Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S. Grapples With Dangerous Virus Resurgence; WaPo: "Unmasking Probe Ends With No Charges; Titans Dominate Bills in First Game After COVID-19 Outbreak. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired October 14, 2020 - 05:00   ET

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


[05:00:19]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A blaring wake-up call on coronavirus. Not a single state in the country is seeing cases decrease while the president gathers big crowds in hard-hit states.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And it turns out the president's repeated claims that he was spied on by Obama was a hoax. Trump's own Justice Department unable to make the case.

ROMANS: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. Good morning.

SANCHEZ: Good morning, Christine. I'm Boris Sanchez, in for Laura Jarrett. It is Wednesday, October 14th, 5:00 a.m. in New York.

And we're entering crunch time. Only 20 days left until the election.

ROMANS: Yeah, crunch time indeed.

And winter is coming and the fall coronavirus surge is clearly already here. This map says it all -- 36 states adding new cases in the last week and crucial is what you do not see on this map. Green. Not a single state has seen cases decline in the last seven days. That's the first time since early April.

Since Monday, 16 states hit new records in their seven-day average of new cases and a quarter of states have daily positive test rates above 10 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're seeing an uptick in what's called test positivity which is often, invariably highly predictive of resurgence of cases, which historically we know leads to an increase in hospitalizations and then ultimately an increase in deaths.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, several key metrics are headed in the wrong direction. The United States hasn't had this many people hospitalized with COVID since August 29th, and these are not asymptomatic cases, these are very sick people.

And remember, even scaled back estimates show that almost 400,000 American lives will be lost to the virus by next February. Also, the seven-day average number of new cases has climbed back above 50,000 for the first time since August 16th.

ROMANS: The director of the CDC telling governors that small family gatherings are spreading COVID-19. That's especially important with Halloween and Thanksgiving approaching.

And yet, "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" both report the White House is leaning even harder into a herd immunity strategy. That is, to let coronavirus spread among young, healthy people while protecting the elderly and medically vulnerable, but the herd immunity strategy has been denounced by most infectious disease experts, including the World Health Organization, just days ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DIRECTOR- GENERAL: Herd immunities achieved by protecting people from the virus, not by exposing them to it. Allowing a dangerous virus that we don't fully understand to run free is simply unethical. It's not an option.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, several states have been forced to roll back reopenings and add visitor quarantine restrictions. Long Island, New York, venue was fined $12,000 for a super spreader sweet 16 party that was linked to nearly 40 cases.

In Nashville, health officials are investigating an outdoor religious concert. Look at these pictures. They say this took place without a permit. It drew an enormous, largely maskless crowd.

ROMANS: Drugmaker Pfizer says it will start testing its vaccine on children as young as 12. There have been concern about the lack of vaccine testing on kids whose return to school, of course, is key to reopening the country.

And the federal government is investing more than $400 million on a new COVID quick test. Officials say the money will help dramatically expand testing by next spring. Slow and in some cases expensive testing has hampered efforts to control this pandemic.

SANCHEZ: For more than two years, President Trump and many of his allies have very loudly made the claim that officials in the Obama administration spied on Trump. It turns out those accusations were largely just made up.

"The Washington Post" reported the federal prosecutor looking into Obama era intelligence unmasking has finished his probe and is not bringing any charges. For months Republicans, including President Trump, hyped unmasking as the biggest thing since Watergate. They pressed the conspiracy theory even though it's common practice in intelligence work to unmask.

It's when in the course of conducting of surveillance of foreign adversaries, U.S. citizens who might be involved get their names blacked out in reports and government officials request their identities, they unmask the names in order to better understand the intelligence. This sort of thing happens frequently.

In May, Attorney General Bill Barr tapped prosecutor John Bash to investigate.

[05:05:02]

Sources tell "The Washington Post" that Barr left the Justice Department last week and they say his findings fell far short of what Trump was looking for. There wasn't anything there so the attorney general chose to not even release them.

ROMANS: All right. President Trump back on the road again today. He heads to Iowa for another crowded event where new coronavirus cases and the positivity rate are at or near all-time highs. After the president contracted coronavirus himself, many in his circle tried giving it an upbeat spin. It was a newly relatable experience for a candidate trailing in the polls.

Instead of adjusting, the president intends to end it the same way he started it, downplaying the virus and sticking with battle cries that got him elected four years ago, including this last night in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Suburban women, they should like me more than anybody here tonight because I ended the regulation that destroyed your neighborhood. I ended the regulation that brought crime to the suburbs. And you're going to live the American dream, and that's what you're going to do.

I ask you to do me a favor, suburban women, will you please like me? Please. Please. I saved your damn neighborhood, okay?

The other thing, I don't have that much time to be that nice. I can do it but I've got to go quickly. We don't have time. They want me to be politically correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joe Biden meantime spent the day courting a key voting bloc in a critical swing state and with less than three weeks until the election, the Biden campaign is on the verge of bringing out one of its biggest weapons to help make the closing argument to voters.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more from West Palm Beach, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Three weeks before Election Day Joe Biden campaigning in critical Florida trying to improve his standing among senior voters with President Donald Trump. Joe Biden has been leading the way against the president for months. Now he is extending that lead among the critical senior voters.

It is because of the president's handling of coronavirus. Now as the former vice president made a first speech here in Florida, he specifically talked about the president's own diagnosis and handling of his illness.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I wish -- I played for his recovery when he got COVID. I hoped at least he'd come out different. What has he done? He's doubled down on the misinformation he did before and making it worse.

So many lives have been lost unnecessarily because this president cares more about the stock market than he does about, you know, the well-being of seniors.

ZELENY: Biden extending his pitch to seniors on social security saying he will preserve that entitlement for older Americans. This is a critical electoral block here in Florida and indeed around the country. And Joe Biden is leading the way among seniors.

This is a group Donald Trump won four years ago. No question Florida is one of the most important states in the country. President Trump, of course, campaigned on Monday, be coming back to the state on Friday.

So, Biden is going to be continuing his campaigning looking ahead to a debate next week. He will also be getting some help, I'm told, from former President Barack Obama. He will be joining this campaign trail coming out next week for a series of campaign stops in early voting states trying to make the case to African-American voters, Latino voters and younger voters that Joe Biden in his view is the right choice -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much for that, Jeff Zeleny.

Day two of questioning begins in a few hours for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Barrett turned evasion into an art form on day one, but she did get specific on refusing to accept the bedrock precedent for abortion rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Is Roe a super precedent?

JUDGE AMY CONEY BARRETT, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE NOMINEE: How would you define super precedent?

KLOBUCHAR: I actually -- I might -- thought some day I would be sitting in that chair. I'm not.

BURNETT: OK. Well, people use super precedent differently -- KLOBUCHAR: OK.

BURNETT: -- the way that it's used in the scholarship and the way I was using it in the article that you're reading from was to define cases that are so well-settled that no political actors and no people seriously push for their overruling.

And I'm answering a lot of guess Roe which I think indicates Roe doesn't fall into that category. Scholars across the spectrum say that doesn't mean Roe should be overruled, but descriptively it does mean it's not a case that everyone has accepted and doesn't call for its overruling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Judge Barrett would not discuss her views on critical issues like the Affordable Care Act and a potential election dispute.

The fate of Obamacare comes before the court in the next few weeks and Barrett insists she will not be President Trump's pawn.

CNN's full coverage of the hearings begins at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

SANCHEZ: The Supreme Court has approved the Trump administration's emergency application to stop the census early while litigation continues in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Civil rights groups feel cutting off field operations will cause an undercount and leave major funding gaps in critical areas that need it the most.

[05:10:07]

The census was supposed to run through October 31st.

But the White House has repeatedly tried to end it early claiming it has to start processing the data sooner to have the final count before Trump leaves the office.

ROMANS: All right. Ten minutes past the hour.

Another day of people forced to wait hours to vote early. One reason for these long lines may surprise you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Vote by mail begins in Kansas and Oregon today leaving Washington state and Hawaii as the only states where ballots are not yet available to all voters. In Arizona, a competitive state this year, a federal appeals court is shortening the extended voter registration deadline. A lower court extended it to October 23rd because of coronavirus but the new ruling changes the dead line to tomorrow.

ROMANS: A hearing set to extend time to register to vote in Virginia.

[05:15:02]

The system crashed on the last day to sign up.

In Texas, the first day of early voting in Harris County, home to Houston, saw a turnout of about 127,000 people. That shatters the previous record by almost double. The long lines dissuaded some but not one woman about to give birth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: : I'm due tomorrow morning so I was trying to decide am I going to stay? I wanted to go ahead and get my vote in. It was disappointing to see some people wondering if I'm one of those people going to make it back in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Determined voter, indeed. In Georgia, another day of long lines. Wait times of up to three hours in Fulton County. Up to six hours in Gwinnett County.

Contributing to these lines, some absentee voters decided to vote in person because they feel less confident with mail-in voting, which is under assault by the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's something I have to do. So, it's okay. It's just a price you pay to cast your vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have voted in every presidential election since I was qualified to vote and I think it's important. I think we have a say and I think we need to exercise our right to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So far, more than 10.5 million Americans have already voted in the general election according to voting information in 41 states. More than half of the ballots come from the states that CNN is rating as the most competitive this election cycle.

ROMANS: All right. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam thanking law enforcement after an FBI testified the group charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan's governor also wanting to kidnap him. Northam and Governor Whitmer were among the governors who issued orders closing gyms, bars, restaurants because of the pandemic. President Trump had targeted both states on Twitter, calling for them to be, quote, liberated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RALPH NORTHAM (D), VIRGINIA: When language is used such as to liberate Virginia, people -- they find meaning in those words and thus these things happen and that's regrettable.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Last night, the acting secretary of homeland security praised state and federal law enforcement to stop the plots. But still, not a word on the subject from the Attorney General Bill Barr, although a spokesman says he supports the U.S. attorney.

SANCHEZ: Here's something you do not hear nothing -- Tuesday night football and the Bills could not get out of Nashville soon enough. You're going to want to watch these highlights.

"Bleacher Report" when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:21:54]

ROMANS: All right. The pandemic is keeping thousands of sports fans out of Tampa, and it's costing the area millions. Data compiled by "Axios" shows Tampa Bay area is facing a loss about $400 million in sports-related economic activity this year. The area's hometown teams have been forced to play in either empty stadiums or offsite bubbles to keep their players safe.

Rays games playoff games typically played at a packed Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg are now being played in San Diego, to no fans.

The Lightning won the Stanley Cup but did so in a fanless bubble in Canada.

The Buccaneers signed Tom Brady but only 6,000 fans are allowed in the 65,000 stadium.

The pandemic has also postponed or canceled major sporting events like Wrestlemania and March Madness. They were supposed to take place in the Tampa area and bring in customers to surrounding restaurants, hotels and small businesses.

SANCHEZ: The Tennessee Titans showing no signs of rust after a COVID outbreak sidelined the team for nearly two weeks.

Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report".

Andy, this COVID delay not affecting Derrick Henry who was flicking human beings off of him.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it didn't really affect the Titans at all, Boris, you know? And it's really surprising because they only had three days of practice in the past 16 days after that COVID-19 outbreak shut down their practice facility.

But, man, you couldn't tell watching them take on the Buffalo Bills last night. The Titans looking dominant in this game. This is the first Tuesday night game in ten years. Second quarter Tennessee took over.

Check out running back Derrick Henry, 6'3", 250 pounds, just throws Josh Norman to get the first down. That right there is a stiff arm. Henry has jokes about it after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DERRICK HENRY, TENNESSEE TITANS: I've been doing too many curls so I've got to layoff the arms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw for three touchdowns. He also ran for another. Titans remain undefeated, beat the Bills 42-16.

The Saints, meanwhile, working on a plan to play their home games at LSU Stadium instead of the Superdome in New Orleans and then they can have fans in the stands. Saints currently prohibited from having a big crowd due to New Orleans COVID-19 guidelines.

Now, the LSU Tigers are scheduled to play at Florida on Saturday. But that game is in jeopardy now after 19 members of the Gators have tested positive for coronavirus. Florida pausing all football activities yesterday after five players tested positive this week.

University officials say they've been in contact with Texas A&M, the Gators opponent last weekend. This alls comes after Gators head coach Dan Mullins said he wanted to have 90,000 fans in the stands against LSU.

All right. Two of the biggest names in sports, soccer superstar Cristiano Reynaldo and top ranked golfer Dustin Johnson have tested positive for coronavirus. Johnson pulling out of the PGA event in Las Vegas this week, but says he hopes to be back as soon as possible.

All right. Baseball, Tampa Bay Rays one win away from reaching their second World Series in franchise history.

The play of the game, huge throwing error by Astros second baseman Jose Altuve in the sixth inning. It should have been a routine double play.

[05:25:01]

It's Altuve's third error in the last two games. He certainly has the gifts. Can't make a routine throw right now.

The Rays scored all five of their runs on the way to a 5-2 win.

In the meantime, the Braves remain undefeated in the playoffs, holding on to beat the Dodgers 8-7, take a 2-0 lead in that series.

Check this out. Braves closer Mark Melancon, he caught a home run in the bullpen for the second night in a row. Incredible.

These two teams going to square off again tonight just after 6:00 Eastern. Then you catch the Rays trying to close out the ALCS. That one is just after 8:30 Eastern on our sister channel, TBS.

But, Christine, you know, back to that catch by Melancon in the bullpen, I mean, just to do that twice in a season --

ROMANS: Yeah.

SCHOLES: -- for the same player would be impressive. He did it two nights in a row, in the NLCS, from his teammate Ozzie Albies. Just incredible.

ROMANS: Yeah, that's something.

All right. Andy, nice to see you. Thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

ROMANS: A major warning from health experts. Number of states seeing a decrease in coronavirus officially drops to zero. The White House plan: send the president to hot spots and let the virus cure itself.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)