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More Than 71,000 New Coronavirus Cases In U.S, Worst Day Since Summer; Undecided Voters In North Carolina React To Final Debate; Trump Claims He Prepaid Millions In Taxes. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired October 23, 2020 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:36]
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Developing overnight, 71,000 new coronavirus cases reported in the United States. That is the fourth- worst day since the pandemic began.
More than 41,000 people are hospitalized. That's the most in two months. Eight states are reporting record hospitalizations this morning.
Joining us now to talk about this and more we have CNN political commentator, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. He is an epidemiologist and a public health expert.
Dr. El-Sayed, these numbers really got our attention -- 71,000 new cases. I mean, just a few days ago we were at 50,000 and we were going God, that's bad. I have a horrible feeling it's going to go up to 60,000.
And then we hit 60,000 and we said uh-oh, how soon until 70,000. Here we are. I mean, this is the -- I fear, the rapid acceleration that we've heard about.
DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT (via Cisco Webex): Yes, Alisyn, this speaks to two aspects of COVID-19.
The first is that there are humans underneath this. Seventy-one thousand people just got some terrible news just a couple of days ago and we're hearing about it today. And that has happened now millions of times. And that is the reality of COVID-19, not to mention the fact that for 223,000 families they are now aching for the loss of a loved one.
But then, the second point is that this is an infectious disease pandemic. The reason that this virus is so dangerous is because of how fast it can spread. And we're used to thinking about things in linear terms, right -- that there's going to be a little bit more every day. That's not how this virus works. It can double in just 2 1/2 days.
And unfortunately, we are facing down what could be the most serious surge we have had of COVID-19 yet and we've got to be acting that way, our public officials have to be acting that way. Because we're not turning the corner, we're about to hit the wall.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Doctor, you're in Ann Arbor which, in some ways, is in the middle of this new surge. Just what does it feel like for you?
EL-SAYED: Yes. I mean, I'll you what, right? Saturdays in the fall, to me, in Ann Arbor always meant going to the big house. One hundred thousand-120,000 people packing into a football stadium to watch our Michigan Wolverines play football. That hasn't happened yet.
And we're about to start playing football but it's not going to be a packed stadium. In fact, the Washtenaw County -- our county in Ann Arbor -- just announced a stay-home order for the next two weeks for students on the University of Michigan campus.
This is not normal and it speaks to a broader epidemic underneath this pandemic. We've got institutional -- institutions that have not been ready for where we are and have not been able to respond to the fact that nationally, we have not had a response to COVID-19 that has protected our young people, protected our old people, protected the way we live.
And so, this is not a normal fall and I think everybody's feeling that. But it's about to get worse and we have to make sure we're doing what we can to protect ourselves, our families, our loved ones, and our communities.
CAMEROTA: There hasn't been a national response -- a coordinated national response, but the president has been strangely consistent about what he believes is going to be the end of this and how we're going to get out of this.
So here he is again, last night, saying it's going to magically go away.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It will go away. And as I say, we're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner. It's going away.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This is the same fellow who told you this is going to end by Easter last time. This is the same fellow who told you that don't worry, we're going to end this by the summer. We're about to go into a dark winter -- a dark winter, and he has no clear plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:35:04]
CAMEROTA: Doctor, what does President Trump mean, we're rounding the corner? EL-SAYED: I think in his mind, the way he's going to buy himself out of his non-response is through the vaccine.
And yes, we have made incredible progress on a vaccine because the NIH is an incredible institution and they've been able to work and orchestrate with the military and with the pharmaceutical corporations who make vaccines to be able to accelerate a process by which we both make the vaccine in terms of research, and then actually manufacture the vaccine at the same time. And we're doing this across multiple vaccines at the same time.
Here's the problem, though, is that if you look at poll after poll, it shows that people are less and less willing to take a vaccine. And as I said many times, there's a difference between a vaccine and a vaccination.
You've got to get a vaccine in people's arms for it to be useful, and if people aren't willing to take it because of the president's politicization of this vaccine, he's undercutting the vaccine itself. And we know that we need to get 70 to 90 percent of people to take sometimes two doses of some of these vaccines in order for them to work.
And so, I worry a lot about whether or not we're actually rounding the corner because all I'm seeing is, Alisyn, the numbers that you showed us -- the numbers going up and up and up. We know that the winter and the fall are going to be harrowing times. We've got models telling us that we could be hitting 385,000 deaths by February.
We are not turning the corner. There's going to be a lot of work we need to do. And we need a competent administration to do them and this president hasn't shown that's he willing to lead competently on this issue from the jump.
BERMAN: Two things can be true at the same time and very well might be true, which is we may have a vaccine that's widely available by next spring or summer and that's terrific, but that doesn't help us for this winter and fall, which is here. And it's deeply troubling and the numbers are getting into a critical, critical zone.
So, Dr. El-Sayed, thank you for being with us and helping us understand what we are seeing now and what needs to be done now. Appreciate it.
EL-SAYED: Thanks, John.
CAMEROTA: As you know, North Carolina is a critical battleground state. So what did undecided voters -- yes, they exist -- what did they think of the debate last night, and did it finally solidify their plan? That's next.
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[05:41:53]
BERMAN: So as of this morning, more than 2.4 million voters in North Carolina have already cast their ballot. That is 80 percent of the total of the early vote in North Carolina that they had in 2016.
Polls show that the race there is very, very close, but after some really hard looking we were able to find some undecided voters. And CNN's Gary Tuchman caught up with some of them and watched the debate with them last night.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four of them identify as Democrats, three as Republicans, four as Independents. All of these North Carolinians still not sure which candidate they want to be president.
We watched the final debate with them. The group leaving no doubt who they think did best.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Who do you think won the debate?
How many of you think Donald Trump won this debate? OK, no hands being raised for that. How many of you think Joe Biden won the debate? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
How many of you feel it was a draw? Two. Two for a draw, zero for Trump, nine for Biden.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): So why did this group feel Joe Biden did so well?
James voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but is now concerned about the nation's lack of unity.
TUCHMAN (on camera): What do you think the most important moment of this debate was?
JAMES: Definitely when Joe Biden was talking about that he's going to be an American president because Donald Trump has made it clear that he doesn't support the blue states.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): John also voted for President Trump in 2016. Joe Biden's debate comments about American families around the dinner table meant quite a bit to him.
JOHN: And Trump responded with some mockery of that. And I think for me, politics are about relationships and people, and this is all about the American family. So that was quite revealing and disturbing for me to hear.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Terri voted for Hillary Clinton four years ago but has been undecided because she did not like Joe Biden's role in the 1994 crime bill. But after the debate, she feels differently.
TERRI: So what resonated with me was the fact that Joe Biden owned the crime bill and his -- and his role in the crime bill, and that he owned the fact that they made a mistake.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Nathan voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and is one of the two who feels the debate was a draw. He says the economy must continue opening.
NATHAN: Both of them want to open it. I think we need to open faster than slower, not wait for the coronavirus to go away.
TUCHMAN (on camera): So that was an important point for you --
NATHAN: It is important, yes.
TUCHMAN (on camera): -- the president made?
NATHAN: Yes.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): When it comes to the major question are any of the 11 now ready to make a decision on who should be president, no response was more interesting than this one from Harrison.
HARRISON: Well, I'd like to vote for Joe Biden almost totally, except for the fact that he is going to increase abortion access in America. And so, if -- you know, I'll feel a little bit safer about that not happening if Amy Barrett is on the Supreme Court.
TUCHMAN (on camera): So you say if she is confirmed you'll vote for Biden, most likely.
HARRISON: Yes.
[05:45:00]
TUCHMAN (voice-over): So how many of these 11 voters are now ready to cast their votes following this debate? The answer is seven.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Of the seven of you who say you're ready to cast your votes, how many are ready to vote for Donald Trump? Zero. How many are ready to vote for Joe Biden? All seven.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): As far as the other four, the debates are over but their indecisiveness is not.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Davidson, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: You know I Iove watching these things. I love watching them, I love conducting them. I learn something every time.
We weren't pumping in the cricket noise there. There really was cricket noise when Gary was asking how many people are going to vote for President Trump.
And it was just fascinating to hear that those moments that Joe Biden seized on about your family around the dinner table, that they do resonate with real voters.
BERMAN: I was surprised by the uniformity in the perception that those voters had. I really was. And if you follow the punditry online and post-debate on all the news
stations, you wouldn't get the impression that Joe Biden won as clear of a victory in this debate as he did with those undecided voters last night, which is why it was so interesting what they said. So interesting what broke through to them -- really.
Appreciate Gary's work on that.
So, President Trump offered a new explanation for why he paid so little in taxes. We have a fact-check on that, next.
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[05:50:41]
CAMEROTA: Developing this morning, more warnings about foreign interference ahead of Election Day. National security officials announcing that Russian state-sponsored hackers have tried to break into dozens of state and local government networks here in the U.S. and have succeeded in stealing data in at least two cases.
This week, intelligence officials also accused Iran of being behind thousands of intimidating e-mails sent to voters.
BERMAN: So, President Trump claimed last night that he prepaid millions of dollars in taxes. What is the truth?
Chief business correspondent and star of EARLY START, normally seen at this time, Christine Romans joins us now with a fact-check -- Romans.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, EARLY START: You know, John, if the president would just release his tax returns it would clear up all of these questions -- so many questions about potential conflicts of interest. He has not. Joe Biden has released 22 years or so of returns.
From excellent reporting from "The New York Times," what emerges is the picture of a man who portrays himself as one of the wealthiest presidents in the nation's history but has avoided paying federal income tax for decades. In fact, paying just $750 in 2016 and 2017.
Last night, the president made this claim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They keep talking about $750, which I think is a filing fee. But let me just tell you, I prepaid millions and millions of dollars in taxes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: A filing fee. John, the IRS does not charge taxpayers a filing fee. That's from tax preparation services like H&R Block, not the IRS.
Reporting by "The New York Times" shows the president is a serial tax avoider who has presided over hundreds of millions of dollars of losses over the years and is crushed by a mountain of debt.
That "Times" tax bombshell revealed a few things. The president is adept at losing lots of money. The system rewards rich people who lose lots of money. They can write off those losses. And the average citizen has paid more to support America's military, roads, school, and democracy than the president has.
Again, if he would release his returns he could clear that up if he disagrees.
Then once again, without evidence, he claimed he's under audit and that he would release his tax returns once that audit is over. He can -- it is his choice and it provides the public with transparency into the president's business dealings and potential conflicts.
Of course, the president then turned around and attacked Joe Biden on his son's alleged dealings with China.
Earlier this week, we learned from the "Times" that Trump had pursued a range of business projects in China for years and even maintains a previously unknown Chinese bank account, even operating an office there during his first run for president.
A Trump Organization lawyer told the "Times" the company opened that account to pay local taxes and no deals ever materialized.
But again, if he'd just release his tax returns it would give the American people an awful lot of transparency and clarity into his business dealings.
BERMAN: Yes, he could release his taxes today. Do not hold your breath, Christine Romans --
ROMANS: No.
BERMAN: -- on that.
Thank you very much for that fact-check. Appreciate it.
So it was the final debate between President Trump and Joe Biden, perhaps the last time they'll be on stage together until the inauguration. But whose?
CAMEROTA: Oh, dun, dun, dun.
BERMAN: We'll tell you much more about who viewers thought won this final debate, next.
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[05:58:16]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I'm going to shut down the virus, not the country. TRUMP: All he does is talk about shutdowns. Democrats -- Democrats all, they're shut down so tight and they're dying. We're not going to shut down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joe Biden won this debate. He didn't win by a little. This was not close.
RICK SANTORUM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, (R) FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR: I think Donald Trump was right on his game. I actually think that he completely skewered Joe Biden.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are at 11 days until Election Day. It's an unknown factor if he changed the trajectory of this race here and so many people have voted. Those votes cannot be changed.
TRUMP: I'm the least racist person in this room.
BIDEN: You know who I am, you know who he is. The character of the country is on the ballot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is a special edition of NEW DAY. It's Friday, October 23rd, 6:00 here in New York.
And you know, this morning, we can say we probably won't see Joe Biden and Donald Trump on the same stage again until the inauguration. But whose?
CAMEROTA: Hmm.
BERMAN: That is the question. Who won the final debate -- perhaps the lest best -- last best chance to alter the course of this contest? Well, according to CNN's post-debate poll, viewers thought it was Joe Biden by 14 points.
Now, this was a decidedly different debate. Fewer interruptions, to be sure. And you will hear some people note that President Trump was on better behavior. But remember, the real question here isn't whether second debate Donald Trump beat first debate Donald Trump, it's how he did against Joe Biden and who better articulated a path forward for the country.
CAMEROTA: The candidates disagreed on how to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The president played down the pandemic insisting, without proof, that we are rounding the corner and that will quote "go away." Biden claims the Trump administration failed America in their response to the pandemic.
