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U.S. Averaging 70,000 New Cases a Day as Pandemic Worsens; Justice Amy Coney Barrett Sworn in, Reshaping the Supreme Court; How to Vote Safely as Cases Surge Across U.S. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 27, 2020 - 07:00   ET

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


JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: Has hit a new crisis level.

[07:00:02]

We just had the highest number of cases ever recorded on a Monday. The average number of daily cases hit a new high, nearly 70,000. Five states are reporting a record number of cases while hospitalizations, and this is such a key number, hospitalizations in 12 states are at record levels.

You can't get much further apart on the math than Newark, New Jersey, and Idaho, but both places now are having to take major action to fight a surge in cases. El Paso, Texas, Utah, all over the place, it's the same story across the country.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NEW DAY: Meanwhile, more than 62 million Americans have already cast their ballots in 2020, the Trump and Biden campaigns shifting into high gear with just one week to go. So both candidates will focus on critical battleground states including the swing state of Pennsylvania, but they have other untraditional stops planned as well like Biden today in Georgia and Trump in Nebraska. So we will dig into why they're going there.

BERMAN: Joining us now, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and CNN Political Analyst David Gregory.

David, I can't tell you how happy we are to have you here having just recovered or still recovering yourself from a bout with COVID. We'll talk about that in a second.

But, Sanjay, first I want to talk about the 42,000 Davids out there right now, the ones who are hospitalized or battling this virus. It's getting worse, appreciably worse across the country. We're seeing the hospitalization rates rise at an alarming level.

And Dr. Deborah Birx, remember her? She is still out there warning people to be careful. And you get the sense she's beginning to feel like people aren't listening. She went to Bismarck, North Dakota, and she was lecturing people there. But I actually think she would have been talking to a much wider audience there.

She told them, quote, over the last 24 hours we were here and we were in your grocery stores and in your restaurants and, frankly, even your hotels. This is the least use of masks that we have seen in retail establishments of any place we have been and we find that deeply unfortunate because you don't know who is infected and you don't know if you're infected yourself.

This is happening, and Deborah Birx is seeing this as these hospitalization rates rise and the cases skyrocket, Sanjay. What do you see?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, you got a significant percentage of the country who is still saying, look, because you didn't tell us to wear masks right away in January and February, we're not going to wear them going into October, November, December. You can't change your mind on this and we won't change our mind on this. It's really unfortunate.

I mean, you've shown the trend lines. We know that the cases are increasing. We're worried that the numbers are going to started going into exponential growth. So it doesn't go up linearly anymore, it's just the cases really start to build on each other and you go straight up. You are seeing that in other parts of the world, seeing it in Europe, for example, and we're trailing maybe a week or two behind that. So it's really concerning.

If we have that hospitalization graphic again, this is the thing that I've been paying particularly close attention to. And I've been calling people and speaking to people who are running hospital systems around the country. As we've talked about, there's all sorts of different things they're doing to get prepared. They know that the numbers are starting to increase significantly and they're starting to try and develop surge capacity. But I got to tell you, they're really worried.

And that map that you showed showing where the states are that have the highest sort of hospitalization rates now in this, still in October, mostly in northern sort of states. You have New Mexico, as you mentioned, El Paso as well, but mostly in northern states.

Remember how this virus sort of moves around. It doesn't go away in the warmer weather, there may be a slight beneficial impact from warmer weather. As the entire country starts to get cold, you're going to see more and more of that red come down into the southern states as well. And, look, it's really very concerning.

You have hospital directors now saying to me, we may be at the point where we need some sort of circuit breaker-type shutdown. Now, you know, nobody likes the word shutdown, but this idea that the virus is transmitting so quickly right now these communities, what are you going to do to just break the cycle of transmission, to just stop it, halt it, not as a panacea, not as a cure, but to at least buy time for these hospitals to catch up.

It may not be our decision anymore. We keep thinking it's our decision. At some point, the virus is going to make that decision for us by overwhelming hospitals.

CAMEROTA: David, so many people have been worried about you. So it's so great to see you. And tell us --

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Tell us what these past 14 days have been like for you since you started struggling with coronavirus.

GREGORY: Well, I mean, let me just say at the outset that I'm very fortunate. I mean, I am among the majority of people who can get the virus and who did just fine and who go through an unpleasant experience but can recover at home, right? I mean, I wasn't hospitalized, thankfully.

[07:05:00]

I'm healthy and pretty fit and so those things matter. So I understand how completely lucky I am and have been for 14 days.

That said, all I thought about every day was Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who keep saying you don't want that virus and that's all I would think about. So it was hard. It was difficult. The extreme fatigue, living with fever for about 13 days, you know, the cough and chest irritation.

And then I have to say that the -- and then the difficulty breathing, I didn't have difficulty breathing, but when I would exert myself going up a couple flights of stairs, trying to go half a block around the neighborhood, I couldn't do it. I had to sit on the sidewalk. And that was a really frightening and humbling experience to get a sense of, wow, this is even under the better of circumstances, because I was so fortunate, this is what it's doing to my body.

And I would say it's the psychological piece of it too, which I think Sanjay has talked about. You know, I've had the flu, we've had the flu, we feel like crap. But, you know, okay, we'll have the flu, I'll get better. Here there was kind of COVID on the brain, the idea that, what if I get worse? What if I take a dive? I did. I was, you know, pretty mild, and then I got worse. And I was wondering, you know, what if I get sicker? And then combined with, you know, the isolation, it was a pretty depressing thing as well.

BERMAN: I have to say it was the duration of your battle, David, that did worry me. I mean, and the text I got from you, I was glad that it wasn't getting worse. But for a long time, it just wasn't getting better quickly. And it did seem -- all joking aside, you're very healthy. You're a strapping young man. And the fact that your recovery wasn't faster, was worrying me.

And, Sanjay, the fact like a guy like David Gregory can't take a walk around the block, I think, tells you how severe this illness can be.

GUPTA: Yes. David, I'm so sorry that you've gone through that. I can still hear it. Obviously, we can hear it in your voice and you're coughing and I'm sure your family, that's the other thing. I've talked to a lot of patients and you're obviously worried your family is also hearing, you know, the course of COVID and I'm sure they were worried about you. I'm glad you're doing so much better. But this is -- this is a strange virus in terms of how it behaves, right? We're still learning. We call it a respiratory virus, it is. And, David, I can hear the cough and I imagine the respiratory symptoms that you're describing were the majority of it. But the inflammation that it causes in the body, the concerns about clotting, you're going to get through this hopefully with no long-term sequelae. But there are people who do develop these long hauler-type symptoms.

So it's really -- it's strange. We tend to put this virus into a box. It's a novel virus but it acts like flu, so we're going to put it in a flu box. It acts like SARS, so we'll put it in a SARS box. And at some point, we think, we realize, as scientists, it is truly novel.

And how often do we as adults get to experience something truly novel? When is the last time you've experienced something for the first time? Well, this virus is that. We are still learning about in terms of how it behaves in the body, its immunity, what it does to the body overall.

So, again, David, I'm sorry you went through this, you're experiencing something that human beings are experiencing now with this virus for the first time.

GREGORY: And I think it's worth pointing out too, again, I just underline how fortunate I've been in so many different ways. But you can just apply my experience to people who may have more difficult circumstances in lots of ways. It's not only that you, the individual, get sick and you have some worries about that, but you're also worried about your family. Thankfully, my family was negative, which is also this aspect of this virus, which is why some people get infected and others not.

But it is so disruptive, you know, to the rest of your family because of their quarantine, unlike Vice President Pence, you know, everybody in my family actually adhered to the CDC rule about, you know, 14 days. So, you know, it has a real impact all the way around.

And I'm -- I also find myself really agitated about the prospect of being around other people. And even though I'm better now and probably in a better position in terms of immunity for the moment, I find myself having this agitated reaction being anywhere near other people. So, again, this is the novel part of this, it really plays tricks on you.

BERMAN: Sanjay, we're going to let you go and make David do his day job now and talk politics with us.

CAMEROTA: Yes, your 14-day hiatus, David, is over. So with one -- we'll see you in a minute, Sanjay.

So with one week left, David Gregory, in this race, what are jumps out at you today?

GREGORY: I just think the general frame. I mean, I just can't remember in my lifetime when there has been such a dominant issue that speaks to general welfare of people voting and questions of competence and how the president of the United States has handled something that is so central to what people are going vote about.

[07:10:17]

And so I think, you know, there's a lot of focus on individual issues, it could be the Supreme Court, it could be taxes and whatnot. I think more and more voters are grappling with this cumulative experience of the president and this idea of fear. Fear of the president getting a second term and on the other side fear of what people perceive are the excesses of the left. So I think those are the real drivers now.

And, you know, it's -- none of that is baiting (ph). We're going right up to the end of voting with that frame around it.

BERMAN: Which is why maybe the rallies that the president is doing don't help him as much as Republicans think and nervous Democrats fear that they might, because as a reminder of that central issue.

David, I think I remember being on the trail with you in 2000 when George W. Bush went to Arkansas, which had been a state that Bill Clinton had been won twice, because that's where he's from. And everyone was like, George W. Bush going to Arkansas, Republicans have a chance there. Sometimes where you go tells a story. And, of course, Republicans haven't lost Arkansas since then.

Joe Biden is going to Georgia today, two stops, Atlanta and Warm Springs. What does that tell you?

GREGORY: Well, also remember in 2000 when Governor Bush went to California, and he was on The Tonight's Show, he was campaigning because they had one poll and he's like, Gregory, you watch, I'm going to win California. I said no you're not. But he had one poll that showed he was doing well.

I think it's a little different here. I think there's enough offense that Biden and Harris feel like they can play that it's legitimate to spend the time and the money. The Biden campaign also has enough money to try to create momentum and narrative around a state like Georgia when it's certainly not something he needs.

What he really wants to do is draw the president into defending more and more territory that he had in four years ago that he simply can't lose now. But if you're Joe Biden, it's Florida and it's the upper Midwest.

CAMEROTA: David Gregory, great to see you. Great to have you back to help with us this final week. We will see you early and often.

GREGORY: Okay. Thanks, guys.

CAMEROTA: All right, join us for a special live coverage event the way only CNN can bring it to you from the first votes to the critical count. Understand what's happening in your state and across the country, CNN's Election Night in America, the special coverage begins next Tuesday at 4:00 P.M. Eastern.

BERMAN: That's when it begins. CAMEROTA: I can't believe it's almost here.

Okay, Senate Republicans are celebrating their third Supreme Court justice in the Trump presidency. But will this vote cost them the majority? We'll speak with the woman hoping to defeat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

CAMEROTA: Amy Coney Barrett confirmed by the U.S. Senate, reshaping the high court and cementing a conservative majority maybe for a generation. The Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Barrett 52-48. A lot of Senate Democrats are calling the process illegitimate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell touted the lifetime appointment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Joining me now is Democratic Senate Candidate Amy McGrath who is challenging Senator McConnell in Kentucky. We should note, we invited Senator McConnell to come on the show, the campaign says they are considering it. Colonel McGrath, thank you so much for being with us.

Could you make the case or what do you say to those who say that majority leadership McConnell delivered what he promised to the people of Kentucky in terms of the Supreme Court?

AMY MCGRATH (D) KENTUCKY U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, you know what, I mean, he just said -- he talked about this being a political asset. it shows you everything that is wrong with Senator Mitch McConnell. And Kentuckians really get this.

And the reason I say that is because, here, we have a man in the middle of a national crisis where we have a million of Kentuckians that have filed for unemployment sometime in the last three months. We have 300,000 Kentuckians that don't have health care, we have 40 percent of Kentucky renters facing eviction, and instead of working on the coronavirus aid that Kentucky needs, that our country needs.

He's ramming through a Supreme Court nominee and that's actually all about taking away health care from people, because the first case that the Supreme Court is going to hear is going to be the Affordable Care act. I mean, that is absolutely not looking out for Kentuckians when you consider that 500,000 Kentuckians will be thrown off their health care if the Affordable Care Act goes away.

BERMAN: Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee, has suggested putting together a blue ribbon panel, he calls it, to look at issues surrounding Supreme Court reform. What's your view on that proposal and how much reform would you like to see?

MCGRATH: Well, clearly, we need some reform. And here, it goes back to Senator McConnell. I mean, this process, he has polarized it and made it so dysfunctional that we had senators saying they would vote for or against the nominee even before her name came out. I mean, he has broken our system just like he's broken the Senate. The first step to reform is getting rid of him. And then beyond that, we have to make sure that we get this process back.

BERMAN: How?

MCGRATH: So I think -- I'm not interested in packing the courts, that's what Senator McConnell has done. I'm interested in unpacking the Senate so that we can get our process back in this country.

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: The Senate has gone home. They're not going to meet again until November 9th. Your view on that.

MCGRATH: Well, I think it's a dereliction of duty. You know, we are in a moment of a national crisis right now. We have 230,000 Americans dead in nine months. And we have a senator and a Senate majority leader that fast tracks Supreme Court nominees and slow tracks everything else.

President Trump has said he wants to do coronavirus aid, effective coronavirus aid. The House already passed two bills that were effective coronavirus aid for Kentucky, for our state, for the country. And Senator McConnell is not interested in even negotiating. To me, it's a dereliction of duty. It's absolutely what we should not be doing in a moment of national crisis. It's the one big reason why we've got to get rid of Mitch McConnell.

BERMAN: The last Republican proposal or proposal from the White House would have been $1.8 trillion. Would you have supported that proposal that Nancy Pelosi didn't?

MCGRATH: Well, I think that both sides should have been negotiating. Now, let me say that President Trump's proposal was a lot better than Mitch McConnell's proposal, which was about one fourth of that. His little teeny tiny bill wouldn't have been effective for our country. It would have been not effective for Kentucky and it's not serious.

And, again, it goes back to what he just said when you played the clip. It's all about politics for him. It's not about Kentucky. When we did a debate a week-and-a-half ago when we were side by side, you could clearly see a man that all he cared about was political talking points and Washington, D.C. politics. He doesn't -- he's not interested in Kentucky and the things that we need.

You know, when you're trying throw away the Affordable Care Act, that's 1.8 million Kentuckians have pre-existing conditions. They would be thrown under the bus. That's 52,000 jobs in Kentucky that would be affected, that would lose if the Affordable Care Act goes away. And he has been trying to do that for a decade. That's not looking out for us.

BERMAN: I want to get your take on something that senior White House Adviser Jared Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of the president and the son of a very rich man, I want your take on something he said about African-Americans in this country and whether or not they want to help themselves, in his words. Listen.

(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: They need to want to be successful. What's your assessment of that? What message do you think it sends to African-American voters in Kentucky?

MCGRATH: You know, I just think it's -- it's disgraceful that he would say that. You know, we're a country that we -- leaders have to work to make opportunity for everyone. And those members of the African-American community in Kentucky, they know we need change. They know that we need better opportunities. We have a $20 billion education gap in this country between majority white schools and majority non-white schools.

How is that fair? How is that right? You know that anybody who is leader that looks at that says, we've got to do better. That's something I want to tackle in the Senate. I mean, I just think it just shows a disconnect. But I'm not worried about the president's son, I'm worried about Mitch McConnell because he's not serious about tackling any of these problems either. And so we have to replace him so that we can go and do this. I mean, that's about what our country is about, making us a more perfect union, making us have more opportunity for everybody.

BERMAN: Colonel McGrath, we appreciate you being with us. One week left to vote, I am sure you'll be very busy over the next week left. We do appreciate your time.

MCGRATH: All right.

BERMAN: So, voting this year could smash all-time records, long lines across the country.

Up next, some important tips how you can cast your ballot safely this year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00] CAMEROTA: One week left to cast your ballot. Hundreds of thousands of voters have already lined up across the country to vote early and in person. Many states seeing long lines, as you can see here, as the U.S. experiences the worst week in coronavirus cases. So how can you stay safe voting as well as during the upcoming holidays?

Joining us now, CNN Contributor Erin Bromage, he's a biology professor at U. Mass Dartmouth and a researcher of infectious diseases. Professor Bromage, always great to see you.

Let's start with the voting. You've seen those long lines in so many states. When you see people basically standing, it looks like, five to six feet apart, are you seeing them engaging in any risky behavior or are you comfortable with that?

ERIN BROMAGE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: As long as we're lining up outdoors. We've got the physical distance and they're wearing masks, it really is a low-risk activity just waiting there outside. So I'm -- while I don't like lines for five or six hours, I think they should wait -- make ways to allow to us vote faster. I think that that is low risk. The higher risk is when we get closer to the actually polling station and get indoors.

CAMEROTA: And what do you do about that? Once you -- I mean, you have to go in to vote. So, how do you stay safe?

BROMAGE: Well, staying safe is going and being prepared.