Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
U.S. Supreme Court Allows PA to Count Late-Arriving Ballots; Trump & Biden to Have Mics Muted During Parts of Final Debate; Coronavirus Cases Soar Across U.S. as Trump Attacks Fauci. Aired 6- 6:30a ET
Aired October 20, 2020 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're learning from the Supreme Court ruling that mail-in ballots can be accepted in the crucial battleground state in Pennsylvania up to three days after the election.
[05:59:35]
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is not something the Trump campaign or Republicans wanted to see.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone is going to need to be really patient on election night.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via phone): People are tired of COVID. People are saying just leave us alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Experts say the fall surge of coronavirus has arrived, and the numbers bear that out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hospitals are filling up. The number of dead is increasing. This is a very, very dangerous time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, October 20, 6 a.m. here in New York.
We begin with two major breaking stories on the election. First, the U.S. Supreme Court rejecting a Republican attempt to block mail-in ballots received after election day in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The high court was deadlocked, so Pennsylvania's Supreme Court ruling stands. It allows mail-in ballots to be counted, even if they are received within three days of election day, even if they do not have a legible postmark.
The 4-4 decision underscores the decisive role that Judge Amy Coney Barrett could play in election disputes if Republicans succeed in confirming her next week. Also developing this morning, the Commission on Presidential Debates
announcing that they will mute the candidates' microphones during parts of the Thursday's -- of Thursday's final presidential debate to limit interruptions. President Trump's campaign does not like this, but they say that he will still debate Joe Biden.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So all of this is happening in the shadow of a pandemic that could be hitting its darkest moments. More than 58,000 new coronavirus cases were reported overnight. That is a very high number Monday, when counts tend to be lower.
Thirty-one states are seeing a rise in cases. All the states there in red or orange are seeing a rise. The beige states are static. Static at a dangerous level. Just look at that map. Fourteen states had seen record numbers of hospitalizations in the last week.
More than 220,000 Americans have now lost their lives. This very well might be it. The exact moment that public health officials have warned about, the big cold weather wave.
And it's at this exact moment where the president is denying the numbers, ignoring the trends, and instead attacking the doctors. A full day of attacks and insults on Dr. Anthony Fauci, probably the most respected authority on infectious diseases in the country.
So the less significant question is, why is the president doing this? The more important question is, how does this help save lives? Public health expert William Haseltine equates it to attacking the fire department when the house is burning down.
We have a ton of news this morning. We're going to start with the Supreme Court, a big election decision.
CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us. The net effect here, the biggest of big pictures, Kristen, is this means that more ballots will be accepted by mail in Pennsylvania for longer.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Alisyn.
That's absolutely right. I don't think we can stress enough just how big of a deal this is on so many levels.
And let's start with what's in front of us. This could potentially affect thousands of votes in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, a state Donald Trump won in 2016, a state he needs to win in 2020, and a state that both campaigns are laser-focused on.
And Alisyn broke it down a little bit here. It essentially says that ballots can be counted up to three days after the election -- This is absentee ballots -- as long as they are postmarked on or before the election or if that postmark isn't legible. We've all been there. Get a letter in the mail, you can't really see what it says. Those ballots still have to be counted.
This is a big win for Democrats. Republicans wanted absentee ballots to stop being counted after election day. Here's the secretary of state in Pennsylvania talking about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH SHAPIRO, PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Pennsylvania voters deserve clarity and confidence in an election that's already under way here in Pennsylvania. And this ruling tonight by the Supreme Court of the United States gives them both. And it shuts down yet another attack by Donald Trump and his enablers on the laws of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK, so now let's talk about why this is important on other levels. And Alisyn, you touched on this, as well.
We say a win for Democrats, but win is a little bit deceiving. This was a deadlock, and we'll show you the breakdown. Here you have liberals on one side with Chief Justice Roberts. And then you have conservatives, including two of Donald Trump's confirmed judges -- excuse me, justices, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch -- on the other side.
This shows you just how critical that ninth seat is. Had Amy Coney Barrett already been confirmed, we would likely be talking about a very different outcome here.
So, this is going to affect other litigations that's coming before the court if she is confirmed. It's also going to affect all litigation. Gives you an idea of what it's going to look like with the Supreme Court.
BERMAN: Yes. There are long-term implications, to be sure.
Short-term in Pennsylvania, more Democrats are voting by mail. This will allow more ballots by mail. No question about that. That's why, in the short-term, it is a win for the Democrats.
Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.
Developing overnight, the Commission of Presidential Debates says it will mute microphones during parts of the final presidential debate to limit the interruptions.
Obviously, everyone remembers that President Trump interrupted Joe Biden all over the place in the first debate.
[06:05:04]
CNN's Boris Sanchez live at the White House with the latest.
Boris, this has to do with the first answers that the candidates give in each section of the debate. It's not like they'll be muting willy- nilly during the hour and a half.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, John. It has to do with the first two minutes of a response from each candidate. Then they get about 15 minutes of open discussion. Of course, this is going to be the last chance for these two
candidates to go head to head with such a huge audience, only two weeks out from election day.
The Commission on Presidential Debates says that this tweak is really just a mechanism to allow the moderator to enforce the rules that these two candidates have already agreed to. Despite that, the Trump campaign is crying foul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): After the first presidential debate quickly devolved into chaos.
TRUMP: Are you going to pack the court?
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Make sure you, in fact, let people know.
TRUMP: He doesn't want to answer the question.
BIDEN: Your senators. I'm not going to answer the question, because --
TRUMP: Why wouldn't you answer that question?
BIDEN: -- because the question is --
TRUMP: You want a lot of new Supreme Court justices.
BIDEN: The question is --
TRUMP: The radical left --
BIDEN: Will you shut up, man?
TRUMP: Listen.
SANCHEZ: The Commission on Presidential Debates announcing new rules to help prevent the candidates from interrupting one another during Thursday's event. Now, former Vice President Joe Biden and President Trump will have their microphones muted for portions of the debate.
The commission says each candidate will have two minutes of uninterrupted time at the start of each 15-minute segment. During follow-up discussions, both microphones will be unmuted.
In the final stretch to election day, Biden's off the campaign trail to prepare for the final presidential debate. Meantime, Trump traveling across Arizona, holding two rallies without social distancing and few masks.
The president attacking the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, as coronavirus cases soar across most of the United States.
TRUMP: I don't want to hurt him. He's been there for about 350 years. SANCHEZ: Trump's latest tirade against Fauci appeared to start during
a phone call with campaign staffers Monday.
TRUMP (via phone): People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots. Every time he goes on television, there's always a bomb. But there's a bigger bomb if you fire him. But Fauci is a disaster.
SANCHEZ: This coming just one day after Fauci said he was not surprised the president was diagnosed with COVID-19.
DR. JONATHAN LAPOOK, CBS CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Were you surprised that President Trump got sick?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Absolutely not. I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded, no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask.
SANCHEZ: During his rally, Trump also slammed Biden for trusting health experts like Fauci during a pandemic.
TRUMP (on camera): Biden wants to lock it down. He wants to listen to Dr. Fauci. And Dr. Fauci said, Don't put on masks. Don't put -- You see the thing. And now he says put on masks. And they say, You know, he's a wonderful guy. And he is a wonderful guy, I like him. He just happens to have a very bad arm.
SANCHEZ: Biden responding to Trump's attacks with a one-word tweet, quote, "Yes."
The Democratic nominee later releasing a statement writing, "The American people are tired. They're tired of your lies about this virus. They're tired of watching more Americans die and more people lose their jobs because you refuse to take this pandemic seriously."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Now, the president is facing criticism for his statements about Dr. Anthony Fauci even from within his own party. Retiring Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee putting out a statement saying that Fauci is, quote, "one of our country's most distinguished public servants."
And these attacks on Fauci, Alisyn, they are just confounding, because not only is the president going after a very popular figure, but he's also, by doing so, acknowledging that he does not listen to the scientists and his own experts, while then attacking his opponent for supposedly being willing to do so. It's a Biden campaign ad that writes itself.
CAMEROTA: Boris, we're going to talk about the why behind all of those things. Thank you very much for setting it up for us.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic is getting worse by the day here. Thirty-one states are seeing an increase in new cases over last week, as you can see on your screen.
Fourteen states have hit record hospitalizations in the past week. And that includes Kansas, where CNN has just learned that all 62 residents of one nursing home had been infected. Ten have died. Utah also being hit hard.
CNN's Martin Savidge joins us from Salt Lake City. What's the situation on the ground there, Martin?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.
Well, Utah continues to see new coronavirus cases at unprecedented levels in hospitals like the one we're at here and across this state are struggling to keep up and keep people alive.
And Utah is not alone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[06:10:00]
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Coronavirus cases spiking across the country. More than 58,000 new coronavirus cases reported on Monday. Thirty-one states seeing a rise in new cases over the past week.
MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH & POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: In many of our locations, up to half of these people have no in many of our locations, up to half of these people have no known source of exposure. That's how much virus is floating around in our communities right now.
SAVIDGE: The Midwest still struggling with the surge. Wisconsin reporting around 8,000 cases over the last three days.
Fourteen states have seen peak hospitalizations over the last week. Several of those states in the Midwest.
And in the northeast, New Jersey's governor encouraging residents not to travel after recent increases.
GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): New Jersey's come a long way, but our numbers are up. This is not just a northeast state thing, and it's not just a blue state thing. It's an American challenge at the moment, and it's real.
SAVIDGE: In Utah, the average daily case count has more than doubled since the summer months. The state reported nearly 1,200 new cases on Monday, with a test positivity rate at more than 15 percent.
Dr. Emily Spivak is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Utah Health. She attributes the state's surge to a lack of leadership and complacency of residents.
DR. EMILY SPIVAK, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH: I don't know what the end is. I mean, hopefully, it's when a vaccine, you know, in mid- to late 2021. But it's hard to be optimistic about people even taking a vaccine when they won't wear a mask. I mean, there's so much that could be done by our leaders, and they're just not doing it.
SAVIDGE: Hospitalization rates are also a big concern in Utah. The state has seen record highs over the past few days, and that is taking a toll on many in the state, including Laurie Terry's family.
Terry's a 47-year-old mother and recently suffered a heart attack at home. With crucial minutes ticking by, doctors and nurses tried to transfer her to a different hospital with the right equipment. But could not find one with space.
(on camera): So, to people who say, Look, this whole COVID thing say hoax or it's not that serious, it's life and death for your sister.
STEPHANIE DEER, LAURIE TERRY'S SISTER: My sister could lose her life right now today, because she was unable to access medical care in a timely manner.
SAVIDGE: She was eventually transferred to another hospital. Her sister is urging Americans to continue to take precautions seriously.
DEER: No sporting event or family party or dance party is worth losing somebody you love.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: This past week has taught medical officials here that they soon will have to make those painful discussions that they have had to make in other states. In other words, that Utah doctors will have to start to decide who has access to life-saving medical care. Who may have to wait and who may not get it at all -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: We remember those life-and-death decisions being made by doctors this spring. Martin, thank you very much.
As coronavirus rages across much of the country, why is President Trump attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci? Hear Dr. Fauci's response to the attacks next. and what the strategy is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:17:16]
BERMAN: All right. Breaking news. The U.S. Supreme Court opening the door to more mail-in ballots to be counted for longer in Pennsylvania. This is something that Democrats wanted badly in this key swing state.
Joining us now, CNN political analysts Toluse Olorunnipa and Seung Min Kim. They're both White House reporters for "The Washington Post."
Seung Min, I want to start with you. We're going to talk a little bit later about the larger Supreme Court implications and larger national implications for what this decision means.
But in the short-term, Democrats wanted this in Pennsylvania, because more Democrats are voting by mail. This allows more votes to be counted for up to three days after election day. How do you think this helps them in this key swing state and how are they feeling this morning?
SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, certainly, this helps the Democratic Party right now, because we know that generally, the trends have been that people who have engaged in mail-in voting, early voting have tended to be Democratic, while Republicans have been relying on people showing up to the polls, actually, on election day for a bulk of their votes.
So if you look at that, then surely, this helps -- this helps Democrats for the time being in Pennsylvania.
And we see how crucial the state is for both candidates this cycle. We have President Trump going to Pennsylvania later today. You have President Obama campaigning on behalf of his vice president, Joe Biden, in Philadelphia tomorrow.
And this is a state that -- that clearly Democrats are going on the offensive. You know, President Trump can still win re-election without Pennsylvania, but he certainly needs it, considering he's playing defense in so many other states this cycle.
CAMEROTA: Toluse, let's talk about the debate this week. It looks like it is going to happen at the moment, though anything, of course, can happen over the next 48 hours.
But the debate -- the presidential debate commission has decided to enforce a rule whereby they will mute the microphones of either candidate during the first two minutes of an answer of the opposing candidate so that candidate can get their words out without interruption.
President Trump's campaign doesn't like this rule. And I'm just curious, like, what's their stated reason for not wanting interruptions? I mean, or for being against the blocking of interruptions? I don't understand why they're claiming that's biased.
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, if you saw what happened during the first debate, President Trump has a strategy of trying to knock Joe Biden off of his game by interrupting him and not letting him get through his two-minute answer.
So the Trump campaign believes that, by muting the mic, that the debate commission is essentially putting its thumb on the scale. They've been complaining about this commission for weeks now. They've been really whining, in some ways, about being treated unfairly by the debate commission, about the moderators, the rules, about the debate commission deciding to go virtual on the second debate.
[06:20:07]
So this is sort of more of the same with the Trump campaign. They do want to sort of work the refs ahead head of the game. But they did agree to this debate. They agreed to these rules. And
even though, originally, they said it would be unacceptable for the president's mic to be cut because, you know, he is the president of the United States, they said that they would be at the debate. They are accepting these rule changes. They're not going to back out of of the debate, like they did last time.
In part, because they know that they need to change the dynamics of the race. They do know that the president is behind, and by pulling out of another debate, he would be ceding one of the one opportunities that he has to try to change the dynamics of the race.
So, as much as they complain, they will be at the debate, and they will play by these rules, and they will not allow Trump to interrupt Biden, at least during the first two minutes of the debate answer. I do expect that during the open exchange, there will be a lot of interruption. The president will try to go in a very aggressive way towards, you know, challenging Joe Biden after those two minutes are up.
BERMAN: So these are both interesting stories, the Supreme Court and also, obviously, what happens in the debate. I continue to think that there is nothing that will have a bigger impact on the election than the pandemic, which why what the president has been doing over the last 24 hours, to me, is probably the most significant thing for election day, which is he's attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci. Probably the most respected infectious disease doctor in the country.
He is insulting Fauci, really every chance he gets. He did it on a campaign conference call. He's also doing it at debate rallies, as well.
Now, overnight, we have Dr. Fauci's first response. If we can put this up on the screen so I can read it off the screen here. This is the first direct response to this new round of attacks. Fauci quotes "The Godfather." He says, "It's like in 'The Godfather,' nothing personal, strictly business as far as I'm concerned. I just want to do my job and take care of the people of this country. That's all I want to do."
Now this is what Dr. Fauci said in a radio interview. I will note that this is what's said in "The Godfather" before someone gets whacked. So Dr. Fauci is, like, being ice-cold here quoting "The Godfather." It's strictly business, nothing personal. I'm going to tell you how bad this pandemic is.
Seung Min, the real question, at least as the president's concerned, why is he doing this? What does he get out of this? How can you explain why he thinks this helps him?
KIM: The president has constantly chafed at just the -- frankly, the reality of the pandemic. You've seen how he had constantly projected these much rosier projections throughout the pandemic, saying that we could reopened by Easter, really painting the situation as much better than it really is, and kind of refusing to accept the reality that we are still deep into this pandemic. And he has really rebuffed efforts from people around him who have
told him, you know, this is the situation of the pandemic. We need to encourage mask wearing and social distancing.
And Dr. Fauci has really been one of those truth tellers, and that's why he has -- the president has simply lashed out at the doctor for telling -- kind of telling it like it is.
But it's worth pointing out that the Trump campaign and the president have -- when it benefited them, really relied on Fauci's word, sometimes against his own -- against Dr. Fauci's own wishes.
Remember that Trump campaign commercial from a couple weeks ago where it used Dr. Fauci's words to validate the president's handling of the crisis. And Dr. Fauci said, No, I do not want to be used in a political commercial like this. I am a nonpartisan public health official. But the president and his campaign said, you know, You said this, we're going to use it.
CAMEROTA: Out of context, granted, but yes, they did use it. You're so right.
Seung Min, Toluse, thank you.
BERMAN: In the meantime, the Trump campaign better look at for Luca Brasi.
All right. Joe Biden and Donald Trump, they face off in one last presidential debate. The final one. CNN's special live coverage begins Thursday at 7 p.m. Eastern.
So this morning, the coronavirus trends across the country are deeply troubling. Our next guest says now is the time to develop a plan for how you're going to get through the pandemic this fall and winter. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:28:25]
CAMEROTA: This morning, we're seeing signs that the country has entered the next wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Thirty-one states seeing new cases increase; 14 states hitting record hospitalizations in the last week. Our next guest says it's time to start planning today for how we will all handle the next view months.
Dr. Peter Hotez joins us now. He's the dean of The National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College in Houston.
Dr. Hotez, it's great to have you here. You had this warning via Twitter that it is time to come up with a plan and install our social distancing teams. I'm just hoping that this morning you can tell us exactly what that looks like. What should we be doing today?
DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Yes, Alisyn. There are two parts to this. First of all, it was before I delivered difficult news, I always like to preface it with -- with a long-term vision of hope and not to -- and to tell -- remind people not to despair.
By this time next year and probably earlier by the summer, we're going to be in a much better position. Vaccines should become widely available. We're going to feel a lot better about going out and about in public and going to work and socializing.
So the key is now hanging on now for the next four months, four or five months, where we're going to enter what may be the worst period during this epidemic. As bad as it's been it's about to get worse.
And that's based on projections about a fall/winter surge as people are indoors more. Institute for Health Metrics in Philadelphia projections showing a steep rise in the number of new cases and deaths, unfortunately. So we're at about 70,000 new cases a day.
