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New Day

U.S. Death Toll Surpasses 250,000; Majority of Republican Believe Voter Fraud; Southwest Bracing for More Heat; Deadly Crackdown in Nigeria. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired November 19, 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: What do people need to do and not do for Thanksgiving next Thursday?

DR. ALI KHAN, DEAN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER'S COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH: So we do not need to create yet another super spreader event in America. Disease is so widespread that if people are getting infected everywhere right now, just not in the longer, just the routine places, hot spots that we used to see. So this is a good Thanksgiving to just stay home and stay within your bubble or -- or at most, you know, a small number of additional, two or three people, who you know are also taking really good precautions. But this is a good year to stay home.

And it's a good year for us to do it across the U.S. so maybe we could have a better Christmas. There's 250,000 dead people. We'd like to limit that further. And the other thing I'd like to pick up that you -- the point I heard earlier on the show is, a single negative test is not a pass to say, I am fine, I can now go do whatever I want, because you may well still be infected and incubating. So please be cautious of thinking that, well, I got a single negative test somewhere and I'm -- I'm good to go. Stay home. Social distance.

BERMAN: You can't test your way into Thanksgiving dinner. I mean you just can't test you way to that table. That's just not the way to do it (INAUDIBLE).

KHAN: You can't -- you can't test you way into Thanksgiving dinner. And we've seen this around the president, right? You couldn't even protect the president with a testing strategy.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Dr. Khan, there's some mornings on the program that we have so much hope and it seems so promising, like the mornings of the great vaccine news. And then there are some mornings, like this morning, where it feels like to get to that light at the end of the tunnel, we have to go through such a devastating, deadly tunnel that we might not actually make it to the other side.

And one of the things that is making me less hopeful is to hear from Rick Bright, who is on President-elect Biden's COVID advisory board, talking about what is being missed because they're not able to sit down at the table. So it's not like when Joe Biden takes office that day we're going to have a distribution plan. I mean he explained to us, he spelled it out yesterday, all of the things that they could be doing right now but they're not.

So just listen to him for a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK BRIGHT, MEMBER OF PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN'S COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD: It's also really important to note that the government so far has invested about $10 billion into the development of vaccines. And there's a significant cost associated with a downstream administration and immunization program to make sure we have everything in place to administer those vaccines. And those costs have not been covered in the current legislation. So there's a lot of work that we need to do very rapidly to make sure that our entire infrastructure is in place to receive these vaccines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: I mean not only do they not have -- are they not sitting down at the table and talking about this, they don't even know if the money will be there for the distribution.

KHAN: Alisyn, that's a great point. And I hope wherever I come on, I also are -- am a source of hope. Our previous bad choices do not -- are not our destiny. And many countries have come back from situations as dire as this and so can we.

But the vaccination campaign is going to be even more complex that the swine flu vaccination campaign in the United States. Remember, this is a two-dose vaccine, one of which has to be kept ultra-cold. And we need to get this right and the government needs to make sure that they're prepared to do this and that they under-promise and over- deliver.

BERMAN: You are a source of joy every morning, Dr. Khan. Just seeing your face inspires us. So thank you so much for being with us (INAUDIBLE).

CAMEROTA: Even though you cover it up sometimes with the --

KHAN: Mask on, everybody!

BERMAN: That's right.

KHAN: Be safe.

BERMAN: Talk about sacrifice.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, Dr. Khan, thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

BERMAN: We know what President Trump's strategy is now. He wants to overthrow the will of the people. Joe Biden won the election by at least 5.8 million votes. The president's team has said they want to throw that out and have Republican legislators decide the outcome of the election. New developments overnight from Michigan, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:06]

CAMEROTA: Developing overnight, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy giving "The New York Times" some insight into why Republican leaders are not pushing for the transition to Biden to begin. "The Times'" Jonathan Martin asked, doesn't Biden cool the country's political temperatures, at least at first? McCarthy responded, it depends how it turns out. If you have 70 percent of Republicans who thought he cheated, he's still going to have a hard time.

Back with us now, Errol Louis, as well as CNN analyst and "Propublica" reporter Jessica Huseman.

Hey, Errol, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy wasn't just spitballing that number. That's from an actual poll. That's a Monmouth poll where they asked, do you think that they won -- that Biden won this election fair and square? Only 18 percent of Republicans a week ago, well, even less, a few days ago, thought that. And they think it's due to voter fraud, 70 percent of Republicans think that.

And so it turns out that the blizzard of, you know, specious court cases and the constant repetition of that slogan, voter fraud, voter fraud, is taken root, has taken root.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, it's very unfortunate. And I guess Kevin McCarthy and his colleagues can be proud of themselves, that they've managed to distort and denigrate an election for the highest office in the land. That they've managed to sow enough doubt and distrust that they've done what foreign adversaries have tried repeatedly and failed to do, which is break the confidence of the American people in our own election system.

It's such a far stretch to go. It's such a damaging act in pursuit of something that they're not going to get. They're not going to reverse the results of the election. They're not going see Donald Trump get a second term. And, in the end, they're not going to do themselves any favors because grinding the country to a halt and making it impossible for the next administration, the incoming Biden/Harris administration to govern properly is not going to work to anybody's advantage at the time of the pandemic.

[06:40:07]

And so, you know, here we are. They're laying the table for what's going to be a very frustrating couple of years until the American people get sick of this and throw out the Kevin McCarthys and the rest of them who are determined to wreck a system that they can't rule.

BERMAN: McCarthy throws out that statistic as if it just happens to be randomly occurring, when he's one of the guys who made it happen! It's because of Kevin McCarthy that 70 percent of Republicans think, wrongly, that this election was somehow fraudulent.

And, Jessica, you've been so eloquent about this. And I really appreciate the reporting and writing you've done on this. I just want to, so people know, out of Michigan overnight there are reports that those two members on the Wayne County Board of Canvasing have rescinded their certification of the votes in Wayne County. I really don't want to get into the nitty-gritty of the reporting there because as you have noted eloquently, it doesn't matter, right? What the Trump campaign and their acolytes are doing is trying to inject these sentences into the ecosystem. You say what they have done successfully, I think to the media and others, is create a scenario where we're all chasing Big Foot.

So what do you mean by that?

JESSICA HUSEMAN, CNN ANALYST: Absolutely. You know, I think that the Republicans, especially far-right Republicans, have been trying to prove that voter fraud is real and makes a huge difference in American's elections for decades. I have gone to the court cases, I have watched the trials, they don't go much better than the ones that Trump is trying to pursue now and his -- I believe his current win record, as of the time I went to bed last night, was one in 29 cases that he's filed over the last couple of weeks.

These are not serious legal cases. They never have been serious legal cases. What they are is an attempt to delay the inevitable result of this election for so long that people begin to doubt the legitimacy of Biden's presidency. And I think that, you know, the statistic that you guys gave, the polling statistic that 70 percent of the Republican Party does not is exactly what they've been trying to achieve. And I don't think that there's any point in the media lending these cases any credibility or examining the meriting of the claim because they simply don't exist.

CAMEROTA: Well, I --

BERMAN: You're not debunking them, you're bunking them.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: I mean you're doing the opposite of debunking them when you talk about it, you are bunking them. You are laying them out and doing the work.

And I -- and just to say one thing, we know what the Trump campaign strategy is because their lawyer told us. I mean Jenna Ellis tweeted out of Wayne County what they're trying to do is have Republican state legislators decide the election. Huge win for Donald Trump.

Sorry, I did not mean to interrupt.

CAMEROTA: Well, far be it for me to bunk in on this, but I think that, Errol, we do need to explain what's happening because I think that a lot of people are going to wake up this morning and think, uh-oh, what just happened in Wayne County? I thought this was put to bed. I thought we had resolved this. Now the two Republicans are backtracking. They want to rescind their

votes? I thought that they had just agreed to go along with certifying the results. So now, basically, as I understand it, what they're doing is they're -- there are a handful, as "The New York Times" explains, examples of irregularities there, as there are in every county and in every presidential election. This is commonplace. There are a handful. There's not the 100,000 votes that would be needed to switch, you know, whatever the outcome was. But just because of that, they think that they can, I guess, stall or put up some impediments to certifying.

And so what does this shift mean this morning?

LOUIS: Well, in legal terms it means nothing, as we just discussed. A handful of discrepancies comes nowhere near the 150,000 votes that are the difference between Joe Biden, who won the state of Michigan, and Donald Trump, who lost the state of Michigan.

However, for purposes of distorting the truth, muddying the record, and laying claim to some kind of conspiracy theory that they can carry forward into the future, a couple of cases are good enough. They'll try and boot strap it into some broad, deep conspiracy.

On the other hand, this particular case, in Wayne County, which is Detroit, it falls squarely into something that I think a lot of Americans do understand, which is an attempt at a mass level to disenfranchise a whole bunch of black voters. That's going to be remembered and that's going to be understood as well. Kevin McCarthy and his cohorts should recognize that what they're going to do for their party is make clear that they're in a long, dishonorable tradition of trying to disenfranchise black voters. It's nothing more, nothing less.

CAMEROTA: Jess.

BERMAN: Ten-second last word, Jessica?

HUSEMAN: You know, I think he's completely right. And if you look at the statistics of the abnormalities, the -- that -- the number of abnormalities is far lower than in 2016 because Michigan has improved its election administration so much.

[06:45:02]

These -- this same board certified the results in 2016 with far more irregularities because these irregularities are expected.

CAMEROTA: Isn't that a good tidbit there, John. Isn't that good for our viewers to know?

BERMAN: It is, but in the service of the Trump Campaign, you laid -- you laid out and banked so people, you know, can start to wonder whether -- whether or not it is a question.

CAMEROTA: I don't think that Errol and Jessica bunked with anybody. I think that they just gave the viewers a very important piece of context.

BERMAN: You bunked.

CAMEROTA: Jessica, Errol, I'm sorry that you have to hear this marital spat. We'll take it up with our therapist. Thank you very much.

How is President Trump's refusal to concede impacting the pandemic? Well, the warning from President-elect Biden as the days pass.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So, this morning, relief may be on the way for the northeast, which has been grappling with winter-like temperatures, as the southwest faces another day of record-breaking heat.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers with the forecast.

[06:50:00]

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Maybe you can get your car washed tomorrow in New York, John, almost 60 degrees tomorrow afternoon there.

It is already 50 in Chicago, but it is, obviously, cold in the east.

This weather is brought to you by iRobot. Wherever the holidays happen, ask for Braava. Explore more at irobot.com.

So, yes, temperatures are going to be warming up a little bit, ahead of a cold front behind it. So you get a brief warm-up, but then it gets cold again. Very windy in Indianapolis today, Cincinnati, so you may want to just kind of hunker down here. But the mild air is behind it. The mild air will move on up towards the northeast, but not before Sunday when another cold shot comes down.

So here's kind of how the temperatures go for today, 48 in New York, 65 in Chicago for today. That's going to be a big difference for you. Sixty in Chicago for tomorrow. You do cool down, though, by the weekend. Even New York, 60 for the next couple of days.

We'll take it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, looking forward to it, Chad. Thank you very much.

We have a CNN investigation that uncovers evidence of a deadly crackdown on protesters in Nigeria. This is a remarkable report. You'll want to stick around for this, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:21]

CAMEROTA: In Nigeria, thousands of young people have been protesting police brutality as part of a largely peaceful movement. But, on October 20th, these protests turned deadly as the army and police moved in on unarmed civilians. The Nigerian army has called allegations that it fired into the crowd, quote, fake news, and told a judicial panel of inquiry that it did not shoot any civilian. But a new CNN investigation reveals this is not true.

Some of the images you are about to see are disturbing.

CNN's Nima Elbagir has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've killed him. They've killed him.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Nigerian government denies this happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are killing my people.

ELBAGIR: A peaceful protest turned deadly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They came and start shooting at us.

ELBAGIR: CNN investigates the events at Lekki toll gate the night of October 20th in Lagos, Nigeria. After analyzing hours of footage, we are going to tell a story that is radically different than the one the authorities are telling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My peaceful protests (INAUDIBLE). OK, make everybody that's here (INAUDIBLE). Now, where's the (INAUDIBLE).

ELBAGIR: People gathered at Lekki toll gate protesting against what they called systemic police brutality and corruption. What they don't know is that the army is already on its way.

This is Bonny Camp, a military garrison on the south side of Lagos. We know though analyzing footage they left at 6:29 p.m. heading towards Lekki toll gate. We can see here the Nigerian government forces approaching. The protesters are gathered on the other side of the gate.

As Nigerian forces get closer, you can see shots. At 6:43 p.m., we start hearing gunfire. We know this from the time stamp and data on this video.

Here's another angle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are releasing fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They shoot! They shoot!

ELBAGIR: Nigerian authorities say they fired blanks into the air and not at protesters. But CNN obtained video that appears to show the army shooting toward the crowd. Here, and at the top of your screen here. In the midst of the chaotic scenes, this is DJ Switch.

DJ SWITCH, NIGERIAN ACTIVIST: That place is on fire. ELBAGIR: A Nigerian celebrity and activist, she is broadcasting live on Instagram.

DJ SWITCH: And I wanted people to see what was happening. I didn't want anybody to come and twist the story.

ELBAGIR: Witnesses tell CNN ambulances were stopped from entering by Nigerian authorities. You can see here people at the scene trying to conduct CPR.

DJ SWITCH: Everybody, look at this. These are the bullets that were failing.

ELBAGIR: CNN has verified that these bullet casings are from live ammunition. They are of mixed origin, some are Serbian. This one from 2005.

ELBAGIR (on camera): Nigerian military sources verified to us that these are munitions that are currently in use by Nigeria's army. And in collaboration with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, we were also able to procure Serbian export documents proving that Nigeria purchased weaponry from Serbia for almost every year between 2005 and 2016.

ELBAGIR (voice over): The shooting continued past midnight. Eye witnesses tell us it wasn't just the army. At this point, they say police arrived and opened fire.

So why were live rounds used at a peaceful protests? Many family members of those still missing are asking that question, as they hunt for answers of the bodies of their loved ones.

Elisha's brother, Victor, was at the protest last night.

ELISHA SUNDAY, BROTHER OF DECEASED RELATIVE: Someone picked up my brother's phone and called me, and said that my brother, Victor Sunday, is among those who died, who were shot at Lekki toll gate. And I entered into the hospital and searched. I did not see him.

ELBAGIR: What we're about to show you is incredibly graphic, but it's also incredibly important.

This is Elisha's brother Victor. The data in this footage shows it was filmed at 1:04 a.m. at Lekki toll gate. Elisha says he received the call about his brother's death around this time. This places Victor exactly at the location of the protest on the night witnesses say they were shot at. This is important because Nigerian authorities deny anyone was killed at the scene.

[07:00:00]

Since this incident, CNN has contacted over 100 protesters and family members.