Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
TNYT: Trump Paid No Income Taxes in 10 Out of 15 Years Beginning in 2000; Trump versus Biden in First Presidential Debate Tuesday; COVID-19 on the Rise in Nearly Half of U.S. States; Report on Trump's Taxes Doesn't Faze Georgia Voters; Tens of Thousands of Airline Workers Face Layoffs This Week. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired September 29, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, what does the president owe and who does he owe it to?
The national concerns raised by the bombshell reporting from "The New York Times."
One million people worldwide dead and warnings the coronavirus could take many more lives as the Northern Hemisphere heads into winter.
And bracing for layoffs: tens of thousands of workers in the airline industry could lose their jobs in the U.S. because of political deadlock.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
VAUSE: Just 35 days before Americans elect their next president and serious national security concerns have been raised about President Trump. Part of the extensive reported by "The New York Times" has revealed that he is under huge financial pressure with hundreds of millions of dollars in loans he personally guaranteed, due in the next four years.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking to whom does the president owe the money and to which country. House Republicans meantime have called for an investigation into how "The New York Times" obtained nearly 20 years worth of documentation relating to Trump's tax returns. CNN's Kaitlan Collins begins our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's totally fake news.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As President Trump is lashing out over a damning "New York Times" report about the dire state of his finances, his aides are claiming it's a last-minute hit job before the first debate.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We've seen this play out before where there was a hit piece about the president's taxes just before a debate, an accurate one at that.
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: The president has paid lots of taxes but the point is that why would anybody pay more than they owe?
COLLINS: Neither his staff nor the president have provided any documents to refute what "The New York Times" is reporting, including that he only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017 despite the millions that he earned.
TRUMP: Actually, I paid tax, but -- and you'll see that as soon as my tax returns -- it's under audit. They've been under audit for a long time. The IRS does not treat me well.
COLLINS: That number not only pales in comparison to most Americans but also to past presidents who all paid tens of thousands of dollars in federal taxes. Because of the massive losses, the report says Trump paid no income tax at all in 11 of the 18 years of documents they obtained. When he did pay taxes, he reduced what he owed using questionable measures including a nearly $73 million tax refund now the subject of an IRS audit.
It turns out that Trump's best known properties drained the most money. He's lost around $315 million on his golf properties over the last two decades, including on Trump National Doral near Miami where the president tried to host the G-7 Summit.
TRUMP: I don't need promotion. OK? But I was willing to do this for free and it would've been the greatest G-7 ever.
COLLINS: The report also shows Trump made more money than previously known from foreign governments, including during his time in office and used tax deductions for so-called business expenses that most people would consider personal ones. Like $70,000 in hairstyling while hosting "The Apprentice." But perhaps what could be most damaging from the reports is what's to come. "The Times" says an enormous amount of financial pressure is facing Trump because hundreds of millions of dollars in loans that he is personally responsible for will be due within the next four years.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: This president is the commander in chief.
He has exposure to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars -- to whom?
The public has a right to know.
COLLINS: Now the president also claimed that he was not contacted for our request for comment for that New York Times investigation, though his attorney was on the record in the story.
[00:05:00]
COLLINS: And he later, the next day, did not answer questions from reporters at the White House about the state of his finances -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, traveling with the president in Cleveland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining me now from St. Paul, Minnesota, former White House ethics lawyer, Richard Painter.
It's great to see you. Thanks for taking the time.
RICHARD PAINTER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ETHICS LAWYER: Thank you.
VAUSE: For me, there are 2 threads riding through the story, the political fallout, the deduction for his haircut, and claims by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, like this one. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: He showed me what he claims was a $10 million IRS tax refund. And he said that he could not believe how stupid the government was for giving someone like him that much money back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That's the political side and then there's the national security risk of a sitting U.S. president owing $4 million in debt. And according to the watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, he has amassed more than 3,400 conflicts of interest while in office. Let's start with a very simplistic question.
How could Trump ever receive national security clearance with this sort of financial record?
PAINTER: The only way Trump has national security clearance is having been chosen by the Electoral College to be president of the United States. He did not get the popular vote. He was chosen by the Electoral College.
Otherwise, he would never have gotten a security clearance. You cannot have someone with this much debt in a position where they are entrusted with classified information. He has massive amounts of debt. Furthermore, we have no idea who he owes it to.
Some of this is from Deutsche Bank, some other banks. But we have no idea who is actually taking the risk. There's a lot of these banks will get other people to guarantee the money. So it could be someone in Moscow or Saudi Arabia. We have no idea.
All that we know is that the president of the United States is in debt for hundreds of millions of dollars to persons unknown and the debt will come due within the next few years. That's a very precarious situation.
Now (INAUDIBLE) that situation be given a security clearance and entrusted with classified information. That's (INAUDIBLE).
VAUSE: There is always an assumption that this stuff would come out during the course of an election campaign. It didn't.
Should there now be a legal requirement for anybody running for president in this country, to the very minimum, to release their tax returns and also maybe go through a security clearance?
PAINTER: Well, absolutely. There should be a requirement that basic financial information be disclosed. There is a Form 278 that's filed by the presidential candidates. But it does not require disclosure of what is in the tax returns, which is what is going on at the corporate level.
All these entities that Donald Trump owes, how much money is owed, to who is it owed and the basic cash flows coming in and out. And that's nowhere in his financial disclosure form. It is in the tax forms, some of it.
And that is what he will not disclose, the tax forms. He doesn't want people to know, first of all, how little taxes he pays but also how much money he owes to other people. Hundreds of millions of dollars. That is something that American voters have the right to know.
VAUSE: Remember when Trump said that he is transmitting ownership to his two sons?
Here's a reminder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: These papers are just some of the many documents that I have signed, turning over complete and total control to my sons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It turns out that promise was worth as much as the blank pieces of paper on which it was not written. Trump has continued to own his company, he's been earning tens of millions of dollars from foreign countries. Isn't there something in the Constitution about that?
A clause perhaps that says that the president should not be doing that?
PAINTER: Well, absolutely. He never turned ownership over to his sons. He simply turned control over to his sons so his sons could go around the world collecting money for him. But he owns the companies.
The clause of the Constitution, it's called the emoluments clause, that prohibits a person holding a position of (INAUDIBLE) with the United States government from receiving any profits and benefits from foreign governments or entities controlled by foreign governments, including sovereign wealth funds and government controlled banks.
Some of these oligarchs who are close to positions of power, might very well have money (INAUDIBLE) emoluments clause.
Once again, we have no idea what Donald Trump is getting because he won't disclose the basic information. I did bring a lawsuit on behalf of Crowe's (ph) (INAUDIBLE) responsibility of ethics in Washington.
But I was the vice chair (INAUDIBLE) against Donald Trump under the emoluments clause. That lawsuit is proceeding after (INAUDIBLE) by the 2nd Circuit. There are two other suits on the emoluments clause.
[00:10:00]
And the United States House of Representatives, we hope, is investigating these illegal payments, that are almost certainly being received by Donald Trump or the Trump Organization.
VAUSE: Quickly, we're almost out of time, but the Biden team has been quick to use this new information in his latest campaign ad. Here is part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The point is clear, that Donald Trump has paid far less than the average American. But is it a scandal that will impact that small group of still undecided voters that could determine the outcome of the election?
PAINTER: It should. We do not want a president who has hundreds of millions of dollars in debt to persons unknown. We also don't want a president who is fundamentally dishonest.
If he can come up with a way to pay $750 worth of taxes in 2017 while calling himself a billionaire, something is wrong. He is not being honest and he's playing all sorts of games, tax evasion, tax avoidance, (INAUDIBLE) which has happened legally (INAUDIBLE) avoidance.
But the bottom line is this is illegal, certainly dishonest and we should not have a president who is in this situation. It's very dangerous (ph) to have a president to have a president who owes that much money and we don't even know who he owes it to.
VAUSE: Richard, thank you so much for being with us. This story obviously (INAUDIBLE) a very short time before the election. Richard Painter, thanks for being with us, sir. Thank you.
PAINTER: Well, thank you very much.
VAUSE: Trump's taxes and his refusal to release his returns have been a long running issue since the 2016 election. Back, then Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, had some prescient warnings for the country. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Maybe he doesn't want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he has paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody has ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license.
And they showed that he did not pay any federal income tax.
So --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: That makes me smart.
CLINTON: -- paid zero, that means zero for troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: President Trump has repeatedly questioned Joe Biden's mental capabilities. But here is the rub.
Should Joe Biden perform well in the debate on Tuesday, well, then, that tactic kind of blows up in Donald Trump's face.
So now the Trump campaign has this message, warning Republican lawmakers not to underestimate Joe Biden, pointing to his years of experience. They say Biden has actually been preparing quite intensively. The president, on the other hand, not so much. Arlette Saenz has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden and President Trump have sparred from afar for about the past year and a half, but they will come face to face here in Cleveland for their first presidential debate as they make their case to voters. Each of these candidates are preparing for the debate in their own way.
Biden started out by reading briefing books and he has huddled with his top advisers as he prepares for what he describes will be personal attacks from the president. Now, the president has also been studying up on possible lines of attack from Joe Biden.
He had Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie stand in for Biden at times during debate preparations. One big question is how the story about the president's tax returns will play into this debate.
The Biden campaign eager to make this a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue. Arguing that the president is only looking out for his own interests and not those of everyday Americans that this story about the tax returns amplifies that case.
Now, this debate will look a lot different than past debates. There will be no traditional handshakes between the candidates as they take the stage.
They will remain socially distanced, and the audience is much smaller in size, and everyone on hand will be tested for coronavirus as the debate commission has adapted to this debate in the middle of a pandemic.
But later tonight, Biden and Trump will be on that stage, one on one for the first time after lobbing all those criticisms at each other, they will be making the case right in front of voters -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, Cleveland, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: CNN will carry the debate, live, our special coverage begins at 7 pm Eastern. If you want to catch the debate and the live event is not a good time for you, we will replay it in its entirety 8 am in London, 11 am in Abu Dhabi, 3 pm in Hong Kong. Or just watch it again for the fun of it.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
VAUSE: The relentless deadly climb of lives lost has just passed the 1 million mark worldwide for the pandemic.
[00:15:00]
VAUSE: This less than nine months since the coronavirus pandemic began. This is just the deaths we know about. The virus is still going strong in the U.S., South America and Europe and it's been a tough year for so many people. Paula Newton reminds us of those we have lost.
(AUDIO GAP)
VAUSE: I think we have a problem with Paula's report, we'll try and fix that.
Meantime, we'll take a short break. You're watching CNN. Back in a moment.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
VAUSE: The global death toll of the coronavirus pandemic has reached 1 million. Right now the virus seems rampant in countries where the outbreak was once under control. There were trends that could be clearly seen in Canada and parts of Europe. The Netherlands is trying to reduce the rate of infection with a series of new restrictions, including a curfew of bars and restaurants and limits on travel.
Canada's most populous province, Ontario, is warning of a more complex second wave after reporting a record number of cases on Monday. The U.K.'s considering tougher restrictions as it deals with its own
second wave. Wednesday, residents in parts of England will be barred from socializing with people outside their households.
But in France, the government says it has no plans to order another nationwide lockdown.
[00:20:00]
VAUSE: Even though infections and hospitalizations are continuing to soar. Donald Trump has formally announced a plan to ship 150 million rapid coronavirus tests to states across the country.
But it's an effort to try to contain a nationwide outbreak which is still rising in at least 20 states. The nation's top infectious disease experts are warning the spike in new cases could lead most likely in all inevitability to a higher death toll.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There are states that are starting to show uptick in cases and even some increase in hospitalizations in some states. And I hope not but we very well might start seeing increases in deaths.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: For more we have Alexandra Field.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It honestly looks like it's business as usual.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pre-COVID Florida in a post-COVID world, packed bars and restaurants all weekend in South Florida, just days after Republican Governor Ron DeSantis dropped virtually all coronavirus restrictions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's going to have a huge impact.
FIELD: No more fines for people who refuse to wear a mask. The state's new daily case count has been well below its July peak for more than a month, but the positivity rate remains over 10 percent.
Across the country, new cases are on the rise in 21 states. In just the last few days, at least seven states saw their highest weekly averages for new cases, with Wisconsin recording its highest single- day increase over the weekend.
JOE PARISI, DANE COUNTY, WISCONSIN EXECUTIVE: One of the biggest challenges we have is that some people just don't believe that this is a serious disease even to this day.
FIELD: In New York, more than a thousand new cases on Saturday, the most since June. A major cluster in Brooklyn and Queens forcing the city to decide whether to bring back restrictions in impacted neighborhoods.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): It is very targeted and very focused in those clusters.
FIELD: All this as the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says the White House is pivoting away from daily coronavirus task force meetings and as new task force member and top virus adviser to the president, Dr. Scott Atlas, was reportedly criticized by another top official.
NBC News reporting that CDC Director Robert Redfield was overheard on the phone speaking about Dr. Atlas on a commercial flight, saying, quote, everything he says is false and going on to suggest that Atlas has provided the President with misleading data.
The CDC has responded with a statement saying Redfield and Atlas have differing positions on those issues and agree on many other issues.
Dr. Fauci weighed in with this.
FAUCI: Most are working together. I think, you know, what the outlier is.
FIELD: Alexandra Field, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider is an internal medicine physician from the California Pacific Medical Center and she is with us from San Francisco.
It's been a while. Thank you for joining. Us
DR. SHOSHANA UNGERLEIDER, CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: I think we have seen this movie before in the United States. They start rolling back restrictions. Everybody wants to get back to a normal life. Let's celebrate the holidays.
But this time, we know the ending. Spoiler alert: the only difference is history tells us the death toll will be a lot higher.
Why does this country keep making the same mistakes?
UNGERLEIDER: John, it's perplexing. The fact remains, science is quite predictable. Social distancing, hand hygiene and mask wearing are really the only tools that we have to combat COVID-19.
When cities and towns lift restrictions too soon, as they are in many parts of America and citizens start to let their guard down in terms of behavior, new COVID cases are spiking nationwide.
In the U.S., 21 states reporting new cases this past week compared to the previous week. This is incredibly problematic as we head into flu season. And those of us in the medical community and the public health world are really scratching our head about what to do, aside from just reinforcing this information.
VAUSE: There are two competing camps when it comes to this virus. There is the logical, sensible advice from the scientific community about social distancing, mask wearing and handwashing.
Then there is the idea of herd immunity. I want you to listen to the former director of CDC, Tom Friedman, on the potential costs of in herd immunity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: The only way to get to herd immunity in the U.S. without a vaccine is through the graveyards of hundreds of thousands of Americans, who would not have had to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So with the U.S. now heading into winter, at the same time there are some senior advisers in the White House, possibly even the president himself, supportive of herd immunity, that want to let the virus run free. Put these factors together winter, herd immunity. What does the outcome look like?
UNGERLEIDER: There has been significant confusion about what herd immunity is. So it makes sense to first define it. This happens when enough people become immune to the disease. So there's actually two ways to achieve herd immunity, through getting the infection or vaccination.
[00:25:00]
UNGERLEIDER: So with herd immunity, chains of infection get disrupted, which stops or slows the spread of the disease, which is what we. Want.
So with COVID-19, since we don't have yet a vaccine, the discussion has really centered on herd immunity through natural or these community wide infection ideas, which would require something like 60 percent to 75 percent of the population being infected.
This would come with a cost of millions of lives lost, a complete overwhelming of the health care system as we head into flu season no less and this is not a viable option.
VAUSE: Everything that we were warned about in the beginning of the, year that's why during the shutdowns and lockdowns would happen but by factor of 10 or something, I guess.
But one of the advisers we have at the White House reportedly supporting herd immunity is the president's favorite appointee, Dr. Scott Atlas. I say doctor but he has no experience with infectious diseases.
CNN's Erin Burnett asked him about the Trump campaign holding rallies and the president downplaying the virus and not wearing a mask. Let's listen to the exchange. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SCOTT ATLAS, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS ADVISER: We don't put them in prison for not wearing a mask. I'm sorry. I don't think he's going to be willing to do that --
(CROSSTALK)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: But he's holding a rally with them there.
The bottom line is you're saying you do not think he needs to lead by example or stop holding these rallies, which go against his own policy?
You think that that is OK?
ATLAS: I think the president does lead by example. I think he articulates the policy. I think he treats people like adults. I think he uses common sense. And I'm completely comfortable with the president's policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Are you completely comfortable with the president's policy?
How exactly does he lead by example?
UNGERLEIDER: Absolutely not. I have to say, dozens of doctors and other faculty affiliated with Stanford, where Dr. atlas used to be on staff, actually wrote an open letter, calling him out.
I should point out these are his own former colleagues, who have no interest other than upholding the truth. And they felt compelled to let the American public know that Dr. Atlas has repeated spoken falsehoods and misrepresentations of science about mask wearing not being effective -- we absolutely know that it is -- that children do not spread COVID or that herd immunity is a viable option.
Dr. Atlas, as you said, is a specialist in radiology, not infectious disease or immunology. It's a pretty far from expertise in the area that he is advising on.
The big takeaway here is that President Trump is getting advice from a doctor whose views differ significantly from the scientific and the public health community. That is a huge problem. And we are seeing a lack of clear, consistent, science based messaging coming out of the White House. That is continuing to fuel the pandemic in this country.
VAUSE: Yes. It's interesting how Dr. Atlas has used at the moment seem to mend immense perfectly well with Donald Trump's misleading views about the virus. Thank you, Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, for being with. Us
UNGERLEIDER: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: We will take a short break. When we come back, Donald Trump's taxes and what voters might be thinking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just think that is wonderful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm struggling. I'm struggling here.
VAUSE (voice-over): Republicans ready to forgive and forget?
Democrats demanding accountability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE (voice-over): Also CNN's exclusive sit-down interview with the man dubbed as propagandist in chief. He says what the Kremlin won't about Trump and the upcoming election.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, the first of three presidential debates will be held in Ohio in the coming hours, and there will most likely be a new topic on the agenda. That will be the president's taxes and finances after a damning report by "The New York Times" on Donald Trump's strained financial position.
[00:31:21]
After calling it fake news over the weekend, he dodged questions about it on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you say anything about the tax returns, Mr. President? When are you going to release them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President -- Mr. President (UNINTELLIGIBLE) financial information?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, who do you owe hundreds of millions of dollars?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: "The New York Times" report cast doubt over Trump's business skills, to say the very least, and that's at the very heart of his political identity. Numbers in the report are stark. They say he paid just $750 in income taxes the year he actually won the White House, the same amount the next year.
Going back, Trump paid no federal income tax at all in ten of the 15 previous years. And, if he does win reelection, he'll be in office when hundreds of millions of dollars in loans are due, raising questions about what he might do as president to actually pay off that debt.
The Joe Biden campaign has already started using this information in new attack ads, accusing President Trump of looking down on the American people. But will voters actually care? CNN's Martin Savidge has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Marietta Diner in suburban Atlanta, the bombshell of Trump's tax returns is not on the menu. But it is on the minds of voters.
IRA PENCE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: That's just a matter of how he runs his business.
SAVIDGE: The latest polling in Georgia before the news broke showed the race between Trump and Joe Biden a dead heat. Could the revelation Trump only paid $750 in income taxes in 2016 and '17 tilt the balance in Biden's favor?
(on camera): Would that make an impact in your judgment of the man?
PETER DUFRESNE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: The man -- the man is not perfect. I know that. I'm not perfect. But I think he's accomplished a whole lot.
SAVIDGE: One look at Ira Pence tells you who he supports, and he thinks Trump's tax news is a good thing.
PENCE: I just think that's wonderful. I work very hard at trying to pay as little taxes as is legal.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): And waitress Lynda Trapani doesn't believe the news at all.
LINDA TRAPANI, TRUMP SUPPORTER: And here we go again. Once again, it's -- first of all, it's from "The New York Times."
NANCY MACHARIA, BIDEN SUPPORTER: Pay their taxes.
SAVIDGE: But at a nearby booth, Nancy Macharia is furious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was shocked.
SAVIDGE: Originally from Kenya, she's a software engineer who says she worked three jobs to get through college and points out Trump often depicts immigrants as the ones cheating the system.
MACHARIA: We have a lot of immigrants in this country that work very hard for such little money, for such long hours, and that pay their taxes.
SAVIDGE: Trump's campaign communications director calls "The New York Times" reporting on the president's tax returns completely inaccurate.
Retired business teacher Lamuriel Adams says Trump's tax returns prove he's no financial genius. LAMURIEL ADAMS, BIDEN SUPPORTER: It's a lie. And I worry about that,
because we've got young people. I don't know what they think.
SAVIDGE: Polls have shown Trump support from white suburban women in 2020 is not what it was four years ago. But Kathryn Coffee is staying the course, unfazed by reports Trump lost tens of millions of dollars in bad business deals.
(on camera): Doesn't this prove that he is not that successful businessman he's claimed to be?
KATHERYN COFFEE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: You can look at it that way. I don't think that would be a measure that he's not a successful businessman.
SAVIDGE: Deana Sloane is something remarkably rare among Georgia voters. Undecided. Polling suggests the percentage of undecided voters in the state to be in the single digits.
[00:35:04]
DEANA SLOANE (PH), UNDECIDED VOTER: I'm struggling. I'm struggling this year.
SAVIDGE: Sloane (ph) says Tuesday's presidential debate could be the deciding factor. As for Trump's taxes --
(on camera): It doesn't appear that this is necessarily a deal breaker for you.
SLOANE (ph): No. I wish I could say that it was, but it's not.
SAVIDGE: It's worth pointing out all the people that we talked to for this story, almost no one was surprised by the information reported about Trump's tax returns. Those who support the president say they either don't believe the news or they consider it insignificant, while those who are opposed to the president say they suspected all along that he had financial difficulties or even irregularities in his reports. After all, he's fought so hard to prevent them from going public.
Martin Savidge, CNN, Marietta, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: More now, how the Kremlin sees the upcoming U.S. election from a man who should know. He's been dubbed Russia's propagandist in chief. He's actually the top anchor on state-controlled television. And he sat down with CNN's Matthew Chance for this exclusive interview, his first ever on U.S. television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's been a distinct change in tone on Russian television about President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a very nice offer from President Putin. And I could've said no thank you, or I could've said thank you.
CHANCE: This spoof video on its English-language channel promoting U.S. election coverage shows Trump as the loser, taking up a job as a top Russian news anchor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I said, I'll take it.
CHANCE: It's a humorous jab at Trump's apparent affection for Russia.
But the country's actual top state news anchor isn't laughing. His first ever U.S. TV interview, the man dubbed the Kremlin's chief propagandist tells me how hopes of blossoming U.S.-Russian relations under President Trump have vanished.
DMITRY KISELYOV, RUSSIA 1 ANCHOR: Russia has never had as many sanctions as it has under Trump. Not a single state visit to Russia or to the United States.
CHANCE (on camera): Is it your hope that, if President Trump wins a second term, that things will change, that he might be able to have a more positive relationship with Moscow?
KISELYOV: Nothing will change. That's America.
CHANCE (voice-over): But actually, things might change.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It will be a price to pay, and Putin knows the reason he doesn't want me as president. He knows me, and he knows I mean it.
CHANCE: And Kiselyov, sanctioned by the E.U. for spreading Kremlin propaganda, tells me a hardline Biden presidency could plunge U.S.- Russian relations into a dangerous spiral.
KISELYOV: What will he do? Go to war against us? No way to win for him.
CHANCE (on camera): But he said that he wouldn't.
KISELYOV: Let me -- let me repeat. Russia is the only country in the world with the capability to turn America into radioactive ash.
CHANCE (voice-over): With its vast nuclear arsenal, that may be terrifyingly true.
But on Russia's flagship current affairs show, it's how America's already destroying itself that's dominating coverage. The chaos and death shows the U.S. has lost its moral leadership, Kiselyov says.
For the Kremlin, accused by U.S. intelligence of sowing discord, that may be a victory of sorts, no matter who the next president may be.
(on camera): If you were forced to choose between a Trump presidency or a Biden presidency, which one would you go for? In English, tell me. Which one would you go for?
KISELYOV: I would like to throw a coin. Nothing changes. Nothing will change.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come, tens of thousands of workers in the airline industry are facing layoffs this week, all because of political fighting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: This could be a devastating week for the airline industry in the United States, with mass layoffs expected to begin on Thursday. Almost 50,000 jobs could go. But United will not furlough pilots until next June. But, as Pete Muntean reports, that's where the good news ends.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN HAYES, CEO, JETBLUE: I'm here with just one request.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Airline CEOs are making a new plea on Capitol Hill to avoid a layoff cliff only days away.
HAYES: Please, Congress, we need you to do your job, and we need you to do it now.
MUNTEAN: A new CNN analysis finds nearly 50,000 airline workers are facing furloughs that begin October 1.
DOUG PARKER, CEO, AMERICAN AIRLINE: It would be a very, very horrific event, I think, if that happens, given all the support.
MUNTEAN: Dark Parker is the CEO of American Airlines. It sent involuntary furlough notices to 17,500 of its workers. At United Airlines, the new number is 12,000. The furloughs, industry-wide, from mechanics and gate agents to pilots and flight attendants like Angela Frim (ph).
ANGELA FRIM (PH), FLIGHT ATTENDANT: It's very emotional. I'm -- I'm -- you know, I'm scared for myself. I'm scared for my friends.
SARA NELSON, ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: This is real people. Moving their stuff into their cars and trying to figure out how to survive.
MUNTEAN: This new push means a new bailout for airlines. A new bill would give carriers $28 billion to keep workers on the payroll through next March.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is taking longer and is deeper than most people expected six months ago.
MUNTEAN: New TSA figures show air travel remains stalled at 30 percent of last year's levels. Airlines are losing millions of dollars a day, flying planes that are only two-thirds full. But more help is facing new slowdowns. The Capitol is now consumed
with a Supreme Court pick. House Democrats want airline assistance in a larger recovery package. Industry leaders say they need to know now whether workers will be saved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six months from now, I really don't believe we'll be close to this level of furloughs, and hopefully zero.
MUNTEAN: Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. WORLD SPORT is next, and then I will be back in 15 minutes with a lot more news. Stay with us, please. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:45:03]
(WORLD SPORT)
[00:57:37]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
