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New Day

Final Week of 2020 Race; Fire at Ballot Drop Box; SCOTUS Asked to Block Deadline Extension; Coronavirus Pandemic Update from Around the World. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 26, 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]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So, Margaret, I mean it's also, I mean pundits say, possibly a really cunning, closing strategy of President Trump because, as Nia Malika just said, it's free media. So he's -- so President Trump is dominating the media coverage in battleground states, because he's going there and holding these rallies and getting all of this, you know, so-called earned media, whereas Joe Biden is not in those battleground states. And so this -- you know, for people who have wondered, like, what's the president's strategy? We don't see a campaign strategy. This is the strategy, you know, close strong.

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think the president's strategy is to try to win however -- you know, with whatever it takes. And the truth is, as both of the candidates have said, although coming from very different points of view in the last couple of days, the truth is that the election's not over until the election's over and that there's still going to be like a huge number of people voting in person, either on election day itself or in these closing days.

So what we see is, in the early returns, some real indications of potential strength for Democrats, right? You're seeing higher youth voter turnout in early voting. You're seeing some evidence of higher shares of black Americans voting in early voting compared to in 2016. And just larger shares of Democrats returning ballots in early voting, but that doesn't account for what's going to come in those last few days and it doesn't account for what's going to happen in person on Election Day.

And we're right at that tipping point where if you're voting by mail instead of voting in person, it's getting awfully close to Election Day and you have all the legal considerations to talk about, which is part of what you hear Biden talking about in that quote from the "60 Minutes" interview is the idea that President Trump is going to use whatever means he has, including litigation, if it's close. And so this is crunch time. And that's where we are right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Nia, with the news from "The New York Times" that Fox is having its own coronavirus issues with several anchors now in quarantine, we don't know that they have it, according to "The Times," but they're in quarantine because someone who was on a flight to the debate last week apparently has tested positive. And we know that's the president's favorite, maybe only media network. I mean to what extent is there the sense when you have that and what's happening with the vice president, that the world is closing in on President Trump? That the number of options he has left are increasingly limited?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, I think that's very clear. You know, the president thought that was going to be a campaign about the economy and the economy was strong before this hit. And so now everywhere he looks, in some ways, there is evidence of the spread of this virus. Obviously he had it. It was in the White House. Now it's in the vice president's office. And now he looks on television, a lot of his favorite anchors are going to be anchoring from home because of the -- of a possible outbreak at Fox News. He is trying to still wish this away and say that we're turning a corner in this country. We are turning a corner into an oncoming train, it certainly sounds like, if you listen to the scientists about what is likely in the months ahead, if the pattern of behavior continues among Americans. Fifty percent or so are not choosing to wear masks, so that's a real problem for this president.

But, listen, in that interview with Lesley Stahl, he was very upbeat in terms of his response. He called his response great at some point and continued to say that better times are ahead because of the vaccines and because of -- we've learned to treat the virus better.

But, listen, we know what polls show, that Americans, generally, by 60 percent or so, believe this president has failed. And we also know that every day most Americans are living the reality of this virus. Our lives have been transformed by it. And you've got the president essentially acting like there's nothing to see here.

CAMEROTA: The president also likes OAM, by the way. He can go there.

BERMAN: Oh, sorry.

CAMEROTA: He can go there for the next -- for the next few days.

BERMAN: That's true. The remote has two channels.

CAMEROTA: That's right.

Nia-Malika, thank you very much.

Margaret, thank you.

The FBI is investigating a ballot drop box in Boston that was set on fire. Who is behind it? How many ballots were damaged? What does this mean? All the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:45]

BERMAN: So nine days left, including today, to get your ballot in for the election, but already the number of early votes has surpassed the number of early votes in the 2016 election. This is going to shatter records. Young people turning out in record numbers at this point. New York City, this is New York -- New York's not really a swing state. Nevertheless, people super excited to vote. Long lines all over the city. It broke the 2016 one-day voting records.

In the meantime, there are small, sporadic issues around the country. The FBI is investigating a fire at a Boston ballot drop box. Or, we should say, a ballot drop box in Boston.

CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us live with details.

Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, this is actually the second of these incidents that we've seen. The first one was last week in California and officials are hoping this doesn't become some sort of trend ahead of Election Day. But here's what we know about Boston. I think we have some pictures we can show you of the actual incident and the man who is wanted in connection with this event. It happened early in the morning on Sunday. And election officials say there were 122 ballots inside of that drop box at the time.

Now, of those, 87 of them were legible and able to be processed.

[06:40:00]

The rest of them, those voters who were identified, will get new ballots in the mail, but the elections department says that if for some reason they don't re-cast their ballot, their ballot, their original ballot will be counted by hand.

Now, a joint statement has been released by this police department and these federal officials encouraging people to report any sort of suspicious election activity. Remember, John, this is an election where every single vote counts. And people are on high alert.

And I do want to mention one other headline that we are following this morning. And this one might give you deja vu. But Republicans in Pennsylvania are going back to the Supreme Court over that ballot extension. Just a reminder, the state court, because of the pandemic, had said that ballots could be counted up to three days after the election, absentee ballots, as long as they were postmarked on Election Day or before, or if the postmark was illegible.

This already went to the Supreme Court. It was deadlocked. Chief Justice Roberts was on the side of the more liberal-leaning justices. That meant that the lower court's ruling stood. So why go back now. Well, maybe it's the possibility of a potentially different outcome with a newly installed Supreme Court justice. This could be a test for Amy Coney Barrett. But, regardless, John, we are watching this very loosely. Any kind of change this close to Election Day could impact a lot of voters.

BERMAN: Yes, she will be a Supreme Court justice as of tonight. So Pennsylvania Republicans trying to get the case before her, perhaps.

Kristen, thank you very much. Keep us posted. What is the likelihood that the Supreme Court would do something like

this so close to Election Day given what they just ruled last week? One of America's preeminent election lawyers tells us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:40]

BERMAN: All right, developing this morning, Pennsylvania's Republican Party is again asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the mail-in ballot deadline, which allows ballots that arrive three days after Election Day to be counted. Pennsylvania Republicans don't want that. They want to stop the counting.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court was deadlocked 4-4 on the case, but what that meant was that people in Pennsylvania would get the extra three days.

Joining us now, CNN contributor Ben Ginsberg. He was a Republican election lawyer. That doesn't even really tell the full story. The preeminent Republican election lawyer in all of America over the last 20 years.

CAMEROTA: Better. Better.

BERMAN: Contractually obligated to say that, Ben.

BEN GINSBERG, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: Listen, the Supreme Court let the Pennsylvania deadline stand three days after November 3rd in order to count the ballots. Ballots that come by mail for three days will be counted. The Pennsylvania Republican Party is going back to the Supreme Court again. Why? Because as of tonight, there will be a justice Amy Coney Barrett, who could, in theory, make it a 5-4 ruling.

But, Ben, what is the likelihood that the court and then Justice Barrett would want to do something like that?

GINSBERG: Well, there's a procedural hook that brought them up there. But, John and Ali, the bottom line answer is that this late in the game, the court has been reluctant to change state laws simply because it would be confusing to voters. The court also has cases from Republicans in North Carolina and Democrats in Wisconsin on ballot deadline cases. And it runs into a second principle of the court, which is they like to defer to elected state officials to set the laws and don't like it when courts, especially federal courts, jump in to change deadlines.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but I don't even get, Ben, why they get this second bite at the apple. The Supreme Court already sent it down, back down, to the Pennsylvania lower court, number one. And, number two, do you think, knowing Judge Amy Coney Barrett's record, that she could change -- I mean I know that you've said precedent, the Supreme Court doesn't weigh in to state election law this late, but could she change that? GINSBERG: Well, the 4-4 tie was to deny injunctive relief, basically

to stop the ruling. The court did not rule on the merits of the case. And now the Pennsylvania Republicans have pretty craftily come up with a merits argument it's asking the court to take, to grant certain case.

In reality, the court has a number of options. It can do what it did before, or it can take the case, which gives the Pennsylvania Republicans a little bit of a victory, but set it for argument at some point after the election, which, in effect, does not put Justice Barrett in the -- in a really tough position.

BERMAN: So also joining us now is Jessica Huseman. She is a reporter who covers voting rights at Propublica.

Jessica, thank you so much for being with us.

I was very excited to have you on this morning because despite the report we just did about one ballot drop box that was set on fire in Boston and, you know, there are court cases around the country, I do think the major, big story right now in terms of voting is how many people have voted already and how, relatively speaking, well it's going and without large problems. So if you will, I would like you to reflect on that for a moment.

JESSICA HUSEMAN, REPORTER, PROPUBLICA: I think that's a really good point. You know, we're seeing -- I'm standing here in the state of Texas and I am, frankly, stunned at the level of turnout and how that turnout has maintained itself during the first couple of days of early voting. And we're seeing that in other states, too. In Georgia and then across the country record numbers of mail-in ballots.

So I think, regardless of the sometimes deeply unnecessary hurdles that voters have to take, they are getting their ballots in.

CAMEROTA: But, Jessica, do we know yet, or is there any way to know yet, if all of this is cannibalizing what will happen on Election Day or if we'll still see the same amount of numbers -- I mean we -- we -- do we know yet if these are new voters, people who sat it out last time, more energized or if they're just changing the date of their voting?

HUSEMAN: You know, a lot of them are new voters. And a lot of them are people who are registered for the first time this year, doing their thing out there at the polls.

[06:50:04]

And I think a lot of that, though, we won't really know until the very end. Of course, you know, we can talk all day long about how many independents or newly registered voters or Democrats or Republicans showed up to the polls, but this has been a surprising year so far. And so I'm hesitant to draw any sort of partisan advantage one way or the other from the numbers that we saw -- that we've seen so far. And given how early voting has sustained itself, I'm not sure that anyone can make very accurate predictions on how it will go to Election Day. So --

CAMEROTA: I hear you.

BERMAN: So, Jessica -- Jessica, just one last question.

A lot of what the president has been doing has been trying to cast doubt on the system. Now, I know, collecting the ballots and counting the plats, which in some cases hasn't begun yet, are two different things. But in the collection of the ballots and in the submission of the ballots to date, have there been any major problems that should cause anyone great alarm?

HUSEMAN: So the only pattern that we're seeing is that large numbers of absentee ballots are being -- are being rejected. And this is basically in line with historical expectations. Usually, though, we're rejecting a smaller number, even if it's a similar percentage, because so many fewer ballots have historically been cast in this way.

And so we're waiting for, you know, states to implement their cure (ph) process and alert those voters that there's been a problem with their ballot, usually a signature mismatch or a missing signature, and to remedy those situations. And I think that the success of that is going to vary wildly by state because they've placed such different emphasis on voter education in that regard.

BERMAN: Jessica Huseman, Ben Ginsberg, thank you both for being with us this morning. As always, both of your insights, invaluable.

GINSBERG: Thank you.

BERMAN: Leaders across Europe this morning implementing curfews, imposing new restrictions as they are now experiencing a record- setting second wave. We have reports from the ground, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:40]

CAMEROTA: There is a record-setting wave of coronavirus sweeping across Europe right now. You're about to see this sea of red on your screen. This is the new map with new cases surging everywhere. We have reporters across the globe covering the biggest developments for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Melissa Bell in Paris. Here in France, another record set on Sunday. More than 52,000 new cases announced, a positivity rate nationwide of 17 percent, and fears that this week could see such strain on local health systems like here in the greater Paris region that more restrictions could be necessary.

Across the border in Spain, where there have been more than a million cases already, fresh restrictions announced by the prime minister there, a state of emergency that will last until May and that involves things like curfews and travel restrictions between the regions. NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN EUROPE EDITOR: I'm Nina Dos Santos in Wales,

whereas of this Monday morning, 3 million people across this part of the U.K., with its own government and its own rules on things like lockdowns, are waking up to what is called a firebreak, a short, sharp lockdown for two weeks to come, where people have to stay home and could only go out to do essential things like buy food and medicine, to try and control the spread of the virus. Will it work? It will take many more weeks than just these two weeks to know whether that was the case.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ben Wedeman in Milan, in northern Italy, where the health sector is bracing for what could be a flood of new coronavirus cases. This is the part of the country that was hit hardest by the first wave of the pandemic earlier this year. The fear now is that with the second wave upon us, the worst is yet to come.

We went to an intensive care unit in one hospital where every member of the staff we spoke with said they're very worried about what to expect in the coming months.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem. Israel will soon move to the next step in its reopening, by reopening more grades in schools. Grades 1 through 4 with some restrictions on how many students can be in a class at one time, to make sure there aren't too many kids too close together.

Where are Israel's numbers as of yesterday? There were 559 new cases of coronavirus throughout the country, according to ministry of health data, and a positivity rate of 2.5 percent. These are great numbers when you consider that less than a month ago it was a record more than 9,000 new cases in one day.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to increase enforcement and fines against those who violate the ministry of health directives, especially when it comes to large social gatherings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Our thanks to all of our correspondents.

And NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With just over a week to go before Election Day, the president insisting we're rounding the corner.

JOE BIDEN, (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The way he's handling COVID is just absolutely totally irresponsible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The vice president was in North Carolina yesterday, despite the fact that several of his top aides had recently tested positive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to control the pandemic. It is a contagious virus, just like the flu. It's --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but why not make efforts to contain it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we are making efforts to contain it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We easily will hit six-figure numbers in terms of the number of cases and the deaths are going to go up precipitously.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at a dangerous tipping point right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CAMEROTA: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

Eight days to go until Election Day, but the United States just suffered its single, worst week in terms of coronavirus cases in this entire pandemic. And there's another outbreak at the White House. At least five members of Vice President Mike Pence's inner circle have tested positive in just the past few days. That includes his chief of staff, Marc Short, and his so-called body man, who spends a lot of time with the vice president.

Despite their close contact, the vice president, who heads the Coronavirus Task Force, is ignore CDC guidelines to quarantine. Instead, he plans to keep campaigning this week.

Also new this morning, "The New York Times" reports that the president of Fox News Channel and several of its top anchors have been advised to quarantine after being exposed on a flight home from last week's presidential debate.

BERMAN: Just to say this once again, the seven-day moving average of new cases of coronavirus in the United States is at its highest level yet.

[07:00:07]