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Trump Tries to Claim Victory for Tuesday's Debate; Trump Refuses to Condemn White Supremacists During Debate; Trump's Debate Remark Appears to Bolster Far-Right Group; Tens of Thousands of U.S. Airline Workers Face Furloughs; CDC Extends No-Sail Order for Cruise Ships; U.S. Nears 207,000 Deaths, Tops 7.2 Million Plus Cases. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 01, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Robyn Curnow.

So just ahead, President Trump tries to backtrack after his refusal to explicitly condemn white supremacy during Tuesday night's chaotic and messy debate.

And it wasn't just Americans watching with dismay. The eyes of the world were too as many question just what happened to American leadership? We'll discuss that.

And also, tens of thousands of Americans are facing job losses today. Airlines prepare for huge layoffs as the federal aid that propped up the industry expires.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: Great to have you along with me this hour. So the U.S. President, Donald Trump, is once again in cleanup mode after his chaotic presidential debate on Tuesday where he once again failed to condemn white supremacists. While at a rally in Minnesota, Mr. Trump tried to declare himself the winner of the debate, even though some allies have voiced concern about his performance.

Now the President also continued to bash his political rival Joe Biden and falsely claimed the Democratic nominee is trying to cancel the remaining debates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was debating two people last night. Joe Biden is too weak to lead this country. You know Biden lost badly when his supporters are saying he should cancel the rest of the debates. Now I understand he's canceling the debates. Let's see what happens. I think that's not going to be a good move for him. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well, at a rally in Ohio, Joe Biden hit back. He called out Mr. Trump for telling the far right group Proud Boys to, quote, stand back and standby. And called the President's debate performance a national embarrassment.

Well, Mr. Trump later tried to walk back those comments by telling the group to, quote, stand down instead, but he still failed to explicitly condemn white supremacists. As Kaitlan Collins now reports -- Kaitlan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I have always denounced any form, any form, any form of any of that. You have to denounce.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After refusing to explicitly condemn white supremacy and right-wing extremists in last night's debate, President Trump declined to denounce them once again today.

TRUMP: I don't know who the Proud Boys are. They have to stand down, let law enforcement do their work.

COLLINS: Trump now saying he doesn't know the Proud Boys, a far right group that's endorsed violence, which he refused to denounce last night.

TRUMP: Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.

COLLINS: Trump quickly pivoting from his actions to Joe Biden.

TRUMP: Now, Antifa is a real problem, because the problem is on the left, and Biden refuses to talk about it.

COLLINS: The fallout from President Trump's frenzied debate performance was felt throughout Washington today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounds like President Trump was President Trump.

COLLINS: Despite Trump saying today that he received rave reviews.

TRUMP: We have gotten tremendous reviews on it.

COLLINS: Privately, CNN spoke with several Trump officials, advisers and supporters who acknowledged that he was too aggressive, didn't tout enough accomplishments, and lacked a clear line of attack on his opponent.

TRUMP: There's nothing smart about you, Joe.

COLLINS: Even those who helped him prepare for the debate, like former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, conceded that he came on too strong.

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: It was too hot. Listen, you come in and decide you want to be aggressive. And I think that was the right thing to be aggressive, but that was too hot.

COLLINS: Any chance for decorum during last night's debate was quickly dashed as the President interrupted Biden at nearly every chance he got.

JOSEPH BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Would you shut up, man?

(CROSSTALK)

CHRIS WALLACE, MODERATOR: Mr. President, I'm the moderator of this debate and I would like you to let me ask my question and then you can answer...

TRUMP: Go ahead.

COLLINS: The chaotic nature of the debate driving the Commission on Presidential Debates to issue a statement saying --

Last night's debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Kaitlyn Collins reporting there.

So Tuesday's debate has certainly put the far right group called Proud Boys into the international spotlight. Sara Sidner explains who the group is and what they stand for exactly --Sara.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go with a [bleep] Antifa chant. Let's start it. Ready?

AUDIENCE: [Bleep] Antifa. [Bleep] Antifa. [Bleep] Antifa.

[04:05:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Proud Boys are known for holding rallies being armed to the teeth, decked out in tactical gear, black and yellow shirts and being ready to rumble with anti- fascists.

They say as a whole, all this is solely for self-defense. But that is not how a New York jury saw it in 2019. Two Proud Boys were convicted for attempted gang assault and riot for this beating that unfolded in Manhattan between Proud Boys wearing the red hats and Antifa members in all black.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're fiery, but we're peaceful.

SIDNER: They say they believe in law and order, but apparently not in this case. ENRIQUE TARRIO, PROUD BOYS CHAIRMAN: We are definitely not going to apologize for fighting back when somebody throws a glass bottle of urine at you. I am sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I pledge allegiance --

SIDNER: They say they are not a hate group and members have sued over being described that way. But the Anti-Defamation League says that's exactly what they are.

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: Proud Boys, unequivocally are a hate group. They style themselves as a quote, "pro-Western fraternity." But their rhetoric frequently invokes anti- Semitism, misogyny, xenophobia, particularly targeting immigrants, anti-Muslim bias, and both homophobia and transphobia.

SIDNER: So when the President was unwilling to explicitly condemn white supremacists and then said this --

TRUMP: Proud Boys, stand back and standby, but I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what, somebody's got to do something about Antifa and the left.

SIDNER: Those who track hate were beyond alarm. The Proud Boys celebrate it.

SIDNER (on camera): What does "stand back and standby" mean to you as a leader of the Proud Boys?

TARRIO: The organization does not see that as an endorsement in any way.

SIDNER: He plays it down. But their chat rooms hype it up. Memes popped up minutes after the President said it. His exact words used as a rallying cry with this added, "F* it. Let's go back to Portland." Another one reads, "standing by, sir."

TARRIO: I was the one that said that.

SIDNER (on camera): So the President mentions your name. Is this going to be used as a recruiting tool?

TARRIO: I mean, any media is used -- I wouldn't say that it was like a recruiting tool. Anytime that we're in the media, as a matter of fact, one of --

SIDNER (voice-over): He then boasts about the Proud Boys mentions on Twitter after the debate.

TARRIO: So apparently, Americans think that Proud Boys are more important than coronavirus at this moment.

SIDNER: The ADL says there are many serious consequences to the President's inability to plainly state that he condemns white supremacists.

TRUMP: I've always denounced any form -- any form -- any form of any of that.

SIDNER: The President was asked to do it again after the debate, but again, never uttered the words "white supremacists."

GREENBLATT: We need to stop asking for explanations and simply take him at his word. He believes these people are his allies, and he's given them a call to arms.

SIDNER: Taylor Dumpson knows the terror that can bring. She was targeted in a neo-Nazi trolling campaign for simply becoming American University's first black female student body president.

TAYLOR DUMPSON, LAW STUDENT, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: To me, as a hate crime survivor and cyber harassment target. I know far too well how dangerous this rhetoric is and that it causes real harm and real damage and real violence in our communities.

SIDNER (on camera): Taylor Dumpson watch the debate intently and she said when she heard the President's answer to the question asking him to denounce white-supremacists, she said it left her feeling terrified all over again.

Now as for the Proud Boys, they have denounced white-supremacists. They say that they have members of many different ethnicities that a part of the Proud Boys. So I asked them what they thought about the President's answer to the question. And in their minds, they said he did denounce white-supremacists by answering in the affirmative when asked if he would denounce white-supremacists. The President said, sure. And that was good enough for the Proud Boys. For many, many other it simply was not.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Thanks, Sara, for that.

So earlier I spoke to Patrick Healy. He's a politics editor of "The New York Times" and asked him what the key takeaways were.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK HEALY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think there are three. One is about this President and issues of race. His inability to condemn white-supremacy and to talk coherently about racism in this country. You know, is really sort of staggering. He's just unwilling, unable to do it and you have to ask why that is, why he's so incapable of condemning white supremacists in this country.

You know, the second is that it's become just increasingly clear that President Trump's main strategy in these last five weeks is to destabilize voting as much as possible, to scare people about mail-in voting.

[04:10:00] He made this call to his supporters to go to polling sites, to watch the balloting which sort of everyone knows is basically calling for supporters to go and intimidate people at the polling places. So he's looking to basically disrupt an election that probably will be won on the margins to try to drive down votes, you know, as much as possible.

And the third take away is just that this President does not have a real strategy to beat Joe Biden at this point that is in any way substantial. He's behind in most -- President Trump's behind in most polls right now with five weeks to go. You know, he has an economic case that he could make to the country. He certainly has a Supreme Court justice now and a Republican Senate so he could offer, you know, a conservative agenda to try to sell to the country for a second term. But it's just become so clear that he's not interested in talking about the future of what he would do. He's just interested in really in chaos and tear down politics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Patrick Healy speaking to me a little bit earlier.

So U.S. TV ratings indicate 73 million Americans watched that debate, but it had jaws dropping around the world too from allies and adversaries alike. Later this hour we'll look at international reaction to this unprecedented 90 minutes.

Now the next debate will be between Vice Presidential nominee, Democratic Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence for the Republicans. CNN's coverage begins at 7 p.m. on the U.S. East Coast on Wednesday. That's Thursday at midnight in London, 3 a.m. in Abu Dhabi, and 7 a.m. on Thursday morning for all of you folks in Hong Kong.

And Donald Trump's former 2020 campaign manager has actually stepped down from his role as senior advisor. Brad Parscale was detained by police and hospitalized on Monday after allegedly making suicidal threats. He was demoted from campaign manager earlier this year after extremely low turnout at the President's rally in Oklahoma.

So you're watching CNN. Still to come, tens of thousands of U.S. airline staff are to be furloughed after last minutes attempts to get more federal money failed. We have that story next.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: The U.S. government will keep working for now. The Senate approved a stop-gap spending bill best hours before the shutdown deadline. Negotiations appeared to fall apart at one point. The Democrats and Republicans reached a compromise that funds the government but only through mid-December.

Now there is no such agreement on a coronavirus stimulus package. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are in talks to get a deal just weeks before election day. Democrats say they are holding off on a planned vote on their 2 trillion stimulus approval to allow for more time for bipartisan negotiations. Spite a more positive tone, sources tell CNN both sides are still very far apart.

Now this lack of a stimulus deal means disaster for U.S. airline staff. Tens of thousands will be furloughed today. And the federal aid package that protected their paychecks expired just a few hours ago.

Well, American Airlines says it will begin to furlough 19,000 workers. United Airlines will do the same with more than 13,000 employees. Thousands of layoffs are looming at other airlines as well.

Well, John Defterios is standing by with more on all of this from Abu Dhabi. Hi, John, good to see you. So months of negotiations on Capitol Hill. But so far, no end. And then we're looking at thousands of jobs at stake here. I mean, this is really, really cutting it to the wire.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, and it's been dragging on as you're suggesting, Robyn, for the better part of the summer months in the United States with the northern hemisphere. And this is election year politics and why it's so difficult. The $3 trillion package in the spring at the height of COVID-19 kind of sailed through because of the crisis.

We're looking at something probably between 1.5 and $2.2 trillion there's going to be a striking point there in the middle. But the airlines are seeking $25 billion over six months, so just a fraction of it. They've had to go ahead with the furloughs because they didn't set the September 30th to October 1 deadline that Congress put forward here. And they're saying they'll reverse course, but clearly you have to give us some clarity on when it's going to happen. Here's the CEO of American Airlines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG PARKER, CEO, AMERICAN AIRLINES: The last thing we want to do is furlough employees. That's why we've been fighting so hard for them to come to an agreement.

So, at any rate, hard for me to tell you until we hear -- until we know where they are, but certainly, if there's a, you know, a clear and concrete path, as you know, we're not quite done yet but we will be done soon.

Of course, if it's -- if it's, you know, it gets worse, we need, you know, much more time to work and unclear as to whether that will be -- whether we can get something done or not. That's going to be -- that's going to be -- that's obviously going to be much worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: Doug Parker saying this would be, rather than the last of the bailouts for the sector. That they can fly on their own in the second half of 2021. Also, we heard from Steve Mnuchin many times as U.S. Treasury Secretary, we're almost there. We're almost there. But it's not the first time they've said it as you know. CURNOW: Yes. Indeed. So it's not just about the airline industry and

the airline industry in the U.S., there's sort of a definitely a global impact, isn't there? A knock on effect. It's affecting folks all around the world.

DEFTERIOS: Yes, it's fascinating to watch figures in fact. If the airline sectors not helpful, nor is the travel related businesses all around it. There's the air transport group here out of Geneva who put together a report saying that 46 million jobs are at stake right now, pretty hefty number. 10 percent directly related to airlines and aerospace companies and airports. But another 26 million jobs of the 46, Robyn, are all related to hospitality, the restaurants, the hotels, road transport that goes around it. And what we're looking at here in 2020 and 2021 is a drop of $1.8 trillion of global GDP.

[04:20:00]

Partially in the United States but worldwide, particularly in the developing world that is very dependent on business and tourism traffic.

CURNOW: It is, indeed. John Defterios, thanks so much for that update there. Live from Abu Dhabi.

So sticking with this theme, another tough break for the U.S. cruise ship industry, which has lost billions of dollars due to the pandemic. The Centers F\for Disease Control and Prevention is extending a no- sail order for cruise ships through the end of October has the virus continues to spread. The order affects ships that carry at least 250 passengers in waters with the U.S. jurisdiction. The CDC failed to convince the White House to extend the no-sail order into the next year despite claims from U.S. President Donald Trump that a vaccine is weeks away. The CDC says it likely won't happen until next year.

And then also, the CEO of Moderna says a viable vaccine may be widely available by late march or early April. The company is working to ramp up manufacturing ahead of a potential approval.

Meantime, drug maker AstraZeneca vaccine trials are still on hold in the U.S. after a participant became seriously ill. When asked why the trial was still on hold, the FDA Commissioner said it was confidential.

Regulators in Britain, Brazil and South Africa have decided to resume their trials.

Now a vaccine can't come quick enough in the U.S. now with more than 7.2 million cases of the virus. Brian Todd takes a look at how the country is faring -- Brian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York City takes a major step at a vulnerable time. The city starts to reopen restaurants for indoor dining to 25 percent of their normal capacity and with rigorous inspections, but mayor Bill de Blasio isn't ready to take that step himself just yet.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D) NEW YORK CITY: My outdoor dining experiences have been amazing. I'm going to keep doing that for the foreseeable future. And then of course shift to indoor when the outdoor isn't as prevalent because of the weather.

TODD: This comes as New York City and other parts of the state see upticks in coronavirus cases that while slight at the moment are concerning. The mayor says in at least six specific neighborhoods the positivity rate continues to rise. Certain businesses and neighborhood institutions may have to close. America's top voice on the pandemic warns about those smaller upticks in test positivity.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Which is generally a predictor that you're going to start seeing surges. So we've got to now double down and make sure that we're very conscientious without shutting down.

TODD: But should New York City pause its reopening of schools and restaurants which it started this week?

ANNE RIMOIN, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, UCLA SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: I think that it's very important that New York weigh the risks of opening up at this point. We all know that when the virus has an opportunity to spread, it takes that opportunity. And I would hate to see all of the hard work that New York has done to keep this virus at bay be undone.

TODD: The trend nationwide is a major concern among experts. More than half the states now seeing a rise in cases.

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We're also heading into flu season. We're also seeing more schools reopening for in person teaching, university campuses reopening for students as well. So all of these factors are converging to increase cases in some places but also just to make it a much more vulnerable time.

TODD: The Midwest states are almost all seeing rising case numbers, the spike in Wisconsin particularly alarming. Record hospitalizations there. The coronavirus task force warning of a, quote, intense period of viral surge in Wisconsin and pleading for social distancing.

But President Trump is still planning on holding back-to-back rallies in that state this weekend despite being pressed in the debate over why he continues to hold large events.

TRUMP: Because people want to hear what I have to say.

TODD: College campuses continue to be major drivers of transmission. An outbreak on the Notre Dame football team that infected a dozen and half players, according to their coach, spread like wildfire.

The University of Central Florida have residents of three sorority houses under quarantine attempting to head off an outbreak there. And Georgia Tech has canceled spring break.

(on camera): This comes as the federal government is still trying to fend off outbreaks on cruise ships. The CDC is issuing new guidance for the cruise ship industry. Extending its order for ships not to sail through October according to a federal health official who spoke to CNN. That official says CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield tried to extend that order into next year but he couldn't convince the White House.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Police in Wisconsin say seven people were shot at a funeral home in Milwaukee. The victims were taken to a local hospital where they're being treated for their wounds. All said to be in a stable condition.

[04:25:00]

Police say they are still investigating the incident but say any suspect is still unknown.

Still to come here at CNN, U.S. allies and adversaries all have something to say about the first U.S. presidential debate. Their reaction and what those 90 minutes might mean for the world order. That's next.

And leading opposition leader in Russia, Alexey Navalny is blaming Vladimir Putin for his poisoning in August. We're live in Berlin with the new details on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: It is 28 minutes past the hour. I am Robyn Curnow live from CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta. So a reminder now of our top story this hour.

The U.S. President Donald Trump is in cleanup mode after his chaotic presidential debate on Tuesday where he failed to condemn white- supremacists. At a rally in Minnesota, Mr. Trump tried to declare himself the winner of the debate even though some allies have voiced concern about his performance. The contest was so messy that the commission in charge of presidential debates now says it's considering making changes to the format. On CNN veteran journalist Bob Woodward weighed in on that situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB WOODWARD, AUTHOR, "RAGE": The debate commission is not in the constitution. We now have a constitutional problem. The executive branch is the President. He clearly cannot stabilize the electoral process. In fact, he's stoking let's make it unstable. The Supreme Court really has no power at this moment, but the Congress does and it seems to me it's reached a boiling point. I mean, we are teetering here and the Congress needs to step.