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New Day

Biden's Record-Breaking Fundraising; Jobless Claims for Last Week; Holiday Gathering Amid COVID. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 15, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is unimaginable to me that you have an incumbent Republican president who had such a deficit in terms of resources, because we've seen Donald Trump reducing his buy in key strategic places clearly because he doesn't have the money to compete with Joe Biden in all of these places. That is something that is really new and it speaks to how digital fundraising and small dollar fundraising online has revolutionized politics in this country and it has shifted the edge on money from Republicans, who have traditionally held it, to Democrats.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's a mystery. In some ways it's inexplicable. And I don't think we fully know the answers yet as to how the Trump campaign can have what appears to be money problems. Now, they haven't reported their September fundraising yet. We don't know their cash on hand. But as you say, they've stopped spending in states. And I don't have the list in front of me, unfortunately right now --

AXELROD: Yes.

BERMAN: But some of their spending decisions are odd, are very odd for a campaign three weeks out.

AXELROD: Yes, no, they've pulled out -- they pulled their -- they pulled down parts of their buy in places like Michigan and Wisconsin in recent weeks. They pulled out of Ohio, where they're in an even race and they have to have it. No Republican has ever won without winning the state of Ohio. So they clearly, clearly have money problems.

They made a big bet -- you know, they spent a billion dollars up front and they made a big bet that, a, this could create a digital fundraising base that would be renewable at this point in the campaign. And that clearly hasn't worked out to their advantage.

They also have made a bet that all the organizing they've been doing online and identification of swing voters who might come their way or base voters who haven't voted the last time, that's going to pay off on -- on November 3rd. We'll see about that. There's no evidence that that is really yielding much right now. But that is their bet and we will see. But it's putting them at a huge disadvantage on television right now. ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Speaking of television right now, tonight

there was supposed to be the second presidential debate.

AXELROD: Yes.

BERMAN: I don't have dueling banjos cued up here.

CAMEROTA: What did you do? How --

BERMAN: I didn't know you were going with it. I didn't know you were going with it. OK.

CAMEROTA: But instead there will be dueling town halls.

Is Joe Biden relieved about that? Is he happy about that? Or did he somehow get outfoxed by the Trump campaign?

AXELROD: Well, we'll see how the town halls go. You know, the president's -- his debate appearance, his last town hall appearance on ABC did not go particularly well for him. I mean one of the odd things about this campaign is that more exposure for the president hasn't necessarily helped him. So, yes, the president will have a big forum, but I'm not sure -- you know it depends on how he performs. And if he performs differently than we've seen in the past, perhaps it will help him. If he performs in the way he did in that debate, which was disastrous for him, it won't help him.

As for Biden, you know, he is in control of this race right now. He's ten points ahead. Time is a wasting for Trump. And so, you know, I think his needs are not as great as Trump's right now. He doesn't need to turn this race, he just needs to hold what he has.

And so, you know, I don't think there's as much pressure on him. But, clearly, what Trump did is, you know, and he will say -- and we know what he'll say, my ratings were better than his ratings. And that -- that may be satisfying to the president, but it may not relate to what happens on November 3rd.

BERMAN: David Axelrod, it's great to have you on. Thank you for your loyal viewership. Appreciate it.

AXELROD: OK. Yes, I'm with you, brother. See ya.

BERMAN: All right, we do have breaking news.

Thirty weeks into the pandemic, historically high layoffs continue. The stock market this morning is rattled by the lack of stimulus and other things it's seeing.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans -- we have breaking jobless numbers, Romans. What are they?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're numbers you're not going to like, John. And 898,000 first time unemployment claims in the week. That's 898,000. Again going in the wrong direction. We wanted to see these start to stabilize, but over and over again you've seen this number hanging in stubbornly 800,000 and now really high in the 800,000 range.

When you add in the other pandemic programs that people can apply for, for the first time for like gig workers and the self-employed, there were 372,000 first-time unemployment claims. So more than a million people facing a layoff in the most recent week that we record this and filing with their states for unemployment benefits.

Continuing claims give us a -- gives us a longer term picture of how many people are out there continuing to get a check week after week. That fell slightly to just over 10 million. In normal times, that would be an unheard of number, but we've seen this one beginning to trend lower.

Overall, in all kinds of programs, 25 million Americans, 25 million people who were formerly employed are now receiving some sort of jobless check.

[08:35:07]

So what I'm seeing here is a stagnating job market recovery. We saw some hiring in the summer, as you know, and now we're seeing those layoffs continue and the hiring start to fizzle here.

There's no stimulus for a shock absorber. That's a big problem here. And if you look at the stock market this morning, those rising case counts around the world are a really big problem.

John, you cannot have rising case counts and a recovering, normal economy. Those are mutually exclusive. So Wall Street waking up to that.

BERMAN: Wall Street, they can read the numbers. The numbers are crystal clear this morning about where this pandemic is heading.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: Christine Romans, thank you very much.

So the pandemic has had such an impact on so many families. We speak to a man who lost eight family members to coronavirus, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: More than 216,000 Americans have died from coronavirus, but one Arizona family has faced a staggering level of loss.

[08:40:01]

They lost eight family members and their livelihood.

CNN's Miguel Marquez joins us now with their story.

Miguel, oh, my goodness.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was really a tough one to get through. Look, we hear the numbers, we see the numbers, over a million dead worldwide, nearly 217,000 dead in this country alone. We often don't see it. It's behind closed doors. These deaths happen in hospitals. Here's what devastation looks like from the inside now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICARDO AGUIRRE, LOST FAMILY MEMBERS AND BUSINESS TO CORONAVIRUS: I don't want to cry just because I'm -- I know God has something better for me.

MARQUEZ (voice over): Ricardo Aguirre.

AGUIRRE: But it's hard not to. To just know the --

MARQUEZ: The coronavirus killed his father and seven other family members, he says. It took his business, it sickened him, his wife, who was then four months pregnant, and two of his kids.

AGUIRRE: I feel very incompetent. I'm mad not -- not -- mad at not being able to go back to where it was. I lost my dad. It's very hard. It's hard.

MARQUEZ: He doesn't know how they contracted the virus. They wore masks and used sanitizer constantly. It swept through his family in May. His father fought the virus for months.

AGUIRRE: My dad, unfortunately, you know, he passed away on September 11th in my arms at 3:30 in the morning. It was very hard because we -- we did everything together. Forty-two years being by his side.

MARQUEZ: His mother is home and still fighting the effects of the virus. Now he spends his days shuttling her to hospital visits, helping his wife, now eight months pregnant, dealing with an ever increasing pile of bills, all this with little income and no health insurance.

MARQUEZ (on camera): You don't have medical coverage?

AGUIRRE: I don't have medical coverage at all. It's just too much. It's -- it's --

MARQUEZ: Even Obamacare? Even --

AGUIRRE: No.

MARQUEZ: You just can't afford anything?

AGUIRRE: I can't afford it. It's just too much. It's literally another house payment.

MARQUEZ (voice over): Aguirre and his families built Tacos (INAUDIBLE) Puebla. He had a food truck, a prep kitchen in downtown Phoenix and a long list of corporate and wedding clients.

AGUIRRE: This is what's left of ten years of hard work.

MARQUEZ (on camera): You were living the American dream? AGUIRRE: Yes, I was.

Come visit us. As you can see, we are busy.

MARQUEZ (voice over): When COVID-19 cases in Arizona jumped and the economy shut down, Aguirre watched all his catering jobs scheduled for the next year evaporate. His food truck was repossessed. He couldn't pay rent on his prep kitchen.

MARQUEZ (on camera): When did it all come to a halt?

AGUIRRE: March 17th.

MARQUEZ: COVID?

AGUIRRE: Yes.

MARQUEZ: Overnight?

AGUIRRE: Yes, just like that.

MARQUEZ (voice over): Aguirre would like the president to understand just how devastating the disease is for some.

MARQUEZ (on camera): When he says, "don't be afraid of COVID. Don't let it dominate your life," what do you say to him?

AGUIRRE: May God continue to bless you and your family.

MARQUEZ: But how does the real world deal with COVID?

AGUIRRE: It's bad. It's bad.

MARQUEZ (voice over): Aguirre is now looking forward to the big day in November, November 7th, the day his first daughter is due to be born.

AGUIRRE: We felt that we were ready financially and we were ready, you know, emotionally, you know, to take care of another human being. Now with this going on, I just ask God for strength to get me by another day.

MARQUEZ: The real toll of the coronavirus on one American family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, the graciousness and the humility of this guy was just -- it overwhelmed us certainly during the interview.

Two other notes, since we did that interview about a week ago, one of his vans, one of his cars, his van has been repossessed and his daughter's name, Guadalupe Jesus (ph), named after the Virgin Mary and Jesus, his faith, unshaken.

John.

BERMAN: Miguel, what a moving story and what strength he shows. What strength he continues to show after so much loss. It's hard, but in some way inspiring as well.

Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for that report.

MARQUEZ: You got it.

BERMAN: And there is so much loss. We want to remember some of the nearly 217,000 Americans who have died in this pandemic.

Sixty-seven-year-old Wade Danner (ph) led the Pentecostal House of Praise in Hickory, North Carolina.

[08:45:03]

It was a church founded by his great-grandfather in the 1940s. Wade's family says he touched thousands of souls in his decades as a pastor.

Lori Rich (ph) was a beloved pre-k teacher for 23 years in Hamilton, Ohio. Friends describe her as extraordinarily selfless and caring, not only to her students, but also to the many cats and dogs she rescued, raised and gave away. She was just 57 years old.

Bob McDonald (ph) was a legend in Minnesota, the winningest high school basketball coach in state history. He coached nearly all of his 59-year career at Chisolm (ph) High and was the first Minnesota coach to amass 1,000 victories. All six of his children followed their father into coaching. He was 87.

May their memories be a blessing.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:10]

CAMEROTA: Here's to your health. Dr. Anthony Fauci is warning that families may need to make tough choices this holiday season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NIAID: It is unfortunate because that's such a sacred part of American tradition, the family gathering around Thanksgiving. But that is a risk.

You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering unless you're pretty certain that the people that you're dealing with are not infected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to answer some of our questions.

Sanjay, listen, I mean, that's a bitter pill, right? It's a very bitter pill for families to swallow. I know that Dr. Fauci admitted that his three adult children are not going to come home. Their family has made that decision in order to keep him safe.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

CAMEROTA: We're all just trying to get our heads around what Thanksgiving is going to look like. And I think that you were pointing out -- and I think even Dr. Fauci was pointing out, it's not necessarily one size fits all. There are geographical differences in the country. I mean the CDC -- the CDC guidance right now, and maybe I can pull it up, you know, they are a little bit different than just cancel it right now. What they say is, keep a list of guests who attend for potential contact tracing. That's not -- that's ominous, right? That's not -- that's if you get sick.

But before that they say, host outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. That will be hard in much of the country for Thanksgiving. Keep different households socially distanced, OK, if you can. Avoid buffet style. Have one person serve and wear a mask. Your thoughts on what this is all going to look like?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, I sort of shared the same sentiment that I think you have. That list sounds, you know, favorable, but not realistic. I mean, first of all, if you're having a gathering large enough that you start -- need to start keeping a guest list of people, that -- I think that sends the wrong message, you know, compared to what Dr. Fauci is saying and what we're dealing with in the country right now. Maybe that's sort of a list that you could have said, you know, when we had very low viral spread to try and really have good contact tracing. Keep households separate, so that's suggesting that more than one household, more than one family would show up at a Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, you know, I just don't think that we're in that position right now.

Here is the interesting thing, I think, and it's worth -- it's worth sort of really thinking about this, is that if you are someone who has this disease and you're living in your household, the question often comes up, what's the likelihood I'm going to spread it to my family members. And I think for a long time it was thought that's inevitable, everyone in the house will get it. Kind of like, you know, when your kid comes home with a cold.

What we're finding is that, you know, it's about 60 percent of the time at least other family members don't get it. So fewer people within the household, you know, trying to isolate, you know, it makes a difference. As you start to increase the density indoors, even if it's extended family coming in, whatever it may be, you greatly increase the risk all of a sudden of having, you know, a significant spreading event or more than one person actually getting it as a result of that spread.

So it's just -- it's challenging this year. And, you know, you -- people drink wine. They're not maintaining physical distance. You've got people who are elderly who may be more vulnerable. It's tough this year. It's not forever, but I think this year it's just going to be tough to do it safely. So many hoops you'd have to jump through in order to make it work. I think it's just going to be challenging. BERMAN: There are no quiet talkers at Thanksgiving either. Let's just

-- let's just be honest about that. Everyone's shouting at everyone, spraying God knows what from their mouths.

So, Sanjay, one of the questions that you hear a lot, in -- I -- we shouldn't pretend that people don't ask this question, which is, well, what if I just got it, wouldn't I be better off if I just got it and got better and I would be immune? It's sort of this message that the president is now sending as public policy.

Dr. Fauci, before I get your take on it, I want to make clear, Dr. Fauci, moments ago on television, gave an answer to this question, this idea of herd immunity, and that we should all just get infected except for the vulnerable populations.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NIAID: There will be so many people in the community that you can't shelter, that you can't protect who are going to get sick and get serious consequences.

You'll wind up with many more infections of vulnerable people, which will lead to hospitalizations and deaths. So I think that we just got to look that square in the eye and say it's nonsense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So he's saying, Scott Atlas, what Scott Atlas is saying is nonsense. He's saying now what the White House is talking about explicitly in terms of herd immunity in this great Barrington (ph) document is nonsense. Pretty strong stuff there, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Yes, it is. And, you know, I mean, it's, again, one of these bright lines that have been really drawn, you know, with regard to this issue. You have the vast majority of the public health community sitting on one side and a couple of dozen people who are sort of advocating for this herd immunity on the other side.

[08:55:07]

So the weight of the evidence clearly is that herd immunity is a bad idea.

And let me show you some of the numbers and I'll talk you through this really quickly. But, you know, just for sake of argument, we don't know exactly how many people have been infected in this country because we still don't have adequate testing. But the estimates are that it's about 10 percent of the country roughly has antibodies, so at some point or another has been infected and may have some immunity to it. We don't know how long that immunity lasts, first of all.

But if 216,000 people have died with 10 percent of the country being infected, you can do the math. You're going well over a million, a million and a half people who would sadly die to get to 60 percent to 70 percent herd immunity.

Now, the other part of it is that we already know hospitals around the country are starting to fill up. That was, I think, Dr. Fauci's point. So besides the toll of the virus itself, people may not be able to get into hospitals as you have those sudden surge in infections.

CAMEROTA: Yes, we are seeing that in Wisconsin and beyond.

Sanjay, thank you very much for all of the information this morning.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: And CNN's coverage continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:00]