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October Jobs Report; Trump Aides Eye November for Announcements; Warnock and Walker Locked in Tight Race; Oprah Backs Fetterman; Musk Begins Mass Twitter Layoffs; Justice Department Mulls Special Counsel if Trump Runs in 2024; Iran Seeks Russia's Help for Nuclear Program. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 04, 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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[09:00:34]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Just into the CNN NEWSROOM, the last jobs report before the midterms shows the U.S. economy added some 261,000 jobs in October, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 3.7 percent. That jobs figure lower than the month before, however, still higher than economists had forecast.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us now to break down the numbers.

Christine, you always say wisely the trend is your friend. So, what do these latest numbers show us about the trend in the job market and is this what the Fed was looking for?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: So, first I would call this resilient but slowing the rate of job growth here. It was 261,000 net new jobs added. You know, that - that is a strong showing in any economy. But the trend is important here. We're averaging about 400 and change a month this year and this is the slowest pace of job creation in almost two years. So, still strong, still resilient, but starting to slow here.

The government noting that that unemployment rate, Jim, has been stuck in this 3.5 to 3.7 percent range since March. It's still stuck in that range, even after six months now of the Fed raising interest rates. So, one wonders at what point does the job market really start to appreciably slow because of all of that Fed medicine. And it might be that it just hasn't hit the job market quite yet.

When I look at sectors, for example, I see broad-based gains in the economy, leisure and hospitality, in manufacturing, in a lot of different areas here. So, I think the important thing is to just take a beat and look at this number and put it in context with the numbers we've seen the past few months. It is the slowest, again, in, you know, about 20 months, but still strong, underlying strength in the labor market.

SCIUTTO: Christine Romans, we'll keep watching the trend. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

SCIUTTO: And we should note, we will get reaction from Labor Secretary Marty Walsh in the next hour.

Today marks the final day of early voting in several states with the midterm elections just four days away. Right now across 46 states more than 30 million Americans have already cast their votes. Several notable names are crisscrossing the nation for candidates in this final stretch. President Biden, he wakes up this morning in California. He's headed to Chicago for a political reception tonight.

Biden, along with former Presidents Trump and Obama will make stops in Pennsylvania, a crucial state, this weekend. This as the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate, John Fetterman, picks up a big name endorsement from someone who actually helped make his opponent a household name. You might have heard of her.

The other big race we're following is in Georgia. Republican Herschel Walker closing the gap with his Democratic opponent, Senator Raphael Warnock.

First, however, former President Donald Trump on the trail in Iowa, now making headlines not about these midterms but his own political ambition.

CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny on the trail in Sioux City where we're learning more about the former president's possible timeline.

Jeff, what do we know?

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

Former President Donald Trump was here in Iowa last night kicking off a series of rallies going into Election Day. And we are now learning this morning that his team is eyeing the week of November 14th as a possible time when he could announce a third bid for the presidency. And, of course, he's been hinting at this for weeks, if not months. He's been planning for this behind the scenes and clearly wants to ride what they believe is going to be a Republican wave next week in the election. So, they are looking at the week before Thanksgiving, potentially the week of November 14th. This is all fluid, again, depending on how next week's midterms go.

But take a listen to the former president last night here in Iowa as he framed his decision coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: In order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again, OK? Very, very, very probably.

CROWD: Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!

TRUMP: Oh, that's nice. Well, get ready, that's all I'm telling you, very soon. Get ready. Get ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, the question really coming out of this is, if he would announce in November, is that going to essentially scare off any Republican contender?

[09:05:08]

Is that going to change the minds of any really in a long list of Republicans who are eyeing a bid of their own, like former Vice President Mike Pence, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. There is a long list of people who are also considering a run. So, would President Trump's run -- or announcement, you know, sort of slow the field? We will see about that.

But, Jim, this weekend, very interesting. Sunday in Florida the former president is hosting a rally in Miami. Not invited was Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He's hosting a competing rally in the Tampa Bay/St. Pete area. So, the dynamic between those two certainly something to keep an eye on.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

ZELENY: But mark your calendar potentially for the week of November 14th for a potential third bid for the presidency. Never mind the fact all the investigations and other things still looming out there. Mr. Trump at least sounded last night to me like he is going to jump in.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes, but does it clear the field for some and does it encourage others, potentially Republicans, or make them more likely to run against him. We'll see.

Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

Turning now to the state of Georgia, one of the most closely watched Senate races. CNN national correspondent Dianne Gallagher, she is in Atlanta.

Dianne, a tight race there. We've seen them before in Georgia for those Senate seats. Where do things stand this morning?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And we're seeing them sort of get their message out today, especially because it is the last day of early voting in the state of Georgia. They have seen record- breaking numbers in this state for those who are coming out and either voting early in-person, like the people you see lining up behind me here, or voting by mail absentee. According to Gabriel Sterling with the secretary of state's office, 2,261,000, just over that, have already cast ballots in the state of Georgia. And typically in early voting, the last day of early voting tends to be a very robust day with lots of people turning out.

The candidates out on the road doing those bus tours essentially. Both Walker and -- both Walker and Kemp off the trail briefly yesterday as they attended the private funeral of former Georgia national championship winning coach Vince Dooley, but have since tried to make up for that time. Kemp himself on the road with Chris Christie today. You talked about those surrogates hitting the trail. His opponent, Democrat Stacey Abrams, is also touring the state on her bus tour, working to basically get out that final message as people here in Georgia make those decisions.

Now, according to the secretary of state's office, they do anticipate seeing robust turnout today and seeing that people are going to come out and vote. They say that they should go ahead and look and make sure that they are, you know -- they can check the wait times ahead of time, they can check to see how long to wait. But again, by the time the polls close today, they will have those early voting numbers in- person finished. People can still send in and bring in their mail-in ballots, though. And at that point, it is officially kind of rushing to the finish line for these candidates who, again, Warnock and Walker are in a statistical or virtual tie at this point with polling showing that Warnock may have a slight lead, but, again, within that margin of error.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Very tight polls in so many states right now.

Dianne Gallagher, thanks so much.

All right, another tight race in Pennsylvania. Senate race there. The Democrat, John Fetterman, received a major endorsement from Oprah Winfrey just overnight. CNN is on the trail.

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JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jessica Dean in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

In the closing days of the most expensive senate race in the country, Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz both hitting the campaign trail today, crisscrossing the commonwealth. And Oprah Winfrey weighing in with an endorsement in this race. She's endorsing Fetterman, which is notable, of course, because she made Mehmet Oz a household name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY: If I lived in Pennsylvania, I would have already cast my vote for John Fetterman for many reasons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Fetterman saying he's honored for that endorsement. Oz saying he respects Oprah and is seeking to bring balance and less extremism to Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SCIUTTO: Our thanks to Jessica Dean for that report.

Joins us now, CNN political analyst Seung Min Kim, White House report for "The Associated Press," and Margaret Talev, managing editor for "Axios."

Margaret, the news today, and I believe "Axios" has similar reporting, is that the former President Trump will announce sometime around the second half of this month another run for the White House.

What does that make the Republican race for the nomination look like?

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Jim.

Yes, our -- my colleague Jonathan Swan reporting that news this morning that November 14th is the target date. And it's a very interesting question. It's an important question you're asking. A lot of Republicans are concerned that there could be a negative Trump effect. A President Trump, former President Donald Trump, banking on the opposite, banking on Republicans having a victory, big victory starting on election night on Tuesday, and then him being able to take credit for putting them over the top and then him riding that to announcement that would preempt Ron DeSantis.

[09:10:05]

We'll see. It's a very high stakes moment. He wants to catch the wave. If getting in there early breaks the wave, he will face blame for that. But he's betting that's not what's going to happen.

SCIUTTO: Seung Min Kim, hard to predict any election a couple years out. Trump did lose as an incumbent, which is a rare thing to do. Would his nomination - well, his race, and if he gets the nomination, would that be a good thing or a bad thing for the Republican Party?

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it will certainly be one major factor that President Biden, who is the person who beat Donald Trump in 2020, will be watching as he makes his own decision because there has been a lot of chatter within the Democratic Party about whether the president -- President Biden should run for a second term. It is a decision that he will make with his family in the first part of next year.

But it's been very clear that if President Trump -- or former President Trump does announce and gets back in, that's going to motivate Joe Biden even more to run, despite the concerns from his own party, despite the fact that he is turning 80 years old next month. He sees himself as the only person in 2020 and perhaps in '24 who could beat President Trump at that point. And certainly that's going to play into that calculation. Whether that's good or bad for the Republican Party. I mean they feel very good that Joe Biden is a weak president, that he is beatable. So, we'll just have to see.

SCIUTTO: Yes, no question. Listen, Trump has his possible challengers within his own party. Biden might have his own challengers within his own party. Margaret, of course we do have another election before 2024, that is

the crucial midterm elections.

TALEV: Oh, yes.

SCIUTTO: I think it's four days away. You do. Let's look at overall fortunes here now because you do have Democrats appearing to defend what would normally be pretty solid blue territory. And as we look at President Biden's schedule, right, I mean he's going to places where you think they would be in the bag. What does that tell you about where things stand nationally for the Democratic Party going in?

TALEV: We've been watching this -- what is predicted to be a Republican wave building for several weeks now and it's really about the economy. That's what all the polling tells us. And even the numbers today, which are actually relatively good, you know, in terms of jobs numbers, doesn't change the fact that inflation and gas prices are still the drivers of a lot of these anxieties.

President Biden is trying to go to places where he can help and do no harm and where he can message around things, whether it's in San Diego or whether it's in New York, upstate New York, like semi-conductor, like manufacturing, like how to put the U.S. ahead of China, like reducing the cost of prescription drugs, these are messages that resonate with working class and middle class voters and with seniors. Those are two important components.

But, the bottom line is, there are places where he -- his presence would not be helpful in the closing days. And that's why you don't see him there.

I want to just mention the obvious, this rally, the dueling rallies on Saturday in Pennsylvania. It is both perhaps a look ahead to the 2024 race and a look back at past elections, a look back at 2020. It is this weird like rematch, future match moment. And I don't know if it's going to move the needle for any voters in terms of how they're going to vote, but to see Obama, Biden and Trump all duking it out for Pennsylvania as a pivotal state tells you everything about this kind of moment that we're stuck in, you know.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

Seung Min, looking at the issues, right, economy certainly at the top of the list of voters in virtually every poll you look at here. Abortion rights has dropped as a voting issue, at least in that poll -- in those polls.

Is it possible the polls are missing the continuing interest in this issue? I suppose put differently, is it likely that an issue that was at -- very much at the top of many voters' minds, and, by the way, reflected in some of those provisional races we saw, the vote in Kansas, that it is already faded so much as a voting issue in these midterms?

KIM: Right. Well, I mean, we can never put too much stock in polling whatsoever. But I think that it's the reaction to how much abortion has been motivator has really varied where you are in the country. For example, if you're a voter in Michigan and abortion is literally on the ballot there, perhaps that is much more of a motivating factor than in a state like perhaps Nevada where abortion rights is already protected in the state constitution and perhaps the Democrat in that Senate race, Catherine Cortez-Masto, hasn't been able to make too much of a dent against Republican Adam Laxalt because, at least in that state, abortion is still legal and accessible.

But I do think certainly, just anecdotally speaking, nationwide abortion has faded largely as a major motivator and as a top issue.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

KIM: And I do think, again, not putting too much stock in polling, but all the issue polls show that economy and inflation remain at the top.

SCIUTTO: And you make a good point. Listen, all politics is local. State by state we could see different outcomes.

Seung Min Kim, Margaret Talev, always good to have both of you.

[09:15:00]

Still to come this hour, a CNN exclusive, Iran now asking Russia for help to boost its nuclear program, which could, many fear, lead to a nuclear weapon. What we are learning from U.S. intelligence officials.

Plus, thousands of Twitter employees will be checking their email in a few hours to find out if they still have a job. The new boss, Elon Musk, executing mass layoffs, already facing a lawsuit over it.

Also ahead, if President Trump follows through on running in 2024, could have big implications for ongoing Justice Department investigations. CNN has learned there are active discussions inside the DOJ on whether they will have to appoint a special counsel.

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SCIUTTO: This morning employees of Twitter are watching their email inboxes closely to see if they have a job or not. New owner Elon Musk begins making mass layoffs today, notifying workers by email. CNN has obtained a memo sent to employees just last night. It said, quote, if your employment is not impacted, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email.

[09:20:06]

If your employment is impacted, you will receive a notification with next steps via your personal email.

Tough ones to open.

CNN's senior media reporter Oliver Darcy joins us now with details.

So, Oliver, I understand in response several Twitter employees they filed a class action lawsuit. What's their case? What's their argument here?

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: Yes, Jim, it's a tough day over at Twitter. You know, we're already seeing employees post on the website that they have been locked out of their work devices, presumably because they are going to be impacted by these mass layoffs, which are underway this morning at the company.

And I should say, though, that the Twitter employees, they're taking this in pretty good stride despite how difficult the situation is. A lot of them are posting under various hashtags, reminiscing basically on their times over at Twitter. So, kudos to the tweeps, as they call themselves, for taking this in good stride.

But to your point about the lawsuit, Elon Musk could be in some hot water for how he's executed these layoffs. There are obviously laws that govern how employers can just conduct these mass layoffs. And there are federal laws as well. The Warren (ph) Act, for instance, requires that employers at the size of Twitter provide some advanced notice to employees if they're laying off a certain number of them at a specific site, which certainly appears to be the case today over at Twitter. And so a class action lawsuit has been filed.

The attorney leading this charge, she told CNN in a statement, I'll read part of it, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has made clear that he believes complying with federal labor laws is trivial. She goes on to say, we have filed this federal complaint to ensure that Twitter be held accountable to our laws and to prevent Twitter employees from unknowingly signing away their rights.

All that said, Jim, it's just going to be a very, very difficult day over at that company as these layoffs are underway.

SCIUTTO: No question. A lot of families impacted certainly.

Oliver Darcy, thanks so much.

DARCY: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: In a new CNN exclusive, sources say the Justice Department is now actively discussing whether a special counsel will be needed to oversee the multiple federal investigations into former President Donald Trump. That is if he announces a 2024 presidential run. The DOJ is also staffing its investigations with experienced prosecutors in preparation for any decisions made after next week's midterms.

CNN's Paula Reid, she's been following this for us.

Paula, what more are you learning? How far along are these plans?

PAULA REID, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, traditionally in the weeks leading up to an election, the Justice Department is supposed to observe a so-called quiet period where they don't make any overt or public moves in politically consequential cases. And, boy, do they have a pile of potentially politically consequential cases.

Not only are they overseeing an investigation into President Biden's son, also two investigations into the former president, as well as multiple investigations into high-profile members of Congress.

But we have learned that behind the scenes the Justice Department has been working and planning to try to figure out how to handle some of these cases. Among the things being discussed is the possibility of appointing a special counsel to handle the two investigations into former President Trump. Those include one into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, as well as an investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home.

Now, it's important to note, Jim, as we've seen with other special counsels, a special counsel does not insulate the Justice Department from political attacks. We saw that with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump/Russia connections in 2016, John Durham's investigation into the Russia investigation because, again, these special counsels, they report ultimately to the attorney general.

Now, in addition, the Justice Department has been staffing up with experienced prosecutors and behind the scenes they've been using grand jury subpoenas and secret court battles to compel witnesses to testify in those Trump probes. And we expect that after the midterms, as the national focus kind of shifts to the 2024 election, that alone could really put pressure on federal prosecutors to speed up their ultimate decisions on whether they're going to file charges in any of these high-profile cases.

SCIUTTO: We'll see. It's been with deliberate speed, as they say, so far.

Paula Reid, thanks so much.

Still ahead, more than 4 million without power now in Ukraine. President Zelenskyy calling Russia's attack on energy infrastructure there, quote, terrorism. Our next guest is in Ukraine as people there wonder what's coming next, especially as winter looms.

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[09:29:31]

SCIUTTO: New this morning, Iran is seeking Russia's help to bolster its nuclear program. That could potentially lead the country to creating a nuclear weapon. According to U.S. intelligence sources telling CNN, Tehran may be looking for a backup plan should a lasting nuclear deal with world powers fail to materialize.

CNN White House reporter Natasha Bertrand is covering.

Natasha, this, of course, significant on a number of levels, including the fact that Russia was a party to that nuclear deal before the U.S. pulled out of it. So, I mean, in effect, is Russia, not just Iran, considering a major change here?

[09:30:04]

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's the big question right now. And we don't actually know how Russia has responded to this request by Iran to help.