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New Day

Pandemic Rages Across US Ahead Of Election Day; Remembering The Lives Lost To Coronavirus; 2.6 Million In Michigan Have Already Voted, 54% Of Total 2016 Votes; The Trump Campaign's Win-At-All-Odds Strategy. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 02, 2020 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

LT. GOV. JOHN FETTERMAN (D), PENNSYLVANIA: But the election is over when all of the votes are counted. We want to be clear about that. This idea that there's a timeline or whatever, it's just a fabrication that President is making to, again, to create chaos or to create a lot of disruption that would otherwise it's just would be unprecedented in American election like this.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, we really appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

FETTERMAN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Coronavirus is spreading across America at record levels, so why is President Trump suggesting firing Dr. Anthony Fauci? We have the latest for you on the pandemic, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: As of this morning, the seven day average of coronavirus cases is now higher than 81,000. It has never been that high. The five highest case days all happened within the last week, Friday set a record of nearly 100,000 new cases. Eleven states have set new records for hospitalizations.

Joining us now is Professor William Haseltine. He is the Chair and President of ACCESS Health International and the Author of "A COVID. Back to School Guide." Professor Haseltine, thanks for being with us.

Again, 81,000 new cases on Sunday, we've never seen numbers like that. Nearly 100,000 new cases on Friday, I just want to know how much worse you think it might get.

WILLIAM HASELTINE, CHAIR AND PRESIDENT, ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL: This can get a lot worse than it is now. All you have to do is look at other countries. If we had the rate that France has today, France that was doing so well, we would be at a rate of about 170,000 people. And that I think is where we're headed. We're headed up to the 200,000. And that translates to maybe 2,500 people die every day. That's about a death a minute.

You know, we had the president sign saying "nobody is dying." I'd like him to go to 1,200 funerals a day. That's when every two minutes that happens now. That is what's going on. This is not a small event. This is a catastrophe for our country.

CAMEROTA: And when do you think we're going to hit those even more catastrophic points?

HASELTINE: Well, we're going to hit them much faster than I think we think. You remember I was predicting just a week or two ago, we'd hit 100,000. I didn't imagine it would be already there. This pandemic is really rolling out of control.

And we can change the trajectory. People know how to change. It seems as simple as universal mask wearing, social distancing, closing bars, stopping big rallies like we're having, that can make a big difference in how long we'll get there. It could be many, many weeks or it could be just a few weeks.

BERMAN: You say we can, what signs are you seeing that we actually will or are doing those things?

HASELTINE: You know, I see exactly the opposite. I see a president who's undermining the natural means to control this disease. He's attacking our Public Health Service. He's relying on really out of the box, almost crazy theories of how to handle this pandemic. I don't see anything happening unless we radically change course.

CAMEROTA: Professor, what do you see happening in Europe? Because the UK just announced that starting this Thursday, they'll have a shut down basically or stay at home, I guess, orders for this month, for the month of November. And obviously everybody wants to avoid that in the US, and I know that the White House has set it up as though they're these two, you know, extreme choices. You either letter rip or you have what they call a lockdown.

But you've always pointed out, as of our experts, there are so many things in the middle that we could have done that would have helped mitigate the situation. But what's going wrong in Europe? And do you think that that's where we're headed?

HASELTINE: Well, I think what Europe should be to America is a reminder of where things can go and how fast they can go wrong. We are now in a situation where things are going fast wrong -- going wrong fast. And it's basically the same thing that happened in Europe, it's called COVID fatigue.

The virus doesn't get tired, it just keeps on going. It's looking for new opportunities. You know, viruses take advantage of human behavior and that's what's happened in Europe. People stopped listening to the government, they relaxed. They started congregating again. They didn't wear their masks. They went to large groups. They had their parties as usual. And the result has been catastrophic. Can we do things that are immediate? We can do a lot of things. Social distancing, mask wearing will slow it down, and we can change government policy so our federal government takes the responsibility it should. You remember, I think that this president has discovered he's incapable of using the power of the federal government.

He was the head of the task force. So you saw him out in front until he embarrassed himself through lack of knowledge and his bleach comments. Then he shut it all down, took a different path, said it's entirely up to the governors. I don't have any responsibility for this.

We've got to have a president come back and I hope this president comes back, regardless of what the election results are, and says we are going to use the power of the federal government to give the states the resources to give people the message that this is something we have to control and we can control through our behavior.

CAMEROTA: Professor Haseltine, thank you very much for all of the information as always.

HASELTINE: You're welcome, thank you.

CAMEROTA: We will take some time now and remember some of the nearly 231,000 Americans lost to coronavirus.

[07:40:00]

Elvia Ramirez is the youngest person in North Dakota to have died of the virus. She was just 17 years old, and she grew up on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. She suffered from asthma and high blood pressure. The New York Times reports she had plans to marry her longtime boyfriend and attend college.

Greg Petersen was a custodian at an elementary school near Omaha, Nebraska and a devoted member of his American Legion Post. His wife told CNN affiliate KETV that he loved travel, especially to Germany, where he had been stationed in the service. He was 61 years old.

Tulsa Police Union Chairman Jerad Lindsey had been with the department as a patrol officer since 2005. The city's mayor remembered him on social media as an incredibly thoughtful friend who always stood up for his fellow officers. Tulsa World Newspaper reports Lindsey is survived by a wife and two sons.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:07]

BERMAN: President Trump heads back to Michigan for one final campaign rally. It follows a joint appearance this weekend by Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama. 2.6 million voters in Michigan had already cast their ballots. That's more than half the total votes cast in 2016. Joining us now was Jocelyn Benson. She is Michigan Secretary of State. Madam Secretary, thank you so much for being with us. If you can, just make a public service announcement here explaining how the counting process will be handled in Michigan starting when and how?

JOCELYN BENSON (D), MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: Well tomorrow morning at 7:00 am, we're going to announce the number of absentee ballots that have been received. We anticipate it will be about 3 million. And at that point, our 1,500 jurisdictions all across the state will begin processing and tabulating those absentee ballots.

We have not under current law have been able to begin tabulating them prior to today. That's different than other states.

And so, it's going to take time to methodically and securely tabulate every vote. Our goal is making sure that the official full tabulation when it's announced is accurate. That's what we're prioritizing above all else.

And then, of course, tomorrow is Election Day. People can vote in person. Those ballots will also count throughout the day. And we'll have a more specific update for everyone soon after the polls close which is around 9:00 pm Eastern for all of our jurisdictions in Michigan.

BERMAN: All right. If I'm walking around Michigan with an absentee ballot in my hand today, what should I do with it?

BENSON: You should return it to your city or township clerk's office or the local drop box in your community. And you can find the location of both at michigan.gov/vote.

BERMAN: What happens if an absentee ballot arrives after the polls close tomorrow night?

BENSON: It does not count. Every ballot must be received by 8:00 pm tomorrow. And if you have any doubt at all, you can track your ballot at michigan.gov/vote. If it shows not being received tomorrow, you have the option to go vote in person. And when you do, the poll worker will call the clerk either spoil your ballot, your original ballot or confirm it hasn't been received. And you can vote right there.

BERMAN: And this is important information, right, because every state has different rules. Sometimes the rules are a little confusing. And in this case, you're also dealing with postal delivery rates. I understand Michigan is one of the states where your delivery rate is lower than 90%, correct?

BENSON: Yes. I mean, the city of Detroit is 49 out of all Metro Areas, 49 out of 49 Metro Areas. And so, our attorney general is actually going to the Postal Service processing facilities today to confirm that every ballot has been moved through and on to its destination. Because we're being very vigilant, we want to make sure every ballot that's been sent is received on time. But we're also asked folks to use drop boxes in our clerk's office. BERMAN: And again, this is an important message because you don't have to count on the Postal Service as of today. In fact, you shouldn't count on the Postal Service today. And even if you have mailed a ballot, it's not going to count against you if you're nervous if you go in and cast a vote in person, correct?

BENSON: Correct. If you show up or, one, you can go to your city or township clerk's office today and ask for that ballot be spoiled and vote a new one. But tomorrow you can do the same. What will happen is, if your ballot has been received, the clerk will confirm that and the voter will be given that assurance in the polling place. But if it has not been received, the court will confirm that and give the voter a new ballot and spoil whatever one was sent.

BERMAN: OK. Now, I'm going to ask a question that ignores lies that had been told in the public space over the last day because I'm going to try to not repeat the lies. What I'm going to ask you is when will we know when there's a winner in Michigan? When will there be a winner?

BENSON: Sometime this week, we should have a full tabulation of every vote in Michigan. We've got 3 million absentee ballots, as I mentioned, that will begin being counted tomorrow. In our August primary, it took our clerks 40 hours to count 1.6 million absentee ballots. If we have twice that it's going to take up to 80 hours. We hope it'll get done sooner. I have some confidence it might.

But again, we'll know more tomorrow night after the poll is closed and be able to update the public continually until we have that final tabulation.

BERMAN: And in terms of people who might complain about not knowing by Tuesday night who was the one, what would you say?

BENSON: Well, the important thing is to get this right. And every state we'll be focusing diligently on counting every ballot. Now, candidates can say whatever they want, that doesn't change the fact that voters choose who wins an election, and that our election workers will ensure every valid vote will count and we'll announce where we are as we progress through that process so that the public knows everything we know about the tabulation and what to expect.

BERMAN: So repeat you in there. You said no matter what a candidate says, explain that. Explain what you mean by no matter what a candidate says about winning and losing.

BENSON: Well, certainly, we recognize that, you know, from a voter side people are anxious. We want to move on. We want to know the results of this election.

[07:50:05]

But we have to ensure accuracy and we fully anticipate that some candidates on the ballot may, in an effort to drive a partisan or political agenda, may try to build a sense that they may have won prior to the voters actually affirming that through the count of the ballot. So I recommend that people just block out that noise. You're going to hear a lot of it and a lot of other misinformation over the next few days.

Just focus on the count, focus on the facts and the data, and that's what we as secretaries of state and election administrators will be delivering to the public throughout this entire process.

BERMAN: As the Ohio Secretary of State, a Republican said earlier this morning, that's how elections work. Secretary, thank you so much for being with us this morning and laying out the facts so people know how things will go in your state. Good luck over the next 36 or maybe 72 or maybe 100 hours.

BENSON: Oh we got this.

BERMAN: All right, good luck. All right. So despite all of that, despite what we just laid out as the facts, despite the way that elections really work, the President's legal team is gearing up for a fight. We'll talk about the reality, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Here's a question for you. Why win the old-fashioned way when you could just cheat? And is that the Trump campaign strategy? John Avlon has the answer in our reality check. Hi, John.

[07:55:00]

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Ali. Look, a record 93 million Americans have already cast their ballot ahead of Election Day. And that's a sign of a vibrant democracy. But not everyone wants to see high turnout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: They had things, levels of voting that if we ever agreed to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Now, typically candidates try to win the most votes on Election Day. It's called democracy. But there is a dark history of an alternate approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL WEYRICH, CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ACTIVIST: I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people they never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: And that quote from conservative activist Paul Weyrich gives away the game and make no mistake. Barring a blowout, Team Trump is planning to contest the election in court and possibly declare victory regardless of the outcome. Trump likes to describe his supporters as a silent majority.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Call it silent majority. A silent majority. The silent majority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Which is why it's interesting that he doesn't look like he thinks he's going to win a majority, because he's never been a majority president. In 2016, he lost the popular vote by a historic amount, and he's the only president in the history of Gallup never to be above 50% approval.

Now, Trump is the first incumbent in history not to really try to win the popular vote. According to Center for Public Integrity, Republicans have set aside some $20 million on more than two 300 court ballots, all trying to make it more difficult to vote during a pandemic in an attempt to win that narrow Electoral College victory. They've sued to block the counting of mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day. They blocked limited ballot drop off boxes to one per county in Texas and tried to invalidate nearly 127,000 votes in Houston.

In Pennsylvania, election officials have accused the Trump campaign of trying to suppress mail-in votes while the Democratic AG says they're intimidating early voters. And court ordered Post Office data shows a big time declines in swing state mail-in ballots being delivered on time.

All this is happening against the drumbeat of Trump trying to sow doubts about our elections. By baselessly, proclaiming there will be widespread fraud, an idea being amplified by Russian disinformation. All of this is an attempt to suppress the popular vote and create maximum chaos around the election, which Trump hopes to take advantage of.

Now, Axios reports that Trump is planning to declare victory on election night regardless of how many votes still have to be counted. Now, of course, Trump denies this. But listen closely to his advisor yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON MILLER, TRUMP ADVISER: President Trump will be ahead on election night probably getting 280 electoral somewhere in that range. And then, they're going to try to steal it back after the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AVLON: Got that? They're planning to call the full and fair counting of votes stealing the election. If anything, it would be the President trying to steal the election because it isn't really over until every eligible vote is counted. Meanwhile, a loser declaring themselves the winner doesn't change reality, but it would open the door to conflict and a constitutional crisis.

Trump's voter suppression strategy reveals political weakness and a deep discomfort with democracy. But one thing's for sure, this election will tell us whether his passionate supporters really are a silent majority, or just a loud minority. And that's your reality check.

CAMEROTA: Very interesting, John. We shall see what happens tomorrow and beyond. Thank you very much for that reality. And "New Day" continues right now.

Donald Trump is trying to finish out the campaign with a crescendo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pennsylvania is so critical. If they can take that away from President Trump it all but in his path to reelection.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Republicans are wanting to vote on Election Day in person. So we feel very strong that we have a surge coming out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President is not going to steal this election.

TRUMP: I think it's a terrible thing when ballots can be collected after an election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the president loses this election in a tight, tight vote count, they're going to try to fight this out in court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need a president who is going to be a president for all Americans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get your vote and every vote matters, and these elections could get decided on a small margin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "New Day with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman."

BERMAN: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is a Special Edition of "New Day."

Thirty-four hours now until the first polls close. The voting is very nearly over. And a reminder, we will not know who won until those votes are counted no matter what anyone says. That's not chaos, it's counting. And a vote cast two weeks ago is every bit as valid as a vote cast tomorrow.

Joe Biden and President Trump are using these final hours to blanket the key battleground states. Biden hosted three drive-in rallies in Pennsylvania. In this new added stop in Ohio, a state that Donald Trump won big four years ago. President Trump travels to North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.