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Biden Warns that Democracy is at Stake; Trump in Iowa Today; GOP Sets Agenda; New Uvalde 911 Audio; Cheryl Dorsey is Interviewed about the Uvalde Shooting. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 03, 2022 - 09:00   ET

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

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[09:00:19]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Thursday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto. And it is a very busy Thursday morning.

With less than a week to go before the midterm elections, President Biden raising the alarm, highlighting the dangers of election deniers as he says democracy itself is on the ballot.

Plus, on the trail, former President Trump stumping across several states in the final days of the race, hitting Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and Iowa. We're going to take you there.

And a CNN exclusive. New 911 audio from a Uvalde student trapped inside the classroom as the gunman continued his rampage in the school. What her parents want us all to hear now.

Let's begin this morning with President Biden's stark warning.

CNN White House correspondent MJ Lee, she's on the North Lawn.

MJ, walk us through President Biden's closing message. Five days until the midterms, he had some very harrowing words.

MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, President Biden, last night, making clear that he thinks that we are at a generational inflection point. He said that what we are confronting right now is so much bigger than politics. He said this isn't about me. It's not even about the last election or the upcoming midterm elections. He said this is all about the future of our country.

He began his remarks notably by talking about, in some graphic detail, the violent attack against Paul Pelosi, which of course now we know authorities have said was politically motivated. And he said that the alleged words from the suspect who attacked Paul Pelosi saying where's Nancy, where's Nancy, that those were the same words that some of the members of the mob who went into the Capitol on January 6th used.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are candidates running for every level of office in America, for governor, Congress, attorney general, secretary of state who won't commit, they will not commit to accepting the results of elections that they're running in. This is a path to chaos in America. It's unprecedented. It's unlawful. And it's un-American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: There is no issue right now, though, that is more top of mind for voters than the economy and inflation. When you take a look at polls, the issue of voter integrity and voting rights, that tends to rank far lower as we talk about sort of the top priorities for voters heading into next week.

Now, in this final stretch, the president, today, is headed back out west. He will go to New Mexico to campaign for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is in a tight race. And this midterm we have talked a lot about House races and Senate races and the question of whether Democrats will be able to keep control of Congress. But this trip is a reminder that Democrats also care a whole lot about whether governor's mansions can stay blue because, remember, these governors are the ones who can help enact and implement the president's agenda heading into the next two years.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: No question. MJ Lee, at the white house, thanks so much.

Today, former President Donald Trump, he's stumping in Iowa. The first of several stops for Trump ahead of next week's midterm.

CNN's chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny, he is on the trail in Sioux City, Iowa.

Jeff, we do expect to see Trump with Senator Chuck Grassley today. Of course, it's a finite amount of time before Election Day next Tuesday. So, why did Trump decide to stop in Iowa, and I wonder what you're hearing from voters there?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, good morning.

I mean Iowa is hardly the hottest battleground of 2022, but the former president is going to be here in Sioux City later today campaigning for Chuck Grassley and other Republicans here as well, trying to shore up that Trump base for Senator Grassley, who is running for his eighth term in the U.S. Senate.

Now, he is having a closer-than-expected race but is still -- this is a Republican part of the state and it's largely viewed as a Republican year. So, not much worry from Republicans about Senator Grassley.

A bigger reason that former President Donald Trump is coming here to kick off four rallies in five days going into the election. Of course, it's all about the next election down the road, 2024. We've seen the former president inch closer and closer to saying he is going the seek a third bid for the presidency. And he clearly wants to make his mark starting here in Iowa, of course, the beginning of every presidential race.

So, clearly, as Republicans are sensing optimism, the former president wants to claim some of that early victory if they have one. One advisor actually described it as something of a pre-victory lap.

So - but we should also point out, Jim, there have been many Republicans spending a lot of time here throughout the year already. Former Vice President Mike Pence has been here several times.

[09:05:03]

And we're also learning that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who, of course, is facing his own re-election next week, and has 2024 ambitions of his own, is also eyeing a trip here post-election. So, the shadow 2024 contest is about to jump out of that. But, clearly, Republicans focused on next Tuesday with an eye looking even farther ahead.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. No sooner do you embark on one election and we all start talking about the next one.

Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

Also this morning, Republicans on Capitol Hill are previewing what they plan to do if they take back Congress. Ohio Rep Jim Jordan putting the DOJ and FBI on notice with a letter spelling out potential investigations.

CNN's Melanie Zanona on Capitol Hill with more this morning.

So, Melanie, I wonder, you read this letter. What are the targets?

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yes, well, Republicans are ready to hit the ground running with their investigative plans if they take back the House. And they have been laying the groundwork for those investigative priorities for months. That includes yesterday when Jim Jordan sent these letters to a number of Biden agencies requesting documents and other information. To the FBI, Jordan is seeking information about the search warrant on Trump's residence in Florida, Mar-a-Lago. He is also seeking information about the agency's pipe bomb investigation.

And then, to the DOJ, they are seeking information about the probe into Project Veritas. That is a conservative group that is known for its undercover sting operations. And also seeking information about the agency's enforcement of an access to abortions clinics law.

But I just want to read you a quick key line here. Jordan writes that committee Republicans intend to continue to examine these matters, including into the 118th Congress if necessary. So, clearly, they are putting these agencies on notice and making crystal clear that Republicans plan to use their subpoena power, if they have it, in order to obtain these documents.

And, remember, Jim Jordan is poised to chair the powerful Judiciary Committee if they win power. That will have jurisdiction over everything from abortion, immigration, guns, potential impeachment proceedings. And Jim Jordan is a very powerful figure. He's close to Donald Trump. He's close to Kevin McCarthy, the likely speaker. He's close to the conservative wing of the conference. So definitely someone to watch, Jim, if Republicans take back the House.

SCIUTTO: Yes, we haven't seen our last congressional subpoena I'm sure.

ZANONA: No.

SCIUTTO: Melanie Zanona, on The Hill, thanks so much.

All right, joining us now to speak about the midterm messaging, what it means for this coming Tuesday, CNN political commentators Bakari Sellers and Alice Stewart.

Good to have you both on. Good morning to you.

Bakari, I wonder if we can begin with the president's message last night, not dissimilar from what we heard from him on September 4th - 1st, rather. Clearly, he's genuinely concerned about the threat to the democratic process here. But, politically, is this a winning message going into these midterm elections?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it is. And I think last night he was extremely presidential, and he wasn't partisan. It was, of course, a political speech focused on democracy, but it wasn't a speech catered towards Republicans or Democrats, per se. In fact, I think it was catered towards those individuals in the middle of the country.

I mean Ron Brownstein says this often, and I'll repeat it until I'm blue in the face next week, is that this is an election of double negatives where people don't have an appetite for either party or either candidate in their respective races. And what Donald Trump did was give those voters something to hang their hat on. If you're an election denier or you don't want to promote or ensure the stability of democracy, you can't be elected to the United States Senate or the United States House of Representatives. And that was his message last night. It was giving voters, particularly those voters who are in the middle, not to the far left, the far right, a reason to vote. And I think it was very profound.

SCIUTTO: Alice Stewart, we just showed a short time ago, perhaps we can show it again, what voters say their decisive issues are this election. Of course, economic issues at the top of it. Do you agree that that's an impactful message from the president?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look at those numbers. The economy is 51 percent. And voting and election concerns are down in single digits. So, we're hearing from even Democrats with concern over the president's speech last night, not just in terms of the message, but the messenger. His message on the democracy is on the brink is not what's top of mind with voters. Voters are concerned with money in the bank, not democracy on the brink. So, he would have been better served to focus on economic issues, as well as the inflation, but also the messenger.

We've heard "New York Times" Peter Baker this morning said that many Democrats are trying to distance themselves from President Biden due to his low polling numbers in the 40s. Our colleague David Axelrod also said the same, that Democrats would prefer to run their own race. So, I think that's where the trouble lies five days out from the election, not speaking about the issues that are top of mind for voters. That's a big concern.

SCIUTTO: Bakari, to Alice's point there, earlier this morning, CNN had Tim Ryan, of course, locked in quite a tight race for the Senate in the state of Ohio. Hear what he said about wanting - or, frankly, not wanting the national party's support in this race.

[09:10:05]

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM RYAN (D), OHIO SENATE CANDIDATE: You know, the national democratic party has never been really good at strategic political decisions. So, you know, it's not a surprise here. Thank God that I have enough experience that I've built this campaign not needing them, and we really don't want them at this point.

We've built a robust machine here in Ohio that doesn't need the national Democratic Party. And it's going to give me a level of independence that most senators don't have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Wow, doesn't want them, doesn't need them. That's quite a stark message from a Democrat.

SELLERS: That's not a stark message. It's a candidate that wants to win. I mean Tim Ryan's run a hell of a race. He's doing what's best for the citizens of Ohio. I mean I think we have to look at it through the prism of, you run races to win them. And Tim Ryan is running a winning race. He has a coalition of rural voters, black voters. He has them in the city. He has them in the suburbs. He has college educated women. And he's given himself a fighting chance. And Democrats haven't had a fighting chance in Ohio since Barack Obama.

If you follow any races in this country, you have to follow Pennsylvania because I believe Fetterman is still up in every poll since the debate. And then the two races that are going to be of the utmost import that people are not talking about because they're not nationalized races are Ohio and North Carolina. And, No, we don't need the DNC in particular in those races because Cheri Beasley and Tim Ryan are doing what's best respectively for Ohio and North Carolina and they're running damn good campaigns. SCIUTTO: Alice, I do want to ask about Republican messages going into

this race. Of course they're playing economic issues highly. Understandably so. But they're also talking about investigations. A lot of them. And you know that there can often be a limited amount of patience and enthusiasm for those.

But specifically on economics, do Republicans have a plan to address, for instance, inflation? What is that plan?

STEWART: Well, certainly. And you look at the commitment to America that Kevin McCarthy put out. And if Republicans do win, he would certainly be one to set the agenda.

The key priorities are certainly on addressing inflation. And a large part of that is by reducing regulations and strengthening the economy and doing everything we can to support businesses to not only provide jobs, but also to have jobs with higher pay and implement some pro- growth tax policies that will help people across the board. But also the commitment to reducing crime and addressing the crisis at the border are key priorities for Republicans as they are poised to take over come -- in just five to six days.

SCIUTTO: Bakari, your response to that plan?

SELLERS: Well, I mean, that's not much of a plan. That's more of some 50,000 foot view things.

But one of the things we do know that Republicans want to do is cut Social Security. I mean we - they've been talking about this. Rick Scott has been talking about this. This is a major issue for voters.

And, yes, inflation is not just a problem here in the United States. It's a global problem because people fail to realize we just emerged from a pandemic. It's a serious issue. Pocketbook issues are serious. The borders is serious. And crime is definitely a serious issue. I agree with Alice on that. I mean these are all issues my family talks about.

But there is no plan. Republicans have no plan. And Democrats actually have solutions, we just have to see if they work out.

SCIUTTO: Well, they're at the center of the debate here. We'll see how voters come down on it.

Bakari Sellers, Alice Stewart, thanks so much to both of you.

STEWART: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Coming up next this hour, more just chilling, heartbreaking audio from the 911 call that CNN exclusively obtained from the Uvalde school shooting. Why the parents of an 11-year-old girl say they want every person who works in law enforcement to now hear it. You'll want to hear it.

Plus, Dow futures are down this morning after the Fed announced another big rate hike. The chair says we still have a ways to go to curb high inflation.

And, later, a Chicago man arrested and charged with threatening to kill a Republican lawmaker as calls grow for Capitol Police to provide more security for elected officials here in D.C. and at their homes.

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SCIUTTO: New overnight into CNN, chilling, really just heartbreaking 911 calls from another student trapped inside that Uvalde classroom during the massacre in May. Yesterday we told you about Khloie Torres' call. There was a second girl on that call, fourth greater Miah Cerrillo. Both girls thankfully survived. Miah, however, was injured. And she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher as the shooter opened fire again.

CNN crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz has the latest.

Shimon, these parents verbally crediting your reporting for many of the answers that have come through here and they also wanted to share this call. I'm curious why.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're hoping for transparency in the end. And really the ultimate thing is accountability. They still live in this community. The same police officers, the same sheriff's deputies are still patrolling the streets. Their kids hope to one day go back to school there right now. The kids are too afraid to go back to school. But, ultimately, it's about accountability. It's about transparency.

But, also, Jim, they're trying to get a better understanding of what happened inside that classroom. And these calls are giving them the understanding because their kids are continuing to suffer, continuing to have questions. And they're hoping that by listening the these calls, they can get answers to those questions. And they feel it's important to get this story out there. And so they agreed to allow us to air these videos - these horrifying audio tapes, I should say, of their kids being trapped inside the classroom.

And the latest one is from Miah. As you said, Miah is inside this classroom. She gets on the phone with the dispatcher. And what's so striking there is the fact that there are gunshots. The dispatcher could hear the gunshots. The officers hear the gunshots. But yet they wait almost another 30 minutes, Jim, before they go inside that classroom.

[09:20:02]

Take a listen. You will see in the video officers in the hallway as Miah is on the call with the dispatcher.

Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIAH: Hello?

DISPATCHER: I'm here, I'm here, I'm here.

MIAH: OK. Is the killer in the building?

DISPATCHER: I'm sorry?

MIAH: Is the killer in the building?

DISPATCHER: Yes, he's still there in the building so I need you to be quite and do not open the door until we tell you to.

MIAH: OK.

DISPATCHER: Everyone needs to be as quiet as possible.

(GUNSHOTS)

MIAH: He's shooting.

DISPATCHER: Stay quiet. Make sure everybody stays quiet.

MIAH: OK. The officers are (INAUDIBLE).

DISPATCHER: Are there officers there?

MIAH: (INAUDIBLE).

DISPATCHER: OK. Hold on. Hold on. Don't - don't do anything.

MIAH: The officers are in the building.

DISPATCHER: What was that?

MIAH: I think the officers are in the building.

DISPATCHER: OK, officers are in the building but do not open the door until I tell you to.

MIAH: OK.

DISPATCHER: OK, just stay quiet.

MIAH: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: And so, Jim, there we don't air the gunshots out of respect for the family. But you still there - we noted it where it was. And then you can see the officers advancing. And, again, they wait and wait and wait.

The other thing you can tell from that audio is that they can hear the officers outside at some point.

SCIUTTO: Yes. PROKUPECZ: They hear them there. And I think what's going on is they're just wondering why aren't the officers coming in. And these are questions that they have repeatedly have had for their parents, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Goodness. I can only imagine being that little girl's father or mother, just heartbreaking to hear.

Shimon, please do stay with us.

I do want to bring in as well retired LAPD Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey for more.

Sergeant Dorsey, as you listen to that, as an officer of the law who's put your own life in danger, was this a failure of communication and leadership? Or as you listen to that - and I should note to viewers that the video outside the room is, I understand it, synced up with what was happening as the little girl was making this call. In your view, did officers place their own safety above that of the children?

SGT. CHERYL DORSEY, LOS ANGELES POLICE (RET.): Well, clearly, this was a failure of leadership. I mean we know that the police chief was right there outside the door. We saw and heard him pleading and begging with the suspect to come on out and show us your hands and, you know, we want this to end reasonably well for you, sir, which is nonsensical in the midst of an active shooter. And why those officers didn't just supersede this guy, I get you've got somebody in the hallway standing shoulder to shoulder with you with stars on their collar, but clearly if sense were common, everybody would have it. The chief didn't. The officers didn't. And this was a complete failure from top to bottom.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Failed that little girl.

Shimon, I know, as this has come out, you've been hearing reaction from -- beyond the family, other members of the public there in Uvalde in Texas. What are they saying?

PROKUPECZ: Well, people are certainly, Jim, I guess the best way to put it is just stunned. I don't think that they realized how bad this was until they hear those kids in the classroom.

I spoke to one official last night who had not heard this call before, was aware of it, but has been unable to listen to it. There's an investigation going on and certain people have been precluded from doing anything, which is really a problem there for the officials, but they couldn't believe just the brutality and what transpired here.

And in part they're very thankful for our reporting and that this is coming out this way because they think it's important. But I am just shocked at the fact that the people who need to know what happened inside that classroom so they can make decisions about officers and who needs to be fired and who needs to be suspended and what training needs to change and what changes need to be made have not been able to listen to this call, have not been able to get the information so they can start making the changes. And so we're months away, months, if not a year away from seeing any

significant action. And yet these parents are going to have to deal with this from month to month to month as more information comes out, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Sergeant Dorsey, after Columbine, of course one of the takeaways, one of the lessons from that was don't wait, go in. Of course, that lesson was not followed in the case of Uvalde. But as you look at this as an officer of the law long serving, what lesson, if any new lessons, or is it just old lessons, do you see need to be learned?

DORSEY: Well, you know, as a supervisor, we always debrief incidents and certainly we've been debriefing this for quite some time.

[09:25:02]

And what needs to happen is a complete do over of this police department and those that also responded to this call. I mean these officers who were there and did nothing, who neglected their duty to act should be decertified -- that would be accountability -- so that they can't move around like chess pieces from one agency to another within that state. And this could be a recruitment tool for those parents, for families of those parents. Get on that police department. Part of the change that they want will come from the inside, and they need to be on that police department so that their voices can be heard externally and internally.

SCIUTTO: And I always think of those poor families.

Well, Sergeant Dorsey, thanks so much.

Shimon, for your reporting as well.

We are just moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street where stocks fell yesterday after another big rate hike from the Fed and the chair's suggestion that hike won't be the last. We're going to have move on that coming up.

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