVAN: Yeah. I mean, I don't think we've really seen that mass departure from the site yet, but I suppose maybe in the coming months. What we have seen, though, is over the past few days, there was accounts tweeting racial slurs over and over and over again, in a way, almost to test twitter's systems.
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And Yoel Roth who works at the company and who runs a lot of the policies around speech on the platform, he tweeted out just saying, "Bottom line up front, Twitter's policies haven't changed. Hateful conduct has no place here. And we're taking steps to put a stop to an organized effort to make people think we have.
So, look, he's got a very difficult job, this guy Yoel, because he is trying to run a platform and tackle as much hate and misinformation as possible. But his new boss is out there tweeting to his 112 million followers a conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi.
BROWN: Yeah. I do not envy his position. And I also have a feeling this is just the beginning. Donie, you're going to be quite busy if you weren't already before this. Thanks so much for coming on.
O'SULLIVAN: Going to be busy.
BROWN: Appreciate it.
O'SULLIVAN: Thanks, Pam.
BROWN: And this just in to CNN, getting some news here. We're learning more about the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband. The San Francisco District Attorney's Office is now saying Paul Pelosi was sleeping when the man accused of attacking him on Friday went upstairs into his bedroom. Officials also tell CNN that the suspect, David DePape and Paul Pelosi did not know each other prior to the attack. Well, you are in the "CNN Newsroom" on this Sunday. Political discourse in this country is reaching new lows. Is there any way to bring down the temperature? Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe joins us next to talk about it. Stay with us.
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BROWN: 0New today, the January 6th Committee has obtained eight e- mails showing possible planning of a crime after the 2020 presidential election. A judge determined those e-mails showed Donald Trump and his lawyers had planned to defraud courts and obstruct the congressional vote on the presidency.
They appear to show Trump attorneys new key details and their challenges were false and that filing lawsuits could delay the certification of Joe Biden's win. The committee head had been fighting for those records for months. Trump attorney John Eastman had been battling those efforts and is now seeking a court order to have the e- mails surrendered or destroyed.
Well, there are just nine more days until the midterm elections when voters will shape their state governments and determine the balance of power in Washington. I want to bring in Terry McAuliffe, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and former governor of Virginia, of course. Thanks so much for coming on the show.
Governor, really appreciate your time tonight. So, I want to ask you about your recent tweet. You say in this tweet, "From Charlottesville to January 6th, to the attempted kidnapping of Governor Whitmer, to the brutal attack on my friend, Paul Pelosi, violent domestic terrorism is becoming all too normal. It is an ongoing threat to our republic and is surely not a joke."
And minutes ago, we just had some new reporting that some Democratic candidates are focusing on the threat to democracy as a last-minute shift in strategy. And I'm wondering if you think that that appeal, will it resonate with voters?
TERRY MCAULIFFE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA: Well, I hope it resonate, Pam. It shouldn't be a political issue. This is about the United States of America. And what we have seen over the course of really since the Trump presidency began, you have seen our democracy in this country erode. Look at the threats. You saw what happened to Paul Pelosi, friend of mine for 40 years.
I've spoken to the Speaker. It is one of the nicest men you would ever meet. You saw the knuckle heads who just were convicted of trying to kidnap the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. Last year when I was running for governor, I had death threats. State police had to protect me.
We have got to stop these attacks on democracy. This is dangerous out there. And the reason is you have Trump who has failed to come out and say anything about the attack around Paul Pelosi. He refused, Pam, to say anything about the attackers on January 6th who tried to destroy our democracy at the capitol. When I was governor of Virginia, he refused to condemn the neo-Nazi and the white supremacist in Charlottesville when three people died that day. It's just a pattern.
We need leaders in this country who are going to get up and call out when things are wrong and say, this should not be tolerated in the United States of America. We are one nation. We are stronger when we're together. But when you have 60 percent of Republicans today think that the 2020 election was stolen without any proof, and they keep putting more gas on the fire, this is dangerous for our country.
So, I hope people understand that. I hope people come out and vote in record numbers in nine days. We have to show the world, Pam, that we are the greatest democracy in the world. But you can't have the greatest democracy when you have our elected officials or spouses being attacked and so forth.
BROWN: You said, if I heard you correctly, that you have spoken to the Speaker since her husband was attacked, right?
MCAULIFFE: Yes.
BROWN: Can you tell us a little bit about that conversation, what she said?
MCAULIFFE: Well, listen, yeah. I have known Nancy and Paul Pelosi going back to 1980. I love them both greatly and we have been at so many events together. I've been to literally so many political events and other things. I've been to many things with Paul Pelosi at Georgetown University where Paul has been a leader there for so many years.
And listen, all you can say at this point early on, the day of the attack was, thoughts and prayers are with you. And that's what our thoughts and prayers are with us to day. And I do want to say many Republicans that I know that Steve Scalise came out, I know Mitch McConnell came out. I know Kevin McCarthy that day at least reached out.
Some Republicans were disgraceful that day, actually mocking Paul Pelosi. But, you know, people stood up. And mildly point to everybody, when things like this happen, we have to stand up. We are America, we are Americans, and we are bigger than this, and we need to send a message to these people out there who are fostering these conspiracy theories that what you say is not acceptable.
And clearly any actions that would harm anyone need to be condemned.
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We need to do that -- I don't care what your political party is. You know, people fought and died in this great country to defend our democracy, and we can't allow people that are out there like we saw the other day to destroy our democracy. We can't, and that's what this election is about. Get out and vote. You cannot stay home. Exercise your right to vote, and I think it will be important. I do think democracy is on the line literally in nine days.
BROWN: I want to get your reaction among the hills of what we're just talking about from what Glenn Youngkin, Virginia's Republican governor, your once opponent, that he defeated you in your re- election, but what he had to say. Let's take a listen.
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GLENN YOUNGKIN, GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA: Speaker Pelosi's husband had a break-in last night in their house and he was assaulted. There's no room for violence anywhere, but we're going to send her back to be with him in California. That's what we're going to go do.
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BROWN: So, what is your reaction to his apparent joke here?
MCAULIFFE: This is the point I'm trying to talk about and I'm not going to get down the gutter with the things that he had said. But when you have the spouse of the Speaker of the United States on the operating table with a fractured skull being operated on, this is really not a tough choice to stand up and say, thoughts, prayers, we are with you. We are one.
As I say, many Republicans did the right thing. Had that been reverse role, I would have (inaudible) in a second with a Republican. To me, this is bigger than Democrat and Republican. We have a thing called the Virginia way. We try to rise above things to come together for the common good of the commonwealth. That statement clearly was not the common good. That was not the Virginia way the other day.
But let me say this. Most of the major Republicans in the country immediately came out and condemned it, but let's not make this political. Let's make this about America. I keep going -- I always say I'm the proud son of Army Captain Jack McAuliffe, proud father of U.S. Navy Marine Captain Jack McAuliffe.
People have worn the cloth of the country to defend this great nation, and we voters and all of us involved need to make sure we're showing everybody why we're the greatest democracy and stop what's going on and bring people together and unite us as one.
BROWN: I'm curious since we're talking about Glenn Youngkin, and you ran against him. What did you learn from that race that you think could be applied to Democrats right now in their messaging as they try to win their races in the midterms?
MACAULIFFE: I just think you need to get out, get your messaging. I, as you know, got the most votes of any Democrat in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia (inaudible) from 200,000 more than any Democrat, 1.6 million people came out and voted last year. I'm very proud. I ended up getting 350,000 more votes than the governor of New Jersey was running that night in a state that has fewer Democrats.
We got folks out, but they're going to come out on the other side when you have such anger and people thinking that the election 2020 was stolen, which it wasn't. But, you know, they believe it was stolen, they're going to come back, they're going to come out in record numbers. So, even if you think you can get voters to the polls, you got to keep working. You got to run through that finish line.
And let me just say this finally. We got a lot of great things to talk about. Joe Biden, 10 million new jobs, 700,000 more in manufacturing, we got an infrastructure bill. We got a CHIP bill. We finally can negotiate prescription drug prices. He got NATO together to support Ukraine against Russia. And on the other side, any plans? No, not one. Nada. You hear from the potential speaker that maybe we'll support Putin against Ukraine after the elections. Really? Are you kidding me?
BROWN: Yeah, he said we couldn't just give a blank check.
MCAULIFF: Folks, we got a lot to be proud of. Get out and vote.
BROWN: Yeah. But I mean the bottom line is voters, they are feeling the pinch from inflation. It is a global problem. But the bottom line is Democrats are the ones in power right now. I mean, do you think their messaging has been sufficient to assure voters that they can lower the prices that have been so badly damaging to people's everyday lives?
MCAULIFFE: Yeah. I say all the time, we got to go out. We have so -- I mean, we -- this president and this Congress has passed such legislation that would be comparable to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. We had the biggest infrastructure bill going back to when Dwight Eisenhower was president of the United States, all the new jobs. He did the American Rescue Plan. Not one Republican voted for it.
And Pam, it saved our economy had we not had that. We now for the first time can negotiate prescription drug prices. Joe Biden just lowered premiums on Medicare, first time in a decade. Now, inflation is tough. It's affecting everybody, the whole global supply chain because of COVID. We're dealing with it, we're dealing it with most countries, but I know how hard this is.
But let's look at the choice. Who do you think is going to move us forward out of this inflation to help you at home? Record investment on education spending, on health spending and so forth. We've got all the things that we've accomplished and we just got to make sure we're getting them out. And I know presidential year is a big turnout, then you have midterms this year. Last year in Virginia, it's much smaller because nothing else on the ballot, just New Jersey and Virginia, and turnout isn't what it should be.
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We got to turn our folks out in a presidential year. Our democracy, the fate of our country -- and if the Republicans get the Senate this time, the 2024 Senate map for Democrats is really tough. We could be out of this for four, six years. I'm talking judges, everything that affects your lives. So, folks, wake up. Get out there. I need you voting in presidential level turnout. Don't stay home. It's too important.
BROWN: Okay, thank you so much, Governor Terry McAuliffe. I appreciate it.
MCAULIFFE: Thank, Pam. You bet. Thank you.
BROWN: Well, the CDC says the flu season has not been this bad this early in more than a decade. Dr. William Schaffner joins us next to talk about the flu and answer your viewer questions.
Also, a new morning show is coming to CNN starting Tuesday. Join my friends Don, Poppy, and Kaitlan for refreshing conversations every weekday on CNN this morning from 6:00 until 9:00 a.m.
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BROWN: Well, if you haven't gotten your flu shot yet, now would be the time. The illness may peak in November this year, and the shot can take a few weeks to fully kick in. If you're one who normally doesn't get the shot, you may want to rethink that. CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to tell us why. Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, you may have heard of the expression "flu by boo." That means get your flu shot by Halloween. The reason is that I know we think of flu as usually something that peaks in December or January or February, and that usually is the case. But sometimes you can see a lot of flu in November, and it looks like this year may be one of those times.
So, get your flu shot. It takes about two weeks for the flu shot to fully kick in, so you really want to get it as soon as you possibly can. This weekend would be terrific. And here's why. Here's the reason why we get flu shots. When we look at the flu a couple of seasons ago, nearly 500 children died. Many of those children completely healthy. Their parents were shocked.
Adults, nearly 25,000 adults died in that flu season. So, now let's take a look at how effective flu shots are. If we look at that same flu season, 2019 through 2020, the flu vaccine prevented 6,300 deaths in the U.S. It prevented more than 100,000 hospitalizations and prevented 7.5 million illnesses. So, getting a flu shot could save your life. It could save your child's life. And if you've ever talked to anyone who's had the flu, you know it is miserable. Why would you want to put yourself through that? Pamela?
BROWN: It absolutely is. Thanks so much, Elizabeth. So, as she noted, it's flu season. The CDC says this year the flu is hitting people in the U.S. earlier and more forcefully than it has in a decade. But of course, the flu is not the only virus sending adults and many children to the hospital. Respiratory illnesses like RSV are causing the spike in emergency visits.
And with many Americans skipping their COVID-19 booster this fall, doctors are worried that the surge of respiratory illnesses will get worse before it gets better. Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the infectious diseases division of Vanderbilt University joins us now. So, tell us, doctor. Emergency room doctors are saying that many of these patients are children. What's going on here? Why is this?
WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, DIRECTOR OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Pamela, that's exactly correct. We're having three respiratory viruses out there at the same time kind of revving up. The first is, of course, COVID, and that's been with us for a while. Second, as you and Elizabeth just were saying, influenza has struck early, a month to six weeks early, and it seemingly preferentially hitting children.
And then there's this third virus that's been in the news, RSV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus. It's a January-February virus. What's it doing here now? Well, it's here and it's spreading particularly among children and putting a strain on the beds and the emergency rooms in our children's hospitals.
And, of course, some of that, particularly the RSV part, is because we've taken off our masks. We're no longer social distancing. We're traveling. We're going to religious services. The children are back in school. And all of this provides an environment for these viruses to spread. Now, the good news is we have two vaccines against these three viruses, one against COVID, the other vaccine against flu. It's time for everyone to get both of those vaccines to provide the best protection for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
BROWN: So, do you agree with doctors who say the surge in the flu and RSV combined with the fact that fewer Americans are getting their COVID-19 booster is something to be very worried about? What do you think about that?
SCHAFFNER: Oh, yeah, I am concerned because you know this new bivalent vaccine, this COVID vaccine, this new booster is being underutilized. And if we look at influenza vaccination, at this time of the year, if we compare it to previous years, the influenza vaccine uptick by the population is lower than it usually is.
This is all part of COVID and vaccine fatigue generally. And here we are this year, asking people in the fall not to get just one vaccine, influenza, but two. We want to add the COVID vaccine also. We're having to try to be very persuasive, and so far, we aren't succeeding as well as we would like, I'm afraid.
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BROWN: I want to get to some viewer questions. The first person writes, my teenage son is triple vaxxed and had covid in June. What are his chances of getting it again? Is he more protected from newer variants? And also, I'm going to throw in on that. How long after you're infected should you get the booster?
SCHAFFNER: Well, certainly if you've had a previous infection and been vaccinated, you're in good shape. But you still should get this new bivalent COVID booster that's out there, and you should wait at least three months since your infection or two months since your last COVID vaccine.
BROWN: And then for this viewer, what are the chances of getting it again? If you've had it -- so, her son had it in June. Is her son more protected from newer variants? What are his risks of getting it again?
SCHAFFNER: Well, these vaccines all protect against serious disease, preventing hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, and dying. Now, you can, despite vaccine and despite having recovered from the virus, get another infection, but then it generally will be mild. But it's important to be up to date in your vaccination to make sure that you do get that benefit to keep those COVID infections as mild as possible.
BROWN: Alright. Thanks so much, Dr. William Schaffner. We'll be right back.
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[17:50:00]
BROWN: At least 60 people are dead, many more hurt after a pedestrian bridge collapsed in western India today. Police say hundreds of people plunged into the river below when the 150-year-old structure gave way. Many of those injured or killed were attending a nearby religious festival at the time.
Authorities say several hundred people were on or near the foot bridge when it collapsed. Members of India's Army, Navy and Air Force are helping in search-and-rescue operations.
Well, some new developments here at CNN. We just learned the identity of one of the two Americans killed during that deadly crowd surge in South Korea yesterday. The president of the University of Kentucky released a statement just a short time ago naming a 20-year-old junior who was studying abroad as one of the people killed in one of South Korea's worst disasters.
The university says two other students and a faculty member were also in South Korea this semester, but have been accounted for. CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A surge of people in a narrow street, Halloween fun in Seoul turned into a living nightmare.
UNKNOWN: Oh, my god! Oh, my God!
HANCOCKS (voice-over): This man climbed up the side of a building to try and escape the crush of people below him in a mass of humanity, some made desperate calls to the police asking for help. Even after rescuer workers arrived at the scene, they struggled to get victims out from underneath a pile of people.
UNKNOWN: It just got worse, worse and worse. Suddenly we're starting to hear screaming and people asking for help from other people because there were not enough rescuers that can just handle all that.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): It became a race against time to administer CPR to as many victims as possible. At a community center nearby Sunday, people waited for news they did not want to hear. This is Australian man describes the chaos as the crowd swelled. He says he was separated from his friends.
UNKNOWN: There are so many people. And I, like, turn around and I had told the crowd, you can't come this way. People are dying. Because I already knew how bad it was.
HANCOCKS (on camera): An investigation has begun into exactly what happened, how tens of thousands of people ended up in these narrow alleyways. There are unanswered questions about a perceived lack of crowd control and a devastatingly high death toll.
(Voice-over): President Yoon Suk-yeol visiting the area called a period of mourning until November 5th saying it was a disaster that should never have happened. Police say most of the victims were in their 20s, many oblivious to the eminent danger until it was too late. Halloween decorations lie broken on the streets, costumes discarded. A painful memory of an intended night of fun that descended into an unforgettable night of tragedy. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: We're turning to Brazil now. Votes are being tallied in what's being called South America's most important election in decades. Leftist former president, Lula da Silva is facing off against the country's right wing incumbent Jair Bolsonaro.
The hard-fought runoff came with controversy even on election day. Lula supporters accused police of blocking buses full of voters trying to reach the polls, but those road blocks were eventually lifted.
Well, 1.6 million early ballots have already been cast in Georgia, and coming up, I'll talk to a state election official, Gabe Starling, about his biggest concern heading into election day. You probably remember him from the 2020 election. We're going to talk to him up next.
[17:55:02]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tonight on "Who's Talking to Chris Wallace," Chris sits down with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and asks him about his future political plans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST: Do you still want to be president?
PETE BUTTIGIEG, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: I wanted to be president enough to run for president. Although I didn't ever run because it was a thing that I wanted to have. I ran because there was a moment where I thought what I had to offer matched what the moment called for and that's how I think about running for office.
[17:59:58]
WALLACE: But you're truly not saying that the moment and the man might not match up again.
BUTTIGIEG: I'm not ruling out -- I'm 40, you know. I don't know what's going to happen in the future.
