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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Amy Coney Barrett Sworn In At Crowded White House Event; Georgia On Biden's Mind As Campaigns Enter Final Week; Trump Holds Three Pennsylvania Rallies With Few Masks And No Distancing. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired October 27, 2020 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD PILDES, CNN ELECTION LAW ANALYST: Up until now, the court has been issuing stays or vacating stays, but it hasn't written opinions. This is a 35-page opinion, four justices writing, laying out their views on the law that will have implications for voting rights going forward, well past this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: More of these types of are also pending in North Carolina and Pennsylvania where the GOP is trying again to cut a ballot deadline short. That, after the Supreme Court, you'll remember, deadlocked on the issue last week.

All of these election-related cases make last night's Republican-led confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to the Supreme Court that much more significant. She could cast a deciding vote, of course, in these pending cases.

Barrett was sworn in before another big pandemic-era crowd at the White House, even as the vice president's office battles an outbreak of COVID. You'll see more distancing and masks there after her introduction last month turned into a super-spreader event.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Barrett took her oath just eight days before the election even though the GOP said eight months was not enough time to confirm Judge Merrick Garland to the court in the last presidential election cycle.

Last night, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said the quiet part out loud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): We had a Supreme Court a month before the election in 2018 and we actually gained seats. I think this nominee will be a political asset for our candidates around the country. Not a liability, but an asset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: As for ballot deadlines, the 26 states in yellow will only count ballots that arrive on or before Election Day, but the green states and Washington, D.C. will take ballots for a few days more. They represent nearly two-thirds of electoral votes, another reason you should not expect a final result on election night. In fact, Laura, I don't know if we should even call it election night.

JARRETT: Right.

ROMANS: It's going to be election days.

JARRETT: Well, and as you point out, the election is here.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: Over 60 million people have cast an early vote ballot. So clearly, it is going to be a long week or longer.

And, Joe Biden makes his closing argument for the presidency today and where he does it is telling. The former V.P. is heading to Georgia, a reliably red state that is now actually in play. Biden plans to hammer home his message of national unity and overcoming the vitriol in today's politics. He also plans to add a stop in Iowa. Both Georgia and Iowa have competitive Senate races.

Biden also made sure the president was not the only candidate campaigning in Pennsylvania yesterday.

Jessica Dean has more now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Laura and Christine.

Vice President Joe Biden making a surprise stop in Pennsylvania late on Monday. He visited with voters there. He also took some time to speak with traveling reporters and he had this to say about President Trump's handling of the coronavirus.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I've been saying for months, as you well know, that he waved the white flag all the way back then. He wasn't doing much at all. Some people said I was being harsh, that I was being unfair. The White House is coming right out now and admitting what I said months ago was absolutely true.

The big difference between us and the reason why it looks like we're not traveling, we're not putting on super-spreaders. It's important to be responsible.

DEAN: Now, later today, Biden will travel to Georgia. It's a state that no Democrat has carried in a presidential election since 1992. And a campaign aide telling me that the fact that he's traveling there so close to Election Day shows just how seriously they're taking Georgia this go-round. This will be a key closing argument for Joe Biden. We'll hear more

from him from Georgia later today -- Christine and Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Jessica, thank you.

President Trump heading to Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska today after a full day of events in Pennsylvania that largely ignored the threat of the pandemic.

Now, Minnesota is reporting three coronavirus outbreaks related to the president's campaign events there in September, including that rally he held just hours before he tested positive.

Now, President Trump is going all-in on his reelection strategy to paint this deadly virus as nothing more than a media sensation.

CNN's Jim Acosta has more from Martinsburg, Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Laura, President Trump is campaigning hard to win Pennsylvania. He held three rallies in this critical battleground state and as we've seen at campaign event after campaign event for President Trump, many of his supporters are not wearing masks as the crowd is not doing any social distancing.

And the president seems to be blaming some of his election woes on one thing -- COVID, COVID, COVID. Here's what he had to say.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: COVID, COVID, COVID -- that's all they talk about. What progress we've made on it, too. We understand it.

Look, I mean, I got it and I'm here, right? I'm here.

ACOSTA: Now, President Trump isn't the only one out on the campaign trail. Vice President Mike Pence is also holding rallies even though some of his own staffers have recently contracted COVID-19. Pence is the head of the Coronavirus Task Force and yet, the events he's holding are clouding the COVID-19 guidelines from his own administration -- Christine and Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[05:35:13]

JARRETT: Jim Acosta, thank you so much.

With one week to the election, it's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN senior political analyst, John Avlon. John, thanks for getting up with us, as usual.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right (ph). JARRETT: You are so fond of saying follow the money -- so today, we follow the map. Biden goes to Georgia and he's added a stop this week in Iowa as well. He's clearly going on the offense in states where Trump won, and he's doing it in states also with very competitive Senate races.

So my question for you, is he doing this to win in those states, or is he actually really just laying the groundwork to make Democrats competitive again in those states?

AVLON: Look, I -- the number-one job for Joe Biden is to win 270 electoral votes in less than a week. He -- if -- there's a temptation to run up the score and I think clearly, the Biden camp sees an opening in Georgia. They sent Kamala Harris to Texas, Iowa.

If there's a Senate -- a Senate benefit ancillary, particularly in Iowa where Greenfield is doing pretty well against Ernst, that's a definite benefit. He wants a governing majority in the Senate.

But remember, Hillary Clinton spent a lot of time trying to win Arizona and it didn't really matter. You've got to lock down your base states --

ROMANS: Yes.

AVLON: -- and the key swing states first.

ROMANS: You know, and the president -- President Trump targeting, John, the Midwest, including Wisconsin where the Supreme Court says voters now must get --

AVLON: Yes.

ROMANS: -- their ballots in by Election Day. That's a win for Republicans.

You know, it seems like he's really betting on a replay of the last election, but as an incumbent, he faces a different reality. I mean, is he going to be able to get any more votes than the 62.9 million he got last time?

AVLON: Look, this is one of the fundamental problems of Donald Trump's strategy as president. He has never tried to build out beyond his base. He has played to his base exclusively, which would normally be contrary to America's best political traditions in terms of the president being the uniting figure. But it's particularly problematic when you lost the popular vote by almost three million votes last time around.

That said, he sees himself as an outsider. He has played to the base. They're trying to bring online new voters --

ROMANS: Right.

AVLON: -- who they believe they've registered and can activate. And Wisconsin is key. You know, Wisconsin remains a Democratic

firewall and if Trump can recreate his '16 magic there, he could do well. But be careful because he won a lot in Iowa and Wisconsin and these -- and Minnesota -- these overlapping areas -- and there's not the same sign of enthusiasm there was last time.

JARRETT: John, of course, all of this is playing out against the backdrop of a global pandemic, but you wouldn't necessarily know it --

AVLON: Yes.

JARRETT: -- if you saw the ceremony last night for Judge Amy Coney Barrett getting sworn in at the White House after that super-spreader event. This time they had a few more masks and a little bit more social distancing.

But still, whoever wins this election, John, there are now six conservative justices cementing a conservative majority on that court for generations. Democrats don't typically make the court an election issue but this is quite a legacy for Republicans.

So how should Democrats respond? Should we be hearing more about this leading up to November third?

AVLON: Yes. I think this is a time for Democrats to run on the Supreme Court. I mean, look, this is -- this is -- for Democrats, this is a very big deal.

Republicans reversed themselves in terms of the blocking of Merrick Garland in an election year. They pushed through three judges. That is now a fact.

You will see calls to expand the court. You will see calls for judicial reform, which is what Biden has backed. But I think it makes -- it highlights the fact that Democrats not acting like the court matters in their argument for voting, whether it's the ACA or Roe V. Wade or any number of other things, I think has been naive and shortsighted. Republicans have been playing a long game and they've won on this front.

ROMANS: All right, John Avlon. Nice to see you.

JARRETT: Thanks, John.

ROMANS: Thanks for stopping by --

AVLON: Thanks.

ROMANS: -- in the homestretch.

All right.

President Trump's sunny outlook on coronavirus is at odds with the dark reality. The seven-day average of new cases has now reached its highest level of the pandemic heading towards 70,000 a day. At least 75 percent of the country moving in the wrong direction, both in cases and in hospitalizations. Twenty-seven states hit new case records this month alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER COMMISSIONER, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: If we took some aggressive, targeted steps right now, we could potentially forestall the worst of it, but we're not going to do that and I understand why. There's a lot of fatigue set in and a lot of policy resistance to taking strong action ahead of, you know, this spread.

And so we're likely to see a very dense epidemic. I think we're right now at the cusp of what's going to be exponential spread in parts of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The situation is worsening in El Paso, Texas. First, funeral homes had to bring in extra refrigeration, then the county enacted a curfew. Now, El Paso has surpassed its record-high number of new cases again.

The mayor says a lot of the spread is from big-box stores and restaurants. A local children's hospital is taking patients from the overwhelmed University Medical Center of El Paso.

[05:40:07]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB CINTRON, CEO, UMC EL PASO: The area hospitals, along with ourselves, have added approximately 250 additional beds on our own, and they're still looking at adding some more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: North Dakota has a positivity rate of over 10 percent the last two weeks.

Dr. Deborah Birx, from the White House Task Force, was in that state. "The Bismarck Tribune" reports that she called mask-wearing at grocery stores and elsewhere the least she had seen.

A new study in England shows the number of people with coronavirus antibodies declined significantly over the summer. That suggests long- lasting immunity may not happen and infections could reemerge.

ROMANS: Yes, it's really important signs to watch there.

President Trump's trade war set out to fix an unfair relationship with China, but two years and billions of dollars in tariffs later there is little to show for it. First, Trump vowed to cut the overall U.S. trade deficit. Instead, it's at record levels, hitting a 14-year high in August.

Now, it has more to do with the pandemic than U.S.-China relations. However, Trump has tied the deficit to his trade war success. Also, there's little evidence of a promised U.S. manufacturing revival

-- take jobs. After an initial upswing, manufacturing job growth began to slow way back in July 2018. Meanwhile, tariffs are paid by U.S. importers and have caused serious pain for American farmers.

There's also been little progress on the big structural issues that U.S. companies care about. And, 2020 began with Beijing pledging to purchase $200 billion of U.S. goods over time -- part of a partial trade deal -- then the pandemic hit. As of August, China has purchased less than half of what it promised.

Bottom line, the trade war has caused an awful lot of collateral damage without achieving what it set out to do.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:00]

ROMANS: All right, breaking moments ago, Russia imposes a nationwide mask mandate as that country struggles to contain this pandemic.

Let's go to CNN's Fred Pleitgen. He is live in Moscow for us. Fred, bring us up to speed.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine.

Well, this just happened, really, a couple of hours ago as the Russian government came out and said this national mask mandate would go into effect starting tomorrow. And that's when people around this entire vast country will have to start wearing masks in public spaces, on public transport, inside elevators, and also when they're in parking lots.

Now, on top of that, also entertainment venues, as the Russians call them -- meaning essentially, bars and restaurants --- will have to close down from 11:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m.

All this comes as the number of infections in this country remains very high. And also, Moscow just set a pretty grim milestone with a record number of deaths in the span of 24 hours of 320.

All of this, of course, coming as the Russians approved a vaccine here several months ago without actually going through the main tests for safety and efficacy. That vaccine, however, still only available to a tiny fraction of the people in this country.

ROMANS: All right -- so breaking, mask mandates there in the entire country of Russia.

Thank you so much for that, Fred.

JARRETT: All right.

Well, back here in the U.S., overwhelmed hospitals in Utah may have to decide which patients will receive lifesaving care.

CNN has the pandemic covered coast-to-coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Simon.

With coronavirus cases surging in Utah and ICU beds near capacity, the head of the hospital association says they may be in a situation where they need to start rationing care. That's where hospitals would decide who gets an ICU bed and who doesn't.

Under plans being developed, decisions would be made based on a patient's age, their health, and their ability to survive. Any such plan would have to be approved by the governor.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: I'm Jacqueline Howard in Atlanta.

The coronavirus vaccine that's being developed by Pfizer is now being tested in the youngest age group yet. Children as young as 12 are now volunteering in the vaccine trial here in the U.S. and a team in Cincinnati says 100 children ages 12 to 15 were vaccinated last week as part of the trial. This move into younger children was approved by the FDA earlier this month.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dianne Gallagher in Charlotte.

At least five deaths and more than 140 cases of COVID-19 have been linked to a North Carolina church holding convocation events for about a week earlier this month.

The Mecklenburg County Health Department has now ordered that the United House of Prayer for All People close all of its facilities to in-person events through November sixth and must deep-clean the facilities before they can reopen, while the county attempts to continue contact tracing others who may have been affected across the state.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, thanks to our correspondents for all of those reports.

And this morning, a hurricane watch in effect for parts of Louisiana and Mississippi with Zeta on a path toward the Gulf Coast. Here is meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning, guys.

The 27th-named storm of the season, the 11th now-hurricane of the season as well for the Atlantic -- all of them now pushing into record territory. And you take a look. The system made landfall as a category one just

north of Tulum. All eyes now along the Gulf Coast states where we have not only tropical storm watches but also hurricane watches prompted across portions of southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi as well.

And, in fact, you notice the model guidance between these storms. The American model on the left showing a more progressive, stronger system -- maybe a category one on approach -- while the European kind of delays the arrival into the evening hours, maybe even overnight hours of Wednesday.

But best estimates by the National Hurricane Center brings this in as a category one system around southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday evening -- which, by the way, if you've heard of the state of Louisiana and tropical systems, this would be the fifth such storm for this season, setting an all-time record for any state to see a number of storms coming ashore, with five being that record.

[05:50:00]

But notice tremendous rainfall also in the forecast here as we move forward from Wednesday through at least Saturday across the eastern third of the U.S. -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: All right, Pedram. Thank you for that.

New overnight, a fatal police shooting prompting a night of protests in Philadelphia. Police tell CNN affiliate KYW they were responding to a call of a man with a knife and that he was shot after waving the knife.

Video of the incident was posted online and we need to warn you it may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). Yo, this is (bleep) crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move, move, move.

(Gunshots)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The mayor of Philadelphia has identified the victim as 27- year-old Walter Wallace and says the video presents, quote, "difficult questions that must be answered."

The city's police union is asking the public to let an investigation play out before passing judgment.

Police say 30 officers were injured in the protests, including one hit by a pickup truck. All, we're told, are in stable condition.

ROMANS: All right.

Evacuation orders issued for more than 100,000 people in Southern California because of the risk from wildfires.

The Silverado Fire burning near the city of Irvine nearly quadrupled in size Monday -- zero percent containment. Officials say two firefighters were critically injured battling that blaze.

And a second wildfire, the Blue Ridge Fire, also burning in Orange County.

JARRETT: Well, some large toy companies are trying to be more eco- friendly. They're cutting back on plastic in products and their packaging. Lego, Mattel, and Little Tykes are some of the companies taking these steps as the pandemic drives a surge of toy and game purchases for families.

Lego, for example, plans to use recyclable paper in all of its packaging. The Lego blocks themselves, however, which require 90,000 metric tons of plastic a year to make -- well, those won't change.

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. Looking at markets around the world, trying to stabilize after a tough day yesterday. European shares have opened lower here.

On Wall Street, looking at futures, barely mixed here. Stocks fell Monday on grim news of rising U.S. coronavirus cases, new shutdowns in Europe, and a stalemate in Washington over economic relief.

The travel industry hit hard with a big sell-off for U.S. airlines and hotels. Cruise lines among the worst-performing stocks in the S&P.

There's a lot for investors to grapple with here. U.S. virus cases are surging but Congress seems to be at a stalemate over new stimulus. Stimulus would help millions of out-of-work Americans and struggling industries.

There is a bright spot, you know, and that has been the housing market. After a very strong summer, we saw new home sales fall a little bit in September, down 3 1/2 percent from August, but that's after four months of gains.

Despite this blip in the month, the housing market remains pretty strong. New home sales up 32.1 percent from last year. That's because record low mortgage rates and families -- look, they're searching for more space as the pandemic drags on.

Like most of the economy, the housing market stalled in March and April but then pent-up demand meant huge sales of the summer and that drove home prices to record highs in many parts of the U.S.

And those families stuck at home, speaking of toys, that's been good news for Hasbro. The maker of Monopoly and Scrabble saw gaming sales jump 21 percent last quarter. Homebound families spent a lot more on board games and that beat analysts' expectations, even if overall revenue fell due to delays in T.V. and film production.

This is also a big turnaround from July. Hasbro's sales took a hit when the pandemic caused temporary factory shutdowns. But that pent-up demand is really something to see here.

JARRETT: Well, luck struck twice for a new millionaire from Michigan. Samir Mazahem, of Dearborn Heights, accidentally bought two identical lottery tickets using family birthday numbers. Samir says he was a little bummed when he realized what he had done, but when he logged in to the lottery app, he realized he had two big prizes pending for a million dollars each.

Samir plans to buy a new home with his double-sized fortune.

ROMANS: Good for him.

All right. A fascinating discovery on the surface of the moon. For the first time, scientists are confirming the presence of water on the moon's sunlit surfaces. That's good news for astronauts on upcoming NASA missions. The hydrogen in water can be converted to rocket fuel, among other things.

A pair of studies found more than 15,000 square miles of lunar terrain that can trap water in the form of ice. That's 20 percent more than previous estimates.

That's so cool.

JARRETT: EARLY START is always good for some space news.

ROMANS: I know, it really is.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

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[05:59:16]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just took weeks for Amy Coney Barrett, now the ninth Supreme Court justice.

MCCONNELL: This nominee will be a political asset for our candidates.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House held an event celebrating that confirmation. You did see people wearing masks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was insane that they didn't learn their lesson from the first super-spreader event.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The average number of new cases in the U.S. nearly 69,000 a day. DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: We're at the highest baseline we've ever been. It's not good news.

TRUMP: I mean, I got it and I'm here, right?

BIDEN: Trump said that we're learning to live with this COVID. No, he's asking us to learn to die with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, October 27th, 6:00 here in New York.

Election Day is one week away.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: One week left to vote.

CAMEROTA: That's right. That is exactly right.

BERMAN: We're both right in this case, but I'm more right.