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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump, Biden Both Making Stops in Critical PA Today; Wisconsin Preparing for Hug Election Day Turnout; More Than 4.5 Million in North Caroline Have Already Voted; Texas Supreme Court Denies GOP Effort to Toss Nearly 127K Vote; Tensions Escalating Nationwide as Election Nears; Trump Plans to Declare Victory if He's Close on Election Night; How Trump's Foreign Policy has Affected Global Relationships; What U.S. Election Outcome Would Mean for Middle East; Next U.S. President Facing Challenges in North Korea and China; Futures Higher Amid Election Uncertainty. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired November 02, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good morning, everybody. This is "EARLY START" an early, EARLY START, I'm Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett. About 31 minutes past the hour here in New York. Election day 2020 finally arrives tomorrow. President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden barn storming the Rust Belt states. The President trying to hold on to those he won four years ago, and Joe Biden working to flip them back to blue.

The home stretch comes as the pandemic President Trump failed to bring under control hits devastating new peaks. The U.S. is well on its way to 100,000 cases per day. More than 81,000 new cases yesterday, by far the highest Sunday total when reporting is typically lower.

ROMANS: Overnight, the President gave his strongest sign yet that Dr. Anthony Fauci's days may be numbered as the government's leading COVID expert if Trump wins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD (chanting): Fire Fauci, fire Fauci, fire Fauci.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Don't tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: A tightly packed maskless crowd calling for a doctor to lose his job, that's what the President is supporting. It came after Dr. Fauci told "The Washington Post" that Biden's campaign is, quote, taking the pandemic seriously from a public health perspective. Fauci said Trump is, quote. looking at it from a different perspective. JARRETT: Yes, that's putting it nicely. It was a late night for both

candidates scouring the nation for every last vote, including Joe Biden in Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're going to beat this virus. We're going to get it under control. But the truth is -- this is not like where the truth is, to beat the virus, we first got to beat Donald Trump. He's the virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: CNN has the election covered from battle ground states across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sara Murray in Philadelphia. Donald Trump and Joe Biden are both in Pennsylvania today in a last minute scramble to turn out their voters ahead of the election. Now the President spent most of his day on the campaign trail on Sunday calling into question rules in Pennsylvania that allow ballots received between November 3rd and November 6th to be counted. As of now though, those ballots still count in the keystone state. His Secretary of State says counties should have a plan to count these ballots when they come in, even though they will remain segregated in case there are future legal challenges.

The bottom line, if you still have a ballot to hand in in Pennsylvania, do it now, do not wait, and remember, it could take a while to count up all of the millions of ballots that are going to be pouring in by mail for the first time in the keystone state.

[04:35:03]

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bill Weir in Madison, Wisconsin, America's dairy land, on election eve bracing for a big in-person turnout on election day. The weather forecast for that. Also, they're bracing for a long night of counting almost 2 million absentee ballots. There's more than 1,900, clerking all over Wisconsin, each count in very different ways. So, this could be one of the states that takes a while.

Joe Biden leads comfortably in the most recent polls here in Wisconsin. But President Trump is making a closing argument stop to Kenosha, Wisconsin, tonight. Meanwhile here in Madison, like many cities across the country they are boarding up windows of a lot of businesses preparing for this election like it's a coming hurricane.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dianne Gallagher in Raleigh, North Carolina. Early in person voting ended on Saturday here in this state, and the numbers are just astronomical. So far, more than 4.5 million North Carolinians have already cast a ballot, either in person or by mail. That's 95 percent of the total 2016 turnout, and that means 62 percent

of all registered voters have already cast a ballot. Now, people can still put their ballots in the mail. They can turn them into their county board of elections, up until 5:00 p.m. on election day.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm ed Lavandera, in Houston, Texas. The Texas Supreme Court has ruled against a group of Republicans that is trying to invalidate, set aside more than 127,000 votes cast in drive-through voting locations like this one this in Harris county. Those votes were cast during the three-week early voting period and account for about 10 percent of that overall vote and during that early voting period. They say this was an illegal form of voting but the Texas Supreme Court for the second time has ruled against this group. The legal battle is not over. An emergency hearing is scheduled in federal court to hear these same issues and that is set for Monday morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, thanks to all of our correspondents for those reports.

Let's bring back CNN political analyst John Avlon and "Wall Street Journal" national politics reporter Sabrina Siddiqui. Great to see you guys again. You know, Sabrina, the most important word this week I think is patience. Here's CNN bureau chief Sam Feist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM FEIST, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: It takes longer to count those mail-in ballots. You know, they have to -- literally election officials have to open up the envelopes, open another envelope, check a signature, process that ballot, and that takes time. It takes a lot of time. We have to be patient with the people who are counting the ballots and our viewers have to be patient with us because it's just going to take a little bit longer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: You know, there are already signs of tension that Biden bus almost being run off the road in Texas. Trump supporters blocking roads in New York and New Jersey, a bridge in New York. Stores being boarded up. Sabrina, what can both parties do to keep things calm here?

SABRINA SIDDIQUI, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think that they have to make clear that this election will require a great deal of patience and that there may not be a result on election night, and that is not necessarily unprecedented. We have had other elections where we did not necessarily have a winner on the night of the election itself. This election, of course, that has been clouded by a greater deal of uncertainty because of the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that there are going to be a higher than usual number of absentee ballots cast.

And both campaigns are also anticipating long lines at the polls, perhaps other technical issues as well as potential legal challenges ahead. Now, I think the biggest concern, of course, is that the President of the United States is threatening to undermine the legitimacy of the process as well as to declare early victory. But it is important to remember that the election is not decided by any one candidate simply declaring victory. It is decided by all of the ballots being counted and the American people having their voices heard.

JARRETT: John, to Sabrina's point there, the President keeps saying the votes have to be counted on election night. Now we know that is false on so many different levels, not just because of the surge of mail-in ballots that we're seeing, it's wrong any year. They always count after election night.

He's clearly angry about Pennsylvania in particular, because it's close for him, and they have extended their mail-in ballots deadlines, even though it was a Republican legislature, I should mention, that did that. And now CNN's Jim Acosta is reporting that the Trump campaign is prepared -- at least they say -- to declare victory if the President is even close to the 270 electoral votes he needs to win. So, how should Biden respond if Trump tries to go to the cameras and lie to the nation essentially claiming victory before we actually know the results. Should Biden just ignore him? What should he do?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's a great question. Look, I think what we all need to say, and I think Biden would say, is that you can't declare yourself the winner.

[04:40:00]

This is not a self-coronation. The counting does that. This a is we the people moment, not a me the people moment as the President sometimes does. And so, any self-declaration of victory if you haven't hit 270, is just delusional spin.

But of course, it's serious because it's going to increase the potential of conflict. Create a potential constitutional crisis. But the states should count, every vote should be counted. And nobody should believe anybody who declares themself the winner before the votes are in -- and this is going to take time, because we haven't had an election during a pandemic before, people. And to your point, votes are always counted beyond election night. But it's a very difficult problem for the country to confront a President who seems to be indicating a desire to declare himself a winner before the votes are all fully counted.

ROMANS: And it's the states, you know, these Secretaries of State who like certify these vote counts and then there are projections that happen. Sometimes on election night, but sometimes after, projections from the media, based on the mathematical. You know, we just have to be patient here. The President doesn't declare who is President. It's a system, a process that is very well run here.

Sabrina, so more than 93 million people have voted early, 93 million. Democrats had a big lead in the early voting and that lead has now shrunk. It that reason for concern for the Democrats? A natural course correction. What do we make of that?

SIDDIQUI: Well, that's actually a key question here. As you point out, there have been a record number of people who have cast their ballots early, and Democrats have overall, held an advantage over Republicans in early voting. Now as we get closer to election day in several key battlegrounds, that advantage is shrinking as Republicans are catching up, and that's the key question. Is this early voting because of an uptick in enthusiasm or simply that a large number of people are voting early as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and trying to avoid some of those longer lines that you might see on election day.

And certainly, the strategy for the Trump campaign has been to try and offset that advantage by Democrats by boosting turnout among their supporters on election day. So, a lot of it remains to be seen. And that's why you see both candidates in these final days, now really final hours, barn storming some of those critical battlegrounds, especially Pennsylvania with one message, and one message alone, and that is to vote, vote, vote. Because it's not really about voter persuasion anymore. It's really about voter turnout.

JARRETT: Vote, vote, vote, I like that message. Something everything can get on board with. All right, Sabrina Siddiqui, national politics reporter at the "Wall Street journal." John Avlon, senior political analyst, thank you so much.

SIDDIQUI: Nice to see you this morning.

AVLON: Nice to see you guys.

ROMANS: Nice to see you this morning. Everybody in your Wheaties, all right.

Wall Street like certainty. Normally an incumbent would provide some of that. But the volatility that comes with President Trump is different here. While corporate America has enjoyed the benefits of a Trump presidency that produced lower taxes and regulations, Wall Street and business leaders are becoming more comfortable with the possibility of a Joe Biden presidency. That's right. Even with Biden's promises to raise taxes on companies. Raise taxes on investors and the rich and he supports stronger unions.

Now some leaders are prioritizing that steady set of hands after the turmoil of the Trump era. Mounting frustration with the president's ongoing efforts to undermine the credibility of the election, force some to question backing him for a second turn.

In fact, look at this. A survey of CEOs by Yale found 77 percent of participants would vote for Biden. Trump still has supporters in the business world. While Wall Street donated $74 million to Biden, the oil and gas industry clearly favors the President. We'll be right back.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) JARRETT: Joe Biden likes to remind voters that character is on the ballot this election. But so is policy, most notably, foreign policy. President Trump's America First edict has the United States facing unprecedented scenarios in many parts of the world. We begin in Europe with senior diplomatic editor Nic Robertson who joins us live from London. So, Nic, what does tomorrow's election mean for the U.S. globally?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: You know, when it comes to Europe, people here, leaders and populations are going to be looking to see is it President Trump or is it going to be President Biden. And their concern about President Trump is that he's brought a degree of chaos. That's he's brought a degree of disharmony across the Atlantic. There would be concerns that, you know, what does a second term President normally do when he likes to get a signature foreign policy, you know, success.

You know, President Clinton was able to get the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland 20 years ago. So, you know, there will be concern that in European context that President Trump might turn to Russia, might try to sort of create some new deal with Russia who already has a cozy relationship with Putin. And that would strain his relationship with European leaders.

There will be concerns there about NATO. He already has strained relations with European leaders on trade, on China, on Iran. So, the result would be -- President Trump's second term would be a weaker influence of the United States in Europe.

I think when you look at a President Biden, what you have here is a -- what you have here is a leader who said that he'll work with his allies. That he'll join the Global Climate Accord, the one struck in Paris.

That will sit well with European partners. And he would have a global forum on democracy. That would sit well with European partners. And he would be strongly behind NATO. That would sit well here as well.

JARRETT: All right, Nic Roberson, thank you so much for that. Appreciate it.

ROMANS: All right, to the Middle East now, where President Trump has embraced authoritarians.

[04:50:00]

He also recently helped brokered peace deals between Israel and several Arab countries. For a perspective from the region, let's bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann. He is live for us in Jerusalem. Hi, there.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The big question for the next administration is what to do with Iran. This of course, deals with what to do and how to work with the individual states here. Israel is assuming Gulf states would like to see a continuation of Trump's pressure on Iran policy. More sanctions, no engagement, until there are significant concessions, to try to get some sort of agreement that perhaps works far better and is more agreeable to Israel and the Gulf states. That's what's expected from a Trump administration. That continued pressure on Iran.

Meanwhile, a Biden administration -- theoretical as it is -- is expected to reengage Iran and try to get back to the JCPOA, the Iran nuclear deal. A move that the Israel and the Sunni Gulf states generally don't want to see as they look unfavorably on that agreement.

The other key question for the region as we saw President Donald Trump pushing forward those normalization agreements between Israel and the Arab states, what to do with the Palestinians. Palestinians are effectively banking on the end of a Trump administration. They have no plan B. Trump will continue to put pressure on the Palestinians, using the Arab Gulf states with Israel against them.

Whereas the theoretical Biden administration, that's expected to open up with the Palestinians again, reestablish those contacts and try to get to a more traditional view of two-state solution, the sort of traditional American foreign policy when it comes to the region. So, those are some big questions, and we'll look to how the election shapes with continued policy on those.

And I'm sure we'll talk to you about it again. Thanks, Oren Liebermann for us.

JARRETT: All right, when President Trump first took office, he made bold overtures in Asia, especially to North Korea and China. So, what awaits the winner of tomorrow's election?

Let's go live to Seoul and bring in Paula Hancocks. Paula, nice to see you. Talks with Kim Jong-un broke down even after all of the love letters and relations with President Xi, ultimately soured over the coronavirus pandemic. So, how do we expect them to respond to whatever the final outcome may be, however long it takes here in the U.S.?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we certainly know that North Korea, for example, is going to be watching this election very closely. Now, as you mentioned, Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader has a relationship with President Trump. I don't think anyone doubts that in his mind it would be preferable for President Trump to be reelected. The fact that he has three historic meetings and even though he hasn't actually managed to get sanctions lifted, which is what he wanted. He also hasn't had to give up a single weapon or nuclear weapon.

So certainly, I think, from North Korea's point of view, a President Trump reelection would be better. And Biden has been very critical of North Korea throughout this whole campaign. In fact, in the last presidential debate, he called Kim Jong-un a thug. And over the last year North Korea has had choice words for Vice President Biden as well, calling him a fool of low IQ among other insults.

Now when it comes to South Korea, we have a president here in Moon Jae-in who is, pro engagement with North Korea. So, potentially he would maybe prefer President Trump to be reelected so he could have that chance of reengagement with North Korea.

But we did have an op-ed written by the former Vice President Biden here in South Korean media pointing out that he will reengage with allies, something that he claims that President Trump has not done.

And then briefly on China. Obviously, Beijing will be watching this closely. President Trump has started a trade war with China, affected millions. He says that China is the biggest security threat to the United States, but Biden disagrees. He says that is Russia -- Laura.

JARRETT: Potentially very different reactions, depending on what happens, Paula Hancocks, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

ROMANS: All right, it is Monday morning. Let's get a check on CNN business this morning. Look at markets around the world, rounding the corner into a pandemic. November, you have gains. Asia closing higher and, European shares opening higher. On Wall Street futures at this hour, also moving higher, bouncing back after what was been a really tough run here in the stock market. Stocks have been on edge ahead of the election. October was one of the worst months on Wall Street of the President's term. Delays in counting mail-in ballots could create the kind of uncertainty Wall Street hates.

Hertz, meanwhile, is helping people get to the polls. Starting today as part its drive to vote program, any customer who rents a car for two or more days will get a free rental day. Hertz says it wants to make it easier for people to exercise their right to vote, especially people who need reliable transportation.

And Laura, I love that I've seen some companies have been giving their employees time off to vote.

JARRETT: Yes, or the day off.

ROMANS: No meetings on Tuesday. Right, I think that's really important. And a reminder for everybody, remember to vote, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: Go find the time. I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

[04:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the last full day of campaigning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you are the Biden campaign, you are all in on the state of Pennsylvania. If you are Donald Trump, he's going all over the place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we have heard from the President is repeated attempts to undermine the credibility of the election.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We should know the result of the election on November 3rd.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA) VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We plan to decisively win this election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to get worse. The virus is all over the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel very good. People want to get their life back to normal. They're tired of the lock down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to do the basic things in Wisconsin, and frankly some people aren't doing them because they're listening to Donald Trump.

BIDEN: We choose truth over lies. It's time to take back our democracy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is "NEW DAY." It is Monday, November 2nd, 5:00 here in New York. I feel it, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's a special edition of "NEW DAY,".

CAMEROTA: It is a special edition of "NEW DAY." It's an exciting edition.