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U.S. Tops Five Million Infected Cases Of Coronavirus; President Trump Signs Four Executive Orders On Economic And COVID Relief; Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) Is Interviewed About Trump's Executive Orders; South Dakota Motorcycle Rally Kicks Off Despite Coronavirus Pandemic; President Trump Trails Joe Biden In The Polls. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 09, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington, in for Ana Cabrera. Something horrific happened earlier today. Something that didn't make a sound but definitely made an impact.

Five million people have died from coronavirus. That line has been crossed. That is the number of people in the United States -- excuse me -- I said died from the coronavirus -- have been stricken with coronavirus. Five million people at this point.

Those confirmed cases are accelerating. Look at this, it took 99 days to reach 1 million cases in the U.S. and a much shorter time to reach every million after that. More than 1,000 people in this country have died everyday over the past five days in a row with COVID-19.

And in the face of all of those deaths and the highest number of infected people in the world, people in the U.S. are still fighting over simple things like wearing a mask and avoiding large groups. More school classrooms and hallways will be jammed full of American children tomorrow.

And we're still seeing scenes like this that go against all logic. A large tight gatherings of people, this one happening right now in Sturgis, South Dakota. People who know the risk have been told the risk, but either don't care or refuse to believe the science or feel that the pandemic is exaggerated or won't affect them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you worried about COVID at all?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hell no. We're going to get it sooner or later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So that's how you view it? No mask like you know nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (BLEEP) the mask. As long as you aren't seeking, got no business being out here. That's the bottom line. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I'll take you live inside this gathering in a few minutes. At an event Saturday at his New Jersey golf club, President Trump boasted the executive actions he was signing would on bring much-needed relief to families struggling under the economic hardship brought by the coronavirus pandemic.

But the event sounded more like a campaign rally. The president bashed Democrats including Joe Biden. There was even a group of supporters who cheered as the president scolded a reporter, but now that the actual text of those executive actions have been revealed, parts of them don't actually do what the president said they would do.

And here's how White House Economic Advisor, Larry Kudlow tried to explain just one part of the actions, extra unemployment benefits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KUDLOW, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISOR: And I think it's going to come about $1,200 per person. That's a huge wage increase. And listen --

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You keep saying $1,200 per person. Are you talking about in addition to the unemployment that they're already getting? Where does that number come from?

KUDLOW: No, that's the payroll -- I beg your pardon. The $1,200 will come from the payroll tax. It should be $800, I beg your pardon. It should be $800 for the unemployment.

BASH: $800 or $400?

KUDLOW: No, it should be $800. If the states step up, we're prepared to match, that should be come out $400 federal, $400 states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And with me now is CNN's Kristen Holmes. Kristen, if you can explain exactly what is in these executive actions because it certainly looks like you have to read the fine print here.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, you certainly do. And let's start with the unemployment benefit because the way that Larry Kudlow was explaining it is not the way that experts and lawyers have been explaining it to us sine they came out last night.

Now, essentially here is what we know. We know that Americans up until those talks stalled were getting $600 a week from the federal government in addition to whatever they were getting from the states, and this of course was for unemployment.

President Trump saying, well now, you're going to get $400, but it's not that simple. It's not as though tomorrow people are going to start getting tax for $400. And in fact, some experts believe that most Americans or many unemployed Americans will never see the benefits, and here is why.

President Trump is actually only offering $300 in federal assistance. He is saying that the states have to chip in the extra 25 percent, which is, of course, $100. Now, as we know, as we've been reporting, these states are in economic shambles, many of them, completely wrecked by the coronavirus.

They are asking themselves for federal money for help. So whether or not they are going to be able to chip in that $100 as Larry Kudlow put it, it really remains up in the air. But here's the catch. If they don't sign on to a financial agreement with the White House, then no one in the state who needs the money gets any of the money. They don't get any $300. They don't get any $400.

[17:05:00]

The governors have to agree to pay that $100 for the federal government to chip in anything. And not only do they have to agree to pay that money, but they also have to agree to administer that money. Here is why that's complicated.

This is an entirely new program. This is not the unemployment program that we have seen that was distributing the $600. This is completely different. It's a lost wages program. So, many experts, again, saying they don't know how quickly or if at all this could happen.

And I just want to note the other three things here because they are very important. The other is that eviction. This is not an eviction moratorium as President Trump explained that it would be. This is more of a, as a constitutional lawyer put it to me, play nice, please.

This is the president asking agencies to just consider whether or not evictions are mandatory if they are needed. So that's one other thing. Now student debt deferment, student loan deferment that is completely straight forward. It is as it is.

And then the payroll tax cut, that is incredibly complicated and it's unclear whether or not it's going to be put into effect because companies themselves are going to have to sign off on it, Jim.

ACOSTA: Okay, Kristen Holmes, a lot of things to sort through here as we go through these executive orders. We know you stay on top of it. Kristen Holmes, thank you very much.

I'm joined now by the Trump campaign senior advisor, Jason Miller. Jason, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it. Let's walk through this a little bit. Does the president's use of executive actions mean the president is unable to get anything done? What happened to the deal maker Donald Trump that we all heard about during the 2016 campaign?

JASON MILLER, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Well Jim, thank you for having me on. I think what this shows is that President Trump is willing to step up and lead when Congress is note willing to or when Congress leaves town and doesn't get the job done that they're actually being paid to do. And we have seen the president step up at various points in their presidencies and exert more of a broader use of executive power.

We saw with President Ragan who we talked about the air traffic controllers going back to 1981. We've seen a number of times even with President Trump early on his administration taking the actions regarding deregulation to try to get the economy going and to get that additional growth.

But the fact of the matter is her, we need to get Congress back. We need to get the House back, the Senate back. They need to pass this. Quit screwing around. Let's get it done and help people. We cannot be playing games with people's lives here.

ACOSTA: You know, I ask this because this is exactly what he said about President Obama's use of executive orders. Here is President Trump when he was running for office four years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, Obama goes around signing executive orders. He can't even get along with the Democrats. And he goes around signing all these executive orders. It's a basic disaster. You can't do it.

We have a president that can't get anything done, so he just keeps signing executive orders all over the place. And I hate what Obama does with gun legislation where he doesn't talk to anybody. He just goes out and signs like last time executive orders. In theory you're supposed to, you know, the old fashion way. Get everybody into a room and get something the people agree on.

I don't even think he tries anymore. I think he just signs executive actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Jason, why doesn't the president just get everybody in the room and get them to agree to something like he was saying during the campaign? He didn't even get involved in the negotiation over the last weeks.

MILLER: Jim, the president has been very involved with the negotiations and working closely with Secretary Mnuchin and Chief of Staff Meadows in this. But I think we need to kind of hit the brake on this for a moment here and say why is this being so politicized?

Again, this is about making sure that we're getting people the money they need to be able to live, to be able to pay their mortgages, to be able to put food on the table.

And for congress to be checked out right now, I think this is going a little bit, I think, their dereliction of duty. They need to get back and get it done. But I think with President Trump willing to step up and use some executive orders here to find another way to get this done, I think people will be appreciative of that.

Now, is this the simplest, most straightforward path on some of this E.O.s to go and actually accomplish the goal? No, but finally there is somebody who is going to stand up for people and that's what President Trump is doing. I'm really disappointed in Congress that both chambers aren't getting this done as we speak, Jim.

ACOSTA: But you know, as a conservative, Jason, conservatives have railed against presidents who used executive actions. They did it against -- they did it with President Obama when he was in office. Why does -- why should President Trump get a pass on this?

MILLER: Well, again we're talking about actually making sure we're able to help people in their lives whether, again, whether it's food on the table or paying their mortgages, but the fact of the matter is, is Congress is taking a walk here and they're not doing their jobs. In fact, I don't think Congress should get paid at all if they're not going to show up and actually do their jobs here and people (inaudible) unemployment benefits --

ACOSTA: But is the president doing his job? The president, you know, last weekend was out golfing. There were Republican members of Congress saying they didn't want the president involved in the negotiations. He was not dealing directly with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. He was leaving to his deputies. It sounds like he wasn't getting the job done. And should he get paid?

[17:10:02]

MILLER: No, I think -- look, Jim, and all I know is what I watched on CNN earlier in the day and I thought Dana Bash did a marvelous job of really putting it to Speaker Pelosi earlier and saying, Madam Speaker, don't you bear some responsibility in this matter?

And the fact of the matter is, this is Congress, this is the Senate. It needs to come back and actually do this. I personally am thankful that President Trump went ant signed these four executive orders yesterday to go and push it forward, to come up with some other solution if Congress is going to keep playing these political games.

And this is, again, these are existing programs what President Trump is saying that Congress needs to come back and take care of, but if they're not going to, it's good that we have a president like this who will look for solutions to try to help people out during this time.

Again, we're hit by a global pandemic. Nobody could have expected this. Nobody knew that this was coming or what the impact would be on our society, not just the economy, but we talked about the 161,000 lives that have been lost during this.

And at a time right now, we got to figure how to come together at this time. And that's why I'm glad that President Trump is putting the pathway forward, whether it be the pursue for therapeutics and vaccines. I wish Congress would stop playing games, Jim.

ACOSTA: And I want to get your reaction to some reporting in the "New York Times." The paper says that South Dakota governor, Kristi Noem, greeted the president at his 4th of July event at Mt. Rushmore with a four foot replica of Mt. Rushmore with his likeness included apparently, according to the article.

Aids to the president also reached out to find out whether or not the president, you know, could actually be added to Mt. Rushmore. Why should President Trump even contemplate being added to Mt. Rushmore? Wouldn't he be a more likely candidate were he on top of this coronavirus pandemic?

MILLER: Jim, I have no idea what that was about Mt. Rushmore. Again, I think it might just be an overzealous supporter or something of that nature. It certainly not anything that I've ever discussed with President Trump.

I think further down the road, I would be supportive of it. Now, this is a very serious time right now and I think it's probably just someone who got a little bit ahead of themselves.

ACOSTA: The report also says that Governor Noem traveled to the White House, met with the Vice President Mike Pence. There were some concerns, I guess, in the Pence team that the governor was after his job. Is Mike Pence going to be on this ticket? Can you guarantee that Mike Pence is going to be Donald Trump's running mate heading into the fall?

MILLER: Absolutely. Vice President Pence has done a fantastic job in the role. He's been an excellent wingman for the president. He's a strong leader, someone who has been a governor and a member of Congress before that. He's done a great job of leading the tasks force.

Very impressed with the job that the vice president has been doing. And it's, look, I know at this stage of the game people like to come up with all these different parlor games and some of the little political maneuvering, especially on the eve of waiting to see who Joe Biden is going to pick --

ACOSTA: You know, why does this keep coming up? Mike Pence being dumped from the ticket. Why does that keep coming up? Doesn't the president like Mike Pence?

MILLER: Jim, you're the first person to bring this up to me in weeks. I mean, maybe someone else did weeks ago, but the only time I ever hear it is, you know, Jim when I get from you, but no. Vice President Pence is fantastic. He's not going anywhere. And look, he's going to have four more years as vice president, and maybe might move down the hallway after that.

ACOSTA: All right, Jason Miller, thanks very much for joining us. We appreciate it.

MILLER: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, coming up, your move Democrats. That's the message from the White House and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, but will that happen or will the president's executive actions make it tougher to reach a deal? Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters joins me next to discuss that, and you're live in the "CNN Newsroom." (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

ACOSTA: Absurdly unconstitutional. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi not mincing words in response to President Trump's multiple executive actions. They would, among other things, require states to pay a portion of enhance unemployment benefits and suspend collection of payroll taxes that funds social security and Medicare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Everything is left out. Our assistance to the schools, feeding the hungry, helping people who are going to be evicted. The president didn't even do a moratorium. He just did a study or look at a moratorium.

So, again, something is wrong. I associate my remarks with what Senator Sasse who says they're unconstitutional slopg. I think that's about -- well, right now, we want to address the needs of the American people. As my constitutional advisers tell me, they're absurdly unconstitutional.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And joining me down, Democratic congresswoman from California, Maxine Waters. Congresswoman, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it. What is your reaction to the president's executive actions? You heard Jason Miller, the Trump campaign adviser just a few moments ago blame Democrats in Congress. What is your response?

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): Well, actually I wished I could say that I was so disappointed, but nothing this president can do to cause me to be disappointed anymore, who is playing politics. As a matter of fact, Nancy Pelosi, out of the $3 trillion bill -- $3.4 trillion bill, offered up to give up $1 trillion of that.

The president walked away and he wanted to use this as an opportunity to try and send a message out to the American public that he was looking out for them, that it's the Democrats that's causing the problem.

Be sure that this president has created an opportunity to say that he's doing something about rental assistance, he is not. He did not really provide any money, any resources to help out, you know, families who could be evicted after this 30-day notice.

[17:19:57]

He said, you know, to HUD and to FEMA and to HHS, you take a look, you consider this. If you think that this moratorium should be extended with funds, then you may make a decision to do that. Most people seeing what he said would think that he was offering some real rental assistance.

So, these four executive orders that he's come up with, some are certainly unconstitutional. This payroll tax holiday that he's talking about, the Congress said the United States determines expending the revenue of this country. He does not get to do that.

But listen, I think this will all be over by Monday. They'll be back negotiating. Nancy Pelosi has said he wants to negotiate. Schumer wants to negotiate. And I think that these executive orders will fall by the wayside and they will get back into the negotiation.

What he's asking, you know, simply does not make good sense for the most part. This unemployment, the $600 unemployment is extraordinarily important to our families. You know, people who have been laid off, their jobs have closed down, business have closed down, and they need this money desperately. He's saying that perhaps --

ACOSTA: But congresswoman, where can you -- where can you compromise here because obviously you're going to be able to get everything that you want.

WATERS: Sure.

ACOSTA: And the White House has made it very clear they're not going to go as far as where Democrats are at this point. The White House has been saying we're off by a $1 trillion or more here. Where can you bend? What compromises can you make at this point?

WATERS: Let me just say, in negotiation, when you have $3.4 trillion on the table and your opposition comes up and say, okay, I'll take $1 trillion off, that's a great compromise. That is a compromise where you're going to have to figure out where you're going to take the money from. You're going to take it from food stamps or where you're going to take it?

You're going to take it from the citizen states and the first responders? You're going to take it from the PPE that's the equivalent of the hospitals and the clinics need? And so that's a great start. And this president knows that. And so I would hope that Meadows and Mnuchin will be back in negotiations on Monday with the Speaker and with Schumer who've already put $1 trillion on the table and really begin to do some real negotiation.

ACOSTA: And what is your message to Americans who see this gridlock and just say why can't the lawmakers and the politicians in Washington get this done? We're in an unprecedented pandemic. Why can't they get the job done?

WATERS: Well, I think that the citizens of this country, Americans know very well what we're dealing with when we deal with this White House. The president has defined himself so clearly. I don't think the president could honestly negotiate with anybody and be credible, be believable in any shape, form or fashion.

The president not only has defined himself as not always telling the trust, but absolutely bending everything and twisting everything. And he's not reliable. We don't know what he's up to next. Every day he comes up with a new initiative to divert attention away from the real negotiations that are going on. And so I think the American people know that now. I think they know

who this president is, and I don't think that they're blaming Democrats. I think they're blaming the president of the United States of America. They know that he's interfering. He says he wants to send the stimulus checks out with his name on it so that people will think he's the savior.

He does all these tricks all the time. And so I hope he would back off from that and let Mnuchin and Meadows do the kind of negotiation that will get us to a consensus so that we can put food on the table. We can have credible subsidy for unemployment, insurance for our families so that we can have PPE that is the equipment that is needed. But we cannot ask the states to do matching funds on unemployment. They don't have the money to do it with and so to say --

ACOSTA: And let me switch gears for a second if I may, Congresswoman. I want to get to this because as you know, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, is expected to announce his vice presidential pick any day now.

I suppose it could happen, you know, within the next couple of days I suppose, if its' going to happen this week. You've been very outspoken about this, saying recently -- and we can put this up on screen -- "Let me guarantee you this, based on everything that I know and understand and the help that Biden has already gotten from the Black community, he can't go home without a black woman being a vice president. We're going to have a black woman VP."

[17:24:57]

Who do you hope hi picks and how serious is it for him at this point do you think for him to pick an African-American female vice president?

WATERS: Well, first of all, let me just say I'm very pleased that the president of the United States decided that it was going to be a woman. And so he's made that commitment so we know that's going to happen. It's going to be historic whomever it is.

Do I believe that it's going to be an African-American woman? I certainly do. And I think it's going to be an African-American woman because of under the leadership of some of our elected officials, you know, Jim Clyburn in South Carolina, who turned this campaign around for the president and the way African American women have emerged in this country, showing they're the most reliable part of the Democratic Party, I believe it's going to be an African-American woman. I do.

ACOSTA: Any hints? Kamala Harris? Susan Rice? Karen Bass? Who do you --

WATERS: No, I don't know exactly whom it's going to be. I know who I would prefer, but I don't think that whom I would prefer has anything to do with who he's going to select.

But obviously, as they have gone through all of the women, black, white, Asian, what have you, it seems to me that they have gotten down to possibly just two. And that is Kamala and that is Susan.

And So I believe it will be one of them. I do have preference. I'm not going to say who it is at this point, but I think my preference is going to be the one that will be selected.

ACOSTA: All right. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, we appreciate and thanks for narrowing it down for us. Maybe it is down to two. We'll see what happens with that. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

WATERS: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All right. And up next --

WATERS: Thank you so very much.

ACOSTA: -- all right, thank you. And health officials have spent months telling us to stay home and social distance. Tell that to the folks at Sturgis, South Dakota. You're looking at live pictures. Look at this right here. From Sturgis, the site of a biker rally that could bring 250,000 people to town. Is this risking a potential super spreader event? We'll take you there live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

ACOSTA: Happening right now in a small town in South Dakota, hundreds of motorcycle riders and enthusiasts descending on the town of Sturgis. A town normally home to just 7,000, now expected to host around 250,000 for the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

But this is unlike any other year. Doctors warning it has the potential to become a coronavirus super spreader event. CNN's Ryan Young is there and he's been talking to people on the ground. Ryan, I'm glad of your mask on there. Set the scene for us.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim. Look, we've been here for days and I could tell you each day it seems like another thousand or so people show up. They all tell us so far they are happy to be here. They felt like they were cooped up for the last four months, and this really gives them the opportunity to get out and have a good time.

Look, when you look at all the plates as you look down at these bikes that go all the way down the way, you see them from several different areas that are definitely experiencing large numbers of COVID. We're seeing Georgia, we're seeing Florida and Tennessee and Utah. All these bikes come from all over the country.

When you talk to bikers, they said they desperately wanted to be here. This was the one event that hadn't been canceled that they were looking forward to because a lot of the events across this country have been cancelled.

And let me tell you something. People love to ride through this area. This is a beautiful part of the country. And you look at the COVID numbers in this state and they say, look, less than 10,000 people have contracted the coronavirus in this state so they felt pretty comfortable.

We've been walking around. It feels like pre-COVID times because no one is really wearing a mask. We've seen a few, but for the most part people say they are taking their own chances when it comes to this. In fact, listen to this one business owner talk about the reason why he's glad to be here but he's also making sure he wears his mask.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly, business has been great. It's wild. It really is. And I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I don't know if there's going to be any more bike rallies this year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think people are just pretty normal in life. I don't think they're worried about COVID. I think they're just -- here's the deal though. And bikers, they are all good at social distance anyway because they're on bikes and they're not right next to each other. I guess when you're right here, then you have to make the choice if you want to eat next to somebody or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Jim, as you can imagine, this is the largest economic event for this area. There are some people who obviously didn't feel comfortable about everyone coming into town, some of those businesses have closed, but I can tell you talking to a business owner, they had no chance of closing these because this will be the make-or-break moment for their year.

There's also a bit of politics to this because no matter where you go throughout this area, just take a look at this. There are all these pop-up tents supporting the president here. A lot of bikes here are covered in "Make America Great Again." A lot of people flying the Trump flag.

So we've seen that over and over again. People basically say they believe the president is doing a good job. The other part that you see here that's pretty cool, a lot of Harleys here, a lot of American flags, people basically saying they want to exercise their right. They want to go back to pre-COVID times.

ACOSTA: OK, Ryan Young, it would be a lot of fun under normal circumstance, but that looks like a very risky proposition for a lot of those folks there and we hope you're staying safe there. Ryan Young, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Good seeing you there in Sturgis, South Dakota.

The first ballots in the 2020 election will be cast next month. So where does the race stand? We'll break the latest polls down and see which states are a must win for the president. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[17:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ACOSTA: Less than three months out from the presidential election and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is holding his lead over President Trump in the national polls. But with the upcoming debates, both parties' national conventions on the horizon, and Biden's looming announcement for a running mate, can he keep the momentum going?

Let's discuss with CNN Senior Political Writer and Analyst Harry Enten.

Harry, let's talk about this. The Democratic National Convention starts one week from tomorrow. It's hard to believe that it's really here. It doesn't feel like it's really here.

You say that former Vice President Joe Biden is in a better position now than Hillary Clinton ever was. How can you say that? I remember those leads that Hillary Clinton had back in 2016. They seemed insurmountable.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes. I mean, they did seem insurmountable, but I think it's so important, you know, take a look at where Hillary Clinton was right now just eight days out from the convention compared to where Joe Biden is.

[17:39:58]

And what you see is that Biden's lead is slightly larger than Clinton's was eight points versus five. But I think the key thing you need to look at is the percentage of the votes that each of them were getting. Biden is over 50 percent. Hillary Clinton was only at had 42 percent.

It was a significantly larger chunk of the electorate back in 2016 that either was undecided or said they were going to vote for a third- party candidate. Clinton never got close to 50 percent and Biden is already there and that to me is a huge deal.

ACOSTA: And as we know, the Electoral College is what really matters in the end as we learned in 2016. What are we seeing there now because there is sort of this baked-in belief that the Electoral College sort of tilts toward the Republicans and that may save Donald Trump in the end?

ENTEN: Yes. I mean, look, here's the deal. At least right now, right, we're still a little under 90 days to go, right. Joe Biden does hold the lead in enough states that would get him that Electoral College vote majority, right.

So what I essentially did whereas I said, okay, let's take all the states, the polling averages of all the states and assign the winner to whomever is leading the polls right now and Joe Biden has 353 to Donald Trump's 185.

But one of the key facets that's going on right now, right, was in those Great Lakes battleground states that were so important to Donald Trump back in 2016, he was able to win because he did so well with white voters and white voters without a college degree.

And what we see right now in the polls in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, is we see double-digit improvements for Biden compared to where Clinton was in 2016. If that holds until the election, that would be a mammoth shift and would allow Biden to win. Of course, we still have some time to go.

ACOSTA: And any day now, Biden is expected to announce his pick for a running mate. I mean, we're all sort of waiting for it to happen at any moment. Depending in who he chooses, this could be a very big impact on the race. How much could this affect his poll numbers, do you think?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, look, I love palace intrigue as much as anyone, Jim. You know, I hear all the different reports and I have no idea who he is going to pick, right. We have this idea it might be one of these five or six folks, right, but we don't really know.

Where I will say is that based upon history, there are two different things that a V.P. can -- how a V.P. can affect the race. Number one in their home state, you know, they might be able to give a point or two to that particular candidate.

So you know, Michigan, maybe if Whitmer is chosen, that might add a point or two to Biden's margin there. But the other thing now I think is so important is that history tells us that candidates that are seen as unprepared by the voters, those are the candidates who tend to say, detract from those presidential candidates.

So, it's very important, if I were advising Biden, I would say don't pick someone who voters see as unprepared like John McCain did back in 2008 when he picked Sarah Palin and voters really, really did not like that.

ACOSTA: And what do you say to people out there because I hear this from time to time, Harry, that they don't trust the polls. They think the polls are wrong. They saw what happened in 2016, and I know there are pollsters who will say, you know, it wasn't that far off as people make it out to be.

But how accurate do you think are these poll numbers are right now, and does Biden have these large leads that we're seeing? Is there the possibility, you know, that the Trump people are right? That there are hidden Trump voters out there in these polls, that we're not being -- that are not being reflected in the polls?

ENTEN: I mean, look, it's always possible, Jim. And you know, obviously back in 2016, the national polls were pretty good. It was the state level polls that were off. And indeed, I went back since 1972 and I essentially looked at the average polling miss for the average, right, because that's what's most important, the average of polls.

Normally, it's pretty small, right. The average polling state misses only plus or minus three points. But the true margin of error, plus or minus nine points. The fact is, Jim, even as we got to the end and Biden is holding these large leads in these states, six, seven, eight points in state like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, I would not feel completely confident of that if I were Joe Biden. There is still a chance for a big error.

ACOSTA: Very interesting here. And that's why both sides say they have to get out to vote no matter what the polls say. All right, Harry Enten, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Good talking to you.

And coming up, a quarter of a million people have been descending on the small town of Sturgis, South Dakota for a biker rally. One doctor is warning this could be a super-spreader event. Just look at the pictures right there. We'll talk about it next.

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[17:45:00]

ACOSTA: Turning back to one of our top stories, Sturgis, South Dakota, a small town now crowded with thousands of bikers. It's the 80th year in a row. The rally has been held, but there's never been one like this, obviously, held in the middle of a global pandemic and a national health crisis.

Let's talk about this more now with Dr. William Schaffner. He's a professor with the division of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Doctor, a quarter of a million people traveling there for this biker rally. It just sounds like a super spreader event in the making.

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR, DIVISION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Good grief, Jim. They're doing actually the opposite of all the recommendations, right. No big groupings, no social distancing, hardly any masks being worn. That's a formula for the COVID virus to spread.

Mind you, this has nothing to do with motorcycles. It doesn't have anything to do with having fun. And it doesn't have anything to do with either politics or individual freedom to make decisions. This is a contagious virus. It's not just up to you. It's up to you and you can infect other people while doing that.

And you're going to take this virus home. I guarantee you. Any number of people brought the virus to this event, and it will spread among many of the participants and will be taken back to their homes where they will spread it further.

[17:50:03]

This is an accelerant of the outbreak that we're having in the United States today.

ACOSTA: And city officials there seem to suggest they wish the bikers were not coming, but there was nothing really that they could do. What can public officials do in a situation like this?

SCHAFFNER: Well, it's very difficult. I've heard an interview with the governor who supported their coming. As your previous piece mentioned, this has a huge economic impact for that whole area. I'm sure they were torn, but we in public health would have said, public health comes first.

You can't go back to the old ways of doing things because the COVID virus is here now. We're in a new future. We shouldn't be having these sorts of events.

ACOSTA: And why do you think it has gotten to this point where, you know, a couple hundred thousand bikers will show up in South Dakota for a rally like this. Many of them not wearing masks. Obviously gathering in large crowds, doing the things you were just saying a few moments ago Americans should not be doing.

Why is it, do you think that, you know, well-intentioned, nice people, like these bikers in South Dakota just completely disregard these public health warnings? Why is that, do you think?

SCHAFFNER: You know, I'm not entirely sure, but these are gregarious, energetic people. They want to get back to the old normal. This was a long-standing tradition for them. As was said, they've been looking forward to this for a very long time. It's their big, annual get- together.

You can understand that, but somehow it hasn't penetrated that it's not the old days. It's the new days and we all have to modify what we're doing if we're going to get this virus under control. I know most of them are young, strong and healthy, but they can spread it.

Even if they don't have symptoms, they can spread it to others amongst themselves and take it back home and spread it further in their own communities.

ACOSTA: And as you know, we hit 5 million cases of the coronavirus here in the United States. Did you ever think it was going to get this bad?

SCHAFFNER: Jim, I did not. And this is such a sobering number. You know, that's a huge number of cases and a very large number of hospitalizations and deaths, and more to come. Because over much of this country, this virus is spreading unimpeded because so many folks are not getting with the program to contain it.

ACOSTA: Okay. Dr. Schaffner, we appreciate all of that expertise. Thank you very much. Wish more people are listening to what you were saying, but we appreciate your time. Thank you, doctor.

Millions of Americans are now working several jobs in the new gig economy this week. W. Kamau Bell goes to Austin, Texas to find out how it all works and how it doesn't. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is scary.

W. KAMAU BELL, HOST, UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA: Bring me brown bananas. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know. So we had, like --

BELL: It's hard to be a good person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I obviously try to keep away from the frozen items.

BELL: Okay. Get away. Get back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't smush the chips, though.

BELL: Oh, don't smush -- so many things.

Do you shop more carefully for other people than you did yourself?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. I'm looking for damaged things that I can get on sale.

BELL: You're going past clearance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I freeze this?

BELL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to grab ice cream. Make sure it's sealed. Nobody's licked it.

BELL: That's funny.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, and we're done.

Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fine. How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And don't miss a brand new episode of "United Shades of America" with W. Kamau Bell. That is tonight at 10:00 right here on CNN.

And coming up, it turns out those executive actions the president signed yesterday may not be all they seem. We'll explain. That's coming up next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[17:59:56]

ACOSTA: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington in for Ana Cabrera. Thanks for joining us today.