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Big Names Burning Up Campaign Trail With Six Days Left; Republicans Hold Narrow Advantage Ahead of Next Week's Midterms; Police Say, Suspect Intended to Kill Paul Pelosi. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 02, 2022 - 10:00   ET

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

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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the 10:00 A.M. Eastern hour, my friends. I'm Erica Hill.

The countdown continues to Election Day. Voters have just days left to decide who will control Congress, this as President Biden just announced a short time ago he plans to give a major speech tonight.

A lot of big names also hitting the campaign trail in the coming days. Former President Obama is in Arizona today where he's campaigning for Democrats Katie Hobbs and Mark Kelly. Former President Trump stumping for Republicans in Iowa, Ohio and Florida this week, and both former presidents expect to be key in that battleground of Pennsylvania this weekend.

It is Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney though making waves in Michigan with her endorsement of a Democratic congressional candidate, Elissa Slotkin.

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REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): If we want to ensure the survival of our republic, we have to walk away from politics as usual.

If the people in our party are not doing the job they need to do, then we're going to vote for the people in the party, because we are Americans above all else.

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HILL: Let's just (INAUDIBLE) this hour with news of this speech that President Biden just added to his schedule. We're told it will be about protecting democracy.

CNN White House Correspondent M.J. Lee joining us now with some details here, all of this, of course, coming on heels of what prosecutors have said was a politically motivated attack at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home in San Francisco. Her husband, Paul, of course, was the one who ultimately was attacked. What more do we know about this speech, M.J.? M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. President Biden's schedule has just been officially updated to reflect the speech that he is going to be giving in Washington, D.C. tonight on the theme of protect protecting democracy. And what we are told is that he intends to directly address election deniers and anybody who wants to undermine the election process. And a big theme that he hopes to address are these recent threats of politically motivated violence.

Now, we know from speaking to Biden advisers that this is the kind of speech that they have been contemplating on the president getting for some time. But the recent thinking really has been shaped by what they have seen as a surge in Anti-democratic language coming from -- including some Republican elected officials, Republican candidates, and also, again, these threats of violence.

Of course, President Biden himself and his top advisers deeply alarmed by what happened over the last week with this threat and violence against Paul Pelosi, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, which, as you said, authorities have now said was politically motivated.

So, all of this has gone into the thinking behind why the president is going to give this speech tonight. And I should, of course, note that the idea of the president talking about the theme of protecting democracy, that is not new for this president. This goes all the way back to his 2020 campaign, protecting the soul of America was, of course, a central theme, but it does just go to show that six days out from Election Day, the stakes are really high and that is what the White House trying to show tonight.

HILL: M.J. Lee with the latest for us there from the White House, thank you.

Candidates and surrogates are sharpening their messages in this final sprint to Election Day. It's not just the president, of course, several notable names will be hitting the campaign trail, or they're already there.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Jessica Dean joining us this morning from Philadelphia. Boy, things are busy in Pennsylvania these days.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erica, it's a little busy here six days out. They're getting a lot of high-profile visitors. The airwaves are flooded with ads. This is the most expensive Senate race in the country. It's an open Senate seat with Republican Pat Toomey is retiring. So, of course, Democrats would like to pick that up very much and Republicans would like to keep it.

We are starting to hear these closing messages from the candidates, and we're getting this new CNN polling that really shows that Republicans have the wind at their backs. And you talk to Republicans on the ground here in Pennsylvania, as I have, and Republicans back in Washington, they feel very, very, bullish heading into this last stretch. Democrats, of course, also hoping that their closing message is what's going to resonate with voters as well.

I'll show you first the closing ad that we got from Democratic Nominee John Fetterman, in which he really shaped this as a distinct choice between himself and Mehmet Oz. Watch this.

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LT. GOV. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA), SENATE CANDIDATE: I only got into politics to make my town a safer place. Oz only moved here to run for office, to use us. I've spent my career fighting for people. Oz has spent his life taking advantage of people, making himself rich.

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DEAN: So really setting up that stark choice.

Now, we know that Fetterman is going to be in the so-called collar counties around Philadelphia here. That's where a lot of these swing independent voters are. He's going to be there in the next couple days.

I actually traveled out to an Oz rally, not too far from here, in Bucks County, one of those kind of independent counties -- collar counties full of independent voters to an Oz rally last night. And what was interesting and telling is that the crowd was really a full Republican base. If you looked around, people in Trump hats and certainly the Republican base showing out for him. And he really pitched to find the independent voting friends, their conservative Democratic friends and give them this message. Listen to that.

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DR. MEHMET OZ (R-PA), SENATE CANDIDATE: So, your job is to highlight what are the three things, the economy, crime and the border, right, three things. Don't talk about the other stuff and that you don't need to. Those are the three issues, the kitchen table issue that everyone is worry about. Talk about what concerns voters, and they'll come over to us.

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DEAN: Again, really telling you where the Oz campaign believes it is, if they are really trying to expand, they know that those independent and conservative Democrats are what help somebody win statewide in Pennsylvania.

And, Erica, as we noted at the beginning, these high-profile surrogates coming in at the last minute, we've got former President Donald Trump is coming this weekend, we have former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden coming here to Philadelphia, and then Obama going over to Pittsburgh. So, we're going to see a lot more movement throughout the next several days as we lead into Election Day next week.

HILL: Pennsylvania, one of the places to be this fall. That is for sure. Jessica Dean, I appreciate it, thank you.

There are some new CNN polling we have for you this morning which shows Republicans are in a pretty strong position ahead of next week's midterms with the economy on the forefront of everyone's mind. Let's take a look at those numbers, what could they really mean in the coming days.

CNN's Dan Merica is in Washington for us. So, Dan, take us through the main findings of the poll.

DAN MERICA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. What you're seeing throughout the poll is that Republicans are on the front foot, both because they have a motivated base, a more motivated base than Democrats, and because of this focus on the economy and more trust that the Republicans will handle economic matters better than Democrats.

Let's look at the first poll here. It's the issues important to likely voters. 51 percent of likely voters said the economy and inflation are the top issue that they care about. Voters are confident in the GOP's handling of those issues more than -- over Democrats. Abortion is 15 percent, voting rights at 9 percent, gun policy, immigration, climate change and crime are down the list.

Why this matters? As you hinted at in the Oz bite there, they're focused on the economy. Republicans want to talk more about the economy than they want to talk about abortion. That has been the case for months now. And you're seeing in this closing message last few days of the campaign, that is why Republicans are focused on this issue.

Now, let's look at the generic ballot for Congress. That is basically when you ask a voter if the election were held today and you could choose between a generic Democrat and a generic Republican, who would you choose today? In our poll, 47 percent said a Democratic candidate, 51 percent said a Republican candidate.

Now, that's just narrowly outside the margin of error in the poll, Erica, but why that matters is a lot of these races are going to be decided by those slim margins. The fact that Republicans have that four-point lead in this generic ballot says a lot about what could happen on Tuesday night in terms of especially House races.

HILL: It's not only the lead in the generic ballot. There's also enthusiasm doves a little higher on their side, on the side of the Republicans as well.

MERICA: Yes. Well, we've seen this actually throughout the year, frankly, where Republicans have been more enthusiastic about coming out and voting for their candidates than Democrats. A big reason for that is they think they're going to win. You're going to be more enthusiastic if you think your candidate is going to win.

But we saw that in the polling as well. 35 percent of voters said they were extremely enthusiastic. 24 percent said very enthusiastic. 27 percent said somewhat enthusiastic. The reason this matters, frankly, is that right now, all of these campaigns are focused on getting out the vote. It's easier to do that if your voters are motivated to vote, if they're excited to vote. So, as you're putting money into getting people out to vote, Republican have the edge there as well because their voters are frankly just more excited.

HILL: Dan Merica, I appreciate it. Thank you.

MERICA: Thanks.

HILL: Joining me now to discuss the strategies in this closing week, Tara Palmeri, Senior Political Correspondent at Puck. Tara, good to see you this morning.

Let's pick up a little bit on those numbers in this new CNN poll. We know that voting rights just 9 percent putting that as their issue. 51 percent say economy and the inflation are the top issue. The president though is making a speech tonight. He says this is because of the surge of the anti-democratic rhetoric and language.

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He made a speech about the nation 'democracy and threats to democracy just a couple months ago in primetime, and the major broadcast networks didn't carry it. Is there a chance that could happen tonight, especially if it's so close to the election?

TARA PALMERI, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: Yes, I think there's a real risk that this can be completely ignored, but he's probably not wrong to tap into this real fear and anxiety that this election could somehow be violent. It could end up being like 2020, maybe not to the scale where we see insurrectionists at the Capitol, but we might see some violence at the polls against election workers. You may see intimidation.

The only thing with these speeches and what we saw back in September was that some people found that this speech that Biden gave that had some darker imagery, it had military personnel around him, and he called out Republicans directly, it was seen as alienating Republicans. It was seen as putting them off. And right now, some of the independent-leaning voters who may be Republican leaning, they might be put off by a speech like this, right? They may not want to be preached to by the president.

And so I think there's a real risk to having a speech like this six days before the election rather than sticking with the status quo and talking about the things that people really are at top of mind, which are inflation, economy, pocketbook issues.

HILL: But that's -- I mean, look, let's be honest, we've been talking about this for months at this months. At this point, that's been a challenge for Democrats. And now, as we're seeing this in a closing message, we've seen a shift over just the last couple weeks of, okay, now, we're going to talk about the economy, we're not just going to compare inflation to what's happening globally because that's not working. Now, we're going to talk about this issue. I mean, it's fascinating.

And then you see that clip of Mehmet Oz that Jessica Dean just played, where he says, look, you don't talk about anything when you go out there and try to win people over, you talk about the economy and you talk about those kitchen table concerns. How much concerns there among the Democrats that their messaging has gotten them to this point?

PALMERI: I think Democrats probably had a bit of a -- I guess there was a euphoria around the Dobbs boost, right, and the fact that they were able to pass this legislation, like the Inflation Reduction Act and a few other big wins around the summer.

And they felt like the wind was at their back. But I think, ultimately, sober analysts knew at the end of the day that independent voters that are going to really determine these midterm elections, like they always do, they really care about pocketbook issues and they probably should have still put them front and center back in the summer, and now they're playing catch-up and the tide has changed.

I still think, Erica, it's going to be very close. I don't think this is going to be a decisive win for --

HILL: I don't think we're sleeping a lot next week, my friend.

PALMERI: No. And we may end up seeing a runoff in Georgia. We may not even know who controls the Senate until December.

HILL: It's such an important point.

I do want to -- quickly, before I let you go, I was really struck this morning. So, Katie Hobbs was on CNN This Morning today. There's been a lot of questions about why she's refusing to debate Kari Lake. She says she's worried about the misinformation. So, she was pressed on that point directly. Take a listen to her answer.

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: But you're not confronting her on it and it seems like it would be an easy fix if you stood up on a debate stage and confronted her about these issues.

GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE KATIE HOBBS (D-AZ): But we're six days out from the election and our campaign strategy is our campaign strategy. So, we're moving forward. I'm continuing to make my case to the voters of Arizona, whether or not we debated in this race is not going to decide this election. So, I just -- we made a decision, didn't want to be a part of her spectacle.

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HILL: There is plenty of spectacle on the lakeside. There's plenty of misinformation being spewed as well. But it is surprising that this far along, this is still the campaign strategy that no one in the party or even in her campaign has -- I wonder if they have second- guessed that.

PALMERI: I think they should be. I think Katie Hobbs and her team know that the Kari Lake show is more compelling show, not talking about issues, not talking about what she stands for, but she is a better presenter, actor, politician on the stage next to Katie Hobbs. Katie Hobbs will be overshadowed by Kari Lake in a debate, and that was a decision that they made to not play actually play on her playing field.

I don't know that it was the right one. Voters want to see that you can step up and win a debate and win an argument because that's part of the job when you get to that role. You know, when you are the governor of a state like Arizona, you do need to be able to take on rivals, you do need to be able to take on big business, you need to be able to fight adversaries. So, I think it shows her not having the fortitude to be able to take on these tough issues. They should have stepped up.

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But then, again, you're seeing campaigns in Pennsylvania, where, for a very long time, you had Fetterman, John Fetterman, who is running for Senate, basically running a campaign just on memes and on social media, and not actually taking on his opponent head-on physically in- person. It's almost this very strange like digital campaign that -- you know, it's like nothing we've ever really seen before, where like these whole things have been able to create feelings about people without them physically being there. And I think people know that Katie Hobbs just probably couldn't win and she probably couldn't win a debate and she would probably suffer when trying to correct this misinformation.

HILL: It is a whole new world in this campaign cycle. And in the next six days, buckle up. Tara, always good to talk with you, thank you.

PALMERI: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: Still to come here, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's family will soon get a chance to see body cam footage of the terrifying moments a stranger attacked her husband, Paul, in their home. We're going to take you live to San Francisco with more on what the suspect told police he planned to do.

Plus, Capitol police responding after that attack, saying more security measures are needed to protect lawmakers. The reality, though, the staff and the money, just not there. We'll discuss.

Plus, parents and loved ones of those killed in a massacre at a high school in Parkland, Florida, finally have their moment in court to talk about their pain and their frustration. You are going to hear from them after those emotional moments.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your living hell is about to get started. Your share of karma will find you as well.

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HILL: More disturbing details emerging today about the violent attack against the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Court documents reveal the suspect said he was on a suicide mission and also had a list of prominent politicians he planned to target. San Francisco's police chief telling CNN he believes the suspect's intentions were clear.

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CHIEF WILLIAM SCOTT, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: What is very clear to me from viewing that body-worn camera is he tried to kill Mr. Pelosi.

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HILL: CNN's Veronica Miracle is live in San Francisco with the very latest. What else did we learn from those court documents, Veronica?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, that motion to detain argues why -- from the district attorney why David DePape should not be released from custody. It states that David DePape voluntarily told medics and officers on the scene why he was there and what his intentions were. He is quoted as saying, I didn't really want to hurt him, but, you know, this was a suicide mission. I'm not going to stand here and do nothing, even if it cost me my life.

It also says that he told officers that his intention wasn't to hurt Paul Pelosi, but if Pelosi escalated things, he would go through him if he had to. District Attorney of San Francisco Brooke Jenkins says this was absolutely a politically motivated attack.

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BROOKE JENKINS, SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: There were other people officials that were apparently targets of his, and, obviously, he showed up at the speaker's house first.

I think we see just like on January 6th that this inciteful commentary that goes on, what has become of, I think, accepting behavior of people encouraging violence, encouraging people to take these extreme standpoints and viewpoints is certainly laying a pathway to this type of conduct.

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MIRACLE: In court yesterday, DePape was arraigned on multiple felony charges. He entered all not guilty pleas on all of those charges. The Pelosi family was not in attendance, but through the prosecutor, the prosecutor told the judge that they are asking for privacy during this very traumatic time.

And we're also learning from sources that the U.S. Capitol police learned about this about ten minutes after the incident. An officer actually saw lights and sirens here on a live feed at the U.S. Capitol police command center. Erica?

HILL: Veronica Miracle, I appreciate the updates this morning. Thank you.

Joining me now to discuss, former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer. Good to see you this morning, Chief.

So, let's start actually with where Veronica left off, the fact that we've learned a lot, I think those of us who aren't intricately involved in the security of lawmakers, we have learned a lot in the last several days. There is a field office, we know, for the Capitol police, we learned from our own reporters in San Francisco, but they're watching things sort of back home. There had been this feed, according to The Washington Post, that they had been watching of Speaker Pelosi's home. But when she left San Francisco, maybe they're not watching that 24/7. Would that make sense to you, that then the focus would be more on where she was as opposed to a focus be on her D.C. and her husband back in San Francisco?

TERRANCE GAINER, FORMER U.S. CAPITOL POLICE CHIEF: Well, the speaker is the primary person the Capitol police is responsible for. I think given the threat level now, as everybody thought that we have to talk about the family, and it is not strange that they would concentrate on where she's at and what she's doing.

Now, watching cameras under any situation, trying to look at the camera to determine, is very efficient. So, there is technology. I know the Capitol police will be relooking at the technology about whether it can be, other than just watching it from afar, motion detector and alarms, there's all sorts of ways to do that. And I know Chief Manger having contacted yesterday, he is trying to do a lot of different things.

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HILL: And he said -- you're referencing the current chief, Chief Manger, said in a statement yesterday, they're on track to meet their goal of hiring 280 additional officers by the end of the year. There are currently about 1,900 within the Capitol Police Department. But he's really concerned about the current political climate and says they need more resources

Based on everything that we know and your conversation with the chief, what is your level of concern this morning?

GAINER: Well, I think we all should be concerned. But they're not going to get enough officers to try to give security to every member of Congress. But here's what can be done and here's what the Capitol police is doing. They're reaching out to every police department where a member lives. The staff members of all those 430 members of the House and the 100 senators, all live someplace where there's a local police department, a local sheriff. So, all those local police departments should be giving special attention to every member's home, and is it done in cities when anybody calls up in is concerned.

So, the beat officer would go by that place several times a day as just part of the security, but they also, the Capitol police, will be looking at getting more funding to put more technology in, but that's not going to happen by the time this election goes. So, we're going to be in troubled times now and then see how the election goes. And if all the hate continues, we're going to have to speed up increasing the technology. Local law enforcement is going to have to help. HILL: Chief Terrance Gainer, I always appreciate your insight. Thank you.

Families of the Parkland shooting victims, survivors sharing their pain in court as the judge prepares to sentence the man who took 17 lives. We're going to speak with two of the parents. Their son was murdered there. That's next.

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