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Pelosi Family Will Be Able to View Police Body Camera Footage of Attack on Paul Pelosi; Polling Shows Republican Voters Lack Confidence Midterm Election Results Will be Accurate; Former President Barack Obama Campaigns in Nevada for Democratic Incumbent in Tight Senate Race. Aired 8-8:30a ET
Aired November 02, 2022 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHIEF WILLIAM SCOTT, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: What it was very clear to me from viewing that body worn campaign is he tried to kill Mr. Pelosi.
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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. It is the top of the hour. We're so happy that you could join us this morning. I'm Don Lemon. Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins are here. It is November 2nd, so welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. As you've been with us throughout this morning you can see that we have a lot of news, and we're going to get to it, a lot to get to this morning, including new details about the, quote, suicide mission that Paul Pelosi's attacker was on and the evidence members of the Pelosi family are about to see and hear.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also, losing faith in the election system. A new poll reveals how many voters already distrust the results of the midterm elections before they even come in.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And wow. Caught on camera, this Texas woman who was gored by a bison in a state park. You are going to hear from her during and after that attack.
LEMON: A very busy Wednesday here in the country.
We're going to begin, though, with this new reporting. Members of the Pelosi family will soon be able to hear audio from the 911 call Paul Pelosi made to police on the night he was assaulted. They will also get to see police body cam footage of that brutal attack. We're going to begin this morning with CNN's Jamie Gangel. Jamie, good morning to you. What do you know?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. Don, as you said, the police, the local San Francisco police, the D.A. are providing members of the Pelosi family, they will be the first to hear that 911 call, which we know lasted about three minutes. That may be critical, because as the details are coming out, we're getting sort of a real time narration of what was going on, and of course the body cam footage, which the D.A. told CNN yesterday you will see. So members of the Pelosi family are going to actually see the attack where Paul Pelosi was hit in the head with a hammer and his skull was fractured, Don.
HARLOW: Jamie, we have finally heard from the district attorney on last night talking to Erin. I thought that was a really interest, informative interview, both about what they could say and what they couldn't say. I wonder what stood out to you.
GANGEL: So I think a combination of the D.A. and what we've heard from the police chief. First of all, this phone call lasted three minutes. We're getting extraordinary detail about what the assailant said to police, volunteered, that it was a suicide mission. And that sound you just played from the police chief I think is critical, to Anderson Cooper last night. He said that it was crystal clear to him that DePape intended to kill Paul Pelosi. And let's not forget the intended target was Nancy Pelosi. This was political.
COLLINS: And Jamie, so much of your coverage has also has to factor in these conspiracies that now these officers, these investigators are essentially having to debunk in real time, but it's the more the facts come out, the more like a crazy conspiracy it seems.
GANGEL: Right, so a couple things. First of all, shame on all these people who are spreading this nonsense. I think we need a new word for conspiracy theories. I think we need to call them lies. But as far as civility is concerned, enough is enough. This is just crazy. We're living in a very polarized country. This is clearly only making it worse.
I would just add on a political note, we are a week away from Election Day. I'm not saying the Republican base that follows this is going to dramatically change, but in some of these tight races, maybe it will make a difference around the edges, Kaitlan.
LEMON: I think you're right, Jamie. It's not lies, dangerous lies, deadly lies.
GANGEL: Dangerous lies, absolutely. Absolutely.
LEMON: Thank you, Jamie.
HARLOW: Jamie, thank you, as always.
Let's talk about new numbers this morning. We're just days from the midterms. New CNN polls for Republicans are showing a strong position ahead of next week's midterms. The economy is at the forefront of what most of voters care about. Only three percent say crime is the most important issue this election season for them. Let's bring in CNN political director David Chalian. David, good morning to you.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning.
HARLOW: What do the numbers tell us?
CHALIAN: This brand new batch of polling that we're bringing to your from our exclusive CNN polls deals with confidence in the election results. This kind of keys off your conversation with Jamie Gangel in terms of the overall political environment. Take a look. Are you confident that the U.S. elections will reflect the will of the people? This is a divided nation -- 50 percent are confident, 50 percent of Americans are not.
And take a look by party. So Democrats far more confident than not, 61 to 39 percent. Independents roughly split 49 to 51. But Republicans, 59 percent of Republicans are not confident that the U.S. elections will reflect the will of the people, four in ten Republicans are. And if you look over time we do see flight uptick in confidence across all parties. So a slight uptick from June, July to know, 57 to 61 percent among Democrats. Among independent it's up 11 points confidence. And we've seen significant growth in confidence among Republicans, though as I just showed you, more Republicans are distrustful than trust.
HARLOW: Right. Go ahead, David.
CHALIAN: No, please, go ahead, Poppy.
HARLOW: I just ask you what the numbers show about greater Republican confidence in the election system, and obviously so much of this stems from election denialism continuing from the former president on down.
CHALIAN: Yes. We just asked straight out, did Joe Biden legitimately win enough votes for the presidency? That's what we asked in the poll? And overall, the American population, two-thirds, yes, 67 percent. A third of Americans, 32 percent say, no, he did not. Now, this is overall. I want you to look at this by party. Democrats overwhelmingly, independents overwhelmingly, but Republicans are a complete reversal of the public overall -- 66 percent, two-thirds of Republicans say that Joe Biden did not win enough votes to legitimately win the presidency in 2020.
COLLINS: Unbelievable.
LEMON: David, thank you very much. Appreciate that.
COLLINS: The White House is like, um, we been in office. So --
LEMON: Here's the thing, though. We can't just gloss over that. David did a great job on the numbers, right. This is more than just about numbers. This is a crux of what is happening in this country, and this is a crux of why Tuesday is so important, because people believe in lies. The election was not stolen. This was the most controlled election in our history. You have to look at who has been spreading the lies. Why there is a lack of trust and confidence in the system.
HARLOW: Including who is still spreading those lies.
LEMON: And winning on those lies. And that is re the bigger question rather than just, oh, what do the polls show. I think the question is who is doing it? And why is it happening? And why are American voters allowing things like that to happen? Because we shouldn't be. This is really important stuff, and this is why Tuesday is really important. Election deniers, quite honestly, should not have the momentum that they have. The truth should have the momentum.
COLLINS: And there's a big race, we've talked a lot of these Senate races and who the candidates are, what they stand for. We just talked to one of the Democratic candidates for governor in Arizona. But also a race that people have not been paying as close of attention to that is really something everyone in Washington is watching is Nevada and the Senate rate there. And it could ultimately determine who controls the Senate. And the incumbent is really thought to be the most vulnerable Democrat in the Senate. And so who do you call to rally voters in the final campaign days if you are the Democrat and you are freaking out right now?
LEMON: The big guns.
COLLINS: Barack Obama, of course. CNN's Manu Raju is live in Las Vegas. Manu, Democrats typically did not think they would be worried about this seat, but now it is one of the most worrisome that they are facing.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it. Barack Obama was at a rally just north of here last night trying to fire up Democratic voters, attacking Republicans up and down the ticket, including Adam Laxalt, who is running for the Senate. Laxalt was Donald Trump's co-chair in Nevada. Obama criticizing him over Laxalt's effort to overturn the 2020 election result, his ties to the oil industry, and his plans to deal with inflation, which is of course a driving issue in the race.
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RAJU: Democrats have been racking up major victories in Nevada for the better part of a decade, but next week that trend could come to an abrupt end. First term senator Catherine Cortez Masto trying to cling on to her seat amid a GOP offensive that could knock off Democrats up and down the ticket here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Catherine Cortez Masto rubberstamped Joe Biden's reckless spending.
RAJU: As Republicans seek to tap into voter anger over inflation and high gas prices. The polls showing the race deadlocked between Cortez Masto and her GOP challenge, former state attorney general Adam Laxalt. The Democrats are calling in the big guns.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I am here to ask you to vote.
RAJU: As he joined musician John Legend in rallying Democratic voters, former president Barack Obama sounded the alarm.
OBAMA: Tuning out is not an option. The only way to save democracy is if we together fight for it!
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RAJU: But one person not at the north Las Vegas rally, President Joe Biden. Democrats have kept him at an arm's length.
President Obama is here today. Why not President Biden?
SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO (D-NV): You know what, a lot of people have offered to come here.
RAJU: Do you want Biden to run for reelection?
MASTO: I'm focused right now on this election and making sure that I'm getting around talking to Nevadans.
RAJU: Laxalt, meanwhile, has aligned herself with Donald Trump.
ADAM LAXALT, (R) NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE: So back in the Trump era, they can try to blame anybody they want. They can only blame themselves now.
RAJU: Appearing at a rally with the former president in rural Nevada last month and with his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. last week.
DONALD TRUMP JR.: And you guys ready to take your country back?
RAJU: But Laxalt has limited his interactions with the press, even dodging CNN's questions at an event last week, and his campaign blocking our access to the candidate. Strategists from both parties say the two candidates are not well known among the electorate, with roughly 300,000 new voters here since Cortez Masto won her first race in 2016, and more than 30 years have passed since Laxalt's grandfather, Paul Laxalt, was a senator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The charmed life of Adam Laxalt, always looking out for himself.
RAJU: That is enough for outside groups to try to define them across the airwaves, dropping nearly $110 million in just the past two months.
As he toured a major solar project outside of Las Vegas, Cortez Masto touted renewable energy --
MASTO: It's a good thing, we need jobs.
RAJU: -- and the bipartisan infrastructure law, and attacked Laxalt on abortion.
MASTO: You're in a state right now that is a proud pro-choice state. My opponent is on the other side of that.
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RAJU (on camera): This Senate race actually will not feature a single Senate debate. Democrats believe that is a concerted strategy by Laxalt who has limited his interviews mainly to friendly media interviews. But Democrats I talked to here are also concerned that Cortez Masto has not effectively defined herself despite being the first woman and Latina senator from the state. I asked her about those concerns. She downplayed it. She pointed to her record, and noting she's a third generation Nevadan. Kaitlan?
COLLINS: Yes, it's been a big question on what the Democrats' message is in these final closing days. Manu, thanks for that report.
Don't forget, we will be covering the election very closely here at CNN. We start at 4:00 p.m. eastern next Tuesday. We will be going all night with Don, Poppy, and I.
LEMON: That's when it starts, but when it ends, who knows.
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HARLOW: That is exactly right!
LEMON: Did you hear the laughing in the studio?
HARLOW: There was a cackle in the back.
The Supreme Court, though, denying Senator Lindsey Graham's request to avoid testifying before an Atlanta area grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. So he's going to have to talk. What does this all mean?
LEMON: Money, money, money, money, money.
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LEMON: Some serious cash up for grabs tonight. So what are your odds of winning the Powerball? We kind of now, but we still have to talk about it. Data is here, and that means we have to break down the numbers.
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COLLINS: The Phillies' wild ride continuing. Now they are just two wins away from a World Series title. They rolled past the Astros in game three last night, 7-0.
Bryce Harper's two-run blast in the first inning was all they really needed. But there's a lot more. Four other Phillies went deep as well. They're the first team to hit five homers off the same pitcher in a World Series game.
LEMON: That's not good. Not good.
COLLINS: The Phillies -- no, it's not.
The Phillies are undefeated at home during this post-game. They lead the series 2-1. Game four is tonight back at Citizens Park, bank park in Philadelphia. LEMON: That's not good.
COLLINS: We all go, what?
LEMON: Well, look, I'm happy for them but that's not good getting that many. Whoo!
So, apparently, I guess the Astros are feeling lucky? Would you say that?
COLLINS: The Phillies.
LEMON: I'm sorry, the Phillies -- sorry about that.
COLLINS: The Phillies fans at home right now are like, Don?
LEMON: What are you talking? They're feeling lucky.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Are you feeling lucky?
LEMON: I am.
HARLOW: That's why.
LEMON: Because I get to sit between you two.
But also because Harry Enten is coming up.
So, Powerball right now, huge. Tonight's jackpot stands at $1.2 billion. The second largest amount of Powerball's 30-year-history.
So, here to break it down, our senior data reporter, Mr. Harry Enten.
Data. So, did you get us all tickets this morning?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: No, but if you want, we can have a group activity afterwards. We can all go out to the local, you know, shop and maybe get some candy and a few tickets as well.
And, Don, you stole my line. I was going to say that I was lucky to be on set with y'all.
LEMON: Well, you are. That's true. So --
ENTEN: It's true. But why don't we walk over this little magic wall and we're going to talk about the Powerball and get an idea of what Americans are thinking about the lottery.
So I think the first question is if you in fact win the lottery, would you share it with your friends and family? Eighty-seven percent of Americans say yes, in fact, they would.
I'm kind of iffy on it, but maybe I'd share it with Don. Definitely Poppy and Kaitlan though.
There's another big question for you. Would you quit your current job if you won the lottery? Sixty-two percent of Americans said yes. They would.
I think I'm in the no camp. I like being with these folks.
All right. How about some lotto advice, because I think the number one question is how do we win this freaking lottery, right? How do we win it so then we could go up to vacations to wherever we want. Maybe I could go off the Buffalo and enjoy the lake effect snow and the Buffalo Bills up there.
Here's the big piece of advice I would give you. Pick numbers larger than 31. Why? Because most people pick birthdays, anniversaries, dates and, of course, there's no month has more than 31 days in it.
The final little nugget that I would tell you is there are no lucky states for Powerball winners. I was talking off stage with one our producers, Annie. And she was like, don't buy a ticket in New York City. We never win there.
The fact of the matter is the states with the most power ball winnings are the ones that have the most populations. Florida, California, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee.
So, all it's luck, unless you pick above 31.
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COLLINS: That's actually really interesting. I think my dad should be watching this because he always buys lottery tickets, he never wins. We live in Alabama. We don't have the lottery, so I would have to go and buy him the tickets, so he could make sure. Otherwise people drive to state like Florida to go and get a ticket.
LEMON: I don't see -- but the computer picks the number, right?
HARLOW: Not always.
ENTEN: The computer picks the number but here's the thing, right? If you're choosing the number, you don't want to split your -- you don't want to split. You don't want to split. That's what I forgot to say.
LEMON: I was going to say why over 31 because the numbers are random.
ENTEN: Here's the deal, if you in fact pick the same numbers as somebody else, you're going to split your winnings with somebody else, right?
LEMON: The computer picks the number, the computer doesn't care if it's 31 or 8 or 4.
ENTEN: Right. Here's the deal -- Don, if you and I pick all the same numbers, correct, then we're going to have to split the lottery. We're going to have to split the winnings. What I want to do is maximize, so I don't have to share my winnings with you and then you come begging me for more money.
LEMON: All right. But maximize your profits but it doesn't increase your chances. That's thing. All right.
ENTEN: It doesn't increase your chance of winning but it increases your chance of getting the largest win.
LEMON: I was trying to get some --
ENTEN: I got it for you. Thank you.
COLLINS: Those are really interesting, Harry.
LEMON: Thank you, Harry. Appreciate that. Thanks, Harry.
COLLINS: All right. Early voting in Georgia is almost at historic levels. We'll talk about what is fueling the enthusiasm among voters there.
LEMON: We're also going to talk about this, a bison attack caught on camera. CNN spoke to the woman in this now viral video.
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COLLINS: The Supreme Court has declined to block a subpoena for Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to testify in front of a special grand jury in Atlanta. The court's order said that the questioning, which was allowed by lower courts, can be limited. The grand jury, of course, is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential vote in Georgia.
So, joining us now to talk about this is Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. He's the author of "Integrity Counts". He is running for reelection.
And, Mr. Raffensperger, obviously, the reason that the district attorney wants to talk to Lindsey Graham is because of calls that he made to you.
And so, I wonder when Senator Graham was calling you, what did you believe was the purpose behind that phone call?
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R-GA), SECRETARY OF STATE: He was calling about the process he had for accepting absentee ballots. Back in 2020, people wanted to make sure that that was actually being done, and there are questions about that process.
I think post-2020, a lot of people are probably, you know, weren't as well-versed in election security, you know, were then starting to take a look at things and asking questions.
COLLINS: Did you think there was a legislative performance behind Senator Graham's phone calls to you?
RAFFENSPERGER: Well, I don't know exactly what they do in Washington, D.C. I think that's one of the reasons that we're having strong turnout right now. People are frustrated with what is going on in Washington, D.C. We've seen the pocketbook issues.
But I think that's part of the process, and I'm going to let the grand jury do what they do and make sure we have a fair and honest election coming up this coming Tuesday. We have record turnout right now. That's what our focus is in this election.
LEMON: If he denies that or anything about asking you to do something in this election, is he essentially lying to the grand jury?
RAFFENSPERGER: Well, I think I'll let them do their process. You know, we've had our statements and he'll have his, and that's all, you know, in a sealed process. But like I said, our big issue is like last night, we passed over 1.9 million early voters. That's record turnout. We have three more days early voting. We're going to be over 2 million here sometime midday today.
And so, we're just really focused making sure everyone knows their vote will count. We have honest and fair elections here in Georgia.
HARLOW: And let's not miss it. I mean, you make such an important point. It is great, everyone should be celebrating how many people are turning out to vote early, how many are expected to go to the polls on election day, right? It's fundamental to our democracy.
You've nearly matched the 2020 election in terms of numbers of early votes. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, though, says this is happening in spite of Georgia's new-ish voting law, SB-202, not because of, right? Her argument is, that limited the number of people who can vote.
We're seeing the numbers. We don't know who's voting, but we're seeing the numbers. What do you say to her?
RAFFENSPERGER: Her arguments -- it's silly. It doesn't make sense. It's not logical.
We're having record turnout. We now have photo ID for all forms of voting. We've instituted photo ID. We modeled it after Minnesota law which they've been using photo ID for absentee now voting for 10 years. And that really helps you identify with -- you know, enhanced security and confidence in the process.
And so, we're seeing that people really feel that we have safe, secure and honest elections. And look at the numbers, we're having record turnout for early voting. People are seeing that the lines are moving quickly. We're not receiving any major issues of any -- in any area. All 159 counties are doing their job, making sure the people will have a smooth process. And we're just expecting that to continue.
We've been recognized by the Center for Election Innovation researchers on the left side of the aisle and then we've also been recognized by Heritage on the right side of the aisle for having strong, accurate and elections with integrity. And that -- I think that's successful and also having the right, appropriate guardrails in place so we can identify voters. LEMON: But just because -- listen, I've got to -- just because people
are voting in record numbers, it doesn't mean there still aren't suppressive efforts and you look at what happened with the drop boxes, the number of drop boxes being reduced in certain areas, especially in Black and Brown areas, and where they can be located, and the hours that they can be located.
Why isn't it important? Because it worked during the pandemic, it worked during COVID. Why isn't it important to open up as many places as possible to make it as easy possible, as many days as possible for people to be able to get out and vote?
RAFFENSPERGER: Well, you've made a very key point when you said about during the pandemic.
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