Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

France Raises Secretary Threat Level; Record GDP Growth in Third Quarter; Reality Check on Dr. Scott Atlas; Pulse of the People. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 29, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

BOBBY GHOSH, GLOBAL AFFAIRS EXPERT AND EDITOR AND EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER, "BLOOMBERG": We've seen this happen over and over again. Every time there's been an attack, because of cartoons or caricatures, the French public tends to rally behind their foundational principles, which include freedom of expression. But there will be a great deal of concern among security forces about how to prevent more of these.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Obviously, though, the issue is Emanuel Macron, in defending freedom of expression, which is, I think, a human freedom that should be defended around the world, obviously, there are people who are misinterpreting it or are twisting his words to be somehow supporting literally or endorsing, shall we say, the caricature of the Prophet Mohammed.

GHOSH: Yes, I think you put your finger on it. There is a -- there is a deliberate effort by leaders around the world. Now, it's -- in the past we've heard this sort of thing from radical figures in the religious sphere. Now you're hearing from leaders of countries, President Erdogan of Turkey, Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan, openly -- well, obviously none of them would call for attacks on French people, but they are making a direct correlation between these caricatures and they are projecting them as an affront to Islam. And that is -- that, on top of radical figures in the religious space doing that, sort of greatly amplifies and magnifies this message.

BERMAN: All right. There's a difference between endorsing free speech and specifically endorsing a caricature. You -- you know, you don't have to do both at the same time.

Bobby, what about the pandemic? Obviously France is in the middle of the pandemic now. The situation getting worse there by the way. I have to imagine that only enflames tensions.

GHOSH: Well, that will -- that will inflame tension. It means that the resources of the government, resources of the president's office are distracted. If we're looking for some kind of silver lining, and this really is stretching it a bit, perhaps more people being indoors and staying away from public places might help a little bit at this moment. But this is a moment of great crisis for France on multiple levels.

Don't forget there's also a big economic management challenge that comes from the pandemic and the French are really struggling with it. And so, yes, this is -- this is going to be a very difficult time.

BERMAN: All right, a concerning development, obviously. We are following it. President Macron on his way to Nice. We'll bring you an update as soon as we get it.

Bobby Ghosh, great to see you again. Thanks so much for being with us, my friend.

GHOSH: Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: All right, we have the latest snapshot on the unemployment crisis, the last one we'll get on the economy before the election. The breaking details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:37:33]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We do have breaking news. We have a new snapshot of how the U.S. economy and unemployment crisis looked before Tuesday's election.

CNN's chief business correspondent Christine Romans has the breaking details.

What does it look like, Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the first peek we have here at what the economy -- how the economy grew over the summer. I want you to imagine July to September. Remember beginning July, starts were starting to allow restaurants to reopen outside with social distancing. People were starting to loosen up a little bit. And people had 600 extra a week in their unemployment checks. So money started to flow. So we saw the economy snap back 33.1 percent annual rate of GDP growth.

So, remember, the quarter before that, it fell 31 percent. So it was a crash before that. Before that it was 5 percent in the quarter -- in the first quarter. So now this is that snap back we've been talking about.

The concern here, though, is this is rear view mirror. This number is incredibly stale. And now, in the fourth quarter, you don't have those shock absorbers. You don't have that fiscal stimulus in the economy anymore and people don't have all of that ready cash to spend.

The housing market's strong. Consumer spending's strong in the third quarter, so you saw that bounce back. A record number, no question, but some concerns from economists at how it looks going forward.

A more -- a more fresh number would be the weekly jobless claims. We just saw that number, Alisyn, 751,000 net new claims. Nice to see that again sort of plateauing and drifting below 800,000.

When you add in the number of people asking for the first time for pandemic unemployment benefits, this is -- these are different programs for gig workers and the like, another 359,000 there.

So, still, it paints a picture of more than a million people having to file for jobless benefits for the very first time. That is still a jobs crisis and 22 million people are continuing to receive some sort of jobless check right now.

So, Alisyn, it just paints this picture of an economy that bounced back in the summer but a jobs crisis that still persists.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, Christine, for giving us all of that context. Really helpful.

John.

BERMAN: All right, time for our "Reality Check" this morning.

And we have an exclusive this morning. New reporting from an article just published on cnn.com on the influence of Dr. Scott Atlas and apparently decisions made in one key state, Florida.

John Avlon joins us now with a CNN exclusive.

John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Remember this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When you do testing to that extent, you're going to find more people. You're going to find more cases. So I said to my people, slow the testing down, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:40:03]

AVLON: Now, Trump's aides said the president was joking after that June rally in Tulsa, but he wasn't joking. He was doctor shopping.

And he found what he was looking for in Dr. Scott Atlas, a neuro radiologist, not an infectious disease expert, who he'd seen on Fox News.

Now, Atlas joined the White House on August 10th and soon became President Trump's primary pandemic adviser, pushing aside more experienced and trusted advisers like Dr. Fauci and Dr. Burke.

Atlas strongly supported a decision in August to revise CDC guidelines to deemphasize the need to test people without symptoms, according to sources familiar with the process.

Now, this was later reversed when CDC scientists objected, but Atlas shared this view with state officials, including Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and others. And that's according to transcripts of public events and accounts for private meetings in that state on August 31st. The general tone, one health official of the president said, was like

DeSantis had gone to Cape Canaveral and decided to give a lecture on rocket science.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The purpose of testing is to stop people from dying.

When you start introducing closure of schools because people have positive, asymptomatic tests, that's sort of not the purpose of the testing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're in agreement on focusing strategies in school on people who are symptomatic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The point of all these things are to save lives, not to document asymptomatic people who are low risk.

I've been speaking with Governor DeSantis for quite a while about the pandemic and he's really an example of doing something with the exact thoughtful approach that we need in this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Got that? And that push to deemphasize tests coincided with a dramatic drop in testing across Florida, even as the country was screening towards a fall coronavirus surge.

Now, CNN analysis of the Florida state official numbers, aggregated by the COVID tracking project, shows that testing dropped off at the end of July and early August. From a peak seven day average of over 90,000 tests per day on July 18th, but six weeks later, the seven-day average dropped by nearly half and hovered there -- between there and 60,000 during the fall.

But if Atlas and DeSantis' advocacy in Florida was, in fact, responsible for the tests -- state's testing decrease, well, that would be very much in keeping with the wishes of President Trump. And some state and local officials believe the pair was influential in taking Trump's anti-testing pronouncements and helping turning them into public policy.

Though both Atlas and DeSantis declined to discuss their views with CNN for this story, they have articulated them in public and a White House spokesman claimed Atlas had never advocated for reducing testing despite the doctor's public pronouncements to the contrary.

But this drop off in testing is of deep concern to some. It took place as positivity rates remained high in the range that the CDC considers indicative of high community spread. Quote, there's no way to hide the pandemic by not testing, said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo of Johns Hopkins. Even if we don't count the people who have mild or no symptoms, they still have it and they're still infectious to others and it will show up eventually. Well, now we're seeing the results of these policies in Florida.

There's no question more people are going to die says Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. We are flying blind without tests.

And that's your "Reality Check."

CAMEROTA: John, it is so helpful to have you put it all in one place for us, because this is what was suspected and talked about, but now we can see the whole timeline of that.

BERMAN: Yes, and, obviously, look, asymptomatic people can spread the virus. I mean, they can.

CAMEROTA: All the time.

BERMAN: All the time.

CAMEROTA: I mean, in fact, they're incredibly infectious, John.

AVLON: And yet \we have an official policy of denial reflected in testing and the dangers that will reap the whirlwind. We're all seeing (ph) rise heading into election night.

CAMEROTA: Atlas shrugged.

You're welcome.

AVLON: That was very good.

CAMEROTA: OK. Thank you.

All right, John, thank you very much.

In the final days of the 2020 race, I spoke to voters who are not holding anything back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: The president sometimes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why (INAUDIBLE). I don't give a damn. It ain't funny. It's serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. We have the "Pulse of the People" for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:48:30]

CAMEROTA: Five days away from Election Day. Time for part two of our last voter panel of this election.

For this one, we check in with some of our favorite panelists from the past five years to see what they think the most important issue is today. Four of these folks voted for Donald Trump, but not all plan to again.

We also asked what they think will happen if President Trump loses.

Here now is your "Pulse of the People."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Jimmy, what do you think the biggest issue of this race is?

JIMMY, VOTING FOR TRUMP: The economy, the virus -- the vaccine is going to be here in two or three months and we'll get over this by this time next year but we'll be talking about the economy, if Biden gets in it's going to be a disaster, if Trump stays in it will probably be as good as it was.

DALE, VOTING FOR BIDEN: The economy is intertwined with the virus. The, you know, I think to a large extent a lot of the social unrest has been connected and intertwined with the virus. So I think the virus is the big issue here.

STEPHANIE, VOTING FOR BIDEN: I agree with what Dale's saying. Just the total upheaval on people's lives. Online school just isn't cutting it for our family, for families I know. I think health care intertwines with that, too. That's trying to take away the Affordable Care Act during a pandemic.

I've been waiting to see with Trump for four years, where's the health care plan?

[08:50:00]

CAMEROTA: I asked on my Instagram page for people to send in questions to pose to you, and that was a big one, actually. How can President Trump eliminate the Affordable Care Act without a replacement?

SHERRI, VOTING FOR TRUMP: I do know that he has said he would not get rid of pre-existing exclusions.

CAMEROTA: And do you believe that?

SHERRI: I think there will be a lot of pressure on him to keep that.

JIMMY: He's not going to leave the people that's got pre-existing conditions hung out to dry. The Democrats can say that and he ain't going to do that.

CAMEROTA: How do you know that?

JIMMY: He said he wouldn't do it.

CAMEROTA: Why are you so trusting?

JIMMY: He said he would not do it. And he -- the man does what he says.

(CROSS TALK) CAMEROTA: Do you -- do you think, Jimmy, that the president sometimes --

JIMMY: Y'all laugh. I don't give a damn. Laugh. It ain't funny. It's serious.

BOBBY, UNDECIDED VOTER: He says it a lot. He does say like every single time you ask the guy he says, I'm going to protect pre- existing. I mean he says it every single day pretty much so. It's kind of hard to see him roll that one back if he says it all the freaking time. I mean he's always saying that, you know.

JIMMY: He's going to. Yes, OK.

SHERRI: I agree.

CAMEROTA: But where's the plan?

BOBBY: Oh, I mean, I haven't seen a plan either, but I'd say it would be pretty hard to go back on that promise when he's said it so often.

CAMEROTA: OK. And, Jimmy, you don't need to see a plan in order to trust that one?

JIMMY: He's got a plan.

CAMEROTA: What is it?

JIMMY: He's got a better plan than Biden's got, I promise you.

CAMEROTA: What's President Trump's plan?

JIMMY: He is going to look out for preconditioned people, he's going to get insurance over state lines where you have cheaper insurance. My insurance has gone up twice. It's double what it was. But I pay it and I hope he can lower it and he says he can. We'll see.

CAMEROTA: Jimmy, do you think that President Trump ever says things that are not true?

JIMMY: Oh, both of them do. Ain't no doubt about that. Trump and Biden both say stuff that ain't true.

CAMEROTA: You don't think that President Trump says more things that are not true than other politicians?

JIMMY: No. No. All of them lie. They all lie.

SHERRI: You know, I've not -- I'm not going to defend his character. I'm looking at what he has been able to accomplish.

CAMEROTA: Bobby, what do you think the biggest issue is in this election?

BOBBY: I think the economy's a big deal and people will definitely be voting with their wallets in a major way this election. I mean I know a whole industry is down here. (INAUDIBLE) Florida. I mean we're a big tourist state and the whole industries are still non-existent. I think people are definitely worried about the lockdowns -- going back into lockdown, I mean especially with industries that are just about to start opening.

CAMEROTA: What do you think, Vanity, is the biggest issue?

VANITY, VOTING FOR BIDEN: There are many interlocking issues besides the pandemic. There are epidemic rates of police brutality against black Americans. There are epidemic rates of violence against black transgender women.

CAMEROTA: How many of you, show of hands, are comfortable with President Trump not being willing to say that he will guarantee and ensure a peaceful transfer of power?

Jimmy, why is that OK with you?

JIMMY: Listen, if he gets beat by Biden, he's going to leave. What do you think he's going to do, stay in the White House and let people drag him out? ((INAUDIBLE). Biden's the same way.

CAMEROTA: Well, that sounds -- sometimes he says he wouldn't trust the outcome of the election.

JIMMY: No. It might be a week. It might be two weeks. I don't know. But Biden will say I lost or Trump will say I lost. They're both professionals. They're running for president of the United States. My God, you know, both of them are good men. And both of them will leave. I mean why y'all say that the man ain't going to leave? He's going to leave politics.

CAMEROTA: I'm just quoting President Trump to you. He was not willing to say of course I will respect the peaceful transfer of power.

JIMMY: If Philadelphia comes in 200 percent over what they did last time, yes, he's going to have a question about that. And I don't blame him. But, you know, I don't think it's going to happen, OK? I don't think it's going to happen.

DALE: So this is an unprecedented statement by a president to say they're not going to accept the results of the election. And I -- I, you know, I am just completely dumbfounded. This is the stuff that goes on in, you know, developing nations around the world where the incumbent party or president says, I don't know if I'm going to accept the results of the election.

STEPHANIE: I don't think he's ever going to accept a loss as legitimate. Even if he does leave the White House, he's always going to cast doubt on the process.

BOBBY: I mean this is -- this is just classic Trump. I mean he's just being his classic Donny boy when he does -- when he does responses like that. He's feeding the fire.

CAMEROTA: OK, Sherri, if President Trump doesn't win, what do you believe will be the cause?

SHERRI: I would have to say it would be -- a lot of it, his own personality. The first debate hurt him, I think, with some people on the fence.

CAMEROTA: And if Biden doesn't win, what will that tell you?

[08:55:01]

VANITY: Biden does not win, we will adjust and we will adapt as my folks have been doing for quite some time.

JIMMY: And if Biden wins, he's the president. If Trump wins, he's the president. You've just got to remember that. Whoever wins will be the president. But it's going to happen. One of them's going to win.

BOBBY: If Trump wins or if Biden wins, I mean, I'm fine either way. I mean we'll live. We'll move on as a country. We always have. You know, the country will survive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Interesting to see. I mean, obviously, the pandemic and the economy and how do you separate the pandemic from the economy, it's everything and it's everything for just about everybody at this point.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And they've virtually said that. I mean some of them led with the economy, some the coronavirus, but they all said it was intertwined.

But I really just want to say that at the end of this, after five years of doing this, that I really appreciate all of the panelists we've ever had because I know it's not easy to share your personal feelings and your political leanings on national TV. I know that sometimes they get blowback. And I really appreciate it. It has -- I've learned something from every single panel that I've done.

BERMAN: Very revealing for sure. I'm glad you do it.

CAMEROTA: And if you want to continue the conversation, please go to my Instagram page. I have really appreciated all of your feedback.

BERMAN: What about your Venmo? Where can they send you money directly?

CAMEROTA: Why didn't I think of that?

BERMAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Why didn't I think of that.

All right, CNN's coverage continues, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:00:05]