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Don Lemon Tonight
Trump Holds Packed Rally In Iowa; Obama In Conspiracies In Conservative Media; Some Republicans Won't Support President Trump's Re-election; Judge Barrett Won't Answer How She Would Rule On Health Care, Election Or Abortion Cases; Dr. Anthony Fauci On Voting In The Age Of COVID-19; Coronavirus Surges In The U.S. As Europe Grapples With Lockdown Decisions; NBC Sparking Outrage By Scheduling Trump Town Hall Event At Same Time As Biden's On ABC; More Than 14.3 Million General Election Ballots Cast So Far. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired October 14, 2020 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Twenty days until Election Day, President Trump holding a packed rally in Des Moines, Iowa. No social distancing, few people wearing masks. Iowa has a COVID-19 positivity rate of 20 percent.
The CDC reporting a resurgence of cases across the country, 36 states trending in the wrong direction and saying that small gatherings are becoming a growing source of the spread of the deadly virus.
And the former President Barack Obama speaking out tonight about Donald Trump's behavior as president and Republicans who enable him. I want to bring in White House correspondent John Harwood and political analyst April Ryan. Good evening to both of you. So good to see you.
APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good evening.
LEMON: John, President Trump is packing hundreds of people together in a state where the coronavirus cases are surging. He's rambling on about conspiracy theories, lying about his record. The election is less than three weeks away. How does he expect this to change the state of the race when he just -- it seems like he's going like 2016 on steroids and he's on steroids, by the way, or was?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Don, you know the great hall of fame Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera.
LEMON: Yes.
HARWOOD: You know who I'm talking about?
LEMON: Yes, I do.
HARWOOD: OK. Mariano Rivera had one pitch, the cut fastball. He threw the cutter over and over and people couldn't hit it. Donald Trump also has one pitch. It's not thinking. It's not planning. It's not managing. It's not decision making. It's getting up on a big stage in front of people and performing. That's what he knows. That's what he thinks got him elected in 2016. And that's the pitch that he's going to throw over the next three weeks.
Whether or not he's sick, whether he's putting others at risk of being sick, that's how he's going to take this campaign out. There's no particular reason to think given the stability of the race, the fact that Joe Biden's held a consistent lead that's actually widened a little bit lately. There's no particular reason to think he's going to narrow the gap, but he's going to do what he knows.
LEMON: April, I want to play more from President Barack Obama's interview with his former aides, here's what he said about social media and undermining truth. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Social media, media infrastructure, the conservative media infrastructure, we've had this conversation before. That is a problem that is going to outlast Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
OBAMA: Trump is a symptom of it and an accelerant to it, but he did not create it. We saw it when -- you know, during my campaign back in '08.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yep.
OBAMA: And we saw it -- you know, you guys had to deal with it directly during our administration. It has gotten turbo charged because of social media and because the head of our government, our federal government, has resorted to it. But, you know, when you look at insane conspiracy theories like QAnon seeping into the mainstream of the Republican Party.
What that tells you is that there are no more guardrails within that media ecosystem. And I think one of the biggest challenges all of us have. This is not just a progressives versus you know, right-wing issue. This is really a genuine American society issue -- is how do we re-establish some baselines of truth that at least the vast majority of people can agree to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And before I ask you a question, I mean, it's amazing to see a president who can actually -- who can speak in complete sentences and hold a thought and put every words together.
[23:05:07]
RYAN: Don, Don, so many people are yearning for this moment.
LEMON: It's amazing.
RYAN: (Inaudible) of the abnormal.
LEMON: How soon we forget.
RYAN: Yes. Wow. He put a subject and a verb together that agreed. He's calm in his speaking.
LEMON: OK, OK, OK. Let me ask you the question.
RYAN: That president at least brought normalcy and humanity to the table.
LEMON: OK, April.
RYAN: From the response that we see.
LEMON: I don't think April can hear me? Can you hear me? OK. I get it. So, let me ask you the question. Because he's talking about, you know, social media and the ecosystem or whatever and this Eco chamber and this toxicity that happens. President Trump is still relying on lies and conspiracies to win. No matter what happens in November, it seems like we are going to be stuck with that legacy for some time. It's going to continue to go on.
RYAN: Well, you know what? This president likes to be likened to a Black Baptist Minister, if you will, with the call and response. He likes to throw something out and then throw the block and hide his hands but gets all the crowd revved up. He likes that.
But I think back to a report that the Knight Foundation in Gallop did a few months back with misinformation when it comes to corona, and it kind of likens to this moment with social media. The polls showed that the social media was the number one culprit followed by the president of the United States.
This president may not have created the scenarios on social media, the conspiracy theories, but he plays to it and he uses it to his advantage, which is devastating for so many in this moment of death and crisis.
LEMON: John, a big announcement today from Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Republican. He announced that he won't support Trump's re-election. Do you expect any other Republicans in office to follow?
HARWOOD: Extremely few and mostly people who don't have -- plan on a future in the Republican Party. You've had people like Larry Hogan, the Governor of Maryland who had been critical at various points of the president, he will not say whether he's going to vote for President Trump or not. He's just sort of ducked the question and declined to endorse him.
Same with Susan Collins who has got a tough race for re-election to the Senate in Maine. She's saying well, I've got my own race to run. I'm not going to say what I'm going to do. Given the grip that Donald Trump has on so much of the Republican base, for people in almost any part of the country within the Republican Party, they would forfeit a huge chunk of their support if they did that. Now, Charlie Baker is the Governor of Massachusetts where if you look
at the polling averages, Joe Biden is ahead by almost 40 percentage points. Not too much risk for Charlie Baker in Massachusetts. Don't know if he plans to run for further office or try to run for the Senate at some point. It could be a problematic in that case. But there's going to be exceedingly few who take the step.
LEMON: All right. Thank you. I'm sorry, that's all we have time for. We'll have you both back. You guys be well. I'll talk to you soon.
So, now, I want to get to Judge Amy Coney Barrett repeatedly refusing to answer questions about how she'll vote on key issues. Listen to this from day three of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does a president have an absolute right to pardon himself?
AMY CONEY BARRETT, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE NOMINEE: Because it would be a cryming (ph) on an open questions when I haven't gone through the judicial process to decide it, it's not one on which I can offer a view. Well, Senator, you've asked a couple of different questions about what the senator -- what the president might be able to unilaterally do, and I think that I really can't say anything more and I'm not going to answer hypotheticals.
KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), 2020 U.S. DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Do you accept that COVID-19 is infectious?
BARRETT: I think yes, I do accept that COVID-19 is infectious. That that's something of which I feel like, you know, we could say you take judicial notice, that's an obvious fact, yes.
HARRIS: Do you accept that smoking causes cancer?
BARRETT: I'm not sure exactly where you're going with this, but, you know, the notice (inaudible) --
HARRIS: It's just a question as what it is. You can answer it if believe. You know.
BARRETT: Senator Harris, yes every pack of cigarettes warns that smoking causes.
HARTUNG: And do you believe that climate change is happening and it's threatening the air we breathe and the water we drink.
BARRETT: I will not express with you on a matter of public policy especially when that is politically controversial, because that's inconsistent with the judicial law as I have explained.
HARRIS: Do you agree with Chief Justice Roberts who said voting discrimination still exists? No one doubts that. Do you agree with that statement? BARRETT: Senator Harris, I will not comment on what any justice said
on opinion, whether an opinion is right or wrong or endorse that proposition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The Senate Judiciary Committee is used to Supreme Court nominees dodging questions. Unfortunately, that is nothing new. What is new, a Supreme Court confirmation hearing playing out as millions of Americans are already voting.
[23:10:11]
That means Judge Barrett's likely confirmation could have an impact on this election, which is less than three weeks away.
Joining me now is former federal Kim Wehle, she is the author of What you need to know about voting and why. Now, that is a timely book. Thank you for joining us. I appreciate it.
KIM WEHLE, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: Happy to be here.
LEMON: So, Kim, Judge Barrett is likely just weeks away from hearing cases on Obamacare and potential voting issues. Are we really supposed to believe she hasn't thought about them?
WEHLE: No, I mean, Don, I'm just very disappointed that you know, she's a law professor. I'm a law professor. She's a constitutional scholar I'm a constitutional scholar. She's a mom. I'm a mom. I mean, I thought she could take this moment to educate the American people about some basic concepts and we did a little bit of that.
But of course, she has an opinion about the empirical science on climate change. Of course she can answer questions about the voting rights act. Of course she can say, is it easier for people to vote by mail during a pandemic, does that help?
And you know, I understand she kept saying well, this is the president. But this is not a normal time for appointing a Supreme Court justice. You know, we don't have a filibuster anymore. So, it's a pure party line vote, which means all Democrats, half the American populous, has no say in this decision.
And frankly, there are millions of people who are afraid, afraid about what happens with the ACA, afraid about what happens with LGTBQ rights. Afraid of what happens with climate change and she's going to be in a position rule on environmental regulations and whether they're legal. She could have taken the opportunity to just calm some of this down and have a measured approach. And I was disappointed she didn't take that opportunity.
LEMON: So, as you were speaking, I was looking because I didn't want to misquote her, but when asked about climate change I thought it was surprising because and I knew where Senator Harris was going, whether you agree about climate change, which is science. She's not going to express a view on a matter of public policy and one that is controversial. How is science controversial?
To that point, her confirmation is virtually guaranteed at this point based on what you have seen over the past few days. What do you think we can expect from Justice Barrett? Roe v. Wade, is it gone? The ACA gone? Same-sex marriage? What do you think?
WEHLE: Yes. I mean, we are going to see -- listen, she is replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg who single handedly almost, as a lawyer and then on a court, identified a right to protect people based on gender in the United States constitution. There's not -- there are lots of things in the constitution that are vague, that aren't articulated and Judge Coney Barrett seemed to say only good judges -- or only bad judges read into the constitution. That's just not true.
So, we're replacing RBG with someone who, you know, studies have shown and analysts, law professors have looked at her opinions and she's pretty far to the right. Maybe even further than Justice Scalia. I can't weigh in on that personally. But we will see potentially a sort of dissolution of the separation of the church and state. That is government involved in religion more.
I think we probably will see abortion rights rolled back even more because I think she could easily decide the basis of Roe versus Wade which is called substantive due process is not in the constitution. By the way it's also why we're allowed to raise our kids without government telling us what to do. That's also substantive due process. I don't think she disagree with that.
You know, we potentially could see the ACA overruled. Today she said a little bit about -- well, you know this notion of severability could actually save the balance of the statute. But your point on policies are really important one. She kept saying legislatures make policy, Congress makes policy. Well then she should leave the ACA alone. She and the court should leave the voting rights act alone, should leave the (inaudible) that was struck down (inaudible) money and politics. That is just to me hard to swallow.
LEMON: Yes. And I've got to go Kim. Thank you very much. We'll have you back.
WEHLE: Thanks.
LEMON: You be safe. It's good to see you.
WEHLE: OK. Thank you, Don. Always great to be with you.
LEMON: Thank you. Thank you. The two biggest stories in the country right now are the election and the coronavirus, right? And we're going to have more on both next.
First, listen to what Dr. Fauci says about voting in the age of COVID.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: I think it's just as safe to vote as it is to go and get a cup of coffee in a Starbucks in which everyone's wearing a mask and doing the things they should be doing. So, voting can be safe in person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[23:15:00]
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LEMON: Coronavirus cases in this country on the rise. Look at this map. Not a single state in green. That's our trend map by the way. But the United States isn't the only place dealing with a surge in confirmed cases. Europe is getting hit hard as well. Italy recorded its highest daily increase in cases since March. They did that yesterday. And in the U.K., they're considering a two to three-week circuit breaker lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread.
But a new report by the journal of the American medical association finds Americans are dying at a much higher rate when compared to 18 other high-income countries. The report looked at the COVID-19 per capita mortality rate in countries with populations exceeding 5 million and greater than $25,000 per capita GDP, between May 10 and September 19.
The United States had a death rate of 36.9. Italy, another hard-hit country had a mortality rate of 9.1 percent, Germany, 2.4 percent, South Korea, just .2 percent.
[23:20:14]
Looked at another way, OK. For every 100,000 people, the United States has lost over 60 lives since the start of the pandemic while Germany, Australia and Norway all saw far lower numbers.
Let's discuss now. CNN Contributor, Erin Bromage is here and an associate professor biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Thank you Erin. Good to see you. What do the surges elsewhere tell us about where we're headed in the U.S. with cases rising here already?
ERIN BROMAGE, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS DARTMOUTH: Well, when we look at the cases throughout the globe and we see the weather changing, we see behavior of people changing. We can see that just as little changes in day-to-day life add up to really large changes in how the virus can transmit between those people. And we're starting to see it tick up in the United States. And it does worry me a little bit about what is to come.
LEMON: So, let's talk about some real-life examples, OK? First working out, OK. A Spin Studio is now reporting 61 positive cases, right? So, this is the people working out at opening gyms. So, Spin Studio, 61 cases. Up to 100 others may have been exposed.
The owners of the studio say that they had been screening staff and class participants, enforcing masking before and after classes, following rigorous cleaning protocols and it still wasn't enough. What does that tell people at home watching right now?
BROMAGE: Well, it tells you that putting a lot of people inside an enclosed space, especially with that huffing and puffing that comes with spin class, that it also can be singing, it can be lots of activities where there's noise and lots of generation of sound from the mouth can lead to this super spreading events.
One of the things that we didn't hear about with that spin class was they did masks, they did screening, they did separation of six feet between bikes. But what were they doing with the ventilation? If you don't ventilate the space, if you don't filter the air in the space, you just allow the virus to build up and that leads to exactly what you see with that spin class.
LEMON: Yes. Listen, Erin, I've been saying this on the air. I haven't seen my mom -- it'll be a year in December that I haven't seen her because of this, right? And then we have the holidays coming up where we usually see families. Thanksgiving approaching, and then there's Christmas. Many Americans are wondering if it's safe to get together with their families. This is what Dr. Fauci said about that tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: It is unfortunate because that's such a sacred part of American tradition, the family gathering around Thanksgiving. But that is a risk. You may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering unless you're pretty certain that the people that you're dealing with are not infected. Either they've been very recently tested or they're living a lifestyle in which they don't have any interaction with anybody except you and your family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It's really a tough situation for people, especially this year when there's been so much sacrifice already. Why is it so important for people to follow that, Erin?
BROMAGE: Yes, we've just got to understand the basic principles of how this transmits. And in a big part of the country around thanksgiving, the weather would have turned and we're going to close our houses up. And most home air conditional heating systems don't filter the virus out of the air.
So, if we start putting multiple families together, even your own family but living in different locations like you and your mother, you start introducing risk into this. But we are taking approaches as in my own family as the week leading up to it, my mother-in-law will be coming to visit us.
But we're going to take a really low-risk approach, as in cut down our interactions as a family. She's already very well-isolated with what she does. And so, then we can come together feeling much more safe that we're not introducing risk into our gathering. But we're not bringing other families into our household.
LEMON: Yes. Erin, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Tough times for folks out there. Thank you, for all of us. Here's Nick Watt with today's developments in the fight against the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A field hospital opened outside Milwaukee today. Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over the last month, our hospitalizations have nearly tripled.
WATT: Now at an all-time high in Wisconsin. Similar situation in these five states. Record numbers in the hospital now.
MARK MCCLELLAN, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: Maybe people are just getting a little bit tired of having to deal with the pandemic. The trends are very worrisome.
WATT: Average new COVID-19 case counts rising in a staggering 36 states. Not a single state moving in the right direction. Florida, once more on the rise. Saturday the Gator's football coach was bullish.
[23:25:13]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully the University administration decides to let us pack the swamp for LSU next week.
WATT: That game now postponed, their entire football program paused. 21 players have tested positive. Across this country, we're averaging more than 50,000 new cases a day for the first time in two months.
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: For the short term, we have to hunker down.
WATT: There are masks, distancing, regulations in many public places. But we're spreading the virus at small family gatherings, says the CDC Director. Got to be vigilant at Thanksgiving.
REINER: Frankly, I would rather do a zoom thanksgiving with people that I love than expose them to something that might kill them.
WATT: Some new info about this deadly virus, immunity after infection can last months, according to three new reports. Good news for the vaccine hunt. And good news if you're blood type O. You might be at less risk of infection or severe illness according to two new studies.
Meanwhile, some White House advisers reportedly pushing a herd immunity strategy, protect the elderly but let the virus spread amongst the young. The aim, effectively immunize enough people to slow the spread.
WILLIAM HASELTINE, CHAIR AND PRESIDENT ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL: I'm extremely concerned that the president is being advised by people who speak of herd immunity. Herd immunity is another word for mass murder.
WATT: In New York, they're playing life or death whack a mole right now. A sweet 16 on Long Island just spawned nearly 40 cases. And in the city --
BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: We are threatened with a full- blown second wave in New York City. If that happens, the entire city would have to go back to the restrictions we knew in March and April.
WALLACE: And here's another harsh reality check.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): This is not going away any time soon. I think best case scenario, we're looking at another year by the time -- even if everything works out well.
WALLACE: Nick watt, CNN Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Thank you, Nick.
Former NBC anchor Katie Couric calling the network's decision to air a town hall with President Trump at the same time as Biden's town hall in ABC, she said it's bad for democracy. That's next.
Also ahead, racist trolls hijacked a Zoom town hall hurling slurs at the first African-American Congresswoman from Connecticut. I'm going to speak with her.
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[23:00:00]
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LEMON: NBC News announcing it will hold a town hall with President Trump tomorrow night at the same time as the ABC town hall with former Vice President Joe Biden. The dueling town hall events coming after the second presidential debate was cancelled over Trump's objections to a virtual format after his positive coronavirus diagnosis.
NBC's decision is getting a lot of criticism, even from former employees. Former NBC News executive Vivian Schiller tweeting -- quote -- "The point of a news organization is to serve the public. This is the opposite. NBC News could literally run this any other day or any other time. Shameful."
Let's discuss now with CNN's Chief Media Correspondent, Brian Stelter and CNN political commentator David Swerdlick. Gentlemen, thank you for joining.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, ASSISTANT EDITOR FOR THE WASHINGTON POST: Hi, Don.
LEMON: Brian, you know how I feel about this. So, President Trump --
STELTER: I do.
LEMON: -- bails on the debate, ends up with his own town hall against Biden's event. Why did NBC do this?
STELTER: Because this was an opening in the schedule, because there is no debate, NBC thought this might be the one chance to get Trump for a town hall. Of course, Don, the problem is Biden was already booked by ABC. By Sunday, NBC knew that the Biden town hall would be at 8:00 p.m. So, for the last four days, they made a choice to schedule it head-to-head with Biden.
My conclusion, Don, after speaking with sources at NBC today, is that Trump wants this. Trump wants a head-to-head matchup and NBC has decided to give it to him.
LEMON: Unbelievable. We're hearing there's some internal backlash, Brian.
STELTER: Oh, yeah, definitely some internal backlash. People at the network saying this is collusion between the campaign and the network. But the view of NBC is they had a town hall for Biden at 8:00 p.m. last week, so they're having a town hall for Trump at the same time this week. That's the view --
LEMON: Come on.
STELTER: -- from management.
LEMON: Come on.
STELTER: But I can tell you, tonight, someone from NBC called ABC and said, hey, ABC, you do your town hall and the response from ABC was, heck, no, we scheduled ours first. This is kind of petty, Don, and the viewers are the ones that lose.
LEMON: Yeah, because they are going to have to -- look, I've already said this, I cannot believe that NBC would do this. It does not inform the electorate. That's what, especially the journalistic wing of their organization, it should be to inform an electorate, and they're not doing it. It's a complete ratings ploy. You should be embarrassed, NBC.
David, our latest CNN poll shows that Biden is leading. Which candidate stood to gain the most if the original town hall debate went on as scheduled? And if you want to weigh in on NBC, you can as well, too.
SWERDLICK: Sure. Well, I think this would have played out very differently, Don, if President Trump had won the first debate. Then he could have called the tune all along, he could have leveraged the commission on debates when they said it was going virtual, he could have tried to sort of bait Vice President Biden into showing up at a live in-person debate.
But because Vice President Biden won that first debate narrowly -- it wasn't a knockout, but I think clearly he won that narrowly -- he was able to say, look, I'm going to play by the rules of the commission on presidential debates, if President Trump wants to debate virtually.
[23:35:01]
SWERDLICK: And look, let's face it, we're all living our lives on Zoom now. Why should the president of the United States be any different? That's how life is now. No one likes it.
LEMON: Especially since he had the coronavirus. I mean, come on.
SWERDLICK: Right. He has more -- more opportunity to fix the situation than anybody.
LEMON: Yeah.
SWERDLICK: So, this could have played out differently. Vice President Biden had the leverage. Now, President Trump is trying to gain back that leverage. And yes, along the lines of what Brian was saying, NBC is sort of playing into that with President Trump.
Biden has this high single digit national polling lead. It's not locked up for him, but he's in a position to win. And so, you know, he has less to lose in some ways than President Trump does. But both candidates, I think, are going to want to perform well if for no other reason than to not give the other guy any fodder the next day.
LEMON: Complete ratings ploy. I mean, this is about -- for Trump at least, right? He wants the biggest ratings, Brian, so he could say, I've got more, I've got more, people watch me than Biden, blah, blah, blah.
STELTER: Yeah. He's going to get it. Look, he's going to get it. It's going to run on MSNBC and CNBC. He's going to have the higher ratings. He's going to brag about it. But, you know what, Don? Ratings are not all that matters. When he was on ABC for a town hall last month, only four million people watched.
Trump is not a ratings magnet anymore. He's just not. He's giving interviews to tiny little channels that have 20,000 or 50,000 viewers. He is not a ratings magnet, even if he thinks he is. Some people want to watch this town hall tomorrow to see how much of a car crash it is, how much of a train wreck it is.
But here is why it matters, Don. Savannah Guthrie does get to ask questions. She will get to question Trump. And maybe we're actually going to hear for the first time about his coronavirus treatment. He has not been questioned by any real interviewer since being in the hospital.
LEMON: He should be questioned by a real interviewer, not at the same time --
STELTER: Got you.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Listen, good luck to Savannah. She's great. But I'm just saying it's just bad for the country. Thank you both. I appreciate it. Listen, I just need to clarify something that happened earlier, a graphic that we showed a little earlier in the show about coronavirus death rates in this country and other countries. The graphic showed the death rates as percentages when it shouldn't been shown -- have should have shown as the number of deaths per 100,000 citizens. So, it was a mistake, and there we are, we're correcting it.
So, I want to make sure that you know about my podcast, as well. "Silence is Not an Option." I'm taking on hard conversations about being black in America. And for the next few weeks, we're going to be talking about the election, voting, and social justice. This episode, why vote? It comes out Thursday on Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast app. It tells you why you should vote. It is -- it's a great episode. So, make sure you listen to it or download it.
Congresswoman Jahana Hayes had to sit through racist slurs and insults being hurled at her on a Zoom town hall. And she says she's not OK. She joins me next.
And ahead, over 14 million Americans have voted so far, breaking early voting records in counties across the country.
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[23:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So, I wish I could say that I am shocked at what I am about to tell you. But in these times that we live in right now, I am not shocked at all, sadly.
On Monday, Connecticut Congresswoman Jahana Hayes held a virtual town hall on Zoom. Hayes is a Democrat for re-election in November, and she is Connecticut's first black congresswoman. A few minutes into the town hall, it was interrupted repeatedly by people shouting racist slurs. Here is part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Why is Jahana Hayes (bleep)?
REP. JAHANA HAYES (D-CT): Whoever just Zoom bombed us is the reason why it is so important that I win this election and that we continue to work hard. It's a process question.
(bleep)
HAYES: I'm sorry to the people of Newtown. I know that this is not reflective of the people in your community and none of us support that type of behavior. Back to the question about the Supreme Court, if we are talking about process, about --
(bleep)
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: So, Congresswoman Hayes says the attack lasted for six minutes. But that wasn't all of the racist insults. A screen grab of the Zoom group chat shows that someone posted the message, shut up N-word, go pick your cotton.
Congresswoman Hayes joins me now. I'm so sorry this happened. Thank you for joining us.
HAYES: Thanks for having me, Don.
LEMON: You handled it very well, by the way, very professionally, and very grown up. So, you remained so poised and calm throughout this incident, but what was going through your head during all this?
HAYES: I mean, I think we've become so numb to it. I saw the people on the call and they're all watching me to see what my next movement would be. So, I just wanted to remain calm just like you said.
LEMON: You say that black women are expected to press on and just ignore this behavior.
[23:45:00]
LEMON: Talk to me more about that because you saw the people. They were wondering what you were going to do. But tell me more about you said black women have to press on.
HAYES: Right. And I think that's why I penned the op-ed, because when I got off the call, I spent so much time making sure everyone else was OK. I called the moderator. I called the only other black woman who was on the call to make sure she was OK.
And I just realized I'm tired of this. I had to balance, do I post this? Because everyone always says, well, you don't want to bring more oxygen to it. You don't want to keep talking about it. But I think that contributes to the problem. This is happening.
You know, we have racism bubbling under the surface and it's exhausting to be expected to always take the high road, to always show grace and poise when, like, we are these superhuman beings and we're not bothered by this.
I've seen my colleagues. I've seen, you know, other black women just constantly attacked in their roles. And I just said it's enough. It's not OK. And I'm not OK.
LEMON: They were -- the people you called, were they apologetic or receptive to what you were saying? I hope they were. I'm sure.
HAYES: Absolutely. Everyone has been apologetic, receptive. And I've recognized what happened does not represent --
LEMON: Got it.
HAYES: -- a large part of my community.
LEMON: Yeah.
HAYES: But I think the other part, Don, is I hear a lot about Zoom security. This is happening on the internet and people are emboldened. But this wasn't a question about Zoom security.
These people registered for the meeting. They were sent the link. We didn't mute anyone because we wanted an open dialogue. So they didn't technically Zoom bomb. They were invited guests. The problem is they were spewing racist hate. That's the problem.
LEMON: Listen, I've got to go, but quickly, have you found out who they are, anything from police, any action?
HAYES: Well, we reported it, and we haven't found out exactly who they are, but two of the e-mail addresses were real and tracked back to real people. So, I'm waiting to hear.
But I just encourage everyone to call it out when they see it, to not allow people to talk like this in your circles, tell jokes, put other people in positions where they have to take it on the chin and just smile through it.
LEMON: Yeah.
HAYES: It shouldn't just be left up to the people experiencing it to be the ones to call it out. Everyone should be doing that.
LEMON: Thank you. Unfortunately, I'm out of time. Listen, thank you so much --
HAYES: Oh!
LEMON: No, no, no. I'm glad you're here. You handled it very well. Thank you. I'm sorry this happened to you. Thanks.
HAYES: Thank you. Have a great night.
LEMON: You, too. We will be right back.
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[23:50:00]
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LEMON: Long lines at polling places in early voting states like Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas. Harris County, Texas, home to the city of Houston, breaking a record today for the highest number of votes cast in the second day of early voting. And nearby, Fort Bend County, Texas, long lines having an impact of voters' lives, but many saying the wait is worth it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My flight was at 12:15. And I didn't think it was going to take this long to vote. So, I had to change my flight to 3:30.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not going to go to give up. I'm going to definitely vote. I'm going to make sure it's counted today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm willing to wait as long as it takes and anything worth a reward is worth waiting for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: More than 14 million ballots have been cast so far across the country in early voting. More tonight from CNN's Pamela Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More early voting marked by more long lines, glitches, a record turnout in many locations by determined voters.
TRACE JACKSON, TEXAS VOTER: It's my civic responsibility, and I always vote.
BROWN (voice-over): Early voting is happening across the U.S., with more states joining by the day: a big, first day in Tennessee, hours- long lines and a fresh glitch in Georgia, and Texas where day one shattered records. Harris County, Texas had the highest early voting turnout ever.
But officials in the neighboring county of Fort Bend are adding extra hours of voting after systems problems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just want to let everyone know that we are aware of some glitches in our voting system.
BROWN (voice-over): The glitch? The wrong date was put into the voting system and lines didn't move.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just disappointing to see some people left. I'm wondering, are those people going to make it back in to vote or are they just not going to vote this year?
BROWN (voice-over): Voter enthusiasm was high in Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is generational election. People have to get out and vote.
BROWN (voice-over): And the long lines did not deter voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the primary, we waited about four hours. But we're willing to do whatever it takes to get the vote in.
BROWN (voice-over): The process, in part, slowed due to the pandemic. Machines are wiped down between voters to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Another issue is not enough bandwidth to process all of the information going through the system, affecting some voting locations Wednesday.
Despite it all, Georgia's secretary of state announced 10 percent of Georgia's 7.6 million voters already cast their vote.
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: To sum it up, Georgia voters are excited and setting records every hour.
BROWN (voice-over): And in battleground Ohio, early in-person voting tripled from 2016.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's rekindled like a spirit of democracy in a lot of people.
[23:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has in me because I've missed votes, you know. So -- but I'm not missing today.
BROWN (voice-over): That spirit of democracy felt nationwide.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: The new Pew research survey found deep divisions in confidence with the election process between Trump and Biden voters.
Seventy-six percent of registered voters who support Biden are confident that the country will know the winner of the presidential election after all the votes are counted, while a much smaller majority of Trump supporters, 55 percent, are confident that they will have a clear sense of who won after all the votes are counted, and just 13 percent of those Trump supporters say they are very confident. Don?
LEMON: Pamela, thank you. Boy, here we go. Less than three weeks. Thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.
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