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After Halting Stimulus Talks, Trump Urges Congress to Pass Relief; Tonight, Pence, Harris Face Off in Vice Presidential Debate; E.U. Nations Struggle with Second COVID-19 Wave Ahead of Winter. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired October 07, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN INSIDE POLITICS: Big stimulus negotiations are off, the White House says today, meaning things look bleak for individuals and businesses who were hoping for a coronavirus economy lifeline from Washington.

But the Supreme Court confirmation process is on. Senate Republicans insisting they can keep their faster-track plan in place despite three active COVID-19 infections in the Senate GOP rank. So, something critically important to the president and conservatives is on, something critically important to millions of struggling Americans is, at the moment anyway, off. Navigating dicey politics is part of the job if you accept a leadership role.

Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming is a member of the Senate GOP leadership team. Senator, it's good to see you today. I'm grateful for your time.

How do you handle this? As you know, you're not on the ballot this year but you do have a number of your fellow Republicans and they have this dynamic in the House as well, vulnerable Democrats, saying, why can't we get our act together, why can't we pass something to help with economic relief? The president pulled the plug on it with a tweet yesterday and then financial markets got rattled and the president seems to be trying to backtrack a little bit, re-tweeting himself even, if you look at this.

He says, if I am sent a standalone bill for stimulus checks, they will he go out to our great immediately. And then he re-tweeted that move fast, putting the pressure on Speaker Pelosi. It's a mess right now. What can be done?

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): Well, there are still people, John, that need help. And the president is right to want to do it in a targeted way. He's tweeted a number of things, including paycheck protection so we can keep people on the payroll. Remember just a couple of weeks ago, Republicans took that bill to the floor of the Senate. 52 Republicans voted for it and the entire Democratic Senate team voted against it. They all filibustered it. So, I have been saying for a long time, I don't believe Nancy Pelosi actually wants a deal. I wish she did. And I think she views this as something that would give the president a bit of a victory prior to the election so that she's not going to allow that.

And so the discussions are not just about the cost of the bill, it's about what's contained in it. And when I read what she's proposed, it's a ransom note. I mean, she wants money to go to bailout states that have been poorly run for decades, wants money to go for tax breaks for millionaires in New York and in California. We need to keep this focused on getting people back to work, getting kids back to school and helping get the disease behind us.

KING: Well, senator, I'm old enough to remember a Washington where it might be possible to pass more than one bill in a month. That Washington hasn't existed for some time. And you're well aware of that, because of the partisan differences between the Republicans and Democrats in the House and now the White House.

I want you to listen to the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, who is trying to be an honest broker here. He's appointed by President Trump and he says, to all of you -- all of you, people need help. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses.

By contrasts, the risks of overdoing it seem to, for now, be smaller.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: So, you say the speaker's plan is too big. She says your plan is too small. Chairman Powell says the economy desperately needs help. Why can't we figure out, where is the goldilocks moment, why can't we get to just right?

BARRASSO: Well, I think we can get to just right on the money figure but we're not going to get to just right as long as she continues with these poison pills that I mentioned in this bill, which is really a liberal wish list that she's put out there with all of this money to states that have been irresponsible, with additional significant unemployment benefits that are enhanced, that are bonus checks to go out and continue, which keep people off the payroll.

We have help wanted signs here in Wyoming. I talked to people at a chamber of commerce event the other night, they're saying we need workers. And if Washington continues to pay more to people to not work than to work, it's going to be harder to get folks back to work. So there are areas we have agreement. We ought to limit this to just things that deal with getting people back to work, getting the disease behind us and getting kids safely back to school so they don't fall further behind, John.

KING: I want to ask you, sir, the level of your concern. You're a member of the Senate Republican leadership. If you look at the numbers right now, if you look at the president's numbers right now, and as you know, a ticket splitting largely at thing of the past in America, if the president's numbers don't change, you're going to be in the minority in January. It's just a fact if you look at the numbers.

And this from Washington Post story today. A GOP group working to elect Senate Republicans conducted polling over the weekend in four states, Colorado, Georgia, Montana and North Carolina, as the president was hospitalized, the president's numbers dropped significantly in every state, falling by about five points in all four.

What do you need the president of the United States to do right now to right his own ship and to keep you, since I assume you would rather stay in the majority than be in the minority, what must change now?

BARRASSO: Well, I think we're going to see a vice presidential debate tonight, which is going to be the most consequential vice presidential debate since they started doing these, John, in 1976. I think people watching both of these candidates will be watching to say, who is ready to be commander in chief because what we know right now is Joe Biden is turning 78 next year.

[11:35:08]

We know the president has coronavirus. So I think people are going to be watching with an increased interest and focus.

When I look at those two individuals, Joe Biden is somebody who clearly has long years of experience in Congress and governor for two terms, popular governor of Indiana, other governors that have worked with him, Republican and Democrat, really looked at him as a mature, experienced, respected voice. Kamala Harris, I served with her. I like her personally, but I will tell you, her voting is the most liberal member of the United States, even more liberal than Bernie Sanders.

And on issue after issue, when she applauds defunding the police, the things that she has supported in terms of the green new deal would be a terrible blow to our economy. The things they talk about, about raising taxes, so all of those things are going to be on the table tonight as part of this debate. And she may be mainstream in California but she's far to the extreme of most mainstream Americans.

KING: We will watch the debate tonight. I agree with you, it's more interesting than normal V.P. debate. But you're putting a lot of pressure on Mike Pence there, back to the bigger point. about where the president's numbers are at the moment. But we will watch it play out. It's a fascinating campaign. Senator John Barrasso, grateful for your time, sir.

BARRASSO: Thank you, John.

KING: Thank you.

Up next for us, the Justice Department announcing the indictment of two ISIS fighters accused of killing Americans. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:00]

KING: This important breaking news just in to CNN, the Justice Department just announcing charges against two ISIS fighters accused of kidnapping and murdering four Americans. Prosecutors say these two part of an execution ISIS-style due in court this afternoon.

CNN's Jessica Schneider is here. Jessica, tell us what we know about these arrests.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. John, these are two high-profile ISIS fighters. They had been detained in Iraq by the U.S. military since their capture in 2018, but we have just learned that they will appear in federal court in Virginia this afternoon to face multiple charges, all related to their brutal beatings and beheadings of at least four Americans.

You'll remember their names. They were American journalist, James Foley, Steven Sotloff, as well as American aid workers Peter Kasig and Kayla Mueller.

Now, their families have been appealing to the U.S. government for years now to bring those two captured fighters here to the United States to face justice. And today, the FBI director appeared alongside the top official in the national security division of the Department of Justice to announce that those fighters will be here in the United States to face justice.

Here is how John Demers put it. He's the top national security official at DOJ.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN DEMERS, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, NATIONAL SECURITY: You will face American justice in an American courtroom and the prospect of many years in an American prison. Either way, you will never live in peace. You will be pursued to the ends of the earth. No matter how long it takes, we will never forget. We will never quit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: And these two ISIS fighters were part of a cell that was led by a man known as Jihadi John. He was actually killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2015. These two ISIS fighters who are coming here to the United States, they were captured in 2018.

John, they're 30-year-olds. They have been extradited here under an agreement under with the British government that the Department of Justice will not, in fact, seek the death penalty here. But as you heard from John Demers, their punishment is expected to be severe nonetheless. John?

KING: Very important news. Jessica Schneider, I appreciate the breaking news update there for us. When we come back, up next, it is debate night, this time for the vice presidential candidates. And before we bring it today, how about a flashback. This, a memorable moment from the 2008 vice presidential debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nice to meet you. Can I call you Joe?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You can call me Joe.

PALIN: Thanks. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

KING: Priority number for Senator Kamala Harris tonight is do no harm. Yes, that's an old cliche, but it also happens to be true. The Biden/Harris ticket has a clear lead and clear momentum 27 days to Election Day.

So, tonight's vice presidential debate is a giant opportunity for Senator Harris to cement her role as a new national Democratic leader. One key, how does she respond when Vice President Mike Pence paints her as the new face of the radical left?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The number one mistake for Harris to avoid is letting herself get pulled into saying things that will make it easier to peg the Biden/Harris ticket as far to the left. Kamala Harris needs to avoid giving any ammunition to the trump campaign to make the case that Joe Biden is actually very far to the left, socialist, et cetera. And because her record is further to the left than Biden's is, she presents that risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is a Democrat and former Congressman, now in the job Harris held before she was elected to the Senate. Mr. Attorney General, it is great to see you.

You get the terrain here pretty well, a House member, a former House member, now attorney general of the great state of California. Mike Pence is going to turn to Kamala Harris tonight and say, you're to the left of Bernie Sanders, you're the radical left. Joe Biden is a puppet of the radical left and you want to defund the police and raise taxes. What's the answer?

XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: She'll say what all Americans already know. Joe Biden is steady, he's strong and he's going to lead. And he doesn't get sick. And Kamala Harris is his partner. It's going to be the Biden agenda. They are going to build back America better.

And what they are going to do is prove that you can do this while you bring everyone in America together along the ride.

[11:50:03]

KING: So I'm interested in your thoughts at the moment as you watch this race play out. We all remember 2016. So we don't want to overinvest in the polls. But if you look what has happened nationally and in the key battleground states in the last ten days, our new CNN poll has a 16-point lead for Biden/Harris over Trump/Pence. The Wall Street Journal had it at 14. The battleground state polls have come in.

If you look deeper into the numbers in those polls, choice for president overall, Biden, 57, Trump, 41, among women, Biden, 66, Trump 32. That is a mind-blowing gender gap. Among seniors, reliable voters, Biden, 60, Trump, 39. Among independents, Biden 57, Trump 38.

Attorney General Becerra, this is an enormous opportunity for the Democratic ticket, and not only to win the White House. But if those numbers stay like that, the Senate will flip as well, which means there's enormous pressure in a vice presidential debate on Senator Harris tonight, a debate like none other. Because the age of the two presidential candidates, number one, and the fact that the current president is confined to the White House with coronavirus.

BECERRA: John, you've said it all. Reliable voters, as you just mentioned, they are looking for a reliable president. And they are looking for a vice president who can stand right next to the president and lead when necessary.

And I think Kamala Harris is going to do a phenomenal job of prosecuting the case for Biden/Harris. She's done it before, she'll do it again. And it makes no difference how experienced V.P. Mike Pence might be. I think you're going to find Kamala Harris as ready. She is tough, she's smart. But, look, she is ready for the blows and she knows what's coming.

We saw what happened in that first debate where President Trump was totally out of control. Joe Biden was strong, he was steady, tough, smart, again, reliable. People are looking for someone reliable in these very difficult, crazy times.

KING: Joe Biden knows he's comfortably in the lead right now and he's trying to keep it that way. I want you to listen to a snippet of a speech he made, an important speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he talked about he views his job as trying to unite people and bring back a word we haven't heard in this town for a long time, bipartisanship. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Too many Americans see our public life not as an arena for mediation of our differences but rather they see it as an occasion for total, unrelenting partisan warfare. Instead of treating each other's party as the opposition, they treat them as the enemy. This must end. We need to revive the spirit of bipartisanship in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: General Becerra, you served in the House here in Washington at a time when the polarization was increasing, maybe not quite where it is now, but increasing. You know a lot of progressives think when they hear him talk about that, he's stuck in a time warp. Some of them don't want to cooperate with Republicans and some of them think it's just impossible, they're not going to cooperate with you anyway even if you stick out your hand.

Is that the right message in the general election or does Joe Biden risk deflating a little bit turnout among the most loyal progressives?

BECERRA: John, it's Joe Biden. He's reflecting the decency that we've always seen in Joe Biden, and, quite honestly, the outreach that he's always had. You can talk to Republican senators, well, maybe not right now during this heated political time. But I guarantee you, they would all tell you Joe Biden was easily one of their best friends on the Democratic side.

Joe Biden has always been this way. He's always reached out. So it should surprise no one that that's the way he treats this campaign. And that's the way he's going to treat this as president. He's not going to look at you as an R or a D, he's going to look at you like an American. And that's the beauty that I think people are beginning to see contrast Joe Biden with Donald Trump.

Joe Biden wants to win as president with everyone's vote. He doesn't want to leave anyone behind. And right now, during COVID, the last thing we need is to have Americans who are left behind.

KING: We may get to put that bipartisan thing to a test if the numbers don't change in 27 days. But as you all know, General Becerra, 27 days, it's another cliche but it can be an eternity in politics. We'll get through it together. I appreciate your time today, sir.

BECERRA: Thanks, John.

KING: Thank you.

Still ahead for us, coronavirus cases rising across Europe, including Germany, now seeing levels not seen there since April.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:00]

KING: Europe right now bracing for a long winter because of a second surge of COVID-19 that is already under way. The hardest hit nations at the moment, Czech Republic, Spain and the Netherlands. Fred Pleitgen has this update from Berlin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Berlin, which has been declared a coronavirus hot spot as this country sees a steep rise in new coronavirus infections.

Now, the German Center for Disease Control recorded more than 2,800 new infections in a span of 24 hours for the first time since the middle of April. And while Germany is still faring a lot better than most European countries, Angela Merkel has said she is concerned about the situation also because of the amount of people who are in intensive care and need to be ventilated is also on the rise.

Here in Berlin, the local authorities have identified Berlin's vibrant party scene as one of the main culprits for the new rise in infections and they are taking some new fairly drastic measures.

[12:02:00]

They are telling stores, bars, restaurants to shut down in the hours from 11:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M.