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Countdown to Election Day; On the Campaign Trail: U.S. Cities Break Heat Records; Iran Protests Continue; Russia's War on Ukraine; U.S. Latino Voters Conflicted; China's COVID-19 Policy; Pope Francis Visits Bahrain. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired November 06, 2022 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the stakes are so high in the U.S. midterm elections that four current or former presidents are back out on the campaign trail, hoping to get their candidates in the win column on Tuesday. We've got the latest from the battleground states ahead.
Ukraine is reacting to Iran's admission it has sent drones to Russia after weeks of denying it and we're live in Kyiv with details.
Plus --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It comes on, Kyle Tucker, this time they finish the job. The Houston Astros --
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The Houston Astros clinched the title, game six of the World Series. Coming up, we'll show you the biggest plays.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: With the U.S. midterm elections just a few days away, several presidents have descended on a key swing state. In Pennsylvania, Barack Obama shared the stage with President Biden on Saturday. Both campaigned for Democrat John Fetterman in the closely watched Senate race and warned that democracy itself was on the ballot.
On the other side of the state, Donald Trump stumped for Mehmet Oz. In a speech, the retired surgeon argued that he's the right person to heal a divided country. Here he is. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEHMET OZ (R-PA), U.S. SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not a politician. I'm a surgeon. And what surgeons do is tackle big problems and we do it successfully. In my case, fixing broken hearts by working with everybody. By making sure that we unify people in the operating room, not divide them. The same will work for our nation.
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BRUNHUBER: The fact that three presidents held rallies in Pennsylvania shows just how important that state has become in this election. CNN's Phil Mattingly breaks down why Pennsylvania matters deeply to both parties.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: For Democrats trying to beat back a Republican wave or Republican majorities in House and Senate, there's no more important state in the state of Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia.
It's a bastion of Democratic support. And that's exactly why you saw the current and former president together at their first rally. Even current President Biden trying to throw a few political jabs in his remarks.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I lived in Pennsylvania longer than Oz has lived in Pennsylvania. And I moved away when I was 10 years old.
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MATTINGLY: That in reference to John Fetterman, the lieutenant governor's Republican opponent there, one in a tight race, one the Democrats think they can win but understand there a lot of dynamics working against them, including very clear Republican enthusiasm, not just Pennsylvania centric, that's really across the country.
That's what they're fighting right now. That's why they were in Philadelphia. It's a county the president won by more than 16 points, they're going to have to run up huge numbers this time around. They believe they can but they want to get their biggest guns out and they certainly did that.
The two presidents, have different approaches to things but their messages are the same. As President Obama laid out, the stakes are high.
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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fundamental rights are on the ballot. Truth and facts and logic and reason and basic decency are on the ballot. Democracy itself is on the ballot. The stakes are high. Yes. The stakes are high.
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MATTINGLY: Just a couple of days left, these two individuals, President Obama and President Biden will not be together again on the campaign trail but will be pushing forward.
And right now Democrats don't expect to win the House, they think they have a clear shot at the Senate but they also acknowledge it will be difficult without the state of Pennsylvania -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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BRUNHUBER: Former president Donald Trump is hyping open his own political future as he campaigns for Republican candidates. Trump was in Pennsylvania on Saturday, ostensibly to rally support for Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee in a close race for a U.S. Senate seat. The rally is one of several stops the former president will make in
the run-up to Election Day. But much of Trump's speech was' focused on repeating debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and teasing another run for president. Here he is.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: The election was rigged and now our country is being destroyed. I ran twice, I won twice and now in order to make our country more successful and glorious, I'm just going to tell you, I'm not going to say right now, everybody I promise you, in the very next, very, very, very short period of time, you are going to be so happy.
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BRUNHUBER: The former president boasted of his poll numbers and took a swipe at a 2020 Republican rival, Ron DeSantis. Listen to this.
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TRUMP: We're winning big, big, big in the Republican Party for the nomination, like nobody has ever seen before. There it is, Trump at 71. Ron DeSantis at 10 percent.
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BRUNHUBER: Now earlier I spoke with Republican Charlie Dent a former U.S. House representative from Pennsylvania and he spoke about the possible risks and benefits of Republicans and Democrats bringing in big-name political leaders like former presidents Trump and Obama. Here he is.
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CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: In the case of Donald Trump, he really doesn't appeal to swing voters. So I think it's a mistake to bring him in to swing states like Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, Georgia, Arizona; not a smart move.
You know, President Obama did not have a good track record when he was president in terms of midterm elections. And of course, Joe Biden has an approval rating in the low 40s and so he's underwater.
But right now, I think, really, the race in Pennsylvania, at least the Senate race, is one where Dr. Oz seems to be surging. The polls have tightened. In fact, I think they're dead even.
And in an environment like this, dead even probably will accrue to the party out of power, which is the Republican. So I think he's in good shape.
The debate was a disaster for John Fetterman. We all sympathize with him because of the stroke that he experienced. But his campaign set the bar so low, they told people not to expect much. But they didn't set the bar low enough.
Fetterman wasn't able to explain himself on various positions, whether it was on fracking for natural gas in Pennsylvania, the crime issue. He wasn't able to articulate it. And I think it's caused many voters to question John Fetterman's ability to serve in the Senate. So that was really the issue.
Ordinarily, these debates probably don't matter that much. Each side takes its shots. But there was one candidate that looked very sharp and crisp in his responses, that was Dr. Oz. And the other, I couldn't tell you if it was the stroke or the fact that he wasn't a very good debater or he didn't have a great grasp on the policy issues.
But whatever the case may be, it's going to cause voters to question his capacity to serve.
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BRUNHUBER: Former U.S. House Republican, Charlie Dent.
New York has been reliably blue for many years but the close race for governor could upend that trend. Joe Biden will be in Westchester today, to campaign for incumbent governor Kathy Hochul. On Saturday former president Bill Clinton told the crowd that this year's midterms are unlike any before. Here he is.
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BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want you to be scared. And I want you to be mad. And the last thing I want you to do is think. This is serious. This is serious. I know the average election rally, whoopee-doo, whoopee-doo, whoopee-doo.
Your life is on the line. Young people in this audience, their life is on the line.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Hochul's challenger, Republican Lee Zeldin, has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump. But not all Republicans are happy to have Trump on the campaign trail in the final stretch of the midterms.
Former New York governor George Pataki told CNN the outsized attention that Trump's potential 2024 run is drawing has been unhelpful to Republican candidates in blue states like Zeldin. Here it is.
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GEORGE PATAKI (R-NY), FORMER GOVERNOR: It is classic Trump that it has to be about him. It's not about him. It's about the future of our states and the future of America.
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PATAKI: And I just cringe when he does whatever he can to get publicity going forward. But that is not the point here. It is not about Trump. It is about New York.
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BRUNHUBER: First lady Jill Biden has also been stumping in swing states ahead of the midterms. On Saturday, she held a rally in Arizona for Democratic candidate senator Mark Kelly. Listen to this.
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DR. JILL BIDEN, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: What you're doing today matters, because this race is going to be close. And the only way we can win is by voting. So put voting at the top of your to-do list.
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BRUNHUBER: Now in many states, the first lady is more popular than her husband. And she's using that popularity to get out the vote for Democrats. CNN's Kate Bennett reports.
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KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: First lady Jill Biden, one of the big names on the campaign trail in the run-up to midterm elections on Tuesday, spending lots of time crisscrossing the country, going to swing states, where even President Biden has not been, including Wisconsin, Georgia, New Hampshire and Arizona, where Jill Biden spent Saturday.
Sunday she'll be in Texas, Monday she'll be in Virginia. First lady Jill Biden is speaking mostly to women voters. She's talking about issues involving families, abortion rights and working moms.
This is one of her specialties, as most first ladies try to engage female voters in the run-up to the election. Don't expect to see Jill Biden, however, on Election Day. She will be where she normally is on Tuesdays, in the classroom at her other day job, teaching English at a local community college -- Kate Bennett, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Interest in the midterm election is high from coast to coast. More than 38 million early votes have been cast in 47 states. Here in Georgia, 2.5 million people have already voted, 25 percent more than in 2018. It's a midterm record for the state.
And Texas, which finished early voting on Friday, has had more than 5 million preelection ballots cast.
And you can join us on Tuesday for i-depth special coverage of the crucial U.S. midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. It starts at 4:00 pm Eastern time. That's 9:00 in the evening in London.
At least two people were killed and several people are missing after powerful tornadoes struck Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas Friday night. The governor of Oklahoma toured the area on Saturday and declared a state of emergency in four counties.
The governor says the victim killed in his state was a 90-year-old man. He says more than 100 homes and businesses were destroyed, with the worst damage in Ida Bell, a small town just north of the border with Texas. Here's how the sheriff put it.
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SHERIFF KEVIN CIARDY, MCCURTAIN COUNTY, OKLAHOMA: From what I've seen -- and I haven't seen all of it -- but from what I've seen is we've got multiple, multiple houses destroyed and lots of damage.
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BRUNHUBER: A second person was killed in Texas, where at least three separate tornadoes damaged several homes.
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BRUNHUBER: Now returning to a story we're following out of eastern Africa. Rescuers in Tanzania have pulled several survivors from a commercial plane that crashed into Lake Victoria and have taken them to a local hospital. It's not clear how many people were on board.
The plane was owned by Precision Air. Tanzania's president acknowledged the tragedy in a tweet and urged calm while rescuers worked. The president said that he's saddened to hear of the crash and has sent condolences to those affected.
The airline said it went down near the Bukoba Airport located on Lake Victoria's western shore. We'll keep monitoring the story and bring you more information as soon as it becomes available.
Ukraine is rejecting Iran's new statement about supplying military drones to Moscow. Still ahead, why President Zelenskyy says that Iranian officials are lying about their support for the Russian offensive.
And some say Black and Latino voters are beginning to drift away from the Democratic Party. I'll talk to an expert about whether the research bears that out. Please do stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): There's no letup in the anti-government protests that have gripped Iran for weeks. Despite violent protests and police crackdowns in southeast Iran on Friday, demonstrations continued Saturday at several universities. People here chanting, "You are the devil."
CNN obtained these videos from the pro-reform activist outlet, IranWire.
Demonstrations began in mid-September, ignited by the death of 22- year-old Mahsa Amini when she was detained by the morality police. Protests over her death have merged into a wide range of grievances against the Iranian regime.
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BRUNHUBER: U.N. nuclear watchdog says Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the power grid. The Zaporizhzhya power plant, occupied by Russia, has been without power supply for two days because of shelling. It needs the external power supply to cool their reactors and prevent their potential meltdown.
But Zaporizhzhya has lost that supply multiple times during the war. The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog is repeating his call for a security zone around the plant.
And in Ukraine, President Zelenskyy says he's not buying Iran's new claim about supplying military drones to Russia. Tehran did an about- face on Friday, saying it sent a limited number of drones to Moscow in the months before the war.
That statement came after weeks of Iranian denials that it provided any drones to Russia. But President Zelenskyy says Iran's new claim is a lie. Here he is.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today, there were messages from Iran from official representatives. There, they decided to admit that they did supply drones for Russian terror.
But even in this confession they lied. We shoot down at least 10 Iranian drones every day. And if Iran continues to lie about the obvious, it means the world will make even more efforts to investigate the terrorist cooperation between the Russian and Iranian regimes and what Russia is paying Iran for such cooperation.
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BRUNHUBER: For more, Salma Abdelaziz joins us from Kyiv.
Salma, Iran seems to be downplaying the number of drones they have supplied Russia here.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so very curious statement from Iran's foreign minister to reporters in a press conference, saying that, yes, Iran did provide a limited number of drones to Russia.
But they say Iran's foreign minister says that this was months prior to the conflict and that Tehran has no knowledge that Russia is using those drones here in the conflict in Ukraine.
But as you heard there from President Zelenskyy, Ukrainian officials, Ukrainian forces have been shooting down these Iranian drones all the time. They find the remnants of them after they have attacked civilian areas.
They have wreaked havoc and terror, particularly in parts of the country including here in Kyiv, particularly those self-detonating drones.
They can loiter over a place and often evade air defense systems. So they've been pretty critical to Russia's fight and to its campaign to intensify the suffering of civilians across the country.
And what's concerning here is that Western officials say -- Western sources say not only have Iran provided weapons, it's preparing to send even more weapons, Kim.
Western sources again saying that ballistic missiles and drones, hundreds of them, are on their way to Russia. That's key for President Putin, who's, of course, lost a great deal of his arsenal in this fight and is preparing for that big battle in Kherson. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, an ominous development for Ukraine. And another story we're following, Salma, President Putin signed a law, allowing criminals to be conscripted.
What more can you tell us about that?
ABDELAZIZ: Yes, so, let me just read you a bit of what's taking place here. So that's on Friday. President Putin signing that those who can now join the army -- and this was not previously allowed is -- to mobilize -- sorry, -- is drug traffickers, robbery, larceny, murder, outstanding convictions. Really concerning when you read the types of criminal activity that
they are now allowing these people to join the Russian forces on the ground here in Ukraine.
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ABDELAZIZ: But I think it also indicates, Kim, just how much Moscow is struggling to find manpower for this fight. It was a few weeks ago that President Putin announced that there would be 300,000 reservists called up.
He's completed that process and seems to already be looking for more fighters on the ground. And all of this as Russia has faced major battlefield losses and is facing a really tough Ukrainian counteroffensive that has been able to win back land for President Zelenskyy. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much.
Iran may not be the only country supplying Russia with weapons for the war.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): This is a new satellite image of a train crossing from North Korea into Russia. That's according to think tank 38north. The two countries have recently resumed rail service after a two-year break because of the COVID pandemic.
It's unclear what was on this train but earlier this week the U.S. declassified its intelligence that said North Korea is covertly sending artillery shells to Russia. The shipments are reportedly made to appear as if they are going to the Middle East or North Africa.
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BRUNHUBER: Still ahead, two days to go until the midterms, what are some of the key issues for Black voters?
That's coming up after a quick break. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Millions of Americans will head to the polls Tuesday to decide the balance of power in Congress; 51 percent of likely voters say the biggest issue on their minds will be the state of the economy, according to a CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
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BRUNHUBER: Abortion comes in at a distant second with just 15 percent.
Voting rights, guns and immigration round out the top five. The outcome of the midterms could be decided in any one of these six states. Five of them are battleground states flipped by President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Here in Georgia, it's a tight race between the Democratic and Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate seat. Both contestants are making an all-out push to draw Black voters, like themselves, in the final week before Election Day. CNN's Eva McKend reports.
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EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER (voice-over): At churches, in barbershops, even at concerts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody who's registered to vote in here.
MCKEND: In Georgia and other battleground states across the country, an all out effort to get Black men to vote.
ERIC RICHARDSON, GEORGIA VOTER: We are going to make a difference in the world. Our vote. Our vote.
MCKEND: At Anytime Cuts in Atlanta, these men say their priorities as they look toward November are tied to economics.
CHASE WALKER, GEORGIA VOTER: Number one priority for me as a Black man is maintaining my business.
MCKEND: In a recent conversation hosted by Black Men Decide and the Atlanta Urban League, voters said they feel like both parties are messaging directly to them.
WALKER: Historically, I feel like it has been the Republicans that look out for businesses from a tax perspective.
STACEY ABRAMS (D), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I know that if the agenda for Black men works, it works for everyone.
MCKEND: Both Democratic and Republican campaigns are competing for Black men through targeted messaging in events.
KEMP: I'm asking people to trust me.
MCKEND: In the race for Georgia Senate seat, two Black men going head to head, at Saint Philip AME in Atlanta.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People at their voting, Georgia would be a different place.
MCKEND: A final push from Georgia's Democratic candidate for governor, Stacey Abrams campaign, to highlight her Black man's agenda, a plan to invest in Black owned small businesses.
CHRISTOPHER BRUCE, ABRAMS CAMPAIGN ATLANTA POLITICAL DIRECTOR: We talk directly to Black men in their areas of focus. Seeing what interests them, because we can't take anybody's will for granted.
MCKEND: One voter said he senses Republicans are making gains with Black men.
LOUIS ANDERSON, GEORGIA VOTER: It seems like a percentage of African American males from the business sector, just a percentage, seem to be a little ambivalent about the Democratic ticket.
MCKEND: Even though Black voters played a pivotal role in electing President Joe Biden two years ago, some Democratic strategists share this concern.
FRED HICKS, GEORGIA DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Republicans really spent the time to understand the issues that are of concern to Black men, specifically, those around access to capital and criminal justice reform.
MCKEND: But longtime organizers suggest those worries are overstated and are confident that Black men will turn out for Democrats in big numbers in Georgia and across the nation.
LATOSHA BROWN, BLACK VOTERS MATTER: The Republican Party are really simply explaining this idea of, we are going for Black men because we know they're upset right now and there's discontent. MCKEND: So you don't think that the outreach is genuine?
BROWN: Absolutely not. They say one thing but literally, when you look at their policies, it's not reflected that.
MCKEND: Races nationwide that might come down to razor-thin margins.
HICKS: The majority of young Black men are going to vote Democrat. The issue is -- especially in Georgia, elections could be among the edges. If you're a Republican, can you peel off enough Black men to make it really difficult for Democrats to win?
MCKEND: In just one week, those efforts to drive Black men to the polls will be put to the test.
According to data from Catalist, about 200,000 Black men have turned out during the early vote period in Georgia. That's a 46 percent increase from the midterms in 2018.
Governor Kemp expressing confidence in his ground game among voters of color in the state. But that is a ground game that Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams has worked to cultivate for years -- Eva McKend, CNN, Marietta, Georgia.
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BRUNHUBER: Now it's not just Black voters who stand to make up a key bloc for either party. Latino voters are another core group expressing less support for Democratic candidates than they have in recent past elections.
Now the latest surveys show that Latino voters break 52 percent for the Democrats when it comes to their congressional district, 23 percent for the Republican and 21 percent say they support neither candidate. Now many say simply they don't see a difference in what Democrats and Republicans stand for. Listen to this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Democrat party has abandoned us and taken us for granted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What people have to understand is that Hispanic Americans have blue collar working class values.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's America's blue collar billionaire?
Donald Trump.
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BRUNHUBER: Joining me now is Justin Gest, associate professor at George Mason University. He's the author of six books on the politics of immigration and demographic change, including most recently, "Majority Minority."
Thanks so much for being here with us. I want to start there with what we just saw. With Black men -- and I'll talk about Latino men, as well -- there's the sense that support for the Democrats from Black and Brown men, especially, is softening.
First, is that true?
And second, if it is, why is that happening?
JUSTIN GEST, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: Thanks, Kim, it's a pleasure to be with you.
The truth is, we really don't know yet. There are definitely some polling research that's coming out. In fact, a number of polls that are showing that support for the Democratic Party among African Americans and Latinos is diminishing marginally.
And remember that Democrats already have very large margins of support among these two groups of people. But we are seeing some diminishment. And any -- in an election this close, every little bit matters.
But that said, there's a lot of good social science out there that is questioning just how valid a lot of this research is. It's very possible that they're missing a number of Latinos and African Americans when they're doing exit polling research.
And it's possible there may be some bias inside of this research that is actually amplifying this effect larger than it really is.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, so much of it is anecdotal right now, until we see all of the exit polls and so on. But help explain the paradox that we seem to be seeing from the ground, some mainstream voters, including Latinos, accuse Democrats of caring too much about, you know, identity and racial justice issues at the expense of pocketbook issues.
But then many African Americans say that Democrats aren't doing enough for them, that they've been taken for granted, they feel ignored. So they're kind of drifting away from the party.
GEST: Look, these are complicated, large constituencies that we often treat as a monolith in the United States. Latinos are the largest ethnic minority in the United States today.
And they're a group that is remarkably diverse ethnically, nationally, linguistically in some cases, with their different regions of origin, and religiously and socioeconomically.
And so, as a result, you know, they're incredibly diverse. And what we're seeing, actually, in the trends from the polling recently is that their politics is, in some ways, reducing to a politics of race that has defined American politics for so long.
BRUNHUBER: In what races then do you think that Latinos and African Americans will play the biggest part?
GEST: They're going to play the biggest part in the races where they make up the largest constituencies. At this juncture, it's really a matter of numbers for Democrats. And all midterm elections here in the United States are really focused on turning out people and mobilizing them to get to the ballot.
And Latinos make up a large number of election -- electoral constituencies across a number of the swing states that so many poll watchers are focusing on. Arizona, for sure; Nevada, as well and, also, I would say, North Carolina and possibly even Georgia, where you have growing numbers of Latinos in the American South.
BRUNHUBER: So if Latinos are increasingly seeing themselves along this sort of racialized lens, this trend that Democrats were counting on, that Latinos, as they grow, as this largest growing voting bloc, will all just vote for Democrats, that seems not to be the case at all.
GEST: It's really unclear right now, Kim. On one hand, we're seeing Latinos that self-identify as white trend Republican. And there's a number of good social science papers out there right now that show that.
At the same time, it's very possible what we're actually seeing in the polls right now is more of a sort of diminishment of Democrats' lead in terms of the actual share of Latino voters.
But the number of Latino voters that might be actually voting for Democrats might be larger. And so if the absolute number rises in certain key constituencies, it might wipe out any sort of national trend toward Republicans.
In the United States, everything is on a state-by-state basis. If Democrats can turn out Latinos that support them in certain key regions, this trend of a national trend of Latinos moving closer to the Republican Party, particularly in places like south Texas or south Florida, which has been very well reported, it may not matter as much.
BRUNHUBER: So then, finally, what lessons do you think both parties will learn or what trends do you think they'll be watching for in terms of the minority vote coming out of these midterms and going into 2024?
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GEST: Sure, well, Democrats are counting on the continuation of large margins of victory among Black voters in the United States and Latino voters in the United States.
If the Republicans are able to shave off some of those margins, I think we're going to see Democrats rethinking their appeal. You know, Democrats have typically and traditionally focused a lot on immigration as a way in to Latino communities in particular.
And what we're seeing in polls these days is that that isn't actually reaching large numbers, large constituencies of the Latino population in the United States.
Reaching these voters may be more complicated than it once was. And I think it's going to lead to some kind of rethinking inside of Democratic Party headquarters if they start to see some slippage.
BRUNHUBER: So much at stake, so many fascinating questions to analyze after the results come in. Thank you so much for being with us, Justin Gest, really appreciate it.
GEST: With pleasure.
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BRUNHUBER: The day after mass layoffs at Twitter, the company is also under pressure to curb misinformation, especially with upcoming midterm elections in the U.S. only days away. CNN's Brian Fung has the latest.
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BRIAN FUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twitter says it's still committed to protecting the election and nothing about its content moderation policies have changed. But civil rights leaders say the layoffs could make it harder for Twitter to enforce its policies against election misinformation.
Even if the rules themselves are still on the books. In response, civil rights groups have called on major advertisers to pause their spending on Twitter. Already companies including General Mills and the Volkswagen Group have done so. Contributing to what Elon Musk has described as a sharp revenue drop for Twitter. To shore up Twitter's finances, Musk seems to be barreling ahead with a plan to offer users a blue check mark on their profiles for $8 a month.
On Saturday, an app update for iPhone users suggested the feature would soon be live. Targeting Twitter's paying users in the U.S., Canada and other English-speaking candidates.
Musk has argued letting anyone pay for a blue check mark will cut down on spammers by raising their costs. But election security experts worry that it won't deter threats like foreign adversaries that can afford to pay.
And that could give bad actors a whole new way to impersonate election officials or news outlets. Between the tumult of the layoffs, the advertiser revolt and a looming new product change, it's anyone's guess how the chaos at Twitter may affect the midterms and their aftermath just days away -- Brian Fung, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: The United Nations is urging Elon Musk to ensure that Twitter respects human rights.
In a letter, it said, "Like all companies, Twitter needs to understand the harms associated with its platform and take steps to address them. Respect for our shared human rights should set the guardrails for the platform's use and evolution. I urge you to ensure that human rights are central to the management of Twitter under your leadership."
China is sticking with its strict COVID-19 policy even as the lockdowns and restrictions contribute to more deaths, including China. We'll have a report from Beijing in just a few moments. Please do stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: China is doubling down on its commitment to its zero-COVID policy, that's despite speculation that the government might loosen pandemic restrictions and cut quarantine days.
The national health commission says that China is sticking with the strict policy, because the country still faces the double risk of the virus coming in from overseas and from local spread.
Now that zero-COVID policy is causing a tragic situation to become more desperate by the day. Children are dying from COVID and other illnesses due to lockdown restrictions. As CNN's Selina Wang reports from Beijing, these deaths are fueling more outrage at China's zero- COVID policy.
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SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 14-year- old girl lies in bed, convulsing at a COVID quarantine facility in China. Someone comes over saying, the kid has a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit and no one is coming. She died soon after.
A man who says he is the girl's father posted this video online, filming his daughter's body, he is demanding justice.
I beg the Communist Party to investigate, he says.
CNN hasn't been able to independently verify the videos, they have been censored in China.
Along with these videos of a father desperately trying to revive his three-year-old son, he can't get his child to the hospital office than enough, because of COVID restrictions in Lanzhou City. The boy later died.
Enraged residents turned to the streets, swarms of armed police hold them back. In Lanzhou City, some are forced to quarantine outside in the cold, in parking lots.
This viral video, which CNN could not verify, shows others forced to stay in male bathrooms, sleeping under urinals.
In year three of the pandemic, every positive case and close contact is still sent to government quarantine facilities like these and this one, the video says it's a quarantine site for kids in Gansu Province. A little boy jumping on bricks to avoid the pool of dirty liquid. This is where they use the bathroom.
Distraught parents crowd outside to protests. Protesters rushed to the streets in Lhasa, Tibet, demanding the end of a lockdown that lasted for more than 80 days.
And in Zhengzhou City, workers are fleeing Apple's biggest iPhone plant after a COVID outbreak. Masses of workers carrying their luggage, walk long distances across highways through villages, even farm fields, those left behind at the factory claim living conditions are subpar. Videos appear to show workers literally fighting for boxes of supplies.
China's leader Xi Jinping claims zero-COVID puts lives above all else. But for many, it's precisely the policy itself that's ruining the lives.
This woman sobs on the ground crying, that after she was caught with her mask pulled down, the government suspended her business for 30 days, losing a month's income. Metal spikes, which the man filming, says were installed on a compound gate to prevent residents from leaving or red plastic barriers.
This one separating a father from his daughter. The little girl worried, asked her dad how he's going to get home. But her father, like millions across China, likely has no idea when he can go home or when all of this will end -- Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
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BRUNHUBER: Still ahead this hour, Pope Francis is wrapping up his historic trip to the kingdom of Bahrain. We'll have details on his visit to the Arabian Peninsula after the break. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Pope Francis is wrapping up a historic visit to the kingdom of Bahrain. This is the second papal visit ever to the Arabian Peninsula. A short time ago, he visited the oldest Catholic Church in the Gulf region, built in 1939.
The pontiff told Bahrain's Catholic leaders to remain united and avoid quarrels and factions as they minister to the faithful in the Muslim majority country. On Saturday he led mass in Madrid's national stadium.
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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber, you can follow me on Twitter @KimBrunhuber. For viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world, it's "CONNECTING AFRICA." Thanks for watching.
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