Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump, Biden Make Final Campaign Push With 8 Days To Go; Fracking Becomes Key Issue For Pennsylvania Swing Voters. Aired 12:30- 1p ET

Aired October 26, 2020 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know it better than almost any place in this country, closed down your factories, kill you call jobs, outsourced your industries and support it every terrible and disastrous trade deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Let's discuss, say the race now. With us, CNN's Maeve Reston and national political correspondent of The New York Times, Alex Burns, it's great to see you both. Maeve let me start with you. I get it because of what happened in 2016. Team Trump is going to say watch, we will do it again. Watch, you wrote us off four years ago.

Watch, we're behind in all the polls. But there is a difference. I just went through some of the battleground state polling look at these national numbers. At this Monday, eight days out four years ago of the race was Clinton 47, Trump 42, and the third party candidates had a combined 7 percent.

Fast forward this time, President Trump is up 10. So that -- I mean, Joe Biden is up 10 over President Trump in the national polls, that is a significant difference. If we get inside single digits in this national poll of polls, then we can start scratch the state by state. At the moment Joe Biden's lead is comfortable and it seems to be stable.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, absolutely. And you do see, you know, evidence from the data that we're getting from organizations like Catalyst, which track of the demographics of voters that are showing up.

You're seeing huge lines all over the country, we know that Democrats tend to be more likely to send their ballots in by mail and also to vote early. So you are seeing evidence of that energy and that enthusiasm as much as Trump out in his rallies would like to say that there is none.

And you certainly don't see the fundamentals of this race changing very much. Obviously, Donald Trump did not want to be talking about the coronavirus in these final days of the race. But because you're seeing once again, a second outbreak in his white house in the Vice President's orbit. It reminds people of all the things they don't like about his handling of the coronavirus, the fact that the White House did not seem to take the pandemic seriously. And you also hear this, the politics of denial coming from the President, as we head into, you know, yet another phase of this crisis.

All throughout his rallies this weekend, he said over and over again, we're rounding the turn. And the numbers just say the absolute opposite of that. And that for voters is going to be a real problem, John, because they just don't think that he's telling the truth.

KING: Well, they live and breathe the coronavirus. Again, you could -- as the President did that sound we just played you can exaggerate or say things that just simply aren't true about Joe Biden's positions on issues. You cannot tell people the coronavirus is gone or we've rounded the current because they're living it every day.

Alex and Maeve have noted that early voting and look, you have to count all votes, right. So even if Democrats like they did in 2016 put up an advantage in early voting. If the President can have an Election Day surge, he can overcome it.

But the numbers this time are overwhelming. And another indicator out today that you would have to say is advantage Biden is this poll released by the Kennedy School, the Institute of Politics at Harvard, how likely is it that you will vote in November among 18 to 29 year olds. So you look at that younger Americans by big margin are much more likely they say in 2020 to vote than in 2016. And again, if that is true, and if they do vote, that is another piece of data that tells you advantage Biden in this year?

ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That's absolutely right. And we see that in the early vote numbers at least as far as we can parse them. So far, John, and I do think the important context for interpreting a lot of this is that, you know, people sometimes forget because the electoral college can magnify what somebody's victory margin looks like just how narrow the President's popular vote margins were in the blue states that he flipped over to the Republican column, like in Michigan, like Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin.

So if you were to just increase the youth turnout across those three states, really just at a pretty marginal level, that can be the ballgame. Now, the reason why the Democrats I talked to are still not taking anything for granted is because as you say, the expectation is that turnout will be up across the board.

It's not that everything is going to say stay static, relative to 2016, except youth turnout will be up that everybody is going to be up. But there are fundamentally larger constituency groups that are supporting Democrats than are supporting President Trump. So if everybody increases their vote share, yes, that's probably a win for Joe Biden.

KING: And yet, Maeve, it's fascinating to watch the Democrats. I was in touch with a bunch of Republican pollsters and campaign managers and the like over the weekend, none of them see a Trump victory coming. They just don't. They're hoping he makes it tight enough that they can hold on to the Senate, but none of the Republicans see it coming. They say the numbers just aren't simply moving enough. But listen to Joe Biden, the leader of the Democratic Party now voicing what a lot of Democrats say right now looks good, but.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm one of those folks or competitors. It's not over until the bell rings. And I feel superstitious when I predict anything other than going to be a hard fight. We feel good about where we are. But, you know, I don't underestimate how he plays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:35:04]

KING: There's always superstition in politics but because of 2016 the roots of it are a lot deeper among Democrats.

RESTON: That is so true, John. And you think about all of those voters that, you know, that Alex, and you and I have all talked to over the last four years who said, you know, I thought Hillary Clinton was going to win. So I didn't turn out and particularly among that, that younger demographic of voters, I think this time, a lot of Democrats feel like they want to take nothing for granted.

And certainly, the Biden campaign is having to get out there and kind of shake the trees and say to people don't pay attention to the national polls, this race could be much tighter than you think Donald Trump is predicting a red wave.

Because if they don't sustain that enthusiasm through Election Day and push the turnout, then you could, again, have, you know, much narrower margins than the polls are showing right now. But there are a lot of voters that you talk to, like they learned their lesson in 2016 by not turning out. And I think that's why we are seeing such a difference in the early vote, in particular. John.

KING: And Alex, you make a great point with your colleague Jonathan Martin, in the paper today, often, campaigns in states are desperate for the nominee to come in the Democratic nominee to come in to gin up turnout. In some ways other races could help Biden this year. You write about the African American candidates in several of the Senate races around the country.

I'm going to read a little bit from the piece, while it has been overshadowed by the presidential race, a political shift is underway in the South that could have a lasting impact well past this election. Democrats have nominated several Black Senate candidates in a region where they've often preferred to elevate moderate whites. These contenders are running competitively and conservative states. And they're doing so by talking explicitly about race. So you have in South Carolina, in Georgia, in Tennessee, in Rhode Island, and in Michigan, you have these candidates who let's just say for some reason an African American voter had some reluctance to vote for Joe Biden perhaps they have and not just an African American but any progressive just say we can make some history here, we can do something.

BURNS: Well and, John, the state really to watch on that front in the presidential races, Georgia, that this is a state with two Senate races on the ballot. And one of them, the National Democratic Party has thrown its weight behind a black candidate Raphael Warnock.

And the notion there is that because the National Party and the state party have been investing in competing in Georgia from the start, and because it's not just Joe Biden and Kamala Harris driving turnout, it's also Reverend Warnock and Jon Ossoff, the other Democratic candidate that it gives the party and the polls bear this out, it gives the party a chance to really flip that state in a presidential race because it is trying so hard in a way that it just has not, this century.

We saw Hillary Clinton sort of make gestures in the direction of Georgia but really never go all in. We saw Democrats get close, but not win a statewide race there in 2018, the governor's race. And I do think that if Joe Biden does come out, the winner there on election night, it will say a lot about what he as a candidate brings to the table. But it will also say a lot about sort of the bottom up infrastructure building that has happened there.

KING: Fascinating final week ahead. A lot of chess pieces to watch it. It actually it's fascinating, grateful for both of you Maeve Reston, Alex Burns for the reporting and the insights and off we go.

[12:38:16]

Up next, a spike in coronavirus cases forcing Italy to announce some of its toughest restrictions yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Europe right now getting hit with a second wave of coronavirus infections. Look at the map here, the deep red tells part of the story, several countries being hit so hard now reimposing lockdowns and introducing curfews. In Germany for example, cases have roughly doubled since last Monday, more now from our correspondents around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ben Wedeman in Rome. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte Sunday evening announced a new set of restrictions to try to stop the increase in coronavirus cases. Effective Monday, gyms, theaters, and cinemas must be closed for at least a month. Bars and restaurants must shut their doors by 6:00 p.m. although they can do takeout and delivery until midnight. Secondary schools must conduct 75 percent of their instruction online.

At this point, Italy has twice as many active cases, as it had earlier this year at the height of the pandemic. And there's one director of an intensive care unit in northern Italy told me we are at this point at the very, very, very, very beginning of the second wave and this newspaper headline describes the situation fairly accurately. It's worse than before.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Melissa Bell in Paris. Here in France, another record in terms of the number of new cases announced for a single day more than 52,000 were declared on Sunday over a single 24-hour period.

The true figure though, could be closer to 100,000. That's according to the head of France's Scientific Council, who's been warning this morning on French media that in fact the true number of cases could be double what the official figures show because of the number of asymptomatic people and because not everybody bothers to get tested.

[12:45:08]

All eyes now very much on whether the curfews that have now been extended to cover some 46 million French people across the country will have the desired effect. The head of the regional authority here in the greater Paris region, one of those areas hardest hit has been warning that because the curfews have now been in place here in Paris for more than a week, we should start to see some change in the figures in the middle of this week. If that does not happen because of the strain in ICUs in places like Paris, it could be that more restrictions will be required.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Up next for us a battleground snapshot of who is voting early in battleground Pennsylvania.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:50:23]

KING: More than 60 million Americans, look at that number, more than 60 million Americans have already cast their ballots that surpasses the total number of pre-election votes in the entire 2016 election. There's numbers from Catalyst, a company that provides data analytics and other services to Democrats, academics, and nonprofit issue advocacy groups and it's giving new insights to us now to who's voting before November. Early voting in some form now underway in all 50 states Maryland begins in person early voting today. CNN's Kristen Holmes joins me now. It's 60 million. Wow.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, these are huge numbers in Maryland. We're already seeing long lines. But I want to focus in on Pennsylvania. Take a look at this. This is 1.45 million early ballots that have already been cast. And I want to talk about why it is that there is so much focus on the state. So let's talk about who exactly is voting. Male, female 57 percent of that vote is a female vote. That's a big deal here. This is a demographic that we know Democrats and Republicans are vying to get.

Now when it comes to party breakdown, 70 percent Democrat, 20 percent Republican, so obviously, the big question here is, is this a big deal? Does President Trump have anything to be worried about et cetera, et cetera? And the short answer is yes and no.

We are expecting a large margin like this in a state like Pennsylvania, where there's no early in person voting. In some of these other states where we've seen the margin between Democrats and Republicans really start to shrink. Those are the states that offer the early in person voting.

And from all of our polling, we know that Democrats are more likely to mail-in their ballot do an absentee ballot than they are to show up on Election Day. And Republicans would prefer to show up on Election Day. So President Trump though what he needs to do is make sure that these people actually show up on Election Day. So that's likely why you're seeing him really crisscross the state trying to get out there.

And when it comes to this battleground state, there is yet another headline that I want to share with you and you might think it feels a bit like Groundhog Day. When we talk about it, Pennsylvania Republicans are going back to the Supreme Court over that ballot extension.

Now we talked about this last week, essentially, a lower court in the state had passed a new law because of the pandemic that said the ballots could be accepted up just three days after the election as long as they either were postmarked before on Election Day or that postmark was illegible. That ballot still would have to count.

Republicans went to the Supreme Court, and it was deadlocked. Justice Roberts was siding with the liberal leaning justices there four to four. There was no tie breaking vote. So the big question is, why would they want to go back? Well, possibly for a new potential outcome when you have a new Supreme Court Justice installed. This could be a test for Amy Coney Barrett, as she has not said she would recuse herself from any election cases.

KING: We'll keep an eye on that one as well. Kristen Holmes, grateful for tracking this, it's complicated, it's fascinating as well.

[12:53:12]

When we come back, remember that last debate, Joe Biden talked about fracking, President Trump hoping in that answer for the seeds of his comeback.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: As he try somehow to come back in Pennsylvania, President Trump trying to focus voters on fracking, a critical piece of the local economy. Remember the final debate Joe Biden left the impression that the oil industry loses if he wins. It's something team Biden now trying to clean up, all the president keeps hammering it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know, remember he say I'm against fracking. I will ban fracking. He did this for over a year.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: First of all, without any ambiguity, Joe was clear, we will not ban fracking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Is this issue enough to sway swing voters in the right places? CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins me with more, President sure, hope so.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. And voters we spoke to in Western Pennsylvania are still pretty confused on the former Vice President's position, whether it's what Donald Trump is saying about Joe Biden or Joe Biden's lack of clarity. Voters are looking for certainty right now. And this is critically important in Western Pennsylvania, where fracking is king. It's helped to boost home prices, boost median incomes, and provided thousands of jobs.

We traveled to Elysburg, Pennsylvania, and we spoke to voters there in this very small town, particularly business owners who say they will not survive if fracking does not exist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL PARIS, SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER, ALEX E. PARIS CONTRACTING CO.: President Trump has a more clear perspective on keeping fracking going with minimal regulations. Where Biden in the past and through the campaign has kind of gone back and forth in what he wants to do.

SHARLO TKALCEVIC, OWNER, T'S LOCKER ROOM BAR AND GRILLE: It's almost like a domino effect. And it could just be disastrous in my eyes, if, you know, first the pandemic and then fracking is banned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: Now Joe Biden has cleared up his stance since he made those comments at the debate. He says he doesn't want to ban fracking. He just wants to ban it on public lands. But I should note that in Western Pennsylvania, most of the fracking is actually done on private land. But you heard from that small restaurant owner there that she's really dealing with a one two punch.

She's dealing with the pandemic which has forced some layoffs and fracking, but also in this uncertain future about the fracking industry as she's hearing from these candidates, the majority of voters we spoke to say they will be supporting President Trump this time around because they do feel like his message is a little clearer and will be good for their livelihoods and their future. John?

KING: Vanessa Yurkevich, grateful for that reporting, critical reporting, talking to the voters in the right places. They'll be interesting to watch those Western counties on election night to see does Trump have the big wins he had last time despite the shrink in a little fracking will be part of it. Vanessa, grateful for that important reporting and grateful for your time today, hope to see you back here this time tomorrow as well.

[13:00:02]

A very busy week both in the campaign and in the COVID surge, don't go anywhere on this busy day. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now.