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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump And Biden Prepare To Face Off For The First Presidential Debate; New York Times Reports "Apprentice" Fame Kept Trump Empire Afloat; Russia's Top State T.V. Anchor Weighs In On U.S. Elections. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 29, 2020 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:32:38]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump and Joe Biden go head-to- head tonight. Their first presidential debate is now finally here.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Troubling questions about Trump's crushing debts exposed by "The New York Times." Could they be used as leverage against him and the nation?

Good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

ROMANS: Nice to see everybody this morning. I'm Christine Romans. Thirty-two minutes past the hour this Tuesday morning.

And nothing has been normal about campaigning during the middle of a global pandemic -- but now, each candidate gets to make their case with all eyes on the first presidential debate.

One topic sure to come up, the growing fallout from "The New York Times" expose on President Trump's finances. Huge losses, crushing debt, a tiny $750 tax bill for two recent years, and for 10 of the last 15 years, he paid nothing at all. One critical question, who does he owe money to?

And there's new reporting from the "Times" this morning. But first, CNN's Arlette Saenz sets the stage for us for tonight's debate in Cleveland.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Laura and Christine, Joe Biden and President Trump have sparred from afar for about the past year and a half but tonight, here in Cleveland, they will face off for the first presidential debate.

Each of these candidates has intensely prepared for the debate in their own way as Biden reading through briefing books and huddling with his top advisers as he prepares for what he believes will be personal attacks from the president. For the president's part, he has been studying up on possible lines of attack from Joe Biden. And even Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie have, at times, stood in for Biden during his debate preparations.

Now, this debate will look very different from past debates due to the coronavirus pandemic. There will be no traditional handshake between the two candidates when they take the stage, the audience is much smaller, and everyone who is on-site will be tested for coronavirus before they enter this debate hall.

One big question about the debate is how will the story about the president's tax returns factor into the debate messaging. The Biden campaign says that this feeds into their argument that this is a campaign between Scranton, Pennsylvania and Park Avenue, insisting that the president is only interested in his own self-interests and not those of everyday Americans.

But tonight we will see Joe Biden and President Trump at those podiums potentially lobbying some aggressive attacks that we've also seen out on the campaign trail as they continue to try to make their case to voters -- Laura and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Arlette, thank you for that.

[05:35:00]

There is new reporting this morning in "The New York Times" on President Trump's financial troubles. The new story laying out in detail how reality T.V. fame from "THE APPRENTICE" rescued Trump from the brink of ruin with a $427 million lifeline.

But the T.V. and licensing deals have since dried up and now the "Times" reports, quote, "He has huge balances on loans, soon to come due from Deutsche Bank, including $160 million on his Washington hotel in the Old Post Office building and $148 million on the Doral golf resort. Neither of those businesses is turning a profit."

One key question on that front, as Christine mentioned, other than Deutsche Bank, who else does he owe money to? The president ignored shouted questions on that yesterday.

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REPORTER: Mr. President, who do you owe hundreds of millions of dollars?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: We get more now from White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins at the debate location in Cleveland.

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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Laura and Christine, what you saw yesterday was the president lashing out at this idea that he is not as wealthy as he has portrayed himself to be for the last several years, even before he ran for president.

But what he and his aides are not doing are really providing any documents to back up their denials about this "New York Times" expose on the state of his finances. And instead, they're portraying it as what they say is a last-minute political hit job before he takes the stage with Joe Biden here in this room tonight, something that is likely going to come up either from the moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News, or from his opponent, Biden, whose campaign has already capitalized on the relations in that "New York Times" report.

The president still has a lot of unanswered questions. He did not answer those questions from reporters yesterday about the deductions that he made that most people would have seen as personal expenses, not business expenses, the fees that he paid his daughter Ivanka Trump even though she was already a member of the Trump Organization, or that $75 million-nearly refund that he got for what he did pay when he did pay his taxes.

So there are a lot of questions. And also, ultimately, the big question is whether or not this changes how the president is in the eyes of the voters which, of course, are going to be the deciding factor about whether or not he gets four more years in office.

And that could really determine a lot of things for the president because one thing in this report was talking about the financial pressure that he could soon be facing for these millions of dollars in loans that according to "The New York Times" he's personally responsible for.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Kaitlan, thank you so much for that.

The possibility that President Trump owes hundreds of millions of dollars to unknown creditors is also raising national security concerns, something Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris pounced on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who does he owe the money to? Tell us. Who'd he owe the money to?

And do you owe debt to any foreign nation? Do you owe -- you know, do you owe debt -- do you owe money? Let's just be clear about what debt means. You owe somebody money.

Do you owe anybody money who is impacted by any decision you made as President of the United States? We need to know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Andrew Weissman, a former prosecutor on Robert Mueller's team in the Russia investigation, highlighted a comment made by the president's son Eric in 2014.

Quote -- this is Eric -- "We don't reply on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia." Weissman tweets, "Now ask to whom does Trump owe the hundreds of millions of dollars coming due soon?"

And remember what Bob Woodward recently reported about former director of national intelligence Dan Coats.

He writes, "Coats continued to harbor the secret belief, one that had grown rather than lessened, although unsupported by intelligence proof, that Putin had something on Trump. How else to explain the president's behavior? Coats could see no other explanation."

The most anticipated moment of the election is here. Donald Trump and Joe Biden, they face off in the first presidential event. You can watch it all play out live on CNN on our special covering tonight, starting at 7:00 eastern.

JARRETT: Well, the global death toll from coronavirus just surpassed one million people. And the U.S., it makes up more than 20 percent of those fatalities as cases in the U.S. continue to climb now.

New York City, once the epicenter of the virus here in the U.S., is seeing a new spike in some neighborhoods.

CNN has reporters from coast to coast with the latest.

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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alexandra Field in New York where much of the nation's largest school district will return to in- person learning today. That, as a cluster of COVID cases is affecting Brooklyn and parts of Queens.

In order to address the growing cluster, the governor says he's making 200 rapid-testing machines available. Those machines will go to zip codes with the highest positivity rates. He's encouraging both public and private schools to request those machines and start testing their students.

[05:40:02]

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: I'm Jacqueline Howard in Atlanta.

Rates of COVID-19 in older kids ages 12 to 17 are about double that of younger kids. That's according to a new study from the CDC.

The study found that between May and September, the incidents of COVID-19 in adolescents was about 37 COVID cases per 100,000 children. But among young kids ages five to 11, that incidence is only 19 cases per 100,000. Now, in general, children account for about 10 percent of coronavirus diagnoses and under one percent of deaths.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Newton in Ottawa, where Canadian public health officials are growing increasingly worried about a surge in COVID-19 cases. On Monday, Ontario, the country's largest province, set a new record for daily cases -- 700 -- and that includes a new record for the city of Toronto.

Meanwhile, in Quebec, both Quebec City and Montreal moved to a red alert. And that means that dine-in restaurants, bars, libraries, concert halls will all close for at least four weeks. Officials saying they want to protect the fragile health care system and want to make sure that they are ready if there is a coming tsunami of new cases.

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JARRETT: All right. Thanks to all of our correspondents for those updates.

We move now to France where the biggest cities are under new coronavirus curfews this week with bars and restaurant owners in one region pushing back hard. A second wave is building and much of Europe with surging case numbers in France, the U.K., and Spain, and officials are trying to figure out how to control it all.

Let's bring in CNN's Melissa Bell who is live for us in Paris. Melissa, what's the latest there?

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we're seeing here in Paris, fears that this city is going to go the way of Marseille the last few days, with all of the indicators suggesting that the French capital is also heading towards that maximum alert.

Now, what does that mean? It means that a whole new series of regulations are going to come in so that they can try and keep the number of people, for instance, getting into ICU under control. Again, it's all about protecting the health care system.

The trouble is that whereas during the first wave, lockdowns were introduced pretty quickly here in Europe. Local populations took things pretty well. These were not controversial measures. The messaging from governments was pretty straightforward.

What we're seeing with this second wave -- and you mentioned the United Kingdom and Spain, and it's very much the case there -- is increasing pushback from local populations against those regulations that are so harmful to the economy, with the authorities saying look, this is necessary because just as in the first wave, we need to help keep our health care systems going.

But that is a harder and harder message to get people to swallow. We're seeing growing protests in a number of countries here in Europe against the tightening regulations. And yet again, as here in Paris, the need to get those regulations in place if the health care systems are to survive.

JARRETT: All right, Melissa. Thank you so much for all that reporting, as usual.

ROMANS: All right, here in the U.S., millions of Americans still out of work and they want to know are more stimulus checks on the way. Talks are back on. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin plan to speak again today in a push for a deal before the election, and there's plenty of skepticism on Capitol Hill they can get this done.

Democrats passed a $3.4 trillion stimulus all the way back in May. Now, Pelosi has a slimmed-down proposal -- $2.2 trillion -- that would include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks. Also, more money for the Paycheck Protection Program, aid for the Postal Service, and restoring the extra $600 a week in enhanced unemployment benefits, among other things.

Now, Speaker Pelosi has said she's prepared to bring lawmakers back if she and Mnuchin can strike a deal.

JARRETT: It seems like it would benefit everybody to get a deal done as soon as possible --

ROMANS: Absolutely.

JARRETT: -- so that people can be helped.

All right. As President Trump and Joe Biden get ready to square off in tonight's debate, who will Russia be rooting for?

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you were forced to choose between a Trump presidency or a Biden presidency, which one would you go for?

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JARRETT: We'll get the answer from the man known as Russia's propagandist in chief, next.

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[05:48:22]

JARRETT: Welcome back.

Tonight, all eyes will be on President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden in their first head-to-head debate, an event that will be broadcast around the world. Russia is watching the race closely as they try to determine what a Biden presidency could mean for them.

Matthew Chance joins us live from Moscow where the host of Russia's flagship current affairs show gave his first-ever U.S. television interview to CNN. And, Matthew, what did he tell you?

CHANCE: Well, a very interesting conversation. Look, you get the sense watching Russian state television that the optimism that once surrounded conversations about the Trump presidency -- somehow, that it would be good for Russia -- that's been replaced by a sense that no matter who wins in November, whether it's Donald Trump or Joe Biden, it's not going to be great for Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): There's been a distinct change in tone on Russian television about President Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Spoof Video): And it was a very nice offer from President Putin. And I could have said no, thank you or I could have said thank you.

CHANCE (voice-over): This spoof video on its English language channel promoting U.S. election coverage, shows Trump as the loser, taking up a job as a top Russian news anchor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Spoof Video): And I said I'll take it.

CHANCE (voice-over): It's a humorous jab at Trump's apparent affection for Russia.

But the country's actual top state news anchor isn't laughing. In his first-ever U.S. T.V. interview, the man dubbed the Kremlin's chief propagandist tells me how hopes of blossoming U.S.-Russian relations under President Trump have vanished.

[05:50:04]

DMITRY KISELYOV, ANCHOR, RUSSIA 1: Russia has never had as many sanctions as it has under Trump and not a single state visit to Russia or to the United States.

CHANCE (on camera): Is it your hope that if President Trump wins a second term that things will change? That he might be able to have a more positive relationship with Moscow.

KISELYOV: Nothing will change -- that's America.

CHANCE (voice-over): But actually, things might change.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There will be a price to pay. And Putin knows the reason he doesn't want me as president. He knows me and he knows I mean it.

CHANCE (voice-over): And, Kiselyov, sanctioned by the E.U. for spreading Kremlin propaganda, tells me a hardline Biden presidency could plunge U.S.-Russian relations into a dangerous spiral.

KISELYOV: What will he do, go to war against us? No way to win for him.

CHANCE (on camera): But he said that would --

KISLEYOV: Let me -- let me repeat. Russia is the only country in the world with the capability to turn America into radioactive ash.

CHANCE (voice-over): With its vast nuclear arsenal, that may be terrifyingly true. But on Russia's flagship current affairs show, it's how America is already destroying itself that's dominating coverage. The chaos and death shows the U.S. has lost its moral leadership, Kiselyov says.

For the Kremlin, accused by U.S. intelligence of sowing discord, that may be a victory of sorts no matter who the next president may be.

CHANCE (on camera): If you were forced to choose between a Trump presidency or a Biden presidency, which one would you go for? Talk in English. Tell me, which one would you go for?

KISELYOV: I would just -- I would like to throw a coin so nothing changes -- nothing will change.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Right, Laura.

Well, despite the fact they seemed resigned to the fact that whoever is going to be next president, not much is going to change for Russia, it doesn't mean that they're not trying to influence the outcome. U.S. intelligence officials say that Russia is still trying to meddle in the 2020 election in favor of Donald Trump and against Joe Biden.

Back to you.

JARRETT: That's exactly right, trying to denigrate Joe Biden. It's interesting that he says nothing will change. That's a fascinating interview. Thanks so much, Matthew -- appreciate it.

ROMANS: Back in the U.S., a cyberattack forced one of the largest hospital systems to shut down its entire computer network on Sunday. The hack affected patient data, laboratory systems, clinical information, and radiology systems across the country at Universal Health Systems.

Now, UHS operates more than 400 acute-care hospitals, behavioral health centers, ambulatory surgery centers, and emergency care centers across the U.S. The company says no patient or employee data appears to have been accessed, copied, or misused.

JARRETT: Pennsylvania Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling that allows absentee ballots to be counted up to three days after the election, as long as they're postmarked by Election Day. Republicans argue that extensions could destroy the American public's confidence in the electoral system as a whole.

Now, this shift in deadline could have sweeping consequences for voters in this crucial battleground state. Pennsylvania officials are anticipating historic levels of voting by mail, of course, because of the pandemic.

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN business this Tuesday morning. Losses in markets around the world. European shares have opened lower here. Moving on to Wall Street and a look at futures right now in the U.S., also leaning down slightly. U.S. stocks rebounded Monday after four weeks of losses. Financial and energy shares higher and new hopes for a stimulus deal out of Washington.

The Dow closed up 410 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also ended the day higher.

Microsoft 365 services are back after a major outage Monday. Users started reporting issues with logging in, server connection, and Outlook around 5:00 p.m.

A bit of a mystery -- Microsoft initially attributed the outage to a recent change in the platform but then later said it didn't see successful connections after it rolled back those changes. A spokesperson for Microsoft said it has seen no indication this outage was a result of malicious activity.

Amazon announcing its annual Prime Day will be October 13th and 14th. That may prompt more retailers to start their holiday sales earlier this year. Home Depot has said it will offer two months of Black Friday discounts starting in early November.

Remember, the economy is largely powered by consumers. How much they spend between October and December will affect the pace of the recovery.

JARRETT: Everyone loves a discount but you need disposable income, which is really hard for a lot of families --

ROMANS: That's right.

JARRETT: -- right now.

ROMANS: That's right.

JARRETT: All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Laura Jarrett.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" is next.

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[05:59:28]

COLLINS: President Trump is lashing out over a damning "New York Times" report about the dire state of his finances. His aides are claiming it's a last-minute hit job before the first debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president has paid lots of taxes. The point is why would anybody pay more than they owe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump only has one playbook and that's to try to steer the conversation away from the facts when the facts don't support his argument.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: A virus that once seemed distant hitting closer to home with each passing day.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: We are not out of this yet. I hope not, but we very well might start seeing increases in deaths.

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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world.