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Voters to Decide Which Party Controls Congress Next Week; Pelosi Attack Suspect Faces Multiple Charges Including Attempted Murder; Justices Considering Challenges to Affirmative Action; Russia Targets Infrastructure in Strikes Across Ukraine; In Brazil Bolsonaro Supporters Block Roads to Protest Election Loss. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 01, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bianca Nobilo joining you live from London.

Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republicans adjudicating this way are closer to the magic 218 they need to win control.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are still in this fight. Usually, you expect a wipeout in the midterms.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. DePape specifically targeted the Pelosi home to confront Speaker Pelosi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very hard to disconnect that from the really incendiary nasty violent political rhetoric.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They will stay in these streets and continue to do things like block traffic on major highways.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

FOSTER: It's Tuesday, November 1, 8 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. on the U.S. East Coast where the midterm elections are just a week away now. The vote will decide which party controls Congress and right now Republicans are confident they'll win.

NOBILO: And according to the latest projections they have the edge over Democrats in battle for the House but in the Senate it's a much closer race as CNN's David Chalian explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: For the battle for control of the United States Senate. We'll bring that map up and show you again, red, solidly Republican, blue, solidly Democrat. We see pink, light blue leaning one way or the other but zero in on these three yellow states, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Georgia. The party that wins two of three of these states likely to be the party that controls the United States Senate.

And we got some fresh polling from some of these key states. Let's start out west. "New York Times"/Sienna, a new Nevada poll, dead heat, 47 percent to 47 percent. No clear leader. Well within the margin of error. This is going to go to the very end.

We go next door to Arizona, we see there the Democrats with a little bit of an edge outside the margin of error. Mark Kelly, 51 percent, Blake Masters, 45 percent of likely voters according to today's "New York Times" poll. So, a slight edge for the Democrats there.

But then we cross the country over to Georgia and once again, we're inside the margin of error. No clear leader. Democrat Raphael Warnock at 49 percent, Herschel Walker, Republican opponent, at 46 percent. This race we need to get 50 percent or more to avoid a runoff. We may not know Senate control until December.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Well, to attract more voters both parties are sending their biggest stars on the campaign trail. For Republicans, former President Donald Trump will appear in a least four states this week. And for Democrats, Barack Obama and President Joe Biden will campaign in at least five.

NOBILO: Other big names making a push include former Vice President Mike Pence whose in Georgia today and the current VP Kamala Harris who will try to secure votes in Boston on Wednesday.

FOSTER: So far, more than 21 million ballots have been cast in early voting. That's one of the highest turnouts in recent memory. And in some states, it's already outpacing record levels from 2018.

NOBILO: The man accused of breaking into the California home of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband now faces a long list of charges including attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. Here's San Francisco's district attorney on the motive behind the assault.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, can you definitively say now this was obviously politically motivated.

BROOKE JENKINS, SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Yes, it appears as though this was, based on his statements and comments that were made in that house during his encounter with Mr. Pelosi that this was politically motivated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, Paul Pelosi suffered a skull fracture and other injuries during the attack and is making steady progress on what will be a long recovery, according to a statement from the House Speaker. CNN's Whitney Wild is following more developments in the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCOTT, CHIEF, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: Attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New details emerging as federal criminal assault and attempted kidnapping charges are filed against the man who allegedly broke into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacked her husband with a hammer.

[04:05:00]

The complaint says the suspect, 42-year-old David DePape was carrying rope, zip ties, a roll of duct tape, two pairs of gloves and a hammer when he broke into the back door of the Pelosi home looking to kidnap the Speaker.

BROOKE JENKINS, SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This has been a very, very jarring, I think, event.

WILD (voice-over): According to the affidavit, the suspect hit Pelosi in the head hard enough to knock him out when police arrived after a small struggle over the hammer ensued.

SCOTT: This was intentional. It is not random. We know that.

WILD (voice-over): The FBI says DePape wanted to wait in the house with Pelosi for days. DePape told police he was focused on Pelosi as the, quote, leader of the pack of lies told by the Democratic Party.

DePape told investigators he was, quote, going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy were to tell DePape the truth, he would let her go. And if she lied, he was going to, quote, break her kneecaps.

He went on to say that he was certain Nancy would not have told the truth. At one point, the suspect let Paul Pelosi into the bathroom where he managed to call 911 and ran to open the front door once police arrived. Police say Pelosi grabbed DePape's hammer right after opening the door. Police told them to drop the hammer and that's when DePape told the police Pelosi's husband would be, quote, taking the punishment instead, hitting him in the hit with the hammer so hard it knocked him out.

DePape is now facing up to 50 years in prison if convicted on federal felony charges brought against him. State charges are also expected to be filed. Police have been reluctant to define the motivation in this case publicly but the complaint notes DePape's alleged intent to interfere with Speaker Pelosi's official duties as House Speaker. DePape explained to investigators he wanted to break Nancy's kneecaps because then she would have to be wheeled into Congress which would show other members of Congress there were consequences to actions.

SCOTT: It is a very, very sad state of affairs, with all the rhetoric that's out there, conspiracy theories that are out there.

WILD (voice-over): Speaker Pelosi saying the attacker demanded to confront me and brutally attacked my husband, Paul. Our children, our grandchildren and I are heart-broken and traumatized by the life- threatening attack on our Pop.

JENKINS: At the point at which the police arrived, he did turn and use that hammer against the Speaker's husband in a manner that appeared that he was intending to kill him.

WILD: Investigators found a sword and gloves in the area DePape was living. The San Francisco District Attorney says he could face between 13 years and up to life in prison.

Whitney Wild, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Now a U.S. federal judge says former Trump White House Chief Of Staff Mark Meadows must appear before the January 6th committee. The judge dismissed a challenge to his subpoena to appear saying there is evidence Meadows participated in efforts to challenge the 2020 election. Meadows argues he has executive privilege and the subpoena violates his constitutional rights. The judge says he can appeal the ruling.

And Donald Trump's lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to put a hold on the turnover of his tax returns to the house committee. The emergency request comes just days after an appeals court cleared the way for the release of those reports. The Democrat controlled House has been pursuing them for years. Trump was the first U.S. president in decades to keep his tax returns secret.

NOBILO: The U.S. Supreme Court is now considering whether colleges and universities can continue to take race into consideration as a factor in admissions. Affirmative action supporters fear that the conservative majority on the court could eliminate the practice that's been widely benefitting black and Hispanic students. Here's Chief Justice John Roberts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't see how you can say that the program will ever end. Your position is that race matters because it's necessary for diversity, which is necessary for the sort of education you want. It's not going to stop mattering at some particular point. You're always going to have to look at race because you say race matters to give us the necessary diversity.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NOBILO: The justices are revisiting a ruling from 1978 that allows affirmative action policies in college admissions. They heard arguments on Monday and as Jessica Schneider reports the conservative justices appear ready to overturn race-based policies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: This conservative court does seem poised to end affirmative action even if it isn't immediately. Throughout the five hours of questioning the conservative justices really seem to seize on two lines of questioning.

First, they asked why race neutral factors couldn't be enough to create the diversity that college campuses are looking for. And second, they really asked when is enough, enough when it comes to affirmative action and they're asking these questions the Chief Justice John Roberts along with Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, they seem to be seizing on a 2003 opinion that did uphold affirmative action but it was an opinion written by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Where she said that maybe after 25 years affirmative action wouldn't be necessary anymore.

[04:10:00]

Well, this spring will mark 20 years since that decision so it's possible the justices are really seizing on that time frame to potentially justify winding down or ending affirmative action. Of course, the liberal justices pushed back on this saying race is often a crucial factor in a student's identity, that it's needed to create college diversity, affirmative action is. So of course, this was a case where the group that brought it, they lost at the lower courts but now it could be a different situation here at the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court does seem poised to side to end affirmative action. We'll know more probably sometime next year in spring or early summer when the Supreme Court issues its opinions.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: One of the attorneys defending affirmative action before the Supreme Court tells CNN's Jake Tapper that he's confident in his case and the students that he represents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID HINOJOSA, ATTORNEY ARGUING IN SUPPORT OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: We've seen this a few times already over the last 20 years when people thought that either affirmative action programs would be reversed at the University of Texas in Austin, or the University of Michigan nearly 20 years ago. Had two cases in the court actually upheld race conscious admissions. So, it seems like everybody is always doom and gloom around these issues but what ultimately ends up prevailing is the reasonableness of the law and race conscious admissions as one way of helping under represented students of color access higher education. And these are highly talented students of color who often are overlooked in the normal admissions process. So, we feel really confident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: He went on to say that race-based policies should be reviewed case by case in the legal system and argues that wiping out affirmative action altogether would be dangerous.

And rights groups in the U.S. are condemning the border patrol after they fired pepper balls at a group of migrants.

FOSTER: The shots were fired across the Rio Grande between Texas and Mexico. Border agents say they did it to disburse Venezuelan migrants after they allegedly tried to cross the front here. Rights groups have called the incident appalling and highly alarming.

Now Illinois state police are searching for the people responsible for shooting 30 people and hitting one with a car on Monday. The youngest person hit was a 3-year-old child. Police are desperate for more information.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON ERWIN, CHICAGO ALDERMAN AND CITY COUNCILMEMBER: It's an unfortunate situation to find a 3-year-old and some young people being shot in this particular case. You know, it's heart breaking.

DAVID O'NEAL BROWN, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: We do have some video of this incident on a pod so we have some preliminary information regarding this. We know it's a drive-by. We know it happens in just a few seconds. It begins and then it's over by three seconds. The car is pulling out after driving by and shooting randomly really into the crowd. So, let's right now treat this in the most urgent way. We're trying to find an offender. If anyone knows anything about this, please come forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Police say that none of the wounds were fatal but several of those shot are in hospital in serious condition. They believe at least two shooters were in the car at the time of the attack.

FOSTER: And we'll bring you the latest as the stories as news comes into us here at CNN.

Now it's just after 10 in the morning in Ukraine where the mayor of Kyiv now says water and power has been fully restored 24 hours after the Russians missiles targeted critical infrastructure in the capital and across the country. Still, he warns, power cuts will be necessary due to significant impact of Russia's attacks.

NOBILO: On Monday Ukraine's military says it was able to shoot down 45 of 55 Russian missiles. The Russian President Vladimir Putin says those strikes are not all his military can do.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is following developments for us and joins us now live from Kyiv. And you heard more sirens this morning.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just about an hour ago, Max and Bianca, we heard air raid sirens go off. Unclear if they've hit any targets. But it was around this time yesterday that that resulted in missile attacks resulted to water being cut off to a large part of the city, electricity being cut off to hundreds of thousands.

And yes, there's warnings from the mayor and others that this is going to continue. But even though life is getting harder here, in response what we're seeing is a sense of solidarity. And I really want to show you how and why that is.

What you're looking at here right behind me are Russian tanks, burnt out that were on the front lines and they've been brought into the central square here in Kyiv to send a message, we stand behind our troops. We will not back down. It's a really important space for Ukrainians. Any time an international delegation comes, Ukrainian officials bring them to this site. You often see families taking pictures.

So yes, life is getting tougher. We're heading into the winter.

[04:15:00]

Families are wondering how they're going to operate without running water, without running electricity, there's a sense of solidarity and resistance -- Max and Bianca.

FOSTER: In terms of the power cuts, Salma, when they take out these installations, how easy is it to get them back on?

ABDELAZIZ: It's becoming harder and harder every time. You have to understand that for weeks now Ukraine's infrastructure, its critical infrastructure has been struck time and time again. That means it's become so precarious, so damaged, so fragile that it's difficult to bring it back up. Ukrainian officials say they're running out of the basic equipment they need to even repair their power grids. We often talk about President Zelenskyy appealing for weapons, appealing for help on the front line, now he's also appealing for help with civilian infrastructure. He's called on his allies and partners to send anything they can, generators, power equipment, whatever they can to prepare the country for the winter.

FOSTER: OK, Salma in central Kyiv, thank you so much. Seeing those tanks and someone taking pictures outside the tanks.

NOBILO: Yes and posing on the tanks. As you said, it's the symbolism of them is immense.

FOSTER: Yes, OK, still ahead, supporters of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro protesting on the streets after he lost his reelection bid while he remained silent. CNN is on the scene there.

NOBILO: Plus, U.S. President Joe Biden calls of oil companies for record profits as gasoline prices surge. More details from Washington ahead. FOSTER: Also ahead, the winter coats may stay in the closet a little

longer. Pedram says some normally frigid parts of the U.S. are as much as 25 degrees warmer than this year, Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's incredible. Yes, that's right, Max. You know, you look at this as many as 15 additional record temperatures to usher in the month of November into what is generally the icebox of the U.S. We'll follow this and show you the latest in a few minutes.

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FOSTER: Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered all public roads and highways to be cleared of protesting Bolsonaro supporters. They threw up hundreds of roadblocks across the country to protest Mr. Bolsonaro's loss in Sunday's election.

NOBILO: The demonstrations were carried out in at least 19 states. Many of them led by truckers, who have been a key group supporting the president.

FOSTER: The protesters blocked access to San Paolo's main airport which led to flight delays. CNN's Paula Newton is on the scene at one of the protests in the city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The results of this election in Brazil may be in, but the protesters here, they're not having any of it. All over Brazil there have been these kinds of protests going on, on roads and highways from one end of the country to another.

We are in Sao Paulo. This is a major highway leading into the downtown area and through to the airport. Have a look here. We have protesters that are encroaching on a major highway. They are looking for support and they are getting it here as well.

The issue for them is they are saying it doesn't matter if Bolsonaro concedes. They are saying they will stay out here as long as necessary creating chaos for the country. Because as far as they're concerned, Bolsonaro won. Take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have a president that won at the ballot box and they defrauded the ballot boxes and put the other candidate ahead and we're against that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Even if Bolsonaro accepts the people will not accept it. Because the power comes from the people. The people were the ones who put Bolsonaro there and we're the ones who would remove him as well.

NEWTON: The division that we heard throughout this campaign is now being vented on the streets. If you look here, they will at times pull into traffic, continue to block traffic and then come back to the barriers.

Police are here and they're trying to be here in force, but what they are saying is that they want to try and de-escalate the situation and we're hearing this from authorities right across the country. They are negotiating a way to keep them safe, to let them protest but also not to come in in a forceful way. They do not want to motivate people to escalate this protest further and continue to block more roads.

This will be a tense situation though in days to come especially as they are saying it does not matter what Bolsonaro says at this point or the international community, they are determined. They will be out here having these protests as long as it takes.

Paula Newton CNN, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBILO: Right now, Israel's holding its fifth general election in less than four years. And you're looking at live pictures here of Benjamin Netanyahu casting his ballot. The polls open just a few hours ago. And when

FOSTER: And when they close in about 12 hours, we'll get an idea whether Benjamin Netanyahu can pull off a comeback. His Likud Party is expected to get the most votes in the Knesset but his bloc could fall short of a majority. Meanwhile, there are concerns of voter exacerbation over the political deadlock could lead to lower turnout.

NOBILO: CNN's Hadas Gold is tracking all of this live from Jerusalem. Hadas, this election is being viewed as a referendum on Netanyahu What are the chances that he makes a political comeback?

I think we're having some technical issues there with Hadas in Jerusalem for us but will continue to stand top of this story.

FOSTER: He's looking confident there isn't he. I mean, it's an incredible story.

NOBILO: It is an incredible story. But regardless of who wins this, they're going to have such difficulties trying to form a coalition.

FOSTER: And it is amazing to see -- we were talking about how disengaged the public are there. And you know, we've seen that a lot in recent elections, haven't we? You have this fast turnaround of leaders, people become detached particularly in a cost of living crisis.

NOBILO: Which is incredible when you consider the surge of violence in Israel in the region, in the disputed territories.

[04:25:00]

You'd think the security and economy would be driving higher voter turnout essentially. FOSTER: We'll see whether he's back in power later on today. We'll be

in touch actually with Hadas. We've got some communication problems. It does happen. He's taking interviews there. But we'll bring you the highlights later.

Now you may not need to turn on the seat heaters in the car this morning if you live in the Midwest. And there may finally be some relief from the historic drought in the Pacific Northwest.

NOBILO: Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now from the CNN Weather Center. Pedram, tell us more.

JAVAHERI: Good morning, guys. Yes, plenty of warmth across an area of the U.S. that is really typically beginning to not only see much colder temperatures but even the first snow showers of the season. But really nothing like that in the forecast.

Eastern half of the U.S. big-time warmth in place. Max noted the wet weather across the Pacific Northwest. It will also be very cool across that region as well. But I want to show you just the disparity of warmth. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the average temperature for this time of year is 50. It's aiming for 76 degrees by the time you get to Wednesday afternoon. Compare that to Las Vegas temps at around 62 degrees on Wednesday. Incredible disparate between what is playing out across portions of the northern U.S. and parts of the southwestern U.S. In fact, the record temperature that's in store on Wednesday would shatter the previous record from the 1970s of 72 degrees for this time of year.

And notice, it's not just one day. Three days of temps into the 70s where 50 is normal. And notice, it drops off rather sharply here by the time we get back to Friday and Saturday and back down to reality and the colder air is on the horizon. Notice Rapid City from the 70s down to the 30s here in the next several days. And all of that cooler air does eventually set up shop across portions of the northern plains.

But back around the northwest, that's where the wet weather has been in place there and even some significant amount of wet weather where some heavy snowfall can come down on those higher elevations. Well, it's certainly beneficial wet weather in the area. Some areas could see as much as 14 inches of fresh snow across the high Sierra and the winter weather elements not the only weather concern across the area of the Great Basin. In fact, winds here could gust to tropical force winds into the deserts of the southwest.

Speaking of tropical storm, there's one there. This is Lisa. We know it's typically the 30th of November is the final day of hurricane season. But we are not officially done with it quite just yet. And notice the system, 45 mile per hour winds. The tropical alerts have been prompted. Lisa is expected to strengthen to a category 1 hurricane impacting portions of Belize as early as Wednesday afternoon. And the rain threat going to be the primary threat here beginning say Tuesday night into Wednesday morning and landfall Wednesday afternoon across that region -- Guys.

NOBILO: Pedram, thanks.

FOSTER: Now enough is enough. U.S. president Joe Biden delivers a message to oil companies as Americans continue to deal with high prices at the pump. The details just ahead.

NOBILO: Plus, record inflation hits Europe. A look at the sectors feeling it the hardest. What's driving it. That story and more when we return.

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