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Wisconsin to Construct Pop-Up Hospital; Interview with Former Senator Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL); Veteran Unemployment Quadrupled During Pandemic. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 08, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Those rising numbers are forcing state leaders to impose new restrictions geared towards curbing the spread.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's a shame because you wonder if simple steps like mask-wearing more broadly could have prevented this. CNN's Alexandra Field joins us now from New York.

Alexandra, take us what's happening nationwide especially in Wisconsin now, where they're seeing a real surge in both cases and hospitalizations.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and the state is sending a very clear signal that this is real and that they need to prepare to handle what could be a continued surge in hospitalizations.

We've seen Wisconsin, over the last few days, continually breaking records for the number of cases, for the number of deaths, for the number of hospitalizations -- just yesterday. Now, the state has announced that they will open up a pop-up hospital on the state fairgrounds as early as next week. That is in order to bring some relief to the state hospital system that will feel (ph) the effects of this surge.

And this is not just limited to Wisconsin. You've got public health officials who are concerned about increases in hospitalizations in seven other states across the Midwest and out toward the western part of the country.

At the same time right here in New York, where you have one of the lowest positivity rates across the nation, officials are concerned about a cluster of cases. This is a cluster that has affected parts of Brooklyn and Queens. You've seen city and state officials ramping up restrictions over the past week.

But today, a new plan goes into effect. The hardest hit areas have been designated as red zones. People living in those red zones will face very strict restrictions, the closing of nonessential businesses, the closing of schools, limits on religious gatherings of just 10 people and restaurants will only be open for take-out.

As you get a little bit farther away from those red zones, the restrictions ease up. Officials are saying this is a way of directly targeting the most affected areas without rolling back reopening for the entire city. The hope, of course, is that this will work -- Jim, Poppy.

HARLOW: Let's really hope so because --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: -- New York had gotten on such a good track. Alex, thanks for that reporting.

Ahead for us, another 840,000 first-time unemployment claims just last week, but there is one group of Americans who are facing an unemployment rate almost double the national average. We're talking about veterans. Our reporting on that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:36:58]

HARLOW: A current sitting senator, a black woman who is just the second black woman to become a U.S. senator, was on the vice presidential debate stage last night, and no amount of name-calling this morning can take away from the history that Senator Harris made. But still, here was the president this morning.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via telephone): I thought that wasn't even a contest last night. She was terrible, she was -- I don't think you could get worse, and totally unlikeable. And she is. And this monster that was on stage with Mike Pence -- who destroyed her last night, by the way, but -- this monster --

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HARLOW: With me now is the first black woman to become a U.S. senator, Carol Moseley Braun. She is the former U.S. senator of the state of Illinois, former U.S. ambassador to New Zealand. And in 2003, she campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination. She's endorsed Joe Biden. She joins us by phone.

Good morning, Ambassador.

FMR. SEN. CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN (D-IL) (via telephone): Good morning, Poppy, I'm delighted to be with you.

HARLOW: I am delighted to have you as well. Your reaction to the president calling Senator Harris a monster, and the significance of last night for women and black women across this country?

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): At the outset, I want to say I thought she did a wonderful, wonderful job. I was delighted that she was able to stay -- she kept focus, her answers were succinct, she didn't talk over the moderator, you know, she was just straightforward and she told the truth. I don't -- the president's reaction, I don't know what to say. I mean,

this man lies about everything, every, every, everything. I mean, it's a wonder -- I mean, I have to thank her, thank Kamala for her restraint in not saying, liar, liar, pants on fire last night, you know?

(LAUGHTER)

Because they lie about everything, and it's just kind of shocking, actually, that truth has so little currency with this administration. I just don't understand it.

HARLOW: Did she have to thread that needle that so many talk about women having to do, but particularly black women?

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): She really did. She did a great job. She was able to thread the needle and not come across as angry, not come across as sharp-tongued. I mean, she did everything right last night and I was very, very proud of her and I'm delighted that she was able to make -- I mean, the first question out of the box had to do with COVID and 200,000 dead Americans. And she just knocked it out of the park.

So she was able to go -- respond to every question succinctly and to the point and with facts and with truth, and that they kept resorting -- that Mike Pence kept resorting to these tropes, these tired old tropes was just -- and dog whistles.

I mean, I thought it was just shocking that he wouldn't respond honestly about the whole issue, what are you going to do about, you know, the ruffians that are out here trying to undo the election? Or the -- in terms of transfer of power. it's like, what?

HARLOW: Ambassador, there is one very important question that Senator Harris did not answer. She did not answer last night -- nor has she in the past, nor has Vice President Biden -- to the direct question of if elected, would you pack the Supreme Court.

[10:40:12]

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): Right.

HARLOW: And she had ample opportunity to do that last night, so here is the vice president, Mike Pence's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just want the record to reflect she never answered the question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: I ask because it's a monumental issue. Shouldn't voters know where they stand before they vote?

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): No. Here's the short -- it's a hypothetical. So what you're doing is condemning somebody for not responding to a hypothetical straw man. I mean, how does this get to be an issue? You know, we -- Joe -- the election hasn't happened yet, and in fact they're trying to railroad a Supreme Court nominee in the time, the 27 days that are left, without giving the American people a chance to be heard in the election.

You know, if it turns out that Joe Biden wins the election, then all the norms and the history says that it should be his choice. So --

HARLOW: So -- sorry.

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): -- whether or not he's going to pack the court does -- you know, voids even answering that question because they haven't responded yet.

HARLOW: OK, Ambassador -- Ambassador, just one note, I don't -- the reason I think it is important and not just a hypothetical is because there are progressive leaders in the party -- a number of them, including, you know, Mayor Pete Buttigieg who just this morning reiterated his position supporting this -- there a number of leaders in the party who are supporting it.

And as you know, Vice President Biden said in June that he would release a list of African-American women that he would consider appointing to the court and we still don't have that list. So there is an issue, is there not, of transparency for the American people --

(CROSSTALK)

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): -- we may not have --

HARLOW: -- on their position on the highest court in the land, I guess that's my point.

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): And Poppy, let me say this. No, and I get your point, and it's well taken. Because you're right, he will -- he has committed to offer a list of potential nominees, but he's going to get the chance because they're trying to railroad this nomination.

Nobody expected Justice Ginsburg to die when she did. But at the same time, for them now to just, with raw political muscle, to force a nominee when the election is 27 -- less than a month away and people have already started voting, is just wrong. That's not fair.

And so now to go to the next step and say, well, OK, if you don't get your way, are you going to pack the court? Is really to beg the question. I mean, the first question is, why are you trying to pack the court now?

HARLOW: I think that she and Biden will continue to get those questions. We'll see if a list is released and we'll see what happens with these confirmation hearings starting on Monday. I do appreciate your time very much this morning. Ambassador.

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): It's my pleasure, Poppy. I'm so sorry there's no video. HARLOW: Me too! We're going to make it work next time, I promise.

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): Yes, absolutely.

HARLOW: Technology in the age of COVID, thanks so much, Ambassador -- Jim.

MOSELEY BRAUN (via telephone): All right, thank you.

SCIUTTO: Poppy, kudos to you for pushing.

HARLOW: Oh, thank you.

SCIUTTO: It's an important question, hypothetical or not. We'll keep asking it.

Also this morning, the Labor Department is reporting another 840,000 Americans filed for first-time -- that's first-time unemployment benefits last week. All those figures there, more than any single week during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

Congress and the White House still have no deal to get millions of Americans the financial help they are asking for, but the president claimed this morning the two sides are now talking. You may remember he pulled the plug on those negotiations just days ago.

HARLOW: It is just not clear this morning exactly what the president is talking about because, again, he totally ended the negotiations two days ago. We're getting mixed messages and one group is really especially feeling the economic impact, and that is veterans. Our Vanessa Yurkevich joins us with more.

Vanessa, good morning. So glad you're doing this reporting. Explain the disproportionate impact of this economic fallout on veterans.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Jim and Poppy. Well, much of the veteran community is a vulnerable community already, many suffering from homelessness and mental health issues. And this pandemic has only exacerbated that. Those unemployment numbers are trending in the wrong direction and that is leaving more than half a million veterans still looking for work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Tyrone Roark found himself homeless in the middle of a pandemic.

TYRONE ROARK, HOMELESS VETERAN: I was very terrified.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): He went shelter to shelter, afraid he could get the coronavirus with his compromised immune system.

ROARK: I just try to survive everybody, staying in my bed, sleeping most of the time and figuring out how I was going to get out of there. YURKEVICH (voice-over): Roark, an Air Force veteran who served the country for 10 years, then another 10 with the Department of Veteran Affairs, was out of a job and in poor health. In June, he says the stress put him in the hospital with heart failure. That put him in a walker.

[10:45:03]

ROARK: The emotional stress is causing a great deal of serious concerns here for my heart.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Last year, 37,000 veterans were homeless in the U.S. Advocacy groups say the pandemic could make it worse.

JAMES FITZGERALD, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, NYC VETERANS ALLIANCE: You had a lot of those homeless individuals that were still dealing with ongoing mental health issues, which leads to higher rates of homelessness as well; disproportionate amounts of unemployment.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The unemployment rate for veterans was 2.8 percent at the end of last year. But when the pandemic hit, that number more than quadrupled. Even today, more than half a million veterans are still searching for work.

Timothy McDonough spent 21 and a half years in the military. He walked away with a traumatic brain injury, PTSD and 14 surgeries. Now, he's facing financial uncertainty.

TIMOTHY MCDONOUGH, VETERAN FACING FINANCIAL UNCERTAINTY: One major tire blowout or, you know, losing a car away from looking to borrow money from somewhere else. So it's really kind of tight.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Made worse by the fact that his girlfriend lost her job in March, right when they bought their new home. They say the extra $600 in unemployment helped keep them afloat. But without it, they rely on his disability checks.

EVA DUNNE, UNEMPLOYED: We're getting back into, OK, we have to really start focusing, budgeting, planning because we don't exactly know what the future looks like just yet.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Their hope is they will both have new jobs as food truck owners feeding homeless vets: him at the stove, her taking orders. They say the need now is more than ever.

YURKEVICH: You want to start this food truck. Are you concerned about the economic recovery as well?

MCDONOUGH: Absolutely because again, as -- thinking of doing it as a nonprofit, we would rely on the goodness of other people to give money to help us get it going.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The V.A. says it paid out $600 million in stimulus to veteran families and placed 15,000 homeless vets in hotels. A local veteran group finally got Roark into a hotel. Now that he says he has his V.A. pension, he's searching for a permanent home but it's not easy.

ROARK: I don't understand the system in terms of how it's supposed to work. There's a lot of politicians out there, a lot of agencies, a lot of folks saying we're here to help. But I'm in a hotel. How do you explain that?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: One of the things that we've heard from the veteran community and so many millions of Americans around the country is that they feel like they've fallen through the cracks. Some are still unable to access unemployment, they can't access grants, can't find housing. And that is why so many private and not-for-profit organizations have stepped in to fill those gaps.

But as we know, Jim and Poppy, there is a solution. The federal government could come up with stimulus in order to support millions of Americans who are suffering around the country right now. But as we know, that deal is still elusive -- Jim and Poppy.

SCIUTTO: Vanessa, thank you for doing that.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: These are real people who made real sacrifices. There are names and families behind those numbers, we appreciate you bringing us those stories.

[10:48:13]

Well this morning, there are questions over whether the president will commit to a peaceful transfer of power -- amazing we're saying that in this country -- after Vice President Pence, like the president, dodged that question last night. "Your Election, Your Vote," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Every day, we are keeping a close eye on this 2020 race. This is your election and your vote is critical. Here are some of the latest important headlines.

More than 5.4 million Americans have already voted in the general election according to a CNN and Edison Research survey. The FBI and local officials are simulating nightmare scenarios to prepare for what could be chaotic scenes leading up to the election.

And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his chief election official said the state has no reason to extend a voter registration deadline. This argument comes as civil rights groups filed a lawsuit after the state's voter registration portal failed on the last day people -- like yourself -- could sign up for the simple act of voting.

HARLOW: What is also happening this morning, CNN has obtained training videos. They include instructions the Trump campaign wants its poll watchers to focus on. Our Kristen Holmes joins us again this morning with more. Good morning, Kristen. Tell us about the videos.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. Well, the videos really show a tale of two strategies. We have what we have seen Donald Trump doing, using incendiary language, saying Democrats are going to steal the election, encouraging his supporters to just show up and watch the polls -- which by the way is not how poll-watching works.

Through these videos, we see there is a much different strategy behind the scenes. And we should keep in mind, poll watchers are a big part of the RNC Trump campaign legal strategy as well.

I mean, take a look at this slide here -- this is from a Colorado training -- of the Do's. I'm just going to summarize them, but they say be courteous to all including Democrats. It says to politely ask questions. It says to dress professionally.

There are some don'ts from Colorado as well that say, don't show up late, don't take audio or video recordings -- something that Trump has alluded to before in the past -- don't be confrontational, don't interfere.

And I want to show you this one from Maine. I'm not going to read you the slide, but I am going to tell you what the speaker actually says underneath this slide. He says, essentially, the key is to behave yourself and not act like a fool.

[10:55:00]

So clearly, here, they want to have people who are in that poll watching official capacity. But I've got to tell you, I am talking to state and local officials and they say that's not what they're worried about. They're worried about the people listening to Donald Trump, these unofficial poll watchers that are going to show up on Election Day.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: Kristen, thank you for the reporting. It's so good to have you now, every morning, with these headlines and everything people need to know in states to get out and vote. Thank you for that, we appreciate it.

If you want to find your polling station, voter registration status or get information on absentee or early voting, Jim, you read it. This is your passion area. Where do people need to go?

SCIUTTO: Folks, it gives you real information.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: CNN.com/vote, go there, get the facts.

HARLOW: Yes. Thanks for being here, we'll see you tomorrow. It's Friday tomorrow. I'm Poppy Harlow. SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. We tried we reached out to the Senate

GOP leadership for any comment on the president's attacks on their fellow senator, Kamala Harris, calling her a monster and a communist. None responded.

If you do -- Senators Barrasso, McConnell or Thune -- have an answer, please share it with us, we'll share it with our audience.

NEWSROOM with John King starts after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]