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Protests Erupt in Philadelphia After Fatal Police Shooting of a Black Man; Russia Imposes Nationwide Mask Mandate As Cases and Deaths Soar; Europe Sees Rise in COVID Cases as Paris Braces for New Restrictions. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 27, 2020 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

ERIN BROMAGE, BIOLOGY PROFESSOR, UMASS DARTMOUTH: Get indoors.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And what do you do about that? Once -- you know, you have to go in to vote. So what's -- how do you stay safe?

BROMAGE: Well, staying safe is going there, being prepared. So, having a look at the ballot, looking at a sample ballot before you actually get there so that you know what the issues are, who you're voting for, and what you're looking at when you actually get into the polling booth. So, spend a little bit of time at home looking at a sample ballot, that way, when you do come indoors, the time that you spend in there can be reduced just to the time that you need to be inside the actual polling station itself.

CAMEROTA: I also read that you said don't talk to somebody without a mask on. If a friend comes up to you or whatever and is not wearing a mask, don't engage that person.

BROMAGE: Yes, distance is really our -- you know, our friend right now. So distance and masks gives you two layers of protection. If somebody doesn't have a mask on, step back and have your mask. That's just common safety when we're dealing with a viral pandemic that's spread by respiratory droplets.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's move on to Halloween and your tips for how to do it safely. Number one, you say don't let kids come to your door, OK, so what should you do?

BROMAGE: Yes, so one of my concerns with Halloween, especially at my own place is when the children knock on the door, it becomes a really tight, confined space with a number of people there yelling trick or treat. And that just creates that close environment that we really are trying to avoid right now. So, I'm really proud of what they're doing in my neighborhood.

Everyone is setting up tables down the end of their driveway, some people have put up big spider webs and they're hanging the candy from the spider webs. So, the kids are still having the trick or treating experience, there's still the social aspect to it, but it's done in a way that is safe both for the house, the people in the house, and the kids that are trick or treating.

CAMEROTA: And where are you on Halloween masks? Can kids wear their plastic Halloween masks or should they just be in the cloth masks?

BROMAGE: Well, my son is wearing a mask under a mask. So he's doing both. But if we acknowledge that we're going to be outdoors, we're going to be -- we're going to be safer because we are outdoors, if we can physically distance, if the kids aren't wearing a mask and you can be smart enough to judge your distance between people, you can do it safely. But a mask under a mask would be the safest way to actually go.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about Thanksgiving. Are you one of the people like Dr. Fauci who believes basically that we should cancel it now so as not to expose particularly our grandparents to any possible risk?

BROMAGE: Yes, I have to admit I'm feeling a little dark about Thanksgiving, given just the high community prevalence we have right now. If we had squashed it down, we could look at having this in a safer way. But right now across many parts of the country, we're already on fire in regards to this, you know, pandemic with this virus circulating through.

And, yes, we are seeing it in younger people more than older people. But Thanksgiving is a time we bring all the family together, young and old, and that's exactly what is needed for it to jump from the people that get infected, but not overly sick to the people that get it and end up with really poor outcomes.

So, we need to be really smart about what we're actually doing, limiting the number of households, if there's high-risk people in the households, then really think about, you know, changing those plans to not having it with those family groups there. I know it's a decision that everyone needs to make and really think about, but there are some pretty big risks associated with gathering everybody together this year. And I don't think it's as simple as just saying, I'm going ahead with it, but I also know people probably will.

CAMEROTA: Because it's such a tough one. I mean, obviously, if you can just keep it to your immediate family, that's easy, right? That's easy, that's who you eat dinner with every night. But if you have --

BROMAGE: Right --

CAMEROTA: A grandparent who is alone, is there -- are there any tips that you have for bringing that person over or should that person just has to spend Thanksgiving alone?

BROMAGE: So, if you're going to do it, you know, follow the smarter plan, which is make sure in the week leading up to Thanksgiving, really starting the weekend before that all the activities you have are low risk.

You know, I would not have necessarily my children in school or bring them together for larger social functions such as sports and things in that week leading up to it. The same in my own life with, you know, parents that you really need to think that if I am going to invite an aged family member to my house, I have to protect them.

[07:35:00]

So, make sure that all the interactions you've got in that week leading up to it are very low risk, so the chance of you being infected are low. But then inside your house, think about how you set it up. You know, I would not necessarily put that person that's at risk, a different family member, household member, right next to others. I would give them more space. I would open windows up. We are buying HEPA filter, like a nice-sized HEPA filter to go into the living room because we have the same.

We have an older parent that would like to come and visit us, and we would like to do it, and we're really trying to work our heads through how we can do this safely while still maintaining this, you know, holiday, you know, just this celebration that we've always had.

CAMEROTA: Yes, Professor Erin Bromage, thank you very much. We always appreciate talking to you and getting your tips.

BROMAGE: Thank you, Alisyn. Good morning to you.

CAMEROTA: You too. Breaking news. There is unrest in Philadelphia after police shot and killed a black man overnight. We have details for you and a live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. A deadly police shooting in Philadelphia. Video shows officers telling the 27-year-old African- American man to drop a knife before repeatedly opening fire. CNN's Alexandra Field joins us now with the breaking details. And there were protests overnight as well, Alex?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, John. And the man shot and killed by police has now been identified as Walter Wallace by the mayor of Philadelphia, and this all started when police responded to a call, reporting a man wielding a knife in west Philadelphia. What happens next is captured on cellphone video, I'll pause here, so we can all listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You watch my room. It is getting crazy out here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put the knife down! Put the knife down! Put the knife down! Move!

(GUNSHOTS)

(END VIDEO CLIP) FIELD: We've paused the video, as you can see there just before

Wallace falls to the ground. But you do hear a number of shots fired. John, it isn't clear how many of those bullets struck Wallace. We know he was then taken by police cruiser to a hospital where he died of his injuries. The mayor of the city and the police commissioner say, they have reviewed video of what they call the tragic incident. They say it raises many questions and both have committed to a complete investigation.

That, as the president of the police union asks the public to wait for that investigation to be complete, and to not vilify the police department. However, the video you're seeing is of the protests that was sparked overnight. There were reports of at least 30 police officers were injured, mostly by projectiles. At least, one officer is still in the hospital. She was struck by a truck, breaking her leg and sustaining several other injuries.

We know that the Mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney has been in touch with the Wallace family. The police commissioner says she will join the mayor in meeting with members of the family as well as members of the community to hear their concern. She goes on to say that she can feel the anger of the community, certainly very much on display overnight, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We'll see what happens there today, Alex, thank you very much. Developing this morning, Russia is imposing a nationwide mask mandate and other drastic measures to spread the -- stop the spread of coronavirus. The country is seeing a record surge in cases and in deaths while cities in Europe impose new restrictions to deal with their latest wave, we have reporters covering the pandemic around the globe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Melissa Bell in Paris. Here in Europe, the second wave continues to hit hard. Several countries continuing to see record rises in their coronavirus figures. Countries like Norway, the Czech Republic announcing fresh restrictions, and now this week, we expect countries like Belgium, France and Germany to announce a tightening of restrictions of their own.

In fact, here in France, the question is not so much whether the country will tighten its restrictions, but how far it will tighten them and how close to a full lockdown we'll be by the end of the week.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Moscow as Russia is introducing a national mask mandate. Starting tomorrow, people in this country are going to have to wear masks when they're in public spaces, on public transports, in parking lots and inside elevators.

Also bars and restaurants will have to remain closed from 11:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. All this comes as Russia continues to deal with very high, new daily infections and also has recorded the single highest death toll in a span of 24 hours. STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: I'm Steven Jiang in Beijing. The

authorities in the far-western border city of Kashgar are wrapping up COVID testing for nearly 5 million local residents. The mass testing was launched over the weekend after the discovery of just one asymptomatic case.

They have since launched extensive contact-tracing and locked down four towns where more than 160 additional cases were found. Officials say this kind of swift and drastic response is exactly why they were confident they'll bring the latest outbreak under control very quickly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Our thanks to our reporters all around the world. We want to take some time to remember some of the more than 225,000 Americans lost to coronavirus. Jeannette Williams-Parker was a registered nurse in West Virginia for more than 20 years. Her daughter says she went above and beyond her job description. Always looking out for the family, stuck spending hours at the hospital. She is survived by her mother, daughter and fiance. She was just 48 years old.

Harrison Johnson was senior pastor in El Paso, Texas, for 25 years and a funeral director for 40 years. He most notably resided over a service attended by thousands for victims of last year's mass shooting at the Wal-Mart in El Paso. Johnson's funeral home says quote, "he will be missed but not forgotten", he was 65.

[07:45:00]

Charles Giambelluca was a high school sports star who went on to own a sporting goods store in New Jersey. He was also a volunteer coach of American Legion baseball team for 50 years. His son says he was never paid for it, he did it because he loved the game. He was 77 years old. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Nearly 62 million ballots have already been cast in the presidential election. Voters under 30 now represent 10 percent of those votes, and that is way up from 2016. Young people say they are engaged and ready to make their voices heard. CNN's Dana Bash is live in Washington with more. What have you learned about this, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, you know, that young voters are often the white whale of politics. Campaigns think they're energized and that they're going to turn out, but are disappointed when a large portion of them don't. But 2020 does seem different. It could be the year of the youth vote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): University of Virginia sophomore Libby Klinger is up early on a Saturday ready to roll.

LIBBY KLINGER, COMMS DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA COLLEGE REPUBLICANS: These people will probably be home now.

BASH: Joining fellow campus Republicans to get out the vote.

KLINGER: There's a lot of enthusiasm among young conservatives to vote, especially in this critical year with everything that's been going on with the pandemic. We're out here canvassing today, so --

BASH: They are the diehards, but still say everyone they know is voting.

[07:50:00]

KAYLEE CORVIN, OUTREACH COORDINATOR, UVA COLLEGE REPUBLICANS: People are really starting to recognize just all of the different chaos within the political climate right now, but voting is only real safe that we can have.

BASH: UVA Democrats are driving people to the polls, Hunter Hess(ph) waited with Mave Konick(ph) for over an hour to cast an early vote.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been doing it a lot especially with first- year students who like don't know the voting process very well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if I know anyone -- like any of my personal friends who haven't voted already.

BASH: On the lawn, these students say voting is trendy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like people on social media, they'll like post pictures of their ballot and then an I voted sticker.

BASH: So, it's almost like you feel a little peer pressure to vote?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BASH: Young voters are a crucial part of the electorate and are already making up a large share of early voting across 14 key states compared to 2016. In Wisconsin, early voting among young people is up from where it was in 2016, and both parties are working it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen an increase in the number of people, asking questions about how to register to vote, and trying to get registered to vote.

BASH: The share of the youth vote is almost double what it was this time four years ago in Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to the FSU and FAMU College Democrats.

BASH: College students here and across the pandemic-stricken country, largely organized virtually. Youth turnout broke records in 2018. And researchers at Tisch College's circle at Tufts University say protests across the country helped keep the surge going. ABBY KIESA, TUFTS UNIVERSITY'S TISCH COLLEGE OF CIVIC LIFE: We found

that young people who were marching and demonstrating not only were more likely to be registering people to vote, but were much more likely to be talking to other young people about the election and issues that they care about.

BASH: Democrats say that's the climate crisis and racial justice. Republicans, the economy and jobs. The Biden campaign motto is to reach young people where they are, launching Biden-Harris designs for players on the popular Nintendo game Animal Crossing. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gaming on the social media platform Twitch, Joe Biden talking to Cardi B.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even if my -- wins --

BASH: And his granddaughters with young influencers like Kaia Gerber and Maddie Ziegler. The Trump campaign says their best influencers are regular young people reaching out to friends like in a March Madness style competition called MAGA Madness.

CHANDLER THORNTON, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Particularly, right now, they're online, especially in this environment that we're in. So leaning into digital platforms is the best way we can reach young voters.

COURTNEY BRITT, REGIONAL VICE CHAIR, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I don't know if it's because the pandemic has reduced the number of activities that we can do, that everyone is like turned their attention, yes, like this is fewer sports to follow, so this is the thing that everyone is focused on.

BASH: Back on the lawn at UVA, some students are more passionate for the act of voting than the candidates. These three voted for Biden. Are you excited?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not excited about him, but I like that he at least focuses on planning that policy.

BASH: Some Republican students say the same.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had my concerns he wasn't too conservative, however, I'm a big fan of the tax cuts.

BASH: Kiera Goddu; president of UVA College Democrats organizes phone banking to voters in Virginia and battleground states across the country. She says young Democrats are motivated by Trump's 2016 win.

KIERA GODDU, PRESIDENT, UVA UNIVERSITY DEMOCRATS: The evidence that he can win an election which wasn't -- we didn't have that last time.

BASH: It was a wake-up call for you?

GODDU: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: Now, even in a place like Virginia which is now pretty safely

blue on the presidential level, it was remarkable to meet so many students in both parties looking still looking for ways to be active, get involved in Senate races and Congressional races, and you could sense there, John, that there's a helplessness, a disgust with politics. And instead of throwing up their hands and walking away, so many people we talked to, really everybody say they realized the only way to change things is by voting and pushing their friends to do the same thing.

BERMAN: Just for the record, I knew every single one of those trendy people you named in your piece. Alisyn knew none, but I knew all of them and I --

CAMEROTA: Your wide-eyed look of confusion I'm going to ignore in that case.

BERMAN: This of what --

BASH: I know --

CAMEROTA: In the morning, that's what he looked like when you talked about the influencers.

BERMAN: All right Dana, don't go far, we're going to talk to you again in just a little bit. So, Georgia, Nebraska, Iowa, the presidential candidates going to some states that six months ago you would have never predicted with just one week left to vote.

Joining me now, CNN senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten. Harry, before we talk about the map, I want to talk about this notion that was floated by some Republicans and conservatives before the second debate was even over. They sometimes dominate the conversation on social media, and they would have had you believe there's been a fundamental shift in the race. Everything changed after the second debate. There's been so much tightening. What's the reality this morning, Harry?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS WRITER & ANALYST: Yes, I don't see it, to be perfectly honest, and you can just see this in the national average of polls, right? You can compare just before the debate and compare it now.

[07:55:00]

And I should say that we have limited data post debate, but what you see is that the national polling average is the same, identical, 52 percent, 43 percent, 9-point lead, Biden over 50 percent, and this has been a consistent story throughout this campaign of Biden being above 50 percent, and also having that lead of say, 8, 9, or 10 points. It's the same as it always was.

BERMAN: No post-debate shift at least not yet. All right, let's talk about presidential campaign travel because Joe Biden is going to Georgia, a state that no Democrat has won since William Jefferson Clinton in 1992. What do the polls show there, Harry? ENTEN: Yes, I mean, there's a good reason why he's traveling there.

And that is because the race is really tight. Right now, Biden holds a nominal 1-point advantage. That's obviously within any margin of error, but it's very close, there's a real shot he could win it, and the polls there have been pretty consistent, showing Biden either slightly behind, slightly ahead or tied.

BERMAN: Why is it close?

ENTEN: Here is the big reason why it's close. Take a look at this, I think this is an important demographic to look at. This is in the seven closest states that Trump won in 2016. The non-college white share of the electoral members.

That's the group that Trump does best among, and you see that, of course, that share is very large in the upper Midwest where Trump outperformed Romney. Look at Georgia at the bottom in that graph, just 30 percent of that electorate is non-college white. And so, this is a state in which you should expect the Democrats to do better than they've traditionally being doing with the educational gap widening, and that is what we're seeing in the polls so far.

BERMAN: It is notable, in Georgia, Republicans have done better with college whites over time, they may be able to make up a little bit of that demographic reality there, but we will see. There is also not one, but two Senate races -- two Senate seats up for grabs in Georgia, including one you're looking at very closely here.

ENTEN: Yes, the one I'm looking at very closely is the regular, right? The long seat. And look right here, David Perdue; the incumbent senator only with a point advantage over Jon Ossoff, 45 percent. Now, you'll notice here that I include the Libertarian candidate at 3 percent, normally, we don't include them on the graphics because truthfully, they're not much of players.

But in Georgia, there's a unique rule that you need to get a majority of the vote on election day. If you don't, then there's going to be a runoff in January. So, I think part of the reason why Biden might be going down there is to boost the chances that Ossoff might be able to get to that 50 percent plus 1 in order to avoid that runoff. We'll wait and see if that actually happens.

The other Georgia Senate race is definitely going to a runoff --

BERMAN: Yes --

ENTEN: Come January.

BERMAN: Almost certainly go to a runoff.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: No runoff in the presidential election in case people are wondering. You don't have to get to 50 percent to win that state. Joe Biden is also going to Iowa later this week, which is a little bit of a similar story, howbeit, not necessarily demographically from Georgia, but what's going on there?

ENTEN: You're right. You know, this is a state that Donald Trump won by 9 points in 2016. And take a look here, look at the average of polls, Biden is up by 2 percent, and this has also been consistent and been consistent across the upper Midwest, the Great Lakes states where right, Biden is outperforming Hillary Clinton's margins by a significant degree, and you see that in Iowa.

Remember, Barack Obama carried Iowa twice. I will say it's quite ironic that Iowa nearly ruined Biden's chances of winning in the primaries, and here it is supporting him at least by 2 points normally in the general election.

BERMAN: Also a Senate race up for grabs there, which --

ENTEN: Correct --

BERMAN: May be part of the reason that Biden is going there. All right, Harry, we're going to end like we do every day. When will we know who won the election when all the votes are counted? And it might not be the evening of November 3rd. And history tells us that, that's OK. Harry, you have yet another example.

ENTEN: Right, just go two years ago, look at the Arizona Senate race. Remember, Kyrsten Sinema, the incumbent there, she was declared the winner on the Monday after election day, nearly a week later and she won that race by 2 points. It wasn't that tight. But again, I'll say this over and over and over again. It's better to be accurate than fast, and that's what we'll be doing here.

BERMAN: It took six days to find out the winner, it wasn't all that close and that's OK. And Harry, you're OK.

ENTEN: So are you, buddy.

BERMAN: Thanks so much for being with us --

ENTEN: Thank you --

BERMAN: Always appreciate it. NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): This nominee will be a political asset for our candidates.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The White House held events celebrating that confirmation. We did see people wearing masks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was insane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought they didn't learn their lesson from the first super-spreader event. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Average number of new cases in the U.S. now

nearly 69,000 a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at the highest baseline we've ever been. It's not good news.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I mean, I got it and I am here, right?

JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2020: 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)

CAMEROTA: Good morning everyone, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. The Trump and Biden campaigns are hitting the road and making their final pitch to voters against the backdrop of the pandemic. One expert says we're seeing an exponential spread of coronavirus. Forty three thousand Americans are now hospitalized, 12 states are seeing record hospitalizations, five states reporting a record increase in new cases. The U.S. is now averaging nearly 70,000 new cases a day.

BERMAN: One week left to cast your vote in the 2020 election, incredibly, more than 62 million people already have.