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Trump Increases Election Fraud Claims as Democrats Prepare for Legal Fight; Interview with Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ); Interview with AFA United Flight Attendants Amanda Steinbrunn and Kacy Lunceford. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 29, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We expect to hear it again in just a few hours, when he doubles down on his messaging, his campaign against the election during tonight's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): After months of attacking the election --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is going to be a disaster.

HOLMES (voice-over): -- President Trump expected to wage war on America's democratic process during Tuesday's debate with former Vice President Joe Biden.

TRUMP: Joe Biden and the Democrat extremists oppose all of these efforts to ensure election integrity.

HOLMES (voice-over): The president's many baseless claims about mail- in voting and voter fraud are anticipated to be front and center. This weekend, President Trump, previewing his arguments for one of the six debate topics: the integrity of the election.

TRUMP: A week after Pennsylvania's primary, half of the counties were still counting ballots, and you'll be counting them here because this is a much bigger version of all of that.

HOLMES (voice-over): He cited voting issues in eight states, making misleading and often false claims like incorrectly typing rejection of mail-in ballots to fraud.

TRUMP: Solely in the mail-in ballots, 35,000 mail-in ballots were rejected in Florida's primary, and 100,000 were rejected in California, and that's just the beginning.

HOLMES (voice-over): And exaggerating isolated problems to back up claims of widespread fraud.

TRUMP: We have a big problem and you see it every day, you see it happening every day with ballots. When the ballots and when the system is rigged -- which it is, obviously it is. And the only one that knows that better than me are the Democrats.

HOLMES (voice-over): But stress on the election system and Postal Service due to an influx of mail-in ballots amid the pandemic, adding fuel to his claims.

TRUMP: You could forget about November 3rd because you're going to be counting these things forever. And it's very dangerous for our country.

HOLMES (voice-over): Experts say prolonged counts are expected, but are not a sign of trouble.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: This is a typical Trump distraction, trying to make everybody wonder whether or not the election will be legit, and whether or not absentee ballots matter.

HOLMES (voice-over): Yet there are real risks for the election, like Russian interference, which President Trump has largely ignored despite the intelligence community's warnings the country is actively trying to denigrate Joe Biden. And a ransomware attack on a leading software company, raising concerns over security of state and local government voting systems.

The FBI with a new election warning of false information about cyber- attacks, cautioning the public to "be on alert" for false internet claims of "hacked voter data" and "compromised election infrastructure," things that, quote, "manipulate public opinion and discredit the electoral process."

Meanwhile, Democratic sources tell CNN that an army of lawyers are gearing up for a wide range of election scenarios, many of which the president himself has floated, from sending law enforcement to monitor polls to having the election decided in Congress.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And, Jim and Poppy, of course we'll be watching closely to see if President Trump doubles down on those scenarios that once seemed improbable, but now of course are things he himself has floated.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Kristen Holmes, it's a key story and it's happening in a lot of states there, right? An attempt not to have votes counted. Good to have you on the story.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kristen.

[10:33:22]

Well, we know the president's strategy -- some of it -- for the debate tonight, but what is the plan for his opponent Joe Biden? We'll speak to a congressman who's also campaigning for the vice president, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: All right, a critical night in the fight for the White House tonight, President Trump and Joe Biden face to face for the first time and defending their records. Joining us now is Arizona Democratic congressman and Iraq War veteran Ruben Gallego. He's also a member of Biden's Latino leadership committee.

Thank you for being here, and also thank you for serving this country.

REP. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): My pleasure.

HARLOW: So let's start on the debate tonight and what may be -- according to some -- the vice president's Achilles heel. Listen to this from April Ryan, a White House correspondent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

APRIL RYAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORK: Joe Biden's biggest weakness is Joe Biden. If he is not on point, if he's not as succinct, he's got to be clear-minded with this. Sometimes he gets lost in his speaking -- he's very clear, what he says, but sometimes he goes off on a tangent. But he has to be succinct.

Whatever they're going to do in this prep, they're going to have to make sure he does this on the stage on Tuesday night in Cleveland, Ohio.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What do you think, Congressman? Are the words of the night for the vice president "concision and brevity"?

GALLEGO: Look, I think the vice president is known for being able to speak emotionally and talk form his heart, and I think you'll see that during this debate. More importantly, that's how he connects to the American public. But he will be able to speak, you know, concisely, carry a message and really take the fight to Donald Trump.

And at the end of the day, this is what the discussion's going to be based around, the fact that this president has let down the American public and exposed us to COVID-19 ,in essence also destroying the economy in the process.

HARLOW: Well you know, when you look at COVID-19 and the impact specifically on Latinos, it is tragic. I mean, they're getting COVID and dying from it at a disproportionate rate, the numbers just a few days ago showed 21.2 percent of COVID deaths are among Latinos.

So you're part of the leadership committee for Latino voters for Biden. But he is trailing where Hillary Clinton was with Latinos at this point, where Barack Obama was with the Latino vote. And just a few weeks ago in early September, there was that pair of polls out of Florida that had him trailing the president among Latino voters. What is he going to do about it and why do you think it's happening?

[10:40:22]

GALLEGO: Well actually, I think some of these polls are incorrect and actually deep polls that, you know, go beyond the 400 sample polls show that he's doing great with Latinos, he's hitting Hillary Clinton numbers. And he's going to surpass more voters -- Latino voters -- in Arizona than he did in 2016.

Look, the Latino community's excited. They want to elect the Biden- Harris ticket. They know that they have been the highest casualties of COVID-19 because we are the workers of the country, we're the ones that could not sequester ourselves. We had to go out and we are the essential workers.

And you know, we are treated with disrespect by this administration. The whole time, he's been talking about -- Donald's (ph) just been talking about workers, he's not been helping us at all in terms of getting us equitable pay, health care. If anything he's trying to take away --

HARLOW: Right.

GALLEGO: -- our access to affordable health care in the middle of a pandemic.

So the messaging is strong, this president is going to win overwhelmingly with the Latino vote, and I certainly see that in Arizona.

HARLOW: Well -- OK, I know -- it sounds like you're writing off the polls, but I know there are some -- including the vice president -- who has talked about the importance of the Latino vote and doing better on that front. So I'll take your point but --

GALLEGO: Of course, yes.

HARLOW: -- I do think it's a real area that those among you and the campaign have said they have to focus on.

I'd like to talk about the economy, because I do think it's fascinating that even with the former vice president leading the president in many swing state polls and nationally broadly, he often doesn't -- or almost always doesn't -- beat the president when it comes to the economy still.

You look at the two polls out of Pennsylvania today, "New York Times" and ABC, and he's just behind Trump on the economy. And then look at your state of Arizona from just last week -- and we'll pull those numbers up -- the president has a 56 percent approval rating on the economy, and Joe Biden has a 41 percent. Why can he not top the president on the economy?

GALLEGO: Well look, I think we're going to continue making the argument that this president has not been good for the whole nation including the economy, particularly again because he messed up the COVID-19 response. And at the end of the day, you know, the only poll that really matters is the one that happens on Election Day.

And we know at least in Arizona, he's -- Vice President Biden is leading strongly right now. We know across the country, he's leading strongly right now. And it's not just because of one poll or the other or one message or the other, it's because this president --

HARLOW: Yes.

GALLEGO: -- this vice president is here to bring and restore the soul of this nation. And that's the winning message at the end of the day.

HARLOW: It's just interesting that he's not catching up to the president or surpassing him on the economy, given the state of the economy right now, which is largely about the pandemic.

But let me just propose this to you and see what you think. Listen to this from Austan Goolsbee, he's an informal advisor to the Biden campaign. Of course, he was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in the Biden-Obama administration. Listen to his take.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER CHAIRMAN, COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS: He definitely needs to get the economy numbers up, there's no doubt about that. I've greatly valued working with him in the Obama administration, when we turned around a depression-like economy to something that would become the longest boom in American history.

And I don't think that Vice President Biden needs to shy away from that --

HARLOW: OK.

GOOLSBEE: -- I think his policies are pretty solid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: He said he's got to get the message out more on the economy. Will he do that tonight?

GALLEGO: I certainly think so. I mean, look, Vice President Biden was responsible for the largest economic boom and sustained economic boom in this country that lifted every demographic out of the recession that was started before he came in.

He, you know, revived and helped survive the U.S. American auto industry, particularly very important here in Ohio and of course the swing states of Michigan. So he has a strong message. It's definitely getting across, this is why he's leading across the polls.

But we're not going to give up, we're going to keep fighting all the way to Election Day, make sure that we get every vote we can to, you know, again, have the best president we can to restore the soul of this nation.

HARLOW: Congressman Ruben Gallego, thanks for your time. I know it's a big night ahead. Appreciate it.

GALLEGO: Thank you, have a good one.

[10:44:19] HARLOW: Watch CNN's special coverage of the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. That starts, 7:00 Eastern tonight. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. Perhaps some welcome news, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are trying, one final time, to cut a deal on a pre-election stimulus plan. House Democrats have unveiled a $2.2 trillion bill -- they did it Monday night -- to help the millions of Americans still struggling in this pandemic -- it may include some of you watching.

The talks are giving some hope to the hard-hit airline industry in particular, before tens of thousands of layoffs on Thursday.

I'm joined now by two AFA flight attendants for United Airlines who are scheduled themselves to be furloughed. They are Amanda Steinbrunn and Kacy Lunceford.

Amanda, and Kacy, I'm so sorry you're facing this right now, along with thousands of your colleagues. Our hearts go out to you. I wonder, Amanda, if I could just begin with you, do you feel to this point abandoned by Congress?

AMANDA STEINBRUNN, UNITED AFA FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Absolutely we do. We're essential workers, we've shown up every single day throughout this pandemic to deliver, you know, medical supplies to our nurses, our doctors. We've taken people, you know, that were in the Cleveland Clinic to New York, in a hotspot, to help save Americans and help our Americans. And we've shown up with the uncertainty of possibly catching COVID ourselves.

[10:50:07]

And we expect Congress to do their jobs, to help us. You know, the aviation industry is huge in America and it affects every single congressman and congresswoman.

SCIUTTO: No question. And a lot of Americans, right? it's how we get around the country to see family and friends.

Lacy (sic), question for you. The pilots, the union representing the pilots, they reached a deal yesterday to not furlough any pilots through 2021. I wonder, are flight attendants working on a similar deal? Is that possible, to prevent these layoffs?

KACY LUNCEFORD, CNN UNITED AFA FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Thanks, Jim. I'm not sure that there is working on -- that we are working on a deal with our union to prevent layoffs. Right now, our only hope is for Congress to pass the clean extension of the Payroll Support Program.

SCIUTTO: Understood, Kacy. And I called you "Lacy," apologies, Kacy.

Amanda, as you mentioned, you're facing particular risks here. Now, I mean a lot of folks who have lost their jobs, sad under any circumstances. But you're taking on the risk of being in a confined space -- right? -- with other people in the midst of a pandemic here.

I just wonder, when you look at this going forward, are you concerned that flying will never get back to the level it was before, right? That perhaps these jobs won't come back because people will remain scared? Or do you see hope as a vaccine comes out?

STEINBRUNN: We see an absolute hope. There's so many circumstances that could change our industry overnight. A vaccine for one, you know, more information about the virus and how it spreads, more areas that are studied to help us understand just how this is going to affect us in the long run.

I believe that we will come back strong. After 9/11, we came back strong. After SARS, we came back strong. Absolutely, I think in our future we're going to get back to where we used to be. And having those employees come back that have worked so hard for this industry and deserve to be --

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: Yes.

STEINBRUNN: -- is very important at this time.

SCIUTTO: It is a great point. Because after 9/11, a lot of folks said, well, people will never fly the same way again. And in fact, flying around the world increased by multiples after 9/11, so there is hope.

Kacy, I wonder, as you know, here I am sitting in Washington within sight of the Capitol Building, you know that compromise is not the name of the game here, sadly. What is your message to Democratic and Republican lawmakers as they make this one perhaps final pre-election push for a package to avoid -- you know, the layoffs, the furlough that you're facing yourself?

LUNCEFORD: My message to Congress is that we are real people, we are aviation's first responders and frontline workers and our livelihood and our health care is literally in their hands. Pass the Payroll Extension Program.

SCIUTTO: Understood.

And Amanda, for folks at home who might have been -- who might remain concerned or way of hopping on a plane again -- I've done it myself, and I've been impressed by the level of mask-wearing, how much cleaning takes place between flights. I've done a lot of reading on the research of how air is circulated in planes and filtered throughout this.

But for folks at home who are still nervous, you fly a lot. What is your vision of the risk of lying today?

STEINBRUNN: The only risks -- you know, we just have to be very careful. You know, with the spread of germs, wearing our masks, washing our hands. We, day to day, have new things that are coming out that we're doing to clean our airplanes, we're sanitizing, you know, putting off these sanitize bombs through every single surface of the aircraft, wiping tray tables, passing out wipes to clean your seat.

There are many ways for us to protect ourselves in the airline and across all the aircrafts right now. And if we take proper precautions, we can come back to flying without being so (INAUDIBLE) every day.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And like I said, I've been impressed with the efforts being made a couple of times I've done this.

Kacy, if -- and we're hoping for both of you and for your colleagues that these furloughs are somehow avoided, that there's a deal, perhaps money coming from the Hill. You know, the airline industry, the sad fact of it is it's still expecting major losses right? I mean, you know, flight -- passenger traffic has really fallen off a cliff here.

How do you expect that will change things for flight attendants for the airlines themselves as we go forward?

LUNCEFORD: I think our whole job right now has been changed completely. We -- our policies and procedures are different, our interactions with each other, with passengers are different. And I think that we will see the effect of this for years to come.

SCIUTTO: Well listen, I know a lot's at stake for both of you -- not just your jobs, but your health care. I mean, in the midst of a pandemic, this is no small thing. Amanda Steinbrunn, Kacy Lunceford, thanks to both of you and we wish you both the best of luck.

LUNCEFORD: Thank you.

STEINBRUNN: Thank you.

HARLOW: Wow, wish you a lot of luck.

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: Poppy, I know you're going to speak to the Delta CEO later this week, hard questions to come.

[10:55:03]

HARLOW: Well, I think they're all just waiting. Are they going to get another deal from Congress or not? And then what's that going to mean. I'm so glad that they joined us today.

And thanks to all of you for joining us. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. NEWSROOM with our colleague John King will start right after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:08]