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Pelosi Attack Suspect Charged in Politically Motivated Plot; One Week to Go, Both Parties Bring Big Names Out on Trail; Feds Fire Pepper Ball Projectiles at Venezuelan Protesters. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 01, 2022 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[07:00:00]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Here we are, Don Lemon alongside Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins. It is November 1st, and welcome to our very first show. We're so happy that you're waking up with us.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: We made it through an hour.

LEMON: We did.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Made it through the first hour and this is the start of the rest of our lives.

LEMON: And so how do you feel?

COLLINS: Good. It was a really good first hour. It's not as bad getting up this early as you think is once you get through these first few minutes.

LEMON: It's day one.

COLLINS: And check in with me in like six months from now. We'll see how --

LEMON: It is day one. You doing okay?

HARLOW: I'm great.

LEMON: I'm so happy to be with you guys. I mean, it's really -- this is going to be fun.

HARLOW: We never thought this was -- none of us ever thought that we'd ever to actually sit together and do this together three hours a day. So --

LEMON: Yes. And would it happen like a week ago, and here we are.

Listen, again, you're going to learn a lot more about us. We're going to take you all over the country from Minnesota to Louisiana to Alabama -- HARLOW: Maybe do a football game this weekend.

LEMON: Maybe to an LSU/Alabama football game. So, stay tuned.

The big question this morning, though, and it's a serious one -- serious ones, I should say, are lawmakers safe in America? The urgent new concerns after the plot targeting the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

HARLOW: Also, second, is Russia's invasion in Ukraine about to change dramatically, this as Iran escalates its involvement? Our Clarissa Ward is on the ground with her reporting live from Ukraine ahead this hour with Clarissa Ward.

COLLINS: And, third, why is Republican Liz Cheney hitting the campaign trail for a vulnerable Democratic today? We are going to talk to that Democratic lawmaker live.

LEMON: And, finally, what is NASA up to, right, SpaceX? What are they up to today? You're looking at live pictures now of the world's largest rocket, and it's a little foggy there, barely make it out, but there it is. That rocket is set to launch for a secret, classified mission.

But first this morning, disturbing new details into that violent attack on the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, and what prosecutors are calling a politically motivated plot. And according to the FBI, the man accused of beating the 82-year-old with a hammer wanted to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and, quote, break her kneecaps. The suspect is now facing federal assault and attempted kidnapping charges and a laundry list of state charges, including attempted murder.

The San Francisco D.A. describing Mr. Pelosi's desperate attempt to escape.

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BROOKE JENKINS, SAN FRANCISCO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Mr. Pelosi attempted to access the elevator in the home, which has a phone. The defendant then blocked Mr. Pelosi's access to that elevator. It was at some point after that Mr. Pelosi asked to go to the bathroom, which is where he was able to call 911 from his cell phone.

The defendant realizing that Mr. Pelosi had called 911 took Mr. Pelosi downstairs near the front door of the residence. Two police officers arrived at the front door two minutes after that 911 call. When that door was opened, the defendant was holding his hammer, which Mr. Pelosi appeared to be attempting to control by holding a portion of that hammer. The defendant then pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and violently struck him in the top of his head.

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LEMON: So, joining us now, CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller. John, good morning to you, thank you for joining.

So, listen, prosecutors here really laying out a timeline here and giving details reading into that. What are you seeing here?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I think we learned three important things yesterday. Number one, the suspect was not there just to hit Paul Pelosi with a hammer. Number two, he had an elaborate plan out of a Stephen King novel, to tie up the husband, wait not just hours but days, if necessary, for Nancy Pelosi to show up, break her knees and the things the prosecutor just laid out, and, three, we're going to learn more today, because you're going to have a bail hearing and an arraignment and they're going to have to lay out for the judge why it's important not to grant bail.

[07:05:01]

So, they'll have to put details about all the other violence in the home.

HARLOW: The FBI's assessment, not just of this attack but of the tenfold increase that we've seen in threats to lawmakers in just the last five years, is that it is lone actors. It's lone actors like this that believe conspiracy theories and act on them, from Pizzagate to this, tenfold war.

MILLER: It's the worst kind of case if you're the FBI, or DHS or the NYPD, because it's not an organization like an organized crime family, where you can dismantle it with a careful case taking out leadership. The last PPR I surveyed showed that after President Trump left office, QAnon followers increased from 14 percent to 17 percent. It's not getting smaller. It's getting bigger. One in four Americans surveyed in that believed that there is a storm coming. 18 percent of them said they believed violence is possible to get this done.

So, it's an amorphous organization, and filled with lone actors but they're only alone when acting. The rest of the time they're in this echo chamber online in these chat rooms and forums, and the forum with Donald the other day, they were talking why didn't he finish the job? Who's going to go finish the job? And this was a false flag operation run by the Democrats to take their guns.

COLLINS: And you've seen those conspiracies that have been floating around refuted by the facts that have been laid out. I know you've been talking to people who are dealing with this investigation. Where's their sense whether or not this is domestic terrorism?

MILLER: The domestic terrorism piece is defined in law, but if you read the statute he's charged with, and then you look, Kaitlan, at the statute that defines domestic terrorism, they track almost identically in terms of the requirements to meet that law.

So, we've got a number of state charges he is being held on, assault, elder abuse, kidnapping, you've got a number of federal charges, a couple yesterday, but I think we're going to see those expand. The domestic terrorism thing is going to be a step as it gives it a new definition.

LEMON: But before we let you go, John, I have to say, clearly, listen, this is all -- all of this is based on lie. These are people who are believing lies, they are being co-opted by people who are lying, and thusly so, you are getting a violent act. A person could have lost his life because of political lies. That's what he believed.

MILLER: Yes. And, I mean, it's hard to underestimate the craziness. I can remember more than a year ago showing up at a crime scene in New York City where the acting boss of the Gambino crime family was gunned down. It seemed like a standard mob hit. And when we got to the bottom of it, our suspect was a QAnon guy who said that the mob was working with the deep state and the pedophile ring to control country. So, this is bottomless in terms of the irrationality of some of it and yet it's spreading.

LEMON: John miller, thank you very much, we appreciate it. And John will be joining us a lot more on the program. Thanks.

COLLINS: Absolutely.

All right, speaking of violence, there is a bloody Halloween night on Chicago's west side, where a drive-by shooting ended with at least 13 people shot. Among victims were children ages 3, 11 and 14. A 14th victim was hit by a car and the injuries range from non-life threatening to critical. Investigators believe that some kind of vigil was taking place on the corner where this attack happened but police this morning are still searching for suspects and trying to figure out what the motive is.

LEMON: My goodness.

HARLOW: Every parent's worst nightmare on Halloween.

All right, it is one week exactly until Election Day and some big names are hitting the trail. Today, President Biden will rally in Florida. Former President Obama will be in Nevada. Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney will campaign with a Democrat running for re- election, that is Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, and the former vice president, Mike Pence, will rally with Governor Brian Kemp in Georgia.

LEMON: I'm exhausted just listening to you, Poppy.

HARLOW: Well, buckle up, we got a week ahead.

Let's head to Philadelphia. Our Jessica Dean joins us now in just somewhat of an important state. Good morning, Jess.

LEMON: Good morning.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, you guys. Guys, we still got a week. We got a ways to go here and people are crisscrossing the country, especially here to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We'll talk about the importance of that in just a moment.

Listen, the balance of power for Congress is hanging in the balance, it's up for grabs. As you can imagine, Democrats and Republicans both sending out their highest profile surrogates, their biggest names as they race to the finish line. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN (voice over): Candidates in key races are making their final pitch to voters.

SENATE CANDIDATE HERSCHEL WALKER (R-GA): Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

DEAN: And receiving a boost from some big names.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Are you ready to go and vote?

DEAN: Former President Barack Obama is set to stump for Democrats in Nevada tonight and Arizona tomorrow, two states critical to the party's path to retain control of the U.S. Senate.

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Those stops coming after he fired up crowds in Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan over the weekend, campaigning against Republican candidates, like Herschel Walker and Senator Ron Johnson.

OBAMA: He's a celebrity who wants to be a politician. And we've seen how that goes.

He's not the person who's thinking about you and knows you and sees you.

DEAN: Meanwhile, President Joe Biden heads to Florida today where he will rally with Senate hopeful Val Demings and the state's Democratic candidate for governor, Charlie Crist. And former Vice President Mike Pence will campaign in Georgia with Governor Brian Kemp, a candidate who's drawn the ire of former President Donald Trump.

Another Republican at odds with Trump, Congresswoman Liz Cheney, travels to Michigan today to campaign for a Democrat, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. Cheney last week endorsing Slotkin, who's facing a competitive re-election race.

GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE STACEY ABRAMS (D-GA): Right now, we are seeing record turnouts.

DEAN: Re-election voting is surpassing 2018 levels. More than 21 million ballots have been cast across 46 states, including nearly 2.8 million early ballots in Florida and more than 1.6 million in Georgia.

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DEAN (on camera): And we are here in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Independence Hall right behind me. They like to call it cradle of democracy. The commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a huge state, a lot of focus on this Senate race here. It's an open seat. So, Republican Senator Pat Toomey is retiring. The Democrats, of course, want to pick this seat up as they hope to retain control of the Senate and Republicans hoping to keep this seat. Don, I know you had that interview with John Fetterman earlier in the show. He's running against Mehmet Oz. And just to underscore how important Pennsylvania is in the coming days, we are going to see Joe Biden, the president, coming back here with former President Barack Obama. They're going to be in Philadelphia. Obama is also going to Pittsburgh. We're also going to see former President Donald Trump coming to Pennsylvania. They're all going to be here in this final weekend before the election.

HARLOW: Much more, Don, it's a great interview.

LEMON: Just a little bit, yes, just a couple of minutes away here.

HARLOW: Jess, thanks for getting (INAUDIBLE) with us. We appreciate it.

COLLINS: All right. It's not just former presidents, President Biden also on the campaign trail today ramping up his appearances. He's going to be in Florida today, and M.J. Lee joins us now from the White House. M.J., what are we expecting from President Biden today?

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey good to see you, Kaitlan, and congrats to you and the whole team on the launch this morning. Look, Florida is a state where Democrats and President Biden and his team believe that the contrast that they want to paint between Democrats and these so-called MAGA Republicans can really stick and resonate.

Case in point, I spoke with Charlie Crist yesterday. He is, of course, running against Governor Ron DeSantis in the state. And he said, look, when President Biden comes down to Florida today, he really hopes and expects that he will go after DeSantis hard on the issue of abortion rights. He said that is going to be very, very helpful for me in my race, because it is a number one issue. Ron DeSantis, this goes to show, is sort of a poster child for Democrats when it comes to sort of trying to paint Republicans as having extremist policies.

Now, you talk to any Biden adviser, and they will say, look, we are focused on the midterms, we are not thinking yet about 2024 in a serious way, but, yes, there is a universe wherein 2024 there is a Biden versus DeSantis race. So, we could also get just a little bit of preview of what Democrats, what President Biden, what they see as some of his biggest political vulnerabilities today.

COLLINS: Big issue. But, obviously, what we've seen Republicans pushing is this economic-driven message, and President Biden yesterday had this abruptly scheduled remarks where he want after oil companies, talking about the oil profits they're making. This is what he told reporters.

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JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Oil companies, record profits today are not because of doing something new or innovative. The profits are a windfall of war. At a time of war, any company receiving historic profits like this has a responsibility to act beyond our narrow self- interests as its executive shareholders.

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COLLINS: Now, M.J., he's issuing these warnings to these companies. Of course, he's going to need the consent of Congress to get a lot of this done. But what is the driving factor behind this messaging from President Biden?

LEE: Yes. The driving factor is gas prices. For a big part of the year, as the White House has dealt with high gas prices, the president has come back to this issue over and over again, the idea of oil companies, energy companies, making these record profits. The idea just being that it is just not fair. It is not right for these companies to have record profits when people are really suffering from these high prices.

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But you make a really important point. Some of these ideas that are being thrown about, taxing corporate profits or other sort of punishments for these companies, they're just not realistic right now in Congress, given the makeup of Congress, but it just goes to show that this is a lot more political messaging and the president in the final stretch trying to talk about an issue that he knows is very important for voters and in some ways try to deflect the blame a little bit too.

LEMON: But you cannot ignore those big profits when Americans are complaining about gas prices. They are going down, but, I mean, billions --

COLLINS: What President Biden said is that if they pass on those profits to the people who are actually paying for gas, gas prices would be down about 50 cents.

M.J. lee, thank you for joining us from the White House.

HARLOW: Thank you, M.J.

So, let's -- you brought up numbers. Let's look at these numbers. So, B.P., big oil company, just in this morning with stronger than expected record -- not record but really big numbers for B.P. overnight in the quarter, raking in $8.2 billion. Other big oil companies, strong, even some record-breaking profiteer. Look at Exxon/Mobil, $18.7 billion in the quarter, Chevron, $10.8 billion, Shell, $9.5 billion.

I spoke, guys, just a few weeks ago to the CEO of Chevron, Mike Wirth, and I asked exactly about this criticism from the Biden administration because, remember, he wrote that open letter to Biden and he really, vocally went after the administration for some of the things they're saying about big oil. Here is what he said about exactly what the president proposed yesterday. Here that was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: Let me read to you from Senator Ron Wyden, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. Quote, big oil companies are raking in record profits, rewarding their CEOs and wealthy shareholders with massive stock buybacks and using special loopholes and tax codes to pay next to nothing in taxes. I want to give you a chance respond to that.

MIKE WIRTH, CEO, CHEVRON: Windfall profits taxes have been tried before in this country. They didn't achieve the goal that was desired. It's pretty basic, that if you want more of something, you tend not to tax it. You want less of something, put taxes on it.

HARLOW: That would make you produce less, you're saying?

WIRTH: If you tax our industry, it does not incentivize -- if you increase taxes on our industry, that does not incentivize investment, it discourages investment. And it's a simple economic truth. We work around the world and our capital is mobile. And so a windfall profits tax in one country is likely to move that investment somewhere else.

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HARLOW: Remember, guys? Well, I wasn't even born yet. Kaitlan definitely wasn't born. But in 1980, they did a windfall profit tax for eight years, it didn't work. Maybe different this time. Didn't work, Congress fulfilled it (ph).

COLLINS: The idea that Congress is going to pass that is really farfetched, I think.

LEMON: Yes. And, listen, it's a tough argument to sell to the American people, again, when they're struggling and you're making $18 billion in profit.

HARLOW: And a lot of share buybacks, billions in share buybacks, which is not the same as the money going to most Americans.

LEMON: But speaking of the economy, pocketbook issues, as we've just been saying, will likely play a major factor in the key Pennsylvania Senate race between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz. And I had a candid conversation really with Fetterman about why he changed his position on fracking and what he wants President Biden do to address inflation. And I have to note that we did conduct this interview using closed caption technology.

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LEMON: I want to play this moment now from your debate last week about fracking and then we'll talk about it later. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): I -- I do support fracking. And -- I don't -- I don't -- I support fracking and I stand -- and I do support fracking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, just a context here, in 2018, when running for lieutenant governor, you said, I don't support fracking at all and I never have. So, to be clear, Lieutenant Governor, do you support fracking now?

FETTERMAN: Yes. No. The -- all of the -- all of the reservations that I had with fracking were all about the environmental concerns, and Pennsylvania passed some of the strongest environmental regulations, and that has now, you know, means that -- I've been very supportive of fracking because energy independence is critical, and that gets more and more important, given in light of the Ukraine war, to make sure we can't be a hostage to a nation like Russia.

Again, it was all about the environmental issues, and, again, after the regulations passed, it's a no-brainer to support fracking and I've been very strong supporter of fracking.

LEMON: So, listen, but my -- correct me if I'm wrong. Research shows that environmental protections -- those environmental protections were put in place in 2016. So, what has changed since 2018 when you said that you didn't support it?

FETTERMAN: Yes. No. They -- they -- they were all part of that. And I also want to point out that in 2017, I was actually very supportive of fracking directly across the street from where I live as well too.

[07:20:02]

I've never taken any money from the industry and I've always believed that it's very a environmental concerns and it's also very critical, energy independence as well, and it's part of supporting fracking, and now that we are doing it in a more -- or in a stronger environmental kinds of regulations.

LEMON: So, Lieutenant Governor, Pennsylvania is a state where votes may take days to count and that's because mail-in ballots can't be processed until Election Day. Are you prepared to wait for an outcome in your race, that you're going to be patient and wait for an outcome in your race?

FETTERMAN: Absolutely. The -- Pennsylvania's elections are secure and absolutely support whatever the outcome is.

LEMON: If you do win, what is your top priority in the Senate? What would be the first bill of yours that you'd want to get passed, sir?

FETTERMAN: I -- there's a lot of things I think are important, but I'm much more focused just running through the tape over the next eight days. I've been running on things that are always going to come down on the side of working families here in Pennsylvania. There's just a lot of great choices. But, to me, it's about making sure we run through the end of the last eight days.

LEMON: Understood. So, an issue that I know is important to everyone, the economy now. The economy is improving. Gas prices are down. GDP is up. But there are still concerns about inflation and the possibility of a recession. As a senator, what would you ask the Biden administration to do to improve things for the people of your state, of Pennsylvania?

FETTERMAN: I just believe that we always have to be very, you know, actively coming back against corporate greed and price gouging, is well true and I always want to keep making more and more in Pennsylvania and in America as well true.

And Dr. Oz, for all of his merchandise, was all manufactured in China during this career and I, again, believe those are very critical as a nation that we make sure we come down on the side of workers.

LEMON: Well, let's talk about inflation because that's a big concern for voters. What do you think the biggest cause of inflation is, and should the Biden administration be doing more?

FETTERMAN: Well, I just do. I think that simply is also -- talk about the trillions in massive tax -- tax cuts to the corporate -- tax structure is well true. You know, trillions of dollars have added to the deficit, and now they still want to support those is well true.

I think in terms of being very serious about addressing inflation is making sure that those rates are brought back in to align with what they should have been where they're able to fight the deficit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A couple things to point out here. He did clarify what happened with fracking in the debate, in his stance on fracking. We conducted the interview using closed captioning. And also we have reached out to the Oz campaign multiple times, and they are welcome to come on before Election Day, and we'd welcome them to come on to take questions as well.

And also, don't forget, one week from tonight, CNN's special coverage of the midterm elections are going to begin at 4:00 P.M. and go all night. You'll be seeing a lot of us on election night. HARLOW: Many hours. Many hours.

All right, new video this morning, what it shows is border patrol agents firing pepper ball projectiles at a group of Venezuelan migrants. You see them here trying to push them back from Texas back into Mexico. The ACLU and Texas civil rights groups are condemning this action this morning.

Our Rosa Flores, who has done just extensive reporting, Rosa, on the border. What can you tell us about this?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, it's very early in the investigation. We have a lot of questions. But here's what we do know, according to the Customs and Border Protection. They say about noon El Paso time yesterday, there's a group of Venezuelan nationals who were attempting to enter the United States all while they were protesting on the Rio Grande, in the area near downtown El Paso, when the situation escalated. According to CBP, one protester allegedly assaulted an agent with a flagpole and then another protester allegedly threw a rock at an agent injuring that agent. And at that point, according to Customs and Border Protection, agents used pepper ball guns, which are used for crowd control, to disperse the crowd and those Venezuelan nationals and others were turned back to Mexico.

And, Poppy, all of this is under investigation by the Office of Professional Responsibility, but as you mentioned, civil rights groups here in Texas are issuing statements, very alarmed by what is video that has been captured and has been shared on social media shows, which indeed shows that agents were using pepper ball guns on migrants.

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HARLOW: I think it's also notable, and, Rosa, you know this better than anyone, that this comes just as the Biden administration has changed its policy. All right, we talk a lot about something called Title 42. They changed this, overall, their policy as it pertains to those Venezuelan migrants. Can you explain for the viewers why that matters so much here?

FLORES: And, you know, there's a connection, Poppy. You're absolutely right, because the Biden administration expanded the Trump-era pandemic public health order known as Title 42, which, in essence, allows for the swift expulsion of migrants to Mexico. And the Biden administration is applying it broadly to Venezuelans. And so since the change in policy at about mid-October, thousands of Venezuelans have been returned back to Mexico.

And I'm contact with organizations all along the border. They say that hundreds of them are there in Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, which is where all of this went down.

HARLOW: Rosa, thank you for your continued reporting on the border, to you and your team.

Ahead, we are going to take you to Ukraine. Our colleague, Clarissa Ward, is on the ground with her new reporting on Iran's significant involvement here helping Russia in this war.

COLLINS: Yes, potentially game-changing.

CNN is also on the trail and in the battleground states this morning, where races are tightening with one week out before the elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you said Mandela Barnes has turned on America. Why do you think this race is so close?

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Well, it's Wisconsin, first of all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your reaction?

LT. GOV. MANDELA BARNES (D-WI): Ron Johnson has been a hypocrite in his entire career.

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