Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Names Supreme Court Pick And Sows Election Fears; Trump Holds Events With Few Masks, No Social Distancing; Wedding In Maine Turns Into Super Spreader Event; Curfew In Effect In Louisville After Protests; Trump Ramps Up Pitch To Latino Voters, Narrowing Gap In Swing States; Justice Ginsburg's Unlikely Friendship With A Conservative Activist. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired September 26, 2020 - 21:00   ET

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

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Judge Amy Coney Barrett is Trump's nominee to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. Just minutes after his announcement, Trump hit the campaign trail telling a crowd in Pennsylvania this about the upcoming election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're going to try and steal the election. Look at this crowd. The only way they can win Pennsylvania frankly is to cheat on the ballots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That comment comes after a week in which he refused to commit to a peaceful transition of power.

The president's strategy becoming clear, sow doubt about the integrity of the election, in the hopes that it ends up in the Supreme Court where a potential 6-3 conservative majority could decide any election dispute.

Keep in mind, those same justices could also determine the fate of the Affordable Care Act in the middle of a pandemic. That case comes before the high court one week after election day.

And tonight Dr. Anthony Fauci revealing the White House is pivoting away from getting daily briefings from the Coronavirus Task Force. And at today's Supreme Court event at the White House Rose Garden there was no social distancing and few masks.

There you see them. HHS Secretary Alex Azar, he was seen mingling without a mask, despite previously urging people to take coronavirus precautions seriously.

Also this hour, we are monitoring the scene in Louisville, Kentucky, where police are telling protesters still out in defiance of a citywide curfew to disperse. Protesters are not letting up there following a grand jury's decision in the death of Breonna Taylor.

We'll get to all of that. First, let's start with President Trump's rally right now in Pennsylvania after he announced his Supreme Court pick. And CNN's Ryan Nobles is live for us.

Ryan, how is the Supreme Court nominee and this announcement playing in this crucial swing state?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, there's no doubt that this crowd in Pennsylvania which is a key swing state welcome the news of President Trump nominating Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. The conservative base of the Trump support group truly believes that the president should move ahead and nominate someone and have that person in place before the election, and when President Trump talked about Coney Barrett here tonight, it was wrought with enthusiastic cheers. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I've just come from the Rose Garden of the White House where I proudly nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Judge Barrett is a brilliant legal mind and extraordinary scholar, you know that. Number one in her class. You know, they -- the professor, one of the most respected people, he said the greatest student he's ever had. That's pretty good. That's a little better than Biden, wouldn't you say?

(CHEERS)

TRUMP: She should be running for president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: And it did not take long for the Trump campaign to essentially dovetail the Coney Barrett confirmation process right into their campaign apparatus. The doors to this event were open early, two hours before the president arrived. They had the jumbotrons playing the ceremony where she was officially nominated. The crowd here cheering in a big way to Coney Barrett's nomination.

They're also putting some physical cash behind this effort. $10 million in digital ads that are going to blanket social media. And they're also changing up the script that campaign volunteers are using when they make phone calls and they go door-to-door to emphasize Coney Barrett and the fight that she has ahead of her in the United States Senate.

Now what's interesting about all this, Ana, is there aren't too many people who feel that the Coney Barrett nomination process will be all that difficult with Republicans controlling the United States Senate. This has really become more of a campaign issue for Donald Trump and his team. They view the fight over the Supreme Court a key part of his electoral victory back in 2016.

They want to remind conservative voters of that this time around. And they are using this nomination fight and the fact that they can replace a liberal icon like Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a conservative like Amy Coney Barrett. A big part of that sales pitch to voters, particularly conservative voters who make up the Trump base -- Ana.

CABRERA: Ryan Nobles in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Thank you.

So that's the mood tonight on the Republican side. Many Democrats are furious not only about the timing but the person chosen for the Supreme Court nomination. Minority leader Chuck Schumer warning this evening that, in his words, just about every American will be hurt by Judge Barrett's views.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Justice Ginsburg must be turning over in her grave up in heaven to see that the person they chose seems to be intent on undoing all the things that Ginsburg did. I will strongly, strongly, strongly oppose this nomination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[21:05:00]

CABRERA: And we have this from Joe Biden. Let me read you part of his statement. "President Trump has been trying to throw out the Affordable Care Act for four years, Republicans have been trying to end it for a decade.

Twice the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law as constitutional. Judge Amy Coney Barrett has a written track record of disagreeing with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Affordable Care Act. She critiqued Chief Justice John Roberts' majority opinion upholding the law in 2012."

Let's discuss now with our senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, a senior editor at the "Atlantic." Also with us our senior legal analyst, Laura Coates, a former federal prosecutor.

Good to see both of you this evening.

Ron, you know, following today's announcement, this is all we've been hearing from Democrats, they are really zeroed in on health care and the future of Obamacare. Why do you think that's their strategy?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, you know, look, there is a national majority that is in favor of legal abortions. It's about 61 percent in the last poll by Pew. And even a state like Pennsylvania, despite all of the cheers, there is a 56 percent majority in favor of legal abortion, according to the latest Public Religion Research Institute polling. But that is not as consistent across the battleground states, a pro-choice majority, as is support for the Affordable Care Act and the protections for pre-existing conditions.

I mean, that is an issue on which Democrats hold the high ground just about in every state, as opposed to abortion which works in some places but in a state like North Carolina or Georgia where there are key Senate races is much more closely balanced.

So I think the statement from Biden, like the statement from Harris, and like many of the others we've heard, really is the tip-off of where this is going, that Democrats are going to focus on the threat that Barrett poses very directly, given her previous writings and the fact that a case is coming to the court a week after the election, to the ACA, to its provisions on pre-existing conditions.

And as a reminder, that was the point of the spear. The single most powerful issue for Democrats in the 2018 elections, promising to protect those provisions in the ACA that protect patients elections with pre-existing conditions.

CABRERA: Laura, the president has made it clear one of the main reasons he wants this nominee to get through before election and be confirmed is because he sees the Supreme Court as playing a role in deciding the election should there be a contested election. And so now you have Democrats who are saying they are going to push for her to recuse herself if the election outcome does end up in the Supreme Court. Do you think that's necessary?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, of course, the president is assuming that the Supreme Court would be helpful to him because I think he misconceives what the Supreme Court's role was in "Bush v. Gore." It wasn't about the way that he's had a month's long campaign trying to undermine the integrity of mail-in ballots and to question whether or not we can actually have some confidence in the way that the votes are tabulated or otherwise.

Their role was actually far more specific. It was an equal protection claim about recounting certain ballots versus other ballots. And so I think he already misunderstands fundamentally what the role of the Supreme Court would be in that case.

But again, it's hypocritical to think the idea that we're going to have nine justices now when the last presidential election to which he was the victor only had eight justices until he was able to then have one go under the advisement and consent of Senator Mitch McConnell.

So I think he already fundamentally misperceives what the role would be. Having said that, you know, his role has up to now had been about "Roe v. Wade" as the precedent to overturn. Now I think he's trying to keep the precedent of "Bush v. Gore" going, although he has under -- not understanding what it's about.

CABRERA: Ron, the president's message all week has been to set the stage, to dispute the results election. He's gone so far as to say the only way he loses is if the election is rigged, implying fraud. He's refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power after the election. What do you think we're in for?

BROWNSTEIN: He's filling the room with gasoline and throwing matches every day. I mean, it is possible the period between the election and the inauguration could be the most fraught for America in a similar interregnum since Abraham Lincoln in 1860, you know, and that included cessation by the South. The president I think, you know, not only does he overly -- have an

overly expansive view of the role of the Supreme Court, I don't think he has comprehended how different the situation becomes with the Democrats holding at least the House and maybe the House and Senate this time. In 2000 Republicans held both chambers of Congress at that point and it limited the Democratic options.

The capacity of -- even if the president can somehow post-election go to the ultimate nuclear option of convincing Republican legislatures in some state to send their own electors to Washington on the grounds that the election is so fraudulent that you can't trust the official results, the ability of Democrats in the House to say no to that, and if they have the Senate to say no to that, really I think does change the potential for the Supreme Court to weigh in here.

I mean, I'm sure he will try to use the court to stop the counting of ballots. But that may be difficult, as Laura was saying. But again, the fact that Democrats hold the House give them much more leverage than many Democrats are fearful of at this point as they listen to the president's warnings.

[21:10:05]

CABRERA: And no doubt this could end up in a very, very ugly legal battle. The president's threats, however, don't seem to worry Joe Biden. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The American people aren't going to be shut down in this election. They're going to vote, they're going to vote in large numbers. And they're just not going to be denied. I'm confident all the irresponsible outrageous attacks on voting will have on election in this country as we always have had. And he'll leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Laura, do you think he's brushing over this and maybe a little bit naive to think of it in that way?

COATES: Well, let's call him not naive, maybe a political optimist, Ana, instead, in thinking that perhaps the American people and those who are part of the administration or Republican members of Congress would actually adhere to the norms of when somebody loses an election, that they vacate the premises and they allow for the next president- elect to step into that role.

You know, I actually share Biden's confidence at least in the idea of there being an integrity-based voter election system here. I was a former civil rights attorney for the Department of Justice focusing on voting rights. We did not see at any time widespread voter fraud. We saw ballots that were mailed to uniform and overseas citizens on the battlefield. We can get them to voters at this point in time.

And we also saw a process by which you were able to tabulate votes on election day, whether it be provisional ballots or absentee ballots or mailed in ballots as is the case in other places around this country. So I share the optimism that the voters can actually get it done, and electoralism can actually function.

But I think what he's speaking to is he's looking to the people who are saying, well, hold on, do I believe like your earlier report the sort of Facebook postings, do I believe that there should be some reason and cause for concern? Will a post-election day tabulation mean a fraudulent election? Or it has not meant that up until now, so why would it be the case now?

Because President Trump says so? That can't be enough reason to undermine all that we've seen for decades with election law.

CABRERA: And I'm glad you point that out because that is where I was getting at, which is the point that we already know his messaging is working among his supporters. We shared the report with Donie earlier, so this idea that people are going to accept the results, as much as we think they should because we know that the process is legitimate and there is no widespread flawed when it comes to mail-in voting, at least no evidence of it at all.

The president is working very, very hard to sow doubt in people's minds.

BROWNSTEIN: And Ana --

CABRERA: Ron, it almost feels like, Ron, that we're living in a time of -- almost like an episode of the "West Wing," to the point that the show's creator, Aaron Sorkin, was asked, how he would dramatize the outcome of the election, and just note, he made these comments the day before Trump actually, you know, was asked about committing to a peaceful transfer of power, and, you know, the firestorm that that sparked.

Here's what Aaron Sorkin said. Quote, "If I was able to romanticize the whole thing, here's what would happen. On election night, Donald Trump would do what we all assume he's going to do, which is not concede defeat, claim that the election was rigged, claim that the Democrats cheated. All of that.

However, for the first time since the man was sworn in, Republicans, his enablers, his apologists march up to the White House, and say, Donald, it's time to go, you will not ruin this country, you will not start a civil war."

Ron, if President Trump loses the election, if he refuses to accept the results, and he tries to stay in power, what do Republican leaders really do?

BROWNSTEIN: I think it's really unclear. I mean, their comments this week were very revealing. They said, of course there has to be a peaceful transfer of power. There's always been a peaceful transfer of power. But they didn't criticize the president. I mean, they did not sanction him for openly extorting a foreign government to manufacture dirt on an opponent. They have not raised an eyebrow as really for the first time in American history, he is overtly trying to manipulate the census to benefit one party.

They didn't complain about the Postal Service. They haven't complained about him intervening in criminal cases and the Justice Department. There just is no history of them showing any willingness, any of them, you know, beyond maybe Mitt Romney or Susan Collins voting no on the ACA but, really, except for that, very little willingness to constrain him in any manner, and you say -- you know, you can say, well, of course, this will be a bridge too far. I guess I will wait and see.

I think if it is close, there is the potential for a lot of Republicans going down the line with him and trying to contest and undermine the results. Right now it doesn't look like it will be close enough to allow that he get off the ground. But we're still five and weeks plus away from the election.

CABRERA: Ron Brownstein and Laura Coates, it's been great to have you both on the show tonight. I've missed you both. I haven't had a chance to personally talk to you in a long time.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COATES: I know.

CABRERA: With COVID, we don't see each other.

COATES: Nice seeing you, Ana.

CABRERA: Exactly.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Great.

CABRERA: Have a good night, guys. Thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

CABRERA: As President Trump hosts yet another campaign rally where there's no social distancing, the country's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci reveals the White House is pivoting away from having daily Coronavirus Task Force briefings.

[21:15:12]

We'll have more on that when we return. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: President Trump wrapping up a campaign rally in Pennsylvania tonight. One that had very few masks and no social distancing. It followed a Rose Garden ceremony this afternoon that also flouted CDC guidelines. And this as we learned from Dr. Anthony Fauci that the Trump administration has pivoted away from receiving daily guidance from the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen is with us now. She's the former health commissioner of Baltimore. Dr. Wen, when you see these images from tonight's rally or earlier

from the Rose Garden ceremony, what's your reaction?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I'm very concerned because if I were to custom design a super spreader event, this is what it would look like.

[21:20:02]

It would look like a lot of people coming from many parts of the country gathered together, no social distancing, not wearing masks, and in fact even flaunting this public health guidance because it's not just what they do during the event, if they're there these individuals are probably also not following public health guidance outside of the event. They may also be going to indoor gatherings and bars and then returning home to wherever they came from, and spreading the virus to other individuals.

CABRERA: Hold that thought about bars and indoor gatherings, because I'm going to come back to that in just a moment. But first, I do have to get your take on seeing Alex Azar today, the Health and Human Services secretary, at this Rose Garden ceremony and he himself wasn't wearing a mask. And he was, you know, chumming it up with people, fist bumping, he was in close contact with a lot of people at this event. And he is supposed to be one of the leaders of the pandemic response.

What goes through your mind seeing this image?

WEN: So there's the obvious, that he should be modelling the type of behavior that we expect everyone to have at this point. But there are other things, too. So he represents all the agencies that fall under HHS. The CDC, the FDA, the NIH, all these top scientists and public health officials. What's going through their minds as they're watching their leader flaunt the very advice that they're giving.

Also, the secretary is a member of the president's Cabinet and he has a responsibility to represent that public health guidance to the president. So it also is sending the wrong message to the president when this Cabinet secretary in charge of health and public health is not following these very guidelines.

CABRERA: The state of Florida has the third highest case count in the country right now. And yet we just learned the governor is going to allow restaurants and bars to fully reopen, 100 percent. He says no state restrictions. And he also mentioned he wants a full Super Bowl party by February.

Is Florida in a good position to take this next step?

WEN: No. And let's remember where Florida was just a few months ago. Florida was in the position of having ICU's being filled. Hospitals having to divert patients to other locations and really in a crisis mode. I'm glad that Florida got out of the crisis mode. But they should remember that we're heading into the winter season, when we could be seeing the confluence of COVID-19 and influenza. And this is the time for us to be reducing these high-risk situations

as much as possible. And now we know that indoor bars as an example are some of the highest risk places. And so it really is not going in the right direction. It's quite an irresponsible decision that Governor DeSantis is making.

CABRERA: Some other distressing news today. More than a thousand New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 in a single day. It is the first time that's happened since June 5th, that high of a number. New Jersey is also seeing an uptick in cases.

What does that tell you?

WEN: It tells us that we have to be on guard that COVID-19 is with us. That this is a very highly contagious disease. And that these gains that we made are very hard won. And so we should not be looking at opening, closing the economy as an on-off switch.

This was always meant to be a dial so that if you see the number of infections trend up, you should be looking at what are the restrictions that we need to be bringing back, which is very difficult for people to hear.

And quarantine fatigue is real. But we are losing still almost a thousand Americans every day. And again heading into cold weather where there could be far more infection coming our way. We really should be doing everything we can now, wear masks, physical distance, keep up our guard.

CABRERA: And stay strong. We've got to keep at it.

Dr. Leana Wen, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for all you do.

WEN: Thank you.

CABRERA: Contact tracing revealing just how far the coronavirus can travel. Coming up, how one wedding in Maine turned into a super spreader event infecting dozens who didn't even attend the ceremony. Details next here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:28:39]

CABRERA: Listen to this, a summer wedding in a tiny town in Maine turned into a super spreader event, seeding outbreaks hundreds of miles away. At least seven deaths have now been traced back to this wedding. A celebration they didn't even attend.

CNN's Randi Kaye has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It all began with an August 7th wedding in picturesque Millinocket, Maine, which hadn't seen a case of coronavirus until now. As the couple celebrated I do, the virus was on the move.

DR. NIRAV SHAH, MAINE CDC DIRECTOR: The virus favors gatherings. It does not distinguish between happy events like a wedding celebration or sad farewells like funerals. It is everywhere.

KAYE: Everywhere indeed. Maine CDC says 32 guests and staff were infected from the wedding service at the Tri Town Baptist Church in East Millinocket, Maine, and the dinner reception at Big Moose Inn in nearby Millinocket.

From there, contact tracers tracked the community spread to other locations hundreds of miles away, including the Maple Crest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison, Maine, the York County jail in Alfred, and the Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford. Even though 62 people attended the wedding, there are now at least 177 people infected with coronavirus and at least seven dead.

[21:30:04]

SHAH: None of those seven individuals attended the wedding or the reception itself.

KAYE: There are now at least 39 cases of coronavirus at the rehab center in Madison, including 24 residents and 15 employees. Six residents have died. Maine CDC determined that an employee from the center lives with someone who attended the wedding. So the virus likely travelled from guest to household member to the Maple Crest rehab facility.

Keep in mind this facility is more than 100 miles away from the reception venue. 61-year-old Ana Littlejohn who lives at the rehab center, did not attend the wedding celebrations but has tested positive. Her daughter is worried and angry.

AMANDA ROY, MOM TESTED POSITIVE: It was a senseless act and a selfish act that probably could have been prevented with a little bit more humanity and a little bit more empathy and compassion for others.

KAYE: Our numerous calls to the rehab center were not returned. Meanwhile, at the York County jail in Alfred, Maine, about 220 miles away from the wedding site, the CDC reports at least 83 cases, including 48 inmates, 19 people who work in the building that houses the jail, and some of their family members. Maine CDC traced the outbreak to a jail employee who attended the wedding then brought the virus to work.

(On camera): And all of this may have started with someone who was asymptomatic. A spokesman from Maine CDC tells me that prior to the August 7th wedding and reception, there had been no reports of positive cases among those in attendance. And the venue spokesman says all guests had their temperatures screened.

(Voice-over): The virus also spread from the festivities to Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford, Maine, about 240 miles away. The CDC confirms 10 cases there, and says church members attended the wedding. That church's pastor Todd Bell officiated at the service. He did not return our calls or e-mails. Before this, Pastor Bell had preached against wearing masks.

SHAH: Everyone else ought to be concerned right now about where things stand with COVID-19 in Maine.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Miami, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Last hour we saw protesters gathered in Louisville, Kentucky. But now a citywide curfew is in place. So what's the mood like? We'll get a live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:35:29]

CABRERA: A curfew is now in effect in Louisville, Kentucky, and protesters have left the city square where they gathered just last hour. This is the fourth night of demonstrations since a grand jury decided not to bring charges against the officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor. And CNN crime and justice correspondent Shimon Prokupecz is on the ground for us.

Shimon, earlier we heard that warning from police to protesters. It looks like they responded.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, they did. The police made several announcements. One of those, while we were on the air at around 8:30, telling protesters that there was a curfew, and if they weren't going to leave, they were going to be subject to arrest. And then again, they made another announcement at 8:45 telling protesters to leave. And then all the protesters just gathered around and they left.

They left the park, Jefferson Square Park, after vowing for hours that they would remain in the park in a potential face-off with police. They all left. And just moments before 9:00, the police started moving in, they moved in some of their heavily armored vehicles. National Guard troops came in. But by that point the park had cleared, the police made an announcement that the park was closed.

And what happened was a lot of the protesters which they've been doing every night, they came to this church behind me, which has been used as a sanctuary, the church has allowed the protesters to come on their property to be in their parking lot and on their grounds past 9:00, so that they could avoid arrests. So certainly a tense night avoided here. Any kind of confrontation with police so far has been avoided here tonight -- Ana.

CABRERA: OK. That sounds like good news. Shimon Prokupecz, thank you.

PROKUPECZ: Yes.

CABRERA: Thirty-eight days, that's all that's left for President Trump and Joe Biden to battle it out for any remaining undecided voters. And one voting bloc that holds a lot of cards in deciding who ends up in the White House? The Latino vote. More on that when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:42:55]

CABRERA: Welcome back. We're just a few days away now from the first presidential debate between Democratic nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump. And while Biden leads Trump nationally in the polls, the race in the battleground states is much tighter. According to a "Washington Post"-ABC News poll, Florida and Arizona are in a dead heat. And the Latino vote could be the key to victory. Especially in those states.

Maria Hinojosa joins us now. She's an award-winning journalist. The anchor and executive producer of Latino USA and the CEO of the Futuro Media Group. She's also the author of the new book, "Once I was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America."

Maria, it's so good to have you here. I want to ask you first about the Latino vote, expected to be the largest non-white voting blocs and 32 million voters in this election. What are you seeing and hearing in your reporting, is the biggest motivator for Latinos heading to the polls?

MARIA HINOJOSA, ANCHOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "LATINO USA": So it's really hard to generalize. I want to start out saying that, you know, because that's the thing about Latinos and Latinos. You know, right now we're really dealing with being attacked by one of the campaigns kind of consistently, that would be the administration, the Trump administration. But there's also a sense of invisibility and at the same time there's massive complexity.

So for example, in terms of Florida, Central Florida is a really important for the Latino, Latina vote. You would think it might be a progressive vote because there's so many Puerto Ricans leaving the island after the hurricane.

There's a lot of anti-abortion work right there in terms of the evangelical vote. So that's up for grabs. In terms of the south or for actually the west, for example, what we do know is that Bernie Sanders did really well there. He carried Nevada with the Latino vote.

So there's a Latino vote that is anxious for a much more progressive radical, if you will, stances on all kinds of things whether health care to immigration. On the other hand you have Latino moderates in Texas, who I'm hearing are concerned that -- they're saying that they're concerned that Biden might be too socialist.

[21:45:11]

So it's really broad, but what does has to happen is that the Biden campaign needs to be doing massive outreach in these 38 days, so that the Latino voter feels like they're getting attention, because right now I don't think that that's the sense that they have.

CABRERA: That's so interesting that you say that, because I spoke with Don Leguizamo recently who said something very similar about the importance of showing you care to the Latino population, and that Latinos are loyal, but you have to show, you know, your commitment to them, and they'll be loyal to you. If you ignore them, he said, they'll ignore you.

We know the president has paid attention to Latinos and he's really been trying to drive home this message of his opponent being tied to socialist regimes. I mean, he spent a lot of Friday in Doral, Florida, home to many Venezuelan expats. The president is doing pretty well among Venezuelan American and Cuban American voters in Miami-Dade County specifically.

Trump's campaign has called Biden a puppet to the Castro-Chavistas, drawing that anti-socialist, anti-Maduro, anti-Castro sentiment. Biden is reacting this way. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Trump is using socialism to scare and distract Floridians from a failed pandemic. And look, here's the guy -- he's refused to grant temporary protective status to Venezuelans, he's embraced dictators around the world, it's ridiculous. You know, I think people see very clearly the difference between me and Donald Trump.

Trump is a -- you know, is -- Trump is clearing protests in front of the White House that are peaceful, you know, with the military. And this guy's more Castro than Churchill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Do you think that is an effective message with Latinos, especially to combat Trump's strategy tying Biden to Maduro and Castro?

HINOJOSA: It is effective. I mean, you do have people who left Cuba decades ago, who are still in this kind of PTSD reaction, and when they hear this kind of he's going to take things away from you, they get into that PTSD, and it's very difficult. Like Venezuelans. But again, you have to understand that there's another side of the Latino electorate that is actually much more supportive even of socialist ideas.

Why is it that Bernie Sanders did so well with these voters? One, because as you started, Ana, they got in touch with Latino voters. I mean, I was talking to Latino voters in Nevada. I was talking to Latino voters in South Carolina, and they were -- and Texas. And they were saying we heard from Tio Bernie, not once, not twice, but door- knocking, text messaging.

And you're exactly right. Latino -- you can't blame the voter. You have to actually go and get that vote. This is transactional. These kinds of politics. And sadly, I've been covering politics for several decades and it is always the same thing with the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Except that maybe this time with the Republican Party, they're going after that Latino male vote that kind of -- can identify with an authoritarian stance like Trump. They can identify with that which frankly is quite worrisome.

CABRERA: I have to ask about your book. "Once I was You: A Memoir of Love and Hate in a Torn America." You write about your own family's experience immigrating to the United States in the 1960s. You were just a baby, the youngest of four children. And family separation almost happened to you upon entering the U.S. That obviously has a scary connection to what's taken place during the Trump administration.

That was the beginning of your American story. Why did you decide to tell your story now, and what kind of impact do you hope it has?

HINOJOSA: Look, Ana, when I first found out that the story of my arrival, I was already in my 30s, and what I thought that happened was that my mother had just stood up to an immigration agent who was not being quite nice. And really it was my mother who then calls me in the midst of the crisis of the children being taken when we're hearing the voices of those babies and toddlers screaming, and it was my mother who said, oh, my god, I would have been that mother.

And I said, Mom, what are you talking about? And she said, you could have been one of these children. That immigration agent tried to take you.

The year was 1962. I was in the Dallas Airport and I was arriving with a green card. But there was a policy that basically look at Mexicans and their bodies, and if we were considered dirty, we were taken. In this case, they were going to put me into quarantine.

My mother stood up and owned her voice, and that's what she had. It wasn't that my mom was speaking up. It was that she told me, she said it was fight or flight. And she said, and all I had was my voice.

[21:50:09]

I have to tell you, Ana, to discover this I was quite shocked. It was very, very sad. And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to tell this story because, you know, we all have our arrival stories in this country. Whether it was 50 years ago, 10 years ago, a year ago or 100 years ago.

And we need to tell these stories with all of the fullness, the sadness, the happiness, the trauma because these are American stories. They are a part of our history, and they are a part of who we are, and we are so much more like each other than not.

CABRERA: That's beautiful. Maria Hinojosa, thank you so much for being with us and sharing some of your story, and also helping us, you know, sort through what we can expect with this election. Like you said, it's so important that the Latino vote is not ignored, not taken for granted. Thank you.

HINOJOSA: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: We have the most anticipated moment of the election right around the corner. Donald Trump and Joe Biden facing off in the first presidential event. You can watch it all play out live on CNN with special coverage Tuesday starting at 7:00 Eastern. I'll be there in Ohio getting reaction from voters to the debate. I hope you'll join us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:56:01]

CABRERA: This week the nation honored the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was a liberal icon, yes, but she also had a unique ability to bridge the political divide, including through an unexpected friendship.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux brings us that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a love of music that brought them together.

ERIC MOTLEY, FRIEND OF RUTH BADER GINSBURG: This is the two of us coming from an opera dinner.

MALVEAUX: An unlikely friendship between seemingly polar opposites. Eric Motley and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

MOTLEY: I was a black young man, just turned 30. I was working for President Bush and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, this Jewish intellectual urbanite, this woman who had been appointed to the Supreme Court --

MALVEAUX: Thrown together by a surprise at a dinner party and seated next to Ruth Bader Ginsburg's husband Martin who quickly learned of their shared passion.

MOTLEY: I love music. And he got so excited. And he said, my wife and I love music. I said, I'm listening to Bach's Goldberg variations. He said, oh, my god, you have to meet my wife. You have to talk -- Ruth. And he called her name across the table. I never will forget.

MALVEAUX: Eric and the justice became fast friends, sharing their love of opera, history and music.

MOTLEY: Little did I know that that would inspire a 17-year relationship around music and ideas.

MALVEAUX: Ideas that sometimes clashed but led to a better understanding between them over issues around race, opportunity, and public policy.

MOTLEY: The notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

MALVEAUX: As the years passed, the two also shared a personal joke, when would Eric, the eligible bachelor, tie the knot?

MOTLEY: In her demanding voice, it's about time.

MALVEAUX: When Eric found his love Hannah, Ginsburg offered to officiate their wedding.

MOTLEY: She said what do you mean go to the courthouse? I have the legal right to marry you. And so let's find a date and come here to my patio.

MALVEAUX: As the preparations were made and the excitement was building, Ginsburg kept Eric in touch of her ongoing cancer treatments, writing him letters.

MOTLEY: Three weeks, daily radiation, kill of the cancer, with appreciation and love, RBG.

MALVEAUX: But Eric got a surprising call two days before the scheduled ceremony. Ginsburg would need to postpone.

MOTLEY: I was a bit numbed because she never cancels.

MALVEAUX: On the scheduled day of their wedding, Eric got a call from a friend.

MOTLEY: And she said, we've lost Ruth. And I pulled over on the side of the road and composed myself.

MALVEAUX: It was Friday, September 18th, the evening Ginsburg was to marry Eric and Hannah when she died.

MOTLEY: And all the emotions of losing a friend and feeling that at that very hour we would have probably been in the house.

MALVEAUX: Struggling with grief, Eric and Hannah joined hundreds of others at the Supreme Court.

MOTLEY: At the bronze door, we left a single white rose.

MALVEAUX: Eric now left struggling to figure out what Ginsburg would want him to do next.

MOTLEY: I'm really struggling with where we are right now as a society. The issues of equity in this country, the challenges around race.

MALVEAUX: Eric is determined to take Ginsburg's advice, to never give up, always move forward. And that too means marrying the love of his life.

MOTLEY: The wedding license with officiant, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's name on it, waiting for her signature, now stand as markers of a moment. But they also stand as a reminder of a beautiful friendship and a remarkable woman who would only want us to get married, to find the date as soon as we can, and to just get on with it.

MALVEAUX: With family, friends and, of course, music.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: What a story. That does it for me tonight. Thank you for being with me. I'm Ana Cabrera. Up next, join Alisyn Camerota and John Berman, as CNN honors the people who are walking the walk, creating change to make the world a better place.