is attached to this man, mr. tapper. but as far as i'm concerned, baseball season is over. >> i can root for both teams tonight. on this date in 2018, the red sox won their fourth world series. harry enten, thank you very much for that. have a wonderful weekend. >> you, too. coming up this weekend on "state of the union," republican senator rick scott of florida and democratic candidate sherry beasley of north carolina is sunday morning at 9:00 eastern and then again on cnn. you can follow me or tweet. if you ever miss an episode, you can see it wherever you get your podcasts. coverage continues with wolf blitzer in "the situation room." happening now, breaking news, federal officials have just issued a new warning that violent extremists here in the united states are posing a heightened threat to the midterm

elections, this just hours after the brutal attack on nancy pelosi's husband in their san francisco home. sources revealing the suspect was looking for the house speaker, shouting, where is nancy. and now we're learning that paul pelosi called 911 during the break-in and kept the line open. also tonight, big-named democrats are heading to the campaign trail right now. obama, biden, harris, stumping for candidates in critical races, as many democrats fear the momentum is with the republicans 11 days before election day. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. let's get straight to the breaking news. federal officials are now warning of political violence coming hours after the very disturbing attack on the husband

of house speaker nancy pelosi. he was hit with a hammer inside their san francisco home by an assailant who apparently was trying to track down the speaker herself. let's go straight to san francisco right now, cnn security correspondent josh campbell is on the scene. we're learning new details about the attack on pelosi as we receive this new warning at the same time from federal officials. tell us more. >> reporter: that's right, wolf, these topics very much connected. cnn has obtained this joint intelligence bulletin from the fbi, the department of homeland security, as well as the u.s. capitol police, warning that the perception of election fraud will likely result in heightened threats of violence. and to show you that this isn't just theoretical, we know where i'm standing right now in san francisco, the house of house speaker nancy pelosi became a crime scene after a man came in the early morning hours, allegedly conducting a politically motivated attack.

82-year-old paul pelosi, the husband of house speaker nancy pelosi, undergoing surgery today after being violently attacked with a hammer early friday morning at the pelosis' san francisco home. speaker pelosi was in washington at the time. special call, special call, 66, location. >> reporter: police say they found paul pelosi fending off an attacker after responding to a request for a well-being check at the pelosi home. >> they encountered an adult pale and paul pelosi. our officers observed mr. pelosi and the suspect both holding the hammer. the suspect pulled the hammer away from mr. pelosi and violently assaulted him with it. >> reporter: the assailant was searching for the speaker according to a source briefed on the attack. he confronted him saying, where is nancy, where is nancy. >> we disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid. >> reporter: two sources familiar with the investigation tell cnn the attacker hit pelosi in an attempt to tie him up

after breaking into the back of the home around 2:30 a.m. a suspect, 42-year-old david depape is now in custody. his social media page had posts of memes and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and the january 6th attack at the capitol. not very long ago, nancy pelosi was a target, with them hunting for her and trashing her office. the motive for the attack on her husband is not yet known. >> mr. depape will be booked at the san francisco county jail on attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and several other additional felonies. >> reporter: the speaker's office issued a statement saying mr. pelosi is expected to make a full recovery. and, wolf, just into "the situation room," we now know how police were called here in the early morning hours. our colleagues, john miller reporting that mr. pelosi was able to dial 911 and while on the phone with police he was

speaking in code, not directly saying that he was under attack, but speaking in a way that allowed a dispatcher to understand that something was wrong. they sent police here, officers arrived and were able to tackle that suspect after that attack. again, the suspect now in custody. he faces multiple charges. >> cnn's josh campbell on the scene for us. thank you very much. don't go too far away. i want to continue our conversation. also joining us, cnn law enforcement analyst and cnn chief congressional correspondent, manu raju. first of all, what are you hearing from lawmakers as we get this new bulletin in the wake of the attack, federal officials are warning that domestic violent extremists pose a heightened threat to the midterm elections? >> reporter: members are shocked, horrified and sadly confronting this reality that they had been dealing with increasingly over the last several years. you've seen even just a few months ago a man was arrested outside the home of

congress congresswoman. republican members of the house and senate were practicing for a baseball game, they got -- there was a shooting that occurred, steve scalise, the republican whip, was badly injured at the time. we've seen everything from gabby giffords, the arizona democratic congresswoman in 2011, shot in the head, surviving that attack. members have been increasingly dealing with this. but they have seen this uptick in rhetoric, vie olent rhetoric against them. beefing up personal security. and also members are allowed to use the money, federal dollars, to enhance security at their homes. but not all members do that, including most members in the rank and file who are not part of the leadership, do not have their own personal security,

which is leaving them vulnerable to these kind of threats. undoubtedly what happened, the attack at the pelosi home, there was no security at their home, capitol police, because the speaker herself was in washington at the time. if she were in the -- detail does not extend to family members. it will prompt a reassessment about how exactly they deal with security on the hill as many members don't have any. >> good point. jonathan, you've spent your career protecting people, you're a former secret service agent. what more needs to be done to protect political leaders and their families in the face of these heightened threats? >> well, wolf, i think over the last two years what we've witnessed is this rise of political violence that really represents a critical threat to our democracy. and the disturbing part of all of this to me is that with this rise of political violence and political rhetoric is the normalization of it. people aren't in shock anymore

when people call out acts of violence or even take direct action like we've seen. not to the level that they should. all of that as a backdrop, we've seen all of these warnings, we've seen warnings come out earlier this year from a dhs intelligence memo that highlighted that members of congress and their families could be targeted by domestic violent extremists. with all of that as a backdrop, with this specific incident, i have a couple of questions. i want to know why the residents and the spouse of the number two person in the order of presidential succession was not protected. with all of these warnings that are out there, we need to apply different control measures to protect our political leaders, both in the rank-and-file and in the leadership at all times. we know what the warnings are. we now have to action off of them. >> very good point. josh, police say the motive of this attack is not yet known, but we're already learning of the suspect's links to various

conspiracy theories. can you walk us through how investigators are combing through evidence right now? >> reporter: that's right. and this is actually a credit to the great cnn investigative team that were a step ahead at every process of the way here, even before police announced the name of the suspect. they were already digging into this person's background and found this truly troubling online presence. he makes these facebook posts where he's spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, about the january 6th investigative committee. he's talking about covid vaccines and he's also re-posting videos from mike lindell, who of course is the election denying pillow salesman. so it really paints a portrait of someone who potentially believed these conspiracy theories, and getting to the bulletin you were talking about, they warned of the possibility of violence but it's clear that it's here. these words, lies, conspiracy theories are motivating certain people to act with violence.

i spoke a short time ago with congress member karen bass from los angeles and she described the fear that lawmakers are living in, knowing that there are people out there who would be ticking time bombs who are consuming all of this vitreal and could turn violent. she drew a direct line between the conspiracy theories and the lies of the former president and the january 6th insurrection to what happened at this residence here with the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, saying that the politicians out there, the leaders who are continuing to spread this vitreal have to understand that their actions do have consequences and they could lead not just to violence but potentially death as well. >> good point. thanks for that. manu, what has the republican response to this brutal attack been so far? as you know, some republican lawmakers and various republican candidates are actually pedaling in these theories. >> mitch mcconnell said he was horrified and disgusted about

this. some other members of the house and senate republicans have criticized and condemned this violence. kevin mccarthy, the republican leader in the house, someone who would be speaker himself if the midterms go his way, through a spokesperson said that they wish paul pelosi a speedy recovery. he said he tried to reach out to the speaker but it's not clear if they connected. >> so worrisome. guys, thank you very, very much. coming up, more reaction to the attack from one of speaker pelosi's close allies and fellow california congressmen, ro khanna. we'll ask him what more needs to be done to keep lawmakers and their families safe. financia. we're providing grereater acces to investing, wiwith low-cost options to help maximize savings. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive.

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more now on breaking news, federal officials just now issuing a new warning that violent extremists here in the united states are posing a heightened threat to the upcoming midterm elections and it follows the horrifying attack on the 82-year-old husband of the house speaker nancy pelosi, hospitalized tonight after being struck by a hammer by an intruder in their san francisco home. and joining us now, democratic congressman ro khanna of california.

thank you so much for joining us. i want to begin with your reaction to this awful attack on the husband of the speaker of the house. >> wolf, it is absolutely sd despicable. i have been to their home many times. they open that home for community leaders, for philanthropy. to have someone break in and assault paul pelosi is beyond the pale. it's sickening. >> this assailant said he was waiting for nancy pelosi. how chilling is that? >> it is chilling. i mean, wolf, one of the things i'm surprised by is there there was not capitol police have. i understand the speaker has a detail but we need, at least for the leadership, to have capitol police at the residences like we do for supreme court justices. >> in other words, to protect family members, even if the individual who is completely supposed to be getting that kind of protection is out of town and not at that house?

>> yes, and to protect the residences. now, you can't do that for 535 members of congress and senators. but certainly for the leadership who are high profile, you can do that. and if there are some members of congress who have threats and, unfortunately, some of my colleagues do, they need better protection. >> do you feel that you have enough protection, congressman? >> i don't get protected, but i, fortunately, have been not the subject to the type of threats that other members have. but for some members, they have gotten a lot of threats and i don't think we have adequate protection when members face actual threats. and i, again, surprised that we don't have protection at people's residences who are living in a very volatile time. we need to do a better job of security. >> that's a very important point. the suspect's facebook page had posts of various conspiracy theories about the 2020

presidential election and the january 6th attack over at the u.s. capitol. i want you to watch some video from january 6th. you can hear rioters chanting the speaker's name. it's pretty chilling. listen to this. >> nancy, nancy! >> nancy, nancy! >> it's especially chilling in light of today's attack at her home in san francisco, where her husband was brutally assaulted. what's your reaction to that, congressman? >> wolf, we have to come together as a country and turn down the temperature. i mean, it was not just the speaker who was the subject of january 6th attacks. it was vice president pence, it was republican members of congress, republican senator ted cruz. people were talking about going through his office. we've got to come together and say enough of this. there's a seen from "the

godfather" after marlon brando's son is killed, he said let's knock this off, enough of the violence. we need congress to say enough with this kind of rhetoric. >> we've learned that the house republican leader kevin mccarthy, did reach out today to the speaker and the senate republican, mitch mcconnell, said he is horrified and disgusted by this news. are you satisfied with the response today from your republican colleagues, some of whom, as you know, have themselves trafficked in some of these conspiracy theories? >> well, i appreciate senator mcconnell's statement. i thought it was strong. i hope leader mccarthy will issue a strong statement. but i think we need president trump to issue a strong statement and i would like to see every member of congress, every senator, put out a clear, strong statement from every faction of every party, this is a time that the country should be unified and say violence is

absolutely unacceptable. wolf, the violence today against the speaker could be targeted against someone in another party the next day. it's unpredictable and we all need to be opposed to it. >> good point. congressman ro khanna, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. up next, the attack on pelosi's husband comes as top democrats, including president biden and former president obama are out on the campaign trail tonight. their reactions, that's next. create something new? our dell technologies adadvisors can provide you with the tools and expertise you need to bring out the innovator in youou. age comes with wisdom. and wisdom comes with benefits. dryer's broken okay... you want a socket.... that's especialltrue when it comes to medicare. so make the wise call and learn more about cigna medicare plans in your area. their tools and resources

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the white house says president biden has spoken with the house speaker nancy pelosi

following the brutal attack on her husband in their san francisco home. let's go straight to cnn's senior white house correspondent, phil mattingly. president biden and vice president harris are making a joint appearance on the campaign trail tonight in pennsylvania. looming over all of this is the brutal attack on nancy pelosi's husband. >> reporter: there's no question about that. president biden spoke with house speaker nancy pelosi shortly after the news broke this morning by phone. he extended his prayers and good wishes to the speaker and her husband. the president had been informed that paul pelosi was expected to fully recover. he has been mostly quiet the rest of the day. he's not expected to show up in public until a few minutes from now when he's scheduled to head to pennsylvania. the reality is officials say the president has been kept updated throughout the day. as you know, there's a very close relationship and a very real respect between president

biden and speaker nancy pelosi, a relationship that's been kind of cemented over the last couple decades. we're waiting for a rare joint appearance with vice president kamala harris that jurnd scores the political stakes at one of the critical battleground states in the state of pennsylvania. it will also be happening at an annual pennsylvania democratic party dinner. obviously speaker pelosi is one of the most prominent democrats in the country and has been for decades. the expectation is that president biden will address the attack on paul pelosi during that dinner. that's the expectation. the vice president will also be speaking as well. we'll wait and see if she has something to say. the white house is keeping a close eye on this. >> such disturbing news. phil mattingly at the white house, thank you very much. former president obama is in georgia about to campaign for democrats in two critical races there. cnn national politics reporter is just outside of atlanta for

us. eva, georgia is the first of several key states former president obama will be visiting in the coming days, right? >> reporter: that is correct, wolf. as you can see from this line behind me, people really excited to see the former president. president obama expected to lean on democrats to get out and vote early. there's still about a week left to do so here in this state. but you are correct, president obama is in demand all across the country. he has been able to inspire and engage democrats like few other surrogates, so that is why democrats facing this difficult midterm map are leaning on him so hard. earlier today we caught up with congresswoman williams, the chair of georgia's democratic party. she spoke about the sense of excitement on the ground. take a listen. >> having president obama here to not only show the significance of georgia, that we are still in this, we're still fighting, we are pushing forward toward election day. but it's about bringing people together and exciting voters who

are still looking for that inspiration. >> reporter: now, georgia republicans responding to president obama's visit by saying, where is president joe biden? but obama tonight, in addition to imploring democrats to vote early, he is also expected to address the future and the health of our democracy as well. but a highly, highly anticipated appearance from the former president. >> i'm sure it is. eva, stand by. we're going to get back to you shortly. >> i want to bring in cnn's senior political and cnn national politics reporter. eva mckend is still with us. and cnn congressional correspondent, jessica dean, in pennsylvania for us. let me start with you. we're standing by to hear directly from former president obama, who is on the campaign trail tonight. how do you think this attack on nancy pelosi's husband might change his message to voters? >> i don't know if it will

change his message to voters. for some context, he was, i think, a candidate who got secret service protection when he was still a junior senator, when he first announced he was running for office. so he is no stranger to threats. moreover, during his time in office, i think he gave speeches after something like 14 different mass shootings. he is no stranger to the idea of threat, but also to the idea of how do you speak in the aftermath of violence when people may be feeling kind of disruption and fear. and i wouldn't be surprised if he tried in some way to address it. i think he's always had a message about sort of unifying and trying to tamp down the idea of speaking to our better natures. i expect to hear some of that tonight. >> i agree with you. ron, we're just 11 days from the midterm elections here in the united states. what impact do you think this

attack on speaker pelosi's husband will have on campaigns, both democrats and republicans, in these final days? >> wolf, first of all, i think it really underscores a reality that we don't stop and think about enough. we are a different country than we were when donald trump came down the escalator seven years ago. there are occasional incidents involving the left, but predominantly we are seeing a steady drumbeat of threats, and in many cases, actual violence from the far right over the last several years of local school board officials, local public health officials. think of how many election officials have been resigning in recent weeks and months because of threats, threats against elected officials, a kidnapping plot against governor whitmer. this is really a different country than it was in terms of having this steady backbeat of political threats almost baked into our system at this point in a way that simply was not true

through most of american history. maybe in the period of reconstruction in the south. but generally not. and so those kinds of concerns about the health of american democracy have been part of what has allowed democrats to stay in the game in this midterm election, despite a broad view that biden has mishandled the economy and among many voters crime and immigration as well. i don't know if it offsets the headwinds. the evidence is it does not. but certainly a question of protecting american democracy is part of the reason why democratic voters have been mobilized to the extent they have. >> a good point. jessica, you're there in pennsylvania where president biden and vice president harris are scheduled to start campaigning tonight. how do you expect news of this attack will resonate there? >> reporter: well, we're just starting to see the people come in. this is a giant ballroom i'm standing in right now. we're going to anticipate hundreds of people.

the pennsylvania democratic party gathering here and this rare joint appearance by vice president harris and president biden. and as phil noted, we've not heard the president on camera talk about this attack. it's hard to imagine we wouldn't hear him talk about this later, especially in front of this large room of democrats who certainly will be quite concerned about how paul pelosi is doing and the state of his health and what this means. it sounds like it would be quite likely that he would touch on that. again, the president and vice president here in pennsylvania in these closing days in a critical senate race that is likely to determine the outcome of who will hold power in the senate. and they're really trying to increase turnout here in philadelphia. if you're a democrat that wants to win in pennsylvania, you've got to run up the score here. they're here trying to energize the base. obviously, wolf, you can't ignore a very somber tone, a very serious and sad day like this, and, again, we anticipate it would be hard to imagine that they would not touch on that

here in the next hour and a half. >> i'm sure they will, indeed. stand by, everybody. we've got much more coming up on the attack on nancy pelosi's husband and we just got a statement from the speaker's office with an update on her husband's condition. we'll share it with you right after this. ficiency-right now. allow monitoring of productivity at remotote job sites, with next-generation bandwidth. enable ai cameras that spot factory issues in n real time, usining next-generation speed. and deliver ultra-capacity 5g coverage that's years ahead of the competition. t-mobile for business has 5g that's ready right now. i'm a coastal lodge. i might sound fancy but i'm pretty down to earth. nolashy lights or big city noise here. i'm looking for someone who enjoys theoothing sounds of the ocean and taking in the view. i may have a rocky exterior

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dr. sanjay gupta. what does the statement say. >> reporter: for the first time they confirmed, the speaker's office, that the assailant was looking for the speaker, saying the assailant also acted with force and threatened the life of paul pelosi. they went on to discuss his condition. this is according to the statement from drew hamill, saying mr. pelosi was admitted to zuckerberg san francisco general hospital, where he underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands. his doctors expect a full recovery. they go on to thank law enforcement for their support, for others who have shown support during this harrowing experience. for the first time saying that this assailant who broke into the home in the middle of the night at roughly 2:30 in the morning san francisco time, was in fact looking for the speaker who was not in san francisco at the time, was in washington, d.c., was able to get into the

house, attacked him with a hammer. it led to a skull fracture for the 82-year-old paul pelosi, who had surgery today. they say it's successful and they expect a full recovery. >> sanjay, you're a neurosurgeon. so what does the statement tell you about paul pelosi's injuries? >> reporter: well, this obviously could have been a very serious injury. you think about someone using a hammer and striking someone in the head. the type of injury here that i think they were probably worried about was some sort of injury in the brain, which sounds like did not happen in this case. even before the operation, it sounds like the doctors had told the family they expected that mr. pelosi was going to recover from the operation well. when you think about these types of fractures, a skull fracture, depending where in the skull it might occur, there are places in the skull that are thicker and thinner, the type of hammer, these are all things that trauma surgeons pay attention to. but sometimes it basically involves repairing that fracture, removing part of the

bone that has been fractured and making sure it's lined up and not going to cause a future problem. we heard at the time of the incident that he was -- it sounds like he was struggling with this assailant. from a medical standpoint, that suggests that he had not lost consciousness. we know speaker pelosi had spoken to her husband before the operation, and now the doctors are saying he's expected to make a full recovery. not to minimize the nature of this sort of injury. >> if they say a full recovery, sanjay, what does the recovery timeline look like for a skull fracture? >> i think the biggest sort of point there is that this did not seem -- again, from what they're telling us here, to affect his brain. when you think about this type of injury to the skull, you have the scalp, the skull, and underneath you have the brain. sometimes people develop a blood collection on the brain or underneath some of the outer layers of the brain. that does not seem to have

happened. for this sort of injury, typically somebody will be in the hospital for a couple of days, moving around on their own, able to take care of themselves on their own. when they're able to do that, they can go home. they may have pain or some time, they may need pain medications, but usually, again, based on the statement they've released, it should be a pretty fast recovery. >> we wish him a speedy recovery and i think i speak for all of our viewers. manu, do we expect to hear directly from speaker pelosi today? >> reporter: it's unclear at the moment. two statements have come from her office so far from her spokesperson, she has been very busy in the last several months and weeks. she's been traveling across the country trying to raise money for house democratic candidates who have been trying to hang on to the majority. the midterm elections are just a week and a half away. she's been appearing at campaign events and was back in washington when this attack

occurred at her home. but unclear when she will speak publicly about this harrowing event, but she is with her family as they're going through this and as paul pelosi is recovering from that surgery. >> sanjay, what worries me is that he's 82 years old, and a skull fracture for an 82-year-old, i assume, is different than a skull fracture for a 30-year-old. >> no doubt. you've always got to take age into consideration with this sort of thing. the doctors have telegraphed a pretty optimistic picture here, having said that, even before the operation they were saying he was expected to make a full recovery. so his recovery may last a little longer than others. i don't want to minimize this. it can be a terrible injury. but it does not seem to have affected his brain, which i think was the big concern initially. what the statement says is that the recovery should be fairly quick, within the next several days. >> thanks very much, sanjay

gupta and manu raju, appreciate it very much. we're going to have much more on the breaking news coming up, including other important news as well. we'll take a quick break and we'll be rigight back.

federal officials here in washington have just issued a warning that the perceptions of fraud in the midterm elections will likely result in increased threats of violence. this comes just hours after the attack on nancy pelosi's husband. as we've seen, violent rhetoric becomes more ubiquitous in american politics. we'll examine these threats for a very timely cnn special

report. watch this. >> you're willfully choosing to ignore the data. >> raise the freaking bar. >> i am going to come after each one of you personally. >> you will get the justice that's coming to you. >> you need to be arrested. >> leave now while you can. >> shame on you! >> threats and anger. >> we're all working for the people. >> coast to coast. >> people got executed for violating the nurenberg code and you're violating it, too. >> you no longer have our consent. >> spreading in local communities. >> we know who your family is, we know your dog's name. >> targeting county supervisors. >> time to dust off the old guillotine. >> even educators. >> you're about to get a real education [ bleep ]. >> you know your home address is on the internet, don't you? that could be scary. >> frightened election officials wearing body armor. >> almost a daily basis now. >> and arming themselves. >> this is a sf.22 automatic.

>> joining us live now from phoenix, the climate that led to the paul pelosi attack is something you're seeing on the campaign trail, right? >> yeah, let's take a step back on all of this. it really stems from misinformation, disinformation, and then rhetoric fueled by transmitters, these politicians who allow this to continue and it's also repeated on social media. so the concern on the campaign trail is that it will be then taken upon in the form of action, that there will be violence, whether it be at the ballot box or on the people who are the front lines of democracy. it is not often the famous people who have to first face off with that misinformation or

that violence. the concern, it is local officials. so we spent time with them, but also the people who believe that this sort of violent rhetoric should be a part of local politics. i want you to meet carlos sapata.>> when i say these thint violence and, you know, civil uprising, and it's not a threat, you know. this is a warning. >> what do you mean by it could have been violent? >> hey, i have guns. where are we meeting, you know? i was like, the voice of reason, you know. glad you have guns. stock up your ammo. but we're not there yet. so anybody that calls this violent or insurrectionists or, you know, outlaws, we're not. >> reporter: but he did use threatening language. >> we also have people on the streets. we know where you live. we know who your family is.

we know your dog's namt. you don't your way out of socialism once it takes root, the only way to eradicate it is to fight with arms, to have a violent confrontation, blood in the streets. >> reporter:ing anger is okay? this type of public anger? >> i don't like to live my life as an angry person, but righteous anger has a place in human society. >> reporter: we spoke with zapata in a rural northern california county. we also went to the east coast as well as in the midwest. these are representations of something that is now everywhere in social media as well as in our politics. wolf. >> excellent reporting. kyung lah, thank you very much. on sunday, tune in to catch the cnn special report as she talks with elected officials who fear violence in their communities. "perilous politics: america's dangerous divide" begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern sunday.

one of the largest and most closely watched business deals of the year is complete tonight with elon musk now officially in charge of twitter. cnn's bride todd is working the story for us. brian, there are lots of questions about what happens next now that elon musk is the new boss. >> certainly, welcome. an exhil rate interest rating and frightening moment at twitter headquarters in san francisco. elon musk is now in charge, changes are afoot, and the platform's content and its influence on american culture could be significantly altered. >> reporter: with a stunt where he carries a sink into the building -- >> and a tweet saying the bird is freed, world's richest man takes control of one the most powerful media companies. elon musk, the flamboyant 51-year-old of tesla and spacex twent $44 billion to purchase twitter and for his money he'll get to make what analysts say could be enormous changes to the new company and the social media

ecosystem. >> the elon musk twitter takeover has caused so much upheaval in the social media sphere. >> reporter: musk said he might change twitter's so-called content moderation policies, meaning he would loosen them to allow more free speech. he complained before about twitter censoring so much content and musk's critics worry. >> i don't think we want an anything goes twitter because we've seen that white supremacists and conspiracy theorists are willing to use the platform to spread lies and disinformation to suppress people of color from voting and to spread hate and harassment campaigns. >> reporter: musk may be dialing some of that back. he said he doesn't want twitter to become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences. he announce a content moderation council. another change, who will and won't be allowed on elon musk's twitter, specifically will the

former president come back? >> he said when he buys the platform he would bring donald trump's account back. >> reporter: in may, musk told the "financial times" he shout twitter should not have banned trump after the january 6th attack on the capitol. >> i think that was a mistake because it alienate d a large part of the country. >> reporter: donald trump responded by posting a message today on his own social media platform saying he is happy that twitter is, quote, now in sane hands. twitter will now be led by one of the quirkiest business titans america has ever known. >> elon musk with 100 million followers could be somebody that could drag anyone through a twitter fight and he is not afraid. >> reporter: musk once tweeted a photo comparingcaine din prime r to adolf hater, made misleading claims with covid. >> many of the users are government officials or accounts

or politics or business leaders. you know, that could have really important effects on how the rest of the us perceive these topics that have so many influential people engaging on them. >> donald trump hinted today that he will not return to twitter even if musk let's him and will stick to his own platform truth social. but if trump does that, he'll be willingly giving up a massive social media audience. trump had 88 million followers on twitter. on truth social he has about 4 million. >> we will see what happens. thank you very much. there is breaking news we are following. an update on the condition of the house speaker nancy pelosi's husband who is now out of surgery after he suffered a skull fracture in a totally terrifying attack inside their san francisco home. your busines, you can make it even smarter. now ports can know where every piecece of cargo is. and where itit's going. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) robots can predict breakdowns and order theieir own replacemet parts. ashley cain-gribble

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happening now, breaking news. house speaker nancy pelosi says her husband is expected to make a full recovery after he was

brutally attacked in their san francisco home. pelosi is on her way to california right now. we just learned more about the suspect who told police he was, quote, waiting for nancy. also breaking. a new federal warning that violent extremists here in the united states pose a threat to the midterm elections. i will etalk about the danger to lawmakers and their families with a key member of congress who has experienced these kinds of threats firsthand, representative adam kinsinger. he is standing by live. all of this as three of the nation's most prominent democrats are about to make high-profile campaign appearances. we're standing by for events featuring former president obama, president biden and vice president harris. 11 days before the crucial midterm election. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you are in the "situation room."