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New Day

Nearly 79,000 New Coronavirus Cases; Terror Attack in France Church; Supreme Court Allows Ballot Extensions; Zeta Batters Gulf Coast. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 29, 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]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So much for being with us.

Unrelenting spread. That is what the White House Coronavirus Task Force now says is happening in the Midwest, upper Midwest and the West. That seems to be a very bad place with 79,000 new cases just today.

DR. ALI KHAN, DEAN, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER'S COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Good morning, John.

Good morning, Alisyn.

Yes, there's no doubt that there's unrelenting spread. But for those who still believe this disease is a hoax, let's remind them that hospitals are currently being stressed. We're diverting people from hospitals across this area and that there's 800 deaths a day occurring from this disease.

I've characterized this previously as the greatest public health failure in our nation's history, but it wouldn't be a public health failure if we listened to public health. I think we need to admit that this is the greatest political failure since the Vietnam War probably and we've killed five times as many people.

The -- I mean it's unbelievable. The virus is no longer the enemy. We are the enemy, our friends, our neighbors, our politicians. It's extremely unfortunate. It's not just infected people, but we've infected the body politic. And how else can you explain that if you look at these cases where we -- where we're seeing disease, currently they're predominantly Republican states.

The virus does not have a receptor that says conservator or liberal or political or, you know, it doesn't have such a receptor. It has a receptor for, you know, elderly men with chronic diseases. And yet, in these states, we don't see mask mandates. We see legislatures potentially limiting the powers of their governors in some circumstances. We see people stabbing each other over masks. We see threatening of health care workers.

I mean, again, this is a virus that has infected the body politic. ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: But now what, Dr. Khan? I mean,

obviously, had people worn masks, maybe we would -- had everybody worn one, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation.

But now that there's that unrelenting community spread as the task force said, now what's going to happen? I mean we can only -- we remember what happened in New York where doctors from around the country had to fly in to help in New York hospitals. What's going to happen now in Nebraska and the Midwest?

KHAN: And we're already seeing that, Alisyn, across these states where we've had to move health care workers and where we've had to move patients, actually.

But I want to remind people one more time, this is a choice. So let's go to Israel. They had 700 cases per million per day and over four weeks they've gotten it down to a hundred cases per million per day, because they used public health science and expertise. We're at 200 cases per million per day. So it's still not too late to use the tools that are available to us, right?

Unified leadership that's evidence-based, data-driven, test, trace, isolate, quarantine people, wear masks, social distancing, hand washing. We have the tools today to decrease this disease, get our economy back going and stop the social isolation that's happening.

I mean some people have not seen their parents and grandparents in nursing homes for months.

BERMAN: Look, I think we can all say that the progress on vaccines and therapeutics has been extraordinary and faster than anything we've seen in similar situations. So there's a lot of hope and a lot to be positive about there.

But we also need to be realistic about the timeframe involved here. And I think Dr. Fauci was trying to give us a dose of reality with comments that he made about the timing of when the vaccine will really make a difference.

So listen to this, Dr. Khan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If we get a vaccination campaign and by the second or third quarter of 2021, we have vaccinated a substantial proportion of the people, I think it will be easily, by the end of 2021, and perhaps even into the next year, before we start having some semblances of normality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So it could be a full year from now or longer, Dr. Khan, when Dr. Fauci says we'll get some semblances of normality.

Why so long? KHAN: So I have to be honest with you. I'm even more conservative. I

think talking about vaccine is about talking about unicorns. We don't have a vaccine yet. And to start predicting when it's going to be available, how much is going to be available and when we're going to be back -- all fully vaccinated, I think takes us away from the critical issue, which is, we have the tools now to get this disease under control.

And a great example is that we had expected that the Pfizer vaccine at the end of this month would have released interim results showing that it was effective, and they did not release those interim results. So there's no given.

We know where 50 percent of products, even all the way out at phase three do not make it into FDA approval. And so, again, very optimistic about vaccines, but, remember, we have the tools today.

And we can't wait for a vaccine. So let's say it's spring. So, what, we're killing 25,000 people a day until the spring -- a month until the spring?

[06:35:02]

So, what, another 200,000 deaths until we say, oh, we have a vaccine, now we can do something? No, we need to do something today. Eight hindered people a day are dying. These are preventable deaths.

CAMEROTA: That is a dose of reality, Dr. Khan, thank you very much. We appreciate talking to you.

BERMAN: Dr. Khan, I have to say, is often one of our most optimistic and upbeat guests.

CAMEROTA: Upbeat, I know.

BERMAN: That was grim.

All right, we do have breaking news, a deadly stabbing attack inside a church in France. Authorities believe it was an act of terrorism. We have new details for you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:03]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAMEROTA: We do have breaking news right now out of France. Three people have been killed in a terror attack at a church in Nice, including one woman who officials say was decapitated.

CNN's Cyril Vanier is live in Paris with all of the breaking details.

What have you learned, Cyril?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Alisyn, we're learning more from the mayor of Nice, who was at the scene of the attack shortly after it happened. And he's giving us some details.

He says that shortly after 9:00 a.m. local time in France, an assailant carried out an attack, a knife attack, or an attack using some kind of blade inside the basilica of the church of Notre Dame in this Riviera city in the south of France. Three people are dead. The mayor says that one was decapitated. The police, we are told, was alerted by a bystander, who was able to activate some kind of alarm, alert system, or somehow warn law enforcement. Bystanders say that they were there very quickly. They then opened fire and they shot the assailant, who is now receiving medical care. And the mayor of Nice says that he was saying the words "Allah Akbar," and repeating them, that means "God is great" in Arabic, even as he was getting medical treatment and on his way to the hospital.

So this is now being treated as a terror attack by the French authorities. The counterterrorism prosecutor is now handling this case. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is going to be on his way to Nice shortly and will be addressing the population from there.

Now, the context, the background to this, Alisyn, is key. There have been two terror attacks in France, one last month and one two weeks ago. So we knew that the terror alert level was high. Both of those attacks centered on publications of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.

A month ago, last month, two journalists standing outside the newsroom of "Charlie Hebdo," a satirical newspaper, were attacked. The assailant mistakenly believing that they were part of that newsroom that published those caricatures. And just two weeks ago, an 18-year- old beheaded, in the Paris region, a schoolteacher because he had used a caricature of the prophet as part of his class on freedom of expression. So that context is going to be key.

We do not yet know whether today's attack is linked to that context, but, of course, that's going to be investigated and more will be revealed shortly.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, Cyril Vanier, this is just gruesome stuff. Thank you. Please bring us any more news as soon as you get it.

The U.S. Supreme Court, back here, issuing two rulings on absentee ballots that have major implications for two key battleground states. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:46:46]

CAMEROTA: OK, more breaking news.

The U.S. Supreme Court deciding that election officials in two key battleground states can accept absentee ballots after Election Day. This is Pennsylvania. There, absentee ballots will now be accepted until the Friday after Election Day. And in North Carolina, the deadline will now be nine days after Election Day, so long as it's postmarked by Election Day. So joining us now, we have CNN contributor Ben Ginsberg, he's a

Republican election lawyer, and CNN analyst Jessica Huseman, she's a Propublica reporter.

Jessica, tell us the significance of these decisions.

JESSICA HUSEMAN, CNN ANALYST: You know, these decisions are really interesting. On one hand, they look like a win for the Democrats. On the other hand, the justices really just punted the Pennsylvania decision down the road and referred back to what the lower court says. This does not mean that they couldn't revisit this litigation at the end of the election, which would be very chaotic, but then they would have a full spate of judges to work with.

BERMAN: Ben, it's extraordinary to me, at least, what the court has done with Pennsylvania, which is refused to get involved right now. But note that Pennsylvania is going to segregate the ballots that are received after November 3rd. And the Supreme Court made clear that maybe they would be willing to hear arguments about why the ballots received in those three days after November 3rd might be invalid. I don't get it. Are they suggesting telling voters it's OK to send them in now, that it's OK that they may arrive late, but we might throw them out after the fact?

BEN GINSBERG, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think what they're saying, John, is that this close to the election, they don't want to cause confusion amongst the voters. But they're not at all sure that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court acted in the way that it should. And it's a complicated legal issue on the role of a state supreme court in a federal election.

But what this does is there will now be a pile of absentee ballots in Pennsylvania. That there are so many ballots that their number could affect the outcome of that election. I think you can expect the U.S. Supreme Court to then decide whether those ballots can be part of any recount or contest process.

BERMAN: That's a big deal, right? If you have a pile of ballots, and we don't know how big it will be, the ones that arrive after November 3rd, but the Supreme Court is saying, we may look at those pile of ballots, as you put them, that were mailed before Election Day but arrived after and we may decide that they can't be included.

GINSBERG: Yes, it's a prudential decision. I mean one way or another, Pennsylvania Republicans, and I suspect they'll do the same in North Carolina, will ask for those ballots to be set aside and handled differently. So if North Carolina or Pennsylvania are outcome- determinative states, then that's where they become the new Florida at that point.

CAMEROTA: Jessica, you alluded to this new justice, Amy Coney Barrett, recused from these two decisions. But is the thinking that if Pennsylvania comes back or as more of these questions are presented, starting now to the Supreme Court that she will engage?

[06:50:02] HUSEMAN: So the Supreme Court put out a really firm statement saying that her lack of participation in these cases was not indicative of her recusal in them, but instead that she just didn't have time to educate herself on the case enough to make a coherent decision. That does not preclude the ability that she will begin to listen and catch up with these cases once she is on the court. So I think that it's likely that she will be present the next time one of these cases comes back around.

BERMAN: Jessica, I want to talk -- I'm going to stay on Pennsylvania here and I want to talk about Cumberland County, which is a county that Donald Trump won pretty handedly in 2016. So Cumberland County put out a statement overnight saying that they will not start counting ballots received by mail until Wednesday morning, until the day after. Again, they're treating all mail-in ballots, to me, this sounds like, second-class citizens.

Let me read this for you. They say, "the canvassing, or counting, of mail-in and absentee ballots in Cumberland County will begin on Wednesday, November 4th at 9:00 a.m., the day after the General Election. This fully complies with the state law."

Doesn't this guarantee, at least in Cumberland County, which is likely to go Trump anyway, that you are going to have this red mirage, all these people voting on Election Day, which do lean extra heavily towards Trump, those will be counted will know them first?

HUSEMAN: It could be that way. I mean I think that it will vary very much by county. Of course, that county has made that choice. Different counties in Pennsylvania that are equal or larger in population sizes have made different choices. And the electorate there looks very different.

So I can say that I think that we're going to be waiting for a while on the election day -- on the election results in Pennsylvania. I think that it's a little bit too early to determine sort of how that political wind will change directions once they begin to count the mail-in ballots.

CAMEROTA: But, Ben, how else can we interpret the fact that they won't start counting until Wednesday morning? Why -- why not start on Tuesday?

GINSBERG: Well, because it really comes down to a question of election administration and how many people you have to do it.

In the -- in the pandemic era, there are often fewer poll watchers and election officials to process the ballots. If they were to count absentee ballots on Election Day, I think what they're saying is, that that would create longer lines and more chaos in the polling place. And for reasons of really people more than anything else, they're going to wait until Wednesday, which is permissible under Pennsylvania law.

BERMAN: Ben Ginsberg, Jessica Huseman, thank you both so much for being with us. GINSBERG: Thank you.

BERMAN: I suspect we'll be talking to you more in the next few days.

CAMEROTA: OK, Cresken (ph).

BERMAN: All right, Hurricane Zeta cutting a deadly path through Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Nearly 2 million people without power as of this moment. The latest on where this storm is headed next and the big impacts it's having, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:56:43]

CAMEROTA: Developing overnight, at least two people have been killed as Hurricane Zeta batters the Gulf Coast. It made landfall in Louisiana as a powerful category two storm. Nearly 2 million customers are without power right now.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is tracking Tropical Storm Zeta now.

What do you see, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Alisyn, these power outages are just a moving target because it can't keep up with them. At top of the hour, Georgia had 810,000, now 897,000 and they just keep going up and up. And I expect we'll see those same -- same kind of numbers in the Carolinas as well.

Came onshore as a category two, but right there, that's a category three wind gust yesterday and it's still blowing, 60 to 70 miles per hour right now. Gusts in Gainesville, still 86 miles per hour. Gainesville, Georgia.

But tropical storm warnings all the way up into Virginia for today because the wind is going to continue. The wind is going to go along with this storm, moving very, very quickly now. By tonight it's offshore. It's off the Atlantic coast by tonight. It's moving faster than I can actually drive to keep up with it at this point. Thirty- nine in Norfolk. Even for Elizabeth City, you'll get wind gusts somewhere around 46 miles per hour. And New York City will pick up some wind gusts from the east at about 30 or so miles per hour.

Not a lot of rain, because it's moving so quickly, that's the good news. There's the rain now. And we'll see the rain into Charlotte, all the way up into Raleigh, up into Hampton Roads and even into D.C., Philadelphia.

If you don't want to be on that airplane today for any reason, today would be a good day to cancel because I think airports across the northeast are going to be an absolute mess today. Yes. And that's even a little bit of snow upstate for New York as it passes on by.

Look at this, this is 2:00 this afternoon in Roanoke. If I left Atlanta right now, I couldn't get to Roanoke by 2:00 this afternoon, driving. But, boy, this thing is really moving out. By tomorrow, completely offshore and away from us.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Really interesting, Chad, thank you very much for that update.

And NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: As President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden make their closing arguments, more than 227,000 people in the U.S. have died from coronavirus.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The refusal of the Trump administration to recognize the reality we're living through is an insult.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We just want normal life, like we had seven months ago. We'll fully resume.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He's sort of combining race baiting with pandemic denialism at every turn.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the trajectory continues the way it is now, it's almost certain that we will find ourselves in a place where we will have to decide who gets the care.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NIAID: This is going to get worse. We've got to do something different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

BERMAN: All right, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

And this morning, with less than a week to cast your ballots, the situation in the country can be summed up in a very basic statement. The coronavirus pandemic is getting much worse. The president, who is running for re-election, says it is not. But it is. That sums up everything, really.

Overnight, nearly 79,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in the U.S. That's the third highest single-day total. Four of the five worst days since the pandemic began have been in the last week.

Twelve states now have record hospitalizations. You can see it on the map there. Whatever the president says, the White House Coronavirus Task Force is warning of unrelenting broad community spread in the Midwest, upper Midwest, and west.

[07:00:07]