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New Day
Biden and Trump Campaign Pushes; Coronavirus Pandemic Update from Around the U.S.; A "Reality Check" on Trump's Economy Claim. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired October 27, 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]
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Make sure that you get your ballot in. And, of course, that's what we're telling all of our viewers, make sure you vote, vote early, vote often.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, don't vote often, vote early.
HOLMES: Yes, don't vote often. Don't vote often. Just vote early.
BERMAN: Vote -- vote early.
And, look, if there are drop boxes available in your state, put the ballots in the drop box, which you can do up until Election Day and they will be guaranteed to be counted. That is a very safe way to make sure that your vote counts. You might not want to count on the mail service for very much more many days.
Kristen, thank you so much for being with us.
So, with one week left to vote, where are the candidates going? It tells such an important story. Former Vice President Joe Biden is going to Georgia. This is a state that no Democrat has won since 1992. President Trump has largely been playing defense going to states he needs to win. His itinerary today includes a stop in Nebraska. He's going all the way to Nebraska to fight for a single electoral vote.
Abby Phillip is back with us. Also joining us is Anna Palmer. She's a senior Washington correspondent for "Politico."
Anna, let's talk about Georgia because there's just seven days left to vote. Think of it like real estate. Each calendar day is a piece of real estate. If you're devoting a full chunk of real estate to Georgia, it means something.
ANNA PALMER, SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "POLITICO": Yes, absolutely. I think nobody six months ago would say, you know where Joe Biden's going to stop just a week out from the election is going to be Georgia. But, clearly, his campaign is feeling very confident.
I also think they really like the illusions that it brings to mind with FDR and Warm Springs (ph), the economic rebuilding that the vice president wants to talk about, unity, and so this is kind of the stage that he's setting himself up for, which is very different than kind of the blocking and tackling in Florida and Pennsylvania and some of these other states where other surrogates are going.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: But, Abby, just explain their confidence. Does former VP Biden think he's going to win Georgia or is he just trying to put President Trump on defense? Is he trying to shore up Senate races and down ballot Democrats? What's that strategy there?
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's probably a little bit of both. I mean, at this stage, you see the Biden/Harris campaign really trying to at least have touch points in some of these states that could be on the edge. It's not exactly clear where Georgia and Texas stand, but if it is close, these last-minute visits could matter.
But as you pointed out, check out the down ballot in Georgia and in Iowa. In Georgia you have two Senate races that are potentially competitive for Democrats. And in Iowa you have a Senate race and several congressional House races that are also in contention as well. So you're seeing the Biden campaign not just trying to kind of give a one last touch to some of these states that could be potentially competitive if things are very close, but also trying to lift up some of the down ballot, infusing some resources into those states at the last minute. And those are the kinds of things that four years ago absolutely the Clinton campaign wanted to do, but this -- the dynamics of the race four years ago were so different. You were seeing a tightening at this stage and I think right now you're not seeing that much of a dramatic closing of the race between Biden and Trump, as you did between Trump and Clinton four years ago.
BERMAN: We'll have Harry Enten on in the next hour. And one of the things that Harry will tell us, here's a preview, is that you're seeing no tightening as of today.
PHILLIP: Yes.
BERMAN: No tightening at all, at least in the polls yet post-debate. There will be Republicans out there spinning, oh my God, the race turned around in the second debate. No, there's no evidence of that, at least not yet.
Anna, Abby was talking about Joe Biden heading to Iowa also. I mean Georgia is not an island here. Joe Biden doesn't need Georgia. He doesn't need Iowa to win. So I think the answer to Alisyn's question is, is it to play offense or is it to force Donald Trump do things and go places? The answer is yes, it's both, it's all of the above. And, I think, the Senate races.
How do you see it?
PALMER: Yes, absolutely. I mean I think one of the things that we've talked a lot about on this show and others is just the amount of cash that Democrats have. They are forcing Republicans, not only Donald Trump, but certainly in the Senate, with the majority at the state for Republicans to play defense. And the fact that he's going to Iowa, Joni Ernst is in a dead heat with -- in her Senate race. Something that I don't think a lot of people would have predicted. You're seeing that in Georgia, Texas. You know, there's some states, Arizona and Colorado, where I think Republicans have had to concede that they just know that they're probably going to lose there.
So definitely this is about continuing to try to expand the map. Democrats feel like they have the cash advantage where they can play in as many states as possible. They don't have to just say, all right, we're going to put all our chips in these three states to try to win. They're going to try to make Republicans go hard in all of these states that would have been probably just, you know, thought of as a Republican win on the board in a state like Georgia, Iowa, and others.
[06:35:01]
CAMEROTA: Right. But, Abby, remember in 2016, when Hillary was Hillaried (ph) -- see what I did there -- for not spending more time in that blue wall, you know, the Midwest blue wall states and so many people thought that maybe that was why she lost. And is Joe Biden possibly making the same mistake?
PHILLIP: Well, you see that he is going to Wisconsin toward the end of this week. He does not want to have that said about him next week, that he didn't go to these blue wall states in the final days of this campaign.
You know, I don't think that you're seeing the Biden campaign neglecting the core states that are key to their victory. You're seeing them try to do both. So it's -- it's an and strategy, not an or strategy. That really can't be said of the Trump campaign because they are not really playing offense really anywhere in this map.
The central part of the Biden strategy is really going to be Pennsylvania, and then everything kind of flows from there. If they can hold on to Pennsylvania, it makes this path so much easier for them and it makes the -- and it also can be a signaling of what the rest of the rust belt might do because of the similarities in -- between the states in terms of how they vote and how they might act on Election Day.
BERMAN: Joe Biden is going to Michigan, is going to Wisconsin.
PHILLIP: Yes.
BERMAN: And by all accounts, I mean you could assume, we don't have it yet on itinerary, he will be in Pennsylvania at least once more. Wilmington, Delaware, he can walk out his backdoor and practically walk to Pennsylvania. So you can imagine he'll be there.
Abby, I want your take on something Jared Kushner said yesterday. President Trump and Jared Kushner have both been very active in trying to woo the African-American vote, in ways that Republicans haven't necessarily before. But what Jared Kushner said yesterday when he went on Fox TV plays in to one of the more demeaning tropes that is out there. I want you to listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JARED KUSHNER, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: One thing we've seen in a lot of the black community, which is mostly Democrat, is that President Trump's policies are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they're complaining about, but he can't want them to be successful more than they want to be successful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So says the child of privilege, Abby, the white child of privilege.
PHILLIP: It's really an incredible comment. I mean he -- you can hear him effectively saying that black Americans don't want to be successful because they're not voting for Trump, which is a ridiculous statement on its face.
But it's condescending. And I think at a time that the Trump campaign is trying to claim that they are appealing to black voters and that they have an agenda for black voters, this idea that black people in this country are just simply not -- simply too lazy to -- to help themselves or -- or not acting in their own best interests when they go to the ballot box and vote for someone other than President Trump is -- it's an absurd statement and it's -- it's coming at a time when, you know, the Trump campaign is really amping up the criticism of Democrats and claiming that Democrats have done nothing for black Americans.
But the reality is that this kind of attitude is exactly why black Americans don't want to vote for Republicans because it's in the idea that they -- they are sort of -- there's some sort of a patronage relationship. It's condescending and it's really wrong. And it's -- it's surprising also, I would say, John and Alisyn, that you haven't heard Jared Kushner at least try to clarify what he meant to say in that statement or walk it back in some way.
BERMAN: Jared Kushner, who pulled himself up by his gold plated boot straps.
PHILLIP: Yes.
BERMAN: All right, Abby, Anna, thank you both so much for being with us this morning.
News breaking overnight in Philadelphia. A fatal police shooting. There were protests. We're learning that dozens of officers have been hurt. We have the breaking details, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:43:14]
CAMEROTA: Breaking news out of Philadelphia. A fatal police shooting overnight leading to violent protests. Police say they were responding to a call of a man with a knife and officials say he was shot after refusing to drop the knife. Video of the incident was posted online and we want to warn you it is disturbing. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo, watch my (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back off, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo, this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) crazy (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put the knife down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put the knife down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put the knife down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move, move, move!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh! Oh!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: 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 chief is asking the public to let the investigation play out before passing judgment. Police say 30 officers were injured in the protests overnight, including one that was hit by a pickup truck, but all are in stable condition at this hour.
BERMAN: Also developing this morning, more than 90,000 residents in southern California have now been forced to evacuate after a wildfire nearly quadrupled in size. At least two firefighters have been critically injured. Officials suspect a heated power line may have started this fire.
CAMEROTA: OK, this morning, Tropical Storm Zeta is barreling towards Louisiana, where it is forecast to make landfall as a hurricane tomorrow.
CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has our forecast.
How does it look, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Alisyn, hurricane warnings are already issued from Morgan City, all the way over to Alabama. Hurricane conditions are expected in the next 36 hours.
The storm came onshore in Mexico near Cozumel as an 80-mile-per-hour storm.
[06:45:00]
Overnight, it lost a little intensity because it's over land. Now down to 70.
But when it gets back into this water, it's going to restrengthen into another category one hurricane.
And this is going to have a lot of wind with it. This is going to be a windy category one because of the speed that this thing is moving. Kind of like -- think about the World Series. If the outfielder is running and throws the ball, the ball goals farther. If he's backing up and throws the ball, the ball goes shorter. It's the forward momentum of the right side of the eye that's going to produce winds, I think, at least 90 miles per hour here across parts of eastern New Orleans, all the way through Mobile, possibly even into parts of Florida itself. Storm surge, four to eight feet. That's the saltwater that comes on shore, the salt water that comes on shore.
D.C., you're going to get rain from this Thursday and Friday. That's how quickly this storm goes.
And here's what Louisiana's 2020 looks like. Laura, Delta, Cristobel, Marco, and now Zeta.
Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: That is a rough 2020 by any definition. Thank you very much, Chad.
OK, so hospitals in Utah are overwhelmed with coronavirus patients and they may be forced to decide which ones receive care. We have the details, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:50:09]
BERMAN: Nearly 67,000 new coronavirus cases reported overnight. A lot of people don't want to hear it, but that was the most cases we've ever had on a Monday. A Monday you normally get fewer cases. That's a very high number. Twelve states are reporting record hospitalizations. We have reporters across the country bringing you the latest developments.
(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 will decide who gets an ICU bed and who doesn't. Under plans being developed, decisions will 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 the 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 clause all of its facilities to in-person events until November 6th 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)
BERMAN: A harsh reality for so many all across the country.
So, President Trump likes to say things that are not true about the economy. A "Reality Check," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:55:51]
CAMEROTA: One week to go until Election Day and a key part of President Trump's re-election pitch is his insistence that he created the best U.S. economy in history. Is that true? John Avlon has our "Reality Check."
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: There are certainties in life, death, taxes. And if you listen long enough, that you're going to hear Donald Trump say something like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're having the best economy we've ever had in the history of our country.
This is the greatest economy that we've had in our history. The best.
We're having probably the greatest economy that we've had anywhere, anytime in the history of our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: So what about that greatest economy in history claim? It's clear the president's hanging a lot of his re-election hopes on it. But is it true?
Well, it turns out, like 22,000 other things, it just isn't.
Of course, to get to the greatest economy in history, Trump would have to first best his predecessor. But as our chief business correspondent Christine Romans points out -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Even before the coronavirus wiped out millions of jobs, jobs growth in Trump's first 36 months trailed the job creation in Obama's last three years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: And as for GDP, that Trump once said this about --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our gross domestic product, it was below zero. Who ever heard of this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: Nobody ever heard of that because negative GDP simply doesn't exist.
Also non-existent --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think we can go to four, five, and maybe even 6 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: We never got there under Trump. But you know when we did? In the 1960s, when GDP growth was nearly 7 percent, or the early '50s, when GDP grew by nearly 9 percent. Best in history, right?
And if you break it down, quarter by quarter, Trump's real GDP before the pandemic looks a lot like Obama's. It would appear that Trump is conflating his world's greatest economy with gangbuster stock market results, hitting record highs even during the pandemic. And here's the thing, folks, Wall Street is not main street.
Get this, 10 percent of Americans own 87 percent of the stock market. And nearly half of Americans don't own any stock at all.
All right, lightning round.
Best unemployment rate before the pandemic? Three and a half percent, which is really impressive, but not as impressive at 1953 when it was 2.5 percent.
Hourly earnings, up 3.4 percent under Trump, but up 3.7 percent under Obama.
Manufacturing. Despite Trump's cheerleading the American factory worker, there's a good chance that worker's out of a job today because manufacturing hit a decade low under Trump's stewardship.
How about coal jobs? President Trump promised to save the coal industry, but the coal industry is off 25 percent this year with at least 5,000 fewer coal mining jobs and more coal fired plants set to close in Trump's term than in Obama's second term.
Finally, let's look at deficits and debt, which fiscal conservatives used to campaign about. They are historically breathtakingly high, set to exceed the size of the whole U.S. economy next year.
No, Trump did not have the strongest economy in our history, not even close.
And that's your "Reality Check."
CAMEROTA: John Avlon, thank you very much.
And NEW DAY continues right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): This is one of the most brilliant, admired and well qualified nominees.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It didn't take long after Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court that the White House held an event celebrating --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would you bring so many people and put them at risk? I think it was offensive, completely unnecessary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. is now reporting its highest level of weekly new cases ever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there aren't substantial changes in what individuals are going, these numbers are going to continue to go up.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: COVID, COVID, COVID, that's all they talk about. What progress we've made on it too.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Donald Trump is the worst possible president to try to lead us through this pandemic.
(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 NEW DAY.
One week left to vote and the coronavirus pandemic has hit a new crisis level.
[07:00:02]
We just had the highest number of cases ever reported on a Monday.
The average number of daily cases hit a new high.
