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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Early Voting in Texas Surpasses Total Turnout in 2016; Trump's Senior Policy Adviser Vows Crackdown on Immigration in President's Second Term; Multiple States Report Record High Daily COVID-19 Cases. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired October 30, 2020 - 16:30   ET

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

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[16:30:51]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In the 2020 lead, more people have now voted early in Texas than voted in the total 2016 election in this Lone Star State.

Across the country, more than 85 million Americans have already voted. That's more than 60 percent of all the ballots cast in 2016. There is also a new sense of urgency with new court rulings threatening the validity of some ballots that have been mailed in.

CNN's Pamela Brown reports in today's "Making It Count."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): with just four days to Election Day, the message to voters in many places is clear -- it's too late to mail in your ballot.

GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): If you have an absentee ballot in your hand right now, drop it off in person.

BROWN: Thursday night, a federal appeals court handed down another confusing ruling in Minnesota, essentially moving up the deadline for mail-in ballots from a week after Election Day to 8:00 p.m. on November 3rd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the ballots that come in after election day are going to be set side, they're going to be segregated and there could be future litigation that might cause those ballots not to be counted.

BROWN: That's problematic for anyone in Minnesota who already mailed in their ballots believing they had another week to be delivered.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court kept ballot deadline extensions in place in North Carolina and Pennsylvania by declining to make a decision, this close to the election. GOV. TOM WOLF (D-PA): If they haven't sent their ballot in yet, walk

it to the election office or a drop box but do it in person.

BROWN: Butler County, Pennsylvania, received thousands of calls from voters who still hadn't received their requested ballot. Thousand of those ballots remain unaccounted for.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Over 99 percent of the ballots have been sent out. You know, there's been mail delays and there's been sort of spotty places where they have been issues.

BROWN: The Postal Service says it doesn't have a record of them being dropped off. Now officials are investigating.

Despite the issues with mail-in voting, the overall turnout ahead of Election Day has been massive. Texas officially surpassed its entire 2016 turnout already. It's the last day of early voting in seven states including Georgia where more than 3.56 million people have voted, a 70 percent increase over 2016.

As Election Day approaches, there is mounting anxiety about voter intimidation. Philadelphia's D.A. says the city received dozens of call reporting possible voter intimidation but none were very serious. Still the D.A. had a stark warning for anyone trying to threaten voters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a jail cell and I got criminal charges and you can stand in front after Philadelphia jury and you can explain why you thought it was okay to come to Philly and steal our votes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And, today, Jake, the Postal Service outlined of series of, quote, extraordinary measures that it's taking to ensure ballots get to where they need to be on time to get counted. That includes adding extra collection hours and adding special lines at the Post Office for people with ballots, Jake.

TAPPER: And, Pamela, given how many Americans are voting by mail and how many states don't start counting those ballots until Election Day, we cannot emphasize this enough -- we likely will not know the winner of several key states on election night, meaning we probably will not know next Tuesday who the next president is.

BROWN: Yeah. No, that's absolutely right. There has been a record number of mail-in ballots this year because of the pandemic, and election officials have said over and over again, we may not know the results, because -- especially because in a couple of key battleground states, they are not even starting the process, they're not even opening up the ballot for these mail-in ballots until election day.

That's Pennsylvania and that's Wisconsin. These are also two states, Jake, that don't have a history of dealing with mail-in ballots. It's not typically how they vote in their elections but this year they are because of the pandemic. And so because of that, because of all of these factors, experts are

saying, hey, everyone should be patient on election night, that they are always unofficial anyways.

[16:35:02]

And they're not certified for weeks. And even if a candidate does declare victory too early, it has no legal bearing, Jake.

TAPPER: And Republican-leaning Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, will not start counting the vote by mail until the next day, Wednesday.

BROWN: Yeah, there's at least seven counties in Pennsylvania that say they're going to wait until the next day.

TAPPER: All right. Pamela Brown, thanks so much.

Today, President Trump and Joe Biden were each holding three campaign rallies trying to sway every last possible in this final election swing.

CNN's resident forecaster Harry Enten joins me now live.

And, Harry, we see Biden and Trump today both focusing heavily on the Upper Midwest.

Why is this such a crucial area?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER: Yeah. Just take a look at our map here and it gives you a good understanding. It forms a basis for Joe Biden's blue wall, right, specifically Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. He's favored there right now. Iowa is much more of a tossup, and you can see this in the polling averages, right, for what you see is that Joe Biden holds significant advantages in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Again, Iowa very, very close.

And what is -- why is Wisconsin, you know, a state that went for Donald Trump four years ago, why is Joe Biden ahead by nine points right now there? Because of white voters without a college degree. Right now, Trump is up by four points and still leading but remember last time around he won that group by 16 points in Wisconsin so a real deterioration of his support there.

TAPPER: And, Harry, we know that coronavirus is really surging in those states right now. Do voters see the pandemic as one of the top election issues?

ENTEN: Yeah, they do. In fact, they see it as the pop issue. You know, we have polls from Wisconsin and we have them from Michigan. And take a look here, the coronavirus ranks as the most important issue facing the country in both of those states, the economy which Trump is trying to pump up rates second ten points behind in each of those states.

TAPPER: So, when will we know which candidate has carried which states in the upper Midwest? Will it be on election night? ENTEN: Probably not, at least in the states that matter, right? You

were just talking with Pam about this. Take a look here, this gives you a very good understanding. The mail-in votes, they will not be processed before Election Day in Wisconsin and Michigan and only some of the state. Minnesota and Iowa, they do begin, but, of course, it's really Michigan and specifically Wisconsin which are the most important states.

It's more important for us to get the vote totals right than to be fast. Accuracy is numero uno in my mind.

TAPPER: And Pennsylvania obviously is not on the map, not in the Midwest, but they are not going to start counting until Election Day, that's by law.

And, Harry, there is this major wildcard here and that's what we saw in the 2016 results.

ENTEN: Yeah. You know, there's all this idea that the polls might not necessarily be right, but I think what's so important to point out here is even if the polls are off by the same margin this they were in 2016, take a look at here. Joe Biden would still get 335 electoral votes. He would still win in a place like Michigan, he would still win in a place like Wisconsin. He would still win in Minnesota.

So, Donald Trump just needs a bigger polling. Could that happen? Of course it could, Jake, but he is facing a much more uphill battle than he did four years ago.

TAPPER: Fighting uphill battle but as we all know, anything could happen.

ENTEN: Anything could happen. Anything.

TAPPER: That's right. Harry Enten, thanks so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

TAPPER: And the night we've all been waiting for is almost here, "ELECTION NIGHT IN AMERICA". CNN's live coverage will start on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

Coming up, not enough beds for babies. A new report reveals the chaos caused by the Trump administration's family separation policy.

Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our 2020 lead today, win or lose in four days, President Trump has dramatically changed the Republican Party over the last four years, including the way he tosses around and promotes false conspiracy theories and fueling them on his Twitter account.

Joining me now, Republican congressman from Virginia, Denver Riggleman.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

Four days before Election Day, how do you see the future of the Republican Party?

REP. DENVER RIGGLEMAN (R-VA): It's a little worrisome and I want to allay over these fears, I went commonwealth to commonwealth. I'm in Pennsylvania right now, Jake. So, I'm not going anywhere, right?

I just want everybody and I knew you talked about commonwealth and I'm not planning bohemian grove right now. But the issue that we have is that we have a party that policies are solid but we're actually seeing candidates that are pushing theories that are outlandish. And not only are they outlandish, they're federated.

And what I mean by that is that it's sort of a glom of conspiracy theories that are nonsensical, but really have an anti-Semitic base where they have a base where it's actually dehumanizing other people. And that's something that really worries me going forward is, what does a GOP become?

I think -- you know, we were the party of Abraham Lincoln, of Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, you know? And that's the kind of party or constitutional Republican I wanted to be. But right now, I'm looking at theories that are very concerning and in my background on intelligence, it's just very hard for me to grasp that.

TAPPER: And you lost the party convention to be re-nominated. And one of the reasons that you did, I mean, your time in office is ending in January. One of the reasons you lost is you presided over same-sex marriage, not just same sex but interracial same-sex marriage.

RIGGLEMAN: Yes, sir.

TAPPER: Is that -- is that why you think you lost because you did something perfectly legal?

RIGGLEMAN: Yes. And, you know, that what was surprising to me, is that as -- you know, a party that supposed to embrace individual liberty, I had two friends who worked for me on the campaign, very dear people and I thought it was the right thing to do, and I would have been a coward if I didn't officiate that wedding.

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And that really was the beginning of the end, is I refused to kiss the ring of certain individuals. I refused to apologize. And, you know, what's sort of funny, I was called a tool of the antichrist and my daughter -- my wife was called the spawn of Satan. I guess that makes us a new power couple in Virginia.

I've never -- I've never had these type of attacks and I think that's part of the problem that we're seeing is just there's a small portion I think of the GOP that might not be dealing in reality or where we're at -- where we are at right now as a country. TAPPER: And you've written a book that's coming out, very

entertaining and very fun, tackling some of these extremist groups and conspiracy theories. It's called "Bigfoot: It's Complicated", how dangerous of a threat are these groups do you think, Congressman, and the legitimacy they now have?

RIGGLEMAN: I think when it goes from sort of simple fun or mythologizing to weaponizing that myth or weaponizing insanity, that's what's crazy.

And I talk about something being federated. Bigfoot belief systems are federated, you know? And they're really sort of -- some are sort of crazy, they're improvable.

And that's why -- this is supposed to be a fun book that I wrote over 14 years, and I'm going to shock everybody. You know, this is what they were talking about on "Saturday Night Live" when they spoof me. This is the very book that they were talking about that was supposed to be Bigfoot erotic, and, by the way, this is actually more amusing.

And -- but it's also -- it should terrify you. It should make you laugh a little bit. It should make you cry a little bit, because I wrote this book sort of starting in fun. By the end of the book, you see it's funny, right? It's me. It's self-deprecating.

But it's also -- it should let people know that belief systems can get out of control and those are sometimes unprovable, but people live by them. And that's okay, but once you weaponize that myth or you weaponize that insanity and it becomes part of a policy platform, we sort of lost our way.

And that's what I don't want to see. I don't want the GOP to lose their way. But right now, I'm seeing things that are, again, very concerning and this book brings it up in a way that's light-hearted at the beginning, but I think it will scare people by the end.

TAPPER: Well, one of the candidates, the Republican candidate in Georgia who has embraced this insane QAnon theory, the idea that Democrats had a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibalistic pedophiles, she got the nomination for the Republican Party and she's now embraced by House Republican leadership and, in fact, the two of the Republican Senate candidates in Georgia competed for her vote.

Do you still think that you're a Republican or has your party just run so far off in the direction of conspiracy theories that they left -- they have left you behind?

RIGGLEMAN: You know, I always thought of myself as a constitutional Republican. And, Jake, the thing I like about this program and the way you present things is how do we just deal in facts? And I believe, based on the platform, I still am, but I don't -- I don't think I left the party. I think the party is leaving me.

And, you know, my background in intelligence, the background that I have in the military and I'm a fact-based guy, is why I wrote this book, but it's also why I ran for office and if I never run for office again, at least I can say I just try to speak in facts. And I don't want to make everybody angry but I have this unique ability to anger both sides.

And now you see some of those methods used by right being used on the left, and I'm working with analysis companies, and, you know, now, we are seeing mimicking coded language and memes happening on the right and the left. And I got to tell you, this stuff -- this stuff can metastasize not only nationally but internationally as you see in Germany and Italy.

TAPPER: All right. Congressman Denver Riggleman, thank you so much. Good to see you again. The book is called "Bigfoot: It's Complicated".

You'll tweet out a link so people can buy it and I'll retweet it so people know where to get it. OK, Congressman? Good to see you, sir.

RIGGLEMAN: Jake, I appreciate it. Yeah, it's great title.

TAPPER: All right.

Every day this week in the 2020 lead, we've looked into the major issues in this race and where the candidates stand. Today, we're going to dive into one of the most divisive, immigration.

With the president's senior policy adviser Stephen Miller vowing to make immigration a top second term agenda item, as CNN's Jessica Schneider reports, Joe Biden is also pitching plans of his own.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Daddy!

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The cries of children separated from their parents at the border, one of the haunting hallmarks of the Trump era immigration agenda. The zero tolerance policy that tore kids from their children as they cross into the U.S. has ended, but the effects remained.

Lawyers leading their reunification efforts revealed this month, parents of 545 children still have not been found.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden pledging to step in on day one.

AD ANNOUNCER: Joe Biden will issue an executive order creating a federal task force to reunite these children with their parents.

BIDEN: Those kids are alone. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to go. It's criminal.

SCHNEIDER: White House senior adviser Stephen Miller has made clear if Trump wins a second term, the immigration crackdown will continue.

STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: The Trump administration ended the abuse of the asylum system, ended catch and release, and therefore dealt a devastating blow to human traffickers, child smugglers and coyotes and criminal cartels.

SCHNEIDER: Miller has been the architect of every part of Trump's immigration agenda.

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The president signed a proclamation this week capping admission to the United States at 15,000 for 2021. It would be an historic low, and barring refugees from Syria, Yemen, and Somalia, citing terrorism concerns.

Joe Biden says he will set a target of 125,000 refugee admissions, with a goal of no less than 95,000. Biden also backs eventual citizenship for undocumented immigrants and has pledged to make sure DACA, the program for children brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents is not undone.

BIDEN: Within 100 days, I'm going to send to the United States Congress a pathway to citizenship for over 11 million undocumented people, and all of those so-called Dreamers, those DACA kids, they are going to be immediately certified again to be able to stay in this country and put on a path of citizenship.

SCHNEIDER: President Trump has tried to end DACA, though he's been halted by the Supreme Court for now.

Then there's the future of the border wall.

TRUMP: Under my leadership, we achieved the most secure border in U.S. history and we built over 400 miles of new wall.

SCHNEIDER: The administration has also moved to seize private property with more than 70 lawsuits pending to acquire more land for the wall, and Trump still hasn't made Mexico pay for the wall, despite his promises.

TRUMP: Mexico will be paying for the wall.

SCHNEIDER: Biden says he will take a different approach along the border.

BIDEN: There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration. We are out. We are not going to confiscate the land. I'm going to make sure that we have border protection but it's going to be based on making sure that we use high-tech capacity to deal with it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: And President Trump has relied heavily on executive orders to implement those big changes in immigration law here in this country. In fact, nonpartisan think tank, the Migration Policy Institute, has counted more than 400 executive actions, and, Jake, Joe Biden, if he's elected, is also pledging on day one to sign an executive order to reunite those 545 families -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Jessica Schneider with the latest in our look at the issues separating these two candidates.

President Trump saying we are rounding the corner when it comes to the coronavirus but the numbers, in fact, tell a much sadder, tragic story. A look at a week of devastating pandemic records, that's next.

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TAPPER: I wish I had good news for you in our health lead. I don't. From coast-to-coast, multiple states are hitting record highs for new coronavirus cases. In Ohio, nearly 3,900 infections have been reported just today. It's a second day in a row that Ohio has reported a record number of cases.

In Illinois, nearly 7,000 cases were reported today marking another daily record for that state. And Montana just reported a record high for daily cases there at more than 1,000.

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is standing by with more.

Elizabeth, we are seeing surges all across the nation. Tell us more about what the data shows.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Jake, I think this map tells us everything we need to know. When you look at this map we are about to show you, no, that orange and red are bad. What do you see when you look at this map? Orange and red. Those states, the numbers are going up. That's 43 states where the number of cases are going up.

Yellow means holding steady. That's only five states. And in green, that means that the numbers are going down, that's only two states.

Let's talk about some unfortunate records that have been set. Yesterday, nine states hit record highs for the number of people with COVID, for case numbers, 17 states hit record high for hospitalizations. Also on Thursday, there were 971 deaths.

And, Jake, you know, I want to focus on those deaths for a minutes because you sometimes you hear from COVID deniers, oh, so people get sick for a day or two, that's not a big deal. It's the deaths that you want to pay attention to, that's what's important and there aren't many deaths. Nine hundred seventy-one people in the United States dying in one day is a big deal. It is a terribly, terribly sad day that we have come to this -- Jake.

TAPPER: CDC Director Robert Redfield just released a new information about how COVID is affecting flu transmission this fall. What did he have to say?

COHEN: He said that he sees that the flu numbers are way lower than they are in previous years. He said about 75 percent lower.

But I want to sort of give a caveat here. Exactly a year ago today, I was speaking with Tony Fauci about this, and I said, Dr. Fauci, tell me about what the flu numbers look like. He said, Elizabeth, it's October 30th. I'm not going to get into new flu numbers, it's too early.

So, this is very, very early to be talking about flu numbers. Hopefully, Dr. Redfield is right and we have an easy flu season like they did in Australia in the spring -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Finally, as more than 229,000 Americans have been killed by coronavirus, including 971 yesterday, we would like to take this moment just to remember one -- one of the lives cut short by the virus, 57-year-old Shirley Bannister.

She passed away shortly after contracting the virus and her 28-year- old daughter, Demitria Bannister (ph) also died from complications from COVID. Shirley Bannister was the chair of the nursing department at Midland Technical College in Columbia, South Carolina. She was beloved by all of her correspond workers who described her as, quote, an angel on Earth.

May her memory and that every victim of this virus be a blessing.

This Sunday, we have a special election edition of "STATE OF THE UNION", two hours, two days before the election. My guests include Anita Dunn who is from the Biden campaign, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Florida Senator Rick Scott and Pete Buttigieg. It all starts Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, a two-hour edition of "STATE OF THE UNION."

Our coverage on CNN continues right now. Stay safe. I'll see you Sunday morning.