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Four Days to Go, Candidates in Final Sprint to Election Day; Today, Elon Musk Begins Mass Twitter Layoffs; Economy Adds 261,000 Jobs in October, Unemployment Ticks Up to 3.7 Percent. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 04, 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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[10:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, I'm Jim Sciutto.

We are following several major stories this morning. The last jobs report out just this morning, just before the midterms, showing the U.S. economy added 261,000 jobs in October. The economy and inflation, of course, major concerns for voters with the elections now just four days away. So far across 46 states, more than 30 million Americans have actually already cast their vote in early voting.

This weekend, several notable names are hitting the campaign trail, including a joint rally with President Biden and former President Obama in the crucial state, and it is tight there, of Pennsylvania. Former President Trump, he'll be in Florida.

And new this morning, details about Trump's own political ambitions for the next election. CNN has learned he is eyeing the third week of November for a 2024 announcement.

Our reporters, correspondents and analysts standing by to bring you all of the headlines. Let's begin with CNN's Kristen Holmes with her new reporting about Trump's 2024 plans. Here we are four days to one election, but talk about what the next election is going to look like. What do we know?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And we know the former president has been focused very closely on the next one, 2024. And we have learned that Trump and his team are eyeing the third week in November for a possible presidential announcement. This will be the week after midterms. And it is an important timing note here because it would give him the time to capitalize on Republican wins, which is something his team is expecting, but also come days after his younger daughter, tiffany's wedding at Mar-a-Lago.

We have long reported that Trump has been eyeing this two-week period between the midterms and Thanksgiving for a potential announcement. We're told Monday, November 14th, is a day that has been floated, but nothing is set in stone. They are still looking for travel plans. They are looking for venues. But right now, this is the firmest we've seen of them eyeing a whole week here, the week of November 14th, for that presidential run.

SCIUTTO: Remarkable, less than two years after January 6th. Kristen Holmes, thanks so much.

Overnight in Wisconsin, Republican Senator Ron Johnson, he's taking a page out of Trump's playbook, saying he will not commit to accepting the midterm election results. We're seeing this more and more.

CNN Correspondent Omar Jimenez, he is on the trail in Madison, Wisconsin. Omar, tell us exactly what the senator said.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. So, we're four days out to the election at this point. And all of these candidates are in their final stop bus tours to try and get as many votes as possible. And this is came at one of Ron Johnson's stops in Kronenwetter, Wisconsin, where he was asked pointblank will he would accept the results of Tuesday's election, and he didn't outright say yes. Instead he said this.

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SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): I sure hope I can. But I can't predict what the Democrats might have planned. We're not trying to do anything to gain partisan advantage. We're just doing whatever we can to restore confidence. It sure seems like there is an awful lot of -- in the past a lot of attempt on the part of Democrats to make it easier to cheat. We want to make it easy to vote but very hard to cheat.

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JIMENEZ: Now, it is unclear what he means by what Democrats have planned but part of what he referenced in that answer was, over in Milwaukee, a now former deputy elections official was fired after it was announced yesterday that she allegedly obtained military ballots for fake voters through a state-run website and sent them to a Republican state lawmaker. That lawmaker then turned it over to law enforcement.

And while the specific motive isn't known, the executive director of that Milwaukee elections commission said she believes that this person was trying to point out that you could go on to a public site, make up someone and still get a ballot.

Now, obviously, no votes were affected. This doesn't affect the November 8th election. But the state elections commissioner put out a statement that reads in part, the damage caused by this action is damage to public confidence. While this case understandably will receive a lot of attention, the fact remains that election fraud is extremely rare, and when it does occur, it is quickly discovered and there are consequences.

And the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office does expect to file charges potentially as early as today and the former deputy attorneys official -- or the former deputy official's attorney, a lot of words, told me that they don't plan to litigate this in the media, but instead in the courtroom. Jim? [10:05:00]

SCIUTTO: We'll be following. Omar Jimenez, thanks so much.

Now to another battleground state, Arizona, where the libertarian candidate in a three-way Senate race is now telling voters to cast their ballots for Republican Blake Masters instead.

CNN Senior National Correspondent Kyung Lah is in Phoenix. I wonder, do we have a sense of the numbers backing for the libertarian candidate and, therefore, what impact this could have on the race?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: According to some state polls, very low single-digits, and in some polls, he was barely registering. So, these campaigns say, look, it is probably not going to shift things that much, but in the very same breath, Jim, what they will tell you is that every single shift matters, every bit of news. Today's jobs report, that is something that Republican Nominee Blake Masters is certainly going to be looking at. He is closing a message on the state of the economy. Democratic Senator Mark Kelly really trying to avoid directly talking about the economy other than how he hopes to address it, instead attacking Masters as being too dangerous for Arizona. Take a listen.

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SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Blake Masters has some beliefs that are just dangerous for Arizonans.

He wants to cut taxes for big corporations that are hiking up prices and has said that he would privatize social security.

SENATE CANDIDATE BLAKE MASTERS (R-AZ): We have a wide open southern border. Moderates don't like that. We have got 13 percent inflation in Maricopa County. Moderates don't like that.

I think the most important thing by far right now to voters are inflation, crime and the border.

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LAH: I want you to take a look at the very latest New York Times/Siena polling. You can see that there is a 6 percentage point spread between these two candidates. But something else we have to point out here, Jim, is that this poll was conducted eight to ten days ago. Conditions are changing rapidly, almost day-by-day. It is impossible to know, especially with independent voters who might decide at the very last minute which way this race is going to go. The two campaigns telling me, Jim, that they think it's going to be a nail-biter to the very end. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Of course, the track record for many polls in recent elections, not fantastic. Kyung Lah, good to have you there in Phoenix. Thanks so much.

Well, Oprah Winfrey is now publicly endorsing Pennsylvania Senate candidate for the Democrats, John Fetterman, despite her role in helping make the Republican candidate, Mehmet Oz, a celebrity doctor.

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

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SCIUTTO: Fetterman, one of several Democratic candidates who have made abortion rights a central issue in their campaigns, but just days away from the election, recent polling shows abortion falling behind the economy as the top factor for, and this is key, for likely voters.

CNN Editor at Large Chris Cillizza joins me now. He actually has a piece on cnn.com titled, did Democrats place a losing bet on abortion. I wonder what the numbers show here on that issue.

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITCS REPORTER AND EDITOR AT LARGE: Yes. So, Jim, let me give you two numbers. I want to start with a big one, 214 million. That is how much money Democrats have spent in October on ads featuring abortion. It is by far the most money they've spent. It is about 45 percent of all of the ads that they've run.

Second number I want to give you, 15 percent. In our CNN poll released earlier this week, the economy was the number one issue that voters said were going to make up their mind with 51 percent of the vote, abortion, 15 percent, second and way behind it, 15. So, I think it is at least worth having the conversation that Democrats in the summer and into the early fall really thought that abortion was going to be the issue that would break the traditional aspect of this election, which this should be a good election for Republicans. The first midterm of a president's term tends to be bad for his party. Democrats put a big bet on abortion. I'm just not totally sure that it is going to pay off because I think it's -- it's James Carville '92, it's the economy, stupid, again.

SCIUTTO: Chris Cillizza, good to have you breaking down the numbers. Thanks so much.

CILLIZZA: Thank you, sir.

Joining me now to discuss, Ron Johnson, Senior Editor for The Atlantic. Ron, always good to have you on. Thanks for joining us this morning.

So, first, to that point of Chris Cillizza's, I wonder if you share the view that that issue, while it was talked about a lot but also seemed to be moving elections during the summer, that that is faded as a decisive or impactful issue during the midterms.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I wouldn't say faded. I would say the Democrats have gotten as much as they can out of that issue and related issues, like threats to democracy, concerns about gun violence. What those issues did was energize the Democratic base and keep them in the game despite this very tough economic climate, which compounds the usual effect that Chris was talking about, the first midterm being bad.

But it is not a silver bullet. It doesn't completely erase all of the headwinds. It has allowed them to energize more of the Democratic base, hold a lot of those white collar voters who are also facing heavy inflation.

[10:10:05]

But the idea that it would completely override everything else, I think -- I don't think, anybody thought that from the beginning.

SCIUTTO: Okay. Let's drill down on some of these Senate races, because you make the point that the U.S. Senate will come down to voters who disapprove of Biden, now polling in the low 40s in terms of approval, but also disapprove of their Republican candidate for state office. Look at, for instance, a state like Georgia, where Herschel Walker polling far behind Governor Kemp, Republican incumbent there. I mean, historically, have we seen voters do that, split their ballot in effect?

BROWNSTEIN: Not as much recently, right. I mean, you have Democratic candidates who are running even or ahead in this late polling in states where Joe Biden's approval rating is down somewhere around 40 percent or sometimes even lower. And we just have very little precedent for that in the 21st century. We have very few examples of candidates winning statewide Senate races in states where the president of their own party's approval is that low.

The wrinkle is here that is giving Democrats an opportunity, is that a significant share of voters who are negative on Biden's performance, particularly on the economy, also hold unfavorable views about the specific Republican nominees who they view as unqualified or extreme or not sharing their values on issues like abortion and others.

And so the critical question in a number of these states, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, even New Hampshire, Nevada certainly, is how many of these double negative voters can Democrats win. Because they have to run ahead of Biden's approval to the extent we simply have not seen much in elections over last 20, even 30 years.

SCIUTTO: We've been watching live pictures there of Herschel Walker, a Senate candidate in Georgia who falls under the category of low favorability ratings.

Ron Brownstein, I know we're going to be talking to you about this kind of thing a lot more in the coming days. Thanks so much for joining this morning.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Still to come this hour, mass layoffs coming to Twitter after the new owner, Elon Musk, took over the company. Some employees fighting back, they're suing.

Plus, it is the jobs number the White House was hoping for. Could this mean the Fed's rate hikes are working. And later, putting airline seat sizes to the test as the fight over safety versus comfort heads now to the FAA.

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SCIUTTO: This morning, a tough time for Twitter employees who will find out via email if they still have a job by the end of today. Owner Elon Musk begins making mass layoffs today. He's notifying workers by email. In response now, several Twitter employees have filed a class action lawsuit alleging the company is in violation of the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, it's known as the WARN act.

I want to bring in Adriana, she's a partner Jackson Lewis, an employment litigator, for her perspective. Adriana, thanks so much for joining this morning.

ADRIANA MIDENCE, EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION ATTORNEY: Good morning. Thanks for having.

SCIUTTO: So, first of all, the way the WARN Act works is that if a company has more than 100 employees, it has to provide 60 days notice, written notice prior to a mass layoff affecting 50 or more employees. So, Twitter seems to meet that. It certainly got more than 60 employees and it doesn't appear to be given -- well 100 employees doesn't appear to given 60 days here. So, do they have a case in this lawsuit?

MIDENCE: Well, there's certainly -- you've generally stated what the requirements are of the law. There are certain exceptions that would exempt a company from making those types of specific notices. But it is a bit concerning that these employees are being given just a few days notice that their employment is going to be ending. Also worth mentioning is the fact that many states have their own version of the law that you just mentioned and sometimes those requirements, especially in states like California, where the lawsuit was filed, can be even more onerous and expect even more from an employer. So, it will be very interesting to see how the company responds given that many of these employees have given clearly less than a week, just a handful of days.

SCIUTTO: Does that, in your view, given you have not just federal laws but you have state laws, and I imagine workers are going to do their best to take advantage of those, that this is not going to be so cut and dry, that Twitter is going to be in the courtroom for some time defending these cuts, these moves?

MIDENCE: Well, it does seem like there's the potential for this type of litigation to spring up in different areas. I mean, what was filed in San Francisco yesterday was filed as a class action. So, it's purporting to represent on a nationwide basis, on a class basis, all of the employees who might have been impacted. But when you start to have employees making claims under their state specific laws, you -- it could have a situation developed where employees in different lawsuit spring up in different states based on those different statutes. But it could become very complicated.

SCIUTTO: So, when I hear a class action lawsuit, I often think, well, is there a settlement here, right? If the employers know that, listen, the job aren't necessarily coming back but there are some legal protections here, could it be in both sides' interest at some point to come to an agreement where there is some compensation or greater compensation that they would be offered initially?

MIDENCE: It is usually always in both sides interest to come together and to reach some sort of compromise. I mean, certainly, a company as public as Twitter doesn't want to be mired down in this type of litigation. The employees obviously want some resolution and peace so that they can move forward. And as you noted, the jobs are not likely to come back.

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So, knowing that the employment relationship is over, I think it is probably in everyone's interest to find a resolution.

SCIUTTO: Adriana Midence, thanks so much for helping us understand all of this.

MIDENCE: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: Well, there is a new treatment to prevent RSV in infants that was approved in Europe and may also soon be coming to the U.S. The treatment is the first of its kind to protect all infants in their first year. It is given in a single dose to infants at their time of birth or just before the start of the RSV season.

CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the details now. Elizabeth, good news, it is a good option here. So, how does this treatment work and how well does it work?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Jim, it is a monoclonal antibody. Usually, we think about our baby's getting vaccinations. They're in some ways similar. A vaccination teaches the body how to make antibodies. A monoclonal antibody essentially kind of gives those antibodies to the baby.

And so let's take a look at this new drug. So, as you mentioned, it is a single dose, which is sort of unusual, a single dose given at birth or just before RSV season. It protected 77 percent against RSV hospitalizations. Pretty much every child gets RSV. You just want to make sure they don't end up in a hospital and are protected 77 percent against that. And it could be in the U.S. by the 2023-2024 RSV season, in other words next year. They've already applied to the FDA for permission to do that.

Now, Jim, I don't know if you know anyone whose child who has had RSV but it is terrifying. My dear friend's baby, my nephew, both ended up in the hospital. It was terrifying in the intensive care unit. Your previously healthy baby is fine one minute, the next minute, they're in the intensive care unit. It is very, very scary. So, if this really works and could be given to babies, that would be pretty amazing. SCIUTTO: No question. It's definitely going around as well. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much for sharing.

COHEN: Yes, thanks.

SCIUTTO: All right. Coming up, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, he will join us live to discuss the latest jobs numbers and more. That is next.

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[10:25:00]

SCIUTTO: Paul Pelosi out of the hospital now and recuperating at home six days after he was violently attacked in his home with a hammer. In a statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi thanked the staff who cared for her husband, also asked for privacy. Paul Pelosi needed surgery for a skull fracture. He is, however, expected to make a full recovery.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains how surgeons would deal with that kind of injury.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: When we talk about a skull fracture, obviously, the bone is broken, it can bend sort of inward. I think part of the reason that the doctors would be so optimistic is because they would do scans trying to determine if there was bleeding underneath the bone on top of the brain, or even within the brain itself. And those scans didn't seem to show those types of concerns.

So, again, as significant as the injury was, the fact that it made him unconscious for a period of time, he was able to recover quickly even before the operation and I think it bodes well going forward.

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SCIUTTO: The San Francisco judge is expected to set a date today for a preliminary hearing and bail hearing for the alleged attacker pictured there.

Other big news this morning, the last jobs report before midterm elections shows what some have called a mixed bag. Employers are still hiring, the economy added some 261,000 jobs, more than economists had forecast. The unemployment rate did tick up slightly to 3.7 percent, however. The Biden administration looking for a just right mix in this report. Did they get it?

Let's bring in Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to join us. Mr. Secretary, thanks for taking the time this morning.

MARTY WALSH, LABOR SECRETARY: Thanks for having me today, Jim.

SCIUTTO: All right. So, first, to these numbers, it showed a slowing as compared with September, a bit higher than economists had forecast. But given that there is a lag effect at times with how interest rates impact this sort of thing, is the job market slowing and are you concerned that it is slowing significantly enough to lead the country to a recession?

WALSH: Well, I think what we're seeing is a slow state of transition into a strong economy. I think we're seeing in this report obviously 261,000 jobs is great. Some of the highlights, 173,000 jobs in manufacturing combined since the beginning of the pandemic. We're over where we were pre-pandemic. We're seeing in warehousing and trucking 700,000 jobs over. So, we're seeing other industries grow. But we're seeing a slow and steady economy now moving forward.

And I think, hopefully, what I would predict -- well, I'm not predicting anything. Hopefully, what we see in the next few months is consistent job growth and continuing strong economy. We have to continue to do everything we can to bring down the inflationary pressures. At the end of the day, no matter how many jobs that I can get in front of this camera and tell you how we've added and how great they are, people are still feeling the struggle at kitchen table. So, that's why the president has been -- every time he speaks, he talks about, bringing those costs down. We still have to do more to bring those costs down.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this, because there are members of you and the president's own party who are concerned about the pace of interest rate rises. They call it in a letter sent on Monday to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, Democratic lawmakers, they call it an alarming pace of interest rate hikes and they mentioned specifically the chairman's disturbing warning, as they describe it, to American families, I believe referencing his comments that the path to a soft landing is narrowing here.

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