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U.S. Officials Link Iran to Threatening E-mails Sent to Voters; Trump, Biden to Face Off Tonight in Last Presidential Debate Before Election; Anti-Trump Group Appeals to Male Voters in New Ad. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 22, 2020 - 07:30   ET

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


[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So top intelligence officials now say two foreign adversaries have obtained U.S. voter registration information in an effort to interfere in the U.S. election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN RATCLIFFE, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We would like to alert the public that we have identified that two foreign actors, Iran and Russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections. We have already seen Iran sending spoofed e-mails designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest and damage President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, joining us now, CNN national security analyst James Clapper. He is the former director of National Intelligence under President Obama. Director Clapper, in a perfect world, I would like to be able to separate the politics from the intelligence here. It's hard. It's hard because of now the Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, and what we know about him and things that he has done in the past. But in so far -- let's try to talk about the intelligence first, briefly.

What was suggested is that they have evidence that Iran and Russia -- they didn't tell us how Russia is doing it right now, but that Iran is sending e-mails, purporting to be from the Proud Boys, to directly intimidate Democratic voters, and say they're at risk if they go vote against Donald Trump. What's your take-away from just that claim?

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I guess first, I have to acknowledge that it's always a good thing if law enforcement and intelligence are out informing the public about potential threats to our election. So that -- you know, check that off, so that's a good thing.

You know, the statement kind of caused me to be skeptical for a couple of reasons. One, of course, the timing, coming on the heels of the scathing indictment of the speech by former President Obama. And DNI Ratcliffe kind of glossed over Russia and went right to Iran, which I found a little curious, because Russia has been interfering in the run-up to our election already.

And from my part, at least, is the far more serious threat than Iran. And then the other thing that I found curious is sort of that this was done to hurt President Trump.

Well, I could argue just the opposite. I mean, these e-mails purportedly simulated by Iran are designed to intimidate Democrats who vote -- who either have voted or contemplating voting for Vice President Biden. So, it's kind of a sad commentary that we can't just take it at face value when a statement like that is made.

BERMAN: He did specifically note that the e-mails that he now connects between Iran and this Proud Boys group, allegedly faked under the Proud Boys name. But then he added that extra line which you just pointed out, he claimed -- and he didn't present any evidence, did he? That this was done by Iran to help President Trump.

CLAPPER: No, there's no evidence or context at all. And of course, he mentions Russia second, and then kind of never mentions it again. And the other thing I would note is that it seemed like director -- FBI Director Wray and DNI Ratcliffe, all on the same platform were really content-wise on -- you know, two different pages. And in fact, I thought Director Wray made some reassuring statements which were great. He's a truth teller, a straight shooter, but could be applied to the president as well.

BERMAN: Let's listen to what Director Wray said, because that was very interesting. He was talking about the entire system here, so listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FBI: You should be confident that your vote counts. Early, unverified claims to the contrary should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. We encourage everyone to seek election and voting information from reliable sources, namely your state election officials.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So what's interesting about that is, he could very well have been talking about what Iran and Russia are doing, but he could also have been talking about what President Trump has very publicly, out loud been doing for days. Maybe this is why both "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" reported overnight that the president is considering firing Director Wray after the election.

CLAPPER: You know, it's -- probably, you know, there's long been speculation about this, and you know, this could be yet another nail in the coffin, so to speak.

[07:35:00] You know, I've come to consider Director Wray as kind of the Dr. Fauci

of intelligence and law enforcement. You know, he speaks the truth. And you're quite right, you know, there was a statement he made directly to the American voters about the sanctity and security of the voter system, was both appropriate, welcome, and as you indicate --

BERMAN: Yes --

CLAPPER: Could certainly indicate -- include the president.

BERMAN: Director, let me ask one thing here, because look, I don't think there's any question that foreign actors are trying to mess with the U.S. election. David Sanger talks about what is a perception hack, that foreign actors, maybe Iran, maybe Russia, are trying to create the perception that they're inside the system, and sow distrust. What do they get out of that?

CLAPPER: Well, I think that's -- I think he's right. And we -- you know, we made that point, our first key judgment in 2016 about the Russians. The initial objective was to sow doubt, discord and discontent in this country and Russians unfortunately have been eminently successful principally because we're such a right target for. So they exploit and amplify the polarization and divisiveness in this country.

BERMAN: And that is something we have to guard against, period, no doubt. Director Clapper, thanks for trying to put this in context, really appreciate it.

CLAPPER: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: So a group of anti-Trump Republicans is now trying to court men, targeting men who voted for President Trump in 2016. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: In less than two weeks until election day, and a new ad from the Lincoln Project, that's the political action committee created by Republicans who want to oust Trump. This ad is being shown here on NEW DAY for the first time, and it is designed for President Trump's most loyal supporters, men. Here's a portion of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our dads weren't perfect, but they did their best to raise us to be good. They taught us to own up to it when we did something wrong.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I don't take responsibility at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We may have thought we were doing the right thing in 2016. But it's clear, this isn't the America we voted for. We made a mistake. Vote for change. Vote for our son. Vote for Joe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK, joining us now is Rick Wilson, he's a co-founder of the Lincoln Project. Rick, great to see you.

RICK WILSON, CO-FOUNDER, LINCOLN PROJECT: Great to see you, good morning.

CAMEROTA: Good morning. OK, so, is this designed to appeal to that demographic that we hear so much about the non-college, rural male voters who support President Trump?

WILSON: It is, in part, but it is also meant to appeal to a slightly higher profile or slightly higher propensity demographic group of independently-leaning men and college-aged men. Those were also previously very strong groups for Donald Trump.

We've seen erosion there in the last six to eight weeks, and it's increasing right now especially in the suburbs and targeted swing states, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona and others, and even Texas at this point.

And so, we saw tremendous success in moving the vote with our ad- testing and with our analytics. On the previous ad, we just released called "Girl in the Mirror". And we realized that this was an underserved market for persuasion in this race.

And we've tested this very thoroughly and we are very confident it's going to move some numbers and make a big difference. And it is something where, you know, if you don't talk to someone, you can't persuade them at all. So we're going to talk to them. And this is a group we feel, if we can take one more piece off the chess board for Donald Trump, it's going to make November 3rd a much more -- a much more smooth sail.

BERMAN: A couple of questions, how much money do you have behind this add? And also, the voice of Sam Elliot which was on a Biden campaign ad the other day, it seems like I'm always interested in why certain things were chosen for ads and what the messaging is there. I mean, that voice obviously appeals to both the Biden campaign and you guys for a reason. I know him as the guy -- the other guy besides Patrick Swayze from "Road House", but what's the appeal?

WILSON: Well, he's also from "Big Lebowski". So, look, Sam Elliot has an iconic American tone and voice, and we were honored to work with him on this spot. And this spot will have several million dollars worth of national, digital and broad -- national, digital and cable push in the next few weeks -- in the next two weeks.

We feel like it's a real -- it's a real burner as we say in this business, it's going to make a big difference. So, you know, working with Sam on this was a -- was a -- was a delight, and we feel like it's an ad that's going to be very persuasive and very impactful.

[07:45:00] CAMEROTA: Rick, obviously, you're a long-time Florida, "Politico"

consultant. And so tell us about the data that you're seeing in terms of the Hispanic support for President Trump, which appears to be growing --

WILSON: Sure --

CAMEROTA: And how concerned the Lincoln Project is about that.

WILSON: Well, we also have a bunch of ads up in Florida in both the Puerto Rican community and the Orlando metropolitan area, to push those folks into a position where that fairly unaddressed group of 200,000-plus voters is going to get talked to about, you know, who Trump is and the contempt he has shown for Puerto Rico.

You know, he's a guy who wanted to trade Puerto Rico for Greenland, and you know, they're not even joking about it. We're also advertising in the Miami community, in the Cuban community right now. We've got an ad that basically compares Donald Trump to Castro, because look, they've been trying to compare Joe Biden to some socialist revolutionary.

You know, last time I checked, Joe Biden wasn't going to show up with a black beret on and seize the means of production. But you know, it's an absurdity. So we're going to punch back against that pretty hard. That is a concern in Florida, Cubans make up about 8 percent of the voting population in the state of Florida, Hispanics about 23 percent.

The fear of socialism is something they're flogging very heavily right now. We'll also be communicating in the next two weeks in Florida on another key message that's profoundly affecting the Hispanic community, which is the mishandling of COVID and the rising death rate of COVID in Florida.

Florida is going to be Florida, no matter what we do and no matter what other allied groups of the Biden campaign do. It is always going to be close in the state of Florida. If you go back to the last 20 years and take every Republican vote cast and every Democratic vote cast for president, the difference is about 20,000 votes.

So it's going to be a close run in Florida. The Hispanic community will be a hotly contested group in the state of Florida, but we feel like there's going to be a message that gets out beyond just the realm of the socialism versus freedom message.

CAMEROTA: Rick Wilson, thank you very much. Great to have you on NEW DAY --

WILSON: Thanks so much --

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for previewing the ad with us.

WILSON: I'll talk to you again soon.

CAMEROTA: You too, John? BERMAN: All right, this morning, the Czech Republic going back into

lockdown as coronavirus cases skyrocket across Europe. We have reporters all around the world bringing you the latest developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Scott McLean in Berlin where the German Health Minister has tested positive for the coronavirus, just as his country records a record high daily case count. Yesterday, France and Spain both surpassed 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic has shattered its previous one-day record by almost 25 percent. After an emergency session of parliament yesterday, the Czech Prime Minister announced that his country would be going back into something you might describe as a lockdown. Starting today, only essential stores will be allowed to stay open and movement will be severely restricted.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I'm Nic Robertson in London, where in nearby island last night, the new, tough lockdown came into place. CNN spoke to revelers in Dublin, bars last night, their numbers were up.

A last hurrah as one taxi driver put it before there are six weeks of takeaway service, only from bars and restaurants. People telling CNN that they're frustrated and uncertain, and they think that the government restrictions are in some cases unfair. They fear that they are now heading into a cycle of lockdowns. This one due to last six weeks, they're not sure what comes next.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Moscow. As Russia's efforts to create a vaccine against the novel coronavirus seem to be going somewhat slower than many people might have thought.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, the head of the Gamaleya Institute which is responsible for the Sputnik-V vaccine acknowledged that so far only about 6,000 participants of a phase 3 trial have received both doses of the vaccine, which are necessary to achieve full immunization and get any sort of reliable data from those participants.

That puts Russia well behind many of the western large vaccine makers. And while some prominent Russians have taken the vaccine so far, Vladimir Putin has not and remains in a bubble.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: So, it should be one of the easiest questions to answer when you're running for president. What are you going to do? Why do you want the job? It's been a challenging question though, for some. A reality check, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:00] CAMEROTA: Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee plan to boycott

a key vote advancing the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. Republicans say they will move forward no matter what. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is live on Capitol Hill with more. So, how is this going to work, Sunlen?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, this certainly will be a dramatic moment, but one that very likely will not change the outcome here. Democrats will be boycotting the committee hearing today, instead of showing up, they will be filling their seats with pictures of people who were affected by the Affordable Care Act which of course is what Democrats have tried so hard to make Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing all about. Democrats are arguing that they believe this process of her confirmation has been a sham, and here is why they explained they're not showing up today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Actually, the rules of the committee require two Democrats to be there to move a nominee out, and we do not want to provide the quorum. This process is the most rushed, the most illegitimate, the most hypocritical process of any Supreme Court nominee we have ever seen.

The Republicans just at will tried to break the rules, they are so hell-bent on rushing this nominee through, it's despicable. Leader McConnell, Lindsey Graham have defiled the Senate so that it may never return to what it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now, committee rule here say that nine members of the committee must be present, importantly, including two members of the minority in the room. So that's why Democrats say they are all not going to show up to try to stop this nomination from going forward, but Republicans are arguing that a Senate rule in place supersedes a committee rule and requires only the majority of committee members. So Republicans are saying that they intend to, and they believe they can advance this nomination through with just Republicans on the committee.

[07:55:00]

And, of course, John, the Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, he's already set a floor vote for her final confirmation from the full Senate Monday. So, again, a lightning quick confirmation that looks like it's not slowing down today. John?

BERMAN: Mitch McConnell seems dead-set on getting this to happen and quickly. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you very much. So it is clear that President Trump wants a second term, less clear, why? John Avlon here with a reality check.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right. Look, 12 days out from the election, 40 million Americans have already voted, and tonight is the final debate. There's an important question the president might get, it's when he's had a hard time with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: What are your top priority items for a second term?

TRUMP: Well, one of the things that will be really great -- you know, the word experience is still good. I always say talent is more important than experience, I've always said that. But the word experience is a very important word, it's a --important meaning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: All right. That answer was so bad that another conservative host tee-ed it up for him again just a week later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's do a retake on that. What is Donald Trump's second term? What's the main focus for that?

TRUMP: Well, we're going to make America great again. At the end of our first term, it's going to be great, it would have been phenomenal, we got hit with the plague. At the end of the second term, it's going to be at a level that nobody would have ever seen a country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Still wift it. The closest he's come to clarity was this, I think I'd be similar. Translation, Trump is going to trump. And these campaign rallies are basically an arena rock greatest hits tour. The party he leads didn't even bother to have a new party platform drafted, it just reissued the 2016 version. And he often acts like he's running against Hillary Clinton again. Get this, he's mentioned her 340 times this year according to fact base.

That's three times more than Vladimir Putin. No, this isn't normal. According to a review of transcripts, George H. W. Bush for example mentioned Michael Dukakis only seven times in 1992, four years later, '96, Bill Clinton mentioned Bush just nine times.

That's because the presidency is a forward-looking job. Joe Biden has got 50 different policy plans on his website. Trump's campaign lists accomplishments but no new policy. So what might a second Trump term look like?

Well, some things are obvious or more years of Twitter tantrums, for example, growing political and racial divides, four more years of climate change denial, four more years of record deficits and debt, and four more years to climb our way out of COVID job losses, in addition to the growing death toll.

But there have been previews of a second Trump term that you might have missed. On the kleptocracy and cronyism front, senior officials tell CNN that the Trump White House is pressuring the Pentagon to fast-track a no bid multi-billion-dollar contract to lease the DOD's 5G spectrum to a company backed by prominent Republicans.

One senior official calls the move the biggest hand-off of economic power to a single entity in history. On the government partisan again front, President Trump just signed an executive order that would make it easier to fire civil servants for political purposes.

For moral ethics, official Walter Sharp warned that if you politicize the civil service, you make its members loyal to politicians instead of the constitution and the rule of law. On the anti-immigration front, 545 children who were separated from their parents at the border are now effectively orphaned because the U.S. government admits they haven't found their parents.

And our allies are worried that President Trump could abandon NATO. Look, even President Trump doesn't seem to know where he wants to go in the second term, but it's a safe bet that captain chaos isn't going to change. And so his slogan might as well be more of the same. And that's your reality check.

BERMAN: Two things, one, your cannonball run reference there, much appreciated.

CAMEROTA: Awesome --

BERMAN: Number two --

AVLON: One of the many services I provide --

BERMAN: You referred -- you referred to Jake Tapper's report on the 5G network.

AVLON: Yes.

BERMAN: That is a terrific, really important story. People should go take a look at that at cnn.com --

AVLON: Absolutely --

BERMAN: So, thanks, John.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In just a few hours, voters will get their last glimpse of Joe Biden and President Trump on the debate stage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The commission muting microphones in a move to prevent the chaos that unfolded in the first debate.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We literally left this White House a pandemic playbook, they probably used it to, I don't know, prop up a wobbly table somewhere.

TRUMP: Look, it's all over the world. It came out of China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the role that President Obama can play is really rally young voters, voters of color.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the most at once blistering and at once mocking assessment President Obama has ever delivered on his successor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. And tonight, the final face-off between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

It's just 12 days before election day, and their debate is the last best chance for either candidate to change the course of the election somehow. But nearly 41 million Americans have already cast their votes. That's 89 percent of the total early vote that was cast in 2016. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic is sure to be a major focus of tonight's debate.