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Chicago Shootings; Atlanta Rapper Takeoff Shot and Killed; Midterm Push. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 01, 2022 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: A good Tuesday afternoon to you. I'm Abby Phillip in New York. Ana Cabrera has the day off.

With one week to go and the political heavyweights, they are ready to go. We are following the key races across the country and the big names rallying behind candidates who could shift the balance of power in Washington.

So let us start in the state of Florida, where the president is headed today.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is out there for us.

Jeremy, so President Biden is bringing a new message, the extreme MAGA Republicans, to Florida, but, privately, his aides are telling you and our other colleagues that this is not necessarily about making these two races, the Senate and the gubernatorial races, competitive this fall.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Abby.

I have spoken privately with Democratic strategists who say that, look, they do not have high hopes that the president's visit here will dramatically shift a race that appears to be heading both in the governor's race and in the Senate race in Republicans' direction.

But a week from Election Day here, Abby, we are very much in the closing argument phase of this election. And the president's advisers have told me that they see Florida as the perfect backdrop for the president to make that closing pitch, to crystallize that contrast that he has been laying out between Democrats and what he calls those MAGA Republicans.

Why Florida? This is the words of a senior Biden adviser, who told me -- quote -- "You can't shake a stick in Florida without hitting a Republican that represents the MAGA extremes that the president is talking about. So it allows the president to really drive home what's at stake and what the choice is."

That's why Biden advisers had originally, Abby, zeroed in on Florida as the place to launch their midterm campaign in the summer. The president got coronavirus, though, and those plans were delayed. And so -- but now another senior Biden adviser told me that they believe that it's even more relevant now for the president to make his closing pitch right here.

Of course, there's Trump, there's DeSantis, but perhaps, more importantly, there's Florida Senator Rick Scott, who has laid out this policy agenda that calls for every five years for every government program, including Social Security and Medicare, to be put up for a vote. And that is the case that we're going to hear the president make at this event where I'm standing right now.

He's going to talk about the millions of Americans who could see their benefits like Social Security and Medicare go away should the Republicans play this game of brinkmanship every five years, as Rick Scott is proposing. That's certainly an argument that we will also hear from the president later tonight as he rallies with those Democratic nominees for governor and Senate.

And, again, we are in the last week of the election, the president hoping to draw that contrast and, of course, galvanize the Democratic base -- Abby.

PHILLIP: All right.

And there's also the prospect of a DeSantis-Biden matchup in '24. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that.

And now on to Las Vegas, where Democrats there are betting that former President Obama will boost voter turnout.

CNN's Manu Raju is there for us.

Manu, Obama is on a full blitz, a full swing, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia. Now he's there in Nevada. What are you seeing?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a huge state. This will -- could determine control the Senate.

Catherine Cortez Masto, the Democratic senator, first-term senator, she is on the ropes. She is in a dead heat with her Republican challenger, Adam Laxalt, the former Republican attorney general, as they have been battling across the airwaves. They have yet to debate, but they have seen the attacks being waged with more than $100 million in attack ads, mainly from both sides since Labor Day through Election Day, as familiar themes have been hit on.

Republicans getting hammered by the Democrats over the issue of abortion in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The economy also looming very large here, amid high gas prices, Adam Laxalt going after Catherine Cortez Masto on that issue.

But, yesterday, when speaking to reporters, Catherine Cortez Masto talked about a number of issues that could be at play in the election, from the economy, to abortion, to January 6.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (D-NV): This is a population of three

million people. They expect to see you, know you, get out and see you out and about and having conversations with them and listening to them and fighting for them.

And it's the kitchen table issues. That hasn't changed. It's the repeal of Roe vs. Wade. I hear that from them as well, the concerns, because this is a proud pro-choice state. I hear the concerns about the January 6 -- what happened on January 6.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And the challenge for Catherine Cortez Masto is, yes, it's a population of three million people, but there have been a number of new voters who have come into the state within the last six years.

[13:05:05]

And she is a one-term senator, much different than her predecessor, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who had been on the ballot for some time, had a much bigger name recognition, which is one reason why we are seeing Barack Obama come to the state later today try to juice Democratic turnout, just -- not just for her, but for the governor's race, which is very close as well.

So, control of the United States could come down to here, as the governor's race at issue as well -- Abby.

PHILLIP: Manu Raju, thank you for trading that Capitol Hill backdrop for the deserts of Las Vegas.

When you talk about control of the Senate, you have to talk about the state of Pennsylvania. The race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz is getting tighter. And, for weeks, the conversation there has centered on Fetterman's fitness to serve as he recovers from a stroke. He addressed this issue on CNN this morning with Don Lemon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: I'm asking the question for the voters, because the voters may wonder, is there a reason that you don't want your doctors to take questions? That's why I keep asking this.

LT. GOV. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Oh, I just believe that we have our doctors just weigh in on that. And they believe that I'm fit, fit to serve.

And that's a point that was compatible -- made in June.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: And another big political name is headed to the state of Georgia.

That is former Vice President Mike Pence, who's going to try to rally GOP voters for Governor Brian Kemp.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is joining us now from Cumming, Georgia, north of Atlanta.

Dianne, there is a key Senate race there too. But Pence is focused on this governor's contest. And he has been from the beginning.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Abby.

I don't think it's a surprise for anybody who has been watching the nature of politics in Georgia that the former vice president is here on this bus tour for two stops today with Republican Governor Brian Kemp. They're still doing sound checks here at this first stop expected to begin in an hour.

If you remember, earlier this year, Mike Pence's first significant break with former President Donald Trump was when he endorsed Brian Kemp over the Trump-endorsed and pushed-into-running David Perdue candidate. Of course, Kemp trounced Perdue in that primary.

He was asked on CNN this morning by Kaitlan Collins why he thinks that Donald Trump has, of course, steered clear of the state of Georgia since the primaries. He was pretty diplomatic, saying, I don't know. You will have to ask him. I'm focused on voting right now.

And that is important because Brian Kemp is locked in this intense rematch with Democrats Stacey Abrams. She received help on the surrogate front just last week, over the weekend, from former President Barack Obama. She and Senate candidate Raphael Warnock at a large rally brought up lots of people to see the former president.

Now, in terms of -- in terms of Raphael Warnock's opponent, Herschel Walker, he has been on this tour across the state. And he talks a lot about former President Donald Trump, but, again, has not seen him out on the campaign trail yet here in Georgia since that primary. We're not seeing a lot of overlap, likely, on people who come to these Kemp events and want to see Mike Pence vs. those who attend those Walker events and want to hopefully at some point see the former president.

PHILLIP: Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much for all that reporting.

And now on to something a little bit more unusual these days in our politics, a Republican endorsing a Democrat, GOP Congresswoman Liz Cheney traveling to Michigan today to stump for incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. She is in a tough reelection fight against Republican Tom Barrett, who refuses to acknowledge Donald Trump's 2020 loss.

Now, Slotkin calling Cheney's support democracy over politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): I think we have to sort of be honest with ourselves that there are things that are more important than any one person winning an election, and my race is going to be a nail-biter. I have known that from the beginning. It always is. It's those people

I'm speaking to, moderate Republicans, independents, people who know that this kind of toxic anger that people are throwing back and forth in the political realm is not good for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: Now, Cheney has made it her mission to denounce election lies. And as a prominent member of the January 6 Committee, she lost her Wyoming seat, though, after an intense intraparty backlash.

Now, things are changing minute by minute on the ground in all of these pivotal races. But if you zoom out, take a look at the big picture, you're going to see a pretty unchanged story. It's of a nation that is pretty much split down the middle.

CNN's latest poll of polls finds that 44 percent of voters favor the Republican House candidate in their district, while 43 percent favor the Democrat.

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Let's bring in the data guru, CNN...

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIP: ... Harry Enten.

Why do you laugh? You are the data guru.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: I don't know.

PHILLIP: Harry, where do you things stand? We were just talking about the split generic ballot? Where do things stand now in the landscape, especially for the Senate, and what do Democrats need to do to hold onto power?

ENTEN: Yes, I mean, look, I think there is this split between where things stand for the House and where things stand for the Senate.

For the Senate, look, it's a 50/50 proposition, the chance that Democrats will hold onto the United States. I think, if you look at the House, Republicans have the clear edge. Part of that is redistricting. Part of that is candidate quality. But, essentially, you're seeing that Republicans have a clear advantage there.

Now, you look at the key races for the Senate, though. This is, I think, the key, right? There are four key races. There's Arizona, there's Georgia, there's Nevada, there's Pennsylvania. In Arizona, what you see is that Mark Kelly holds an advantage, but the libertarian candidate in that race dropped out and endorsed the Republican Blake Masters.

Well, that closed things maybe by a point or two, but Kelly probably still has the advantage. But this is as tight as it can be. You look at Georgia, you look at Nevada, tied races,tied races, my goodness gracious.

PHILLIP: Yes, I mean, the battleground is narrow. And all of those races are a dead heat.

But let's talk about Georgia for a second because this is a place where, obviously, both parties have their hopes. But it's also there could be a run-off. We don't talk about that much. What could that mean?

ENTEN: Yes.

So, what I just mentioned was Democrats need to win three of those four key races. And Georgia right now seems to be that third race, right, that third race. And if you look at the polling right now, what do you see? You see, in my forecast, my average of forecasts, that Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker are tied at 49 percent.

You see a candidate down there, Chase Oliver, libertarian, 2 percent. We very rarely talk about libertarian candidates. But why is that a focus of that slide? It's because, in order to win in November, the leading candidate must get a majority of the vote, 50 percent of the vote, plus one.

And at this point, if the election were held today, I don't think that either candidate would get there, which would mean, potentially, that the United States Senate could come down to a run-off in Georgia in December, just like last time around, right, when we had run-offs in January. We could be singing the same old song once again.

PHILLIP: Yes, this could be a little bit of deja vu.

We were talking earlier in the segment about President Biden in Florida. And, as Jeremy mentioned, the White House is basically saying, this is not necessarily about those two races, Senate and governor. What do you see is going on there in Florida? Why is he there?

ENTEN: Yes. Look, it's not about those races, because if you look right now, you see the Republicans, both the Senate race and the governor's race, well ahead, well ahead, well ahead.

I think what this is about is trying not to get embarrassed down there, trying to ensure that perhaps the Republican margins don't hit double digits, which is a possibility, and maybe trying to ensure, in a place like Miami-Dade, which has traditionally been Democratic, but Republicans did considerably better last time around, that maybe they can keep the Republican margins down there.

And maybe Democrats might be able to flip a House seat down there. But, overall, I think it's really about keeping embarrassment to a low level, and also the fact that Joe Biden really isn't welcomed in the swing states that actually are going to determine control of the United States Senate. PHILLIP: Yes, there's no question Miami-Dade has been a place where there's been some erosion. So we will be looking at that for election night, where you will be. I will be there too.

Thank you, Harry Enten.

ENTEN: Thank you.

PHILLIP: And we are now learning some new chilling details about the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, and more could come out today when the suspect appears in court for his arraignment.

David DePape is facing a litany of charges, including attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

CNN's Veronica Miracle is outside of that courthouse in San Francisco.

So, Veronica, what is going to happen during today's proceedings? And what more are we going to learn about this horrible attack?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Abby, we're learning today that David DePape is going to be here. He's going to be arraigned in court for those numerous charges that you just talked about, including attempted homicide.

And between those felonies, he's facing 13 years to life in prison. That does not include the federal charges that he's facing, which he would face a maximum of 50 years in federal prison for those charges. There's some chilling details coming out of those court documents.

Just from the affidavit, we have learned that David DePape specifically went to the Pelosi residence so that he could injure Nancy Pelosi and kidnap her, and that he was willing to wait for days to wait for Nancy Pelosi's return, when he discovered that she was not there.

The affidavit also states that he used the hammer to injure Paul Pelosi as punishment for Nancy Pelosi's actions. He's also described as admitting to police that he wanted to break Nancy Pelosi's kneecaps, so that she would have to be wheeled in front of Congress, so that other members of Congress could see the consequences of their actions.

Very disturbing details coming out of that -- coming out of that affidavit. And San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins says that this was absolutely politically motivated. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE JENKINS, SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Something that we have to take very seriously, and it's very sad to see that we are once again at a point in history where people believe that it's OK to express their political sentiments through violence.

[13:15:00] And so I think it really demonstrates that we have to calm things down. We have to decide that we are going to be more respectful as an American society, that it's OK to disagree. But it certainly is something that has unnerved us all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: And Paul Pelosi still in a local hospital recovering from serious injuries, including a skull fracture -- Abby.

PHILLIP: Veronica Miracle, thank you so much for that.

And some sad news, one of rap's brightest stars dead at the young age of 28. What CNN is learning about that early morning shooting death of Takeoff, a member of the platinum-selling group the Migos.

Plus, a stunning new report shining light on how much firepower Iran is supplying Putin's army. Details on that ahead.

And new evidence that companies are raising prices over the rate of inflation, but is anything being done about it?

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PHILLIP: There's been an outpouring of grief shock and anger after the shooting death of another bright young musician.

Takeoff is one-third of the Atlanta-based platinum-selling rap group the Migos. And along with fellow members Quavo and Offset, the group grew up together. And Quavo IS actually Offset's uncle.

Now, police say Takeoff was at a private party with Quavo and others at a bowling alley in Houston last night when an argument over a dice game descended into a shooting, a shooting that took Offset's (sic) life at the very young age of 28.

Now, friends and family are expressing their shock online, including fellow artist Desiigner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESIIGNER, RAPPER: Why? Why? Why did we do this?

I swear to God, this ain't nothing. I'm done rap. I'm done rap. This version of me is done. It's done. It's done. It's done. It's done. It's done. You all took Takeoff, bro.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: And the tragedy is that you can see here Takeoff is now joining a list of young rap artists who have died due to gun violence in recent years.

And this is not even really a comprehensive list. CNN's Rosa Flores is live in Houston.

Rosa, what are you hearing from police now? And do they have a suspect in this killing?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Abby, no suspect has been identified. And we should include that the Houston Police Department has not identified Takeoff as the individual who lost his life overnight.

That is according to a source close to the group Migos, who spoke with our colleagues Chloe Melas and Lisa France. What police here in Houston are saying is that shooting actually happened and that there was an individual who was deceased.

Here's what we know about that shooting. Houston Police Department says that shooting happened at about 2:30 this morning at a bowling alley in downtown Houston, and that there was a private party with about 40 to 50 people when shots rang out.

They do say that a black male in his late 20s lost his life and that two other individuals were transported to the hospital in private vehicles and that there is surveillance video, that the police have this surveillance video and they're going through that material and other evidence.

Now, the mayor of the city taking to Twitter to express his frustration about the senseless killing, saying -- quote -- "Young men of color are killing themselves. They are pulling their guns and shooting and just like that someone is dead. Who do we blame? Activists, rappers, family members, faith leaders must confront this reality. This cannot be our future when our young are dying young."

And, Abby, we should add that the Houston Police Department has scheduled a press conference for later this afternoon, where we're expected to learn more details -- Abby.

PHILLIP: Rosa Flores, thank you so much for that.

And now on to Chicago, where at least 14 people, including three children, were shot while gathering on Halloween night at a busy street corner. Now, police say all of the victims were shot within a matter of seconds.

CNN Adrienne Broaddus joins us now from Chicago.

What a horrific tragedy. Adrienne, why do these officials think that these victims were targeted, or were they bystanders perhaps?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Abby, right now, investigators don't know.

Police telling us that some people who were in the area last night had gathered for a vigil. And, according to the alderman who represents that district, that vigil was held from -- held for someone who died from natural causes, so that vigil was unrelated, police also saying, to this incident.

The youngest victims, according to investigators, were children, a 3- year-old, an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old. Police telling us there was one vehicle, a dark-colored SUV, with what they believe were two shooters. Investigators saying it happened, that shooting, quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BROWN, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: We know it's a drive-by. We know it happens in just a few seconds. It begins and then it's over about. By three seconds, the car is pulling out after driving by, shooting randomly really into the crowd.

We don't have any motive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROADDUS: Police also saying those injuries range from critical to non-life-threatening.

Another woman who police say was trying to run away from the gunfire was also hit by a vehicle when trying to get across the street. Again, no motive, investigators still searching for the person or people responsible for that overnight shooting on Chicago's West side, Abby.

[13:25:10]

PHILLIP: What a tragedy, 3, 11 and 13.

Adrienne Broaddus, thank you so much for that.

Now, Russia is about to get a major boost on the battlefield. Iran is preparing to send ballistic missiles for the Kremlin to use against Ukraine. How could those weapons impact this ongoing war?

That's next.

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