Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Sources: Trump Mulls Announcing His Presidential Run Tonight; Musk Tweets Recommendation To Vote GOP A Day Before Midterms; Misinformation And Disinformation Concerns Ahead Of Election Day. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired November 07, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He also just wants us to pay attention to whatever --
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Yes.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Yes.
HENDERSON: -- his speech is tonight, right, on television.
ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think whether or not he announces tonight is beside the point. He wants us to be talking about him today all day long.
And the reality is, many Republicans across the country do not want him to get back in. Because they were ready to turn the page on Donald Trump. They were ready to put him in the rearview mirror.
And then he has re-emerged himself after the Mar-a-Lago searches came about.
But the truth is, Republicans have done well to date. And polling looks like we'll do well on Election Day because Donald Trump is not in the picture. Because we were not constantly talking about his tweets and his comments and his actions.
Republicans were able to focus on the policies that were important to the American people. Top of mind, immigration, inflation, crime, and issues that people are really concerned with.
We were fortunate that Republicans across the board focus on issues that were important to them. The Democrats tended to have the eye off the ball, focusing on other issues that weren't top of mind.
But I can tell you this. There are a lot of Republicans that are hoping we can at least get through Election Day without Donald Trump putting his name in the mix because we're poised to do well on Election Day.
But regardless of what the numbers are --
(CROSSTALK) STEWART: -- regardless of what the polls show, everyone should get out and vote. And that's the most important thing I think we can say today --
(CROSSTALK)
HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm going to --
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: Well, look, they've talked about Donald Trump more on MSNBC than they have on FOX News. I mean, let's be real.
I mean, in many respects, his life, as the left's boogeyman, has kept him alive and that's kept his base very enthusiastic. That's sort of at our own peril when we've done that.
And I think, in many respects, Republicans and Democrats and centrist Democrats, they do want to turn the page.
I think a food fight in the Republican -- if a Republican primary is good for Democrats. So if he wants to go and make a mess of this, like, have at it.
But I will say that, you know, we have kept a lot of oxygen on our side in Donald Trump's, you know, balloon.
HENDERSON: But, listen, I mean, voters, Republican voters still are very emotionally attached to Donald Trump. You look at all of the early polling, he is the clear favorite of any of the challengers that might come and run in 2024.
It's not the left that is keeping him alive. It's very much Republican base voters still very much like Donald Trump and they want to see him be president again.
GOLODRYGA: Many of these candidates in these close elections are Trump supporters.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: Many of these -- have offered who Donald Trump, I think, has been, you know, extremely telling considering how the -- the overall Republican Party feels about him.
STEWART: And I think that Trump's base and his core source of support, they're with him. They're not going anywhere.
But we're doing well in this midterm election because we have appealed to Independents and undecided voters who are less concerned with Donald Trump's past grievances and more concerned with his status moving forward. That's been the winning message.
And Donald Trump out of the picture has been a benefit for Republicans in terms of staying on message about the economy.
BLACKWELL: Alice, five seconds on this. If he announces tonight, do you think that moves any votes tomorrow?
STEWART: I don't think so. I think at this stage, we've had already 41 million --
BLACKWELL: Forty-one million, yes, yes.
STEWART: -- people have already voted. Made up their mind. And I think that speaks volumes to people's confidence in our democratic process. I don't think that will change anyone's mind.
I think that will help Donald Trump in his mind. But voters, I think, at this point, have made up their mind.
BLACKWELL: All right.
(CROSSTALK)
ROSEN: One more point, Democrats have mostly voted early. Republicans are depending on everyone going to the polls tomorrow. You never know what a Trump announcement could affect.
STEWART: One last quick point --
(LAUGHTER)
GOLODRYGA: Our producers are getting angry.
(CROSSTALK)
BLACKWELL: We have to wrap.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWARTS: I just want to say congrats to Bianna on the New York Marathon yesterday.
(LAUGHTER)
GOLODRYGA: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
GOLODRYGA: Alice Stewart, Hilary Rosen and Nia-Malika Henderson, thank you.
Well, stay with CNN for all the Election Day coverage. It begins at 4:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow.
[14:34:29]
BLACKWELL: More chaos and controversy at Twitter after mass layoffs. And today, Twitter's new boss is telling people who to vote for in the midterms. We'll get into that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Elon Musk's Twitter take over less than two weeks ago could be a wild card for tomorrow's midterms. Earlier today, Musk himself tweeted this:
"To independent-minded voters, shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties. Therefore, I recommend voting for a Republican Congress given that the presidency is Democratic."
BLACKWELL: A source tells CNN that Twitter will now delay the rollout of those paid for blue checkmark verifications until after the election.
But observers worry last week's layoffs could open the flood gates to misinformation since entire departments charged with policing false statements on Twitter have been gutted.
CNN senior media reporter, Oliver Darcy, is joining us now.
[14:40:02]
What is going on over there?
OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: Well, really, a remarkable statement coming out from Elon Musk earlier today saying that people should vote Republican. I mean, he's the head of a major information platform and he's encouraging people to vote for Republicans in the midterms.
Can you imagine, for instance, if Jack Dorsey had said, "Vote Democrat?" You would see that all over FOX News that the scales had been tipped.
But more broadly speaking, as you point out, there's a concern about Twitter and the midterm elections and what might go viral on those platforms.
And now the fact that there have been these mass layoffs and just this general disruption to the company days before the midterms, whether they can really make sure that the platform is clean of these conspiracy theories and lies in the really pivotal view days with the midterms coming up.
GOLODRYGA: You mentioned Jack Dorsey. On Friday, we talked about what he must be thinking now. He is the one that supported Musk taking over.
They got into a Twitter spat over the weekend.
DARCY: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: And he actually apologized to Twitter employees knowing what they're going through right now. So it will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow and in the weeks ahead.
DARCY: Yes. GOLODRYGA: Thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: Thanks, Oliver.
Conspiracy theories are swirling ahead of tomorrow's midterms. What you should be looking out for on Election Day. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:45:48]
BLACKWELL: Tens of millions of people will vote across the U.S. in tomorrow's midterm elections and election conspiracy theories and the impact they could have on voting are a serious concern.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, there are different kinds of falsehoods that could go viral on Election Day. We're talking misinformation, disinformation. It may be confusing for some voters to tell them apart.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan is here to help break it all down for us.
What can people be looking out for tomorrow?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be a really messier-than-normal few days on social media.
What we have seen from the past few elections days is that sometimes people post things from polling stations they misunderstand. They misunderstand how to use a voting machine. They'll post it and that could inadvertently cause a kind of panic.
But what we're also seeing is people creating videos, images deliberately to try and undermine people's trust in the election process.
And I want to show you an example from 2020. There was a video that purported to show ballots for Trump being set on fire. And they went viral during election week. It was actually retweeted by the then- president's son, Eric Trump.
And just to give you an example of how quickly that caught on, a day or two after the election, we were down in Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, at one of the first "Stop the Steal" events.
And one woman, who said she didn't trust the results of the election, this is actually one of the first things she referenced.
And we spoke to her about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've seen too much pieces of different evidence so far that shows, at this point, I would be OK with a revote.
O'SULLIVAN: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, absolutely.
When you have video footage of people taking bags of ballots and showing that they are for Donald Trump and lighting them on fire --
O'SULLIVAN: I helped write a fact-check on that particular video. The election officials said that video has been going around for a few days. They are printout ballots. They're not real ballots --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You used the information of the election officials?
O'SULLIVAN: Somebody like me comes along, tries to fact-check it, and then I fact-check it, you'll come back and say, well, the election officials would say that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why wouldn't they, though? That's the thing, though. Question everything, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVAN: That was November 2020, a sign of things to come in those next few months.
But this is the same sort of stuff we're going to see tomorrow, videos like that. Newsrooms, we're all going to be working hard to figure out what is real, what is fake. If there are actual issues at polls, that's going to be news we're going to report.
But just to be very mindful of tomorrow when you're on social media.
BLACKWELL: The carryover from our conversation and all the things that are happening at Twitter, I mean, if someone sees something like that online -- they're not conspiracy theorists, they're not inclined to believe that -- what are they supposed to do?
O'SULLIVAN: I would say tomorrow to take a minute, to take a beat and to know that, you know, there's a pretty sophisticated network now of people who are trying to convince you not to trust American elections. So be extra critical, as you see that stuff tomorrow.
And, of course, as you mentioned in your segment with Oliver about all that's happening at Twitter right now, the stars are kind of aligning in a not-so-great-looking way in terms of Twitter has fired a lot of staff who were fighting misinformation on the platform.
Another reason just to be extra vigilant tomorrow.
GOLODRYGA: A lot of concern about regulation, oversight over social media ahead of such an important day.
O'SULLIVAN: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Donie, thank you --
(CROSSTALK)
GOLODRYGA: -- so much.
[14:49:25]
Well, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is telling residents to prepare as a new storm system lurks offshore. The latest on Nicole's projected path. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, has reportedly been holding confidential talks with top aides to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, this according to "The Wall Street Journal." Sullivan has spoken with his Russian counterparts in recent months to help reduce the risk of a broader conflict and avoid any dramatic escalation with the war in Ukraine.
The newspaper quotes officials as saying Sullivan has taken a leading role in coordinating the administration's policy on the Ukraine war. The White House declined to comment on the report.
Well, Ukraine has just received a shipment of advanced air defense systems from its allies, including the U.S.
BLACKWELL: Ukraine's defense minister tweeted out a picture of what the weaponry looks like, saying, "It will help make the skies safer from Russia's aerial attacks," which have knocked out much of Ukraine's power infrastructure in recent weeks.
Ukraine's Air Force officials say the defense systems will also help them confront a new threat posed by Iranian missiles reportedly being purchased by Russia.
Vladimir Putin has also stepped up its raids on civilians in occupied areas of the southern Kherson region.
GOLODRYGA: Florida's governor has declared a state of emergency in more than two dozen counties, due to a very late, I mean, very late --
BLACKWELL: Very.
GOLODRYGA: -- subtropical storm.
[14:55:00]
BLACKWELL: State officials say 34 counties up and down Florida's east coast are at risk of being in the path, in the direct path of what could become Hurricane Nicole.
Right now, it's still getting organized in the Atlantic, but it could strengthen into a category 1 storm before late Wednesday or early Thursday morning.
It would be the first November hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since 1985. GOLODRYGA: We'll be following that for you.
Meantime, in Houston, my hometown, it's party time.
BLACKWELL: The city turned out for a massive celebration at the championship parade for their World Series champions. The Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies in six games on Saturday.
Now it's the team's second title in six years,. But their victory in 2017 has been shrouded in controversy over a cheating scandal.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. My 10-year-old son still calls them cheaters. So we've got a little tension in the Golodryga household.
BLACKWELL: Maybe this one you can celebrate.
GOLODRYGA: Maybe so.
BLACKWELL: Much more of CNN's exclusive interview with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This is the first since the attack on her husband, Paul Pelosi.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
