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New Day

Candidates For Georgia Governor Face Off In Fiery Debate; Thousands Of Migrants Continue Trek Through Mexico; Six Children Dead, 12 Ill In Virus Outbreak At New Jersey Facility. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 24, 2018 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:32:32] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: With the midterms now just 13 days away, candidates are making their closing arguments.

But, an October surprise could roil the governor's race in Georgia. The candidates squared off last night in a fiery debate.

CNN's Kaylee Hartung has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYLEIGH HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Georgia's gubernatorial race candidates trading personal jabs and working to gain an edge with voters in one of the nation's hotly-contested races.

BRIAN KEMP (D), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE, CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: My opponent has run the most dishonest campaign Georgians have ever seen.

STACEY ABRAMS (D), CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: Under Sec. Kemp, more people have lost the right to vote in the state of Georgia. They have been purged, they have been suppressed, and they've been scared.

HARTUNG: At the outset of the debate, Abrams, who is hoping to become America's first female African-American governor, defending her involvement in this 1992 student protest where a Georgia state flag emblazoned with a Confederate emblem was burn.

ABRAMS: Twenty-six years ago, as a college freshman, I, along with many other Georgians, including the governor of Georgia, were deeply disturbed by the racial divisiveness that was embedded in the state flag with that Confederate symbol.

I took an action of peaceful protest. I said that that was wrong. And 10 years later, my opponent, Brian Kemp, actually voted to remove that symbol.

HARTUNG: Kemp, who's been endorsed by President Trump, avoiding the topic but facing a grilling about his own controversies, including allegations he sought to suppress the minority vote as Georgia's Secretary of State. KEMP: I've always fulfilled and followed the laws of our state and

I'll continue to do that through the tenure of my service to this great state.

HARTUNG: A recent "Associated Press" report shows that Kemp's office has held up at least 53,000 voter registrations because they did not exactly match government records. That could be for anything from missing hyphens to misspelled names. Of those people, nearly 70 percent are potential African-American voters.

KEMP: Voters should look at the numbers and know that this is all a distraction to take away from Ms. Abram's extreme agenda.

This farce about voter suppression and people being held up from being on the rolls and being able to vote is absolutely not true. Go to your polling location, show your government I.D., and you can vote.

ABRAMS: Voter suppression is not simply about being told no. It's about being told it's going to be hard to cast a ballot. Under his eight years of leadership, Mr. Kemp has created an atmosphere of fear around the right to vote in the state of Georgia.

HARTUNG: Abrams has called for Kemp to resign as Secretary of State. But on Tuesday, Kemp said he will not recuse himself as the state's chief election officer, even if the governor's race goes into a recount.

KEMP: We've got a very competent elections team to oversee that process.

[07:35:02] HARTUNG: The two candidates entered this debate with similar strategies. Both wanted to continue to appeal to their polarized bases in a state where very few undecided voters remain. Both successfully did that, sticking to familiar talking points and topics. But this was the first time we got to see them attack each other face-to-face in ways we've previously only seen in campaign ads.

John and Alisyn, we'll get another chance to see them go head-to-head in a debate the Sunday before Election Day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Kaylee. Thank you very much for all of that.

So let's look at that hotly-contested Georgia governor's race.

There's something about Harry. Let's get "The Forecast" with CNN senior politics writer and analyst, Harry Enten. Harry, great to see you.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Nice to see you.

CAMEROTA: Let's start in Georgia.

ENTEN: I wish we'd start in South Carolina. I wish I was there. I could have bought a lottery ticket and I wouldn't have to do this -- but let's go to Georgia.

All right, I'm not sure that this -- there is a race in the nation that you have two candidates who are polar opposites. You have a black woman, a white man, but it's not just about racial and ethnic divisions. It's also about ideological divisions.

So I went back and I looked at the voting record of Stacey Abrams in the State Legislature, and she is one of the most liberal representatives in that body. She's in the top two percentile for most liberal and this is since -- I screwed up with the cross but you get it -- since 1993. That says 1993 right there. So, she's very liberal.

Versus if you look at -- if you look at the public information statements of Brian Kemp, he speaks -- his policy positions are as conservative as Ted Cruz.

So we have two very, very different candidates. And right now, if you were to look at the Georgia average in the polls, you see that Brian Kemp --

BERMAN: Wow.

ENTEN: -- in the last five polls barely ahead. Look, this is a 1.2 -- that kind of looks like a 2-point difference. Very, very close.

But here's why this difference is key. I have allocated the undecideds here so there are no undecideds in this average.

Why is it key that Brian Kemp is under 50 percent? Because if no one reaches 50 percent on November sixth there will be a run-off between the two of them in December. So this election could go on for an extra month -- it's not just the end -- and then we could have the entire nation's eyes focused on this race.

BERMAN: That's the magic of Georgia there.

And we talk about the changing electorate --

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- in Georgia. What does that mean for now and what does that mean potentially in a run-off?

ENTEN: Right. So we can look at the Georgia electorate and it has changed significantly over the last 18 years.

So back in 2000, white voters made up 72 percent of all voters. Black voters just made up 25 percent of all voters.

Now, look where it is now. Black voters are all the way up to 33 percent; white voters are all the way down to 60 percent. So they're down 12 percentage points -- white voters. Black voters are up -- I'm going to say hello again -- eight points.

BERMAN: OK. ENTEN: So that, of course, is a big deal because if you have racially polarized voting that could help Abrams.

And more than that, I looked at run-offs in Georgia and I also looked at them in other southern states. And what we generally see is that even in Georgia black turnout has tended to drop in run-offs. And in other southern states it's actually tended to risen (sic) as a percentage of the electorate.

So we'll see which one happens. If black turnout goes up in the run- off it could be very beneficial to Stacey Abrams.

CAMEROTA: We also hear all about the all-important suburban vote -- the suburban white women. What do you have on that?

ENTEN: So let's take a look at the -- at the suburbs. Gwinnett County, which is in the Atlanta suburbs -- the last successful Dem nominee Roy Barnes lost it by 25 points versus Hillary Clinton won it by six.

If Stacey Abrams is going to win she is going to need high turnout from the Atlanta suburbs. Gwinnett, Cobb County, Fulton County where Atlanta is -- but the suburbs of Fulton. She's going to have to do very, very well there.

And they are a growing percentage of the population. However, I should point out that white voters in the state who live outside of Gwinnett County, they have voted considerably more Republican over the last 20 years.

And so we'll see exactly what happens. A very, very tight race.

BERMAN: It is some of the old Jimmy Carter voters who --

ENTEN: Right.

BERMAN: -- were just so different --

ENTEN: Right.

BERMAN: -- than they were in '76 or even way back in '98.

ENTEN: Exactly, exactly.

I'll give you a quick -- just so we wrap it up here -- just where we are on the House.

No change since yesterday. Democrats are still 226. Again, within the margin of error. We'll see if it changes tomorrow.

And in the Senate, no change. Republicans still favored there.

But remember, Republicans still have a chance in the House -- or -- yes -- although that's not the best case for the GOP. That's screwed up -- but -- this should be reversed. But -- and then in the Senate, Democrats still have a shot there. But

again, Republicans favored in the Senate, Democrats favored in the House.

BERMAN: There's something about Harry. Harry, we're sorry you did not win the lottery.

ENTEN: I wish I had. I would have split it with you guys. I would have at least gotten you guys a million dollars each.

CAMEROTA: Wow, now we wish you had, as well.

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: All right, thank you very much. Harry's forecast is available each day by 9:00 a.m. at cnn.com/forecast.

BERMAN: So, there are thousands of Central Americans making the journey through Mexico. A live report, next.

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[07:43:27] CAMEROTA: This morning, more than 7,000 Central American migrants continue their journey north through Mexico. They've been traveling roughly 20 miles a day on foot. At that rate, they're still at least months away from reaching the U.S. border or maybe if they move more quickly, several weeks.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is traveling with the caravan in Mexico and he joins us live. Patrick, what's the latest?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Let me show you the conditions -- how people have been living here. You see over here people sleeping on the sidewalks -- young children -- and it really is very rough. It's weeks and weeks of sleeping on the concrete. Yesterday, this plaza was empty and today it's a refugee camp.

What's interesting, though, is the majority of the migrant caravan has actually headed north. They're taking advantage of the early morning hours to keep out of the brutal sun and hoping -- because the very long trek today, about 30 miles -- to get there before the sun is at its highest.

These people beside me right here have decided to go home to Honduras. They say that they have blisters, that they're children are sick. That this journey has just been too, too difficult.

But you talk to other people who are taking part in this migrant caravan and they say that going home is not an option. It's just too dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPMANN (voice-over): Another dawn at the migrant caravan heading to the United States. Another night of sleeping on concrete for thousands of people.

Some get ready for the day. Children play a game as if they were still home. Others decide to sleep a little longer.

Maria Antonia breastfeeds her 2-month-old daughter, Estreya (ph), on the pavement where they spent the night. Maria Antonia says she's leaving Honduras so that Estreya can have a future.

[07:45:10] MARIA ANTONIA, MIGRANT MOTHER (through translator Oppmann): There isn't any work here, she says. We have nothing to live on.

OPPMANN: On the same block, Kevin asks people for coins. He's traveling alone to join an older brother in the U.S, hoping to send money back home. He says he is 14 but looks much younger. We aren't showing his face to keep him safe.

KEVIN, MIGRANT (through translator Oppmann): I came here, he tells me, so I could work and eat and help my family.

Over in the town plaza, Bryan is figuring out how to get back to the U.S. He will walk as long as it takes to reunite with his 3-year-old daughter, an American citizen.

BRYAN COVODRILES, MIGRANT: She's the one who actually needs me the most, you know. So -- and I don't want her to grow up without me, so --

OPPMANN: They have over 1,000 miles to go to the U.S.-Mexico border where they will not be welcomed.

OPPMANN (on camera): The Trump administration is pressuring the Mexican government to deport more than 7,000 members of this migrant caravan back home because they say there could be terrorists or dangerous gang members in their midst. But literally everyone we have talked to here says the exact opposite. They're not gang members, they're the victims.

OPPMANN (voice-over): Maria Antonia says Honduras' out-of-control gangs extort everyone, sometimes for just a few dollars.

ANTONIA (through translator Oppmann): That's why we came, she tells me. They charge more taxes there. If you don't pay, they kill you.

OPPMANN: She says she hopes her baby daughter is too young to remember the hell they are fleeing from and the hell they are living now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

OPPMANN: And, John and Alisyn, this is one 1 1/2-year-old Shyla (ph). She'll be returning home to Honduras after weeks on the road. Imagine traveling with a child in these conditions -- this dangerous journey -- but so many families here say they just had no other choice.

BERMAN: Human beings -- you know, people with kids -- 1-year-olds. Patrick Oppmann, thanks for showing us what's going on on the ground -- appreciate it.

A deadly virus killing six children in a New Jersey rehab facility. So how did this happen? Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us, next.

CAMEROTA: And, an out-of-control escalator hurls passengers on top of each other. We'll tell you what happened here.

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[07:51:00] BERMAN: Six children are dead, killed by a viral outbreak at a New Jersey health and rehabilitation center; 12 others are infected. The facility, which is in Haskill, New Jersey, ordered -- has been ordered to stop admitting new patients until this outbreak is over.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us with more. Sanjay, what's going on here?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this virus is called the adenovirus and it's a fairly common virus. It's something that maybe most adults have been exposed to at some point in their lives and doesn't typically cause them to be very ill.

This virus, though, was spreading among the -- around this facility known as the Wanaque facility, which takes care of a lot of long-term patients, both adults and children. And within their pediatric center --which has a lot of children who are there, again, for long-term care -- this virus started to spread.

These are children who oftentimes have weakened immune systems and it seems like it's been going on for some time. But we now know that 18 children were infected; six of them have died.

So far, it seems to be contained to this specific facility. Again, the virus is something that we see a lot but the severity of this outbreak seems to be contained to this facility -- again, the Wanaque facility.

We reached out to them to get a better answer as to what was going on. They gave us this statement here.

They said, "Unfortunately, this particular strain of adenovirus (#7)" -- this specific strain -- "is affecting medically fragile children with severely compromised immune systems. The strain has been particularly associated with disease in communal living arrangements and can be more severe."

This is something that can -- is very contagious, John. That's the concern. You're in a facility like this and the virus is present -- it starts to spread, maybe from hand-to-hand, caregiver-to-caregiver. We don't know but that appears to be what happened here.

BERMAN: You say it's very contagious. Is it under control now? GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting. We found out after digging into this a bit John that the Department of Health was actually notified back on October ninth about this. Ten days later, the parents of these children -- October 19th -- got a letter saying there's a severe respiratory illness within the facility here.

And now, obviously -- fast-forward now, five days later, we hear what has happened. Six children have died; 12 have -- are still infected.

We know the facility is not accepting any new inpatients right now and that the Department of Health is still actively investigating this.

BERMAN: The kind of thing that parents hate to hear.

Sanjay Gupta, thanks for helping us understand what's going on there -- appreciate it.

GUPTA: Yes, thank you.

CAMEROTA: That's really scary.

Now, more medical news. Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female Supreme Court justice, has been diagnosed with dementia. In a letter, O'Connor writes she is in the beginning stages and suggests it's probably Alzheimer's disease.

Eighty-eight-year-old O'Connor retired from the bench in 2006, in part to care for her husband who was suffering from Alzheimer's.

BERMAN: NBC's Megyn Kelly is apologizing to her colleagues for defending blackface Halloween costumes on her show. Here is what she said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGYN KELLY, NBC HOST, "MEGYN KELLY TODAY": What is racist because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween? Like, when I was a kid that was OK as long as you were dressing up as like a character.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: In a note to her staff, Kelly says, quote, "I realize now that such behavior is, indeed, wrong and I'm sorry. The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent, the wounds too deep."

CAMEROTA: All right, look at this video. At least 20 people were injured, one of them seriously in an escalator accident at a train station in Rome. Dozens of people were thrown down as the malfunctioning escalator sped up.

Most of the injured were Russian soccer fans on their way to attend a Champions League match.

An investigation is underway as to what went wrong here. BERMAN: Yes, that really is terrifying. I think a lot of people are

always scared to be eaten by an escalator --

CAMEROTA: Yes, that can happen.

BERMAN: -- in a way here, but that's just awful.

CAMEROTA: I mean, as one of our guests said, something new to worry about --

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: -- this morning.

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Escalators gone wild.

BERMAN: Yes, that's why I don't ever go to a higher floor. I just stay on the ground.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: The former White House communications director has a message for the president -- stop lying. We're going to hear from him again, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:58:52] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There's no proof of anything. There's no proof of anything but they could very well be.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D), HAWAII: It's just yet another example of how he stokes fear and loathing into the electorate.

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The caravan will not cross our southern border illegally under any circumstances.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd hope it's not the winning strategy. This is the most important midterm election of my life.

TRUMP: We're putting in a tax reduction of 10 percent. It will be great for the middle-class.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As far we can tell, Trump may have just made this up on the fly.

LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We're working through the Ways and Means and it may not surface for a while.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are better than this. We've got two weeks. Let's not have any regrets about what we could have done.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

BERMAN: All right, good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, October 24th, 8:00 in the east.

And moments ago, right here on the set of NEW DAY, former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci had a message for President Trump -- stop the lying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Nobody should lie. I'm not a big believer in lying but politicians have to lie.

BERMAN: Do you want to say that to the camera -- to the president?

SCARAMUCCI: Nobody should lie --

BERMAN: Mr. President.

SCARAMUCCI: -- and -- but, you know, you're a politician now so politicians lie when their lips are moving. And so all these people lie.

But you should probably dial down the lying because you don't need to. You're doing a great job for the country. So dial that down and you'll be doing a lot better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Dial down the lying. Pretty stark, no?