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New Day Saturday
New Footage Shows Congressional Leadership Scrambling on January 6; Deadly Raleigh Mass Shooting; The Battle for Kherson; Ian Devastates Florida's Citrus Crop. Aired 7-8a ET
Aired October 15, 2022 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was simultaneously heartbreaking, but also motivating to see so many people come out. I think it highlighted the need and the fears that many folks like me are experiencing right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay safe. Bye. I hope that our work helps save lives. That's our only hope moving forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Those long lines are really telling, aren't they? To learn about all the ways, Michelle and her organization, are working to combat Asian hate. Go to CNN, CNNHeroes.com.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to your NEW DAY. I'm Amara Walker.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Amara. I'm Boris Sanchez. This morning, we have exclusive new CNN video showing what lawmakers were doing as the Capitol was being ransacked on January 6th, including a chilling conversation between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Vice President Mike Pence.
WALKER: New details in that deadly mass shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina. What we're learning about the victims and potential charges the shooter could face.
SANCHEZ: And we're going to take you inside the battle of Kherson in Ukraine. A fight that could be critical for the Ukrainian counter offensive.
WALKER: And Ian's devastation on full display on Florida's farms. The impact that the storm is having on the state's citrus crop and the families who depend on it.
SANCHEZ: Welcome to the weekend. Good morning. We are so grateful to have you this Saturday, October 15th. Great to start with you as well, Amara.
WALKER: We are right in the middle of October 16th, days until Halloween really looking forward to it always good to be with you too, Boris. And we do have more video, as Boris was mentioning this morning, showing the dangers faced by congressional leaders after they left the capitol building during the January 6th riots.
SANCHEZ: The video is courtesy of filmmaker, Alexandra Pelosi, who is documenting her mom, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on that day. It shows the Speaker and other congressional leaders sheltering at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C. area military base. At the same time, Vice President Pence was sheltering at a loading dock on the Capitol campus. And then, a CNN exclusive Pence and Pelosi, the first and second in line for the presidency, discuss their personal safety with Pelosi begging him to keep his location a secret.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Hi, Mr. Vice President. Hi, yes, we're OK. We're here with Mr. Schumer, Mr. McConnell, the leadership House and Senate -- and how are you? Oh, my goodness! Where are you? God bless you. I worry about you being in the capitol, though. Don't let anybody know where you are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: We now know the real danger Pence, Mike Pence, faced that day. As rioters attack the Capitol, many were chanting: "Hang, Mike Pence," as you can hear there. And outside the building, the mob built gallows with a noose. And in another clip, we also hear discussions between the former Vice President and Speaker Pelosi as they work on a contingency plan to clear the Capitol and finish certifying the 2020 election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PELOSI: We're at the Fort McNair, which has facilities for the House and the Senate to meet as a backup plan, should they seem like -- they don't want this to happen that would want that. Logistically, we want to bring all the members here House and Senate anyway? We're just making a judgment -- we'd rather go to the capitol and do it there, but it doesn't seem to be safe. What do you think --
Have you spoke in terms of going back to the cabinet, which is what we want to do too, but Mitch was talking about going back to the Capitol. Well, we would like to go back to the -- I, that would be our hope as well. The security is telling us that it's going to be a while before the Capitol will be able to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: The fact that these conversations had to take place. Portions of these videos were used in the final public hearing before the midterm elections of the January 6th committee. The House Select Committee used the video and new testimony to demonstrate how former President Donald Trump knew he had lost the election but still went forward with efforts to overturn the results.
The committee also voted to subpoena the former president. In response, Trump issued a 14-page letter, of course, repeating false election claims and slamming the committee, not indicating whether or not he would comply. Joining me now to discuss is Former Federal Prosecutor and Defense Attorney Shan Wu
[07:05:19]
Good morning to you, Shan. I just read your piece in The Daily Beast. It is really enlightening. I do encourage everyone to read it. I just retweeted it out for you as well. And you say in that piece, you know, the fact that the January 6th Committee voted to issue Trump a subpoena, that just underscores we are in a constitutional crisis. How so?
SHAN WU, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Oh, absolutely, Amara. I think there's been a lot of talk that we averted that on January 6th, and we certainly averted a coup on January 6th, but we didn't avert a constitutional crisis, we're already there. First of all, if we look at the state of the union right now, Trump really defines the stresses that can occur on the Constitution, because he's basically defying the usual norms, and the other branches have not been able to discipline him at this point. There are legal losses, Supreme Court rejected the Mar-a-Lago issue, but essentially, he operates outside the norms. And at this point, it's really up to the executive branch to file charges. But one definition of the constitutional crisis is stresses and the branches not being able to check this kind of defiance.
WALKER: Yes, speaking of those branches, and checking this defiance, I mean, you also mentioned right that you have the wife of a Supreme Court Justice, Jenny Thomas, who's a well-known conservative activist. We've heard her say that she believes the election is stolen yet, Justice Clarence Thomas hasn't recused himself from January 6th cases, there are no mechanism in place, mechanisms in place to force him to do so. I mean, how concerning is that in itself?
WU: Yes, when -- it's very concerning. I mean, when you think about it, this is the Supreme Court of the land, and they themselves refuse to adopt the code of judicial ethics. It just seems very odd that they won't do that, just letting them police themselves. And again, there's an example of no check on them, and there's no effective review of them. They get to the side when they have a conflict or they don't have a conflict, and that just doesn't make any sense. And it certainly has undermined our trust in the court.
WALKER: And I don't mean to sound melodramatic. But I mean, you're saying the fate of our democracy basically rests with the Department of Justice, and the next moves they make, but is it too little too late?
WU: Well, hopefully, it won't be too little. It is late, in the day, and a lot of that is the dilemma that the department and Merrick Garland find themselves in, which is they're very concerned about repairing the image of the department looking very political, the way that it was turned into a political weapon under Bill Barr and the Trump administration. But ironically, that very concern may end up being a problem, because trying not to be political can be political in and of itself. And really, the way to have blunted some of this, you know, partisan dilemma going on in the country would have been to abroad charges earlier than this. The closer it gets the midterms, the closer it gets to Trump himself declaring a likely candidacy again, the worst that that backlash is going to be.
WALKER: How confident, or not, are you that charges will be brought against Trump.
WU: I'm confident that there's certainly enough evidence to do that. And I think it's very much a matter of prosecutorial discretion at this point for A.G. Garland weighing whether he wants the Justice Department to take this step. I think the evidence is there. I can't really predict which way they're going to go with that right now.
WALKER: Shan Wu, a very important conversation. Thank you very much.
WU: Good to see you.
SANCHEZ: The Justice Department is now asking a federal appeals court to get rid of the Special Master in the Mar-a-Lago documents case. The DOJ says the judge who ordered the third-party review of the documents overstepped her authority. We get details now from CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez.
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EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Justice Department formally appealed the Palm Beach judge's order that appointed a third-party Special Master to review more than 21,000 pages of documents that were seized by the FBI in its search of Donald Trump's Florida beach club. In an appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, federal prosecutors say that the lower court judge, Aileen Cannon, exceeded her authority by inserting herself into a criminal investigation that at this point, has not produced any charges.
Prosecutors quote from an earlier opinion by the appeals court which said that Cannon abused her discretion when she blocked federal investigators from being able to access about 100 documents that are marked classified. The Appeals Court overturned Cannon on that part of a ruling. Now, prosecutors want the Appeals Court to go further saying that Trump shouldn't be allowed to use the Special Master process to delay an investigation by claiming certain documents are subject to claims of privilege.
Prosecutors write in part, "Trump has no plausible claim to such a privilege with respect to a, to the records bearing classification markings or any other government documents related to his official duties." Trump's lawyers have until November 10th to respond followed by another Justice Department response a week later. The Special Master review is already ongoing and is scheduled to be complete by mid-December. Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.
[07:10:46] WALKER: New this morning, prosecutors say the 15-year-old alleged
gunman behind Thursday's mass shooting in Raleigh, North Carolina will be charged as an adult amid growing calls around the country to curb gun violence.
SANCHEZ: Few details have been released about exactly what led to the shooting, which left five people dead, including an off-duty police officer. But there are disturbing 9-1-1 calls obtained by CNN that describe the painstaking moments the gunman opened fire in an unsuspecting neighborhood. CNN's Ryan Young has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shooter is on camo. The shooter has on all camo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a white kid running around here with a shotgun, he shot somebody.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 9-1-1 calls detail the mass shooting that left five people dead in Raleigh, North Carolina, including a 16- year-old boy and an off-duty police officer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An officer was shot?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, he's an off-duty cop. I keep trying to say he works for Raleigh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard some shots outside. And I looked out my window, and the neighbor is on the ground, I think.
GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): We'll have to make sense at this infuriating and tragic act of gun violence.
YOUNG: 49-year-old, Sue Carnets, a mother of three, also among the victims, her husband Tom writing on Facebook: "We had plans together for growing old, always together. Now, those plans are laid to waste." Two others were hurting the shooting including another police officer and a 59-year-old woman who's in critical condition.
MARY-ANN BALDWIN, RALIEGH, NORTH CAROLINA MAYOR: We grieve for them today. Our prayers are also with those who are injured.
YOUNG: The district attorney says a 15-year-old gunman will be charged as an adult. He was taken into custody and is in critical condition. Police said, the crime scene is extensive, covering more than two miles. They have not released the motive for the attack. But a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN the shooter was wearing camouflage, had a camouflage backpack, and a handgun and a long gun were recovered. People who live near the scene reacting to the news, including a teen girl who didn't want to be identified.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Having somebody do that with my age, you know, the fact that they didn't care what they were doing, it's just, it comes to show that the world really needs to find why they're doing this. YOUNG: Ryan Young, CNN, Raleigh, North Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: When will all that gun violence end? Still ahead, Russia unleashes the new rounds of attacks in Ukraine with kamikaze drones and missiles. We're going to have the latest on the ground as Ukraine fights back to take back territory.
SANCHEZ: Plus, as the midterms near, Latino voters are potentially going to play a critical role on election day, but many in the nation's fastest-growing demographic are switching parties, especially in South Texas. Why the Rio Grande Valley could be a major test for Republicans?
[07:14:00]
And weeks after Hurricane Ian rip through Florida, some communities are still trying to clean up. Just ahead, we're going to show you how some citrus farms were torn apart and hear from a farmer about what the recovery effort is going to look like.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this morning is thanking the United States for another two, rather $725 million in military aid.
WALKER: The latest package includes ammunition for various rocket systems, anti-tank weapons, artillery rounds, small arms, and medical supplies. Meantime, Ukrainian officials report fresh attacks on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia today in an assault involving "kamikaze drones."
SANCHEZ: Nick Payton Walsh is in the capital of Kyiv. And Nick, help us understand what do they mean by kamikaze drones?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are at times supplied, purchased from Iran, drones that essentially hover over their target using their camera often to feedback live footage of what it is they're essentially targeting. And then, they throw their entire device, the drone and the explosive within it at that particular target. There have been numerous reports across Ukraine since the first wave of attacks happened back on Monday and earlier, indeed, of these drones being used.
[07:19:00
Kyiv's region as well also being hit today. I should point out that we're seeing less attacks per day than we did during the horrifying way, frankly, of Monday that dragged on into Tuesday as well. But this news comes of continued attacks as Ukraine is on the counter offensive, as well pushing towards further into the Kherson region. And we saw what the frontlines look there, look like -- there look like just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: Night is when the push for the South busies. Humvees speed the roads. Incendiary munitions light up the night. That dusk, the skies alight with air defenses around the Russian-held heavily defended town of Snihurivka, just three miles south of here. It's the gateway to the big prize, the city of Kherson, where Russia is already evacuating civilians and low on supplies.
They say, the shelling has been noticeably less over the past month and a half, probably because of the damage done to supply lines the Russians need to bring munitions towards the front here. Radio chatter, they've intercepted between Russians here is of ammo running out and conscripts fleeing.
VOLODYMYR, SOLDIER OF 63RD BRIGADE (through translation): The mobilized conscripts here are called "humanitarian aid." And they say they don't need them.
WALSH: In three days, moving around the front lines here, it's clear Ukraine's movement forwards has met a hardened Russian defense, even if they are low on ammo. On this tree line, to Snihurivka's west, the Russian paratroopers are under a mile away.
NAZAR, SOLDIER OF 63RD BRIGADE (through translation): They are well trained. They fire often and yesterday hit the trees. 200 meters away from us, 25 times.
WALSH: New trenches are being dug and camouflage laid out. Nature is about to turn on both sides equally.
So, obviously in the winter, the cover of the trees will be gone. And so, there's a race here to prepare new positions so they can't be seen by Russian drones in the winter.
A mix of the oldest type of warfare. An oven-heating bunk beds on the ground here.
Place for their rifles. This, for five people, this is where they're going to be during the winter if they're still here.
And the newest. This is an antenna for Starlink. Billionaire Elon Musk's satellite Internet service sending a live stream of drone footage of the artillery battle here.
STAS, DRONE OPERATOR (through translation): They are firing at us. And I am trying to find them.
WALSH: This is where that signal is sent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meet, Fugas, his nickname, a farmer turned drone warfare commander. And then the lethal impact of a billionaire's Internet service and store-bought drones, a hit on a Russia vehicle. The black smoke under the mouse cursor. They show us video of several impacts that day. They know they will be hit back.
FUGAS, UKRAINIAN COMMANDER (through translation): They don't value human life or the lives of their soldiers. Unlike us, but all the same they are watching us all the time.
WALSH: In the villages out east in Kherson, we see how fierce the fight for each village has been. Ukraine is slowly moving forward. But every farm has a slug, smoke crawling over every hill. One of Russia's largest bombs hit here. Nothing left to come back for if you once lived in these homes. It is as if this wasteland is telling the Kremlin, it's time to leave. But they think there's more damage left to do before the inevitable happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALSH: Now, the news coming from pro-Russian officials in occupied areas is that the offensive by Ukrainian troops is pushing along the Dnipro River after a town called (INAUDIBLE), that we were in earlier on this week, essentially trying to push the Russians back along that river towards the main prize that you heard about there, Kherson City, the one provincial capital that the Russians have occupied and retain control of.
It's unclear quite what the conditions the Russians are facing around there. You heard certainly that they're facing problems with supplies. There was an order given by the occupying officials in Kherson. They wanted civilians to start leaving. It's unclear if that was related to their own internal management issues or because they think a Ukrainian counter offensive is coming. But certainly, progress along the river has been fast but around snickering because we saw they're a lot slower.
Interestingly, though, Russian President Vladimir Putin giving off different signals in Kazakhstan and a meeting of other former Soviet Union, heads of state talking, yes, about the possibility of how catastrophic a war with NATO would be. But also again, talking about the possibility of diplomacy and the need for goodwill -- very rare things for him to say and assign again that I think Russia is in trouble. Back to you.
[07:24:17]
SANCHEZ: The need for goodwill coming from Vladimir Putin, quite a surprise. Nick Payton Walsh reporting live from Kyiv, thank you so much. With us now to discuss the latest developments in Eastern Europe, Retired Army, Retired Air Force Colonel and CNN Military Analyst Cedric Leighton. Good morning, Colonel, always appreciate having your expertise on. Let's start with a new assault on Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian officials reporting the kamikaze drones being used there. I'm curious to get your reaction.
CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, not surprised Boris, and good morning to you. The big thing here that we're looking at is these kamikaze drones, supposedly, Iranian trainers are actually being employed in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions to train the Russians in the use of these drones. The type of drone is called the Shahed- 136, and it's somewhat similar to the U.S. Switchblade, less technically astute but it's definitely something that can cause a lot of damage and it's pretty hard to defend against, those kinds of drones, if you don't have the right equipment in the right way to jam the signal that the drones are getting.
SANCHEZ: Yes. CNN spoke with the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury this week. Our Kevin Liptak had a conversation with him about Russia's military burn rate. I want you to listen to what he shared with us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAKKY ADEYEMO, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF TREASURY: They have to make critical choices about what they can do in the battlefield, because they don't have the tanks they need. They don't have the equipment they need to have helicopters. They don't have the semiconductors they need to launch precision missiles into Ukraine. And we're going to keep doing that as long as Russia's war of choice in Ukraine continues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Colonel, how long do you think Russia is going to sustain this recent onslaught if it can't replenish its supplies?
LEIGHTON: Well, that might be why President Putin of Russia is making the statement, statements that he's making in Kazakhstan. I think that what you're seeing is a burn rate, if you will, of somewhere around 6000 pieces of equipment that have been destroyed. These pieces of equipment are not replaceable by the Russians, because they don't have the industrial base. So, I would give them you know, depending on the kind of munitions that they're going to employ, somewhere between two to three months of actually being able to sustain the war effort that they have right now, and maybe not even that long.
SANCHEZ: And the concern is that at that point, if Putin runs out of conventional weapons or gets close to it, he might potentially use something more catastrophic, right?
LEIGHTON: That's right. Yes. So, you're looking at the so-called NBC type of weapons, nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. We, of course, talk a lot about the nuclear weapons as a possibility and tactical nukes as being within that arsenal. So, that is definitely a distinct possibility if he feels he's not getting his way or getting the off ramp that he seems to be looking for at the moment.
SANCHEZ: This week, Colonel, Jake Tapper spoke with President Biden about Putin's motives and miscalculations. And the President spoke about Putin as potentially not being a rational actor. He sort of speculated on, on that theme. I'm wondering, watching what you've seen unfold in Ukraine over the last seven-plus months, potentially eight months now, what do you make of the idea that he's not a rational actor?
LEIGHTON: Well, I think he's rational. Putin is rational within his own context. But you know, having said that, it's kind of like the rationality of a lot of other historical figures who have performed fairly well within the paradigm that they believe. But this paradigm that Putin is using is one that is based on faulty information, it's based in many ways on faulty logic, and a misinterpretation of history. And the fact that he is dealing with these things with an essence a
lens, that is not really giving him a real picture of what's going on, or even giving him the right philosophical paradigm to deal with the kinds of issues that he thinks he's facing, that results in some decisions that are very, very bad.
And when President typing said that he made a strategic mistake by entering Ukraine, I agree with that. I think that Putin really miscalculated and did not understand the type of resistance he would be getting. He believed a lot of his own press. He believed that the Russian military, I think, was stronger than it really is. And his plans are certainly coming to a dramatic end in the way that they were formulated at first, at least.
SANCHEZ: Yes, hard to imagine that he expected what we just saw unfold after the invasion. Colonel, Cedric Leighton, always appreciate your time, Sir. Thanks.
LEIGHTON: You bet, Boris. Good to be with you.
WALKER: And still ahead, the midterms are just weeks away and both parties are keeping a close eye on Latino voters. Next, we're going to take a look at why some Hispanic communities in places like Texas could be a major test for Republicans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:33:38]
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: You can now apply online for student loan forgiveness, as the Biden administration launched as a test version of its new signup web site.
WALKER (voice-over): The Education Department's student debt cancelation site went live for beta testing last night. The site's official launch will be later this month.
President Biden announced in August, the cancelation of up to $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 a year or as much as $20,000 for borrowers who received Pell Grants.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The CDC is reporting an early surge in flu cases with the nation south east and south central areas reporting the highest levels.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): More than 1,000 patients were hospitalized by the virus this past week. Although, current influenza activity is still overall low. The CDC is recommending that everyone six months and older get a flu shot as soon as possible. And ask your doctor for antiviral medicine if you think you've contracted the illness.
SANCHEZ: In the battle for control of Congress, a shift in one key demographic could prove pivotal and more than a dozen competitive Senate and House races, including three in South Texas, where historically, Democrats have dominated among Latino voters. But recent elections and polling indicate that Latinos, which make up a fifth of all registered voters in some key battleground states are trending toward the Republican Party.
[07:35:04]
One major component is upward mobility and the charm, some argue, that Donald Trump's machismo has among Latino voters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Running in Texas' 15th District, Republican Monica De La Cruz is an entrepreneur, a mother of two, and a former Democrat.
MONICA DE LA CRUZ (R-TX), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: The Democrat Party has abandoned us and taking us for granted.
SANCHEZ: Part of a trio of Republican Latinas on the ballot in South Texas, an area that's overwhelmingly Hispanic, De La Cruz is poised to redefine the region's political tradition, alongside Cassy Garcia, a former Ted Cruz outreach director, and Congresswoman Mayra Flores, the first Republican elected to Congress from the Rio Grande Valley in more than a century.
The triple threat as the GOP calls them, signaling a potential political realignment as Donald Trump made gains with Latinos in 2020.
DE LA CRUZ: My abuelita (PH) was Democratic.
SANCHEZ: De La Cruz was one over, and inspire to start a new career in politics after attending her first Trump rally.
DE LA CRUZ: He didn't have a political background, he was a businessman. And his business policies, again, they made sense for people. He stood up against the establishment and he put forth policies that worked for American families.
SANCHEZ: Pro tax cuts, pro border wall, and opposed to abortion rights, policies that persuaded Rodolfo Sanchez-Rendon, whose restaurant, Teresita's Kitchen, has struggled because of inflation.
He says he now pays three times what he used to for a box of eggs, while faulting Democrats for undervaluing faith, family, and small business.
SANCHEZ (text): And Democrats aren't doing that?
RODOLFO SANCHEZ-RENDON, OWNER, TERESITA'S KITCHEN (text): They aren't doing that.
SANCHEZ (text): Why?
SANCHEZ-RENDON (text): Well, I'm not seeing it. I don't know why, but they're not.
SANCHEZ: Independent contractor Edgard Gallegos says it boils down to result over rhetoric.
EDGARD GALLEGOS, INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR: I'll take a mean tweet right about now, over what we've got now, yes.
SANCHEZ: Another former Democrat, Giancarlo Sopo, led Trump's Hispanic advertisement in 2020.
GIANCARLO SOPO, FOUNDER, VISTO MEDIA: So, what people have to understand, is that Hispanic Americans have blue collar working class values. Who is America's blue collar billionaire? Donald Trump.
SANCHEZ: Pointing to trends over the last decade that show Latinos experiencing gains when it comes to incomes, home purchases, and starting new businesses. Sopo says that many Latino voters view Trump aspirationally (PH).
SOPO: Donald Trump for them is the first Hispanic president, because he shares those blue collar values.
SANCHEZ: You, I imagine don't agree with that?
MICHELLE VALLEJO (D-TX), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: No, I do not.
Buenos dias (PH).
SANCHEZ: Michelle Vallejo is the Democrat running in Texas 15. She's also an entrepreneur operating the Pulga Los Portales flea market, her parents founded some 25 years ago.
Like her opponent, Vallejo is also a political newcomer, challenging an establishment she says has too long ignored the community's needs.
But she's a progressive, pitching voters on guaranteeing abortion rights, expanding Medicaid and Medicare, and raising the minimum wage.
VALLEJO: And I'm looking forward to hopefully earning their support and their vote, even if they do support and adore Trump, because I'm fighting for all of our families here in South Texas. Whether the Republican, independent, or people who have never felt engaged by the political system before.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Notably, the House majority PAC, the Democrats' biggest super PAC dedicated to House races, reportedly pulled the plug on a series of ads they had planned to roll out for Michelle Vallejo's campaign. They're sending that money elsewhere.
Some Democrats I've spoken to are furious about this. They believe that is the kind of spending and investment the party needs to keep up with Republican gains among Latinos. They believe that is waving the white flag in Texas 15.
WALKER: Fascinating report.
WALKER (voice-over): All right. Still ahead, communities in Florida are still trying to grapple with the damage left behind by Hurricane Ian. And now, some citrus farmers, facing a harsh reality years to recover.
[07:39:34]
More on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Weeks after Hurricane Ian devastated parts of Central Florida, officials in hard hit Lee County have unveiled plans to reopen most schools with rolling start dates beginning on Monday.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Officials have outlined safety requirements for reopening any building to staff and students, including reliable power, safe drinking water, working air conditioning, and the ability to provide at least a grab-and-go lunch for students.
SANCHEZ: As of now, five schools are set to resume classes and a host school starting next Wednesday, with some schools being split among two locations due to the number of students.
WALKER: And Florida farmers are raising alarms this morning that Hurricane Ian has caused widespread damage to the state's citrus crops and could have a multi-year effect on production.
[07:450:01]
WALKER (voice-over): So, Florida is the leading citrus producer in the United States. And the storm went through roughly 400,000 acres of citrus fields and it hit at a time when production is already a historically low levels due to an ongoing disease that is damaging the fruit. A very bad situation, a one-two punch.
WALKER: Joining me now to discuss this is Florida citrus farmer and vice president of the Peace River Valley Citrus Growers Association, John Matz.
John, I'm so sorry for the predicament that you are in. It's been two weeks since Ian hit. Tell us about the damage that you are now dealing with.
JOHN MATZ, FLORIDA CITRUS FARMER: Well, first of all, after the storm, everything was so flooded, we just really couldn't get out in about to all our fields. Due to bridges out flooding, groves are flooded, we get out.
We've been out for two weeks now. And we're trying to clean up all the debris in the groves where we can get through there and do caretaking processes that we need to do till the end of the year.
WALKER (voice-over): I'm just looking at this video. And I just see the ground there littered with all kinds of oranges. And I believe possibly, grapefruits as well.
MATZ: Yes.
WALKER: What's the percentage of citrus that you have lost as a result?
MATZ: Well, as soon as I rode out the day, after the hurricane, I knew it was 50 percent. It took me about 10 days to get out there where we could really evaluate them. But everything is pretty much three quarters on the ground. And you can go down farther south of us where they had a higher wind index, and that's --
You got 90 percent drop in places and the fruit still dropping every day.
WALKER: So, what does this mean for you financially in terms of total loss?
MATZ: Well, we're going to count on some crop insurance and go count on some reserves, and we're going to try to make your mind up and get a budget for the next year coming up. We got to stay with it, but we got to manage our finances.
WALKER: And I understand that you were already considering selling your farm as well.
WALKER: And, of course, you know, perfect timing that the storm hits.
So, what does that mean for you, then and your near future?
MATZ: Well, you know, it was something as a -- my personal -- you know, I'm getting a little bit older, and you got to think about how things are going to progress after you.
So, you know, I'll stay with it. It will -- it will come around, it may take a year, whatever. But that's the plan. And I love the business, I want to stay with it. But I want to get reorganized.
WALKER: So, how do you reorganize logistically? I mean, I'm sure you got to clean up all the citrus on the ground. And then -- and then what I mean, do you have to replant? What do you got to do?
MATZ: Well, yes, we will replant. We'll probably get through this winter and get into the spring. By then, we'll all have our mind made up on a business plan about which blocks to progress with, which to start over with, which to get rid of. And we'll make those decisions and the industry will be different after this storm.
WALKER: I mean, emotionally, just how difficult has it been for you and also for your colleagues? I mean, this is devastating.
MATZ: This is devastating. But you know, you just look at the T.V., there is worse people, worse situations going on.
I mean, we're taking a hit, no doubt, but we're not losing our homes and our lives. We're talking about a crop of citrus. And we'll have another year and we'll come back.
WALKER: And I have to ask you, because we know the climate is warming, and we're going to see more frequent and more intense storms like Ian in Florida. When it comes to your future in the citrus industry. What do you see?
MATZ: Well, one thing, you can plan your crops and your land around the water. I mean, nobody can defend against the wind, but you know where the prone pieces of land are that they're going to be impacted by flooding, and that's very well exposed now. So, you make your adjustments.
And in the boom times, we plan every piece of land we could get, but you just -- you've got to watch this low land anymore. I mean, we got two feet of rain and it sure exposed a lot of weaknesses.
WALKER: Yes. Well, we wish you all the best and hope that you make a full recovery, especially financially and for your livelihood.
John Matz, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
MATZ: We will. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: So, it's only October but some states are already bracing for plunging temperatures and possible snow.
[07:49:30]
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Your weekend weather forecast is straight ahead.
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SANCHEZ: Though some people may love this news, it breaks my heart.
WALKER: I know it does.
SANCHEZ: You know I have to break --
(CROSSTALK)
WALKER: You can't even handle like 60 degrees.
SANCHEZ: Yes. You know me well, Amara. You may soon have to break out your winter coat much earlier than expected. Temperatures are expected to plunge across much of the eastern United States.
WALKER: Although where you're from, plunging means it's plunging to 60 degrees.
CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar, joining us now.
Allison, it will be an early taste of winter for millions of people.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. As a lot of people in the Midwest are waking up this morning, this se temperatures are awfully cool. We've had a couple of like places that the feels like temperatures already below freezing. Take for example, Milwaukee, feels like 30 right now. And Minneapolis, feels like 23 degrees.
And because it's that cold, guess, we actually have some snow showers already pushing in across portions of northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and even the U.P. of Michigan. A little bit farther south though, the main focus there is some rain showers.
Now, overall, this is expected to slide across the Great Lakes region. As we go through the day to day, none of it is expected to be that heavy. In fact, most of these areas, you'll pick up maybe inch too, maybe tops -- three inches of snow possible.
But some of those areas of the U.P. where you get that lake effect enhancement, it could pick up maybe six, seven, eight inches of snow by the time the day ends. Most of the rain though likely less than an inch total.
[07:55:04]
Those temperatures, even as cold as they are now are going to get even colder in the coming days. Chicago, going from a high of 55 today down to 42 on Monday.
Take a look at Cincinnati going from a high of 71 on Sunday, down to only 47 on Monday.
Here is the thing though. All of that cold air is going to continue to spread and really impact much of the eastern half of the country. So, even if you're not feeling it yet, just give it a few more days and you will start to feel it.
Take Atlanta for example. 82 for the high temperature tomorrow and Sunday, all the way back down to only a high of 53 by Tuesday. Look at those overnight lows getting awfully close to the freezing mark. Guys?
SANCHEZ: Awfully close to the freezing mark. I'm already going into a state of shock.
Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for that.
We have a quick programming note for you. An Heir, preparing to rule an empire. Not before a family's most notorious scandal shakes up the dynasty forever.
Watch "THE MURDOCHS: EMPIRE OF INFLUENCE", tomorrow night at 10::00 p.m. Eastern. Right here on CNN.
NEW DAY continues in a moment.
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