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Georgia On Pace To See Two Million Early Votes Cast; Abrams, Kemp To Face Off In Last Debate Of Georgia Governor's Race; Trump- DeSantis 2024 Rivalry Grows More Public; Perilous Politics: America's Dangerous Divide; Candidates Prepare For Final Push Nine Days From Election Day; GOP Senate Nominee Repeats Hoax That Schoolkids Use Litter Boxes; Rupert Murdoch Sells 21st Century Fox To Disney; Final Votes Being Counted In Brazil's Presidential Runoff. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 30, 2022 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: And the men might not match up again.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I'm not ruling out. I'm 40. I don't know what's going to happen in the future.

WALLACE: There are figures, some substantial figures in the Democratic Party who say quite bluntly that Joe Biden should not run again for president in 2024.

BUTTIGIEG: The decision is very much above my pay grade. There's one person who gets to make that decision. But what I will say is that this president and this administration have been repeatedly underestimated and have repeatedly delivered. I mean, it's hard to think of any period since FDR when there has been this much legislative success.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: "WHO'S TALKING TO CHRIS WALLACE?" airs right after NEWSROOM at 7:00 Eastern.

And the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): 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 U.S. PRESIDENT: 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. EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Already more than 1.3

million Georgians have participated in person in the early voting process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the opportunity that we have now. Our simple vote, that could change a whole election, the power and the privilege that we have.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Two Americans are among the dead in a crowd surge that killed over 150 people in Seoul.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There were 4100 missing persons cases filed. There are about 100,000 people out here last night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told the crowd you can't come this way. People are dying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington and you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we begin this hour with the midterm elections. In just nine days voters will decide key races at the state and national levels, including who controls the House and Senate. Top power brokers for both parties are fanning out across the country. 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. In Georgia, more than 1.6 million people have already cast their votes as of yesterday.

CNN's Nadia Romero shows us how churches are mobilizing their faithful.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): It is the last Sunday of early voting here in Georgia. Traditionally called Souls to the Polls here and that means that people from black churches. Once church lets out Sunday service, they head on over to the polls either in a stroll or walk or they're bussed over together as a group to vote in that next election. That's what's happening all throughout today on Sunday.

And it is so important to keep that vote for this community, a community that makes up a great percentage of voters here in the state of Georgia, and that's what we're hearing from a senior pastor with Beulah Missionary Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta. I want you to hear from Deacon Brown, 99 years old, on Friday, it was

his birthday and he made sure he voted. We also spoke with other people in the congregation to tell us why it is so important to keep up this right to vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEACON RALPH BROWN, 99-YEAR-OLD VOTER: There was a time when we were called all different kind of names and there was even a time when they gave us money to keep our mouths shut.

JO HANDY-SEWELL, DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY, BEULAH BAPTIST MISSIONARY CHURCH: The intimidation here in Georgia is subtle. You take the drop boxes away. You confuse people about the dates and the times and the wheres.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: Now Souls to the Polls continues not just here in the state of Georgia but all across the country.

Nadia Romero, CNN, DeKalb County, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Thanks so much, Nadia.

Well, there is still five more days of early voting in Georgia. The secretary of state there Brad Raffensperger says they're on track to eclipse two million total early votes. It is truly a historic turnout for the midterms.

Joining us now is Gabe Sterling. He is the chief operating officer in the Georgia Secretary of State's Office.

Hey, Gabe. Good to see you again on the show. So why do you think Georgia is smashing early voting turnout records?

GABRIEL STERLING, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, OFFICE OF GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, the reality is, Pamela, it's really easy to register in our state. It's really easy to vote in our state, and given the fact that Governor Kemp won by 55,000 votes in 2018 and President Biden won the state of Georgia by 11,779 votes in 2020, Georgians, more than most Americans, understand the weight and heft of their vote. It's different from being in Vermont or California, where you're going to get lost in a partisan wash.

BROWN: So I want to get your reaction to what we heard from the voting rights advocate, an attorney, Marc Elias.

[18:05:03]

He shared his concerns over Georgia's new law that allows anyone to challenge someone's voter registration. You just brought up voter registration saying it's easy to register. Let's take a listen to what he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC ELIAS, DEMOCRATIC ELECTION LAW ATTORNEY: I'm worried because we are seeing a leave of election vigilantism by Republicans. In Georgia it's taking the form of challenging tens of thousands, not thousands, but tens of thousands of Georgians' ability to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Do you share his worries at all about the tens of thousands of challenges?

STERLING: Not really, considering the tens of thousands of challenges have already all been cleared. I mean, this is the reality of it. Marc Elias is a partisan Democrat. He sues states all the time. It's his job to stoke fear and misinformation around law. It has been legal in Georgia to challenge anybody's voter registration in unlimited way for years. The actual process hasn't really changed.

But they're trying to scare people into thinking that this is 2.0. That these records keep on getting knocked down every day. But they keep on saying people are being suppressed. It's a lie. It's always been a lie. Voter suppression is just as much as lie as voter fraud. And I'm tired of it and fighting the misinformation is just disheartening, but people get partisan gain from it.

BROWN: And of course Marc Elias, if he were here to defend himself, would say no, actually I'm just trying to defend voters and trying to make it so that their vote is counted. That is what he would say among other things, I'm sure. But I want to stick with Georgia, two years ago, Georgia was a hot bed for election conspiracy theories, as you well know.

What is the climate like right now compared to 2020 and what are your concerns looking ahead?

STERLING: The climate is actually calmer now in -- remember, pre-2020 November, it was relatively calm in Georgia. It was after the election we had most of the issues. So on some levels, the misinformation is heightened now because it's a continuation from 2020. But we aren't seeing the problems we're seeing in Arizona or Nevada, those kind of places thankfully.

My biggest concern is this is going to be our first time in 20 years having a picker-based ballot system on election day when we don't have COVID going on. So we're expecting probably double the amount of turnout we saw in 2020 on election day and making sure those polling locations are prepared for those people coming out to vote.

BROWN: Yes. And on that note, how long do you think it's going to take for us to get a sense of how things are shaking out in Georgia. I remember, of course, in 2020 election, you know, what that was like. What should we all brace for this time around, do you think?

STERLING: Here's the irony, we actually count our votes faster than most states but the problem is, when your margin is 11,000 votes, every little thing is going to count. So we made some changes in the SB202 Election Integrity Act which basically allows counties to begin to process and tabulate the votes on election morning, including early voting. It was unclear in the law before. So we should have a very good indication of where a lot of the votes are lying.

Now the issue we have is, given the last four years and two years, it used to be that Republicans and Democrats used different ways of voting essentially the same. But now Democrats are much more likely to vote by absentee, Republicans are much more likely to vote in person on election day. So those buckets of votes will swing the amounts of votes people see on election night. So it really depends upon the voters and how much they're turning out one way or the other.

BROWN: Yes. No. I remember that. Red wave, blue wave, depends on the state in those early hours and then of course it can change as we saw in some states because of the votes that were either mail-in ballots or the in-person votes being counted before or after.

But just to put a button on that, I mean, do you anticipate that we could know the results in Georgia on election night and are you bracing for a potential runoff?

STERLING: We are absolutely bracing for a runoff. It is the worst-case scenario, and we joked in the summertime that given our luck, it will probably be a runoff for the United States Senate which will decide who's in charge just like we had last time. But we feel like most of the races we will know on election night. There's a couple that will be a little bit closer. But again, do we trust polls anymore? I don't know, they're all over the board. I can never really put as much faith as I used to a few years back.

BROWN: I'm wondering, because I remember we talked a lot since the 2020 election and you would try to tell people, look, these conspiracy theories are not true. The election and Georgia was safe and fair and legitimate and, you know, everything was above board. And a lot of people just told you at the time, I just -- in my heart I don't believe it. And you were trying to convince with the facts.

How is it now when you have those conversations and how do you convince people to trust the votes who already don't think the election won't be fair?

STERLING: Well, again, a lot of it is still the same. A lot of people still believe in their gut that it was stolen and there's nothing, no evidence you're ever going to give them that says it wasn't. But most people now are of the opinion, with my earlier argument, really think they're going to cheat, show up and vote to make it harder. But one of the things that we're seeing in Georgia is we're kind of going back to our normal form which is voting in person, which everybody seems to have a lot more faith in.

[18:10:04]

We'll probably have over 90 percent of our ballots cast in person, but earlier on election day we know we have an outward bound of maybe 284,000 I think requests have been made for absentee ballots. That's the most we could see voted there in election. We anticipate seeing 4.3 million, 4.2 million, 4.4 million votes cast. So that was where a lot of the conspiracy theories were lying in and we think that that will probably go down because it's fewer Georgians use absentee ballots because they like voting in person.

BROWN: All right. Gabe Sterling, thanks so much. We'll see how it all shakes out. Best of luck managing everything on election day and beyond.

STERLING: Thank you.

BROWN: Well, also in Georgia, Republican Governor Brian kemp will face his Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams in their final debate before the election. That's just minutes from now.

CNN's Eva McKend joins us with the latest. So, Eva, what can we expect tonight?

MCKEND: Well, Pam, this is perhaps the most closely watched rematch across the country. You know, when Abrams competed against Kemp four years ago, she came within about 50,000 votes. Things are different now as Kemp is the incumbent Republican governor. Different from a weeks ago the libertarian candidate will not be on the stage tonight, so we will have the opportunity to see Abrams and Kemp debate just together.

We are curious to see if Abrams sharpens her attacks against Kemp. But in the most recent polls, she has been behind Kemp. Will she sharpen her attack on abortion, for instance? Governor Kemp's position, the six-week abortion ban that he signed into law, it is unpopular here amongst most Georgians. Curious to see how much she emphasizes that tonight.

Both of them have been crisscrossing the campaign trail for weeks. Here is how they are making their closing arguments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY ABRAMS (D), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We have a state government full of powerful men who like to give power to other powerful men. And they like to use that power to strip us of our freedoms. Our freedom to vote. Our freedom to be safe from gun violence. Our freedom to control our own bodies in the state of Georgia.

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R), GEORGIA: I tell people, who's been fighting for you? You know, whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, when you look back over the last 3 1/2 years, and certainly over the two during the pandemic, who was fighting to keep your business open and give you the ability to go to work every day?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: Now both candidates have seen high-profile surrogates join them on the trail. President Obama was stumping with Abrams on Friday as well as with a host of other Democrats, including Senator Raphael Warnock who is in a competitive contest against Republican Herschel Walker. Vice President Mike Pence, the former vice president, will campaign with Governor Kemp here on Tuesday -- Pam.

BROWN: All right. Eva McKend, thanks so much for bringing us the latest there from Atlanta, Georgia.

And still ahead for you tonight on this Sunday, the two biggest names in the Republican Party right now might be former President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. That rivalry could get a lot more public very soon.

Plus, a Republican nominee for Senate is pushing a debunked hoax that -- get this, that kids are using litter boxes in schools. A K-File investigation is ahead.

And then later, this could be the ultimate Halloween treat. How does $1 billion sound?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:17:33]

BROWN: Well, former President Trump will rally next week for Republican Senator Marco Rubio in Miami just two days before the election. And one person who will be notably absent, we're told, is Governor Ron DeSantis. The former president reportedly snubbing his home state governor as a previously behind the scenes rift spills into public view just before the midterms.

CNN's Gabby Orr has been reporting on this for us.

So I remember, Gabby, when I was covering the Trump White House this riff was kind of percolating, right, and now it's becoming increasingly public dispute.

GABBY ORR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, at the tail end of the Trump presidency, especially during COVID, if you remember, there were two totally different tracks happening in Florida under Ron DeSantis and nationally under Trump. And that was sort of the genesis of this. And over the last year and a half, it has just gradually gotten worse and worse. Our sources have told us that Trump has been griping to aides about Ron DeSantis, saying that he really owes his political rise and stardom to Donald Trump and his endorsement in the 2018 gubernatorial primary.

And that spilled out into the open this week when DeSantis decided to endorse Joe O'Dea. He's a Republican candidate for senate in Colorado, somebody who Trump just days before DeSantis endorsed him said was a RINO Republican, didn't belong in the Republican conference, let alone in the Senate. So for DeSantis to go out and endorse him just a couple days after the former president said that, it did not go unnoticed by Donald Trump.

And it really took this tension that had been existing behind the scenes into public view and, you know, a week later, Donald Trump was announcing a rally in Florida where DeSantis was not invited. He was not mentioned in the invitation or in the rally announcement, and I think a lot of people looked at this and said, we're barely over the midterms. I mean, we haven't even reached election day. 2024 is already getting ugly.

Both of these men are widely expected to run for president and if they can't contain the tension between them a weak out from election day, just how nasty is this going to get once election day is over and the presidential primary starts to heat up.

BROWN: Yes, wow. You're right. Like, what does this -- what does this say about what's to come? All right. Thanks so much, Gabby Orr. Appreciate it.

Well, with violent political rhetoric and election misinformation on the rise, the Justice Department is vowing to fight voter intimidation ahead of the midterm. Attorney General Merrick Garland says the DOJ will guarantee, quote, "free and fair elections."

[18:20:02]

And tonight a new CNN Special Report explores the impact false election fraud claims are having on local leaders and election workers.

CNN's Kyung Lah is the journalist behind tonight's report.

Kyung, tell us what you found.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, what we have been hearing and covering for some time is all that anger that really we saw spill over on January 6th. It was driven by misinformation. But increasingly what we're seeing, especially in the post-COVID era is that anger, that same level of anger being directed to local officials. We're talking about school boards, county commissioners, city councils, election workers. And these are the small spokes of democracy that are cracking under those threats, under that fear.

So we went from the Midwest to the west to the east, to the state of Virginia. This is Loudoun County school board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: You didn't get through the night.

BRENDAN SHERIDAN, LOUDOUN COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER: We did not get through the night. No.

DICK BLACK, RETIRED VIRGINIA STATE SENATOR: You're teaching children to hate others because of their skin color. And you're forcing them to lie about other kids' gender. I am disgusted by your bigotry and your depravity. It's time to replace --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Madam Chair, I move to end public comment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All in favor, please raise your hand and say aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The motion carries 9-0. Public comment is now ended. We will move to our next agenda item.

(CROWD BOOS)

DR. SCOTT ZIEGLER, SUPERINTENDENT, LOUDOUN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: When that vote passed 9-0, the school boardroom erupted again.

(CROWD CHANTS "SHAME ON YOU")

ZIEGLER: And really it was largely out of control. People were standing on chairs.

LAH (voice-over): One person was arrested and another was briefly detained.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an unlawful arrest.

ZIEGLER: From much of that time, I was out front, people were certainly trying to intimidate me through that process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to be arrested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Well, that's the superintendent that you are hearing from. But you also saw Brenda Sheridan. And Pam, one of the really striking things that these threats are getting so personal. On Christmas she had a letter mailed not to her, mailed to her house, but not to her, it was addressed to her son, her child, and it was a death threat to her child. And remember these are not high-paid positions. These are members of a school board. So we are seeing a new level of terror directed at just the unexpected people in democracy -- Pam.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, in some cases, unpaid volunteers. Such an important report you're doing. We're going to -- looking forward to it tonight.

Kyung Lah, thank you.

Her CNN Special Report "PERILOUS POLITICS: AMERICA'S DANGEROUS DIVIDE" airs tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

So which party will win control of the House of Representatives on election day? What about the Senate? I'll put those questions to our political experts up next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:27:46]

BROWN: Well, just a little more than a week until the midterms where control of the House and Senate hangs in the balance.

Joining us now is CNN political commentator Alice Stewart and CNN political analyst April Eyan. April is also the author of "Black Women Will Save the World: An Anthem."

So to kick things off, I want to get a couple of rapid fire predictions from both of you. All right, ladies. I know you both, you know, we're talkers, and we're going to get to the analysis, but I want to get right to it here.

Alice, first to you, quickly, look, 10 days into the future, tell us who's in control of the House?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, in the House will be Republicans. There's no debating that because the wind is at their back. Right now, wind is at the Republicans' back as well. A lot of these races that were Democrat-led three weeks ago, it's really tightened up.

BROWN: April?

APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Alice would like this, if the election were to happen today, Republican, Republican, Republican. If the election were to happen today.

BROWN: All right. If. Alice, what about the Senate?

STEWART: The Senate, clearly, the wind is at the Republicans' back. It has tightened up and there are some key races where things have flipped. Right now, my money is on Republicans tightening up in the Senate.

BROWN: Who do you think will control the Senate?

RYAN: Republican.

BROWN: You seem so depressed saying that, April.

(LAUGHTER)

RYAN: No. No, but I don't want to always give it to Alice, but you know.

BROWN: But you are on this one because that's where -- that's what the polls are showing. So, Alice, where do you think the key Senate races are in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona? How do you think they're going fall?

STEWART: Look, three weeks ago Democrats had the wind at their back because a lot of folks are focused on the abortion issue. Now it's all about the economy and inflation. Key races that have tightened, we've certainly seen Arizona, we've seen Pennsylvania. Ones that are flipping that I see, Georgia is a big one, potentially New Hampshire as well and Arizona, and Nevada.

BROWN: What do you think, April? RYAN: Well, the economy is definitely a big source of conversation and

for a lot of people going to the polls, "TheGrio" and KFF did a study where 1,000 black voters said inflation, inflation, inflation, from housing to prices at the grocery store to gasoline prices. But the question is, how it shows up at the polls and then this early election cycle as well.

[18:30:03]

But I'm going to say a key race, I mean, there's been flipping back and forth that really so many people say should not be as close is Georgia. Raphael Warnock versus Herschel Walker. Herschel Walker, right now, according to RealClearPolitics, is leading.

BROWN: Why do you think that is?

STEWART: Look, I'm from Georgia, my family and friends are from there. And they are focused on the issues. They're focusing on the policies, the economy, inflation and crime. Over and over and over. All of this personal information that has come out, all of these skeletons are not moving the needle. They are laser focused on the policies and not the personal aspects of this and they are going to the ballot box, and they are voting for Republicans.

And you look at the large number of independent and undecided voters, nearly eight out of 10 of them say that the country is moving in the wrong direction and they're ready for a change.

BROWN: And that's a trend, of course, midterms, right? I mean, it is a trend that we see where then the voters shift and they say they vote for the party that's not in power in the White House. But I was just speaking to Gabriel Sterling, an election official, top election official there in Georgia and he's bracing for a potential runoff there between Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock.

RYAN: It depends if someone gets beyond 50 percent, you know, we don't have one, but it looks like it may not. And if there is a runoff, we have to see -- I mean, because right now, you know, the abortion issue, you would think, and even before the issue came out, Raphael Warnock was winning. But now this Republican who says he is pro-life, who's allegedly driven someone to an abortion and paid for an abortion through a get-well card, I mean, it's so juxtapose to what the Republican Party is about and he is winning at this moment.

BROWN: And I want to get to -- we could go on about Georgia.

RYAN: We could.

BROWN: So many other states to get to, too. But there's also this news coming out about Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi's husband, being attacked. In 2010, Alice, Republicans launched a fire Pelosi campaign. Some of the images used were the speaker engulfed in flames. Republican Tom Emmer used the same fire Pelosi hashtag in a tweet of a video of him shooting a gun. He defended that tweet this morning on CBS. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM EMMER (R-MN): I'm running the campaign operation --

MARGARET BRENNAN, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: Do you not understand that that is suggestive to people who are in a bad state and in this current environment, how risky it is --

EMMER: Right. I disagree --

BRENNAN: As you're talking about the importance of lowering the rhetoric --

EMMER: I disagree with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Is it wise for Republicans to dig in their heels like that? I mean, does Margaret Brennan have a fair point here?

STEWART: What everybody needs to think about right now is the well- being of Paul Pelosi and offering prayers to Nancy Pelosi and the Pelosi family, and hope that he gets better soon. But also, what we need to focus on is lowering the temperature. Stop this divisive rhetoric. Completely condemning this despicable behavior and doing everything we can to stop this kind of political violence and political conversation.

That's the most important thing we can do. And anything that was done in the past in terms of this suggestive political violence, that should not happen and it should not happen as we move forward. Again, the most important thing we can all do is offer our concern for the Pelosis, offer our confidence in the law enforcement as they investigate this and certainly offer all the prayers we can give to the medical team that is providing him the medical care that he needs. But we need to let the investigation in terms of this play out before we jump to any conclusions. But most importantly --

BROWN: What do you mean by that?

RYAN: Yes. Because it's already been stated what happened and it was very political. Very politically motivated.

STEWART: I completely believe that it was politically motivated. In terms of what he wanted to do and why he went there. But in terms of speculating too much, we need to let the investigation play out and let the investigators determine exactly how -- what was the motive and why this --

RYAN: We know --

STEWART: This is a deranged individual. This is a completely deranged individual that carried out an act of what appears to be political violence and more than anything we should condemn that kind of behavior from a deranged individual --

RYAN: It's not just about condemning it. It's criminal. What happened was criminal.

STEWART: Absolutely.

BROWN: And I think, you know, the larger issue as we take a step back is there are a lot of frankly deranged people in this country and does it add fuel to the fire when you have tweets like what Tom Emmer had put out with, you know, him shooting a gun saying #firepelosi. Does that add fuel to the fire? And would you have liked to hear Tom Emmer say, look, you know, in hindsight, that probably wasn't the best move?

I interviewed a Republican last night, James Comer, who told me we can all lower the rhetoric, including myself. Would you have liked to have heard that from him?

STEWART: Absolutely. Across the board. Any type of suggestive political tweets or graphics or language should absolutely be condemned. We all need to encourage each other and ourselves to lower the temperature because, again, there are deranged people out there and they will take this language and some of these suggestions and act on it. We cannot have that.

[18:35:12]

BROWN: And let's get to the conspiracy theory that this attacker was allegedly putting out there, this alleged attacker, I should say, because, of course, innocent until proven guilty so putting that out there, you know, he was putting out all kinds of conspiracies about QAnon, about COVID, and election denialism. I'm wondering if you think -- because we just had this reporting from Isaac Dovere tonight saying Democrats are capitalizing on election denialism as a way to try to -- as a last-ditch effort to get voters to the polls. Do you think it will resonate with voters?

RYAN: Capitalizing on election denialism.

BROWN: And the threat to democracy.

RYAN: And the threats -- there is a threat to democracy. Can you say January 6th? Full stop, right there. Now this moment that has triggered so many people who have been a target of many Republicans, it's not condemning, that's not just the piece that needs to happen. Not just condemning, but you need to add another layer. Let's push for charges to stop this because people don't -- people will stop when they feel that there's teeth in punishment.

So condemnation is one thing, but throwing the full backing of law books, law everything, against the people who do this, that would make more of a statement than just, oh, I condemn this, in this politically charged moment. But let's say Comet Pizza. Comet Pizza, we're talking conspiracies from years ago to conspiracies that led to January 6th to this moment. This moment is a very real moment, not just for the Pelosi family, but for the nation because there is a tide that's turning.

It's not just us talking about the issues, there's hate, there's vitriol, there's thoughts of death, hurt, destruction. The tide has changed and it's time to stop it.

STEWART: I couldn't agree more in terms of pulling the full force of the law.

RYAN: Yes.

STEWART: At people that engage in this.

BROWN: We're going to end on this agreement here between you two. Speaking of lowering the temperature, be more civil, that's a good note to end on. Thank you, both, Alice Stewart, April Ryan. Appreciate it.

Well, a Republican candidate for Senate is repeating a bizarre hoax. Have you heard about this one? That children are using litter boxes in schools because the kids identify as cats. Of course, this is not true. But we're going to have the story behind it up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:41:43]

BROWN: In New Hampshire, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate is repeating a hoax that children are using litter boxes in schools because the kids identify as cats. Retired Army Brigadier General Don Bolduc repeated this debunked claim to supporters according to audio obtained by CNN's KFile from an attendee.

CNN senior KFile editor Andrew Kaczynski joins us now. What's going on here, Andrew? What have you learned?

ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN KFILE SENIOR EDITOR: Yes, so fuzzies and furies is what he called it saying that kids in the classroom are identifying as cats and using litter boxes. Bolduc is, you know, obviously the Senate nominee in New Hampshire. This is a close race. He's a former Army general, so this isn't just, you know, some guy on the street. This claim, you know, has been going around, I'm sure some of our viewers have seen it. There's not any validity to it. But, you know, it's been repeated. He said it on a campaign appearance on Thursday and let's just take a listen to what exactly he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON BOLDUC (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATE CANDIDATE: They're putting litter boxes, right? Litter boxes for that. And let me ask this, these are the same people that are concerned about spreading germs that they let children lick themselves and then touch everything. And they're starting to lick each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KACZYNSKI: So he's not the only candidate in the country who has actually been saying this. In both Minnesota and Colorado, the nominees for governors in those states, the Republican candidates, have themselves spread the claim. This has been repeatedly shot down by fact-checkers, by news

organizations. If, you know, our viewers just Google it, you'll see there's been, you know, dozens, maybe even hundreds of school districts across the country who have had to come out and say no, we are not putting litter boxes into the bathrooms for children who identify as cats.

We reached out to his campaign, we asked them on Friday and then again on Saturday for any evidence they've seen about litter boxes in schools, letting them know we were going to do the story and we did not hear back.

BROWN: All right. And it should be noted that he also had previously pushed the conspiracy theory the election was stolen and then after winning the primary said that it wasn't. So this is not the only conspiracy theory he has pushed running for office.

Andrew Kaczynski, thank you very much.

Well, demonstrators have been outside the Supreme Court this weekend as justices prepare to hear arguments tomorrow on the future of using race in college admissions. That story up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:49:03]

BROWN: Tonight in the final episode of the CNN Original Series, "THE MURDOCHS: EMPIRE OF INFLUENCE," we learn what happens when Rupert Murdoch makes a surprising decision about the future of the family business.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that brings us back to August 2017. When Rupert Murdoch invites Bob Iger, the head of Disney, to have a drink with him at his $29 million vineyard in the hills of Bel-Air.

JIM RUTENBERG, CONSULTING PRODUCER, "THE MURDOCHS: EMPIRE OF INFLUENCE": Rupert suggests something stunning, something that flies in the face of everything he's done and built over the last few decades.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rupert floats the idea of selling 21st Century FOX to Disney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And over the next several weeks and months, Disney made a play to buy the crown jewel of the Murdoch empire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Jim Rutenberg joins us now.

[18:50:01]

He is a writer at large for the "New York Times" and a consulting producer for "THE MURDOCHS: EMPIRE OF INFLUENCE" which features his exclusive reporting.

Hey there. So in 2019, that deal that Rupert Murdoch pitched to Bob Iger closes, and Disney acquires 21st Century FOX. Why was this a significant move and why did Murdoch decides to sell off such a big chunk of his empire?

RUTENBERG: Well, those of us who have followed Rupert Murdoch's career as I have and so many others have, this was an incredible moment because Rupert Murdoch was the biggest in media. But suddenly something changed. Something that, you know, has changed all of our lives, and that's the advent of streaming. Suddenly with Netflix, with Amazon, what Rupert Murdoch built was too small. He couldn't survive on his own so it sent him running into the arms of Disney.

BROWN: So where did that leave the succession battle then?

RUTENBERG: Well, this is really the denouement of the story. This is where the two brothers who we've been tracking through this series battling for, to get their father's empire. The whole thing falls apart but it settles down with one of them. Your viewers will have to watch succeeding where the other failed but it rips the family apart.

BROWN: Good tease there, Jim. Thanks so much.

And be sure to tune in for the final episode of "THE MURDOCHS: EMPIRE OF INFLUENCE" airs tonight at 10:00 Eastern only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:56:09]

BROWN: And this just into CNN, the final votes are being counted in the Brazilian presidential runoff.

Paula Newton joins us now from Sao Paulo. So, Paula, how are the returns looking?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a very tight race and right now electoral officials won't call it but Lula da Silva, the man who's already served two terms as president in Brazil, it looks like he could be making a political comeback for the history books.

I mean, Pam, I want you to think about this. This is a 77-year-old man who less than three years ago was still in a prison cell. He has made that political comeback and right now Brazil is wondering what happens the next day.

We have to caution here. Electoral officials still haven't called it yet. That has not stopped Lula supporter from celebrating. They have been celebrating with fireworks. It is like a carnival atmosphere here. But still very tense around the country.

And Pam, the reason is that the incumbent prime minister, the man who's in power right now, Jair Bolsonaro, who's taken a page from Trump's playbook, really, a conservative. He has at times said that he wants to look at the vote and scrutinize it. Everyone is saying that, you know, he will accept the vote that includes his allies that we have spoken to. He has said it in the last few days but there is still some nervousness to see if he actually concedes this evening or if he decides to appeal in a formal way, which is totally his right.

What hangs in the balance here is very important, Pam. It's the one of the most significant democracies in the world but I don't have to remind people at home given the environmental issues here, this affects everyone on the planet in terms of which way they turn on the environment here in the years to come.

But, Pam, as you can hear the volume coming up behind me, more and more networks, media organizations are starting to call this election and I think they have just heard that Lula has won. That is what they're hearing. That is what they are reacting to right now.

I'm having a little trouble hearing you, Pam, as I said the celebration goes on here.

BROWN: All right, thanks so much. So you see them celebrating there at the news that they're hearing, although we haven't had the official announcement that the incumbent Bolsonaro has been defeated there in Brazil. We'll have to wait and see how this plays out from here.

Paula Newton, thank you so much.

Well, some new developments here at CNN. We just learned the identity of the two Americans killed during that deadly crowd surge in South Korea yesterday. Anne Gieske and Steven Blesi were both college students studying in Seoul. Anne was a nursing student at the University of Kentucky and her family describes her as a bright light who was loved by all. Steven was studying international business at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, and his father says he had an incredibly bright future and the world is a darker place without him. Anne and Steven are just two of more than 150 people who died in the chaos.

Well, tomorrow the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on affirmative action. The cases from Harvard University and the University of North Carolina challenge the constitutionality of race- based admissions policies. The court last ruled on affirmative action in 2016 when it said that race could be considered in college admissions. Legal analysts say Trump appointees have since shifted the court in a much more conservative direction.

Well, a lucky lottery winner could land the ultimate treat this Halloween. A massive $1 billion jackpot. Nobody matched all the numbers in Saturday's Powerball drawing causing the prize money for Monday's drawing to soar. It is only the second time in the Powerball's history that the prize has hit a billion dollars. The cash payout would be just over $497 million after taxes. Enough to buy all the discounted Halloween candy your heart desires.