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The Lead with Jake Tapper

79 Million Plus Votes Cast So Far, Over A Third of Registered Voters; Texas Pre-Election Votes Close to State's Entire 2016 Vote; Dr. Birx Would Rather Travel, Keep Distance from The White House and Dr. Scott Atlas; Interview with Dave Mathews, Life as a Musician During COVID. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 29, 2020 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think if you step back there's a holistic approach here to voter suppression that Mr. Trump has brought to the Republican Party. It is not Mia Love's Republican Party, it's not Trevor Potter's Republican Party. It's certainly not John McCain's or Ronald Reagan's or George Bush's.

This is new. It began even before the last election when Mr. Trump discredited democracy and said the election was rigged. And then there was the voter-fraud fraud. Where they falsely claimed that they were fraudulent votes cast.

And then there was a purge of voter rolls particularly in southern states affecting communities of color particularly. Then Mr. Trump discredits mail-in voting. Then they gum up the system at the U.S. Postal Service, then they limit drop boxes as I just mentioned.

Then you reduce polling places on election day. So you have the kind of lines that Mia was talking about. Then if people somehow get to the line, you have voter intimidation.

The President is calling on people in your hometown of Philadelphia to videotape people while they vote, in Philly, but not in Fargo. Gee, I wonder why.

And if all else fails, you go to court and you get Brett Kavanaugh and other Trump judges to try to rig it for you in court if you couldn't intimidate and block your way. This is a holistic approach Mr. Trump has.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And let me ask you, Paul, because in Texas more than 8.4 million people have cast a ballot already. That's almost all of the total vote in Texas in 2016, 8.9 million. This is a lot of enthusiasm. It's not necessarily Democratic enthusiasm, but what do you think?

BEGALA: That's right. It's some of both, but it seems to favor if you look at the patterns of where people are voting, the Democrats more. Dave Wasserman with the "Cook Report" tells us that there are 12 counties in Texas that have already exceeded their entire 2016 turnout. 9 of those 12 are suburban and therefore nowadays favoring the Democrats. That's astonishing for me to say. Texas suburbs have always been Republican but now they've moved Democrat.

But three of them are clearly I think Republican and ex-urban counties. So some of the Republicans are coming out too. That's a good thing. I'm with Mia, I want everybody to vote. But right now, it looks like this surge, this remarkable turnout in Texas is advantaging the Democrats. I think we really might see Texas go blue.

TAPPER: You really think that, Paul? I mean, I have to tell you, I've been hearing that for a long time, I'm 51 years old. I've been hearing about how Texas is going go blue for my entire life.

I mean there was a point where Ann Richards was the governor, but since then, it's been pretty Republican.

BEGALA: Since 1994, the last time Democrats won, there have been 180 statewide elections in Texas, the Republicans have only won all 180. So, Yes, there's a trend. And yet, everything continues until it stops. I think that this remarkable surge of turnout, I think the motivation of people of color and Latinos, I think the changing attitudes of white suburbanites.

But there's a piece that I've been first privately lobbying, now I'm publicly lobbying. President Obama needs to go to the Rio Grande Valley. The turnout there is not going to be as high because there aren't contested Congressional and state legislative races in the deep south Texas. It's vote rich for the Democrats. They need to send President Obama to the Rio Grande Valley. That could tip the state.

TAPPER: And if you're wondering why I haven't asked Mia a lot of questions, it's because we lost here, it's one of the regrettable parts of doing television during a pandemic, is that we rely on technology that isn't necessarily as good because we don't do in- person panels anymore.

Democratic strategist Paul Begala, Thank you so much. And Mia Love, wherever you are, thank you very much.

The one member of White House Coronavirus Task Force, Dr. Deborah Birx vowed to never to sit in another meeting with, ever again, that is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:00]

TAPPER: Breaking news for you now. We're just learning about a vow from the doctor who was once one of the most high profile members of President Trump's Coronavirus Task Force, a source telling CNN that Dr. Deborah Birx vowed to never again sit in a meeting with Dr. Scott Atlas and never again to listen to his misleading information.

Atlas of course is a neuro radiologist with no expertise in epidemiology, but increasingly has the President's ear when it comes to the coronavirus.

Let's bring in CNN's Kate Bennett. And Kate, your reporting is that Dr. Birx has been to 40 states, she's logged more than 20,000 miles many of them since that fateful August meeting, but she's saying she's never going to sit with Dr. Atlas again?

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, this seems to be her feeling that being in the room with Dr. Atlas and listening to his theories which are so opposed to that of hers and other medical doctors and scientists just isn't something that she feels like doing and hasn't for quite some time.

She has not been at the President's side in a briefing since the summer and since Atlas took over. And listen, Jake, you know, I hate to use the term doctor shopping, but it almost feels like this is what President Trump did until he found someone in the medical field who agreed with him about things like efficacy of masks, potential herd immunity, children being immune and not having the virus.

So these are all things just opposed to the feelings of Dr. Birx and she has since hit the road. It is a grueling schedule, she can be in as many as three or four states in one week. She is on the ground doing work talking to state and local officials trying to spread the word about protecting different parts of America as they now are experiencing surges in the virus that they hadn't seen before.

[15:40:00]

So, she's not only up against the virus, she is now up against the administration and the Coronavirus sort of red hot center where she used to be a part is now sort of out of her realm, and she's working against them too.

TAPPER: And let's remember Dr. Atlas' comments about mask wearing were so wrong that Twitter blocked it. He had to delete -- I think it was labeled a misleading tweet.

You don't go to a podiatrist if you have a tooth ache. You can't just like find a doctor who agrees with what you think if he's not an expert in that field. But that is what Trump does.

Kate, what might this mean for the future of Dr. Birx in terms of her relationship with the Trump administration?

BENNETT: Well, we spoke to several sources who speak for Dr. Birx regularly and clearly, they say she has a stick-to-itiveness of a public servant that they've really never experienced before. She's been with the Bush administration, the Obama administration and now the Trump administration. Clearly, she's going to hang on, however, she has indicated she doesn't know if this schedule is something she can keep up with. It is grueling. She doesn't know if it's just yelling into the wind.

And I think like a lot of us, she's waiting until after election day to see whether or not the Trump administration continues or whether there's a Biden administration and has she perhaps been too aligned with the Trump administration.

So there's a big question mark. But her real purpose right now is to get to those states, those counties, those rural communities, tribal reservations. She was in Wyoming this week, trying to say the opposite of what the President is saying in his rallies, trying to convince people to social distance, to wear a mask, to keep hygiene, that winter is coming and it's not going to be pretty.

TAPPER: All right. Kate Bennet, thank you so much.

When Dave Matthews asks, where are you going, it sadly will not be to one of his concerts anytime soon. The singer-songwriter joins us live next. Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:00]

(MUSIC OF DAVE MATHEWS)

TAPPER: I want to just listen to that for the rest of the show. But for more than seven months, coronavirus has taken countless joys away from us. Among them, attending concerts such as Dave Mathews and the Dave Mathews Band. Joining me now, someone very familiar with the stage, Dave Mathews

Dave, thanks so much for joining us. First of all, let's just talk about something that lot of people probably don't even think about. Concerts are such a source of not just excitement and happiness for attendees, but also a livelihood for the people who work at these venues. Explain the impact this pandemic has had on the live music industry.

DAVE MATHEWS, RECORDING ARTIST: I guess it's like a lot of industries that rely on, you know, people gathering. I mean, I feel very lucky because I've been successful and sort of can, you know, cross an incomeless period of time and survive it.

But most of the musicians I know and all the crews and all the local crews and club owners and theaters, all of these people, I mean hundreds of thousands of people, bartenders, and stage crew, local crew, traveling crew, all these people are out of work.

And it really is terrible. You know, it's just people trying to think of how they will hang on. And then what happens when, you know, things open up and when are they going to open up? It really is a precarious place for an entire industry, you know.

And also obviously the fan experience and that -- that sort of, how this is going to affect that engagement, you know. It's the thing I love. I'm grateful, but I'm really sorry that so many people have been badly affected by this.

TAPPER: Yes, and I wonder what it is like for you when you see Trump and Pence completely ignoring health regulations and rules and liability and holding these massive events where there's no masks, no distancing. Events that you don't hold because you don't want your supporters to get infected and even if you wanted to, you wouldn't be allowed to.

MATHEWS: Yes, it's disappointing because you just -- this sort of disregard for science and disregard for the health of people, disregard for even his own -- I suppose his greatest followers that are willing to go into an environment.

But it does tell everybody don't really worry about this, believe what you will about it. That's what I feel. But I also feel like there's a whole industry of people that are being denied work, and it's almost like, you know, it's a disregard for what's happening. It's just a playing by your own rules, taking to a really absurd and kind of insulting, obviously selfish degree.

I get that -- it just makes me think that he's not really -- he doesn't have much interest in the truth or in helping out with the struggle people have and being blatant about it. I'm more important than anyone else, you know.

TAPPER: You've come out in support of Democratic nominee Joe Biden. You're part of the Get Out The Vote Initiative trying to make sure every American takes advantage of their right to vote regardless of who they choose to support. What makes this election in particular so important for you?

[15:50:03]

MATHEWS: Well, I think, you know, the world has been sort of moving toward this or in a scary direction of where we've started to play with this sort of lack of reality, and questioning science, and questioning truth and, you know, alternative facts and these kind of things. And it's pretty scary and I think the age of reason is being, you know, challenged by an age of ignorance. And you know, as if they're equal partners.

And I think -- you know, Joe Biden doesn't represent all my beliefs by a long stretch, but the direction that he would -- his leadership would take the country would be at least toward trying to, again, turn the country into a place that listens to the science and listens to the medical industry and listens to the people that know, you know -- that have an idea of what's happening.

You let the experts be the experts in their relative, you know, industries. I don't think -- I think it's unfortunate that we're in a place right now where, it's believe what you will, which is kind of scary. So, I feel like the country needs to at least right itself and start looking in a consistent direction and move according to the advice of people that have an understanding of what's going on.

TAPPER: For more than 15 years, you've worked with a group called Head Count, which promotes voter registration. One-third of all registered voters, a record 79 million people have already cast their vote. Do you think, based on your conversations with people, do you think this election holds a different weight for voters that you've spoken to than previous elections? MATHEWS: I think, you know -- I always get disappointed when I hear

about how many people in America turn out to vote. When I lived in South Africa for much of my life. I was born there. But when Mandela was elected president, the first open and free election in that country, like over 90 -- closer to 100 percent, over 95 percent of the population turned out to vote.

And these are in many cases these are people who had to walk miles and miles and miles to get to polling stations and wait in enormous lines. And so it was a testament to the commitment to the country and also the belief in the power of the vote.

What I am very excited that more than half -- a number like -- it's 79 million now, that's more than half of the total votes in the last presidential election, which is pretty exciting. It makes me think that's working. I feel like -- I feel as if sometimes we forget that if we don't use that one part of our voice, you know, by casting our vote, we leave potentially the future of the country in the hands of people that we might disagree with profoundly.

So, let them -- if the majority of the people believe that we should be moving in a certain direction but they don't cast their votes, then a minority or even sometimes a fringe group of people will decide the future of the country. And I think that's desperately sad and very dangerous too.

TAPPER: What's your message to Americans who might be watching right now who might not be in love with either candidate and just think, well, I'm just not going to vote? I don't like either one of them?

MATHEWS: I'm not wildly in love with either of the candidates. Although I have met both of them and I have to say Biden is much more charming man, but in some ways. Trump is very charming, too, but in a very different way. He told me he thinks I was going places.

TAPPER: That's true though. That's fact check, true.

MATHEWS: And that was true but, you know, it wasn't that long ago. So I thought it was very nice of him. But I always felt Biden was very serious about his role in this country and always open to learning and always admitting where maybe where he was wrong. I think he's a very compassionate person.

I don't agree with him everywhere. What I do think about is the direction the country's going in. And I think the reason you want to vote is because you want to be part of what's steering our future and, you know, if every -- if young voters went out, they would decide.

Maybe the first step is Biden toward a future that's more, you know, open and encompassing the needs of everybody. You know, rather than, you know -- I believe he speaks to inclusion and I think young people are about that. And so if young people went out and voted, they could change the direction of the country. And then move it again and move it again. That's what it's all about, you know.

And so cast your vote so you can be part of readying or directing the ship. I think it's the most important part of a democracy, I think.

[15:55:00]

TAPPER: Dave Matthews, thank you so much. And your music has helped get me through this pandemic. So, thanks on behalf of a lot of people, I'm sure, for that as well.

MATHEWS: Well, thank you very much for saying that and I always enjoy seeing you as well and thank you for your information.

TAPPER: Thanks, Dave.

Dueling rallies with decision day just five days away. Trump and Biden fighting for the state it might take to win. What the race looks like right now.

Plus, it's a signature of President Trump's campaign rallies, few masks, almost no distancing. So what happens with coronavirus cases in those areas after the President and his team leave?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome to the second hour of THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

And we begin this hour with the 2020 LEAD, is the final five days until election day. And today both President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden are in the critical state of Florida, a state that President Trump won narrowly in 2016. It has a massive 29 electoral votes.

Trump and Biden today making their closing arguments to American voters during a surge across the nation in new coronavirus cases.