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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Expected to Host Event At White House Tomorrow Despite Having COVID; Without Evidence Trump Claims Election Will Be A Scandal; Judge Blocks Ohio Election Officials Who Limit Ballot Drop Boxes; Biden Makes Campaign Push in Key Swing State; Notre Dame President Faces Calls to Resign After Not Wearing A Mask; Hurricane Delta Nears Landfall As Category 2 Storm. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 09, 2020 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Breaking news just in, a White House official tells CNN that President Trump, despite being infected with coronavirus, is expected to host an event at the White House tomorrow. CNN's Kaitlan Collins joins me now. Kaitlan, this doesn't sound safe.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it depends on who you ask, because the President's doctor issued that letter but didn't take any questions, saying the President was cleared to do public engagements starting on Saturday.

Though, of course, that conflicts with a timeline he previously gave to reporters, Jake. But my colleague Jim Acosta says a White House official is telling him there will be an in-person event at the White House tomorrow where the President is going to be speaking. And what that means for viewers at home is that's the first time we'll have independently seen the President since he returned to the White House on Monday.

Yes, the White House has published these edited videos of the President, but we haven't laid eyes on him as reporters since then, though he has been in the Oval Office a few times this week, and we believe he's there again now because the marine is standing outside the West Wing.

But, of course, Jake, it's going to raise all kinds of questions about whether or not the President has even gotten a negative test result yet. Now White House spoke --(INAUDIBLE) actually just said they will let us know when the President has tested negative. They have not told us that yet, Jake, but the President did say he's going to be tested today.

So, we're waiting to see what the results of that is and what this event tomorrow is going to look like.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins, thank you so much.

In our 2020 LEAD, 25 days until the presidential election. And already more than 6 million ballots have already been cast. President Trump is continuing however to sow doubt about the integrity of the election, making all sorts of wild claims, including in the last hour false claims about mail-in ballots, and before it's even happened, he's called the election a scandal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But they're sending out millions and millions of ballots. Are they sending them to all Democrats? Who are they sending them to, where are they going, you know, et cetera, et cetera? This is going to be the second biggest political scandal in history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: No, it won't. I want to bring in CNN's Pamela Brown. Pamela, completely untrue. Americans have been voting absentee since the Civil War. Many states have been voting absentee, vote by mail for a decade. The ballots don't just go to Democrats. There's no scandal. Certainly not anything we know of right now.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, there's no scandal, and sources tell me that the President is essentially laying the groundwork to claim that the election is rigged so that if he is ahead on election day, he can try to preserve his victory and claim it was stolen from him if Biden pulls ahead through mail-in ballots.

But of course, the polls are showing now that it's not as close of a race as it was before. That is not stopping the President from pushing out this false messaging, even saying that we should know the results on election night. That is something contradicted by officials, and his own administration in a video this week. They said we may not know results on election night, and that's OK.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): After stopping a domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Michigan's Democratic governor, renewed worries that armed people at the polls could intimidate voters or worse as tensions are rising.

DANA NESSEL (D) MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's not just a Michigan problem, it's an American problem, and I think there's going to be more incidents to come.

BROWN: Michigan's Attorney General is working on guidance for law enforcement on how to handle guns at polling places. In 11 states and D.C., there is a ban on firearms at the polls. But many swing states, including Michigan, don't have strict rules against it. Officials are concerned about potential voter suppression.

JOCELYN BENSON (D) MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: It is an intimidation tactic to have, you know, people at the polls, you know, with weapons.

BROWN: At the same time, there are some new developments for voters mailing in their ballot. Some clarity in Ohio where a federal judge blocked an order limiting ballot drop boxes to only one per county. Writing that it was a, quote, very serious looming problem that could jeopardize the right to vote, especially in cities like Cleveland.

And Wisconsin Democrats are wanting to extend the deadline lost in federal appeals court. The judges said all ballots have to reach officials when polls close on election day.

CLAIRE WOODALL-VOGG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MILWAUKEE ELECTION COMMISSION: Unfortunately, the constant changing of the election laws is nothing new in Wisconsin. If you know how you plan to vote, there's no time to waste. Go ahead and vote.

[15:35:00]

BROWN: And now both parties are gearing up for the possibility of a contested election, with no clear winner on November 3rd or weeks beyond. The "Washington Post" reports Speaker Nancy Pelosi has discussed the issue in meetings. One scenario involves invoking the Electoral Count Act, an unobscured untested 19th century law which gives Congress the power to settle state level disputes. Last week Nancy Pelosi acknowledged any Congressional involvements would be messy.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: If all that chaos takes us to a time that could be past the date when the electoral colleges must meet, we will be ready.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: But one area, Jake, Democrats are not necessarily ready on is messaging, countering the President's false claims that he's making today that we were just talking about. I just spoke to Congressman Gerry Connelly. He is a Democrat. He said, we need to step up our messaging, there is not an organized effort. We're going to have to really move into hyperdrive.

Of course, we're only a few weeks away from the election, Jake, and he said he is setting up a strawman and it has to be knocked down. The President clearly wants to influence public perception even before the election happens -- Jake.

TAPPER: And also, I mean simultaneously his campaign is putting out messages encouraging Republicans to vote, vote early, vote by mail if they want to, et cetera. I mean it's completely contrary to what his campaign is saying.

BROWN: Absolutely.

TAPPER: Pamela Brown, thank you so much.

In our 2020 LEAD today, Joe Biden continues to refuse to answer the question if he would add justices to the nine-member Supreme Court if he becomes President. He says, you'll just have to wait until after the election to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You'll know my opinion of court packing when the election is over. The moment I answer that question, the headline in every one of your papers will be about that, other than -- other than focusing on what's happening now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: CNN's Arlette Saenz joins me now from Las Vegas, Nevada. It's a critical swing state. What's the pitch that he's making to voters there?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well Jake, Joe Biden, when he landed here in Nevada, he made his first stop in east Las Vegas trying to court Latino voters. Latinos made up about 18 percent of voters here four years ago and that is a group that he is hoping to drive out to the polls heading into election day.

And we're reaching that point in the campaign where Biden is not just making his pitch on why voters should choose him over President Trump, but he is also focusing on turnout.

Yesterday he went to Arizona on the second day of early voting there, and here today in Las Vegas, in Nevada, which early voting starts here in eight days. He was already talking about the importance of people heading out to the polls. Take a listen to what he said a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: He's trying to scare us. He's trying to convince everybody there's ways they can play with the vote and undermine the vote. They can't. If we show up, we win. And look what's happening in early voting all across America. Long lines, long lines. We can't just win, we have to win overwhelmingly, so you can't be in a position where you can put the phony challenges that he's talking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now Biden is heading here to Las Vegas where in a short while he will hold a drive-in event, as you can see behind me. They've been turning to these drive-in style campaign events due to the coronavirus pandemic, trying to follow all the health and safety regulations in the states that they visit -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Arlette Saenz in Las Vegas, thank you so much.

When you make thousands of students and professors follow strict COVID guidelines, but you don't follow them yourself, there is bound to be a backlash. What could be next for the President of Notre Dame University. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:00]

TAPPER: In the NATIONAL LEAD, the President of Notre Dame is facing growing calls to resign after his appearance at a White House event without a mask, without distancing after which he tested positive for coronavirus. Students and faculty say the Reverend John Jenkins broke the very rules on social distancing that he had set for them on campus. And now we're learning this is not the first time he's done so.

I want to bring in CNN's Omar Jimenez. Omar, tell us about these other instances of Reverend Jenkins going against his own guidance.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, so this other incident was back in early August as students were coming back to campus. He was seen taking pictures in close proximity with lots of students. He did appear to be wearing a mask in at least the photos we've reviewed, but he did come out with a statement later saying that he set a poor example.

And it was just two weeks after that the school had to go to all virtual learning because they racked up close to 150 coronavirus positive cases in just those first two weeks. And then here we are months later in the aftermath of that White House Rose Garden event for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, the Notre Dame alum.

He was seen without a mask shaking hands, breaking some of those, again, social distancing protocols he's put forward to his own students to follow back on campus. And people on campus noticed, namely students who were disappointed in the behavior of their leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHTON WEBER, JUNIOR, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME: A few days before that happened, we had gotten an e-mail for him detailing the protocol that we're supposed to follow, and he said this is what everyone needs to do to make sure that we're still here on campus together. So to see him breaking his own rules was really -- it made us feel like we were disrespected as a student body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:45:00]

JIMENEZ: And that reaction was just to the images of being in the Rose Garden. It wasn't even to the fact that he became one of many that contracted COVID-19 after that event to which he is still recovering right now, but he also came out with a statement saying that he set a poor example in this case.

TAPPER: Yes, not just a poor example, he brought COVID back with him to campus. And in addition to a student petition calling for his resignation, Jenkins also faces a possible no confidence vote from faculty. Would either of those force him out, or is that really up to him?

JIMENEZ: Based on how we understand it at this point, it really is up to him. Both of those mechanisms seem to have hit dead ends as we understand the proceedings right now. That petition did get over 200 votes, which was the minimum requirement to go to the student senate, but it stopped at the voting process.

And the faculty senate, actually, it was a very narrow vote, they decided not to go forward with a vote of no confidence just by one vote, 21-20. So for now he continues to again recover working from home in isolation. But for now, he does seem to be able to retain the seat.

TAPPER: Yes, and we obviously hope that he has a full and speedy recovery and that he doesn't infect anybody else. Omar Jimenez, thank you so much.

People in Louisiana bracing for something that has never happened before as they prepare for Hurricane Delta to make landfall at any moment, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:00]

TAPPER: We have some breaking news in the NATIONAL LEAD. Hurricane Delta is now hitting the Gulf Coast of the United States taking almost the same path as Hurricane Laura did just weeks ago. Laura made landfall as a Category 4 storm, now Delta is a Category 2, still however very powerful. The National Weather Service warned that Delta's storm surge could be life-threatening and soon Delta will set a new record as the 10th named storm to hit the U.S. this year.

CNN's Ryan Young is right along the coast in Gueydan, Louisiana, that's near Lake Arthur. Ryan, looks like it's really coming down there. This is going to be the second time in just weeks that a hurricane is slamming that exact area.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Jake. And when you think about the pain that these people have experienced over the last few weeks, your heart really goes out to them. There are more than 8,500 people who are still in shelters because of the last storm. You can see a lot of homes have been through this constant whipping from the winds and, of course, the heavy rain in this area.

In fact, where we are kind of bunkering down, they had roof workers here just yesterday who were trying to make sure that the roof was ready for this next storm. We are still about two hours away from this storm hitting where we're standing. We're almost in the direct path -- what we believe may be the direct path in the next coming hours. We've actually seen some storm trackers in this area as well.

And as we were talking to people who live in this area, some have decided that since their homes had made it through the last two storms that they're going to try to make it through this storm. Now, authorities say once that evacuation notice was given yesterday, they're not going to be going out while the storm is in progress. They're going to have to wait do any kind of critical rescue after this storm has passed.

Now as far as the roadways are concerned, it has been packed. I'm talking about thousands of people trying to get away from this coastal area. Because they know that they've been repeatedly hit by these storms over and over again.

Jake, you feel the fatigue from these people. Obviously, folks are pretty upset that they've been hit over and over by the storms. At the business where we are, it's been open for 47 years, they say this has been the worst year between the storms and COVID-19. Your heart has to go out to all of the people who are in those shelters despite this pandemic -- Jake.

TAPPER: Ryan, thank you so much. Stay safe, my friend. CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray is in the Severe Weather Center. Jennifer, how close is Hurricane Delta to landfall and where do you think it's going to go?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's very close to landfall, should be making landfall between 7:00 and 8:00. And these areas in southwest Louisiana already feeling the tropical storm force winds. They will be feeling the hurricane-force winds within the next hour or two.

We've already had wind gusts about 65, 70 miles per hour right along that coast. So, it like it is going to make landfall along the southwest coast of Louisiana. Winds of 105 right now, with gusts of 140 moving at about 14 miles per hour, is expected to make landfall as possibly a Category 2. And you can see the center of that storm just offshore and so that's going to be inching closer in the coming hours already getting very heavy rainfall across southwest Louisiana and gusty winds.

As the storm lifts to the north, it's only going to get worse and then you have the back side of that eye that's going to slam into the coast as well. So that's going to be happening during the late evening hours between 7:00 and 8:00. It's initial landfall. And then it is going to quickly move to north.

The storm should be out of here by tomorrow. That's the good news with this storm. It is moving at a fairly fast pace, Jake, and it will start to weaken instantly once it makes landfall, but we are talking about major flooding. Already seeing about six feet of storm surge across that coast and that's only going up, Jake, in the coming hours.

TAPPER: All right, Jennifer Gray, thank you so much.

Whiplash in the White House. When it comes to discussing his health and the coronavirus, President Trump, all over the map. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

TAPPER: And welcome to the second hour of THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. We're continuing this hour with breaking news.

President Trump planning to hold an event at the White House tomorrow despite the fact that he is infected with the coronavirus. It's a stunning and potentially reckless move given the nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, called the White House event many believe is responsible for the Trump administration outbreak, a quote, super-spreader event.

Trump's physician Commander Sean Conley said yesterday he expected the President to return to public engagements as soon as tomorrow. We're not sure what that is based on. We still do not have answers to basic questions about the President's health. Such as, is the President still contagious? Has the President tested negative since being treated? When exactly did he last negative? When did he contract the virus? Basic questions, we still do not know the answers to.