Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
U.S. Officials Link Iran to Threatening Emails Sent to Voters; Trump & Biden to Face off in Final Presidential Debate Tonight; Obama Delivers Blistering Rebuke of Trump; Nearly 63,000 New Cases, 1,124 New Deaths Reported Overnight. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired October 22, 2020 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
[05:59:29]
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 Thursday, October 22, 6 a.m. here in New York. And we do begin with breaking news.
On the eve of the final presidential debate, the country's top national security officials announcing that Russia and Iran have both obtained voter registration information that could be used to influence the election.
The timing of this announcement raises some questions. It came just minutes after former President Obama delivered a strong rebuke of President Trump. The director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, says Iran's efforts are intended to damage President Trump, but intelligence experts are skeptical of that claim, since the disinformation seems to support President Trump.
Overnight, Google confirming to CNN that thousands of these suspicious e-mails were sent, but only about 2,500 made it to voters' inboxes.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So I have some math for you this morning. Nearly 41 million Americans have voted already. That's 89 percent of the early vote in 2016.
CAMEROTA: I love these homemade graphics.
BERMAN: It's 89 percent.
CAMEROTA: I see that!
BERMAN: Are you ready for another one?
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BERMAN: That's 30 percent of the total vote from 2016. That's a lot. And there's still 12 days left. And tonight, the final debate, this might be the last, best chance for
either candidate to change the trajectory of this race. We know how it went the first time. We have new details about how both campaigns are preparing.
The major focus, we imagine, will be the coronavirus pandemic. It certainly should be. It is now in the midst of this dangerous new wave.
Overnight, the U.S. reported nearly 63,000 new cases. More than 40,000 Americans are now hospitalized. That is the highest number in two months. One thousand, one hundred, twenty-four new deaths were reported overnight. That's the highest total in more than a month. And this morning, 11 states are seeing deaths increase by 50 percent or more.
We're going to begin, though, with the breaking news on this alleged foreign election interference.
CNN's Alex Marquardt joins us now with the details. Alex, what have you learned?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Well, this was a rather remarkable and sudden press conference that we saw last night. We heard from the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, as well as the FBI director, Chris Wray. They were joined by other election officials. These are the officials charged with safeguarding the election.
And they said for the first time, they attributed for the first time, attacks in this election cycle to specific countries, saying that Iran and Russia have obtained voter registration data. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that voter registration rolls have been hacked. But those countries have obtained that.
And they said that Iran has used some of that data to email threatening e-mails to voters. Now, we've already reported that threatening e-mails have gone out to voters in Alaska and Florida, calling on voters to vote for Trump or else. And these e-mails appear to come from the far-right Trump-supporting group, the Proud Boys. One of them did read, "Vote for Trump or we will come after you."
Now, here is how the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, characterized this development. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN RATCLIFFE, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We would like to alert the public that we have identified that two foreign actors, Iran and Russia, have taken specific actions to influence public opinion relating to our elections. We have already seen Iran sending spoofed e-mails, designed to intimidate voters, incite social unrest, and damage President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MARQUARDT: So Ratcliffe saying there that these e-mails were designed to support President Trump, even though they said that -- in the e- mails "vote for Trump." It seems that his argument is that, because they're coming from a threatening group, that that hurts Trump.
Now, there is no evidence that any votes have been changed or that there has been any dramatic meddling when it comes to the votes. But this is in line with what the intelligence community has already assessed, that Iran would work in this election against President Trump, and this does appear to be the first evidence of that, that they are coming out publicly with.
Now, the director of the FBI, Chris Wray, he struck a bit more of a confident and somber tone, telling voters that they can be confident that their votes will be counted. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: You should be confident that your vote counts. Early, unverified claims to the contrary should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT: Now, this does come under two weeks, of course, before the election. Everyone is very much on edge.
What was not emphasized here is the role of Russia, which according to Wray a couple of weeks ago, and others, has been playing a very active role in this campaign, trying to influence Americans' votes.
Democrats did look at this with a real dose of skepticism because of the way that Ratcliffe has -- has been acting over the past few weeks, in a very political way, in favor of President Trump.
There is a very aggressive tweet from the House Democratic -- from the House Democrats on the -- on the House Homeland Security Committee. They wrote, "DO NOT listen to Ratcliffe. Partisan hack." But then, Alisyn and John, that tweet was deleted later.
[06:05:03]
BERMAN: All right, Alex. Alex Marquardt for us. Thank you very much for all of that.
CAMEROTA: So John, tonight is the final debate between President Trump and Joe Biden. What can we expect?
CNN's Jessica Dean is live in Nashville with a preview. Is there a way to predict what's going to happen tonight?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, I think that's probably a little bit impossible. We can do our best, though.
We know that President Trump's advisers have told him that this is really his last chance to turn around negative impressions of his behavior, especially with seniors and women voters. They've advised him to really cool it down, turn down the temperature, and he's said that he's going to do that.
But he's also said he is going to push back and push back hard if he thinks he's being treated unfairly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN (voice-over): While the rules may be different for the second and final presidential debate, the pressure is still on for former Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump with just 12 days to go before the election.
The Commission on Presidential Debates is now giving each candidate two minutes of uninterrupted time to speak and muting microphones, in a move to prevent the chaos that unfolded in the first debate.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You've already fired most of them because they did a good job.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some -- some people don't do their job.
BIDEN: Well, here's --
TRUMP: With you --
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Go ahead. Wait a minute. You get the final word in this.
BIDEN: Well, it's hard to get any word in with this clown -- excuse me, this -- this person.
TRUMP: And let me say --
DEAN: Trump complained about the debate rule change in an interview Wednesday.
TRUMP: Well, that's not fair. Plus, they changed the topics, which is unfair, just happened.
DEAN: But Biden says the new format is a step in the right direction.
BIDEN: I think it's a good idea. I think there should be more -- more limitations on us not interrupting one another.
DEAN: And while the Democratic nominee stayed off the trail to prepare for the debate, President Barack Obama traveled to Philadelphia on behalf of his former running mate, unloading one of his most direct attacks of Trump during a drive-in rally.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He hasn't shown any interest in doing any of the work, or helping anybody but himself and his friends, or treating the presidency like a reality show that he can use to get attention. And by the way, even then, his TV ratings are down, so you know that upsets him. But the thing is, this is not a reality show; this is reality.
DEAN: Meantime in North Carolina, Trump bashing Obama for campaigning for Biden, to a crowd with few masks and no social distancing.
TRUMP: President Obama's campaigning for Sleepy Joe Biden. And I said, Huh, that's good news or bad news, tell me? Are you saying it's good or it's bad? Well, I guess it's bad. No, it's good. There was nobody that campaigned harder for Crooked Hillary Clinton than Obama, right?
DEAN: The former president also slamming Trump's handling of the coronavirus.
OBAMA: When asked if he'd do anything differently, Trump said, Not much. Really?! Not much? Nothing you can think of that could have helped some people keep their loved ones alive?
DEAN: And it wasn't only about Trump. Obama urging Americans to get out and vote.
OBAMA: There were a whole bunch of polls last time. Didn't work out. Because a whole bunch of folks stayed at home and got lazy and complacent. Not this time. Not in this election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: President Obama will go to Miami on Saturday to continue campaigning for the Biden/Harris ticket.
In the meantime, Vice President Biden, President Trump both headed here to Nashville for tonight's final debate, John. That starts at 9 p.m. Eastern.
BERMAN: Obviously, we'll be watching that debate very, very closely. Jessica Dean, thank you so much.
As we said, the pandemic should be topic No. 1, two, and three at the debate tonight.
And breaking news, a new report just published out of Columbia University says that between 130,000 and 210,000 deaths could have been prevented if there had been stronger leadership from this White House. That is a staggering number.
Nearly 63,000 new coronavirus cases were reported overnight. More than 40,000 Americans now hospitalized. That's the highest amount in two months. One thousand, one hundred and twenty-four new deaths reported overnight. That's the highest total in five weeks. You can see the direction this is headed.
CNN's Adrienne Broaddus live in Chicago with the latest on these troubling numbers -- Adrienne.
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John.
The numbers are spiking. Hospitalizations are up across the country, and Illinois is an example of one dynamic surge. The CDC reporting that Illinois has seen the second highest number of total cases within the last week, just behind Texas.
[06:10:11]
The state's health department rolling out some numbers last night, numbers nobody wanted to see. As of last night, more than 2,300 people were in the hospital with COVID-19. Among the 2,300, more than 500 people in the ICU and 194 people on ventilators.
Look, we know what happens when people go to the hospital after they've been diagnosed with COVID. Some of those folks, thousands, have not come home.
And the governor here in Illinois does not want that to continue to happen. That's why he's rolling out some new restrictions. Many of them take effect tomorrow.
In the southern region of Illinois, for example, indoor dining and bar service will be banned once again. Gatherings will be limited to 25 people or less. The governor is determined to stop the spread of this virus.
The only thing constant or the only -- yes, the only thing constant about this virus is change. It's constantly changing. And now the CDC is updating its guidelines about close contact.
Now, before we were told close contact would be 15 minutes of continuous exposure. We're now learning it could be 15 minutes of total exposure. You could have interactions with people for brief moments.
The bigger question, John, is what does this all mean? It goes back to what we've been tell our viewers for weeks and months now, and it bears repeating. Mask wearing is important. A new study out says that if people wear masks, it could save about 100,000 lives -- John.
BERMAN: Is it important, ever. Chris Christie just published an op-ed pleading with Americans to wear masks. He spent a week in the hospital. He is pleading with Americans to wear masks and pleading to political leaders, including no doubt, President Trump, to send better messages about this.
Adrienne Broaddus, thanks so much for being with us.
The final presidential debate is just hours away now. So what is the one thing that each candidate needs to do when they take this debate stage? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:16:24]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Look, I get that this president wants full credit for the economy he inherited and zero blame for the pandemic that he ignored. But you know what? The job doesn't work that way. Tweeting at the television doesn't fix things. Making stuff up doesn't make people's lives better. You've got to have a plan. You've got to put in the work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: That was former President Obama, blasting President Trump's handling of the pandemic ahead of the final debate tonight.
A source tells CNN that President Trump's advisers are encouraging him to appear less angry, warning that this could be his last chance to win over women and seniors.
Joining us now, Anna Palmer. She's the senior Washington correspondent for "Politico" and author of "The Politico Playbook." Also with us, CNN political commentator, Errol Louis. He's the political anchor for Spectrum News. OK, great to see you guys.
I want to dive into what I think we should expect, Errol, based upon all the things that President Trump has been saying lately. In terms of substance, it sounds like President Trump may go full Hunter Biden- palooza. And -- and if that happens and if that comes up, do we know what Joe Biden's response going to be? I mean, is Joe Biden sort of just not engaging on this? Or would he ever turn the tables and say, Hmm, tell me how many of your adult children, President Trump, have served in the military. Or how many have licensing deals overseas? Like, he doesn't ever do that in the last one. He didn't do that sort of tit-for-tat. What do we think's going to happen tonight?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, if it does come up, and it probably will, what we saw last time was Joe Biden talking about his other son, Beau Biden, and getting teary-eyed and sentimental, and talking about the fact that he was a decorated military officer and the fact that he was an attorney general and the fact that he was very proud of his son.
He also said something about Hunter Biden, I think, last time, that we can expect to hear again, which is that his son has dealt with addiction. And that strikes a note with many, many, many, many families who have dealt with it in their own lives. And say -- and say -- and to say that he's proud of his son for fighting his way back from addiction. And if there are missteps and embarrassments and other problems, it's not because of venality. It's not because of corruption. It's because the guy's had personal problems that a lot of Americans can relate to.
That's the Joe Biden method of trying to diffuse that bomb that President Trump has tried to set off over and over and over again and will likely try and set off again tonight, Alisyn.
BERMAN: Anna, 1,254 new deaths reported overnight, 62,000 new cases. That will hang over this debate. That hangs over everything we talk about right now in this country. What does each candidate briefly need to get out of tonight's debate?
ANNA PALMER, SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "POLITICO": I think the president really needs to make a closing argument that he hasn't done so far. Why should he be re-elected? What is his plan for the next four years? Clearly, the coronavirus is raging, and they don't have a plan for how to keep this country safe.
So I think he needs to have stability. He needs to be a stable leader. I think that's going to be the big challenge for the president.
I think for Joe Biden, it's a do no harm night, right? He needs to come prepared, ready. He spent the last four days basically down, preparing for this, coming across as an empathetic leader that is stable, that can really guide this country into the future.
CAMEROTA: Beyond Hunter Biden, Errol, what do you think we should expect tonight?
[06:20:00]
LOUIS: Well, what we can expect is Joe Biden to try and look past the camera and the debate hall and -- and get into the homes of Americans, where his empathy is kind of his main calling card. His ability to sort of connect with people and say, I look like a president, I act like a president, I talk like a president. Maybe I should be your president.
For -- for Donald Trump, on the other hand, he's got to try and disrupt all of that, the way he did a few weeks ago. The problem, of course, is that not just the mute button and the different rules tonight, but the problem that a lot of people are going to be looking for that, and they want to hear something a little bit more coherent.
So it will be up to Donald Trump to make, I think, a coherent case for a new term, to essentially act as if he's a newcomer, coming to Washington. Trying to defend his record is really sort if a very, very tough proposition at this point. He may have to sort of go out on a limb and say, I've got something new and wonderful planned. And turn into the salesman that he's always been.
BERMAN: It's interesting, most of the pre-debate analysis for Donald Trump seems to be saying what he needs to do is be a completely different person than he is. At 73 years old, tonight, for the first time, be someone besides the Donald Trump we've seen for the last 73 years.
Be that as it may, I want to talk about former President Obama. I want to play a little bit more from his event in Philadelphia last night. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: You might be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner without having an argument. You'll be able to go about your lives knowing that the president is not going to retweet conspiracy theories, about secret cabals running the world or -- or that Navy SEALs didn't actually kill bin Laden. Think about that. The president of the United States retweeted that! Imagine. What -- what?
(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: All right. I found this to be fascinating at roughly 17 different levels, Anna.
One of them is that this is the traditional role of a running mate, to an extent, being -- being the attack dog here. I don't know that I've seen a former president do it before. And I don't know that I've seen -- I can't think of the last time I've seen President Obama as animated as he was last night on a subject. What did you see?
PALMER: Yes, I think that -- I mean, President Obama is clearly Joe Biden's biggest surrogate. He's very popular with Democrats.
But to your point, I think he's outraged by what Donald Trump has done to the presidency, how he's led, following you know, his eight years in office. And he is leaving it all on the field. Nothing is -- you know, he's not going to hide behind, you know, political niceness here. He's going directly for the jugular in a way that you rarely see, saw him, even in his own presidency be this aggressive.
CAMEROTA: Errol, is President Obama able to win over some voters that Joe Biden couldn't on his own?
LOUIS: I don't know if that's the goal here, Alisyn. I think the president was clearly trying to personally get under the skin of the president.
And so for Obama to talk about how the television ratings for Donald Trump are down, to needle him about his tweeting habits, to talk about him being incompetent and unfit for the job and so forth, he's trying to draw a response. He's trying to make Trump angry and have him lash out. And have him waste, basically, another news cycle or two while Joe Biden continues to go out and campaign.
By reversing roles -- and it's true that the vice president is usually the attack dog, and Joe Biden was quite an attack dog, if you look back at the 2012 reelection campaign for that ticket, just returning the favor is probably the most effective thing that Obama could do right now for his buddy, Joe Biden.
BERMAN: I also think there was a fairly explicit pitch to African- American men.
And also interesting, the geography of it in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania obviously a key swing state. And the president -- former president going to Miami over the weekend. That's the next stop on the President Obama tour on behalf of Joe Biden.
Errol, Anna, thank you both so much for being with us.
LOUIS: Thanks.
CAMEROTA: Tonight, Joe Biden and Donald Trump face off one last time. CNN's special live coverage of the final presidential debate begins at 7 p.m. Eastern.
OK, a brand-new report says that thousands of American lives could have been saved if the Trump administration had a better response to the pandemic. This was about leadership, this report says. We have the details for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:28:39]
BERMAN: Breaking moments ago, a brand-new report out of Columbia University that estimates at least 130,000 deaths, and perhaps as many as 210,000, could have been avoided with earlier policy interventions in the United States and more robust federal coordination and leadership.
So when President Trump was asked if there was anything else his administration could have done, he said, not much. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC BOLLING, HOST, SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP'S "AMERICA THIS WEEK": With COVID, is there anything that you think you could have done differently? If you had a mulligan or a do-over on one aspect of the way you handled it, what would it be?
TRUMP: Not much. Look, it's all over the world. You have a lot of great leaders, there are a lot of smart people. It's all over the world. It came out of China. China should have stopped it. No, not much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: "Not much." Joining us now is Dr. Ali Khan. He's the dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College Of Public Health.
"Not much," Dr. Khan. Columbia University says you could have done at least 30,000 lives' worth of things different. That is the opposite of "not much."
DR. ALI KHAN, DEAN, COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER: Yes. Good morning, John.
Good morning, Alisyn.
I think "not much" better characterized the response as about -- to this outbreak than what we could have done.
So this is not surprising. The Columbia study basically is giving an estimate to what we all know, which is that we've always had the tools to get this disease contained, and if we had used those public health tools, at not just the national.
