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CNN: Iran To Ship Ballistic Missiles To Russia In Major Escalation; GOP's Liz Cheney To Campaign For Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin in MI Today; Johnson, Barnes Neck-And-Neck In Battleground Senate Race. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 01, 2022 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:52]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: There is new CNN reporting this morning on a major escalation in Russia's war on Ukraine -- an escalation that could change the course of this conflict. CNN is learning that Iran is preparing to send 1,000 new weapons to Moscow -- a move that is getting the West's attention. The shipment includes ballistic missiles and more attack drones.

Our chief international correspondent is Clarissa Ward and she is live in Ukraine for us. Clarissa, good morning to you. This will and -- probably will change the trajectory of this war.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, Don, many here are very anxious about the impact of particularly, those missiles.

And I want to give you a sense of what it looks like when you have a missile strike here in Ukraine. This was a residential apartment building. It was hit by a cruise missile just about three weeks ago. Three people were killed; another seven people were injured. No clear target here. Very hard to understand why on earth you would bomb an area with ordinary people living in a simple apartment building.

But that's why potentially, the development of these Iranian weapons could be very significant, indeed.

I should say we don't yet have a timeline on when they might arrive here. It's not just missiles, it's drones. You've seen how those drones have wreaked havoc in the last month, particularly on civilian infrastructure.

And just yesterday, Don, more than 50 missiles aimed at Ukraine. The Ukrainian air force saying that they were able to intercept more than 40 of them, which is very significant. But it only takes a few, Don, to get in, hit their targets, and cripple civilian infrastructure.

LEMON: You keep mentioning infrastructure, Clarissa. Vladimir Putin suggested that recent shelling on critical infrastructure was -- and I quote here -- "not all Russians could do." What do you think he is implying here?

WARD: Well, I think you always have to take things a little bit in the context of Vladimir Putin is always trying to play a mind game here, right? He's trying to intimidate. He's trying to threaten. He's trying to deflect from the fact that actually, Russia has suffered some pretty humiliating defeats on the battlefield and is facing kind of an uphill battle when it comes to maintaining control of some of the areas that they have.

But there's no question that Ukraine is really struggling to keep up with these attacks on the electric plants, on the water pump plants, on the hydroelectric dams. We have rolling blackouts across the country -- yesterday, hundreds of thousands without power. The children's hospital here in Zaporizhzhia was running on backup power.

That is clearly not a sustainable situation, which is why you see Ukrainian officials appealing for more materials to try to build back the grid and keep up with this wave of attacks. But also, appealing for more air defense systems to try to stop them from happening in the first place.

LEMON: Clarissa, thank you. And you can see -- I mean, look where Clarissa is right now. It has just decimated much of Ukraine. It looks exactly like where Clarissa is.

Clarissa, again, our thanks to you. Please be safe.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Clarissa.

LEMON: So, Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney is set to stump for a Democrat. That Democrat, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. She joins us next.

HARLOW: Also, our Omar Jimenez is standing by in Washington -- in Wisconsin, I should say -- far from Washington. But a race he's following could certainly shape the Senate.

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[07:38:24]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): For almost 40 years now, I have been voting Republican. I don't know that I have ever voted for a Democrat. As Republicans, there have to be consequences and we have to make sure that people understand that we're going to vote for those that we can trust and depend on to do the right thing and to uphold their oath.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: That was Liz Cheney last month calling on Republican voters to reject candidates who spread lies about elections. And now, in the final days before the midterms, she is not stumping for the Republican candidate in Michigan's 7th District, Tom Barrett, who said he had quote "a legitimate concern about how the 2020 election was conducted." Instead, you are going to see Cheney campaigning with his Democratic opponent, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin.

Congresswoman Slotkin joins us now. Our first question, I think, is did you ask Liz Cheney to come and campaign with you, or did she ask you if she could come and campaign?

LEMON: And good morning, by the way.

COLLINS: And good morning.

REP. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Good morning, good morning. Congrats on your new -- your new show.

LEMON: Thank you.

SLOTKIN: No. She came up to me on the floor of the House in our last voting week in September and she just said look, if there's anything I can do to help, you just let me know. And I said, really? And she said yes, and that began the conversation. So I'm appreciative because it's, again, just another sort of point of bravery that I think I really admire about here.

COLLINS: And what do you think makes her an effective surrogate for you? You're a vulnerable Democrat in one of the most competitive swing districts in the elections that's happening a week from today. What makes her an effective surrogate for you?

[07:40:04]

SLOTKIN: Well, I mean, I think for me, it is a Republican-leaning district and -- but I still really believe in people. And I really believe that even if they don't agree with everything that I believe in that they want leaders with integrity and they want leaders who demonstrate leadership. And I think Liz has done that and I think that she's done that effectively.

And look, I mean, the last time that she was doing media in my media market she was -- she was disagreeing with me vehemently on --

HARLOW: Yes.

SLOTKIN: -- on a point of policy.

HARLOW: Yes.

SLOTKIN: January of 2020.

And -- but we agree on one really big thing and that's that there has to be a democratic system in order for --

HARLOW: Yes.

SLOTKIN: -- our system to function. So it's pretty important to me.

HARLOW: I think that's such an important point because when I heard that this was happening, I thought wow -- like, they are really at sort of different ends of the spectrum on so many key issues -- on abortion, on Obamacare, on immigration. She has a very conservative voting record, right?

But I wonder what you think that says that she'll be with you on the trail tonight about where you place the importance of upholding democracy really above all else and you can disagree on really significant policy issues but come together to uphold democracy?

SLOTKIN: Yes. I think -- I mean, look, the history of Democrats and Republicans is vociferous debate about --

HARLOW: Yes.

SLOTKIN: -- about policy, right -- really going back and forth. And that's my dream, right, is that we're in a system where we're pushing and pulling on each other about the role of government in our lives. That is as American as apple pie and George Washington.

But if we don't have a democracy and if each side just says well, if the other guy wins I don't believe in our system, it's going to crumble, right? It's not going to work.

And so, while we disagree -- and I look forward to debating her in the future on issues of policy on democracy -- we are in vehement agreement.

LEMON: Oh --

HARLOW: All you -- all you --

LEMON: Listen, I just want to ask you about Liz Cheney is probably -- I would -- I think she -- Democrats probably like her now a lot more than Republicans.

HARLOW: Good point.

LEMON: Do you actually think that she could possibly -- do you think that she could possibly help you or hurt you on the campaign trail because she's sort of toxic for Republicans -- to Republicans?

SLOTKIN: Yes. You know, I think that -- I've been asked this before.

First of all, I think we have to sort of be honest with ourselves that there are things that are more important than any one person winning an election. And my race is going to be a nailbiter. I've known that from the beginning. It always is. And I'm comfortable if the people of my district say that I'm not the right person then so be it.

But there has to be something that's more important than just getting reelected. And I think that leadership -- principled leadership in this country is vital if we're going to get through whatever we are going through right now.

HARLOW: Right.

SLOTKIN: This period of instability.

So I'm willing to take that risk because I think it's important to highlight people who are brave in a -- in a -- an environment where there's so few real leaders standing up. That's number one.

Number two, we're going to have other people speaking today at the event -- Republicans who are voting for me -- and have them explain their case. And I think they represent a lot of people in this district, like my dad, right, who is a lifelong Republican but who feels like the party has just gone off on the wrong track. And it's those people I'm speaking to --

HARLOW: Yes.

SLOTKIN: -- moderate Republicans, Independents. People who know that this kind of toxic anger that people are throwing back and forth in the political realm is not good for our country and they want leaders who try and rise above that.

LEMON: But let me just follow up with that because here's the thing that -- the criticism for Democrats is that Democrats aren't -- they don't have the fight that Republicans have.

And politics, at the end of the day, is all about winning. If you win, then you get your point across. You get to enact laws. You get legislation. The whole point is to win.

People may think that well, you don't have the fight because you're saying hey, look -- they may think you're saying I don't really want to win because of the answer that you just gave it -- gave the American people on this show.

SLOTKIN: Well look, I mean, this is going to be my third tough election. I think I've demonstrated more than, frankly, a lot of like true blue Democrats in places like the east coast or the west coast. That -- not only do I have the fight in me but I actually win in tough races, right? This isn't a primary, this is a general election. We have the House majority right now by four or five seats and I'm one of those seats.

So I think I've demonstrated a capacity to fight and a capacity to win. But that doesn't mean that I envision a country where we just get as sick and as twisted as some of the things that are coming out from the other side. I refuse to do that.

And I refuse to believe that somehow we can't ever -- like we're going to split into red America and blue America. In a place like Michigan, that doesn't work --

HARLOW: Yes.

SLOTKIN: -- in our own families, in our own neighborhoods.

[07:45:00]

So I want the Republican Party to fix themselves. I can't fix them, right? What I can do is win at the ballot box in a week and that is what I am trying to do. And as someone who is a former CIA officer and a Pentagon official who did three tours in Iraq alongside the military, I would put my willingness to fight and my spine against anyone running in any of these blue, blue states.

LEMON: Well, that's how you sell it. I mean, that was a pretty good answer. That's a pretty good answer.

COLLINS: Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, thank you so much for joining us on our first show.

SLOTKIN: Thanks for having me.

LEMON: Thank you, Congresswoman.

HARLOW: All right. This morning, in Wisconsin, the Senate race is heating up. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson and his Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes now speaking to CNN as issues like abortion and crime keep this race very close.

Our colleague Omar Jimenez is on the ground in Milwaukee with more. You had a chance to talk to both of them to ask them the key questions. What did they say?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I did, and you can really feel the stakes of this election. Hard to believe we are a week out at this point. But you can feel it in the air. You definitely can't avoid it. Nearly $100 million spent on ads total since Labor Day. But it's why both of these candidates are on respective RV and bus tours on the hunt for something much more valuable than ads.

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LT. GOV. MANDELA BARNES, (D) WISCONSIN SENATE CANDIDATE: Hey, how are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just blessed, man.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): It's the time of year when handshakes and cheers --

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Thank you. Thank you.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): -- need to become votes in Wisconsin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want us to vote for Mandela?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go away. It's my First Amendment right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): The hotly contested race between 2-term Republican Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes could determine control of the U.S. Senate.

JOHNSON: These people need to be stopped. They need to be defeated. (Cheers)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): The sharp rhetoric, a reflection of the elevated stakes.

JIMENEZ (on camera): Sen. Johnson, you said Mandela Barnes has turned on America. Why do you think this race is so close?

JOHNSON: Well, it's Wisconsin, first of all. I don't understand it. I don't know why he has such grievances against this country. But that's what this is all about. Our nation is at a precipice right now.

BARNES: Hey.

(Cheers)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Barnes, on a statewide RV tour, says he's campaigning to help save the country.

JIMENEZ (on camera): Ron Johnson is calling you too extreme for Wisconsin. What is your reaction to that?

BARNES: Well, Ron Johnson's been a hypocrite his entire career. We're talking about the things that matter -- creating good-paying jobs, rebuilding the middle class -- the same middle class that gave my family opportunity.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): With polls showing a tight race, Barnes bringing in former President Barack Obama to fire up Democratic voters and make the case against Johnson.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He is not the person who is thinking about you and knows you and sees you, and he should not be your senator from Wisconsin.

(Cheers)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Both sides believe their path to victory hinges on higher turnout, especially from those who might not typically vote in midterm elections.

ERIKA NELSON, COUNSELOR, AUTHOR: I would also have called myself apolitical in the past. But since Roe versus Wade got overturned, that completely changed everything for me.

JIMENEZ (on camera): So in conversations you're having, it brought a lot of people --

NELSON: Yes.

JIMENEZ (on camera): -- to the forefront, you think?

NELSON: Absolutely.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITES STATES: Thank you. Thank you. JIMENEZ (voice-over): She voted for Trump in 2016, then Biden in 2020, and now plans to cast her ballot for Barnes.

Also top of mind for voters is the economy.

JOHN LADER, RETIRED, RON JOHNSON VOTER: People's savings are being eroded by rising inflation rates and things, and we just need to get back to the basics in this country. The Democrats have gone way too far left for the majority of the country.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): It's a perception that's being tested.

JOHNSON: Most Democrats do love this country and they are concerned about its future, so that's what I'm saying. I'm asking them to join us.

BARNES: We have a chance to bring real opportunity back to Wisconsin and we can get away from people who try to overturn an election just because they don't like the results.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Those results are usually close in Wisconsin which politically, is as close to the state's identity as cheese curds and beer.

JOHNSON: God bless America. Get out there and fight hard. Let's work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Well, we know that cheese curds are very important in Wisconsin and across the Midwest, so that ranks it very high.

But in all seriousness, I mean, we heard in that piece that one voter held abortion as her top voting priority. What did you find talking to folks on the ground was the top issue troubling a lot of these voters? Is it that or is it the economy?

JIMENEZ: Well, we definitely heard a lot on abortion, but it really was the economy. People concerned about how much they are paying for gas, groceries. The true kitchen table test of being able to put food on the table. And it matched up with what we saw in a recent CNN poll where it went the economy, followed by abortion, and then election integrity, which we heard a lot from on voters -- a lot from voters as well.

Now, another thing, both of these candidates mentioned and are pushing for higher voter turnout. That's what they think the ticket is here. And when you look at that, we are already almost 20 percent more when it comes to absentee ballots returned than we were at this point in 2018. So that enthusiasm seems to be there, especially for a midterms race.

[07:50:14]

And, as I mentioned -- look, close elections here in Wisconsin these days are as Wisconsin as cheese curds and beer. And I have a feeling in this next week we're going to see a lot of it. HARLOW: I just didn't get to go to the Minnesota State Fair this year, so I really am in need for a fix of cheese curds. Thank you.

COLLINS: Thanks, Omar.

LEMON: Omar, please bring her some stuff back because --

JIMENEZ: We've had a lot.

LEMON: -- she wants it -- yes.

JIMENEZ: Thank you.

HARLOW: Thank you, Omar.

Do not forget it is one week from tonight -- CNN's special coverage of the midterm elections. And people are engaged. That is what you heard in Omar's reporting. We'll be up all night with you. We hope you'll be up with us, too.

All right, so what exactly is being launched into space this morning? There is it. More on this classified Space Force mission, but we can't figure out how classified because we can see it. We'll talk more about that ahead.

COLLINS: Also, there is talk of criminal charges this morning after that postgame ambush that happened at the Michigan and Michigan State -- Michigan State football game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM HARBAUGH, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: An apology will not get the job done in this instance. There should be serious consequences for the many individuals that are culpable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone, to CNN THIS MORNING.

And this morning, the former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempting to make a comeback in the country's unprecedented fifth election in less than four years. And when asked about international fears that a future coalition government under him would be -- and I quote here -- "too far right" he told CNN he does not want the quote "Muslim brotherhood in government."

Hadas Gold live for us in Jerusalem with more this morning. Hello, Hadas. What did he tell you?

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Don, we're outside of a polling station in Jerusalem. You can see the posters here of the different candidates trying to convince people in the last minute to vote for them. But this election -- the unprecedented fifth time in 3 1/2 years that

Israelis are going to the polls is not just a referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu who faces an ongoing corruption trial and whether he will come back to power, but it's also a question of whether the far-right of Israeli politics will have power in this new coalition government. Because in order to form a governing coalition, Benjamin Netanyahu will likely need to rely on the growing popularity of a far-right group, one of whose leaders was once convicted for inciting racism.

I asked him about that just a few hours ago when he came to vote. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We don't want a government with a Muslim brotherhood who support terrorists and deny the existence of Israel, and are pretty hostile to the United States, too. That's what we're going to bring it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:55:08]

GOLD: Now, polls -- now, polls show that Netanyahu does have the most likely possibility of reforming a government but, of course, this all comes down to voter turnout. Whose voters actually come out to vote. And so far, Don, this year, the turnout is the highest it's been since 1999 -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. Hadas Gold joining us from Jerusalem. Thank you, Hadas. Appreciate that.

Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, a fact-check of conspiracies surrounding the brutal attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband.

COLLINS: And CNN is on the Mississippi River as a record drought is bringing the water there to a historic low.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: As far as water levels go, this is as worse as you've ever seen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about as low as I've seen it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): More Republicans need to speak up.

[08:00:00]