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Trump Halts Stimulus Talks; Hurricane Delta Hits Mexico; Health Care Workers Call on Trump; Trump and the White House Fight Outbreaks. Aired 9:30-10a
Aired October 07, 2020 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:32:00]
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: A live look at the big board this morning as U.S. markets react after the president calls off stimulus talks completely until after the election. So stimulus talks are dead and that's a tragedy for millions of Americans and it's a tragedy that could have been prevented.
So this morning a message to all of you in power in Washington, while you have been fighting, bitterly, millions of Americans, small business owners, restaurant workers, airline and hotel employees, they've been anxiously waiting, waiting for you guys to come through for them.
Do you know what it's like to have the threat of election hanging over you? Israel Rodriguez does and so do his babies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISRAEL RODRIGUEZ, LOST JOB DUE TO PANDEMIC: It was like go out there in the car (ph). When it hit, I lost my job. So it took me like a month to get another job. This is my check, but I ain't making it with $300.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Do you know what it's like to stand in line at a food bank for hours? Look at these lines, in Georgia, in Florida, in Nevada.
Did you know that 14 million children in America don't have enough to eat right now? That is three times more than during the Great Recession.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The food, that's what we struggle more. Sometimes we eat, sometimes we don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: Have you talked to them? We have.
Have you heard the restaurant owners pleading for their survival?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm worried about having a heart attack to be perfectly honest with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: And did you listen when the airlines said over and over again they would furlough another 30,000 workers if you failed to make a deal?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So Congress getting a new deal together could save 1,900 pilot jobs at Delta?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Mr. President, four days ago, four days ago, you tweeted this, our great USA wants and needs stimulus, work together and get it done. But now you're not getting it done. And your former senior economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, told me last night, quote, we remain close to the edge of an economic calamity.
Did you hear Fed Chair Jay Powell, the man you appointed, say just yesterday we must do more? Did you hear Ben Bernanke, the Republican Fed chair who led our country out of the Great Recession, say don't repeat the mistakes made back then?
Again, a message to all of you in Washington this morning, do your job for the millions of Americans who don't have one because time is running out.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Poppy, I'm so glad you did that. I know a lot of folks viewing are experiencing this economic pain very personally, right? You know, behind each of those numbers, you know, every week the new unemployment claims, the people whose furloughs are turning into permanent job losses, those are families.
HARLOW: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Those are people with children.
HARLOW: Totally.
SCIUTTO: Those are people struggling to feed those families.
HARLOW: Yes. Yes.
SCIUTTO: Well, it's a -- we're going to stay on top of it, Poppy and I, we promise you that.
[09:35:03]
HARLOW: We promise. Yes.
SCIUTTO: Yes. And there were, of course, strong words from the Federal Reserve chairman highlighting the need for economic support in the country.
And now CNN's Christine Romans joins us to talk about the impact on the broader economy if no stimulus deal.
Tell us how this plays out here in the numbers with people's livelihoods.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, we already know that about half of American families with children have either suffered a job loss or they have lost income of some sort over the summer. So this is already, you know, family kitchen table economics here that everyone is feeling every single -- every single day.
We know the business roundtable, these are the most -- the most famous executives, biggest chief executives of the biggest companies out with a warning basically alarm that there could be a pause in the talks or a halt to the talks for a stimulus saying failure to reach a deal would worsen the crisis, it could be harder to recover from this, prolong the crisis for our country if you don't get additional relief here.
I would say universally yesterday when the president said this, that they're not talking anymore about stimulus, there was alarm and disappointment across, you know, across the spectrum of industries.
Now, this morning, you've got a stock market higher here, in part because last night about 10:00 the president seemed to be dangling some individual stimulus measures, like relief for airlines, for example. Now, that's something maybe they could get some agreement on relief for airlines and save some of those tens of thousands of jobs that have been cut just in the past week or so. So maybe there's some hope there.
But I'll tell you, politically, you know, it's hard to understand what the gambit was here for this president just saying he was going to walk away from this and focus on the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court nomination alone.
I mean there are millions of people really suffering. Maybe not the president's close personal friends and family, but you know that main street is in a whole lot of hurt right now, even though we've added some jobs, even though the jobless rate is back down to 7.9 percent, it still really hurts out there.
HARLOW: A hundred percent. I wouldn't hold your breath for these individual deals.
ROMANS: You think so?
HARLOW: You know, Meadows -- Meadows just said the negotiations are off. So, you know?
SCIUTTO: Yes.
ROMANS: Yes.
HARLOW: It's like if they don't -- if we didn't do our jobs, we wouldn't have jobs. So, Washington, do your job.
ROMANS: But, you know, it's so interesting to me, you guys, because the -- this was probably going to fizzle out -- stimulus talks probably were going to fizzle out anyway. Just a couple of days ago, the big Wall Street strategists were saying next year you'll get -- maybe with a new administration you'll get a big, big stimulus package. So the president said -- basically killed the deal that could have died anyway.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
ROMANS: So he takes the blame for more reason.
HARLOW: Yes.
ROMANS: Like, politically, I mean don't even understand why he did that.
SCIUTTO: Well, also the suggestion of doing partial deals, right, just on, for instance, airline support. I mean that's been on the table for weeks now.
HARLOW: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Rejected. Outright. Blocked by Republicans.
ROMANS: Basically he's going backwards. He's going backwards five weeks.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
ROMANS: He's moved the conversation backwards five weeks.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: Grateful for you, Romans. Thank you very much.
ROMANS: Yes. Bye, guys.
HARLOW: Also tonight, big, high stakes debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris in just hours. We will speak with the first ever black female senator, also a Biden surrogate, about the significance of tonight.
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[09:42:34]
SCIUTTO: Well, this morning, a familiar warning perhaps, people living along an already storm weary Louisiana coast are keeping a very close eye on Hurricane Delta. That name just sounds threatening. Right now Delta is battering Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It made landfall this morning as a strong category two storms, packing winds of 110 miles an hour. You see some pictures there.
HARLOW: Yes. Wow. It's expected to reemerge in the Gulf of Mexico later today where it could regain strength before turning toward the United States.
Matt Rivers joins us in what is usually a beautiful resort town of Playa del Carmen, not far from where Delta made landfall.
Good morning, Matt.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Jim and Poppy. Certainly not a beautiful resort town today, although the skies are beginning to clear after what was an extremely stormy night here for residents along the Yucatan Peninsula, starting up north in Cancun, down to Puerto Morelos (ph), where this storm made landfall, and also here in Playa del Carmen, about 20 minutes south of where that landfall happened.
As you mentioned, it made landfall as a strong category two storm. And this really took people here by surprise. I mean on Monday we were tracking that was a tropical depression in the Mexico City bureau. We were keeping our eyes on it. And then, on Tuesday morning, we woke up and found ourselves needing to travel here to cover a hurricane. It was a very fast moving storm.
And today the big question is going to be what kind of wind damage is there. This is not a rain making storm, at least here on this peninsula. But the winds were quite strong. Quite concentrated, especially where that storm came ashore. And so throughout the day today we're going to go take a look to see what kind of damage might have happened as a result of this storm.
It is moving quickly. It is moving away from where I am. It is moving toward the United States. Most computer models at this point have the storm heading towards the state of Louisiana. And what we saw here and what damage we will see here will likely be some sort of a preview to what we might -- in the United States as this storm continues its northbound trek likely towards Louisiana.
Jim and poppy.
SCIUTTO: Matt Rivers, thanks very much. We're going to keep you posted as that storm heads towards the U.S. coast.
And we'll be right back.
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[09:49:17] HARLOW: Well, health care workers, as you know, face the tremendous stress of being at constant risk.
SCIUTTO: Yes. No question. More so than really anybody. In Los Angeles, one woman also worries what might happen to her own family members as many of them work right now on the front lines with her.
CNN's Miguel Marquez has the story.
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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Julia Jimenez, a front-line working in the fight against the coronavirus.
JULIA JIMENEZ, FRONTLINE WORKER: Sometimes I do go to the breakroom and I take everything off and I just -- I break down and I start crying. I do that a lot.
MARQUEZ: Jimenez is part of a family of health care workers. Her mother, cousins, aunts, all working as nurses or in hospital administration. She's lived mainly in hotels since March, isolated from her parents and son, worried about their health and economic wellbeing.
[09:50:04]
MARQUEZ (on camera): What is the level of stress in your life?
JIMENEZ: I don't know. I don't sleep very well. It's -- I'm very, very stressed. It's not an easy time.
MARQUEZ: On a scale of one to ten, if 10 is the worst?
JIMENEZ: I'm an 11.
MARQUEZ (voice over): Stressed at work. Stressed at home. Stressed seeing others not taking the pandemic seriously. Hoping now that the president has it --
JIMENEZ: But I hope that he'll change his message to people saying that they really do need to take it seriously and not make so many jokes about not wearing the mask. Like, now you see firsthand how serious it is.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to disappear one day. It's like a miracle, it will disappear.
MARQUEZ: The president --
TRUMP: I don't wear masks like him. Every time you see him, he's got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from -- and he shows up with the biggest mask I've ever seen.
MARQUEZ: The number one driver of misinformation about the pandemic says a new study from Cornell University. In the report, mentions of Donald Trump made up nearly 38 percent of the misinformation conversation, what researchers call an info-demic (ph).
MARQUEZ (on camera): Where is this country right now?
JIMENEZ: I think we're in big trouble and that it's going to get worse, a lot worse, before it gets better.
MARQUEZ (voice over): She knows too well. Part of a large, Mexican- American familial, living across several states, 17 members of her own family have been sickened with the virus. Her Aunt Luli (ph), once the life of the party, she says, is on a ventilator for more than a month now.
JIMENEZ: I look at my patients every day like, you know, I would hate it if that was my family member. And now it is.
MARQUEZ: The coronavirus does not discriminate from a Mexican-American family to the first family.
JIMENEZ: I think our country is in bad shape right now and they're getting really bad advice.
MARQUEZ: This frontline worker's hope, all America will now understand, Covid-19 is a killer and isn't going anywhere any time soon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Goodness. Those final moments, just heartbreaking. That was Miguel Marquez reporting.
News this morning, the president returning to the Oval Office today, two days after returning home from the hospital. Of course the question, is he still infectious? Stay with us. We'll be discussing.
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[09:56:36]
SCIUTTO: A very good Wednesday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto.
HARLOW: And I'm Poppy Harlow.
This morning, the White House says it is preparing for the president, still infected with Covid-19, to make a return to the Oval Office.
And just moments ago, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows claimed the president is, quote, doing quite well. Doing really well, that was his exact quote, and that he wanted to get back to the Oval Office yesterday.
SCIUTTO: This as the White House, the nation's house, is experiencing its own hot spot. And that outbreak continuing to grow. So far at least 19 people who work at or have recently been to the White House for events have tested positive for coronavirus. This includes members of the military. Senior adviser to the president, Stephen Miller, is just the latest to become infected. And, tonight, a major, high-stakes debate between Vice President Pence
and Senator Kamala Harris, of course, the Democratic nominee for vice president. One that will include now Plexiglas barriers on stage for safety.
First, let's get to CNN's John Harwood. He's at the White House for more on what the president is saying -- what the White House, rather, is saying about the president's condition. What are they saying and what facts, what data has the public been privy to, to confirm what the White House is claiming about his health?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, not much facts at all, Jim, just some descriptions from the doctor yesterday in a brief note saying that Trump has reported no symptoms. That is self-reported no symptoms. Not details on the president's vital signs or results of any examination or anything like that. Mark Meadows saying that the president's doing very well. But, of course, Mark Meadows is not a doctor.
We do know that the president has been holed up in the residence after busting out of Walter Reed over the weekend, on significant medications. He's been taking a steroid, dexamethasone.
He's been feeling sorry for himself, we can see from his Twitter feed, complaining that FDA regulations about the safety of a new vaccine are a political hit job on him. We saw that he pulled the plug on stimulus talks with Nancy Pelosi and the Congress yesterday. And then after there was some criticism, he seemed to reverse himself and propose some progress on individual stimulus-related issues.
And now the president wants to go to the Oval Office today, even though he remains infectious, as the White House -- as the West Wing has been turned into sort of a ghost town with so many people either sick themselves or quarantining because they're concerned about being sick. It all had Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S. government, shaking his head.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Take a look at what happened this week at the White House. That is a reality right there. And every day that goes by, more people are popping up that are infected. It's not a hoax. It's an unfortunate situation when you see something like that, because that could have been prevented.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARWOOD: Now, of course, this is just a microcosm of the national response by the Trump administration that has seen more than 210,000 Americans lose their lives. And so if you look at that in context, it's very hard to avoid the conclusion, Jim, that the president is a danger to himself and to the people around him, as well as to the country.
[10:00:02] SCIUTTO: Yes, and Dr. Fauci says that the death toll could double this winter to 400,000 Americans.
