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Early In-Person Voting Begins in 4 More States; 30 States Report Uptick of New Cases, 15 Hold Stead, 4 Trend Downward; Gov. Ned Lamont (D-CT) Discusses Low Positivity Rate but Cases Ticking Up in Connecticut; Pelosi Praises Former Pence Aides Slamming Trump Administration's Pandemic Response; Pelosi: Trump, GOP Skepticism of Science Hurts Fight Against Pandemic. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 18, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:31:53]

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Another milestone moment today in the 2020 election process. Early in-person voting begins in four more states today, Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming.

Mail-in ballots are available now in several more states as well. Key early pieces of this unprecedented pandemic election. Mail-in and early voting are in record demand because of COVID safety concerns.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is outside a polling location in Fairfax, Virginia.

And we can see over your shoulder, Kristen, wow, that's a long line.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. John, this is incredible. I'm going to step out so you can actually see it.

We've been here since before 8:00 a.m. when the polls actually opened. There was already a crowd but nothing like this. As you can see, hundreds of people. About two football fields back.

Just to give you an idea of how long this process is taking. People that I spoke to around 8:45 this morning, they'd just voted.

And keep this in mind, they did not have to wait in this long line outside. People are being told that it's going to take them hours to be able to vote.

But so many of the people I'm talking to say it is absolutely worth it. They wanted to be here on the first day. They wanted to make sure that their ballot counted.

Now, some told us that a lot of this had to do with the fact that they no longer trust the postal service.

Take a listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't trust the mail right now so that's why.

HOLMES: So that's why you're voting in person?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I have to stand here all day I'm going to vote today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I made my mind up a long time ago.

HOLMES: Why not mail in your vote?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I wanted the pleasure of doing it physically.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And we've heard the line from both campaigns, that this is the most critical election of all times and seems to be resonating here in Fairfax county.

People saying they know how important this election is, that they want to actually watch their ballot being counted.

We spoke to one election official who said they had never seen anything like this in their 20 years of working at elections here in Fairfax.

Just to give you an idea of how unexpected this was, they only had one conference room open. They are currently trying to work on getting a third open now because of this incredible demand.

KING: It is remarkable day one in Virginia, Fairfax, once a Republican-leaning suburb, but not anymore. In my 30 years here in Washington.

Kristen Holmes, appreciate the live reporting outside of that important exercise of democracy.

And we'll continue to watch early voting an in person and otherwise in the six and a half weeks left.

[11:34:18]

Up next for us, let's go back to the coronavirus. Connecticut has a remarkably low positivity rate in its coronavirus test, but it is ticking up. Governor Ned Lamont joins us next with his plan to avoid another COVID spike.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: There's a turn for the worse when you look at the state-by-state coronavirus data. And now governors have to make decisions about what to do. Ease restrictions, tighten restrictions?

Let's take a look at the numbers. This map just has taken a sad turn in recent days. We now have 30 states trending up. That means more cases now than a week ago. Thirty states.

The president says we've turned the final corner. Thirty states now reporting more new infections this week compared to last week. The ones in deep red are up by 50 percent this week over last week.

Thirty states trending in the wrong direction. Sixteen steady and four trending down.

Despite this, Texas and Nevada in the coming days will ease restrictions.

Nevada is reporting a decrease in cases. The governor thinks, I'm in a position to ease restrictions.

[11:40:01]

Texas is heading back up again. It was a part of the big summer surge. It did push it down some. Trending back up. Some restrictions to be eased in the coming days it.

If you look at this map here, this is why you should be worried about the next couple of weeks. You want to be as light as possible. The northeast and New England is pretty light.

See all this darker blue? That means double-digit positivity rates. And 15 percent in Utah, 16 percent Idaho, 15 percent South Dakota, 15 percent Kansas, 18 percent Mississippi, 16 percent Alabama, 12 percent Florida, and 16 percent South Carolina.

Those coronavirus tests are coming back at a high positivity rate. That means next week the case count will go up. It's just inevitable. A higher positivity rate leads to more infections. And there we go.

Connecticut is one of the states that went through this early. Remember, back in the spring? So far, its total, more than 55,000 infections, nearly 4,500 deaths in the state of Connecticut.

Now, most of this happened early on. Remember, Connecticut was part of the early pain, April into May and down.

It's been pretty remarkable and stayed low through June, July, August, up to September. See this? A little bit of an uptick in recent days.

That little uptick has the governor's attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. NED LAMONT (D-CT): So 220 positive cases is concerning. This is something we're watching carefully to see what degree it's seasonal and to what degree it is people coming back, what degree it is Labor Day weekend and, you know, a few weeks later.

But all those folks who think we're out of the woods and it's time just to let it rip, this reminds you why we continue to be very cautious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Governor Ned Lamont joins us now.

Governor, good to see you again.

I guess it's good we haven't talked in a long time, because your state has been in a much better place.

But having lived the horror of the spring, if you look at the last few days, that's a relatively modest uptick in new infections. But you remember 1,000 new infections a day.

What are you going to do to keep it and push it back below 200?

LAMONT: Nice to see you again, John.

You're right. Ever since we started reopening -- we've reopened cautiously going back to May -- and the infection rate has gone down. It's been one of the lowest in the country for three and a half months now.

But you're right. We started getting back to school and opened up our colleges and we've seen a slight uptick. Still, one of the lowest in the country but it is earning like I said before.

We watched this like a hawk because I saw Arizona and Texas and Florida going back a month or so and it can go up like a hockey stick.

So far, I think we've got things contained. We're being cautious. But probably a lot of kids coming back from all over the country and college has a little bit of an impact.

KING: As you know, we're all anxious because you count the days from Labor Day, you start to see many so of the evidence now. Another week or so before we really know.

Are we going back through Memorial Day and July 4th again? A number of beaches in your state? I know it's a concern. And you raise all the right questions in the sound we played from your news conference yesterday.

Do you think it's mostly campuses, or do you think it's a mix of things?

LAMONT: I think it's a mix of things. We have a town called Danbury, and there, they had a real flare-up related, I think, to folks who were returning out of the country, visiting family, coming back. And all of a sudden, it catches fire.

So you've got to be very careful about these things. Fortunately, working with my fellow governors, we've been able to work on a regional basis, and that's been very helpful.

KING: And so I just want to look, comparing you to the national average. The national average in terms of positivity is right around 5 percent. The public health experts tell you want to get it to 5 percent and then shove it down.

Connecticut is very markable, 1.3 percent. But I think it was 1.1 percent a few days ago. So that's the source of your concern.

Are you considering, at this moment, adding new restrictions, or do you think just being out there telling people, hey, let's be doubly vigilant and make sure about your masks and keep your social distance?

Can you do this now talking to people, or do you think you need to impose restrictions?

LAMONT: No. I think we do it by talking to people. I've got protesters out there. Let it rip, open it up. I remind people that our economy is 95 percent open.

But it only works because people are wearing their masks and taking our protocols very seriously.

We're not going to need new restrictions. I've been very careful that we never have to backtrack. I hope that's still the case.

KING: You've mentioned the protests. We're showing some of the pictures on television, a pretty modest number of people. People telling you, it's been long enough, we've got to open up.

Listen to the surgeon general who, like you -- and I know you may not agree on everything that the surgeon general has done. But like you, this is pretty hard in an election year to try to get people to listen without being guided by their politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: When we were first learning about this pandemic, we literally had our country at each other's throats in an impeachment trial.

There's no chapter in the pandemic playbook for a presidential election, a highly divisive presidential election.

And there's no chapter in the playbook about a social justice movement, the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1960s.

So it makes it hard to have these conversations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:45:07]

KING: How hard to have the conversations? Again, if you look at the experiences of your state, had a pretty good run for a couple of months. I know you're concerned about a blip.

How hard is it to have these conversations in the midst of this polarized year?

LAMONT: I would tell you, going back to when we were hit hard, this state really united. I think you saw that around different regions. People were all in one direction. We were very strong.

And we came to wearing the masks, probably the best protocols there of any state in the country. It made an enormous difference.

You're right. Things are fraying a little bit. We've got a few weeks until the election. Everybody is wearing their political colors.

But I don't know about the pictures you showed of the protests, but I was struck that there were only like a dozen of them. But two-thirds of them were wearing a mask as they were protesting and having to wear a mask.

So maybe they don't like mandate, but they are still willing to do the right thing.

KING: And the in that case, good for them in the sense that protest is a gift in our democracy but, hopefully, they are being safe as they do so.

Governor Ned Lamont, appreciate your time today, sir. And best of luck in the days ahead as you try to deal with the modest little blip in your state. Thank you.

LAMONT: Good to see you, John. Thanks.

KING: Thank you, sir.

Coming up, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gives her take on former aide to the vice president now slamming the administration's pandemic response.

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[11:50:52]

KING: Important development just into CNN. Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, received a classified security briefing on Wednesday at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. That's according to a campaign official.

This marks the first confirmation from the Biden campaign that he has received a full classified intelligence briefing, as he gets now because he is the Democratic nominee for president.

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, going after the president and Republicans today, saying that skepticism of science is hurting the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

CNN's Manu Raju live on Capitol Hill with that -- Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she actually addressed an array of topics but that attack over science has been a theme of hers as of late.

And I had a chance to ask her about a development that happened yesterday, which was the former aide to Vice President Mike Pence on the Coronavirus Task Force, Olivia Troye, coming out and sharply criticizing the president's conduct, saying essentially that he cares more about the reelection than saving Americans' lives.

And I asked her directly about whether or not she should be called to testify, Olivia Troye, come before the House, given that the White House's questioning her credibility, and whether the House should bring her forward.

Pelosi said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): He is what he is. And he has -- he is the president of the United States.

But these enablers, they will have to tell their children and their grandchildren the responsibility they have for the fact that we are 200,000 people dead and that didn't have to happen.

Good for her, the young woman, who came forward and with her statement. Of course, they're attacking her now. It's something that's very --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So she made -- didn't directly say whether or not they would call her to come testify and said it's a good idea that perhaps she should come and tell her story. She left the ultimate decision to her House committee chairs.

And she also addressed other key issues, as well. Whether or not or how - whether she will compromise anymore to try to move forward on a stalled stimulus package that's not seen -- been stuck here on Capitol Hill.

She said her number is as it is, $2.2 trillion, to move on that package. That is too high for the White House and for Senate Republicans.

And she is indicating that her level that she's willing to come down from. Here initial level was $3.4 trillion.

So you can see, John, that major issue still stuck, even as she faces pressure to move forward.

And as she did criticize the White House for not listening to the science and raising concerns about the vaccine ultimately being distributed to Americans this fall -- John?

KING: Days to get that done dwindle closer to the election.

Manu Raju, appreciate the live reporting on several topics from the Hill today.

Thank you very much.

Coming up for us, another college goes fully remote. That, after more than 80 students test positive for coronavirus.

But first, though, in California, COVID-19 threatening the lives of inmates and creating barriers for offenders who have been released from prison to reduce overcrowding.

Helping the vicious cycle of incarceration, three "CNN Heroes" have stepped up to safely help those who are struggling in and out of prison amid this crisis.

CNN's Anderson Cooper with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): As COVID-19 impacts those in and out of California prisons, three "CNN Heroes" are providing lifelines to those in need.

KIM CARTER, CNN HERO: My sister here, Johan. She just got out.

COOPER: Kim Carter is on call to pick women up the moment they're dropped off in the streets.

CARTER: And 12:00 in the afternoon, 11:00 at night, so and so is out and at the Greyhound bus station.

COOPER: Collette Carroll is bringing virtual learning to man at San Quentin State Prison.

COLLETTE CARROLL, CNN HERO: As close as we can get. And I believe it lets them know that they're not forgotten.

SUSAN BURTON, CNN HERO: Hi, how are you doing?

COOPER: And Susan Burton just opened her tenth safehouse for formerly incarcerated women.

BURTON: If needed, we'll get another one and another one and another one. I mean, we're not just talking about the people coming home. We're talking about people escaping a deadly virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:55:01]

KING: To see Anderson's full story on these remarkable heroes, go to CNNheroes.com.

We'll be right back.

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[11:59:58]

KING: Providence College in Rhode Island is the latest to feel a coronavirus disruption. After more than 80 students tested positive, the school has decided to move to remote learning only at least for the next week.