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If Trump Wins, Who Does He Owe?; Trump's Debts Pose Ethical Questions; CNN Interviews Russia's Top Media Propogandist; Two New Fire Dominate Sacramento And Napa Valley. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired September 29, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Good to see you, everyone. Welcome to all of our viewers from around the world.
Ahead on CNN, a bombshell report on Donald Trump's tax return shakes up the race for the White House just hours before the first presidential debate.
Then 9 months in, the coronavirus death toll hits the 1 million. As experts warn of a surge across the world, U.S. officials downplay the pandemic.
Later, Kremlin's propaganda machine seems to be changing its portrayal of America. We are live in Russia with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.
CURNOW: We are following 2 major stories this hour dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and the impact it will have on the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
First, though, more than 1 million people around the globe have died from the virus. Experts from the World Health Organizations say that number could double before a vaccine is ready.
But Donald Trump's handling of the pandemic will likely be a central topic as he and Joe Biden square off on the day ahead in their first presidential debate. Another focus will certainly be on the president's taxes and his financial situation.
New revelations from "The New York Times" showed Mr. Trump avoided paying federal taxes for years. He refused to talk about it on Monday. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (from captions): Mr. President, who do you owe hundreds of millions of dollars?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Let's get all the details from Kaitlan Collins.
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TRUMP: 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): 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.
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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.
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)
CURNOW: President Trump's approach to paying taxes sets him far apart from his opponents, as Kaitlin was mentioning there. Take a look at this. It is a range of taxes leading Democrats paid in 2017 as opposed to President Trump's $750.
His refusal to release his tax returns will certainly be an issue since his first campaign. Back in 2016, Hillary Clinton had this warning.
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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)
CURNOW: President Trump has repeatedly questioned his Democratic rivals' mental abilities. But if Joe Biden forms well when they face off just hours from now on the first of three debates, that tactic backfires.
So now the Trump campaign is warning Republican lawmakers to not underestimate Biden. Maybe that is partly because the president has prepared for the showdown sporadically, Biden more intensively, we understand. Arlette Saenz has the details.
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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 (INAUDIBLE) all those criticisms at each other, they will be making the case right in front of voters -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, Cleveland, Ohio.
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CURNOW: Let's talk about all of this with CNN political analyst, Sabrina Siddiqui. She is also a national politics reporter for "The Wall Street Journal."
Sabrina, hi. This "New York Times" reports how the president's business images are -- it's frankly fake, according to them.
How much of a gift is this revelation for Joe Biden as he and Mr. Trump face off for the first time?
SABRINA SIDDIQUI, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think in many ways the revelations here play directly into this argument that former Vice President Joe Biden has been pushing, that this election is about Park Avenue versus Scranton. Joe Biden is from Scranton, Pennsylvania, a small working class town.
He has been playing up his blue collar roots while trying to cast Trump as part of the Manhattan elite, this real estate mogul who is out of touch, who is playing by his own rules.
One of the biggest revelations in this "New York Times" report is that, for 10 out of the 15 years between the years 2000 and 2015, Trump paid zero in federal income tax and he paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017.
That looks a lot different from the average American, especially for someone as wealthy as the president. It really undercuts this relationship that he has forged with working class Americans, telling him that he is fighting for them.
And I think that is the message that you're going to hear from vice president Biden at the debate when they face off for the first time in person.
CURNOW: I want to talk about this a little bit more in terms of how does it change voters' minds if at all.
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CURNOW: Here is a little bit more detail from someone who worked with Mr. Trump, Michael Cohen. And he is pretty much saying what Hillary Clinton said during one of the debates a few years ago. Take a listen.
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MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: When telling me in 2008 or 2009 that he was cutting employees' salaries in half, including mine, he showed me what he claimed 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)
CURNOW: So the big question is how much does this move the needle, all of this information ahead of the election, and specifically for voters?
SIDDIQUI: It's hard to say. It's worth pointing out that, in 2016 then candidate Trump broke with a nearly 40 year precedent by refusing to release his tax returns, which had been the established tradition among presidential nominees of major parties in the United States.
There was always this question about what was he hiding, even as you had these investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election, with Trump's ties to Moscow as well as the hush money payments that were made by his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, whose sound you just played, on Trump's behalf.
What was really behind that, what were the financial implications of a lot of Trump's history. That hadn't really changed the minds of voters. I think a lot of that conversation about perceived corruption was more of a debate in Washington.
But at the same time I think what it does is it just reinforces this idea that this president has broken from norms as well as perhaps been implicated in maybe criminal wrongdoing in addition to, of course, allegations of obstruction of justice that have really loomed over his presidency.
I think that is really the issue here. That is going to be a lot of what you hear from Democrats in the coming weeks.
CURNOW: Let's talk about polls. We see that Mr. Biden is 10 points ahead going into this debate. Take a look at this here.
How much weight is the campaign, is Mr. Biden putting on this lead?
SIDDIQUI: I think one thing that has been clear in most polling is that former vice Joe Biden has had a consistent lead, not just in national polls but in several of the battleground states that are critical to determining the outcome of the election.
There have been a lot of shakeups in this campaign. Obviously it has been dominated by the coronavirus pandemic as well as months of protests for racial justice and police brutality in recent days.
There has been a whole looming battle over the Supreme Court after the passing of justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, now with this revelation about President Trump's taxes. But all of that aside, it has been a remarkably steady race.
CURNOW: OK, always good to speak to you. Thanks so much.
Be sure to watch the debate live right here on CNN. Our special coverage begins at 7 pm Eastern time. If you miss the live debate, don't worry, we'll replay it at 8 am in London, 11 am in Abu Dhabi and 3 pm in Hong Kong. You do not want to miss that one.
It has taken less than a year for the coronavirus to kill 1 million people and, in many parts of the world, the danger is now surging. We'll have the latest on the pandemic plus this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you hear something can take your life you would be worried about it. But we are surrounded with that. We are surrounded with that every day.
CURNOW (voice-over): For the tens of thousands of people at this camp in northeastern Syria, the coronavirus may be the least of their worries. A live report just ahead.
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CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow.
The world has just reached a staggering measure of loss from the coronavirus pandemic. There are now more than 1 million recorded deaths from COVID-19 worldwide. Those are just the deaths we know about.
The virus is still going strong in the U.S., South America and Europe, causing unimaginable heartache and trauma to everyone affected, as Paula Newton now reminds us who we have lost.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a grim milestone no one wanted to reach, 1 million dead from COVID-19. And yet in less than one year, the coronavirus has taken so many.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't get to say goodbye to my mom or dad. And that's what hurts me the most right now.
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NEWTON: Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children and of course grandparents with no mercy. The spread of the virus so fast, so indiscriminate, striking those tasked with fighting the disease -- doctors, nurses, first responders taking away those very souls who stepped into the eye of the storm to protect others from its deadly reach.
The trail of sorrow worldwide now incomprehensible. With a historic speed, researchers are trying to develop a vaccine, a way to lessen the vice grip from this invisible enemy amidst the reality that in some countries a second wave has already begun.
And accusations from some that it never had to get this bad if only people followed lifesaving health measures.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Adeline (ph) passed away because of COVID. This isn't a hoax. And if you can do something as simple as wearing a mask, everyone is being affected by this.
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NEWTON: As the numbers of lost loved ones rises higher every day, the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has exacted on those who survived may never truly be known.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For him to just die by himself and that is hard.
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NEWTON: For those who mourn, another blow. Not just longing for those they love as they said succumb to the virus, but also isolation in grief. In person funerals, memorials, a luxury of the pre-COVID era, one that those who want to keep living don't dare risk -- Paula Newton, CNN.
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CURNOW: Thanks to Paula for that.
The coronavirus has been running rampant in countries where the outbreak was once under control. I want to show you the upward trends in parts of Europe in Canada.
The most popular province, Ontario, that is now warning of a more complex second wave after reporting a record number of cases on Monday.
Meanwhile, the U.K. is eyeing tougher restrictions as it deals with its own second wave. From Wednesday, residents in parts of England will be barred from socializing with people outside their households.
In New York state officials have reported more than 1,000 new infections for the first time in months there. Positive cases have also been reported in at least 150 school buildings across New York City.
Now this comes as a former staff member of the U.S. vice president tells CNN that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the CDC, was pressured to play down the risk of the virus as kids went back to school. America's top expert says he's concerned about the spread of misleading information also in the Trump administration.
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BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Today, CNN's reporting citing a source that the CDC director is concerned that Dr. Scott Atlas is sharing misleading information with President Trump.
Are you also concerned about that happening?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, yes. I'm concerned that sometimes things are said that are really taken either out of context or are actually incorrect.
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CURNOW: With me now is Dr. Murtaza Akhter, an emergency physician with Valleywise Health Medical Center.
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CURNOW: And assistant professor at the University of Arizona's College of Medicine in Phoenix.
Doctor, lovely to have you with. Us thank you for joining me this evening. One million people worldwide have died. It's a terrible milestone, considering that the first case was reported back in Wuhan just in early January.
DR. MURTAZA AKHTER, VALLEYWISE HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER: That's right, Robyn. We knew about this disease for many months. Many other countries did lock down appropriately and their citizens did appropriate distancing measures and wore masks.
Of that 1 million, over a fifth of those deaths, at least the reported ones, there may be other ones, but of the recorded deaths, over a fifth of them are in the United States. The United States has far less than a fifth of the world population. We could have done a lot better as a first world country. Unfortunately, we just didn't.
CURNOW: And it is not a past tense scenario here. We are in the middle of it still. You talk about the huge numbers of deaths here in the U.S. And there have been a lot of politicization of this issue.
We've heard a lot of people talking about herd immunity. Hey, it should be OK to get it. But now we are hearing from the former director of the CDC, who has had this to say about the virus, the politics and herd immunity. Take a listen.
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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)
CURNOW: Strong words.
What do you make of it?
AKHTER: That's exactly right. That is exactly the way we're supposed to get herd immunity Listen, we are talking about herd immunity. We don't mean we really want everybody to get. It a bunch of people die and the ones who survive, like, Darwinists survive and now we are the stronger race.
That is not herd immunity. That becomes eugenics. Herd immunity is by vaccinating people so that enough people get the vaccine so the few that may not get it are protected by the rest of the herd.
Now we just let a bunch of people die from getting it and the ones who survive survive. By the way, there are other bad things other than death as well, which sometimes gets glossed over. Regardless of how you look at it, the approach of some people taking of herd immunity is completely wrong and it would be an utter disaster.
CURNOW: We also are hearing the president announcing a plan to disperse rapid tests. How welcome is that now and how quickly do you actually think, how
rapidly do you think these will be dispensed?
AKHTER: It's crazy. We knew we need rapid tests a long time ago. The fact that we are still struggling with this is preposterous. It's like, you know, your water running out and saying we need water and then waiting six months to get clean water.
So many things could have been done earlier to fix the situation. I'm hoping the rapid tests come about more frequently and more abundantly. We are so far in, the fact that we didn't get it earlier is really upsetting.
Remember, it's more than just testing. People also need to distance. If you are feeling sick, even if you test negative, you need to stay away from people, because sometimes there are false negatives and, two, it's never OK to expose yourself to other people if you're sick.
Flu season is coming up. Flu also kills people. Just because you might be COVID negative does not mean you can just go around and expose yourself. People still need to distance and they still need to wear masks if they do expose themselves to other people, which should be very, very infrequent, ideally.
CURNOW: Before we go, what do you make of the report that the CDC was pressured by the White House to play down the risk of sending children back to school?
AKHTER: Unfortunately, the CDC had been out of Atlanta for a number of years, was a stalwart institution. Not just there but in the rest of the country. We all, as physicians as well as health providers, looked to it for guidance, not just lay people but even physicians and scientists looked to it for guidance.
Now after a couple of gaffes that were made, which were political in nature, to hear of this just adds to the pile. I still believe the CDC does a lot of great work and it's much better to listen to them than to a politician.
But the fact that they may have been so compromised politically is very concerning. It has long term effects beyond just COVID. So I'm very concerned about. That
CURNOW: Certainly many doctors would agree with you. Doctor, thank you very much for joining us and bringing us your excellent perspective. Thanks for all the work that you are doing as. Well
AKHTER: Thanks for having me. Stay safe.
CURNOW: You as well.
Now to fears that the world ignoring the danger of the virus in a refugee camp, in a remote part of a war-torn country. Al-Hol is a sprawling encampment in northeastern Syria for more than 65,000 people. Most of them are women and children. Let's go to Jomana Karadsheh. She joins me from Istanbul. Jomana, hi. The coronavirus might not be their greatest worry, you report.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Robyn, as you know very well, an outbreak of COVID-19 in refugee camps.
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KARADSHEH: W0here social distancing is not an option, where hygiene is an issue, has been a nightmare scenario for aid agencies, for the NGOs.
What they have been trying to do is shield the refugee camps, trying to prevent an outbreak from happening or at least delay it until they have their preparations in place to deal with this.
In a whole camp in northeastern Syria over the past few weeks, U.N. agencies are now confirming a number of confirmed cases there. They are, of course, worried about an outbreak.
But the biggest issue so far has been, while the pandemic has not really taken hold in the camp, it is the knock-on effect on the health care services and the impact that it has had on the children of al-Hol and it has been a deadly impact.
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KARADSHEH: For its residents, this camp in the desolate part of northeastern Syria feels more deadly than the raging global pandemic.
There are things worse than COVID-19, these women from Morocco tell us. The problem is the camp itself and what it's doing to the children.
Shunned by the world in the Al-Hol camp, an open air prison for those who once lived under ISIS's so-called caliphate. The women say, they're cut off from the outside world and know little about the virus.
CARIBBEAN, AL-HOL CAMP RESIDENT: If you hear something can take your life, you'd be worried about it. But we are surrounded with death, we are surrounded with death every day.
KARADSHEH: There's been at least two confirmed cases amongst residents so far, but in this overcrowded city-like camp, there could be more.
Some aid groups have been providing support here but the burden has been largely left to the Kurdish authorities who are not equipped to deal with this on their own. They fear an outbreak would be catastrophic, almost impossible to control.
MUSTAFA: World powers could not control this pandemic. How can we control it in a crowded camp?
KARADSHEH: Medical access in the camp has plummeted with COVID-19 restrictions and as more and more health care workers tested positive. Only five out of 24 clinics are still operational. Nowhere near enough for the more than 65,000 residents, the vast majority of them children.
For the youngest, the impact of the healthcare crisis has been deadly. Eight children all under the age of five died in less than a week from preventable illnesses like complications of malnutrition and diarrhea, but even that was not enough to push the international community into action.
Aid has always been a slow trickle to displace that many view as justified punishment for those who chose to join a terror group.
And while some small repatriations have taken place, a larger scale effort to take back the nearly 10,000 foreign ISIS women and their children has not.
CARIBBEAN: I want the world to sit and just think about what's best for the children and stop looking at us like a trap and as human beings.
My government, my international community, please hurry up and take us the heck out of here.
KARADSHEH: Even this clinic that is state open, can only provide limited care.
Jasmiya Mohammed says she's not slept in three days. Her 2-month old cries out in pain.
JASMIYA MOHAMMED, AL-HOL CAMP RESIDENT (through translator): This child is going to die and they're distracted with this corona. I brought my daughter here because she had diarrhea and the doctors told me they have no treatment for her. We will all die if we stay like this.
KARADSHEH: Jasmiya says this miserable existence makes her long for life under ISIS.
MOHAMMED: It was definitely better than this life here in the camp. No disease infected us. Even when we were starving, it was much better than it is here.
KARADSHEH: As conditions deteriorate, as COVID-19 slowly spreads, perhaps the most lethal threat is the ideology left to fester in these fertile grounds.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KARADSHEH: And Robyn, even before the pandemic, even before the situation worsened, you and I spoke about 1.5 years ago about the situation in al-Hol. And aid groups and U.N. agencies have been calling on the international community to do more, saying that this is not a place for children to grow up.
You've got 42,000- 44,000 children who have been left in this camp paying for the sins of their parents -- Robyn.
CURNOW: Thanks so much. Jomana Karadsheh there in Istanbul, thank you.
Up next, Donald Trump's taxes are under the microscope. So, too, is the system that apparently let him get away with massive deductions and paying next to nothing.
Plus, CNN's exclusive interview with the man dubbed Russia's propagandist in chief. What the state news anchor has to say about President Trump and the upcoming election. That is next.
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CURNOW: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow, live from the CNN Center here in Atlanta.
So Joe Biden and Donald Trump will take to the stage in Cleveland, Ohio in the coming hours for their first debate.
And the damning "New York Times" report on President Trump's bleak situation is sure to come up.
The "Times" said Mr. Trump paid just $750 in income taxes the year he won the presidency and the same amount in 2017. Now Mr. Trump paid no federal income tax at all in ten of the previous 15 years.
If he wins reelection, he'll be in office when hundreds of millions of dollars in loans come due, raising questions about how he will meet that debt.
Well, let's go straight to Abu Dhabi and John Defterios.
So much to talk about here.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes.
CURNOW: This is about the U.S. tax system, it's about the Trump brand, it's about Trump companies, it's about the wealthy and the poor. It's about inequality. We could go on, couldn't we?
DEFTERIOS: You certainly can, Robyn. But I think it uncovers a few things about Donald Trump himself.
Number one. That he's out of alignment with his very loyal base, "Make America Great Again," the Midwest, deep South. Those people who have to struggle to get by.
They work hard, the white working class. They pay more tax than the man who's sitting in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue because of his love for the tax code himself.
It also unveils that he's not the man with the Midas Touch. You cannot take huge write offs, Robyn, for the most part at least, unless you're losing money in a number of different 500 identities under the Trump Organization and the Trump companies themselves. And finally, is it really clever to use every 2,600 pages plus of the
tax code and blur the line between business and personal expenses? Experts who follow this are suggesting he stretches this to the very, very end.
Here's Joseph Bankman of Stanford University who took a look at the "New York Times" data.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BANKMAN, STANFORD LAW SCHOOL: He's spending other peoples' money right now, as in the past. And our tax system allows that to happen tax free.
So there's this enormous gap between the level of consumption someone like Trump can enjoy and the tax he's paying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: I think it's fair to say that Donald Trump, if he was reelected, Robyn, would not be a tax reformer to simplify the tax code.
He loves his golf but his golf entities have lost about $300 million over two decades. So that's where a lot of the write-offs come from.
[02:35:00]
And this also raises a huge ethical question. He has about $100 million debt coming due in the corporations in 2021.
Do you see a bank actually leaning on a sitting president if he's back at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? It's a huge ethical question going forward as well.
But I'm not sure his base really cares about it. That's the question.
CURNOW: Yes. And you make a good point here. Because a number of folks here in Georgia -- I know Martin Savidge interviewed them. And it certainly didn't shift the needle for them in terms of how they were voting. They still very much supported him. And I think that's important to note.
What I also know is there is a huge amount of fear behind Trump's re- election campaign, fear on various levels.
He's also trying to scare people that the stock market will collapse without him. What do you make about that and is it effective?
DEFTERIOS: Well, this always surprised me as a financial journalist -- and having worked on Capitol Avenue Hill for a number of years at the same time. There's a perception that the Republican Party is pro- business.
It is for corporations because of tax cuts and deregulation. That does not resonate on Wall Street. And let's look at the data here. Going back to 1945. Average annual returns on the S&P 500 for Democrats, 11 percent. Just under seven percent for the Republican Party.
First year of Democrats in the White House, better than 16 percent, less than one percent for the Republican Party. So this doesn't ring true, what Donald Trump is suggesting.
And they're more fiscally conservative, the Democrats and deliver better growth. Four percent GDP on average since 1945 and two and-a- half percent for the Republicans.
So yes, deregulation, yes, lower taxes. Yes, much higher debt. But not better delivering for the pocket books on Wall Street, that's for sure. Or growth, Robyn.
CURNOW: Yes. It's going to be very interesting to see how this all plays out, though, with voters and the election and where we are come middle of November.
John, always good to speak to you there live in Abu Dhabi.
DEFTERIOS: Thanks, Robyn.
CURNOW: have a lovely day. So the clock is rapidly ticking down to the election, it most certainly is. Just under 35 days until the election day.
Of course, many Americans expected to vote early or vote by mail. The election is likely on the minds though of some Russian as well.
Like the man dubbed Russia's propogandist in chief.
Matthew Chance sat down with Russia's top state news anchor to talk about Trump and the race for the White House. Matthew.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's been a distinct change in tone on Russian television about President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (VOICE OVER): It was a very nice idea from President Trump. And I could have said no thank you or I could have said thank you.
This spoof video with its English language channel promoting U.S. election coverage shows Trump as the loser taking up a job as a top Russian news anchor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (VOICE OVER): And I said, I'll take it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) It's a humorous jab at Trump's apparent affection for Russia. But the country's actual top state news anchor isn't laughing.
In his first ever TV interview, the man dubbed the Kremlin's chief propogandist tells me how hopes of blossoming U.S. Russian relationships under President Trump have vanished.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: But actually, things might change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I'll be your president then. And Putin knows -- the reason he doesn't want me as president, he knows me and he knows I mean it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: And Kiselyov, sanctioned by the E.U. for spreading propaganda tells me a hardline Biden presidency could plunge U.S. Russian relations into a dangerous spiral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KISELYOV: What will he do? Go to war against us? No way to win for him.
CHANCE: Well, he said that he wouldn't.
KISELYOV: Let me repeat. Russia is the only country in the world with the capability to turn America into radioactive ash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: With its vast nuclear arsenal, that may be terrifyingly true.
And 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. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: 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?
[02:40:00]
KISELYOV: I would just -- would like to throw a coin. So nothing changes. Nothing will change.
CHANCE: Matthew Chance. CNN, Moscow.
CURNOW: Great piece from Matthew. Thank you.
So U.S. wildfires are devastating parts of California's wine country. We'll show you the damage done across the states when we return.
You're watching CNN.
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[02:45:00]
CURNOW: There are two new wildfires in the U.S. state of California and they are quickly becoming a really big problem.
The Glass Fire tripled in size from Monday -- from Sunday to Monday.
It ripped through the state's Napa Valley destroying vineyards and homes. And for some, the reality of that damage hasn't really set in yet.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAM FORNI, ST. HELENA RESIDENT: It's hard to put into words right now. It's just -- yes. You can't think about it till it's over.
And then when you just kind of look back and reflect on it then you realize how crazy it is. But right now it's about doing what needs to be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Meanwhile this fire north of Sacramento doubled in size. We know that three people have died there.
Firefighters have actually been unable to contain either of these fires so far.
Meanwhile, California isn't the only U.S. state at risk. The New York Times reports have made for the worst fire season on record.
Now the report says possible arson in addition to outdated forest management practices have been the cause of many of these fires.
Also at fault, of course, climate change. Which has made for drier conditions and a longer fire season providing the perfect canvas for blazes across the country.
And, of course, we'll continue to cover that here at CNN.
So thanks for watching. I'm Robyn Curnow. World Sport starts after the break. I'll be back, same time, same place tomorrow. Bye-bye.
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[02:45:00]
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