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New Day Saturday

Freed U.S. Reservist Arrives In Florida; Pilot Killed In Virgin SpaceshipTwo Disaster; Down-To-The-Wire Election Battles; Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi Lands Safely in U.S.; Kaci Hickox's Victory in Court; Discussion of Republican Party Image for African Americans; Thinkmodo's Co-Founders Talk About Their Company; Moving to Winter Time

Aired November 01, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good Saturday morning to you on a cold, cold morning.

Temperatures 40 degrees in Chicago, 40 degrees in Atlanta. Doesn't sound that bad on paper. If you walk outside you would think I'm a liar. It is extremely windy and it's causing the wind chills to feel like the 20s, actual temperature at 40, wind chill in Chicago, 27 degrees. That's what it feels like outside.

It even feels like 29 in Atlanta. Feeling like 25 in Cincinnati. We do have those freeze warnings in effect across, yes, much of the South. As we go through the rest of the morning, so be aware of that. It is going to stay cold today and tomorrow, I think gradually warming up as we get into the beginning of the week.

Fifty-two today in Atlanta, high temperature tomorrow 59. That's about 11 to 15 degrees below normal across a lot of the east, bundle up this weekend. By Monday temperatures will feel a lot better.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Stay under the covers and watch CNN all day.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: We will do our best to enjoy it. Jennifer, thank you so much.

All right, let's press forward on this breaking news this morning as a U.S. Marine reservist takes his first steps back home in the state of Florida, after seven months in a Mexican jail. Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi, you see him here, getting off of a plane that touched down a short time ago in Miami.

CABRERA: Also on board as we're seeing there in this video, there was the former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, also on board, TV and radio talk show host, Montel Williams, who is a family friend, who helped to work to secure Tahmooressi's release. Now the Afghan war veteran was detained after he crossed into Tijuana

back in March. He had three guns in his truck. So we're following this story from every angle. Thanks for being here with us. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Christi Paul. BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 8:00 on the east coast. Let's get to Nick Valencia. He has been on top of this story since the very start.

At the top of last hour, you had this exclusive interview with the family spokesperson, and we're learning that he just -- I'm paraphrasing, just needs to exhale at home for a moment.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Needs some privacy, needed some time to really comprehend what he went through. He was suffering from PTSD before he went into that Mexican penitentiary and also in a prison in Tijuana as well.

Now his family spokesman saying it's time for private time with the family. A myriad of reasons led to Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi's release.

Earlier I spoke exclusively to the family spokesman, Jonathan Franks, who talked about how they got here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FRANKS, SPOKESMAN FOR FREED U.S. RESERVIST'S FAMILY (via telephone): He was clearly coming to a head over the past ten days. It's worth emphasizing this release was consistent with Mexican law.

Their system is predicated on rehabilitation and the equivalent to the attorney general filed a conclusion in which they recommended to the judge that the charge essentially be withdrawn.

And that he be released to seek treatment in the United States consistent with the opinions of both the prosecution and the defense psychiatrists.

So, you know, his mother, the congressman, the governor, Montel, everybody has been in San Diego for the better part of a week. A lot of false starts along the way and it took a fair amount of kind of work to get it to the point where it was.

VALENCIA: Jonathan, why now? I mean, people are watching this, following this story literally seven months to the day that he was arrested, March 31st on that border. He is now released from a penitentiary in Mexico. Why now?

FRANKS: I think the case had reached a procedural posture where this was possible and the -- you know, his latest attorney did an excellent job of getting it there.

Certainly the hearing held by the United States Congress focused attention on PTSD, and you know, I think it came to a head. And a number of factors pointed to the fact that this could not go on much longer without creating significant diplomatic rift.

VALENCIA: You talked to Andrew. You were on the flight with Governor Richardson and Montel Williams, Jill Tahmooressi. What was the mood like on that plane? How is Andrew doing today? FRANKS: You know, it's setting in. I think they need time to reconnect as a family. It was unfortunate to see somebody parked up the street jump out of a car and try to videotape what should have been a private moment.

And you know, I think he's thrilled to -- did not become clear to him that this was happening when it was happening. It was very sudden and thrilled.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Two hundred and fourteen days is what Andrew Tahmooressi spent in that Mexican prison. Another combat veteran, John Hammer, was held for nearly five months in a Mexican jail on the exact same weapons charges as Tahmooressi.

Hammer ultimately was released because of pressure from the news media. When Tahmooressi was arrested John's mom, Olivia Hammer, reached out to his family. She joins me now by phone.

Olivia, thank you so much for taking the time with CNN. How are you?

OLIVIA HAMMER, JOHN HAMMER'S MOTHER (via telephone): I'm fine, thank you for having me this morning.

VALENCIA: Good morning. What made you get involved in this case?

HAMMER: Actually, my son knew someone that worked with Andrew's father and they reached out to John and John went over and met Andrew's father and said my family's going to help so they called us.

We invited them to the house for dinner and this was about a week and a half after he had been arrested. And you know, sitting at the dinner table and hearing their story we realized that we were sort of the only people on the planet that knew what they were going through.

And we're sort of uniquely equipped to help them. So, I told her at that time your only hope here is to go public. That's your only shot. Otherwise it's strictly a crap shoot. And so it took them a couple weeks to really believe that, but then that's what happened.

VALENCIA: Olivia, your son John Hammer was suffering from PTSD. He spent nearly five months 18 Mexican prison. What is the rebuilding process going to be like for Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi? What was it like for your son?

HAMMER: Well, initially, Johnny was so physically sick when he got home that we really got a reprieve of about two to three weeks. He was hospitalized a couple of times and so in some sense that helped us because it gave us a reprieve from sort of the media spotlight.

Because that's going to be really tough on this kid right now, he does need -- he has to decompress. So there's going to be time where I'm sure he's going to do interviews, but he is going to need time to really take this all in. I think that you have to remember, he has been oblivious to all of this. He's heard it word of mouth, but it just isn't real to them. They really did not -- you know for Johnny, he didn't understand the kind of press coverage.

We told him but it wasn't until he got home that he really realized what was going on.

VALENCIA: You know exactly --

HAMMER: This is a lot for someone struggling with PTSD. Remember, Andrew has had one appointment at the V.A. so he hasn't had any help so far. He's -- all that Andrew has gotten to date is prison time.

VALENCIA: And you know all --

HAMMER: He is going to need help.

VALENCIA: Olivia, you know all about that what the family is going through right now in these extraordinary circumstances. It's going to be a long road ahead for U.S. Marine Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi.

We know you will be there by the side of the family. Olivia Hammer, thank you very much for taking the time. Ana, Victor, we'll send it back to you.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and as she articulated one of the few families or maybe no other families. What they are going through. All right Nick Valencia, thank you so much.

CABRERA: We will persevere. Those are the sobering worlds from Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson in response to yesterday's SpaceshipTwo disaster over the Mojave desert as we look at the wreckage there.

We know Branson is on his way to the area now after a serious anomaly during a test flight that killed a pilot and injured another.

These eyewitness photos show the moment the spacecraft detached from the mothership that was taking it up 50,000 miles, moments later you can see it break apart. And this is what it looked like on the ground.

The debris scattered all across the desert. This is the second air disaster this week involving the commercial space industry.

On Tuesday, you'll recall a rocket exploded just after take-off in Virginia. Fortunately, it was unmanned. Friday's accident presents a major blow to space tourism.

This $500 million space plane was expected to take paying customers more than 60 miles above the earth into outer space, as early as next year. Branson is expressing his sympathy.

He tweeted this, "All our thoughts are with the brave pilots and families affected by today's events in Mojave." And I should have said it's 50,000 feet in the air at the time.

It's unclear exactly what happened. Officials with the NTSB and the FAA, they are continuing to investigate. But some people are already taking aim at Virgin Galactic for being too eager when it comes to space tourism.

In fact a friend of both pilots tells CNN the company's technology simply doesn't match the enthusiasm. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL GLEEN BRENNER, FRIEND, SPACESHIPTWO PILOTS (via telephone): Engine that exploded today, even if they had had a successful flight, and even if they had not stolen my friend's life, OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

BRENNER: They would not have ever gotten anywhere near space.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So let's talk more with space historian, Jonathan McDowell, he is an astrophysicist with the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Thanks so much, Jonathan.

First, do you have any idea based on those pictures, based on what we heard what may have caused this space plane to break apart midair?

JONATHAN MCDOWELL, ASTROPHYSICIST, HARVARD-SMITHSONIAN CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS: Well, you know, it's early days yet. We need to wait for the investigation. There's -- it does seem at some point the nitrous oxide tank may have

ruptured.

It seems that the rocket engine did ignite. This is only the fourth time the SpaceshipTwo has actually ignited. The actual rocket flights are just -- were just starting up. So, we'll have to see, I think, what happened.

CABRERA: We know this industry inherently has huge risks, but we just heard from a friend of the pilots including the pilot who died who said that this company's technology just didn't match their enthusiasm. What's your take on that? Do you think Virgin Galactic maybe jumped the gun and was too eager?

MCDOWELL: I wouldn't go quite as strong as she did, but I do think there have been a lot of concerns in the industry that they are a bit too optimistic. I think the idea that they were going to do passenger travel next year was really unrealistic and maybe irresponsible.

You need -- before you fly passengers you need to have a lot of flights, and you know, they were -- they had not flown near space yet. Even this flight I think was only going to go up to about 20 kilometers rather than the 100 they need to get up to be in space.

So, you know, they would first need to do some test flights to get up to that height and then they need to do a lot of practice to demonstrate its reliability.

And obviously now that's even, if they manage to get the second SpaceshipTwo finished and resolve the problems it's going to be a long time before we see them flying passengers.

CABRERA: Put it into perspective for us. Obviously you see these two incidents in one week and I think all of us have our jaws dropping and hearts sinking for this industry and for the families affected.

But if you can very, very quickly, you know, in one word can you tell us how big a risk is natural for this industry? Is this something that could just be expected to some degree?

MCDOWELL: I think you get occasional failures and that is just going to happen. There's a lot of energy involved in these rockets. I think the rocket explosion the other day is they will recover from that pretty quickly. I think this incident with SpaceshipTwo is a bigger deal.

CABRERA: All right, Jonathan McDowell, thanks so much for your time this morning.

In just three days we're talking elections. The balance of power in the Senate could shift. And it is coming down to the wire in at least five states. We're watching with candidates that are now separated by less than 3 percentage points. Why some are betting on a big night for the GOP.

BLACKWELL: Plus, another ax attack on a police officer, this time the cop chopped at his own cruiser.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: History points to what could be a big week ahead for Republicans. This election season is full of several tight dramatic races that are really becoming down to the wire fights for the control of the Senate.

CABRERA: And for those who don't like to vote on the midterms, don't think it matters here is why. Colorado, New Hampshire, Georgia to name a few are among the nearly dozen too close to call races now from coast to coast.

That could all come down to voter turnout. Three days from now. No matter how you look at it Tuesday night could turn out to be a nail biter for both parties.

Joining us now for more are Mo Ellethie, the DNC communications director and Sean Spicer, the RNC communications director.

Mo, I want to get to it with you. Republicans seem to have a lot of momentum when you look at the polls. What are you predicting come Tuesday?

MO ELLEITHEE, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, DNC: I'm predicting it's going to be a late night. You're right, there are a lot of races that are way too close to call. Races that Republicans thought they put away months ago or were close to putting away months ago.

We saw late surge by some of the Democrats and I think it is going to come down to turnout in a lot of these states. I think we're also going to see a lot of interesting races in governors' races around the country.

I'm predicting that by the end of the night you'll actually see more Republican governors lose than you'll see Democratic senators lose.

BLACKWELL: Sean, the 20th anniversary of the Contract with America. We're going to have former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on in the 10:00 Eastern hour. One of the reasons that the former speaker says that the Republicans had so much success in '94 was because they laid out their plans and they said here is what we will do and if we don't do this, hold us accountable.

Can you tell the viewers what the Republicans who are running right now are running to accomplish, not just to be the Obama alternative, what is the Republican positive direction?

SEAN SPICER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, RNC: Yes. Absolutely. Speaker Boehner has laid out a road map of five things that the House would immediately tackle, improving education, reforming the tax code, reforming the legal system, regulatory reform, that would all sort of get the economy moving again, restore some certainty to the job market.

And so then you know, help people with education, both k-12 and then look at making college more affordable when it comes to education. I feel very good about the positive agenda we laid out.

At the RNC we laid out what we call American renewals principles a few weeks ago, which were 11 principles that Republicans up and down were campaigning on.

So I think we have a very positive agenda that candidates whether they are running for mayor or state legislator all the way to Congress and governor are talking about that they would enact at their level of government. So that's something that we're very proud of and people should take a look at.

BLACKWELL: How much of that has been accomplished, what's the progress on that. To lay it out over the last several months, what progress has been made there at all?

SPICER: Well, look, the only branch or the only House of the branch of government that we control is the House of Representatives, that's all that Republicans control now.

They passed over 330 bills that have sat over in the Senate and haven't been acted on by Harry Reid and the Democrats over there. So when it comes to actually getting things done, the only part of government that is actually moving things along is the Republican controlled House.

And the reason that we're going to take over the Senate on Tuesday night is because I think the American people recognize that a lot of those bills that have gotten passed over are bipartisan and by Harry Reid saying no to everything, not moving bills that nothing is getting done.

I think once we replace Harry Reid with Mitch McConnell and have a Republican majority we're going to see things get put on the president's desk and a focus get put on moving America forward, getting the economy back as the number one focus of this -- of Washington.

CABRERA: Mo, I want to give you a chance to respond.

SPICER: Let's change that.

ELLEITHEE: Sean is a good friend and he's good at his job, but even he I think has a hard time selling this notion that the Republican House is the only branch of government that is working.

I think the Republican Party lost its right to argue that it is a functional party the day it shut the government down. And it cost our country 20 plus billion dollars. Cost our economy that because of an ideological obsession they have. Let's be clear --

SPICER: You guys control the government. The VA, the IRS, all of that --

CABRERA: Give Mo a chance to finish.

ELLEITHEE: See, this is a problem with the Republican Party. Sean is playing right into it. Look there is immigration reform that's sitting in the House that has bipartisan support. It won't even come up for a vote thanks to the Republicans.

They are not moving on raising the minimum wage, on helping alleviate the student debt burden. Democrats are trying to fight for all of these things.

Now Mitch McConnell has said that if and when -- if the Republicans take control of the Senate, they will continue a lot of these same battles that could lead to another government shutdown.

They are promising more dysfunction if the president tries to move on immigration reform, on this middle class agenda that the American people overwhelmingly support.

And so I think trying to argue that you're the only ones that can get anything done has just proven not to be the case at all.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you, Mo, before we wrap up. We heard from Congressman Charlie Rangel that there are some Republicans who don't elieve that slavery is over. What do you make of that comment?

ELLEITHEE: I've actually -- I had not heard that comment but --

BLACKWELL: You hadn't heard that? I think everybody who is following the races heard that comment. CABRERA: There have been comments about race.

ELLEITHEE: There have been a lot of comments that have been made about race. And I think that Democrats are out there trying to motivate folks to vote, Republicans are out there trying to motivate people not to vote.

BLACKWELL: Is that a motivator to say that Republicans believe that slavery is not over. That's a motivator to get people to vote?

ELLEITHEE: Look, I --

SPICER: Come on.

ELLEITHEE: Sean, Sean, I'm not going to --

BLACKWELL: Talk to you about -- let me come to you.

ELLEITHEE: And Sean, I'm not going to get into a debate over tactics given a lot of the despicable stuff we have seen from Republicans around the country that frankly, knowing you as a person I think you yourself would be disgusted with that we're seeing from a lot of your candidates.

But look, do I think the Republican Party believes in slavery, no. I don't believe the Republican Party believes in slavery. I think the Republican Party is doing a lot -- doing a lot of things that are one, hurting minority communities.

And two, in terms of its policies and two, is doing a lot to actually suppress the vote and that is something that I think is going to come back and bite the Republican Party in the behind both in this election and long term.

Because it cannot sustain a system where it continues to suppress the vote and tell people that their voice shouldn't matter.

CABRERA: Sean, how has the Republican Party reached out to minorities?

SPICER: CNN itself has documented a lot of the opportunities we've opened offices in Detroit, Michigan, where we started to go into different communities whether it's the black community, the Asian communities, Hispanic communities, put staffers in there.

We've made an investment from this party that's never been seen reaching out and putting staffers involving ourselves in community events, going out and touching people.

What Mo said is just patently false. Our entire effort right now is and we've been talking about this for the last several months is getting out there motivating people to vote, putting messages out there to encourage people to do that.

So it's patently false to say we're not. If you look at the Democratic Party of today and it's been well documented by the media they have become a niche party. The war on women, scaring minority voters that they are going to lose their right to vote in Atlanta --

ELLEITHEE: Women are --

SPICER: Hold on. Let me finish. You asked me. So what it has become is a question of the Democratic Party talking about how to scare voters to get out there and do things. We're offering an agenda to move America forward.

ELLEITHEE: Women are a majority. They are not a niche.

BLACKWELL: Mo, Shawn, thank you very much. And, of course, a programming reminder, get all your election night coverage right here on CNN this Tuesday. Special coverage starts at 5:00 Eastern.

CABRERA: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Welcome back to NEW DAY, lots of news to tell you about this morning. Here is your morning read.

BLACKWELL: A third victim of last week's school shooting in Washington State has died. The parents of 14-year-old girl released a statement last night, "Our hearts are broken at the passing of our beautiful daughter. Shay means everything to us. The shooter took his own life in a school cafeteria. Two other students are recovering.

CABRERA: A former Florida A&M band member has been found guilty of manslaughter in a hazing case. Prosecutors say that Dante Martin known as the president of Bus C organized the hazing ritual. It was a student from Georgia, who died after being hazed on the bus back in 2011.

BLACKWELL: In the nation's capital, an ax wielding man tries to attack a police officer and sinks the ax into the window of the officer's cruiser. Look at this. The officer was not hit by the ax, but was injured in a scuffle with the suspect who eventually got away.

Let's check weather. California has been in the midst of a drought so the sight of something falling from the sky excited more than a few people. The first big snow of the season made its way to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Some parts of the country hope to avoid snow this winter some here welcome anything. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Bottom of the hour now. We made it to the weekend. Thanks for being here. I'm Ana Cabrera.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. A U.S. Marine reservist is back in its home state of Florida after spending seven months in a Mexican jail. We've got new video. It shows Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi landing early this morning in Opa-locka airport near Miami. Tahmooressi was detained in Tijuana after he crossed into Mexico with three guns in his trunk. A veteran of two tours in Afghanistan, Tahmooressi suffers from PTSD. He was released on humanitarian grounds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ED ROYCE (R) CALIFORNIA: On that basis to reunite him with his family with the knowledge that now he is going to get the treatment he needs.

MONTELL WILLIAMS, TAHMOORESSI FAMILY FRIEND: This experience for him in the last seven month is in a lot of ways has re-traumatized him and this is almost like, let's call it prison PTSD.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So, we're seeing people speaking out from Montell Williams to Bill Richardson, to Ed Royce, politicians and others. What more are you learning, Nick, about this release in the timing event?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a myriad of people that helped get -- secure Andrew Tahmooressi's release. There was a lot of people that are saying this is so amazing because they weren't expecting this to happen. Not this soon if at all. Part of what led to this delay if you talk to the family is legal problems, they had three different attorneys, two of which that they fired, one in May, one in June. Poor legal counsel according to family very early on. The mother, in fact, was saying initially that Andrew had never been to Mexico before. We learned later that that was not true. That he had crossed at least six times before, but she said part of the reason that led to this delay was because they were given poor counsel early on.

Attorneys who were screened by the U.S. State Department, which is why she went with them. It took this third attorney Fernando Benitez, who is a high profile attorney. He's defended the Tijuana mayor in the past on weapons charges as well, was he got that case dismissed on a technicality. There was a lot of optimism when he joined the legal defense team that they were able - that they were going to be able to release Andrew Tahmooressi or secure his release. Now after 214 days in the Mexican prison, seven months to the day he was detained on that U.S./Mexico border he is now free back on U.S. soil.

BLACKWELL: Anything else we are learning from the lawyer? Anything else about treating his PTSD now?

VALENCIA: Yeah, we know that he is going to go into intensive therapy in Florida. That's the plan, anyway, according to the family. We don't know how soon that starts. You would assume that that starts almost immediately after that sort of reintegration process into the family. We heard last hour from a mother whose son went through the same thing and she says that rebuilding process is really going to take a lot of time for Sgt. Tahmooressi.

CABRERA: It sounds like he was in a very dark place but now a little bit of light.

VALENCIA: Yeah.

CABRERA: All right, Nick, thanks so much.

BLACKWELL: Thanks, Nick.

CABRERA: Portland, Oregon is now the latest U.S. city dealing with a potential Ebola case.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, we want to emphasize potential there. A woman who recently arrived in Portland from West Africa was rushed to Providence-Milwaukee hospital there yesterday after developing a fever of more than 102 degrees. Public health officials in Portland held a news conference hoping to calm fears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PAUL LEWIS, TRI-COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER: The prudent approach was to use the protective equipment and work with our hospital partners to make sure that we achieve our three aims which is safe care for the patient, safety for the health care workers and safety for the general public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Doctors treating her say they still can't be sure if she has Ebola or perhaps another infection and they are continuing to take some blood samples and wait on test results.

BLACKWELL: Let's take you to Maine now where a nurse who rejected an Ebola quarantine is claiming a major victory. A judge sided with Kaci Hickox lifting most of the restrictions the state was trying to impose on her. Alexandra Field is following development there. She joins us this morning from Fort Kent, Maine. Alexandra, what's the reaction from the town to this latest development?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. Opinions (NO AUDIO) some (NO AUDIO) why Kaci Hickox was so adamant in wanting to fight the state on this. (NO AUDIO) showing her support stopping by the house. Leaving (NO AUDIO), but Kaci Hickox was (NO AUDIO). She had said that while she --.(NO AUDIO)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KACI HICKOX: Hello everyone!

FIELD: The nurse who took on the policies of two governors claims a major victory.

HICKOX: I am humbled today by the judge's decision.

FIELD: Put in an isolation tent at Newark University Hospital in New Jersey, then sent to Maine where she was told to quarantine at home. She's become the flashpoint in a fiery debate over how to handle the threat of Ebola. Now a judge has ordered almost all restrictions on Hickox lifted. She'll still undergo direct active health monitoring which means a daily visit from a CDC health official. She'll have to coordinate travel with health officials and immediately notify them if she develops symptoms. GOV. PAUL LEPAGE (R) MAINE: I think he took a risk, which I would not

have taken.

FIELD: Maine's Governor Paul LePage called the ruling unfortunate, but added the state will abide by the law. In his order, the judge addressed concerns about the spread of the Ebola virus saying quote whether that fear is rational or not it is present and it is real. He added Kaci Hickox should guide herself accordingly.

NORMAN SIEGEL, LAWYER FOR KACI HICKOX: She can go to the pizza place and get a slice of pizza. She can go to the movie theater tonight. She can go to the public square and dance and celebrate.

FIELD: A previous order barred Hickox from going to work, going to restaurants, getting within three feet of people among other restrictions.

HICKOX: I've never have taken a walk with this many people before.

FIELD: She successfully fought for more freedom but she hasn't quite decided what she will do with it yet.

HICKOX: I'm taking things minute by minute. You know, I completely understand that and I am sensitive. This is one of the reasons I'm saying this battle isn't over. We still need to continue this discussion. We still need to continue educating ourselves and I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Hickox has repeatedly said that she is fighting this fight for all of the health care workers who returned from West Africa and she and her legal team now say they hope that other states will look at the judge's decision here in Maine and be guided by that kind of thinking. Ana, Victor?

BLACKWELL: Alexandra Field there, in Fort Kent, thank you so much.

CABRERA: In just three days the results of several of the midterm races could shift the balance of power in the Senate.

BLACKWELL: But if one of the party's presidential candidates thinks the GOP brand "sucks," why are so many Republicans leading their races?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right, you've heard the numbers, the control of the Senate coming down to just a few races. Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Georgia, North Carolina. And with three days left before the midterm elections, polls in those states are showing that the race is tight. All of those races are tight, with both candidates within just three points of one another. Can the Democrats hold on this Tuesday night or will Republicans take the Senate? And, of course, everyone's expecting they will keep the House. Joining me now CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona and Crystal Wright from the ConservativeBlackChick.com. Welcome to both of you. This is going to be fun.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Victor.

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, EDITOR, CONSERVATIVEBLACKCHICK.COM: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Crystal, I want to start with you. Rand Paul, Senator Rand Paul this week had some harsh words about the GOP brand. According to the Hill, Paul said first he started with a question, do you remember Domino's pizza? They admitted hey, our pizza sucks. The pizza crust sucks. The Republican Party brand sucks, and so people don't want to be a Republican and for 80 years African-Americans have had nothing to do with the Republicans. Crystal, does the GOP brand suck?

WRIGHT: Well, Senator Paul is correct. Black Americans have shied away from the party of Lincoln for decades upon decades, and I've been very critical of my own party and the brand. I don't know if the brand sucks, the brand needs -- is in disrepair. It needs some refurbishing. How about that, Victor. But really, what we have going for us and the reason why you see us making this a tight race in the Senate is the Republican Party as I've always said we have a great message, we don't change our message if you're black or you're a woman or you're a man. We don't engage in these false identity politics and racial politics. What's broken is our messengers, we have got too many white men taking the message to the streets.

And I got to tell you Victor, I'm a black woman and I'm a conservative.

BLACKWELL: Got it.

WRIGHT: And I mean -- we need more blacks, women, Hispanics taking the message to the streets to the conservatives. It's kind of like Coca-Cola doesn't just use white people to market its brand, right? Because that doesn't sell. Cheerios uses minorities in their ads because they know that cheerios is going to sell more cereal when it uses people that represent America. That's what the GOP needs to do. So, Rand Paul --

BLACKWELL: Maria, what do you --

WRIGHT: You know, I don't think it sucks, I think the brand is broken.

BLACKWELL: What do you think, Maria?

CARDONA: I think the GOP brand does suck and that's why in these midterms Democrats are in the hunt. Look, with such a difficult map that Democrats were looking at going into these midterm elections and seven months ago, eight months ago Republicans were predicting a huge wave, the fact that it is not a done deal that Republicans are going to take over the Senate three days before the midterm elections, is, I think, a huge reflection on the fact that the Republican Party brand not only sucks, but that they are not speaking to all of the voters that they need to be speaking to. Like women, like African-Americans, like Latinos, they are not running on anything. The only agenda they are running on right now is fear.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you.

CARDONA: And that's why voters --

WRIGHT: Oh, wait a minute.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about a brand, let me get to Maria about this question about brand. Because you are talking about talking to voters and a brand that sucks. President Obama yesterday was campaigning in Rhode Island and Maine as if they really needed the president to be there in Rhode Island and Maine helping the Democratic candidates win. So is his brand just as bad as the Domino pizza crust and what Rand Paul thinks the GOP brand is?

CARDONA: I'll tell you one thing, right now Republicans would kill for President Obama's approval rating. So yes, his numbers are down, no question. But they are not nearly as awful and on the floor as the Republican brand is. And again, when you have a party that is running on not even wanting to raise the minimum wage, and two thirds of minimum wage workers are women, when you have a party that just wants to deport immigrants and has done nothing to pass comprehensive immigration reform, when you have a party that can only focus on passing voter I.D. laws across the country, so minorities are - making it harder for them to vote, that is why you are looking at a midterm election where Democrats, it's very possible, that we continue to hold the Senate in a map that was so difficult. It is because of that Republican Party.

WRIGHT: Well, look, Victor.

CARDONA: And the fact that Democrats are running on what will help middle class families.

WRIGHT: Victor, if anybody - I mean Maria, let's try to be honest here. The President Obama's brand sucks. Alison Grimes is running in Kentucky against Senator Mitch McConnell. She can't even utter the word Obama like many other Democrats running in the Senate. That's why this is a tight race. Nobody wants to have anything to do with Obamacare or President Obama's policies. If Republicans had approval ratings like President Obama, I mean, we wouldn't be in the situation --

CARDONA: You would be slipping.

WRIGHT: -- of about to take over the Senate and finally.

CARDONA: You would be slipping.

WRIGHT: What I'd like to add is what's really insulting and Victor talked about this earlier with --

BLACKWELL: Rangel?

WRIGHT: Mo Elleithee of the DNC, is that you and I both know that black Americans are critical to the - a lot of these Senate races in Louisiana, North Carolina, Georgia.

CARDONA: Absolutely.

WRIGHT: And what are you all doing? The Democratic National Committee is taking out ads in black newspapers saying you got his back. Saying you got to vote for Obama just because he's black. That is not a policy, Maria. That is racial baiting, it's insulting, it's playing black people for fools.

CARDONA: That's for --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: We just got a minute left. Maria, take 30 seconds.

WRIGHT: Republicans don't talk one way--

CARDONA: So, you are ignoring --

WRIGHT: -- the Republicans are ignoring --

BLACKWELL: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. We've got just a minute left. I need Maria to respond to that and then I'm going to give you 30 minutes to finish up, Crystal.

WRIGHT: Republicans don't change the message for one group for another, we say - politics - policies of opportunities.

CARDONA: OK, now it's my turn.

WRIGHT: Yes, it was your turn.

CARDONA: Those ads that focus on President Obama, they are focused on President Obama's policies like helping middle class voters --

WRIGHT: -- which are awful.

CARDONA: You need to find job, education, raising the minimum wage, and making sure that women have the right to make their own decisions.

WRIGHT: Why are people --

CARDONA: That's why Democrats are in the hunt --

WRIGHT: It's hoping change is so great --

CARDONA: And that's why the Republican wave --

WRIGHT: -- right now ...

CARDONA: -- has not materialized.

(CROSSTALK)

WRIGHT: Maria.

CARDONA: So again, it's a comparison between which party is going to be fighting --

WRIGHT: Next week --

BLACKWELL: We got to call it. We got to call it. Maria Cardona, Crystal Wright, I told you it would be fun. Thank you very much.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Programming reminder, all of the election night coverage on CNN next Tuesday starts at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: A two-man marketing team is creating a viral video that people just can't stop watching. Remember this one? Video of the devil baby, in a stroller, this one went viral.

BLACKWELL: Devil baby? The day after Halloween, hey.

CABRERA: A baby.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: It's the latest form of advertising that sometimes involves a prank, the hidden cameras, of course. In today's start small think big we spend a little time with the brains behind the videos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL KRIVICKA, JAMES PERCELAY, COFOUNDER THINKMODO: We come up with things that are just really outrageous. And that's what gets a lot of people talking.

JAMES PERCELAY, COFOUNDER THINKMODO: I'm James Percelay.

KRIVICKA: And I'm Michael Krivicka.

PERCELAY: And we're cofounders of Thinkmodo.

We do viral videos for movies, for TV shows, for name brands.

KRIVICKA: The last two videos we have created generated together over 100 million views on YouTube.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just get away from me!

PERCELAY: The concept of the movie, Carrie, a girl with telekinetic powers put her in real life. And got real reactions from real people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god.

KRIVICKA: Once we posted the Carrie (ph) video online it went viral instantly. (BABY CRYING)

KRIVICKA: The devil baby attack was a viral video to promote the movie devils do. We just came up with the idea to create our own version of devil baby. Once we posted it online, it just exploded and everybody was sharing. It was all over the news.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're talking devil baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two words that are trending everywhere.

PERCELAY: We are very small. It's just the two of us. We do everything from aviation to production to post production.

KRIVICKA: Not everything lends itself to a viral video. And we will only do one if we know it's going to work.

PERCELAY: In the end, it's something that you can share and you can like. You can comment on. We just like that there are no limits, we can do whatever we want and we're doing it.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was good.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And good morning to you. Don't forget before you go to bed tonight we fall back. Daylight saving time ends and so you will get an extra hour of sleep. How does that sound? So, set your clocks back before you go to bed. Also, a good reminder to check those batteries in your smoke detectors today as well. Guys, when you work a morning show what is this, the best night of the year?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

BLACKWELL: So good.

CABRERA: Time to celebrate is what this is.

BLACKWELL: Hey, thanks, Jennifer.

GRAY: All right.

BLACKWELL: Before we go here is a look at the top stories we're working on this morning. Happy homecoming this morning for a U.S. Marine reservist. Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi. He is back in his home state of Florida after spending 214 days in a Mexican jail. Seven months to the day. The Afghanistan war veteran was detained in Tijuana after he drove into Mexico with three guns in his truck. Now, he insists he just made a wrong turn and crossed the border by accident.

CABRERA: And investigators are trying to figure out what went wrong in this deadly spacecraft disaster that happened over the Mojave Desert yesterday. Officials say one pilot died, one was seriously injured when the Virgin Galactic $500 million Spaceship 2 broke apart broke apart during a test flight yesterday. It is unclear what the mishap will mean now for the future of space tourism.

BLACKWELL: All right. That's it for us this hour. Of course, we'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern in the CNN newsroom. Of course, we are following all of the big races that are so tight as we head into Tuesday's midterms.

CABRERA: Yeah, hopefully we can give you some good information before you cast your vote.

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

CABRERA: But don't go anywhere. Because "SMERCONISH" starts right now.