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Erin Burnett Outfront
Chris Christie: "I was Wrong not to Wear a Mask" at WH; Trump Falsely Claims 85 percent of People Wearing Mark "Catch" Virus; Trump Ally and GOP Sen. Rebuke Trump's Coronavirus Response; Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) Discusses About the Biden-Harris Campaign; Trump & Biden About to Take Part in Dueling Town Halls; Kamala Harris off the Trail After Aide Test Positive; Obama Urges Voters to "Keep Making Your Voices Heard" Despite Long Voting Lines: "Our Democracy Depends On It"; Trump Falsely Claims Votes for Him Are Being Thrown Out, Won't Commit to Peaceful Transfer of Power If He Loses. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 15, 2020 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next breaking news, Chris Christie, a top Trump ally, who spent seven days in the hospital with coronavirus after being in a closed room with the President with a sharp rebuke of the President tonight. Says he was wrong to think he was safe at the White House and wrong not to wear a mask.
Plus, Trump and Biden in dueling town halls as Kamala Harris cancels campaign travel due to coronavirus cases and her inner circle will talk to both campaigns about what's ahead tonight.
And clash in California, the Republican Party defying a state order to take down unauthorized ballot drop boxes. The man they're defying is my guess. What's he going to do next? Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT this evening the breaking news a top Trump advisor with a blistering takedown of Trump's handling of Coronavirus. Chris Christie speaking out finally. He contracted coronavirus after spending hours in debate prep with the President and his team. Almost everyone in that room got it.
Christie spent a week in the hospital and has gotten out, now releasing a statement saying, "I believed when I entered the White House grounds, that I had entered a safe zone, due to the testing that I and many others underwent every day. I was wrong."
"I was wrong not to wear a mask at the Amy Coney Barrett announcement, and I was wrong not to wear a mask at my multiple debate prep sessions with the President and the rest of the team. I hope that my experience shows my fellow citizens that you should follow CDC guidelines in public no matter where you are and wear a mask to protect yourself and others." It's a damning statement. And Chris Christie, again, I want to emphasize he spent seven days in
the hospital with coronavirus. He now knows firsthand how serious the virus is and what he's saying is the opposite, of course, of what we have heard day in and day out from this president, coming out, walking up those White House stairs, whipping off his mask. The first thing he did when he came out to the public was whip off the mask and then here, he is today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Did you see in CDC that 85 percent of the people wearing the mask catch it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, that is completely and utterly false. That is not what the CDC said. We'll explain in a moment.
But this complete lie about masks has deadly consequences, at a time when Americans need the truth more than ever. And by the way, we've been saying this again and again, but now just a little bit more of what Chris Christie said in the statement when we get to the word truth. He says, "I believe we have not treated Americans as adults, who understand truth, sacrifice and responsibility."
Here is the truth tonight, 35 states now going in the wrong direction with an increase in cases. Nearly a thousand Americans died from coronavirus yesterday, unabated about a thousand deaths a day in this country, right now hospitalizations in this country at the highest since August. And what is the leader of the United States doing to address a situation that is now, yet again, worsening day by day? He today chose to attack Dr. Anthony Fauci.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And yes, my friend, and he's a nice guy, Tony, Tony Fauci, he's a nice guy. He's a nice guy, so I keep him around. We'll keep him around. He's a Democrat. Everybody knows that. He's Cuomo's friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. Let's just be clear here. That was done to demean Fauci. "Oh, he's a Democrat." So everything he's saying, when he's telling you things like wear a mask, this is serious, this is deadly, it's because he's a Democrat.
Let's be clear. Fauci has served under six presidents starting with Ronald Reagan. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by the former President George W. Bush. And as a matter of fact, Fauci is not registered with either party.
Now, I say that just because he's confirmed that but even if he were, it wouldn't matter. He's been saying what he said based upon the science. He has made it clear again and again that that is what this is about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I have been in the public health arena and advising six administrations for the last - I've been doing this for the last five decades in public service. I have never ever either indirectly or directly endorsed a political candidate. I want to stay completely apolitical and stay as a scientist, a physician and a public health person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump lashing out at one of the most trusted Americans when it comes to coronavirus. This paper by the President at such a crucial time explains why Republicans are speaking out. People like Chris Christie.
And want to emphasize, Chris Christie is the most senior person in the Republican Party who is in that debate room with the President, preparing him for that debate.
[19:05:02]
Republicans like him and like Sen. Ben Sasse and this is Ben sasse here on tape. We actually have the tape for you talking about Trump to his constituents, Republican-sitting senator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): First he ignored COVID. And then he went into full economic shutdown mode. He was the one who said 10 to 14 days of shutdown would fix this, and that was always wrong. And so, I don't think the way he's led through COVID has been reasonable or responsible or right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: "I don't think the way he's led through COVID has been reasonable or responsible or right." Republican Senator, Ben Sasse.
Kaitlan Collins is OUTFRONT live outside the White House. And Kaitlan, this is stinging criticism from the President's own party.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erin. And Ben Sasse has been a periodic critic of the President's, but this is something else. Because also in that audio he says that the President treated the pandemic like it was a new cycle that he was covering and not a multi-year public health crisis, which is what, of course, Ben Sasse identifies it as during this call.
We should note his spokesperson just told our health team was with 17,000 constituents. It wasn't exactly this private phone call that he was trying to keep secret. This is pretty public criticism, but it also comes as Dr. Fauci has been pushing back on the President saying that his rallies, it speaks for themselves what the public health risk is by having a lot of people gather with no mask and no social distancing at these rallies. Very few people wearing masks, we should note.
And of course, you saw the President going after Dr. Fauci today who - we checked the D.C. voter registration records, Dr. Fauci is registered as a voter but he is not registered to any party. And, of course, as you noted, he's served under presidents from both sides of the aisle.
But then we've also got Chris Christie tonight coming out with this statement saying basically that he was lulled into a false sense of security coming here to the White House and doing those debate prep sessions with the President. Thinking everyone had been tested when, of course, now we even have the President himself admitting today he was not tested on a daily basis like his aides were telling us for months that he was not only tested every day, but also tested multiple times a day according to Kayleigh McEnany.
So you've really just got this round the clock criticism of the President and his handling of coronavirus, specifically coming from all sides. And so this is something he's going to be pressed on by voters in this town hall. So it'll be interesting to see how the President himself handles that question when it's not coming from someone in the media that he can demonize, but from a voter who's genuinely concerned about their way of life.
BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much.
And I want to go now to Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at GW. And as I was talking about President George W. Bush, the honor that he bestowed upon Dr. Fauci, you were there advising the medical team during the George W. Bush presidency.
So Sanjay, let me just start with Chris Christie. He was in the hospital for seven days, contracted coronavirus it appears, whether it was in that room with the President during debate prep or at the Amy Coney Barrett, somewhere in there. I want to just read more of what he said.
He said, "It's something to take very seriously. The ramifications are wildly random and potentially deadly. No one should be happy to get the virus and no one should be cavalier about being infected or infecting others." And he said wear a mask, he was wrong.
I just want to be clear, when you talk about people who are being cavalier about being infected or infecting others and not wearing masks, and not admitting they were wrong, well, that's Trump. I mean, he's just come out here with a statement and said the exact opposite of the President.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, it's pretty clear. He talked about that meeting he had at the White House, there was a likelihood of spread. Obviously, we knew there was a lot of viral spread at the White House around that time.
I mean, there's two things that struck me I'm sure probably struck Jonathan as well. First of all, it apparently takes people getting really sick and having a firsthand sort of confrontation with this virus sometimes to say what many people we've been saying for months now. And this is not a virus you want, it can cause all of these ramifications. We know how many people have already died.
But that seems to be the situation sometimes. People have to be confronted with their own mortality in some ways to take this seriously. So I'm glad he's saying it. I wish that he'd been saying it before and it does make the case that even with the testing and all of those things unless you follow the basic public health practices, testing doesn't prevent you from getting infected. It obviously it determines it after the fact.
So he's making all of these points that we've been talking about for some time.
BURNETT: Yes. And Dr. Reiner, Christie, as I emphasized he's sitting there with Trump in that debate prep room. He's the most visible, the big name in there. He helped him with his debate prep. And now he says this and this is damning. And he says it was just over two weeks until Election Day.
And by the way, when he came out of the hospital he said, "You're going to hear from me in a few days." He put a lot of time and thought into this. There isn't a single word in here that wasn't very carefully thought through.
[19:10:01]
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Yes. He seems to me to be two things. One, humbled as any person who spends a week in an ICU would be and angry that he was put in the ICU because of the lacks, precautions at the White House. He seem angry and humbled. Look, I'm glad to see it.
But the other important issue is that he issued the kind of statement about masks that we all hoped the President would issue from his suite at Walter Reed. The kind of humbled grateful to be alive, let me tell my fellow Americans how they can prevent this from happening to themselves. Except that's not what the President did.
He mused about maybe coming out and showing a superman T-shirt under his jacket. So I'm grateful for Gov. Christie for using his experience for the public good. I wish we had heard it from the President of the United States.
BURNETT: Right. I mean, Christie couldn't have been more clear. "I was wrong. I was wrong to not wear a mask. President of the United States got out of Walter Reed, walked up the stairs of the White House and ripped his mask off for the public. I mean, it is an incredibly stark distinction.
Sanjay, now the President also and I said I would get more on this. I want to give you a chance to explain it. He said there's a CDC study that says 85 percent of people who wear a mask catch the virus? That is not true. What does the CDC say? GUPTA: The CDC, the study that they're talking about here was
basically looking at where are people most likely to catch the virus, what sorts of situations. That wasn't designed to find whether or not a certain percentage of people who are wearing masks are more likely to become infected or not. It was interesting, because what they were looking at specifically were are there certain situations like restaurants or bars that might make you more likely to get infected. And they found, for example, in this study people who were infected were twice as likely to have eaten at one of these places or visited a bar or coffee shop. So it had nothing really to do with that.
What is interesting, I think, is that overall across the country, mask adherence is probably around 50 percent, 55 percent, depending on some of these models. So here people are self-reporting, do you wear a mask they are asked, and what you find is that the numbers that people typically give about 70 percent of them say that they wear a mask regularly, another 10 percent to 15 percent say they wear it sometimes. That's generally what people are saying, but that's obviously not the case.
We know masks are designed to try and protect others from the mask wearer who may potentially be infected. So the real question would have been if you want to answer this question is how likely were you to be around people who are wearing masks, if you're trying to get the benefit of masks, that's the question should have been asked, that wasn't even part of the study.
BURNETT: Right, which is crucial. And by the way, I think a lot of people think that wearing a mask is OK if other people aren't around them. They don't understand at all that what you just said, it prevents people from getting it from them, not so much inbound.
Dr. Reiner quickly on Dr. Fauci, the President obviously has attacked him repeatedly now calling him a Democrat. He isn't a Democrat although as I made the point, I don't think that that's relevant. What does this mean, Trump's push to just keep diminishing and make Fauci look political. It does have serious consequences.
REINER: It does, but he's not running against Tony Fauci. He's running against Joe Biden. Look, Tony Fauci is not the person who said he didn't see himself wearing a mask around the White House or who said that he didn't need to wear a mask because he was tested every day, which turned out to be a lie or who blocked the Postal Service from sending three quarters of a billion masks to every household in the United States or the person who blocked the CDC plan to require masks on public transport or the person to hold unmask gatherings every day now. He's not that person. He shouldn't worry about Tony Fauci. He should listen to Tony Fauci.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much.
And next, the stages are set and right now Americans standing by to watch. Trump and Biden about to participate in dueling town halls live tonight. Both campaigns standing by to tell you what they're ready to do.
Plus, Trump's message to suburban women.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The American dream it is, I let you have the American dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Is that working? John King at the magic wall to show you.
And California's Republican Party defying a state border to remove unofficial mail ballot drop boxes. So then what's going to happen? I'm going to ask the State Attorney General.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:11]
BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden about to face voters in dueling town halls. Now the events are taking place on different networks but at the same time. So this was supposed to be the second night, I'm sorry, the night of their second debate. So we were all supposed to be able to watch them in one place, but now two separate places same time.
It comes as we learned Biden's running mate, Sen. Harris, is now off the campaign trail after two people including her communications director tested positive for coronavirus. We're going to talk to both campaigns about this unprecedented and crucial night.
I want to start with Democratic Congressman Cedric Richmond who is the national co-chair of the Biden campaign. Congressman Richmond, let me start with that news that I just shared. Sen. Harris suspending travel now until Sunday, she was going to be traveling in this window North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, all of them crucial states, we're 19 days away from election day.
And obviously now with her communication director having coronavirus, how big of a concern is that and how much of a disadvantage is now having to stay home?
REP. CEDRIC RICHMOND (D-LA): Well, look, the campaign is very nimble. And we've learned to campaign during these different times that we're in. And look, Sen. Harris is fine. We're praying for her, but we're praying for all of the families that have suffered a loss because of coronavirus, lost wages, or have been infected themselves.
But I will tell you this, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they care more about the American people. They care about the janitors that clean up the auditoriums after they have an event. They care about the people who are there waiting on them. And so they're going to make sure they follow the doctor's orders and not even take a chance on contracting it but also passing it along to others because this is about us, not just Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.
[19:20:07] BURNETT: So Biden and Trump are getting ready moments away here from
these town halls. It's fair to assume because they're on at the same time, that you're going to Biden supporters watching Biden, Trump supporters watching Trump, that this is maybe perhaps more of a set of turnout town halls than it is trying to sway the miniscule number of undecided Americans. Who is Biden trying to reach tonight?
RICHMOND: Well, I think the Vice President is making his closing argument that it's the incompetence of the Trump administration that caused us to lose over 215,000 people, for over 7 million people to be infected, almost 40 million people to have to file unemployment claims. For us to go through this pain as a country, it's because of his incompetence and he is the first president in 90 years to lose jobs on his watch.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden created 16 million jobs. Donald Trump lost 4 million and he claims that he's directing a great economy. It's just not true. So you'll hear facts from Joe Biden, you'll hear lies from Donald Trump on another network.
BURNETT: So the Supreme Court is going to be one of the topics, I'm sure. Now, President Trump has suggested, again, that Biden would pack the courts with liberal judges if he's elected. And Biden has dodged this question. He said, he's not a fan of court packing, but he has not come out and said what he will do. He's not announced his position, he said until after the election to the great dismay of many on the left of your party. Is that enough for people who are voting right now?
RICHMOND: Yes, it's enough. He has not dodged the question. What he has said is he's not going to answer the question and I think that that is a difference. But if you're talking about court packing, court packing is when you rush through unqualified judges, 50 judges on the circuit court and you put not one African-American on the circuit court and all of a sudden you want to pretend that you care about poor people, minorities, because you're not showing those people what you do.
And so without showing that you respect black intellectual capacity, then you can't tell us that you also care about our welfare. And so look, we will answer that question at the appropriate time. But the real thing is, we should not confirm a justice with 19 days to go before an election and I believe the majority of the people in the country agree with that position.
BURNETT: Congressman, thank you very much for your time. I appreciate it.
RICHMOND: Thank you for having me.
BURNETT: And I want to turn now Tim Murtaugh. He is Communications Director for the Trump campaign. And Tim, I appreciate you coming back on. So I just want to start with Chris Christie.
TIM MURTAUGH, TRUMP CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: It's good to be on. BURNETT: So he comes out with this statement after seven days in the
ICU. He says he was wrong not to wear a mask at the Amy Coney Barrett announcement and debate prep sessions. Very clear he said I was wrong. I was wrong.
He says, "I believed when I entered the White House grounds, that I had entered a safe zone, due to the testing that I and many others underwent every day. I was wrong. I was wrong not to wear a mask at the Amy Coney Barrett announcement and I was wrong not to wear a mask at my multiple debate prep sessions with the President and the rest of the team."
We have heard no such thing, of course, from the President of the United States. Why? What do you say to Christie?
MURTAUGH: First, I'll answer that question just one second, I want to bring your attention to something that Congressman Richmond just said where he said that Joe Biden hasn't dodged the question about court packing. He just hasn't answered it, which is ridiculous. And he also misdefined court packing.
Court packing is when you add more justices to the court to expand the size of the court.
BURNETT: Yes.
MURTAUGH: To pre guarantee outcomes of future cases. I just want to be clear that Congressman Richmond gave the wrong definition of court packing.
BURNETT: Yes, that is the definition of the term. Yes.
MURTAUGH: OK, thanks.
So the President has always made clear that people should wear masks. He has said that it is patriotic to wear a mask. He also has said that it's very important that people take precautions and be safe. But he also doesn't want us to get to a point in this country where we go back to another society wide shutdown like Joe Biden said that he would consider if he were president.
BURNETT: If the scientists recommended it.
MURTAUGH: Another thing that's important to bring up in all this and the President has recommended it as well. The another thing to get to that's very important here is that the President is on a record pace with all of the scientists that are involved with this and the FDA in producing this life-saving vaccine. In record time, this is going to save millions of American lives when it is safely and effectively distributed to Americans, hundreds of millions of doses.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have spent a lot of time trying to scare people away from the vaccine. Their anti-vaccine rhetoric is actually very reckless and is playing politics with people's lives.
BURNETT: Well, Sen. Harris did say early in the debate, she'd be the first to line up to take it Dr. Fauci said to take it.
[19:25:02]
MURTAUGH: Yes, but in the next breath they attack the President and they say, but if Donald Trump had the vaccine then I wouldn't take it. That is a very clever way of saying both things at once but leaving doubt in people's mind. They're playing politics with the vaccine there's no way to avoid that.
BURNETT: And part of the reason that exist, let me just ask, Tim, because it comes back to what Christie had to say and also Ben Sasse today. It comes back to how the President has led on this, Christie goes on to say, "I believe we have not treated Americans as adults, who understand truth, sacrifice and responsibility that I know them to be." Ben Sasse on a call with thousands of constituents says, "Of the President of the United States, I don't think the way he's led through COVID has been reasonable or responsible or right."
This is pretty damning because it's coming from your own party and Chris Christie was in the debate room with the President. There's no one who has been more central to his debate prep his reelection than Christie.
MURTAUGH: Treating Americans as adults is exactly the President's approach, Erin. The President wants people to be safe, to wear masks, to socially distance, to use hand sanitizer, to wash their hands all the time. But we also know that people in this country have the right to make their own choices, absolutely. We also know that Joe Biden to this day cannot say that he would do anything differently than President Trump has done in fighting the coronavirus except for the loan thing that we know that Joe Biden would not have restricted travel from China as President Trump did at the end of January and that saved thousands of American lives.
And we know that Joe Biden would not have done that and if Joe Biden had been president in January, we as a country would be in far worse position today than we actually are and it is thanks to President Trump's leadership.
BURNETT: Tim?
MURTAUGH: Remember, the initial estimates were over 2 million people dead. The President has led on this issue. He has marshaled the private sector and the federal government. He has done an admirable job and we know Joe Biden has done nothing but sit on the sidelines and make it into one big political issue.
BURNETT: Tim, I will just say one thing and I understand you got to play the card your hands you dealt here. But to say that the President encourages people to wear masks and says it's patriotic because he said at one time.
MURTAUGH: Well, he does.
BURNETT: When he comes out of the hospital, walks up the steps to the White House and rips his mask off. When Chris Christie gets to the hospital after seven days in the ICU, he says, "I was wrong. I learned ...
MURTAUGH: See, again, when do you want to pay attention to CDC guidelines, Erin?
BURNETT: to say that those two things are not in stark contrast ...
MURTAUGH: The President was outside on a balcony, outside on a balcony, those CDC guidelines don't have any restrictions on wearing a mask outside when you're standing on your own balcony. And also the President wants to send the message to the American people we're in the fight, yes.
BURNETT: He had coronavirus. He had the eyes of the world on him.
MURTAUGH: He has ...
BURNETT: Tim, you can talk over me all you want, this is one of these objective things that what he did at that moment was awful. And it was inappropriate and it was irresponsible.
MURTAUGH: No.
BURNETT: And that is why people like Chris Christie and Ben Sasse say what they say, period.
MURTAUGH: Erin, Erin, the President personifies this fight against the coronavirus. He personifies it. He has firsthand personal experience with it.
BURNETT: His personification is that he did not wear a mask.
MURTAUGH: He is telling the American people that we will not be beaten by the coronavirus, that's his message. We will not be beaten, we will fight this.
BURNETT: Well, thousand more people died today.
MURTAUGH: And we will not be driven back in our basements by it.
BURNETT: Thousand more people died today. OK. Thank you, Tim.
And next, former President Obama has a new message tonight for the early voters who are turning out in droves and waiting hours to cast their ballots. John King is at the magic wall.
And a stunning attack against the President by a Republican senator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SASSE: His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. He's flirted with white supremacists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:25]
BURNETT: Breaking news. President Obama telling voters to be patient amid historic turnout and what are very long lines to vote already.
He tweets, quote: Nobody should have to wait 11 hours to vote, but we're all grateful that you and those in line with you stuck it out. Keep making your voices heard, everybody. Our democracy depends on it.
Those lines, like those you see in North Carolina, on your screen, nearly 230,000 votes cast as of 5:30 p.m. tonight on the first day of early voting. This as President Trump makes another plea to win over suburban women. It's been a crucial demographic he's pushed for, speaking to them during a rally in the key swing state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The radical Democrats will confiscate your guns, destroy your suburbs. I keep hearing about the suburban women.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
The American Dream, it is. I let you have the American Dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The polls, though, show major warning signs for Trump with women.
Chief national correspondent and the host of "INSIDE POLITICS", John King, is OUTFRONT.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, Joe Biden's lead looks overwhelming, as you enter the final days.
When you look deep into the numbers, two things stand out. Number one, stability. Joe Biden has led and for a long time. Number two, a giant gender gap. If this map holds up and Joe Biden becomes president, he will have women voters to thank.
Let's walk through the numbers to look at. First, it's just the stability of the race. 2016 was volatile, Clinton and Trump jumping all over the place.
This race has been steady, all year long. These are NBC numbers. Joe Biden led in January, he leads now in October and he leads by double digits now and it stretched out from the middle of the year to now. Joe Biden with the lead.
What is powering that lead? Women. Yes, always a Democratic constituency. But look, this goes back to July. Joe Biden with a steady gender gap. It is growing as we get closer to Election Day.
Joe Biden's support with women as we get closer to Election Day. Now, we know this matters for Democrats and we know the size of the gender gap is a big deal. Hillary Clinton had a big gender gap in 2016. She won among women by 13 points over President Trump, won the national vote, lost the Electoral College, 13.
It was 19 points in 2018, that's Democrats voting in House elections. Democrats had a 19-point advantage for women. That is the single biggest reason Nancy Pelosi became speaker of the House.
Now, look at this, 26 points is Joe Biden's lead among women in that new NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll heading into the final stretch.
[19:35:07]
Now, some Republicans will say Hillary Clinton had a gender gap back in 2016, and look, the president won. And that is true.
So let's bring that up and show it to you. Hillary Clinton did have a big gender gap. She won the facial women's vote by 13 points over President Trump. She won among women by seven points in North Carolina. Pennsylvania, it was 13, Florida, 4, Arizona, 4, Michigan, 11, Wisconsin, 10.
Hillary Clinton wins among women in all of those states. Guess what? She lost all of those states. All of those states went to Trump.
So Republicans say so what, Joe Biden has a gender gap too that we can beat. Look at the difference between 2016 and 2020. Nationally, it was 13 points for Hillary Clinton. Joe Biden's gender gap is twice that right now.
North Carolina was 7, 13 points right now. Pennsylvania 13, 15 right now. That's the only one that's even close to the same.
Florida, Hillary Clinton won with women by four points, 14 points is Joe Biden's lead. In Arizona, four points for Clinton, 18 points for Joe Biden. In Michigan, 11, it's up to 17.
Wisconsin was 10 points for Clinton among women. Joe Biden has a 24- point lead among women in Wisconsin. So Democrats look at that map and say if that gender gap holds up, this will disappear and we'll get to this and maybe each more, because Joe Biden is in play in Florida and North Carolina.
Women, the single biggest driving force in American politics. Women, Erin, the reason Joe Biden is winning heading into the stretch.
BURNETT: Wow. And you see those huge increases in Wisconsin stands out there, John.
OK. So, let's go now to our political correspondent Abby Phillip, along with chief Washington correspondent for "Politico", Ryan Lizza.
OK. Thanks to both.
So, Ryan, you see John lay it out. Hillary Clinton wins women voters by 13 points. Not enough to get the Electoral College. And, of course, it all depends where these votes are.
But Joe Biden right now is a much more significant margin, 26 points, and that holds in the swing states. Pennsylvania was the only one that looked about the same, right? All those other ones, wow, four times Clinton's edge in Arizona, more than triple than what she had in the state of Florida.
You were at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania where it's closed. That's where he asks suburban women will you please like me. Is that resonating more there?
RYAN LIZZA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I've never seen -- that doesn't sound like a winning message, just will you like me? Most voters want results, and the issue that is driving those numbers down is his handling of the pandemic. And it's difficult to see what he can do between now and Election Day to, you know, emerge -- to do better on that issue.
I think the question is, is this election more like 2016 or 2018, right? Not a lot has changed in these numbers from 2018, right? That was the election as John pointed out that handed Nancy Pelosi the House of Representatives. It looks a lot like that.
Republicans are struggling in exactly the same way from the beginning of the Biden campaign, they have taken the lessons of 2018 and been driving the same messaging and demographic goals. And Trump has just not been able to dig out from the deficit he's found himself in for the last two years.
BURNETT: So, Abby, you know, this comes as you have Trump being slammed by Governor Christie and also Republican Senator Ben Sasse. "The Washington Examiner" obtaining this audio of a call he had with voters. Now, Kaitlan pointed out there were tens of thousands of people that could listen to this call.
So, Sasse is not speaking thinking that it would remain a secret, but it is damning, you know, calling him on coronavirus irresponsible and unreasonable, and then here's another part of the call, Sasse talking about Trump.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): The way he kisses dictator's butts. I mean, the way he ignores the Uighurs who are in literal concentration camps in Xinjiang right now. He hasn't lifted a finger on behalf of the Hong Kongers. The United States regularly sells out our allies under his leadership, the way he treats women and spends like a drunken sailor. The way -- I criticized President Obama for that kind of spending. I criticize President Trump for as well.
He mocks evangelicals behind closed doors. His family has treated the presidency like a business opportunity. He's flirted with white supremacists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, Abby, it just went on and on. Now, Sasse is a Republican, he's criticized the president in many ways other Republicans haven't, you know? But he stuck with him through impeachment. Does Sasse speaking out like this say something?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's a reflection partly of Sasse no longer having to deal with a Republican primary. That's the first thing. But I think you're going to see more Republicans perhaps behind the scenes wanting to figure out ways of distancing themselves safely from President Trump.
[19:40:03]
I don't think you're going to see them doing it quite the way that Sasse is doing here, because basically if you listened to this -- this commentary, you might as well be listening to a Joe Biden campaign ad. I mean, this is exactly the same thing that you would hear on the Democratic side. Republicans in tight races and in tough re-election battles are going to have a much more tailored or narrow path to distance themselves from Trump just enough on specific things, especially the coronavirus response.
But not so much that they kind of raise up sort of, you know, a pro Trump, you know, supporters who are so loyal to the president that they won't support someone who is viewed as an enemy of the president.
So, look, Ben Sasse is in a bit of a situation, but, yeah, with the numbers the president is showing nationally among women, among seniors, you're going to see more Republicans trying to do that really delicate dance to get away just enough so they can survive this November.
BURNETT: Right. And, of course, Ryan, you could see some right before the end if they see the polls -- really, you know, if they feel confident, they're going to try to jump ship so they can say they did it before he lost. We can all think of several names he could be on that list.
LIZZA: Yeah.
BURNETT: But Senator Sasse went on and said something really important, Ryan, which is he thinks President Trump is going to have a long lasting and negative impact on the entire Republican Party. Here's Sasse.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SASSE: In my dissents from President Trump are not only about policy, but it's also a prudential question, or political question about whether or not he's ultimately driving the country further to the left. Because that's what I think is ultimately going to happen because of Donald Trump. This has been my fear for five years. That's why I campaigned for everybody not named Trump in 2016.
Donald Trump didn't win the presidency because America actually wants more reality TV around the clock stupid political obsessions. I just don't think that's what my neighbors want. It's not what I hear when I travel the state. (END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: Ryan?
LIZZA: These were considered remarks, as you point out, Erin. These were not straight remarks.
Sasse has been a barometer about how safe it is for Republicans to criticize President Trump. Early on, he hit him hard when Trump got really popular and Sasse was worried about his re-election, he retreated.
Now the writing is on the wall, he sees the polls. Trump is likely to lose this election and he's coming out much more forcefully with his criticism, and it's a harbinger of the post-Trump debate in the Republican Party.
BURNETT: Yeah.
All right. Thank you both very much.
And coming up on CNN after the town hall, Kamala Harris will join Don Lemon on "CNN TONIGHT". And that is starting at 10:00 Eastern. Don't miss it.
Next, President Trump doubling down, refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not saying anything. I'm saying this -- I think everybody says it -- you have to have a fair election.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, older Americans, they were key to Trump's victory four years ago. But his handling of coronavirus is putting that support in jeopardy this time around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:46:06]
BURNETT: New tonight, President Trump once again refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election to Joe Biden and he's still trying to raise doubts about the results, as states across this country are already seeing historic turnout numbers.
Pamela Brown is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: They always talk about the friendly transition.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president is doubling down on his refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses to Joe Biden.
TRUMP: I'm not saying anything. I'm saying this -- I think everybody says it -- you have to have a fair election.
BROWN: With the outcome of the election possibly not known on election day, the president is trying to sow doubt in the election. Also, falsely claiming the ballots are being thrown out only because they're votes for him.
TRUMP: They don't want to send in the ballots and have the ballots thrown away into a dumpster. Who are you for? Trump. Get rid of them.
This is the craziest thing. And we're checking everyone of them. We're watching very closely, where they came from, where they went, how did they get there, right? All this stuff that's going on.
BROWN: At this point, there isn't any evidence that ballots with those for Trump are intentionally being tossed, with most states taking extra states to assure voters they are doing everything they can to protect the integrity of the election.
But a new court ruling is causing election officials in North Carolina to scramble, as early voting there is now under way. A federal judge handed Democrats a win. Upholding a policy allowing ballots that arrived through November 12th to be counted if they were mailed on or before Election Day.
The same judge also is handing Republicans a win in a ruling that makes it harder for voters to fix absentee ballots with missing signatures. Both rulings may be appealed.
With just 19 days to go, nearly 18 million Americans have already voted. This, according to data from 46 states. So far, the state with the most ballot returns, Florida, Texas, and California. Where Republicans have until the close of business today to remove up official ballot drop boxes set out in four counties.
But the state Republican Party says it will ignore a cease-and-desist order from the state attorney general to remove them.
ALEX PADILLA (D), CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE: We hope to comply with the cease-and-desist orders, but we're inviting people to submit information if they continue to see these very problematic, fake drop boxes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And now, Republican officials are also saying they're going to appeal the judge's ruling of the deadline to receive ballots. So, just to put this into perspective, we're now less than three weeks away from Election Day, and there is still outstanding litigation in key battleground states, like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, over which ballots should be counted -- Erin.
BURNETT: Well, all right. Pam, thank you very much.
And I want to go now to the Democratic attorney general of California, Xavier Becerra.
And, Attorney General, I appreciate your time. So, I'm trying to understand this. People have been asking about these ballot boxes in your state.
You sent a cease-and-desist letter about the unofficial ballot boxes, told the Republican Party the deadline to remove them and they are refusing to do so.
So, what are you going to do now?
XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, Erin, let's clarify something. There are only official ballot boxes. There are no unofficial ballot boxes. If anyone is urging you to drop your ballot off in what is not the official ballot box, and you should be concerned.
And so, the purpose of our work is to make sure that no one's vote is tampered with and no one's vote is excluded on Election Day. The only way we can guarantee that is from your hands, those ballots get to the county registrar's office so they can officially count. And we're just trying to protect everyone's vote, make sure that ballot is safe and secure, and we'll do everything we have to, to make sure no one is getting in the way of your vote counting.
[19:50:06]
BURNETT: So, let me just explain to people -- this is what the GOP says, OK?
And I want to -- and to do this, let me just -- show people these boxes, OK? Your official state drop box is on the left. You can see it.
On the right, you see one that is -- well, you don't want me to use the word unofficial, which I understand, but it actually says on their "official ballot drop-off box," which is false.
But the California GOP says that there's not a state law prohibiting this. And they say we're not trying to, you know, get people to put in ballots that then won't be counted because they're put in there. They say that it's called ballot harvesting where a third-party organization collects all the ballots out of that box, right, and basically turns them all in a clump and they say Democrats do this, too.
So, is that what this is?
BECERRA: Erin, what they say, whether it's the Republican Party or anyone else, doesn't matter. It's what the law says and how a court interprets what the law says.
The law's pretty clear. The only ballot box that is official is one that is placed by the county registrar for that county. And the county fixes the time and the place for that box. No other box is considered official for collecting ballots. There's no
other way for the county to be able to assure people that that ballot hasn't been tampered with. There has to be some form of chain of custody between the time you leave a ballot or the ballot leaves your hands.
BURNETT: Yes.
BECERRA: And the time that the county starts --
BURNETT: For sure.
BECERRA: -- getting ready to count it.
BURNETT: OK. So then what are you going to do now? They say that -- that you're wrong. They're going ahead with this. They're not removing the boxes. So what are you going to do?
BECERRA: We're going to enforce the law. We issued a cease-and-desist letter to them. We gave them until October 15th, which is today. We've been in conversations with representatives of the Republican Party. They have made indications of some of the things that they would do.
At the end of the day, we issued a letter that had some demands so that they would comply with the law and we've instructed them to do what's right, and we'll take whatever action we need to take if anyone is violating our election laws.
BURNETT: But I'm trying to understand what is that? I mean, are you literally going to go and collect the boxes and put them away? I mean, what do you do?
BECERRA: Well, it depends on what the Republican Party decides it's going to do as of the end of October 15th today.
BURNETT: So, you're giving them a few more hours?
BECERRA: I can't speculate what they'll end up doing. And so, it really depends on what they decide to do. I will say this to anyone, voter or otherwise, if you see something, please say something.
Let us know, if you say something that's going on that doesn't seem right, we want to make sure every voter's ballot is counted.
BURNETT: All right. Attorney General, I appreciate your time, as always. Thank you.
BECERRA: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, why some seniors who voted for Trump are now turning on him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's still dishonest about it. He keeps saying it's getting better and it never is, it's getting worse. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:05]
BURNETT: Tonight, the latest CNN poll showing that Biden is ahead of Trump among seniors, right now with 60 percent of the vote of seniors, according to the poll.
Now, keep in mind, Trump won that group handily in 2016. They were important to his victory. So what's happening now?
Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: Let's vote Joe! Let's vote Joe!
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These Florida seniors are fired up for Joe Biden.
(CHEERS)
ZELENY: But it's not only Democrats taking their stand. A bigger threat to President Trump's re-elections may come from voters like Tommye and Rody Johnson. They are lifelong Republicans who supported him four years ago, but won't again.
TOMMYE JOHNSON, REPUBLICAN BIDEN SUPPORTER: I feel he's responsible for thousands and thousands of deaths because of his attitude about it. He's still dishonest about it. He keeps saying it's getting better and it never is. It's getting worse.
ZELENY: Their frustration that the president turned to fury with his handling of coronavirus.
RODY JOHNSON, REPUBLICAN BIDEN SUPPORTER: Damn it, we voted for him and, of course, the virus, COVID has been terrible.
ZELENY: Three weeks ago, his son tested positive for COVID-19.
R. JOHNSON: I was mad because he had it, and it was, you know -- and I kept thinking that's Mr. Trump's fault because this thing should never have gotten as far as it had.
ZELENY: Seniors were key to Trump's victory in 2016. Yet falloffs from this critical voting bloc have the president sounding the alarm this week at a rally here.
TRUMP: Biden's agenda would be a catastrophe for Florida seniors.
ZELENY: During his own Florida visit, Biden turned the subject back to coronavirus.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: 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: Tobi Schelin is a nurse who is going door to door for Biden where she hears the stories.
TOBI SCHELIN, BIDEN SUPPORTER, VOLUNTEER: They can't hug their grandkids. So it's been huge. That's been a huge factor.
ZELENY: The pandemic and the fear of a close election drives these senior volunteers.
MARY MCBEE, BIDEN SUPPORTER, VOLUNTEER: My precinct went to Trump by four votes. Four, only four votes, that's maybe two houses, three houses. I don't want to wake up this year the day after election and say, what more could I have done?
ZELENY: Signs of an exceedingly tight race are plentiful here, with passionate support for Trump on display from flags to front yards.
ANN ALEKSINAS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: There's more people out supporting him now because he's had so many people going against him, and I don't feel he's been treated fairly by the Democrats at all.
ZELENY: The question is just how many Trump voters have soured on the president. The Johnsons live in a county that's still deep red, but they're no longer shy about showing their affirmative support for Biden.
R. JOHNSON: Mr. Biden is a nice man, and there was a time I didn't like him at all. I love him.
ZELENY: But it's Trump that's driving them in this race.
T. JOHNSON: He is so dishonest, and the worst is that whenever he is caught in a lie, he blames it on somebody else. It's always somebody else. He's -- he's impossible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Jeff, you know, pretty incredible just to hear all the -- and to see those signs.
Now, obviously, President Trump is in Florida tonight. He knows this vote is crucial, right? He's honed in on suburban women. He is honing in on seniors.
ZELENY: Erin, there's no question. These are the most 29 critical electoral votes that he needs for his path to re-election. But as you said, he's doing a town hall tonight in Miami. Another rally tomorrow in Ocala.
So, at the end of the week, he has spent three days of the last five here in Florida. But the reason is this, he knows that he needs to sort of distract and change the subject from coronavirus.
But, Erin, the voters we talk to here this week say every time they see him at a rally that they, you know, are reminded of this. The key here is, are the voters who may not have turned out in 2016. That's where all the senior volunteers were out door-knocking trying to get those voters engaged.
No question the president has so many strong supporters here still. It is the question, though, not winning the senior vote, but a narrower senior vote could be a Joe Biden win -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Jeff Zeleny.
And thanks to all of you.
Anderson starts now.
