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Biden Campaign Raises $26 Million; Polls for the Presidential Election; Anti-Vaxxers Spreading Conspiracy Theories; Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is Interviewed about the Pandemic, Stimulus, Mail-in Voting. Aired 9:30-10a

Aired August 13, 2020 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We can do this, we just need a president and a vice president willing to lead and take responsibility, not as this president says it's not my fault.

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There's a reason it has hit America worse than any other advanced nation. It's because of Trump's failure.

This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn't up for the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, they will deliver remarks later today, so potentially drawing on some of those similar themes.

Now, as they made their debut as the Democratic ticket, Biden revealed that they had a major fundraising boost. In the first 24 hours, with Harris on the ticket, Biden announced that they had raised $26 million dollars. And just yesterday they held a grassroots virtual fundraiser and in that event alone they raised close to $10 million. So they've seen a significant uptick as Harris and Biden have now joined forces.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And money matters, especially 83 days out, I think.

Thanks, Arlette.

All right, so, let's talk about some numbers here. The pressing question for Democrats, how exactly can Harris help Biden in that path, Jim, right, to the White House?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and how much does the choice matter historically.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: CNN senior political writer and analyst Harry Enten joins us now with some insights.

So, Harry, this is the -- the endless question, right, how much difference does a vice presidential choice make? I know there's a -- there is different schools of thought on this, but look at the numbers, as you always do, what do they tell us?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes. I mean, look, Jim, look, there was a poll that was taken a few months ago by Fox News and what it essentially did, it presented the horse race with just Biden versus Trump and then it compared say when you put the vice presidential candidates on there as well.

And what you saw was that Biden held the lead no matter what. That lead was eight points when the VP choices were included and it was nine points when they weren't. That's well within the statistical margin of error, right?

And, indeed, if you go back just say 12 years ago, with Sarah Palin when she was on the ticket, and that, of course, was a big VP pick that a lot of people thought made a big difference. In fact, what you saw in that year, when Biden and Palin were included, the two VP picks, it really didn't make that much of a difference. It was an 11 point margin versus just a 9 point margin when it was just Obama and McCain.

So if you just look historically and you look at the polling this year, VP picks don't tend to move the numbers dramatically at all.

HARLOW: Harry, you've got a really interesting piece out this morning and the argument you make is that Harris' selection matters a lot more for 2021 and beyond than it does for this election, for 2020. Make the case.

ENTEN: Yes. Sure. So, look, I think what those first two slides showed you was it doesn't really matter that much in 2020. But 2021 and beyond, let's say that Harris and Biden are successful and they defeat Trump and Pence.

What we know is in 2021, the most populated state in the union, California, will get a new Democratic senator who will have a big megaphone to address the nation. And more than that, whenever the next time that Biden decides not to run for president in either 2024 or 2028, Kamala Harris will, in fact, be the frontrunner, in my mind, for the Democratic nomination.

And just more than that, obviously, if she wins come next year, she will be the first black woman vice president in this country's history. So that, to me, is a very dramatic thing, even if, in fact, this year the numbers may not shift too much even if she is, in fact, the nominee.

SCIUTTO: OK, I know you've been pouring over polling data, because that's what you do, and you actually like to do it, amazingly. What is your biggest takeaway this morning when it comes to Biden's pick? Were you surprised? ENTEN: No, I don't think I was really surprised at all, Jim. And, you

know, to me, this is the pick -- a safe pick, right? This is a candidate who knows that they're ahead. And, indeed, if you look historically, right, and you look at this particular point in the process, just a few days out from the convention, what you see is that the Biden/Harris ticket is in really strong position.

This is the first time, in fact, in at least a generation in which the challenger is at or above 50 percent and well ahead of the incumbent. So this is a pick that wants to secure that, wants to stay ahead. And so, no, I really wasn't surprised too much, Jim.

SCIUTTO: All right, Harry Enten, we'll keep having you back to help walk us through it all. Thanks very much.

You can watch CNN's special live coverage of the 2020 Democratic National Convention for all of its biggest moments, the most important speeches, insight as well, and what it all means for Biden and the future of the Democratic Party and the election in November. It all begins Monday night, 8:00 Eastern Time.

HARLOW: All right, as scientists make promising strides towards a vaccine, anti-vaxxers are spreading lies and conspiracy theories about it. So what happens if too many people believe them and don't take the vaccine?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:39:08]

SCIUTTO: Well, you've got to shake your head at this because it costs lives. Anti-vaccination groups are spreading conspiracy theories and outright lies about a future coronavirus vaccine. And, sadly, the U.S. government has been slow to stop it.

HARLOW: Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is with us this morning.

Good morning, Elizabeth.

You've got a really deep, factual look at the response to this sweeping disinformation campaign. You spoke to the former first daughter, Chelsea Clinton. She's become a vaccine advocate. What did she say?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What she said is that if we don't get enough people to take this vaccine, we are going to have a tough time getting out of this pandemic. Chelsea Clinton is no stranger to the anti-vax movement. She is often one of their targets. She has seen the sophisticated campaign they've been launching for months to get people to not take this vaccine. She says it's high time that the government steps in and gives a response.

[09:40:03]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MONCEF SLAOUI, HEAD OF OPERATION WARP SPEED: I think it will be a very effective vaccine. That's my prediction

COHEN (voice over): Dr. Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the government's program to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, says the vaccine could be 90 percent effective or higher and could be on the market as early as December for those at high risk.

But what if people refuse to get it? A recent CNN poll found that one- third of Americans said they would not try to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, even if the vaccine is widely available and low cost.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't need the vaccination.

COHEN: Some anti-vaccine advocates have been working hard, creating fear of a future coronavirus vaccine. And anti-vaccine lies are appearing online, that the vaccine will leave an invisible, digital, trackable tattoo, that Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leader in the vaccine effort, is actually Satan, that the vaccine is part of a CIA illuminati conspiracy to control the world, and it will turn you into this.

So now former first daughter Chelsea Clinton is sounding the alarm.

COHEN (on camera): You know, polling has shown that many Americans say they won't get the Covid vaccine when it comes out. Does that worry you?

CHELSEA CLINTON, VACCINE ADVOCATE: Oh, my gosh, it terrifies me.

COHEN (voice over): Through the Clinton Foundation, and through international speeches, Clinton has become a leading vaccine advocate.

COHEN (on camera): Have anti-vaxxers called you hateful names?

CLINTON: I've been, you know, called a murderer, and a fear mongerer. I get quite a bit of hate.

COHEN (voice over): Clinton knows personally how strongly anti-vaxxers feel. When she was pregnant with her first child, a woman approached her in a coffee shop.

CLINTON: She looked like -- like deep into my eyes and she just said, like, please tell me you won't vaccinate your child. Like, please don't do that. And I was so taken aback. And I said, no, well, of course I'm going to vaccinate my child. She said something along the lines of, their death or damage will be on your head.

COHEN: She says the government needs to act fast to combat this anti- vaccine sentiment.

COHEN (on camera): You know, what do you think of the job that the CDC is doing in this area?

CLINTON: Well, they're not doing a job. I mean, they're not doing a job. You know, nothing really is happening in our country on this front at a coordinated level, you know, from our government, kind of from the CDC, who is kind of the natural and the historic leader in these areas.

COHEN (voice over): The CDC did not respond to requests from CNN for comment. Its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, says their public health information campaign will soon focus on vaccine safety, efficacy and hesitancy.

Clinton says this should have been done months ago and the message needs to be loud and clear.

CLINTON: It isn't like, you know, I like iced coffee and my husband likes iced tea. Like, this is not a debate about opinions, this is literally a debate about life and death.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Now, if anyone has any doubts about the power of the anti- vaccine movement, remember this, the measles outbreak last year, the largest outbreak in more than 25 years, it was mostly because of anti- vaxxers.

Jim. Poppy.

SCIUTTO: It's amazing we're here as a country in 2020. Goodness.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for tracking it down.

COHEN: Thanks.

SCIUTTO: Well, the U.S. saw nearly 1,500 deaths yesterday. That's the most in a single day so far this summer. Many are criticizing President Trump's response to the pandemic. What about GOP lawmakers? Do they have their own questions? We're going to speak to one of them, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:47:56]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

The U.S. sadly yesterday marked the deadliest day so far of the pandemic this summer. Almost 1,500 people lost their lives. The virus showing no signs of slowing down nationally, slightly, despite the president's claims otherwise.

Joining me now, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana. He's also a member of the Finance Committee. We should note, he's a physician.

Senator, we appreciate you taking the time this morning.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): Thank you, Jim. SCIUTTO: So I want to show how the U.S. has performed in bringing the

outbreak under control compared to other industrialized nations. That's the U.S. in green. You're at a handicap. I don't think you can see this. But still rising quite sharply. Europe rising but at a much lower level. And South Korea, which had the first case on the same day as the U.S., flat-lining on this.

Who do you hold responsible for the failure of this country to get this under control and do you believe the president shares responsibility?

CASSIDY: So it's hard to say the president is responsible when young people go to a bar, don't wear a mask, don't ear -- don't socially distance. I think we have a great --

SCIUTTO: Well, the president -- it took the president months to say that wearing a mask made a difference and to wear a mask himself.

CASSIDY: Yes, I suppose.

On the other hand, again, I don't take my lead from the president. I take my lead from medical science. And so I think -- and -- and there's enough voices saying just that, wear your mask.

So I guess from my perspective, we can -- we, collectively, our country, can get a handle on this if we do that which we need to do --

SCIUTTO: OK.

CASSIDY: Which is to wear the mask, sneeze into your sleeve, wash your hands, et cetera. People always want to make it out --

SCIUTTO: But it's not just that because --

CASSIDY: The president's not the --

SCIUTTO: You know, as a doctor, that was has worked on a national level in other countries to control this is testing, contact tracing and then isolating those people who test positive. And all three of those things are things the president has resisted, not just invested in, but he's resisted the wisdom of that.

CASSIDY: I think it's a -- I think it's a stretch to say the president had resisted that. I will say that obviously there's been a --

SCIUTTO: He says testing -- he says we only have more cases because we test more.

CASSIDY: Yes. But on the other hand, the administration has continued to push out more testing.

[09:50:01]

Folks always want the president to follow a script. This guy doesn't follow a script. But if you look at the actions of the administration, which are to push out more and more testing, continually throwing, Congress has, thrown dollars at it in an effort to make it happen, that's actually where you look. And there has been more testing.

SCIUTTO: Not nationally.

CASSIDY: Now, that said, clearly, on a per capita basis, some of that we need to have more and some of the testing has been, if you will, mal located. We may have a lot of testing availability in a place where the infection is going down, less testing availability in which it's rising. There has been a maldistribution. But I also, you know, in fairness, the administration's tried to address that. We can go over the other issues, but, again, everybody wants to lay --

SCIUTTO: And we -- I'm just saying he -- he has claimed -- he claimed famously in all the time, I'm a war time president, I alone can fix it. Do you think he shares any responsibility for the response in this country?

CASSIDY: You know, I think there's going to be responsibility all the way from the very top to the guy who walks into the bar without wearing a mask.

Now, we can kind of continue to beat that dead horse, or we can figure out how to go forward.

SCIUTTO: OK.

CASSIDY: Clearly the administration has pushed out testing. I'm working on a bill, bipartisan, bicameral, in which we would implement a testing strategy by which giving states the availability to come together, to get better prices for the testing dollar, make that taxpayer dollar go further, and then have a strategy by which you would implement it. I think that's perfectly consistent with the administration, which has looked to states for guidance as to how to implement programs in those states.

SCIUTTO: OK.

CASSIDY: So I think if we look forward, that's the better way, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Let's talk about the economic impact of all this, right? I don't have to tell you, Louisiana, I'm sure you're hearing from constituents every day, talks as you know remains at a standstill. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, she's reiterated her offer to up their price tag by a trillion dollars from Republicans. In other words, asking you --

CASSIDY: Right, a decrease (INAUDIBLE) --

SCIUTTO: And then to decrease and asking Republicans to come up a trillion. Why not meet in the middle on that?

CASSIDY: Yes, so, I think Ms. Pelosi's original strategy was to go way high so she seemed reasonable coming down. But the amount she's speaking about now, $2.5 trillion, is still way high. And so with -- we have started off at zero. Clearly we would be more likely to meet. But I think you have to kind of look at that opening gambit and understand that for what it was, a true opening gambit. But on the other hand --

SCIUTTO: Well, wouldn't starting at zero be an opening gambit by Republicans as well, seeing how many Americans are suffering?

CASSIDY: Exactly, so we did not. So we did not start at zero. We started off at a trillion. Still a lot of money. And, clearly, the administration is willing to go up.

SCIUTTO: OK.

CASSIDY: But it wasn't the opening gambit of a picking an extreme so you look reasonable but it's still extreme.

On the other hand, we --

SCIUTTO: How high should you go? From, like, for instance, on the enhanced unemployment benefit of $600, how high do you think -- how much money do you think folks need in their pockets to pay the bills right at this point?

CASSIDY: My personal preference is that we make that a percent of the income they had before they lost their job. And so, therefore, they would still have an incentive to find a job, but it would support them throughout their -- throughout their course. So it wouldn't be a set amount. It would rather be a percent.

That said, I will say, the president offered to continue the $600 for a period of time, and Republican senators offered the same for a period of time to carve out the unemployment benefit. Let's not use the pain of the unemployed as leverage to get a broader agenda.

Unfortunately, Miss Pelosi appears to want to use that pain. She refused carving out the unemployment benefit. That's some place I wish we could meet in the middle.

SCIUTTO: I want to talk about the election because it's close. And particularly mail-in voting. Louisiana, like many states, has mail-in voting. This morning the president said in so many words that he will not fund the Post Office because it needs money. Now, he said, they need $25 billion in order to have -- to manage the increased demand for mail-in voting in the midst of a pandemic, but he's blocking that funding.

Should the president be blocking funding to the Post Office with an election so close? And, by the way, more demand for mail-in voting, understandably, because people don't want to go into the polling booths in that pandemic.

CASSIDY: So, first -- first, I kind of reject the premise of your -- of your initial assertion. A lot of what the Post Office is in arrears about is related to unfunded accrued liability in their pension plans. Yes, there's been decreased income related to Covid, but the entirety of that $25 billion is not related to the Covid crisis.

Now, to -- SCIUTTO: I was quoting the president here. If they don't get those, that means you can't have universal mail-in voting.

CASSIDY: I'm just speaking facts. I'm -- I'm just speaking facts.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CASSIDY: And so -- so if we are going to support the Post Office as some states do go to mail-in voting, and that's fine if a state decides to do that, that's a -- in our federalist system that's OK, then we, I guess, I do agree that we should support the Post Office in that.

SCIUTTO: OK.

CASSIDY: But don't conflate that number with the entire $25 billion.

SCIUTTO: OK. Let me ask you this.

[09:55:00]

As you know, the president has been attacking mail-in voting as fundamentally unsafe, though he's recently modified that to say that it's a good thing in states run by Republicans, such as Florida. Does that argument make any sense to you? Is it safe in your state, which is run by a Democrat?

CASSIDY: Well, I didn't read the quote, but I -- I didn't read the quote. I can say that we do prefer a federalist system. We can look to New York, though, and see the problems that just resulted in a Carolyn Maloney race in which there are bucket loads of pieces of mail, ballots, which were not postmarked.

SCIUTTO: But then -- the facts are they went through and then confirmed that those ballots were valid. They rejected some and accepted others.

CASSIDY: Yes, but it took a court -- it took a court doing it. And it took the --

SCIUTTO: I mean I know that's a talking point. The president is saying mail-in voting is fundamentally fraudulent.

CASSIDY: So --

SCIUTTO: What is the basis for that and do you agree with that?

CASSIDY: So it took the court having to decide that and actually making an exception for not having post marked ballots.

My point being that there are problems that can be associated with it. I prefer the states do it on their own.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CASSIDY: My state, as you said, if you're an invalid, if you're -- if you're going to be out of town, you can mail in. So it can certainly be done right.

I would also say there needs to be precautions. For example, in California, they allow ballot harvesting. Someone can go through a homeless community and literally do -- they do this -- and ask them to fill in a ballot and then they submit it.

SCIUTTO: That's not -- there's not evidence of widespread fraud there. You know that as well as me, that there is not evidence --

CASSIDY: That is actually fraudulent, which they would not allow you to do in North Carolina.

SCIUTTO: There's not evidence of widespread fraud. This happened for -- for decades, mail-=in voting.

CASSIDY: Now, Jim, let me finish. And they would not allow someone to be seated in North Carolina who is actually -- they did ballot harvesting.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CASSIDY: So for whatever reason Pelosi objected to North Carolina doing it, but she applauds it in California. If you're going to have mail-in balloting, you have to be concerned about the fraud.

SCIUTTO: The president, though, as you know, he's attacking it across the board, right, in a way that is -- it's just -- it's just a different argument.

But, Senator Bill Cassidy, I do appreciate you taking the time this morning. You're always welcome on the broadcast.

CASSIDY: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)