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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S. Coronavirus Case Count Sets New Pandemic Record; Biden And Trump Target Wisconsin And Minnesota In Stretch Run; Second Wave Crashing Into Europe As Global Cases Pass 45 Million. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired October 30, 2020 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But they say developing vaccines right here in Mexico is crucial because they're going to need a lot of vaccines. There's roughly 130 million people here in Mexico that will eventually need vaccines. So they say developing vaccines right here in Mexico, being produced by Mexican companies, is crucial to a steady supply of vaccines in the future -- Christine and Laura.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Matt River. Thanks, Matt.

EARLY START continues right now.

A new case per second. Coronavirus reaching unprecedented levels just days before a national referendum on the handling of the pandemic.

Good morning, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett. It's about 30 minutes past the hour.

Heading into the last weekend before the election, coronavirus is as out of control as it has ever been. Overnight, the U.S. recorded the highest single day of new cases since this pandemic began. Almost 89,000 cases reported yesterday alone. The four worst days of the pandemic all came in the last week.

The positive test rate is dangerously high in some states. In South Dakota, which has some of the weakest restrictions in the country, nearly half of the tests are coming back positive.

Remember how this goes. First, there are new cases, then there are more hospitalizations -- and hospitalizations are up 50 percent nationwide in a month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know the bottom line, though? You're going to get better -- you're going to get better. If I can get better anybody can get better -- and I got better, folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Not everyone gets better. Tell that to the friends and families of almost 229,000 Americans who did not get better. Nine hundred seventy-one people died yesterday alone.

New cases are up in 43 states, the most since the start of the pandemic. That includes all 13 states CNN rates competitive for this election. We'll see what that means for voter turnout. The seven-day average of new U.S. cases has doubled in just six weeks.

And the refusal by this White House to focus on science is literally making people sick.

A CNN investigation of 17 Trump campaign rallies finds that 82 percent of host counties had an increased rate of new cases after the rally. Now, in a majority of those counties, rates had been falling until Trump showed up. And these rallies were in August and September, so the figures don't even include recent events in states with big spikes.

JARRETT: Well, in the waning days of this presidential campaign, Joe Biden and President Trump are beefing up their travel schedules and their paths will be crossing. Both have three states on their itinerary today and both will be making stops in Wisconsin and Minnesota. All the states they're visiting have seen big spikes in COVID cases, especially Wisconsin where officials have been delivering dire warnings there all week.

ROMANS: Biden and Trump were both in Florida yesterday trying to shore up the Latino vote. The pandemic has spiked there since restrictions were lifted a few weeks ago. At competing rallies a few miles apart, Biden's events featured masks and social distancing; the president's rallies, just the opposite.

Jessica Dean is with the Biden campaign in Coconut Creek, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Laura and Christine.

Former vice president Joe Biden traveling to the critical battleground state of Florida on Thursday where he delivered his closing argument to Floridians at two different drive-in rallies.

He talked about the coronavirus pandemic, slamming President Trump for calling what he called super-spreader events -- these rallies -- as President Trump was hosting a rally just down the road in Tampa while Joe Biden was here in Broward County.

He also talked a little bit about the importance of Florida as a battleground state. He doesn't have to win it to get to 270 electoral votes but if he does, it's going to be a sign of strength and could bring this contest to an early end.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This election is the most important one you've ever voted in, whether it's your first or tenth. Ladies and gentlemen, the heart and soul of this country is at stake right here in Florida. It's up to you -- you hold the key. If Florida goes blue, it's over, it's over.

DEAN: He also talked about how health care is on the ballot. How important it is for millions of Americans, in his view, to maintain that coverage and expand that coverage, which is what he said he wants to do if elected -- Laura and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Jessica, thanks so much for that.

The Trump campaign is announcing a 250-person limit for a rally later today in Minnesota, citing state guidelines. Now remember, Minnesota recorded three separate outbreaks related to Trump campaign events in September and the state is at record cases and hospitalization levels right now.

But the Trump campaign is blaming what it calls the free speech stifling dictates of Minnesota's governor and attorney general for limited capacity at the rally today. In reality, these rules, of course, are about health and safety.

And the president says this to another packed rally crowd in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We know the disease, we social distance. We do all of the things that you have to do.

[05:35:03]

If you get close, wear a mask -- always controversial. It's not controversial to me. You get close, you wear a mask. Social distance, social distance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: OK -- well, a picture is worth a thousand words there. He says that to a huge crowd of maskless supporters packed in like sardines, at risk to everyone's health.

Trump was in Florida where CNN has learned testing declined dramatically over the summer as Dr. Scott Atlas gained favor with the president and the White House and urged officials, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, to limit testing to people with symptoms. Atlas is not an infectious disease expert, he's a radiologist.

Dr. Deborah Birx, who is an expert in public health, has essentially abandoned the White House to sidestep him. Instead, she is taking her message on the road, spending the last few months visiting states to assess the situation on the ground and to advise them on best practices -- because you're not hearing it from the White House.

Four days to the election. It's time for three questions in three minutes. That means we've got to bring in CNN senior political analyst, John Avlon. Good morning, John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, guys.

ROMANS: OK. You know, we look at the map. Today it's all about the Midwest. The president broke down that blue wall -- that famous blue wall in 2016 -- and he needs help there to repeat, especially if he can't win Florida. Can he find momentum there in the Upper Midwest?

AVLON: Well, he is desperately trying to recreate some of that magic. And I think the fact that Biden is campaigning in Minnesota is significant. It shows a need to shore it up.

One thing I'd keep an eye on, though, is four years ago, Donald Trump had a 10-point lead in Iowa. That bleeds over to a lot of these neighboring states. That's not necessarily the case this time around. We rate Iowa a toss-up.

But it is a sign that nothing can be taken for granted in this race, and Democrats seem to understand that and it's not just because there's scar tissue from four years before. Trump is playing offense, so are Democrats. Every vote matters and nothing's taken for granted, but that Upper Midwest can't just be written off by either candidate.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: So, John, every vote matters and enthusiasm right now is just extraordinary.

AVLON: Of course.

JARRETT: Eighty-one million Americans have already voted.

AVLON: Yes.

JARRETT: And things are actually getting interesting in some battleground states. The early voting gap is narrowing.

We're seeing in Florida, a week ago Democrats had a nine percentage point lead. Now, it's just three. And in North Carolina, a 12-point advantage down to seven. In Nevada, a 12-point lead down to six.

Republicans have indicated they plan to vote in person on Election Day. So what should the Democrats' message be?

AVLON: Well look, the Democrats' message should be get out, vote, vote early, and don't be deterred.

The one thing I'll say is, though, this changing metric does indicate that that frame we've been working with -- Democrats will vote early, Republicans will vote late -- is probably bleeding into one another.

Right now, people are changing the way they vote in this country. I mean, the numbers are so stunning. It's not just a measure of enthusiasm, people are trying to make sure they don't get caught up in kind of the chaos of Election Day. So I don't know that we're going to see the same number of Republicans vote on Election Day if so many are voting before.

But get and vote. This enthusiasm is off the charts.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: Well, and places like Minnesota and Wisconsin, I think some people are actually going to go in person --

AVLON: Yes.

JARRETT: -- now because they're worried that their ballots are not going to be counted by Election Day.

AVLON: Bingo.

ROMANS: All right, let's look at that reelection map. You look at Trump's reelection map again and you look at the Senate. There's overlap in these competitive --

AVLON: Sure.

ROMANS: -- states. And, you know, Trump has made a lot of controversial decisions that put senators in a really tight spot. Now it's looking like Democrats have a real chance to capture the chamber.

Which races are you watching?

AVLON: Look, I think the Michigan race. Democrats have been feeling really good about Michigan.

But the Republicans have a candidate who really is kind of a rock star on Republican media circles -- the African-American candidate running against the incumbent. And so, keep an eye on that one. I wouldn't write that off. There could be some ticket-splitting.

Second, I'll look at your home state of Iowa --

ROMANS: Yes.

AVLON: -- Christine. I mean, that race has been tight. And frankly, the Democratic candidate is slightly ahead -- Greenfield versus Ernest. A brutal debate a few weeks ago there.

ROMANS: That's right.

AVLON: That state is tight -- still edge, Donald Trump -- but Ernst has got real problems.

Bottom line, Democrats need to pick off some seats and they can. They don't need necessarily four, even though it would mean that if Biden and Kamala Harris won that the vice president would basically be living on Capitol Hill.

ROMANS: All right, John Avlon, senior political analyst. Have a great weekend.

JARRETT: Get some sleep.

ROMANS: We're almost there.

JARRETT: You're going to need it.

AVLON: Why now? Game day -- let's go.

ROMANS: I think you're right.

JARRETT: Thanks, John. All right.

The Biden campaign -- well, they have a problem with Facebook. They're claiming the social media giant is wholly unprepared to handle the 2020 election. Biden's team says it lost half a million dollars in potential donations because Facebook's systems kept them from running ads.

Overnight, Facebook acknowledged technical flaws affected both campaigns. There's been no comment from the president's campaign.

Facebook has faced criticism for being unable to police misinformation online and for its policy of permitting candidates to lie in ads on the platform.

ROMANS: All right, to business now.

[05:40:00]

While most of the U.S. economy stalls, big tech is thriving during the pandemic. Amazon, Google parent Alphabet, Facebook, Apple all reported blockbuster earnings Thursday. The four companies' net profit combined was $38 billion last quarter.

Homebound Americans bought up their gadgets and used their services.

Amazon saw record sales and a 200 percent rise in profit on pandemic- fueled online shopping. Alphabet bounced back from a loss last quarter to a record $11 billion profit as ad sales rebounded. And that also helped Facebook's revenue rise 22 percent. And, Apple sales rose even though the pandemic forced it to push back the iPhone 12's release.

Now, it wasn't all gangbusters. Twitter saw its slowest user growth in years.

And these big profits come despite increasing antitrust scrutiny. Last week, the DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google. Facebook also faces a similar probe from the FTC.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:04]

ROMANS: New this morning, worldwide total coronavirus cases now surpassing 45 million, and Europe is beginning to feel the devastating effects of a second wave reminiscent of the first wave back in spring.

Overnight, Germany hit a new record high for COVID cases for the third day in a row. A four-week lockdown starts there Monday.

The city of Liege, in Belgium, has one of the highest positivity rates in the world. ICUs and their medical staffs are at breaking point. In the Citadelle Hospital, there is just one spare bed. Doctors fear they're going to have to start making decisions about who is admitted and who must be sent home to die.

Today, in neighboring France, a second nationwide lockdown goes into effect.

Let's bring in senior European correspondent Jim Bitterman for the latest.

And, Jim, this lockdown a little bit different than the first. They're going to try to keep agriculture and some factory services open so that the backbone of the economy is still working. But clearly, this is going to be a change in the way of life for a lot of people again.

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Christine. I mean, you can see from the Champs-Elysees behind me that, in fact, the cinemas are now closed and the restaurants are now closed. And all the kinds of things that normally would be taking place here on a Friday morning, in fact, are not.

That wasn't the scene, though, last night. Last night, it was unbelievable out here. The crowds were everywhere and, in fact, people were trying to get in that last call at the bars and the last meal at the restaurants and whatnot, and then get out of town.

For one thing, this four-week lockdown -- nobody is believing it's going to be just four weeks. People are thinking it may be longer than that and it could extend to Christmas. So a lot of these shops were discounting items and whatnot to try to get rid of their stock before Christmas and a lot of people were trying to do their shopping.

And as they were getting out of town last night there were huge traffic jams, some of them more than 700 kilometers. That's more than 400 miles of traffic jams around the Paris area.

So a lot of changes for a lot of French in this -- coming up to this holiday season -- Christine.

ROMANS: Trying to -- trying to break the COVID here. Trying to win against COVID.

All right, thank you so much, Jim Bitterman.

BITTERMAN: Yes.

JARRETT: All right.

Back here in the U.S., officials say police body camera footage and 911 calls related to the killing of Walter Wallace Jr. will be released by the end of next week.

Wallace's family watched them on Thursday. Their lawyer says the video shows Wallace walking out of the house with a knife as family members are shouting about his mental condition.

Now, the family doesn't want the officers charged with murder. Here's why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAKA JOHNSON, WALLACE FAMILY ATTORNEY: This city has failed not only the Wallace family, not only the other members of that community who will be scarred and traumatized for the remainder of their days, but the city has also failed those police officers. It failed them tremendously.

The only remedy the police had in that moment, per their thinking, was their service weapon. There was no less-lethal option available.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Wallace's relatives say they made at least three calls to authorities. They initially called for an ambulance but the police arrived first and they didn't have Tasers. The mayor says that's actually due to budget constraints.

Philadelphia's City Council has passed a bill banning the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray during protests, a handful of which have turned violent. The mayor's spokesperson says he supports the intent of the bill and will review it.

ROMANS: Walmart is removing firearms and ammunition off the sales floors in some of its U.S. stores. America's largest retailer says the move is in response to Philadelphia protests over the fatal police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. The company says this is just a precaution. The items will still be available for purchase.

Walmart took similar measures back in June following nationwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd.

JARRETT: Well, Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue opting out of the final debate with his Democratic challenger, Jon Ossoff. Perdue will instead attend an event with President Trump. The debate this week between Perdue and Ossoff became pretty heated and very personal.

Both Senate seats in Georgia are up for grabs.

In the other race, Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler is being met with some skepticism for claiming -- yes, really claiming here she was not familiar with the emphasis Trump "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD" tape. It was a tape that was so widely covered. It played all the time back in 2016 and the president even had to apologize for it. It seems pretty unbelievable that she wouldn't be familiar with it.

ROMANS: All right. Dan Coats says he has seen no evidence of widespread fraud despite President Trump's unfounded claim that the upcoming election is going to be corrupt. Coats just gave his first television interview since the president removed him as director of national intelligence last July and he had a strong warning about Election Day and beyond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN COATS, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The nightmare scenario is that on election night, people will draw conclusions or days after will draw conclusions that their candidate has been denied the victory and that public riots will result and violence might result from that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:50:16]

ROMANS: Coats told CBS's Norah O'Donnell that Russia is the -- quote, "the New England Patriots of messing with elections." He says they do it better than anybody else.

This came the same day Twitter labeled a tweet from Russian state media that included a video implying widespread voter fraud. It's the first time Twitter tagged RT's account for manipulating elections.

JARRETT: Well, at least six people in four states killed by Hurricane Zeta. Zeta was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone yesterday. But 1.5 million customers are still without power this morning from Louisiana to Virginia.

The 27th storm of the Atlantic hurricane season made landfall in Louisiana as a category two storm on Wednesday, leaving widespread damage behind.

Officials are asking people to stay off the roads because of downed powerlines there. There are also reports of significant coastal flooding. And vessels that broke loose from barges caused damage to bridges, which will now have to be inspected.

ROMANS: The NHL's Arizona Coyotes renouncing their rights to the top 2020 draft pick Mitchell Miller after a recent report revealed he bullied a black classmate with disabilities in 2016.

According to "The Arizona Republic," Miller and another teen were accused of tricking Isaiah Myer-Crothers into eating candy that had been placed in a urinal and physically assaulting him. Miller and the other teen admitted the bullying in an Ohio juvenile court and were sentenced to community service.

JARRETT: For the first time, the largest police force in America appointing an African-American woman as its chief of patrol. New York's Police Commissioner Department says that he is beyond proud to name Juanita Holmes to serve in the post, managing most of the department's ununiformed officers. Holmes will become the highest-ranking African-American woman in NYPD history. Holmes has 30 years of experience on the force and says she will lead with equality, fairness, and transparency.

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Friday morning.

Looking at markets around the world here you can see some stabilization, I would call it, in European markets and declines in Asian shares.

As they close for the week on Wall Street, futures right now pointing to more losses at the open here. You know, Wall Street saw a modest rebound Thursday on some solid data jobless claims fell, although still at a very high level. And the economy grew a record 31 percent, an annual rate over the summer, recovering now about two-thirds of its decline.

Still, it's been a rough week for stocks. President Trump, though, promising stock market success if he wins the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Look, your 401(k)s are going to go up by 50 percent, quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: If he is reelected, he says. Remember, only about half of the U.S. is invested in stocks. Most of the gains go to the wealthiest Americans, a reminder that Wall Street is not Main Street.

ExxonMobil slashing thousands of jobs as the pandemic sinks oil prices. Exxon will cut 1,900 jobs in the U.S. through both layoffs and buyouts. It will also shed 15 percent of its global staff by the year 2022. That's about 14,000 workers.

You know, the entire oil industry is battered by this pandemic. Demand is slow, so -- low -- and so are oil prices. U.S. crude fell below $35.00 a barrel Thursday, a four-month low. Oil producers and services have shed 50,000 jobs this year.

Homebound Americans will now pay more to binge-watch Netflix. The company's raising prices by a dollar on its standard plan, two bucks on its premium plan.

The price hike, not a big surprise. Netflix spends billions of dollars on content. But analysts say subscriber growth will likely slow in the future. In fact, Netflix got a huge pandemic bump of users in the first half of the year but growth has slowed in the third quarter.

JARRETT: And finally on this Friday, actress Scarlett Johansson and SNL's Colin Jost have tied the knot.

Word of their wedding in a small private ceremony last weekend came from an unexpected place, Meals on Wheels. The non-profit group shared the news in an Instagram post saying the couples' wedding wish is to help make a difference during this pandemic. They say people can celebrate the happy couple by donating to Meals on Wheels America.

Congratulations to them.

ROMANS: Yes, and what a nice -- what a nice gesture to celebrate their wedding --

JARRETT: Absolutely.

ROMANS: -- by helping other people.

All right, don't forget to set your clocks back an hour Saturday night.

JARRETT: Oh.

ROMANS: Have a great weekend. Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. We'll see you at 4:00 a.m. on Monday. "NEW DAY" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:59:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: This is by far the highest number of cases we have ever seen. The virus is raging.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. will probably climb past 100,000 infections per day within the next couple of weeks.

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER COMMISSIONER, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: This is the hardest point in this pandemic right now. We can't give up our guard.

TRUMP: We locked down, we understood the disease, and now we're open for business.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything is about turning out your voters, and if that's what's going to turn out Trump voters then he's welcome to make an argument. It's not going to help us get past the pandemic.

BIDEN: Donald Trump has surrendered to the virus. I'm not going to shut down the country but I'm going to shut down the virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Friday, October 30th, 6:00 here in New York.

And this morning there is no place to hide. Those are the words from the governor of Ohio.

As of this morning, you have five days left to vote and that's huge -- it really is. And normally, that is all we would be talking about this morning, but something is happening that will challenge us past November third. In fact, it might be one of the most challenging periods in our nation's history.