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Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Walker Make Final Push Ahead of Tomorrow's Runoff; FBI Investigates Targeted Substation Attacks, 35,000 Without Power; Today, Supreme Court to Hear Case Over Company Refusing to Create Website for Same-Sex Couples. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 05, 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]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour here on your Monday morning. I'm Erica Hill.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

Right now, the political focus on the state of Georgia. Tomorrow, voters there will choose their senator, the second time in two years. Georgia Senate race has come out to a runoff election. Incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock is leading slightly in the most recent polls as he faces off against his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker.

Early voting ends Friday but not before some 1.8 million people cast their ballots. More on that key race, what it means, where it stands, in just a moment.

HILL: We are also closely following this story, 35,000 people in the dark, a major investigation underway in North Carolina after two power substations were damaged by gunfire over the weekend. The FBI now on the scene. Officials there say it could actually take days to restore electricity to the area.

SCIUTTO: Alarming attack.

We begin though with CNN National Correspondent Dianne Gallagher. She is following the highly anticipated Georgia runoff from Atlanta. Dianne, less than 24 hours until polls open on Election Day. In fact, we've already had election days leading up to this, close to 2 million people who voted already. What do we see happening from the candidates today?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jim. It is the final countdown here, really just a matter of hours for these campaigns to convince what is left of the millions of people who haven't voted already to show up to the polls tomorrow.

Now, both campaigns are really blitzing. Super charging schedules today. Senator Warnock, who has kept a packed schedule throughout the four-week runoff, he's sticking around the Atlanta area. Herschel Walker, who has, by all means, had a much lighter schedule during this four-week runoff, he has five different events in the north Georgia area, many of them places where he underperformed Republican Governor Brian Kemp in the general election. It is all about turnout here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA): Are you ready to win this election.

GALLAGHER (voice over): Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, spending the closing days of their runoff campaign getting out what is left of the vote.

SENATE CANDIDATE HERSCHEL WALKER (R-GA): If you don't have a friend, go make a friend and get them out to vote.

GALLAGHER: With more than 1.85 million ballots already cast, the incumbent Democrat warning supporters not to leave anything on the field.

WARNOCK: We are on the verge of victory. But I don't want us to do the victory dance before we actually get into the end zone.

GALLAGHER: Warnock leaning on his Senate record and sharpening his criticism of Walker's fitness for office and personal background.

WARNOCK: He was an amazing running back. And he will need those skills because come Tuesday, we're going to send him running back to Texas where he actually lives.

GALLAGHER: Walker, a Georgia football legend, taking advantage of the Bulldogs playing the SEC championship game in Atlanta, meeting fans at a tailgate on Saturday but playing the role of underdog on Sunday, calling out his opponent's fundraising advantage as fuel by out of state money.

WALKER: Most of the money comes from California, in New York, and didn't even come from Georgia.

GALLAGHER: Walker has made tying Warnock to President Biden central to his closing argument.

WALKER: Our president was in Massachusetts and he was campaigning for Senator Warnock, who lives in Georgia, because of the way Senator Warnock votes, he thought he was a Massachusetts senator.

GALLAGHER: As the remaining days turn into just hours in an election- fatigued state where they're asking for voters once again.

WARNOCK: The whole world is watching Georgia one more time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER (on camera): The whole world is watching Georgia one more time. And I spoke to a woman yesterday at the Herschel Walker rally. She told me it feels like we're always voting here in this state. And that is a battle that both campaigns acknowledge they may have to deal with, election fatigue.

When we talk about that old political adage, it may all come down to turnout. That is likely true here in Georgia. An interesting statistic, looking at those more than 1.85 million votes, roughly a third of them come from black voters so far. That is something that the Warnock campaign has paid very close attention to and has them feeling good going into tomorrow.

SCIUTTO: And that poll showing an enormous advantage among black voters for the Democratic candidate. Dianne Gallagher, thanks so much.

HILL: Joining us now to discuss, CNN Political Commentator Errol Louis, Political Anchor for Spectrum News and Host of the You Decide Podcast, and Jackie Kucinich, CNN Political Analyst and Washington Bureau Chief for The Daily Beast.

[10:05:03]

Nice to see you both this morning.

As Dianne noted, there are super charged schedules for the candidates in Georgia today, which you would expect the day before Election Day. I'm curious, though, Errol, what are you watching for in this final push from these two candidates?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm very curious to see to the extent to which Senator Warnock is going to be going after the estimated 200,000 or so voters who cast split ballots in the first round or the second round, if you want to call it that, in the general election earlier this month. Meaning they voted for Brian Kemp, the Republican but then they did not vote for Herschel Walker. 200,000, that's quite a lot and could be the margin of victory.

Is his appeal to those people, as he's trying to target them, is he trying to find them geographically and ideology, I think that is really going to tell the story when the dust settles after tomorrow.

SCIUTTO: All right. We'll wait for the dust to settle. That's all we could do.

Jackie, I do want to talk about something that is going to have enormous impact going into 2024, and that is the change on the Democratic side of the primary calendar, Iowa, which has had an outsized influence for decades, out as the first in the nation, South Carolina in. I mean, that has enormous implications going forward.

Can you explain the change? I mean, if you look back to 2020, it was South Carolina that really paved the way for Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. What does this mean going forward for the Democratic Party?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: So, as someone who is in Iowa on election night in 2020, there really was because of the problems with their voting system was. I don't think any of us who were there that night, when we knew that we weren't going to go to bed and know who the winner was for several days thought that Iowa was going to remain where it was in the primary schedule. There is also a lot of other things that have to do with demographics.

Now, one thing to note about South Carolina, because of their role with Biden, because of Jim Clyburn and his role with getting Biden where he is, it does have a lot of clout, but this isn't without risk. I think Politico made a good point today saying South Carolina was a place where you got to kind of watch how things were handled in Nevada and Iowa and in New Hampshire, and they were seeing, as the ones that are picking the winner, not necessarily the ones who were calling the huge field of candidates.

Now, that is assuming that the role is going to be the same and it is going to be handled the same as it has been for years, as far as like whether that is a calling state or not. But I do think it is not without risk that they're not seen as kingmakers, as they have been for so long in this process.

HILL: So, it could be interesting to see. And, Jim, as you noted, there is, of course, the connection for President Biden in terms of what happened for him in South Carolina.

As we look at this, though, Errol, if there is a chance that President Biden is not the nominee in 2024, if there is a chance, who else would this benefit, do you think, in terms of Democrats, this shift to South Carolina first?

LOUIS: Well, very interesting, Erica. I can't give you a name but I will tell you the kind of candidate it will advantage. This effectively nationalizes the very early days of the Democratic primary calendar in a way that we just haven't seen in over a generation. And what that means is it will advantage anybody who has the wherewithal, the backing, the logistics, the legal support to almost simultaneously pull off primary and caucus efforts in South Carolina and in Nevada and in New Hampshire.

And so the days of like a Jimmy Carter in 1976 kind of quietly building up some support and developing some momentum, the days of an under-funded Barack Obama in 2007 kind of quietly laying some groundwork, those days will be over. You have got to be able to sort of effectively run a national campaign from day one, and that means underfunded first time candidates or long shot candidates, I think, are going to be at a serious disadvantage.

SCIUTTO: Jackie, the voter makeup among Democrats in these two states is remarkably different, Iowa versus South Carolina. What influence will that have going forward?

KUCINICH: So, South Carolina obviously demographically much more African American, and that -- and Iowa very much not so, as it is extremely a white state. And you've seen some of the home state senators in -- particularly in Iowa really react strongly about Biden leaving the Midwest.

But, hey, let's be honest, the power center of the Democratic Party is with black voters. So, the fact that this is very much -- this is where Biden wants to begin the contest, that absolutely makes sense and it is, again, showing the influence that state has because of where they put Biden in 2020.

[10:05:08]

HILL: Errol Louis, Jackie Kucinich, Jackie, Washington Bureau Chief for the Boston Globe, thank you both for being here this morning.

SCIUTTO: A lot of politics to watch.

Well, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is calling the massive power outage in North Carolina, a serious incident, understandably. She says that her department is now working with federal partners, as the FBI and local law enforcement are investigating. More than 35,000 people remain without power.

Authorities are calling this an intentional attack after finding two electrical substations, you could see them there, were damaged by gunfire.

CNN's Whitney Wild, she is live in Moore County, North Carolina. Whitney, do they have a sense of motive, why someone laid into these substations with gunfire?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: We don't know. What law enforcement has said at this press conference yesterday, when they were going through some of the details and some of the information that they've been watching, is that there had been chatter on social media that this was somehow connected to a drag show that was scheduled to take place around the same time that the power went out in Moore County. The drag show, again, in Moore County.

But law enforcement not prepared to say that hose two events are connected. They have no evidence to suggest that this was a reaction to that or was an attempt to try to shut that down. So, that remains an open question a. At this point, simply nothing more than social media rumors.

But as you point out, the FBI is involved, the state bureau of investigation. This is really an all-hands-on-deck situation here, as many law enforcement locally, as they can get, to try to investigate why someone would go this and how they committed this crime.

So, what law enforcement is prepared to say at this point is that, yes, someone did open fire on these two substations and that one of those substations, it appears that a gate was taken off the hinge, so perhaps someone got close enough to one of these substations to open fire. That is still an open question at the other substation. But the reality is they were able to cause millions of dollars worth of damage. And this is going to be a long process to restore customers.

At this point, a spokesman for Duke Energy tells me that the good news is they've been able to get power back to around 7,000 people, that was overnight. So, now that number of people out of power hovers around 33,000, which is good news because before it had been more than 40,000. So, it seems to be ticking down a little bit.

However, Jim and Erica, the problem here is that power is not going to be restored for the majority of customers until Thursday. Back to you.

SCIUTTO: Whitney Wild in North Carolina, thanks so much.

HILL: Still to come here, the Supreme Court taking up a major case over LGBTQ rights and free speech. At the center of the case, a web designer posting a marriage who said she is not willing to design websites for same-sex couples.

SCIUTTO: Later, Tampa's police chief has resigned after she was caught on video flashing her badge asking an officer to let her and her husband go during a traffic stop.

Plus, the government of Iran is, it says, reviewing the country's mandatory hijab law. This is the veil that covers a woman's hair. This as state media played down claims that the morality police force have been abolished after ongoing popular protests.

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[10:15:00]

HILL: Today, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in the case of a Colorado website designer who seeks to start a website business to celebrate weddings but does not want to work with same-sex couples.

SCIUTTO: So, remember, this is four years after the court ruled 7-2 in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding citing religious objections.

CNN Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider joins us now from outside the Supreme Court. So, the court is saying it is going to look at this dispute through the lens of free speech, not religious freedom, which has been an issue of contention on similar questions before. What does that mean exactly for this case?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it means, Jim, that the Supreme Court really could rule more broadly here and could finally determine whether certain businesses can refuse to work with same-sex couples.

You mentioned that Colorado baker case four years ago, the Supreme Court in that case did side with the baker, saying that he doesn't need to make the cake for same-sex couples but that was decided on very narrow grounds. This case is much broader. This case involving that Colorado website designer who says that she wants to post a message on her website saying that she will not do any work for same- sex couples and they're wedding website specifically because she says that that messaging conflicts with her religious views.

And she wants the Supreme Court to say that a Colorado anti- discrimination law that says you cannot discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation should not apply to her because it conflicts with her free speech, her ability to decide which messaging she wants to promote.

The Colorado A.G. has come down quite bluntly on this say saying this in a statement, saying, once you open up your doors to the public, you have to serve everybody. And the ACLU is warning about the broader implications here, writing this, saying, if 303 Creative, the website wins here, we will live in a world in which any business with an expressive service can put up a sign that says, women not served, Jews not served and black people not served and claim a First Amendment right to do so.

So, very big stakes in this case, there are people outside of the court right now, as arguments have begun, not only big statements in this case but this is a big week for the Supreme Court. Today is the website argument, gay rights and Wednesday is a big case involving the independent state legislature theory.

[10:20:04]

This is a theory that state legislatures on their own have ultimate power to prescribe election rules and procedures over state constitution and over state courts.

Now, this is a theory that was actually pushed by many Trump supporters in the 2020 election, and the fear here is that the Supreme Court, if they side with the people pushing for the independent state legislature theory, that that could mean that these political bodies, these state legislatures will have full unchecked control over everything involving elections, from absentee ballots, in this case, it is specifically addressing redistricting. So, that is a big case that will be heard on Wednesday in addition to the big gay rights free speech case being heard right now before the justices. Guys?

HILL: Yes, a lot of focus this week. Jessica, I appreciate it. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: These are impactful decisions.

Let's discuss now with former Federal Prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers. Jennifer, if we could begin with this case about the website, so if I look at this a layman and if a baker can say I'm not going to bake for them because they're a same-sex couple, and if someone designing a wedding website can say I'm not going to work for them because they're a same-sex couple, is that precedent broad so that a restaurant can say I'm not going to let in same-sex couples or, by the way, make other judgments based on race or things that they claim are their religious beliefs?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, not necessarily, Jim, because a restaurant doesn't have the same free speech claims that this plaintiff is asserting here. She's saying two things. She's saying I have a right to speak through my art, through my business and a right to exercise my religious beliefs in the way that I want.

A restaurant isn't is necessarily the same because they're not alleging of these constitutional rights when they serve food for money but it is a very broad potential precedent in terms of the sort of business that she is. And there is a lot of businesses like this, people who are arguably creative, who do things that do implicate speech and, frankly, just about everyone can say that doing a business is problematic with respect to their religious rights. So, it is potentially broad although not necessarily implicating every business sin the nation.

HILL: And so one thing, just help me understand this, because she is saying that this is both because of her religious views and also free speech is what she views but this is actually being -- so the court is looking at this as a free speech issue as opposed to a religious freedom issue?

RODGERS: Yes. This is what makes it different from the baker case, arguably. I mean, the baker case was actually decided on grounds that it didn't have to do with the First Amendment. It was more of a procedural problem there. But what she's saying is that, unlike a baker, you can argue about whether a baker is an artist and is expressing themselves when they make a cake, you can't argue that so much with someone who creates websites for a living, they are using speech and using creativity in a more obvious way.

So, it comes under the rubric of the First Amendment more cleanly. And that is why folks who are on the side of the plaintiff like this case because they feel like it more squarely gets at the issue of whether the First Amendment, when the First Amendment butts up against an anti-discrimination law, what is going to win.

SCIUTTO: All right. Let's talk about the other major case of a long list of major cases before this court, and this is the Moore versus Harper relates to independent state legislature theory, which a few years ago, we might have considered a fringe theory, and, by the way, one he espoused by one of the chief folks trying to overturn the 2020 election, that is that it's all about the legislature, right? And they can overrule pretty much anybody when it comes to laws governing elections.

What would the impact be on elections if the court were to grant or follow -- grant -- issue a decision that comes under this independent state legislature theory?

RODGERS: Well, it could potentially have a very broad impact. I mean, this case is about partisan gerrymandering, which is problematic enough and the notion that the legislature can do whatever it wants without being checked what the court system says is violating of the state constitution is radical and unsupported, but would let state legislatures do whatever they want in that regard because the Supreme Court ruled recently that federal courts cannot get involved in partisan gerrymandering. So, literally, there would be no check on that.

But the theory goes potentially even more broad than that. I mean, this notion that a state legislature can't be checked by the state court system, when if the legislature decided on a different slate of electors than the voters have chosen. There is no way to check that in the state system. So, that is where it gets potentially exceedingly problematic, especially when we look back in just very recent history to what former President Trump and his supporters were trying to do to overturn the election.

SCIUTTO: Goodness, enormous potential effects. Jennifer Rodgers, thanks so much.

[10:25:00]

RODGERS: Thank you.

HILL: Tampa's police chief resigning because of this body camera footage, in which she flashed her badge. What else happened in those moments? Stay with us.

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SCIUTTO: This just into CNN. Tampa Bay's police chief -- Tampa's police chief, Mary O'Connor, has now stepped down, this after an internal investigation into a traffic stop she was involved in last month.

[10:30:08]