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NYT Reporter With COVID-19: I Have Not Been Contacted By White House; Biden To Campaign Today In Florida After Testing Negative; Trump Tells Supporters To "Go Into The Polls And Watch". Aired 12:30- 1p ET

Aired October 05, 2020 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

EMILY GURLEY, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGIST: That's right. That's the current guidance from the CDC and what's being used in contact tracing programs all over the United States.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: And yet, I want you to -- the President on Thursday went up to Bedminster, New Jersey, after being told Hope Hicks with whom he was in debate prep and another close contact after being told she had tested positive. He went up to a fundraiser in New Jersey at his golf club. I want you to listen here with the governor of New Jersey. He says the White House has given them some names, but not all the details they need.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): We're taking the lead. We got on it immediately, both at the state level and the local level. But we've, you know, we need cooperation from the feds. We ultimately got a list of the attendees by mid-afternoon on Friday. But we need more cooperation out of the administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I mean, the numbers here get pretty daunting when you think about 43,000 on average, right now, new infections in the country every day. When you have a president who knows he's been exposed, who gets on a helicopter, close quarters with his aides, gets on an airplane, close quarters with no ventilation, then goes to a fundraiser with a couple hundred people. I mean, just help us through the math here of the number of people potentially exposed, because people were not being basic responsible.

GURLEY: Yes, it clearly, it's a lot. You know, the rules and guidance around quarantine, when you've been exposed are very clear. You know, getting people to do the right thing, obviously, is much more difficult. But the sad thing is that does lead to further infections. But I'm glad they're working with the public health folks in New Jersey. I mean, this really is the role of public health. And they should be working very closely with all of the jurisdictions where people have been exposed live, because it's those folks that have to take the responsibility for helping facilitate this process. KING: Well, one would think that, you know, the head of government, we've been talking about this for months, there are apps created for this, there are teams created for this, the government is surging people all around the country, when you see cases like this. But I want you to listen here, one of the White House correspondents at that event, who is now COVID positive says the phone is not ringing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SHEAR, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: It's now you know, 10 days, 11 days, whatever, since I think that I was probably infected on that Saturday. I've not been contacted by the White House. Nobody from the White House has said, boo, and asked anything about where I was or who I talked to, or who else I might have been affected. And so I think that that just shows you that they're not, you know, they're not taking it seriously, at least as it pertains to themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: You mentioned Dr. Gurley, a little bit earlier, that is a high profile event. So obviously the people who were there unless they've gone into a cave, know they were exposed. They're watching news covers, they understand all this. But does the responsibility go away to build the list of the other people, your friends, your family, your children, that you might have been in contact with just because if you're supposed to know, you're supposed to do that yourself or is there supposed to be an active effort anyway?

GURLEY: There should be an active effort anyway, let's be clear, those folks need to be in quarantine. And they need to be followed closely for development of symptoms. And then their contacts traced if there is any indication that they were infected. And again, that does fall on the responsibility primarily of the local health jurisdictions where those people reside, but they need the information from the White House in order to be able to do their jobs.

So again, as you mentioned, given the scale of the number of people who were infected, it's unlikely that they have the bandwidth to do that. And then they really should be working with the local public health programs and providing them all the information that they need to do their job.

KING: It would be nice seven months into this if the left hand knew how to talk to the right hand and so on and so forth. Dr. Gurley, thank you again for your important insights.

[12:33:48]

Here still ahead for us, Joe Biden is on the campaign trail today. Yes with his mask, and he says he would still be open to debating the President if the doctors say the President's safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Joe Biden in battleground Florida today back on the campaign trail after testing negative for Coronavirus repeatedly. Following last week's debate with President Trump there was some concern the President may have already been infected with COVID. Back at debate time, the former Vice President scheduled to hold an in person campaign events in Miami later today at a town hall tonight.

CNN political correspondent Arlette Saenz following the campaign from Miami. Back on the trail, Arlette, and they say they will continue to campaign safely.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, John. Joe Biden is moving forward with his plans for in person campaigning setting up this contrast of a candidate out on the campaign trail and a president who is in the hospital due to coronavirus.

Biden's campaign believes they've set up an effective model to campaign in a way where they are following the safety and health guidelines of each a different area that they are visiting. Now Biden tested negative for coronavirus. Again, yesterday his campaign saying he will be tested more regularly. And they will also reveal the results of every test that he takes.

Biden, we saw him earlier today boarding his plane in Delaware wearing a mask adhering to those standards that his campaign has set as he's campaigned. And Biden was asked by reporters about the President's trip outside of Walter Reed yesterday. Biden said he did not want -- he was reluctant to comment on President Trump's health but he would leave those to the doctors. But he did talk a little bit about the possibility of debating the President on October 15th here in Miami, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Listen to the science. If the scientists say that --

[12:40:02]

JILL BIDEN, FORMER SECOND LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Come back a little bit.

JOE BIDEN: I'm sorry, if the scientists say that it's safe, the distances are safe, then I think that's fine. I'll do whatever the experts say is the appropriate thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So you saw Jill Biden there being a bit of an enforcer reminding her husband to step back a bit more to maintain that social distance from reporters. And we're going to see Biden here in Miami a little bit later today, this critical battleground state of Florida, where he's going to court the Hispanic vote. President Trump has made some inroads with Hispanic voters, particularly Cubans here in Florida. And Biden will be traveling to two neighborhoods here, Little Haiti and also near Little Havana as he's trying to court those Hispanic voters heading into the election, as he has now 29 days out from Election Day and he is the candidate who is out on the campaign trail today, John?

KING: Arlette Saenz for us live in Miami, keep in touch, see how this campaign day goes for the former Vice President and Democratic nominee. Arlette, thank you.

Three senators testing positive for COVID-19 in recent days, it should be a wakeup call for Congress, the Senate hitting the pause on floor votes for the next two weeks, yet, there's still no plan for widespread and regular coronavirus testing at the U.S. Capitol Complex. CNN's Manu Raju live on Capitol Hill. No testing in place, Manu, at a very sensitive time for the Congress.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And right before those confirmation hearings begin, Democrats and the Senate want actual testing to be done of all the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee before those confirmation hearings begin next week. There's no plan to do that. Republicans are planning to push ahead.

But despite the bipartisan push for testing to happen in the House and Senate, the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, is so far down embraced it and the Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has not embraced calls for widespread testing on the House side of the Capitol. And that's led to bipartisan concern because of the growing number of cases and the fear that members were up here on a daily basis interacting with one another even though while wearing masks, having going to meetings, members often taking off their masks and speaking.

And on the Republican side, particularly in the Senate, they're having lunch meetings three times a week in a room. Members remove their mask to eat. A lot of concerns are growing including from the number two Democrat Dick Durbin who, John, told you last hour that it's time to move forward with testing of senators here in the Capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), MINORITY WHIP: Absolutely, we need those testing protocol. I've been talking to the attending physician for months about it. It is a major undertaking. There are many people currently working in the Capitol building in scale down skiffs -- staff situation, many who wants to return, can't, because we just don't have a system in place. We need to take this deadly virus seriously. This President is not in touch with reality, Congress should be. We need testing and every member should have regular testing as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But John, despite the refusal of the leadership to embrace more testing, the Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell plans to push off any senate business until October 19th. They were expected to reconvene today, but instead they're going to push off action because of those three senators who have come down with coronavirus. And he's still pushing ahead to get the Supreme Court nominee confirmed potentially by the end of the month. And that's raising concerns about whether the Republicans will even have enough senators present to officially cast that vote.

Of course the little margin for error if they lose more than three senators, that's enough to scuttle this nomination. So a lot of concerns about testing, a lot of concerns about members falling sick, and a lot of concerns on the Republican side about whether they can get this nominee through before Election Day, John?

KING: A lot of complications caused by this disruptive virus. Manu Raju, thanks, appreciate the live update. Keep us posted.

[12:43:56]

And coming up, it is not just the White House press secretary, even more staffers at the White House testing positive for coronavirus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: More breaking news into CNN. It is not just the White House press secretary additional staffers at the Trump White House today, testing positive for coronavirus. Let's get back to our White House correspondent CNN's Kaitlan Collins has this breaking news. Kaitlan?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. Shortly after we learned that Kayleigh McEnany had tested positive for coronavirus but was not experiencing symptoms, we have now learned that two of her deputies in the press shop have also tested positive for coronavirus. So we are seeing this circle of people who have tested positive in the West Wing now expanding even further.

And my colleague Jim Acosta just went by the press shop, the area that reporters like us have access to in the White House, very few staffers are in there, if any at all, a lot of the lights are off and some of those office spaces. And it just goes to show you how prevalent this is becoming inside the West Wing.

And we should note that it came about 24 hours after staffers got an e-mail yesterday telling them if they had any kind of symptoms or anything like that, that they should stay home and said if they develop symptoms that they should not contact the White House medical unit about testing but instead go to their primary care provider. That e-mail came, you know, several days after the President had already been admitted to the hospital.

So it did raise questions for some staffers inside the West Wing about what to do if they do start to get symptoms. And of course that's a concern for pretty much everyone right now given just how many of the President's staffers are now positive for coronavirus.

[12:50:07]

KING: Kaitlan Collins important breaking news at the White House. We'll continue to keep adding to the count. Keep at it -- we'll bring you back when we have more information. Kaitlan, thank you very much when we come back, it is important day for early voting and mail-in voting across the country. And the President once again say he wants pole watchers to track all this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: This is a big week for early and mail-in voting, nearly 3 million ballots have already been cast and today, early in person voting begins in California, Iowa, Nebraska, South Carolina, and some counties in Montana, Iowa, Idaho, and Rhode Island begin mailing absentee ballots. And today is the deadline for California and New Jersey to mail out absentee ballots to voters.

[12:55:19]

The coronavirus pandemic of course causing a giant spike in early voting and voting by mail and that is a giant challenge for states that don't have a history of handling so many mail-in ballots. It also comes as the President who's been critical at this process tweeting today, quote, volunteer to be a Trump election poll watcher.

Let's discuss this with veteran election lawyer, Ben Ginsburg. Ben, the President drawing attention to an issue that you wrote about today in the Washington Post, first, the President's tweet, not only does he say volunteer to be an election poll watcher, but he ends it with this army for Trump. That is the reference they are using, army for Trump. This concerns you and I want to know for our viewers, you are the Republican Party's premier election attorney for the last 20 years and you're worried about the Republican President.

This is what you write, how Trump's remark about pole watchers threatens another election norm. Should Trump seek to delegitimize the presidential election, he would most likely begin by causing delays and chaos and precincts that voted heavily against him in 2016. His most obvious tactic have the RNC instruct its poll watchers to abandon their traditional role and instead lodge mass challenges both as voters cast their ballots and then as mail ballots are tabulated. An assault on the electoral system, you call it there.

You know, some people would say you're being alarmist the President's tweets and his constant talk about this tell me, you're onto something?

BEN GINSBERG, REPUBLICAN ELECTION LAWYER: Well, the President's comments have signaled that a number of questions should be asked of the RNC and the Trump campaign about precisely how they're going to instruct their poll watchers and observers in polling places.

The RNC is just coming off of being in his consent decree since 1981. They don't want to get in the position. It would be bad for the Republican Party to be in a position of committing the activities. They've got the RNC placed under a consent decree in the first place. But that's where the President's words could be taking this 50,000 person army.

KING: You say, it would be bad for the Republican Party. But this Republican Party is controlled by the President, and they're all -- or his people in charge, do you have any reason to believe that they would listen to your advice if the President said, I want these poll. I want these people to go in. Essentially, the fear is that they're not there to watch, they're there to intimidate.

GINSBERG: Well, that would be the fear and maybe not intimidate, but just challenge ballots so the whole process gets clogged down. And it might be only in precincts that were heavily Democratic precincts and not in Republican precincts. So you can see how if that is carried out on a granular basis, it can really impact the way the election is run and how the ballots are counted.

I believe there are people with great integrity within the Republican Party. And I think they're at an odd moment and a decision point where the people running that Election Day operation program, need to take a hard look at the President's words and what their plans are. And to be sure that their plans and their actual actions comport with the norms for handling elections.

KING: Well, the norms are that most elections are well run and well administered at both campaigns have every right to have attorneys and watchers on hand just to watch. But listen to one of the President's pollsters, John McLaughlin, right here, as this is how he describes what's happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, POLLSTERS FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: The word is not mail- in ballots. The word is fraud. They are enabling fraud so that ballots will be cast for people that don't actually live there or vote there. And, you know, it's crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It's crazy that someone who gets paid by the President's campaign would say things that are just not true about what's happening.

GINSBERG: Yes. I mean, I think if you're going to say things like that, you need to have some evidence of it. It is imperative that if people who were for the President and the President himself are going to make that allegation statistic, the elections themselves are somehow fraudulent. They have to present a proof. What is true is that what poll watchers generally do is gather evidence that they see in polling places, get affidavits that day, the election contest mechanism in every state is the proper place to actually litigate those charges, but to make wild charges without any evidence now is really irresponsible.

KING: It is irresponsible is a good word. And again, it's a big week for it as the mail-in voting intensifies. Ben Ginsburg, appreciate your thoughts and insights. We'll continue this as we get closer to the election, one would think since so many states do not have experience at such wide scale mail-in voting. The federal government would be surging resources. Instead the President is calling it fraud. We'll stay on top of that one.

[13:00:00]

Also an important day of course for the President's hospitalization, don't go anywhere. Thanks for joining us. Hope to see you here tomorrow. Brianna Keilar picks up this very busy news day right now.