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New U.S. COVID Cases Top 50,000 Wednesday As Infections Rise Nationwide; Presidential Debate Commission Cites Next Presidential Debate is Going to Be Virtual; Pence-Harris Clash for VP Debate in Salt Lake City. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired October 08, 2020 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The number of new coronavirus cases in the country climbed back above 50,000 for the first time in five days. Only two states at this moment are seeing a decline in new cases. Wisconsin is seeing an explosion of new cases, and it is now preparing a field hospital in case its hospitals are overrun with patients. CNN's Alexandra Field joins us now live with the very latest. Alexandra?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, John. Yes, for days, we've been watching Wisconsin set all the wrong kinds of records, first in death tolls and then in number of new cases. Now hospitalizations have hit yet another high just on Wednesday, that has triggered more action from the state government.
They plan next week to open up that field hospital in the state fair grounds. It is real evidence that they are really concerned about the possibility of the state's hospital system being overwhelmed. Further evidence of the fact that COVID is not easily beat, is the fact that we are also seeing these upticks in hospitalizations in Wyoming and in South Dakota.
Public health experts continue to be concerned about surges that they are closely monitoring in Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Oklahoma. And then right here in New York City, a city where the positivity rate remains relatively low compared to other states and even other countries. We are seeing this highly concerning cluster of cases that has triggered a rash of new restrictions.
Today, we are seeing even more restrictions being implemented. These clusters are now being broken down into a tiered system. You've got red zones, which will be the most restricted areas of the city. Schools are shut down in those areas. Non-essential businesses are closed and restaurants are only open for take-out.
Then you've got the orange zones, where restrictions are slightly lifted, and then the yellow zones which will face the least restrictions. This is a highly targeted, very specific response. It is meant to stamp out the clusters that the city is seeing without rolling back the reopening for the entire city. We'll be watching it closely. Alisyn?
BERMAN: All right, I'll take it, Alex. Alex Field, thank you very much for being with us. We also have breaking news regarding the presidential debates. And this too has very much to do with the pandemic. The Commission on Presidential Debates just announced that the second scheduled debate between President Trump and Joe Biden will be virtual.
It will be a virtual debate in the form of a town meeting in which the candidates will participate from separate remote locations. This, of course, comes as the president is recovering from coronavirus and at this moment, we believe still contagious. So this is a big deal. We don't know if the campaigns have agreed to this, by the way, but the Presidential Debate Commission has said that the next debate will be virtual if it happens. Much more on this in just a moment.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Really interesting development. OK, also new concerns this morning for gold star families who may have been exposed to coronavirus at a White House event last week. This was an indoor reception. As you can see on your screen, with no social distancing, no masks that we can see, and it was held the day after the Rose Garden ceremony for Amy Coney Barrett, it might have been a super spreader event.
The vice admiral of the Coast Guard who has -- who was there has now tested positive and most of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are quarantined. Joining us now is army veteran and senior adviser for Veterans Affairs at the Lincoln Project, Fred Wellman. Fred, great to have you here. This is worrisome! Even what we now know, to see those pictures, you know, makes you take a step back. Why did the White House hold this event like this?
FRED WELLMAN, SENIOR ADVISER FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS AT THE LINCOLN PROJECT: Well, that's the eternal question, isn't it? It's shocking in a lot of ways. I mean, I think we've got a double shock right now.
We've got the Joint Chiefs quarantining, we've got COVID running rampant in the essentially National Security, you know, a very nerve -- central nervous system right in our national security system. And then we found out that gold star families were invited to the White House, all they did that we know of is they had rapid tests at the door, which we do know may not be even effective in the first three or seven days of the virus when you catch it.
So, and then it went in maskless. I think it's just an example of how the White House continues to ignore their own organizational guidelines and their own CDC guidelines and don't protect anyone that come to that building.
CAMEROTA: I mean, if you were to stage a super spreader event now, it would be -- look, it would look like that! You're not --
WELLMAN: Right --
CAMEROTA: You're not supposed to be meeting with that many people indoors, you're not supposed to be sitting right next to each other. You're supposed to be masked. And the idea that this was --
WELLMAN: Right --
CAMEROTA: Last week and they were flouting -- I mean, it was -- it was the day after the Amy Coney Barrett event that now doctors believe was a super spreader event. Do we know how --
WELLMAN: OK --
CAMEROTA: These gold star families feel now in light of all that's happened?
[07:35:00]
WELLMAN: Well, it's been really difficult. A lot of the organizations that brought their gold star families in there have not been real forthcoming. Many of the families have not spoken publicly. The information I gained was through potentially friends who are in that network.
I've been working as a veterans advocate for the last decade, so we have connections to a lot of these families. What we do know is that they were not contact-traced. As of yesterday, most of them had never heard from anyone. There was a report yesterday that one of the organizations that helped bring the families in was contacted on October 2nd, that of course is Friday, the day after President Trump said publicly that he had contracted the virus.
And if you remember correctly, what got me going on this whole topic, and what got me going down the rabbit hole of how all this happened was if you remember when President Trump spoke at the first time, I believe to Sean Hannity, he said that it was -- well, they said they were talking about Hope Hicks, well, we now know that the president by that point knew he had tested positive.
He said, it's very hard because the law enforcement and the military, when they -- when you're doing a good job for them, they come up and hug you and kiss you. And a lot of us veterans are like, I don't think I've ever seen a soldier ever run up to the president and hug and kiss him.
And what we now know is he was talking about the gold star family event. That the president and all the pantheon of people that he may have caught COVID from in that week, he picked the gold star families as the most likely suspect. And that's kind of disturbing too, if you think about it.
CAMEROTA: That, I mean, I have the quote right here. He says, "it's very hard when you're with people from the military and they come over to --
WELLMAN: Right --
CAMEROTA: You and they want to hug you and kiss you, because we have really done a good job for them. And you get close and things happen." And so -- WELLMAN: And things happen, yes --
CAMEROTA: And things happen. And so what -- and so, instead of blaming his own masklessness or his rallies, you hear him blaming gold star families there?
WELLMAN: That's what I heard. And that's what a lot of us heard for the first time, and now we figured out, it was funny -- you know, there's blinding flashes of the obvious moments when we figured it out that, what the president was talking about was the gold star families. And the nugget came when the announcement came out in the news that the Joint Chiefs were going into quarantine.
And buried in one of the articles in "The New York Times", there's a paragraph that simply said the Joint Chiefs have been getting regularly tested since attending a gold star family event at the White House. So, what that also tells you is that, DOD knew that there had been an exposure or a possible exposure from the very beginning, and before the president announced that he was positive on Thursday. So, the questions that I ask are staggering.
CAMEROTA: And the Joint Chiefs are quarantining, obviously, national security --
WELLMAN: Correct --
CAMEROTA: Issues abound. And also, just the fact --
WELLMAN: Terrifying.
CAMEROTA: That you -- as you point out, we have not seen these pictures. These pictures have not made the rounds in the way that the Amy Coney Barrett pictures have, most of which were outside, though there were -- was it indoor element to that. But these pictures look like pre-COVID times. These pictures -- these photographs --
WELLMAN: Yes --
CAMEROTA: Look as if it was taken a year ago, not a week ago.
WELLMAN: Yes --
CAMEROTA: And this -- I mean, I just -- I feel for these gold star families and I'm glad that you're trying to be in touch with them to see if any of them are getting sick. We hope not, obviously, and that they will be contact-traced somehow so that they can breathe a sigh of relief. Fred Wellman, thank you for bringing all of this to our attention. Obviously, we'll stay on it.
WELLMAN: Thanks for having me.
CAMEROTA: The vice presidential debate covered a lot of ground from healthcare to the economy to abortion rights to coronavirus. But who told the truth? John Avlon with an important fact-check, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:40:00]
CAMEROTA: John Avlon has been burning the midnight oil, fact-checking last night's VP debate. This hour, he delves into Vice President Mike Pence's responses. Next hour will be Kamala Harris'. John Avlon is here now with a reality check. Hi, John.
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, guys. Look Pence v. Harris was civil and substantive compared to the dumpster fire of the presidential debate. But there was a persistent failure for the candidates to answer direct questions.
And Mike Pence defined the art of deflection. For example, after a question on abortion, he talked about the killing of Iranian General Soleimani, after getting a question about pre-existing conditions, he talked about abortion. And when Pence circled back to those topics, you got a sense of why he ducked them in the first place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: President Trump and I have a plan to improve health care and to protect pre-existing conditions for every American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: No, they do not! The Trump administration has never presented a comprehensive healthcare plan to replace the ACA that they're asking the Supreme Court to kill next month. And there's a lot to unpack in this next one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN PAGE, VP DEBATE MODERATOR: Vice President Pence, do you believe that climate change poses an existential threat?
PENCE: As I said, Susan, the climate is changing. We'll follow the science, but once again, Senator Harris is denying the fact that they're going to raise taxes on every American.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: OK, so, first, Pence says they'll follow the science on climate change, but they're not doing that. Because 97 percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is real and man-made. But notice Pence's quick pivot to taxes.
Biden's plan is not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year, the median family income is just under$66,000 a year. So, no, taxes would not be raised on every American, not even close. But the biggest issue in this election is the pandemic, and that's a tough thing for the head of the COVID taskforce to spin his way out of, not the Pence didn't try.
He repeated the party line that Trump shutting down travel from China was pivotal in containing the disease. But it wasn't a ban, it was a restriction. And more than 40,000 folks flew from China after, and in any case, the East Coast spread seems to have come from Europe. But the fact remains that America has 20 percent of the world's COVID-19 deaths with just 4 percent of the population with an outbreak right now in the White House. And for a man who stays resolutely on message, there was one notable slip.
[07:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PENCE: The American people have a right to know about the health and well-being of their president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: We do, but we haven't been told the truth about President Trump's health and the White House COVID outbreak. And we're going to be back with a look at Senator Harris in the next hour. But for now, that's your reality check.
BERMAN: All right, and again, we will be back with the fact-check on Senator Harris later. But our breaking news, the Commission on Presidential Debates just announced that the second presidential debate scheduled for next Thursday will be virtual. Let's discuss with CNN political commentators Rick Santorum and Bakari Sellers.
Let me read to you what they say, the second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting in which the candidates will participate from separate remote locations. This is because, obviously, the president has COVID-19, and as of right now, at least, we believe that he is still contagious. So, Bakari, what do you make of this news and do you anticipate that the campaigns will agree to this?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know. You know, it just broke a couple of moments ago, and I'm trying to imagine Donald Trump on a Zoom call. I mean, I sit on Zoom calls for work all day and they are just awful. And I can't imagine someone trying to talk through and break through all of these Zoom calls. But I guess, you can mute him. You know, I think that it's going to be very difficult for both of these campaigns to agree to it.
I anticipate the Biden campaign will say, we will debate Donald Trump any way, any form, any fashion. But I can only imagine that the Trump campaign is going to say that Joe Biden can't have anything in his ear, they are afraid he's going to have notes, they're afraid somebody is going to be behind him or is just got to be -- it's got to be a cluster.
I want to see how they work this through, but I do applaud the commission for actually taking steps for the safety of the candidates, because we know next week that there's still a strong likelihood that Donald Trump is going to be contagious.
BERMAN: It is a statement in its own way, a sign of the times. A statement that the president is not safe. It is not safe to be next to the president. That's what the debate commission has ruled, not just for Joe Biden, for the people who would be in that hall for that town meeting. So, Rick, does the Trump campaign agree?
RICK SANTORUM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know whether they're going to agree or not. I suspect they will not. Look, this is a situation where I think the debate commission is doing what they've -- you know, they've done in the past was try to make news instead of trying to do what their job is, and their job is to work with the campaigns to put debates together that the candidates agree to instead of dictating terms. So, I really don't -- I just don't agree that they should be announcing things before they talk to the campaigns about it and get an agreement.
That's sort of asserting itself into the -- into the election. So I think that was wrong. Secondly, I'm not sure. I mean -- I mean, Bakari may be right. I mean, it may be difficult for the candidates, but actually, it may be for the best interests of the president because you have an opportunity to see Joe Biden have to actually answer questions that hopefully will be tougher questions that he's getting from the media in his puff town hall meetings.
BERMAN: All right, well, look, we're going to talk much more about this over the next hour or so. The show including with doctors, it may very well be the debate commission talked to scientists who say you can't do this safely in person. So either you do it this way or not at all, which might be --
SANTORUM: Not their job.
BERMAN: Well --
SANTORUM: Not their job.
BERMAN: But --
SANTORUM: The job is to work with the campaign to do debates, not to sit -- to go out there and free-wheel it as to what they think is the right thing to do --
BERMAN: You know, in this case, Rick, and again, we're going to talk about this more in the course of the show because I want to talk about the debate last night. It may be the scientists who get to decide here and the doctors, because either it's safe or it's not. And if it's not safe, it shouldn't be in person, maybe the debate commission had that discussion.
We'll find out much more. Again, this is just breaking right now. It may not be for a campaign to decide if people get infected here. So, I want to play now from the vice presidential debate last night, which one of you feels better this morning? So Bakari, you first. Which one of you, Bakari Sellers or Rick Santorum feels better about the vice presidential debate? Kamala Harris against Mike Pence?
SELLERS: Oh, I feel awesome. I think that a lot of people in the media have tried to minimize the historic event that we saw last night. Kamala Harris did more than hold her own. Kamala Harris, she put Mike Pence through what many of us who are married to black women already understand.
That you don't win debates with them. It was a fascinating night. I was somewhat taken aback by the fact that, you know, we will hear about Kamala Harris not answering the court packing question, but Mike Pence literally didn't answer anything. And I just think that the answer to the question of climate change is going to resonate loudly because the "climate is changing", quote-unquote, Mike Pence.
And it was those types of evasive answers that I think the American people saw through in the split-screen last night, didn't do the Republican Party any justice. Mike Pence looked like yesterday, Kamala Harris looked like the future. Will this change anything much? I think me and Rick Santorum probably agree this ain't going to change the polls much, but it was a good night for the Democratic Party.
[07:50:00]
BERMAN: Rick?
SANTORUM: Yes, obviously, I disagree. I think it was actually a very good night for Mike Pence, and stopped what I think is the bleeding that's been occurred in the campaign since the last debate. Obviously, I made a lot of comments, I didn't think the president did particularly well in the last debate, and I think Pence did very -- look, he answered climate change, he answered the way that every Republican would answer.
You don't do it by government -- you do it by innovation, and he was very clear about spurring innovation that's going to reduce the amount of pollution and CO2. So, you know, yes, he didn't answer the question directly that was asked immediately, but in almost all cases, no all, I agree with that, but almost all cases he was finishing up from the previous question and wanted to get something in, and then moved on to that question.
BERMAN: Let's talk about the peaceful transition of power. And just so you both know, I am going to talk extensively in the next hour about the Supreme Court and the non-answer from Biden-Harris campaign on that. But on the issue --
SANTORUM: Not a problem --
BERMAN: Well, we'll see. But on the peaceful transfer of power, Mike Pence was asked about this, and, again, he didn't answer. This is one he absolutely did not answer. So listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAGE: If Vice President Biden is declared the winner and President Trump refuses to accept a peaceful transfer of power, what would be your role and responsibility as vice president? What would you personally do?
PENCE: I think we're going to win this election. President Trump and I are fighting every day in court houses to prevent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris from changing the rules and creating this universal mail-in voting that will create a massive opportunity for voter fraud. And we have a free and fair election, we know we're going to have confidence in it, and I believe in all my heart that President Donald Trump is going to be re-elected for four more years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: I'm going to enforce time-limit rules here, unlike a presidential debate, you each have 20 seconds on that answer. Bakari, you first.
SELLERS: You know, I'm not going to stick to this talking point script right here. That answer doesn't really offend me. It doesn't frighten me because you have to win an election before you worry about people leaving the White House. I don't know who is going to stand on stage and say, oh, my God, when we lose, dot. So it just doesn't offend me, maybe that's my competitive nature. But you know, you've got to actually win a race before you talk about leaving.
BERMAN: Twenty seconds, Rick.
SANTORUM: Yes, I mean, the vice president said if we have a fair election, you know, they will accept it. I mean, again, there's no -- I don't know of any Republican anywhere that is going to stand by the president or anybody else if the election is that he lost, I think most Americans have confidence in the election, and I think the president -- the vice president brought up, you know, legitimate points about some of the changes Democrats are making, and they're going to make sure that it is fair, and I think it will be and we'll have a winner.
BERMAN: Rick Santorum, Bakari Sellers, thank you both for being with us this morning. Going through the breaking news as it happens. You know, on this discussion point we're talking about here and the peaceful transition of power and the sanctity of the election itself, the president is calling for poll watchers to help police.
This is amongst these, you know, by the way, they have a lot of people who voted safely and without fraud already. The president keeps on making false claims about fraud. CNN has obtained the actual training material put together by the Trump campaign, and it's not what you might expect.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:55:00]
CAMEROTA: President Trump has called on his supporters to act as poll watchers to be his eyes and ears on election day. But training material reviewed by CNN takes a very different approach. CNN's Kristen Holmes is live in Washington with more. What have you learned, Kristen?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, what we saw here was two very different strategies at play. We have President Trump using incendiary language, saying Democrats are going to steal the election, and encouraging his supporters to just show up on election day to watch the polls which we should note is not how poll- watching works.
Now, we've seen these training videos and it is a very different message from the RNC and from the Trump campaign. And we should note that they actually need poll watchers to behave because it's part of their legal strategy on election day.
But take a look at this, these are the dos from Colorado, it shows you here, be courteous to staff, other poll workers, even Democrats. Ask questions politely, dress professionally. These are the don'ts, same place, Colorado training, it says don't be confrontational. And remember, you can get kicked out, this is an official job, don't interfere with other poll watchers, don't dress in political attire or otherwise campaign, including discussing politics. This is against the law. And what really sums up all of these trainings is this slide, well, while it says legitimate voters should not have their votes canceled or diluted by illegal voters.
The speaker underneath says this. He says essentially the key is to behave yourself and not act like a fool. So you can see the trajectory there on here, but one thing I want to note as I've spoken to dozens of local state election officials who say they're not really concerned about these official poll watchers, what they're concerned about is the unofficial poll watchers who don't go through the training who might be intimidating voters. Alisyn?
CAMEROTA: Yes, we can understand why unofficial poll watchers would not be welcome. Thank you very much for that new reporting, Kristen. All right, a big development for the next presidential debate. NEW DAY continues right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.
PENCE: The American people have demonstrated over the last eight months, that when given the facts, they are willing to put the health of their families and their neighbors and people they don't even know first.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did everything that conservatives wanted and made people feel really comfortable.
HARRIS: You respect the American people when you tell them the truth.
PENCE: You're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pence was masterful in normalizing conservative ideas. But I think what Kamala Harris had to go out there and do was to hang on to her base, which she did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd be very surprised to see much movement in the polls here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
