Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Coronavirus Cases Soar across U.S.; Supreme Court Allows Late- Arriving Ballots; New Polls on Presidential Race; U.S. Charges 6 Russians for Cyberattacks. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 20, 2020 - 06:30   ET

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


[06:30:00]

PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Showing a steep rise in the number of new cases and deaths, unfortunately. So we're at about 70,000 new cases a day, probably by next week or the week after, and they'll continue to go up. And -- and some of the health metrics -- projections of deaths are just awful. We could be looking at a doubling of the number of deaths by the week before the inauguration.

So this is tough stuff. And so what I've been trying to explain to people is -- is it will get better, but we're going to go through a terrible period and get ready. And getting ready means identifying the family members or loved ones or friends that you want to social distance with over -- over the next four or five months, create a unit that -- where you're not seeing a lot of outside people coming in. And it's better to do that than be alone during this period because there's going to be a huge impact on mental health. You're going to get sad. You're going to get scared. You're going to get depressed. This is a normal response to a very stressful situation. Have access to mental counsel virtually. Have numbers to call, friends to call. Put all those belts and suspenders in place as we go through this very difficult period.

And remember also, you know, it the election goes against the president, as most people predict, we don't really know what the White House is going to be doing in terms of providing guidance or any kind of leadership in terms of controlling the pandemic. They haven't really been very involved in creating a national response to begin with. I can only imagine what it's like during that lame duck session.

So people are going to feel abandoned. They're going to feel on their own. This is going to be one of the darkest chapters in modern American history. And -- and get ready for it, but just remember it -- it will get better.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: That's pretty bleak. I mean I understand what you're saying is it will get better ultimately, but the next three months will be very, very hard, so figure out who you want to spend those three months with and buy a lot of flour.

Dr. Hotez, you talk about the fact that there hasn't been any long term strategy or short term strategy from the White House. The one thing we have had from the president in the last 24 hours is district, personal attacks and insults on Anthony Fauci. Again, probably the most respected infectious disease doctor in the country. A man you've known for decades.

What do you think the impact of that is on the battle against this pandemic and on hopes for science?

HOTEZ: You know, the way I look at that is the president and the White House are becoming increasingly unfiltered and open in their contempt of science, in their -- in their contempt of what's needed to actually bring this epidemic under control. And total lack of understanding of what the importance of our research universities and institutions, like the NIH, like Dr. Fauci's institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been to this country over the last few decades. I mean, look, let's face it, the -- the reason science and our research universities and institutions -- the institutes have propelled us to victory in -- in World War II because of radar and the Manhattan Project and led us to -- led us to victory over the Soviets in the space race and helped us to lead -- lead the fight to conquer HIV/AIDS. I mean this is the reason why America is -- is loved and revered is because of science.

And the fact that he has no understanding of that is -- is very troubling. And the fact that we could have avoid 220,000 American deaths had he listened to the scientists. Look, he had access to the world's greatest scientists at our research institutes and universities all over the nation, and he -- and he chose go in a different direction and bring on a team that made up a lot of fake science, you know, fake concepts of herd immunity, you know, trying to discredit masks. Why he did that, we'll never understand. But it -- it resulted in this public health catastrophe. And now that catastrophe is morphing into a homeland security crisis as people feel threatened and -- and -- and -- and worried and scared for their lives and for their loved ones.

BERMAN: Dr. Hotez, thank you. We appreciate it, as always, the brutal honesty. Thank you.

HOTEZ: Thank you.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, the U.S. Supreme Court delivering a big win for Democrats in Pennsylvania. What's the impact on this election? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:56]

CAMEROTA: OK, breaking overnight, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Pennsylvania can count mail-in ballots for up to three days after the election. Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the liberal wing, which made it a 4-4 decision, meaning the lower Pennsylvania court decision stands. But for how long?

Joining us now is CNN contributor Steve Vladeck. He's a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. Professor, great to have you here.

The timing here is so significant because, again, this was a 4-4 decision on the Supreme Court. This Thursday the Senate Judiciary Committee is voting on Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Is there a way that this will be revisited in the next two weeks before the presidential election?

STEVE VLADECK, PROFESSOR OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW: Yes, Alisyn, it's possible. I mean so what happened was the Supreme Court last night denied a pair of applications for stays of this decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. There's nothing that bars the same parties, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, couple of Pennsylvania state legislators, from going back to the Supreme Court for another stay or, indeed, trying and get the Supreme Court to hear this case on the merits.

[06:40:05]

I think the question is whether once Judge Barrett is confirmed, is the court going to want to touch this again? That is to say even though the four other conservative justices dissented from last night's orders, as we get closer and closer to the election, is the court really going to want to change the rules where absentee ballots that are mailed by Election Day but either have no legible postmark or no postmark are going to be counted for now, are they really going to change that, you know, the night before the election, the night after the election? It's possible, Alisyn. I think it's pretty unlikely, though.

CAMEROTA: And what's the significance of Chief Justice John Roberts having sided with the more progressive wing?

VLADECK: Yes, I mean I think once again, you know, we're seeing the chief justice in the role he played over and over again through the court's term last year and really up until Justice Ginsburg passed away last month where, you know, there are cases where he's crossing over, not necessarily because he agrees with the progressive justices, but because his institutional sensibilities really are guiding him, where he thinks that it's just a bad sign for the court to be intervening in a way that looks so transparently partisan.

You know, in that respect, I think what's telling is less that the chief justice crossed over to create this 4-4 split, but that you had four dissenters, that you had four justices, you know, from the conservative side, folks who usually are the first to defend the autonomy of state courts, who, in this case, were willing to put aside the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's interpretation of its own election law.

CAMEROTA: And just explain that. Why wouldn't state -- a state court have the final word in a state election law?

VLADECK: Yes, so usually, Alisyn, of course it does. And here the -- the challengers, the Pennsylvania GOP and these two state legislators made an argument to the Supreme Court that what the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had done, by allowing these either un-postmarked or allegedly postmarked ballots to be counted for a couple days after Election Day, even if it's consistent with Pennsylvania law as interpreted by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court runs afoul of the federal Constitution. That say a remarkably broad argument that if accepted could have massive consequences not just for Pennsylvania, Alisyn, but across the landscape for all of these states trying to figure out exactly what they can and can't do to count as many legal ballots as possible, given the complications of COVID and just how many more Americans this year are voting remotely, are voting by mail, you know, how many more of these ballots are going to come in at the last minute.

CAMEROTA: And, Professor, just explain again, the Supreme Court sent this back. They basically said the lower -- the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision stands. So why isn't that good enough? When you say that this could come up again, Republicans could revisit it with the Supreme Court, why isn't that decision final?

VLADECK: Yes, I mean, Alisyn, again, it's the posture that matters. So this was not an appeal of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision. This was an application for an interim stay basically putting in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court considers it.

By denying the stay last night, the court has not precluded it going forward from either taking up a full appeal or even considering another application for a stay. I think the critical point is that the court has the power, Alisyn, to still come back and hear this case. But the closer and closer we get to Election Day, and with so many folks already voting, I think the more unlikely it is the justices are going to be inclined to potentially change the rules where Pennsylvania voters may think that as long as they mail their ballot by the day before Election Day, even Election Day itself, it's likely going to be counted. It would, I think, a huge power grab and a really disruptive move if the court were to change those rules, you know, between now and November 3rd.

CAMEROTA: Steve Vladeck, we really appreciate you understanding and explaining all of this for us. Thank you.

VLADECK: Great to be with you.

CAMEROTA: You too.

Which states do Trump and Biden need to win individually to secure a victory? We're going to break down the road to 270 electoral votes, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:04]

BERMAN: All right, the big, breaking news from the Supreme Court overnight, a ruling that will allow more mail-in votes to be counted for longer in Pennsylvania, which might be the most critical of all the swing states in the country.

So let's talk about what this means in the short-term. Let's talk about what it means in the race to 270 electoral votes. The man for that, CNN's Harry Enten.

Harry, thank you very much for being with us.

Just why are Democrats so excited about this ruling from a mathematical perspective?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes, it's pretty simple. It's because if you look at the breakdown in the polls of who's going to be voting absentee versus those who are going to vote on Election Day in the state of Pennsylvania, you see this very well in the ABC News/"Washington Post" poll, look at this, among absentee voters, Joe Biden holds a nearly 75 point lead, while the president of the United States hold about a 20 point advantage among those who are voting on Election Day. So the more absentee ballots that are counted, the better it probably is for former Vice President Joe Biden.

I should note that Pennsylvania is one of a number of the six closest swing states that Donald Trump won in 2016, where, in fact, you can get votes that come in after Election Day as long as they were sent by Election Day, Michigan and North Carolina being the other ones. So I think this just goes back to the point that we're going to be -- have to be very, very patient on election night and thereafter to understand who's going to be the next president of the United States because it's going to take a long time to count those votes.

BERMAN: Yes, legislators in Pennsylvania are blocking the ability to process these ballots that come in now before Election Day. They're creating a backlog there, making it a longer process to be sure.

Let's talk about 270 electoral votes, Harry. Obviously, that's what a candidate needs to get to win the election. Where do things stand in the states that make the big difference?

ENTEN: Yes, I mean, look, here's the situation. You look again at those six closest swing states that President Trump won in 2016, and what you see is that former Vice President Joe Biden holds a lead in all of those particular swing states at this time.

[06:50:01]

Obviously the leads are somewhat larger in those Midwestern battleground states, Pennsylvania and Michigan, Wisconsin leads of eight to nine points, while it's close in Florida, Arizona, and North Carolina. But, of course, the key there is the left side of your screen, those electoral votes are enough if you add them to the Clinton states for Joe Biden to get to 270 electoral votes.

BERMAN: That's right. Just to reemphasize that, all those states to the left, and we can put it back up so people can see, those states on the left, Joe Biden holds a pretty big lead. And that's all he need. That's all he needs to win the election. Now, if we expand the map, though, Harry, to get a better sense of

where things stand, I'm sure the Trump campaign would like to pick off some states that Hillary Clinton won four years ago.

ENTEN: Yes, I mean, he'd like to do it. And take a look here. I think this sort of gives you an even better understanding of why this election is tilting towards former Vice President Joe Biden. In the Biden reaches, the Trump states that -- the states that Trump won by five to ten points in 2016, which you basically see as like an even race, right? Georgia plus one, Iowa, tied, Ohio plus two for Biden, Texas with Trump with a small lead of four points.

But look at those Trump reaches, right, the states that Clinton won by three points or less in 2016. Former Vice President Joe Biden has an overwhelming advantage in pretty much all of them. The closest is Nevada, where Biden leads by only seven points and Maine where he leads by 15 points.

So if you look at those reaches, it really gives you an understanding that Biden is much deeper into Trump territory than Trump is into Biden or Democratic territory.

BERMAN: Could we put that up full? Could we put that graphic up full so people can maybe see the smaller numbers? And there's one point I want to make there is all the states there on the right, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, and Texas, where at least by our counts right now, the averages, Biden's either tied or ahead in three of them, he needs how many of those to win the election, Harry?

ENTEN: Zero. Zero. Zero, zero, zero.

BERMAN: And Pennsylvania, Harry, why is Pennsylvania so important in terms of a tipping point?

ENTEN: Pennsylvania's so important in terms of a tipping point because if you look at the states in which Biden has held a five-point lead or more in both September and October, if you look at this electoral map, what do you see? You see that in those particular states it adds up to 279 electoral votes. But if you took away Pennsylvania, then all of a sudden Biden would fall below 270 electoral votes. So, Pennsylvania, in my mind, is probably the most important swing state because it has 20 electoral votes and if it would go over into the Trump column, it probably would correlate very, very well with Trump winning the election.

BERMAN: Harold, as always, thank you very much for being with us this morning. Very insightful.

ENTEN: My pleasure.

BERMAN: All right, what are the Winter Olympics, France's election and the Ukraine electrical grid have in common? The Justice Department says all were targeted by Russian intelligence hackers. New details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:56:24]

CAMEROTA: Developing this morning, the Justice Department has charged six Russian military officers for allegedly carrying out some of the world's most destructive cyberattacks.

CNN's Jessica Schneider is live in Washington with more.

What have you learned, Jessica?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, these six Russian intelligence officers are from the same military unit investigators say were responsible for the interference back in 2016. So the message from prosecutors here is really clear, that the Russians are still at it. And, in fact, they're more aggressive than they were in 2016.

So this indictment covers malware attacks around the world, including in Ukraine, where they knocked out the power grid, the 2017 French elections, where they hacked into e-mails, even the 2018 Olympic games in South Korea, where investigators say they interfered with the opening games. It also includes hacks into computer systems at two hospitals in west Pennsylvania.

So prosecutors continue to crack down on these Russian-led interference efforts all around the globe while the president continues to down play it.

Take a listen to what they said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN C. DEMERS, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR NATIONAL SECURITY: No country has weaponized its cyber capabilities as maliciously as irresponsibly as Russia, wantonly causing unprecedented collateral damage to pursue small, tactical advantages and fits of spite.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: Now, we have seen Russian intelligence officers indicted before. In fact, in 2018, the special counsel, Robert Mueller, indicted 12 GRU officers for conspiring to hack into the DNC, as well as the Clinton campaign. But, Alisyn, it's unlikely that any of these Russians will ever see a judge here in the U.S. That's because we have no extradition treaty with Russia. However, it could restrict their travel because if they do travel to another country, they could risk being turned in.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, good to know. Jessica, thank you very much for all of that reporting.

And NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mail-in ballots can be accepted in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania up to three days after the election.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: If only the president had been encouraging, this could actually be helpful to the president.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Can't we all agree that we should have every eligible voter vote? Why is that controversial?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump is attack Dr. Anthony Fauci and dismissing the pandemic as infections are rising in multiple states.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fauci's a nice guy. He's been here for 500 years. He called every one of them wrong.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The president is referring to him as an idiot. It's obviously just totally ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

BERMAN: All right, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

Two major breaking stories on the election.

The U.S. Supreme Court just opened the door for more mail-in ballots to be counted in Pennsylvania for a longer period of time. This is a big deal for Democrats. And probably the most crucial of all swing states as Democrats are showing much greater enthusiasm for voting by mail. And now ballots will be counted if received up to three days after November 3rd.

Now, this was a 4-4 decision at the Supreme Court, which means a state court ruling stands. And it also underscores the decisive role that Judge Amy Coney Barrett will play when she is confirmed.

Also developing this morning, the commission on presidential debates announced they will mute candidate microphones during parts of Thursday's final presidential debate to limit interruptions. You will, of course, remember that President Trump just trod (ph) all upon the rules and the speaking time in the first debate.

[07:00:04]

And now the Trump campaign says they don't like these new rules. Still, he will show up Thursday night.