Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Tonight
Paul Pelosi Attacked Inside Their Home; Democrats Are Outrage Of Political Violence; Leader Chuck Schumer Caught In Hot Mic; Barack Obama Campaigned For Raphael Warnock; Hard To Please Two Sides Of Politics; Prevention Is Always Better Than Cure. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired October 28, 2022 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Thanks so much for joining us tonight. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the TikTok at Jake Tapper. Our coverage continues now with Alisyn Camerota.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Good evening, everyone. This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Alisyn Camerota. Laura is off this evening.
So tonight, we have new details about the violent attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 82-year-old husband Paul in their San Francisco home. An intruder attacked him with a hammer. Sources say the suspect was shouting, where's Nancy? And when police arrived, he told them he was, quote, "waiting for Nancy."
An angry President Joe Biden called the attack despicable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Enough is enough is enough. Every person of good conscience needs to clearly and unambiguously stand up against the violence in our politics. Regardless what your politics are.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Now this part will not shock you. The alleged attacker posted conspiracy theories on Facebook, including links to multiple videos from the Trump ally and pillow salesman, Mike Lindell, saying insane things about the 2020 election.
So, not only are our elected officials in danger days before the midterms, so are their families. Federal officials are warning that domestic violent extremists pose a heightened threat to the midterms and beyond.
Let's bring in our CNN law enforcement analyst, Jonathan Wackrow and CNN national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem.
Great to have you guys in the studio.
So, they just had a press conference about this, the San Francisco Police Department moments ago. So, here's what the chief said based on their latest information. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM SCOTT, CHIEF, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT: We also know based on our investigation at this point, that this was not a random act. This was intentional. And it's wrong. Our elected officials are here to do the business of their cities, their counties, their states, and this nation. Their families don't sign up for this to be harmed, and it is wrong. And everybody should be disgusted about what happened this morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Juliette, we feared that things like this would happen. Political. I mean, they don't have a motive yet. There's still early days obviously, but it sure looks and feels like political violence.
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Where's Nancy is kind of your clue there, right? I mean, he's, you know, she is the second in line for the presidency and he was looking for her.
So, we're talking about this as an attack on Paul Pelosi. It essentially was an attack on Nancy Pelosi, and in that, if you think of it in those terms, it would be hard to deny that this is a political attack.
And so, what we're finding on social media is confirming a narrative about someone who got radicalized through the fake election and the January 6th and all the stuff that things were taken away from him. He may have mental health issues, whatever it is. So --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: It sounds like it. I mean, he does sound like he has a long history of being unhinged from neighbors and friends.
KAYYEM: Right. And so, but lots of people have mental health issues. But most do not do this. And so, what was that? Who was -- who or what noise was leading him there. And I think that's going to be very interesting. And then who else is picking up on that?
I think -- I think the threat level for other federal officials is just, it's got to remain high and there has to be vigilance for them and it's protection for them at least until after the election.
CAMEROTA: And that leads us to their families, Jonathan. I was surprised to learn today that our top leaders families don't get protection.
KAYYEM: Yes.
JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It's stunning. It's stunning. To Juliet's point, this is the number two person in line of presidential succession. The fact that their house was broken into that there was no residential security. The fact that the husband was attacked physically violently, is in a hospital. This is unacceptable. Full stop.
We're not, this is not a new threat environment that we're living in right now. Right? This has been around for a long time, and we're here in warning after warning, but we're not taking the right action. We're not applying the right control measures. Is this --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: What should we be doing?
WACKROW: We need to be, you know, focusing on protecting these political leaders. Right? So, rank and file members, members of congressional leadership, the same way that the Secret Service does. We need to protect them.
CAMEROTA: Well, she has protection in Washington, D.C. But are you saying that all of their families should, at this point in this climate, because it's gotten so bad, also have protection? Because obviously that costs a lot of money, et cetera, et cetera.
[22:05:00]
WACKROW: But what's -- it costs a lot of money. Let's put the money aside. Right? We'll figure out. The government spends money on a lot of things. Let's not -- let's not think about how do we pay for protection? Let's apply it when it's necessary.
And guess what? When you are in line for the office of the presidency in the United States, you need 24-hour protection on your home. You need protection of your spouse, your family, everybody that could impact, because here's why.
Today, family members are soft targets. They're a path of least resistance for an attacker. We know that. We've seen that time and time again, and there's a material impact that will occur in Speaker Pelosi's ability to lead right now, because now she's removed from the game.
Two weeks out, we're concentrating on an attack of her husband, not on the pres -- the midterm cycle, et cetera.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
WACKROW: So, protection has a purpose and we need to apply it correctly to the threat environment that Juliette has been talking about for years.
KAYYEM: Yes.
WACKROW: We all have been.
CAMEROTA: Juliette, no surprise what you find on this guy's social media stuff.
KAYYEM: Yes.
CAMEROTA: I mean, just, it's just textbook.
KAYYEM: It is.
CAMEROTA: And so, it's so, I mean, I'll just put up some stuff. So, Mike Lindell who's the pillow salesman and just famous conspiracy theorist. This guy was, you know, tweeting videos produced by him. And then, you know, all of this just conspiracy nonsense about January 6th. And so, we've seen it time and again, Juliette, there's a connection.
KAYYEM: Yes.
CAMEROTA: But why can't we figure out the connection before the violence happens?
KAYYEM: Well, because there's a nurturing of this kind of violence coming from leadership of the GOP. I mean, the person who is likely to get the nomination. Donald Trump uses the language of fighting. I mean, he targets people. We don't have to be shy about it. We don't have to do both sides. Like, let's just be clear here.
There is violence. that is directed and nurtured by the leader of that party. And then the problem is, it is either denied, accepted, or also embraced by other members. And what -- what I, what is important to remember is the -- is the, well, let's just move on attitude that you hear from many people, like, that's just Trump, whatever, for especially members of his party.
That actually is helpful to the radicalization because it's the silence, it's the lack of shaming of what is going on and what is happening to that party that brings it --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: But would the shaming --
KAYYEM: Yes, yes.
CAMEROTA: -- would the shaming cut down on the political violence?
KAYYEM: Imagine if McConnell had step -- stuck to his -- this is -- this is unacceptable right after January 6th. Imagine that world in which the party shunned the violence. It'd be a totally different world. And yes, there's going to be outliers. There's going to be people that are still violent, but they're not going to be supported by an apparatus that gives them legitimacy.
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, today there --
(CROSSTALK) KAYYEM: And that's what -- that's where we are.
CAMEROTA: There are Republicans who are tweeting -- tweeting --
KAYYEM: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- about this.
KAYYEM: Yes.
CAMEROTA: OK. So, Vice President Pence says, quote, "this is an outrage and our hearts are with the entire Pelosi family. We pray Paul will make a full recovery. There can be no tolerance for violence against public officials or their families. This man should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Is a tweet enough?
KAYYEM: Well, it helps. I mean, the op -- well, let me just say the opposite would be worse. And I think -- but what we have to remember is this is one tweet does not mute what has been going on to Nancy Pelosi and towards Nancy Pelosi in the world that I follow, which is your -- the radicalization world.
She, more than Biden has become the focal point. You could call it gender. You could, you know, maybe they're targeting her, but it is her. And it is at the rallies, at the Trump rallies, on social media, on Truth Social. It is Nancy Pelosi who's been the target. So, where's Nancy is -- it's a direct line from January 6th.
CAMEROTA: Absolutely. We're saying --
(CROSSTALK)
KAYYEM: That's the line they were saying on January 6th.
CAMEROTA: They were chanting that.
KAYYEM: Yes.
CAMEROTA: They were chanting that they were looking for her.
KAYYEM: Yes.
CAMEROTA: What's this is --
(CROSSTALK)
WACKROW: This is -- I just want to follow up on one thing. The -- this behavior has been normalized, right? And that's really, really dangerous.
CAMEROTA: Meaning, political violence or just political rhetoric?
WACKROW: Well, rhetoric that leads into violence, right? It's a flash and a bang, right? So, it's that rhetoric first that we see metastasizing and everyone it just accepts it. They allow it. We see it online. It just has fueled for years and years.
And now it quickly leads into physical violence. And we've seen it, you know, affect politicians. We've seen it affect our societies. You know, we think about how people have been radicalized that are, you know, going into schools in synagogues, in churches, and killing everybody.
And we have to do better. We have to do better. We have to take a different approach to one, suppressing that type of ideology, that type of thinking, and we have to take a stronger stand against, you know, domestic violent extremism, hate, everything that, you know, encompasses it. Because this is the consequence. Right now, we're seeing it.
CAMEROTA: All right, we'll talk more about that coming up. Stick around. Threats against lawmakers are skyrocketing and federal officials warning today, the danger could get worse with the midterms. So, what is the answer? And are our political leaders condemning this loudly enough tonight?
[22:10:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: The attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband in their San Francisco home is shocking Washington and the country. Are our leader is condemning political violence loudly enough tonight.
Joining me now is former Democratic presidential candidate, Andrew Yang. We also have Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz here, and Republican strategist Doug Heye.
Great to have you, guys.
Debbie. Congresswoman. I'm in.
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): It's OK.
CAMEROTA: I am sure that this sent a shiver down your spine and down the spine of all lawmakers in Washington. What was the conversation you were having with colleagues today?
SCHULTZ: I mean, just year after year after year, the political violence and the blooming threat for members of Congress just doing their jobs, whether it's Gabby Giffords being shot in a community event that she was doing in 2011, to Steve Scalise at a baseball game to Nancy Pelosi's husband being attacked in their home.
It's -- I mean, I experienced it four years ago when 16 bomb packages were sent out across the country to CNN, to Democratic elected around the country with my return address and my district office return address on the packages.
[22:14:58]
One came back to my office, sat with my staff a bomb package that had to be detonated under the staircase, and my staff had that in the office for two days. I mean, it's just out of control.
CAMEROTA: And it's only gotten worse. Let me tell you the statistics, Doug. So, in 2016, there were 902 threats to members of Congress, as if that weren't bad enough. It has grown exponentially. Last year, 9,625.
DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And what started that spark? You know, it started in New York City when one person went down an escalator and we saw the rhetoric that Donald Trump then exploded onto the scene that has been ape and copied from acolytes, not your generic Republican member of Congress who maybe isn't loud enough in condemning that.
But in activists and acolytes, the people would love to go to the Trump Hotel on a Friday night or a Wednesday night for that matter, and hope to see, you know, all these, you know, kind of cast of the groovy goolys that were around the Trump world who spread and pushed the --
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: The Star Wars.
HEYE: -- this kind of, exactly, the Star Wars bar.
CAMEROTA: You draw direct line between Donald Trump's entrance into the political world and that exponential growth.
HEYE: This is -- this is the explosion. Did it precede Trump? Of course, it did. You know, when Gabby Giffords was shot on a Saturday, in either late 2010 or early 2011, that was predated Donald Trump. But the explosion has come because of him.
And it's why, you know, I can't police what the other side can do. I can try and police what my side does, and I tell them constantly, you have to be vigilant in pushing back on this. And if you don't, we're no longer talking in theory. My concern about Donald Trump's rhetoric was that people were going to get hurt. That's not my concern anymore. People are going to get hurt. We've been lucky that no one has been killed yet.
CAMEROTA: This is exactly what Congressman Adam Kinzinger was saying today. Let me just play that for everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): This is what happens when you convince the third of the country that the election was stolen and that the other side is an enemy. You otherize people. You, you know, convince folks that your political opposition is out to get you and your family.
So, I mean, this is the kind of stuff that every Republican needs to speak out on. Just like every Democrat, Republican should speak out when Steve s Scalise was shot. But to the Republicans not speaking out now let me say this. It's -- this is -- this is going to be visited on our side. Not that it should actually matter what side you're on, but, speak out now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: So, some did tweet today, I was just saying former Vice President Pence did tweet that this -- there's no tolerance for violence against public officials. He called it an outrage.
But then there was, somebody like Glenn Youngkin --
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- in Virginia, who for a few seconds had some compassion for Nancy Pelosi and her family, and then immediately pivoted back to sort of partisan rhetoric. Here's that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GLENN YOUNGKIN (R-VA): Listen, Speaker Pelosi's husband they had a break in last night in their house and he was assaulted. There's no room for violence anywhere, but we're going to send her back to be with him in California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Couldn't resist.
ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the fact is America is more polarized than it's been in generations where almost half of Democrats regard Republicans as corrupt and a threat to the country. And the same percentage of Republicans feel that way about the other party.
This is going to get worse, not better. Unfortunately, we know that after a few days of reflection, we'll probably see a return to the politics of vitriol and demonization. We need structural reform like a shift to rank choice voting and nonpartisan primaries that would disempower the extremes. That right now, unfortunately, control the incentives in at least one of our major parties and arguably both.
CAMEROTA: Are those the answers?
SCHULTZ: No. We need the rhetoric dialed down. We need elected officials to be responsible and immediately call out this violence, stop inciting the violence. We have people whose lives are being jeopardized. Paul Pelosi was bludgeoned with a hammer in his home by a right-wing extremist who is a QAnon subscriber. I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Who didn't you hear from today that you wanted to hear from?
SCHULTZ: Well, I certainly didn't want to hear the Governor of Virginia suggest that we -- that we were going to send Nancy Pelosi home. I mean, he should check the politics of her district before he assumes that. Send her home to be with her husband. I mean that, so what he's being -- he's being comforting as an aside,
but then pulls out the political knife as soon as he's done with the sentence. It's outrageous.
CAMEROTA: I mean, as Doug was saying, I think that we've learned that Donald Trump doesn't come out in moments like this, and he doesn't like to tamp it down. I think that we've learned that he often gins it up, but is there anybody who could come out on the Republican side and tamp it down besides him?
SCHULTZ: Look, you've had a lot of elected officials on both sides, thankfully say how outrageous it was. But of course, an attack on the Speaker's husband is outrageous. Where are the attacks on the -- where are the -- where are the comments to dial down their supporters?
[22:19:57]
In my district at home the right-wing extremist MAGA volunteers are out at early voting sites, intimidating voters, intimidating campaign workers who are -- who are on the side other side supporting candidates and scaring people away from the polls. That has to be called out.
CAMEROTA: Doug, what's the --
HEYE: It should be called out and in Arizona as well. And yes, this happens on both sides. Lee Zeldin was attacked on stage in New York when he was campaigning as a Republican for governor. But I go back to my party. We have the original sin here starting in two, in 2015, 2016.
CAMEROTA: So, who can speak out? I mean, again, if we're giving up on Donald Trump.
HEYE: The problem is a lot of the right people can speak out, but it's a question of whether or not that's going to be effective. Mike Pence said the right thing. Kevin McCarthy reached out to the Pelosi office. Those are the right things to do. Steve -- Steve Scalise who was a victim has said the right thing.
The problem is you can't say it once. You've got to say it over and over again and mean it, which means you're telling your supporters as well.
YANG: Look, the rhetoric is important and it matters, but the fact is, in social media, disinformation and negative sentiments spreads six times more powerfully and quickly than being positive.
And again, the incentives right now are disproportionately empowering people. On the extreme, there are politicians that are responding to that. It gets them money, it gets them fame, it gets them appeal. If you don't change the incentives, you're just going to see more and more of this. And that's what we've been experiencing over the last number of years.
Trump was a catalyst for sure, but the trends have been building and they're just going to continue even after Trump recedes from the scene.
HEYE: And here --
SCHULTZ: Andrew, you need -- you need stronger take down policies on the part of social media companies for some of this extremist rhetoric that incites exponentially more of their supporters.
YANG: These are exactly the kind of structural fixes we should dig into. I, for one, am tired of saying, look, if we all said the right thing, then all of this would go away. It will not go away. It's here to stay.
HEYE: Alisyn, I've spent the last week re reading Robert Draper's book "Weapons of Mass Delusion," which is a maddening and detailed take down of where the Republican Party is these days. It -- I put the book down and I use curse words. And then I pick it back up and I use more curse words.
And it details systematically why what we see is not just a problem in Washington, D.C. but in state parties, in county parties
SCHULTZ: Yes.
HEYE: -- on the precinct level, and it takes a top down and bottom-up solution, which is really hard to do.
YANG: But you see these structures working in a place like Alaska where Lisa Murkowski bravely voted to impeach Donald Trump and made it back through the primary because they did away with the party primary and said anyone can vote for anyone. Sarah Palin loses in that primary for the same reason.
We have to change the structures and the incentives or else we're going to reward bad behavior, and we're going to see more of it.
CAMEROTA: Really interesting. You guys. Stick around please. We have a lot more to talk about. President Obama back on the trail tonight in Georgia. We'll tell you what he's saying about the attack on Speaker Pelosi's husband and his thoughts on Herschel Walker. That's next.
[22:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: Eleven days to go before the midterms, and millions of Americans are taking advantage of early voting. President Biden and Vice President Harris in a rare joint appearance on the trail in Pennsylvania, and former President Obama stumping in Georgia. Here's what he said about the attack on Speaker Pelosi's husband.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And I want to take a moment just to say a prayer for a friend of mine, Mr. Paul Pelosi, who was attacked. A politics where -- where some in office or who aspired office work to stir up division, to make folks as angry and as afraid of one another for their own advantage.
And all of this has been amped up, hyped up 24/7 on social media.
(CROWD CHEERING)
OBAMA: On platforms that oftentimes find controversy and conflict more profitable than telling the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Back with me, Andrew Yang, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Doug Heye.
This is exactly what we were just saying. Can we just stop using social media?
YANG: But then, then how would we find out about all of the thoughts of that random person?
CAMEROTA: I mean -- I mean, I'm not asking this rhetorically, and I know this is a longer conversation that we don't have time for, but it does seem to be the root of a lot of our problems, and I'm not quite sure what to do about the vile underbelly of it yet --
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- that has been (Inaudible).
YANG: So, the internet worldwide has been found to have a negative correlation with democracy where you're seeing it actually facilitate the backsliding into autocracy internationally. There was a political scientist, Barbara Walter, who documented this. Foreign actors are taking advantage of it.
It splintered the American consciousness into a thousand different information silos and given people their own version of the fact. It's very hard to reintegrate that. That's what we're facing.
CAMEROTA: I rest my case. I rest my case.
SCHULTZ: But it's also been more sobering and eye opening about how much anti-Semitism, bigotry, and hate there is that has been lurking in the shadows for so long.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SCHULTZ: And has been there all along.
CAMEROTA: I guess. I mean, yes. Yes, obviously, but it also lit the fuse for that.
SCHULTZ: It can help us fight it.
CAMEROTA: But, yes, and we're going to -- we actually are going to talk about that later in the show. But I do want to talk about President Obama being in Georgia and whether this changes the equation there. He talked a lot about Herschel Walker who you know is running for Senate there. So here are some things that he had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Let's say you're at the airport and you see Mr. Walker. You say, hey, there's Herschel Walker, Heisman winner. Let's have him fly the plane.
[22:30:08]
You probably wouldn't say that. You'd want to know, does he know how to fly at an airplane? It seems to me he's a celebrity who wants to be a politician. And we've seen how that goes.
Who will fight to keep you and your family safe? The Republican politicians who want to flood our streets with more guns, who actually voted against more resources for our police departments? Is it somebody who carries around a phony badge and says he's in law enforcement? Like he's a kid playing cops and robbers? Or is it leaders like Reverend Warnock?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: All right, so President Obama seems to be having some fun with that there. Doug, will that change anything?
HEYE: Well, that comment about police badges to me seems like an attack on Elvis Presley, and we can't let that stand. But it certainly is going to rev up the Democratic base, which needs to be revved up. What we've seen so much of the polling is that Republicans are more enthusiastic about this election than Democrats.
It could make a difference in that Senate election. It's not going to make one in that governor's election. I'm also surprised that we haven't seen Obama or Biden or Harris in North Carolina. It's been a very close Senate race. Obama won it in 2008. He lost it in 2012, but it was the second closest state in the country each time, and it's a state that has really been forgotten in this campaign.
CAMEROTA: Why aren't they going there?
SCHULTZ: Well, this is, we got a lot of races. It's a big map. I mean, look at, by the way, it's not just Herschel Walker. This is runs deep in their party. They nominate a TV doctor who really lives in New Jersey to be their nominee for Senate in Pennsylvania. Who thinks actually that perhaps your mayor should be deciding your reproductive healthcare decisions.
CAMEROTA: I know you're referring to Dr. Oz. Yes, but back to my original point, do you think that President Obama being there when he -- when he -- you say that it revs up the base, meaning it just helps voter turnout. Is that what we think the --
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: President Obama is beloved by our base, beloved by Americans, you know, on all across the spectrum. And so, he is an incredible advocate for our candidates, for our agenda. I mean, he gave healthcare to 20 million more Americans. He contrasts that with the Republican candidates on the other side who are hell bent on taking that away and rolling back so much of our other progress.
Lowering prescription drug costs, making sure that we can get -- we got shots in arms, making sure that we continue to turn this economy around and stop in, you know, cutting taxes for the wealthy.
HEYE: By the way, voter turnout already early voter turnout in Georgia is off the chart.
CAMEROTA: It is.
HEYE: Especially among African American voters.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
HEYE: We're already seeing that.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SCHULTZ: And we're ahead of Republicans in early vote across the country.
CAMEROTA: Yes. And we'll see what that translates to, obviously on election day. What do you think the -- well, actually before I ask you about President Obama. It was Senate Majority Leader Schumer today, who also talked about Georgia, but he wasn't intending to be heard. This was a hot mic moment where he was talking about what he thinks are the Democrats weakening chances in Georgia? So, here's that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: It looks like the debate didn't hurt us too much in Pennsylvania as of today. The state where we're going downhill is Georgia. It's hard to believe that they will go for Herschel Walker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK. So basically, you couldn't hear that, he said the state where we're going downhill is Georgia. It's hard to believe that they will go for Herschel Walker. He was talking to President Biden there. But that is what the polls are suggesting.
YANG: I haven't seen any poll. I don't think that has either Walker or Warnock above the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff. I feel like they should be planning on visiting somewhere between election day and December 6th, when the runoff will be, when it'll just be Warnock versus Walker one on one. Because right now there's a third candidate that's getting 2 to 4
percent. But I'm sure the senator has better numbers than we do in the polling.
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: No, I think you could be right. I mean, I think that he was just, I think he was speaking broadly, which is he can't believe that that they're actually neck and neck.
SCHULTZ: But can I just add --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SCHULTZ: -- voters are voting. We're sort of done with polls, honestly. I mean, the voters are out there, vote by mail ballots need to be turned in, early votes are being cast. Election day is 11 days from now. The polls are very nice, but what matters is getting people out to the polls and that's what's going to be the proof in the pudding.
YANG: Yes, I think they do it again --
(CROSSTALK)
HEYE: Because what matters is election day. One, that was never true, but it is certainly not true now when people are already voting throughout the country.
CAMEROTA: Yes, go ahead.
YANG: Yes, no, I was just saying that we might be revisiting Georgia again after --
CAMEROTA: Yes, good point. For sure. OK. Thank you all very much.
So, frustrated lawmakers are looking for more security as threats to their family's rise. Next, I'm going to speak with a lawmaker and his daughter who both faced threats after former President Trump came after him.
[22:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband is expected to make a full recovery after being attacked by an intruder with a hammer in their home in the middle of the night. The alleged assailant was yelling where's Nancy? Where's Nancy? Tragically, this appears to be a sign of the times with political violence and threats of it increasing.
And our next guests have been on the receiving end of such threats. Pennsylvania State Senator Republican Jake Corman and his daughter Bella joined me now.
Guys, great to have you here in studio. STATE SEN. JAKE CORMAN (R-PA): Thank you. Thank you.
CAMEROTA: So, you are set to retire at the end of next month --
CORMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- as you're the president pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate. You've been in politics I think for 24 years.
CORMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: You've obviously seen a lot. But is it safe to say nothing like what you saw after the 2020 election when starting that night, you began getting, I guess, fervent calls for you to take some action?
[22:39:59]
CORMAN: Yes. I mean, after the 2020 election, it was probably one of the craziest times. You just sort of came away from COVID, which was crazy. And then you get into the 2020 election. And the calls that we got, I, you know, first was sort of the left like, don't you dare interfere in this race. And then when we didn't interfere, we got a ton from the right.
And some of them, you know, were obviously very threatening on both sides. And so it was, you know, for someone who has a family, I have a daughter and two sons. It was -- it was disturbing.
CAMEROTA: I can imagine. And so, these calls continued through the holidays. I mean, from election day through Christmas, through New Year's, and then, all the way through, I guess, June when President Trump then tweeted this about you. Why is State Senator Jake Corman of Pennsylvania fighting so hard that there not be a forensic audit of the 2020 presidential election scam? Corman is fighting as though he were a radical left Democrat. Then what happened in terms of threats to you and your family?
CORMAN: You know, we got more protests, more cause, you know, obviously those people like the president who have, you know, a wide social media following, when they speak that generates people to act.
Unfortunately, and sometimes, and so, we, you know, we got a lot of calls and we had some demonstrations around our home and things like that. I didn't have it nearly as bad as some others did. Speaker Cutler had thousands go to his house. But you know, again, when you have young children, it's you know, I actually got an e-mail from somebody where it said, you know, I know where you live. I know where your kids go to school. You know, I know where you walk your dog, which made me feel better because I don't really walk my dog.
So, but nevertheless, when you get something like that as a father, that's about as scary as it gets.
CAMEROTA: Bella. What were those months like for you?
BELLA CORMAN, JAKE CORMAN'S DAUGHTER: Yes, it was a time of turmoil, especially in my community. I think hearing my friends and my friends' families prepare to do this whole kind of riot outside our house, and they did a little bit of a drive around honking their horns --
(CROSSTALK)
CAMEROTA: Meaning even former friends of yours were suddenly attacking your family.
B. CORMAN: Yes, it was something that I was so surprised to hear and like, it was something that I never thought their uncles, their parents would just completely disregard my humanity and my family's life. And just thinking that is something that they could turn on you so quickly over politics kind of blows my mind.
And as I believe I was in -- I was my senior year of high school it was really hard.
CAMEROTA: And did someone doxed your address? Meaning put your address out on the internet and then what happened?
B. CORMAN: Yes, I believe that was a Facebook group chat. I remember talking to one of my dad's colleagues about this before, prepared kind of a Facebook group saying we're going to go out and protest in front of the Senator's house.
And we were lucky to know about it beforehand that we got out of town because I remember my youngest brother who definitely has taken a lot of it in, internally about the comments that about my dad. He was looking outside the window just kind of waiting and seeing if anything would happen and we were truthfully scared in that moment.
CAMEROTA: Basically, you had to flee your home.
B. CORMAN: Essentially, we just didn't want to be around for a moment like that. We, I remember we put up signs saying, no trespassing and --
(CROSSTALK)
CORMAN: Right. Yes. I mean they, they, yes, we put up no trespassing signs and they just drove around a block because they said that they were going to do nothing.
B. CORMAN: Yes, nothing --
(CROSSTALK)
CORMAN: But we weren't going to take the chance.
CAMEROTA: Were they yelling? I mean, were they doing it?
B. CORMAN: They're beeping their horns.
CORMAN: Beeping their horns.
B. CORMAN: And some, I think some of our neighbors asked us what was going on and was happening, but, thankfully nothing violent actually happened and I couldn't imagine those circumstances. But luckily, we left town.
CAMEROTA: There are reports that the suspect in the Paul Pelosi attack had posted links on his Facebook page to multiple videos of Mike Lindell, who, as you know, as the pillows salesman who believes all of these conspiracy theories.
How dangerous do you think people like that are to public safety?
CORMAN: Well, I think, look, everyone that tries to inspire, people to act in a violent way, obviously very dangerous. And you know, a whole conversation dealing with the internet and social media is to me, where it has elevated this into a whole new world.
When you can with just, you know, one click of the button inspire thousands of people to do, you know, things that are violent. That's a scary -- that's a scary place for this country. And I think it's something that, you know, because it's unregulated, think it's high time that we, as you know, I will soon be a former government official.
We'd take a look at how to regulate this because this is an explosion that if you don't, and it's just in the hands of public where people anonymously can do these sort of things, I think inspires violence and I think it's something the government needs to take a look at.
CAMEROTA: And Senator, ultimately, you did decide to launch an audit of the 2020 election in Pennsylvania.
CORMAN: Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: Was that because of all of the pressure you were getting?
CORMAN: Well, it's not really an audit. It was an investigation and my thought was, you know, sunshine is always a good thing. And so, if you go do an investigation and if you don't find anything that dispels a lot of the conspiracies and if you find things that can inspire change to give people more confidence, that's a good thing as well.
So, I thought the more sunshine we showed on our process to see exactly what happened and in that nature, and that would be a positive.
B. CORMAN: I think the only unfortunate aspect of that we were talking about a couple months back, is that despite the investigation what the outcomes were, people were already set on their minds.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
B. CORMAN: And even if we would've come out with substantial evidence to either way, people already had their minds made up because they went in with this, this whole entire time.
[22:45:01]
CAMEROTA: Such a great point. And so, Bella, you still consider yourself a Republican?
B. CORMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: What is the answer for this level of political rhetoric and violence and extremism for your generation?
B. CORMAN: You know, I actually had a lot of hope in my generation. I go to college and I'm in a predominantly liberal area in Philadelphia, and I'm so open-minded to hear other people's perspectives.
And that's what I think we need. I think we need open-mindedness. I think people need to understand other people's circumstances and their perspectives, because at the end of the day you have to put yourself in someone else's shoes.
I think that I, as a Republican on my campus, I was definitely scared at first to reveal that ideology because I didn't want people to put backlash against me. But now I've joined multiple political groups on campus and truthfully, they're pretty proud that I have a different stance and that they could talk to me in those aspects. So, I think that is what we need. Open mindedness at that moment.
CAMEROTA: I'm really comforted, by the way, whenever I talk to somebody in your generation because it --
B. CORMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- it gives me hope because --
(CROSSTALK)
B. CORMAN: Yes, absolutely.
CAMEROTA: -- it doesn't seem like you guys are heading in the same direction. And so, Senator, you did launch a run for governor. But you bowed out when, I guess Doug Mastriano seemed to be gaining some steam. I know there's no love lost, I guess, between you two. But do you --
(CROSSTALK)
CORMAN: Probably fair.
CAMEROTA: But do you think his positions represent what most Pennsylvanians are?
CORMAN: Well, you know, if you believe the polling, that'd probably be a no. Obviously, pollings are not a hundred percent accurate, but, you know, he's going to have a race here in a couple days or a couple weeks and finally make a decision.
But, you know, my concern why I got into race and then why I ultimately got out of it was to find a Republican candidate who has a lot of the values that I have that ultimately could win in the fall, knowing that Josh Shapiro would be a very well-funded, a very articulate, very good candidate, and we needed to put our best up there, not someone who only appeals to a fringe of the party.
We needed someone who could -- who cross over to the independents and Democrats alike. And that's why I got out to back someone else who maybe had a better chance. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but you know, Doug is our candidate and we'll see how he does.
CAMEROTA: Bella, any thoughts?
B. CORMAN: As a moderate Republican voter in Pennsylvania, I definitely was hoping to see my dad in the spot because I really think he has a really open mind and moderate views on the stances that I believe in too.
It's unfortunate to see the Republican Party nominate someone I don't necessarily agree with down the line. I hope to see Republican governor in the future and potentially we'll see what happens on November 8th.
But we had a governor for the last eight years as a Democrat and I would definitely like to see some change in there.
CAMEROTA: Bella and Senator, thanks so much for sharing your personal story with us.
CORMAN: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: We really appreciate it.
B. CORMAN: Thank you so much.
CAMEROTA: Interesting to hear both generations take on this. All right. Tell me what you think about the tensed political atmosphere that we're living in right now in this country. You can tweet me at Alisyn Camerota. And we'll be right back and I'll read your tweets later on in the program.
[22:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: October is breast cancer awareness month. And each year in the U.S. roughly 264,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 42,000 women die from the disease.
Back with me is Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 41 years old, but is now happily cancer free.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: But you're here to sound the alarm. Even though things have improved, breast cancer rates have improved.
SCHULTZ: Right.
CAMEROTA: But in the past couple of years, something alarming has happened.
SCHULTZ: So, since COVID, 80 percent of women skipped their mammograms that were over 40 years old and even higher rate for women of color. And we know that when that happens, we have cancers that are coming down the pike that are going to be detected at a later stage. More complicated. And the difference between someone who catches breast cancer early, the survival rate is 90 percent versus around 66 percent when it's caught at a later stage.
CAMEROTA: That's such an important number. I mean, I think that for many women, getting a mammogram can be so anxiety-provoking.
SCHULTZ: It is not a fun experience for sure, but it is an absolute necessity for a woman 40 or 40 years or older. I was 41 years old. Like you said, I had just had my first mammogram. It came back clean except for some calcifications, which not, you know, no evidence of cancer. But that raised my antenna and I did self, a self-exam in the shower a few months later, and I found a lump that had not been there before.
CAMEROTA: And I read, Congresswoman, that you went through your cancer struggle for 15 months without really telling anyone.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And was that, did that make it harder or easier?
SCHULTZ: You know, it made it easier for me for my family because my kids were really little. They -- the twins were nine, my little one was four and cancer is a really scary thing. I was having my surgeries and everything in D.C. and everyone they knew that, or anyone they heard ever heard of about cancer, they associated with death.
And I knew I was going to be OK because it was caught early. But I didn't want to worry them. And I also didn't, you want to, you lose control of everything or you feel like you do. So, I wanted to make sure that I was more than cancer and not in a tagline, Debbie Wasserman Schultz who's currently battling breast cancer. So.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SCHULTZ: That was important for me.
CAMEROTA: Yes, I understand. when you were texting me to say that you wanted to come on and talk about breast cancer, you said that you were going to act as my Jewish mother.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And prod me to get a mammogram.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: Which I did. You're welcome.
SCHULTZ: OK. Thank you very much. CAMEROTA: But the point is, is that it does take some reframing. If you're somebody who's -- who is very anxious about it, which I am. It does take some reframing, which I tried to do and it really helped, which is basically, this is how you detect it early.
SCHULTZ: That's right.
CAMEROTA: So, when you go in for mammograms, sometimes you think, no, this is where bad news happens. In fact, it's the opposite.
[22:54:58]
SCHULTZ: Yes, that's right, exactly. You need to go and get your mammogram. If you do it annually, starting at 40 years old, they have a baseline, they know they can see on the scan what's normal for you. They're more likely to be able to detect it. If every few years you do it, they don't have -- they don't have a consistent view of what you look like.
And then on top of that, you should do breast self-exam. You know, once a month so that you know what's normal for you. So, that you know when something feels different. That's how I found my lump. I knew pretty much what I normally felt like, and when I -- when I felt the lump, which was right -- right about here, it was less than half a centimeter.
I was so lucky that I could feel it. It felt like the end of a, that ball on the end of a jack. You know, like when you play jacks?
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SCHULTZ: That's what it felt like. It was hard and it was really small, and I had my husband feel it, and then I just went right to the doctor three days later and they had trouble seeing it, but they saw something and I -- they said, let's have a -- let's do a biopsy because we, or let's take a little bit of it and came back. It even came back clean initially in the frozen section.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SCHULTZ: And then three days later when they did the pathology and it came back, it was breast cancer.
CAMEROTA: And here you are all of these years later --
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- healthy cancer free.
SCHULTZ: Almost 15 years.
CAMEROTA: That's amazing.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CAMEROTA: So obviously you're living proof of early detection and -- SCHULTZ: And young women can and do get breast cancer. That's so critical for people to know and for doctors to know because doctors are often dismissive of young women when they come with them with a problem. It presents differently for young women. So, make sure you go get your mammogram and do self-exam.
CAMEROTA: Thanks so much.
SCHULTZ: Early detection is the key.
CAMEROTA: Absolutely. I'm a believer.
SCHULTZ: I'm proof.
CAMEROTA: Yes. All right, Congresswoman, so much thank.
SCHULTZ: Thank you for having me on.
CAMEROTA: Thanks for sharing your story. All right, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, as you know, was attacked today in their home. This is the same day that the feds warned about domestic violent extremists and how they pose a threat to the midterms. So, what are we doing about all of this? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
