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Long Waits Reported for Early Voting in Some States; Chilling Details Emerge About Alleged U.S. Terror Plot; Florida's 65 and Older Voters on Trump v. Biden. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 14, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, during a confirmation hearing, the nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett, seemed to be a woman with no past, no opinions, a blank slate. Even though she is likely to be the most conservative of all 9 justices.
A new surge of the coronavirus in the U.S. brings new warnings that hospitals could be overwhelmed and the daily death toll could spike into thousands every day. Just like every credible health expert has warned.
The early morning house call from a friendly neighbor, with the best of news.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You won the Nobel prize and so they're trying to reach you.
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VAUSE: Donald Trump is now headed back on the trail, to win back supporters, for a second term. The plan seems to be more of the same, more lies, defiance of his own administration guidelines, to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Tuesday, his campaign went to Pennsylvania, a state where the number of new COVID cases is now more than 60 percent in the past month, where most of the supporters refuse to wear face masks at his rally, refuse to socially distance. Trips to Iowa and North Carolina, are planned for later this week.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'll tell you what, we have the vaccines are coming soon, the therapeutics and, frankly, the cure. All I know is I took something, whatever the hell it was, I felt good very quickly. I don't know what it was, antibodies, antibodies. I don't know. I took it. I said I felt like superman. You know, I said, let me at them. No, and I could have been here four or five days ago. It's great. We had great doctors. I want to thank the doctors at Walter Reed and Johns Hopkins.
One great thing about being president, if you're not feeling 100 percent, you have more doctors than you thought existed in the world. I was surrounded with, like, 14 of them. Where are you from? I'm from this one. Where are you from? I'm from Johns Hopkins. I'm from Walter Reed but what great talented people. They did a great job.
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VAUSE: Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, Tuesday in Florida telling voters if he wins that swing state, it's all over. President Barack Obama will hit the campaign, trail next week, the former vice president spoke to senior citizens, on Tuesday.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It become painfully clear as his careless, arrogant, reckless COVID response has caused one of the worst tragedies in American history. The only senior that Donald Trump cares about, the only senior is the senior, Donald Trump.
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VAUSE: Meanwhile, Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee tried to convince Senate Democrats that she is no right-wing public wit (ph), no conservative agenda. Amy Coney Barrett refused to say how she would rule on hot button issues like abortion, gay rights, health care. CNN's Phil Mattingly, has more.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, first day of questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, probably defined more by what she did not answer than what she did. Although to some degree it's expected.
Usually Supreme Court nominees don't weigh in on cases day might have to eventually write a decision on, when they do join the court, should they be confirmed. That didn't stop Senate Democrats on the committee, from pressing her repeatedly on a series of issues, issues that they say the stakes could not be higher on, with the court potentially moving even further to the conservative side than it's been maybe in 70, 80 years.
That includes the Affordable Care Act, which the Supreme Court will take up just a few days after the election, also potential election law cases, that could come from a contested election. The nominee responded to the questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AMY CONEY BARRETT, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CANDIDATE: I have the integrity to act consistently with my oath and apply the law, as the law, to approach the ACA and every other statute without bias. And I have not made any commitments or deals or anything like that. I am not here on a mission to destroy the Affordable Care Act.
I am just here to apply the law and adhere to the rule of law. No matter what anyone else may think or expect, I have not committed to anyone or so much as signaled, I've never even written -- I've been in a couple of opinions in the 7th Circuit that have been around the edges of election law.
But I haven't even written anything that I would think anybody could reasonably say, oh, this is how she might resolve an election dispute.
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MATTINGLY: Obviously, not a lot of detail there. Not a lot of detail on many of the questions Democrats asked. But expect them to continue to press. Obviously, a marathon session on Tuesday, another one to follow on Wednesday.
And the Democrats aren't just trying sink the nomination. They understand, just like Republicans do, the nomination remains on track for confirmation. But they want more than anything else, to raise public awareness, particularly, three weeks before a hotly contested election on issues they believe are politically advantageous to them.
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MATTINGLY: They believe fire up their base and their members. Expect that to continue, also, expect members to try to keep digging, see if they can get some more information out of the nominee, before she continues her path to confirmation over the course of the next following weeks -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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VAUSE: Susan Hennessey is a CNN national security and legal analyst as well as executive editor of the "Lawfare" blog. She is with us this hour from Washington.
Susan, thank you for being with us.
What was interesting today, this game that Supreme Court nominees play with senators refusing to give definitive answers.
Like in this case where Barrett stands on the legality of the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare. And this is an issue which will come before the supreme court a week after the election.
And this is what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARRETT: I think that your concern is that because I critiqued the statutory reasoning that I'm hostile to the ACA. And that because I'm hostile to the ACA that I would decide a case a particular way.
And I assure that I am not. I am not hostile to the ACA.
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VAUSE: That that may be disappointing to one President Donald J. Trump who promised back in 2015 --
"If I win the presidency, my judicial appointments will do the right thing unlike Bush's appointee, John Roberts on ObamaCare."
That's a reference to Chief Justice Roberts who sided with the four liberal justices in a ruling which actually ObamaCare.
Is the reality here that the Democrats can't stop Barrett's confirmation but they can certainly hammer home what the political and real world consequences will be?
SUSAN HENNESSEY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY & LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. So what we're seeing play out is the customary dance that surrounds these nominations all the time by which the nominee sort of pretends to not have any opinion whatsoever on cases that might come before the court.
Despite the fact that everybody in the room, the nominee included, everybody watching on television, knows full well the nominee has been selected precisely for those views on these various issues.
And so to hear Judge Barrett sort of suggest that well, she offered this very, very detailed statutory critique of why John Roberts was wrong on the ACA but there's no way to know how she might rule whenever this case comes up again.
Again, not unusual. Certainly it's consistent (ph) with how prior nominees have sort of acted.
That said, I think a little bit of a farce and pretty clear that she was in fact selected for that very purpose.
One thing that was surprising was the extent to which she was really, really reticent to even say relatively obvious things like whenever she was asked whether or not a president could unilaterally delay an election, sort of declining to answer that question.
That's a no-brainer. That's a really, really easy question to answer. And so Barrett really, really was taking things to the extreme in kind of declining to say anything substantive whatsoever.
VAUSE: Yes. She wouldn't even say voter intimidation was illegal. She sort of punted on that one as well.
There did, however, appear to be one crack in all of that stonewalling. It came over the issue of abortion and the supreme court ruling in Roe versus Wade which legalized abortion. And whether or that was a super-precedent, a case so well settled that it was untouchable. Here she is, listen to this.
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BARRETT: The way that it's used in the scholarship and the way that I was using it in the article that you're reading from was to define cases that are so well settled that no political actors and no people seriously push for their overruling.
And I'm answering a lot of questions about Roe which I think indicates that Roe doesn't fall in that category.
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VAUSE: And when you look at her background, it's hardly surprising that this is where she stands.
Her record on opposing abortion; she delivered a lectures to the "Right to Life" club at the University of Notre Dame where she was teaching. She joined an anti-abortion rights faculty group there. Signed her name to a letter in a local newspaper criticizing what they called Roe's "barbaric legacy."
Many groups opposed to abortion rights have cheered her nomination, religious conservatives are thrilled, they believe this will be the end of legalized abortion in this country or at least limitations to it.
Why the cat and mouse game on this one? And why -- you said this is what they all do but in this case, she's through, she's confirmed. Why not just be honest?
HENNESSEY: Well she hasn't yet been confirmed, right? So she is still in the nomination process and I do think it's part of this sort of tradition.
That said, it's not just clear that Judge Barrett is hostile to reproductive rights and abortion in her personal and private views but also into her jurisprudence.
She's been quite clear -- sort of her legal views on the topic.
That said, there's a little bit of sort of a game played with Roe V. Wade sort of in particular and this question of whether or not Barrett or the other justices might overturn Roe directly.
Really, the question here is about a series of cases and not necessarily whether or not the supreme court is going to overturn Roe and sort of get rid of abortion in one fell swoop. Or instead sort of take an approach of the death by 1,000 cuts.
And essentially interpret cases to be so restrictive of reproductive rights, of abortion rights.
[00:10:00] HENNESSEY: That essentially the right is functionally meaningless and independent (ph) on the state in which an individual actually lives. And so sort of this academic discussion based on the question of how strong the specific precedent is ultimately it is distractionary (sic). Because, again, everybody in that room, everybody watching is well aware of where Judge Barrett and where Justice Barrett would ultimately rule on the question.
VAUSE: Very quickly. We had a letter from her former faculty members of Notre Dame. Almost 90 of them wrote an open letter calling for Amy Coney Barrett to essentially step down from all of this.
Saying that is the only way this can be resolved and end a the divisions within the country.
That's not going to happen though, is it?
HENNESSEY: I think there's no question that that's going to happen. But what that letter is getting to the incredibly unprecedented nature of this confirmation.
A vote that might come up as quickly -- sort of less than a week prior to a presidential election really in a circumstance in which it raises basic questions about the fundamental legitimacy of the court.
And if Judge Barrett was in fact confirmed, the legitimacy and public confidence in the court moving forward.
And these are members of her fellow faculty saying look, this is incumbent upon you to sort of be the adult in the room, put country over personal ambition.
Wait, just wait two weeks until we see who wins the U.S. election, who is elected president so that person can ultimately fill this seat.
That said, I think it's very, very unlikely Judge Barrett will answer that call.
VAUSE: Thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. And yes, you're right. It seems incredibly an unlikely outcome here.
HENNESSEY: Thanks for having me.
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VAUSE: It's not just in the United States but the number of coronavirus cases is rising at an alarming rate worldwide. Johns Hopkins University reporting a few hours ago 38 million people have now been infected.
Among them, an 89 year old women in the Netherlands, the first known person to die after catching the virus twice, raising concerns and questions about immunity and antibodies.
And for months how health experts have been warning of a dreaded second, wave which now seems to have arrived. And this country, is woefully unprepared, here is CNN's Erica Hill.
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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND U.S. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than seven months into this pandemic, the U.S. is sliding backwards.
DR. PETER HOTEZ, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: This is going to be a very tough winter. We may see a rise in new cases that exceeds what we saw back in March and April.
HILL: Thirty-three states now seeing new cases rise over the past week, nearly half of those also posting their highest seven-day averages for new cases since the pandemic began.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Now is the time to act. Now is the time to do something about it.
HILL: COVID-related hospitalizations at record highs in five states. Positivity rates, which ideally should be at 3 percent or less, are climbing.
FAUCI: We're starting to see a number of states well above that, which is often and, in fact, invariably highly predictive of a resurgence of cases.
HILL: In New York, hefty fines and tickets, as the city tries to contain clusters by enforcing masks, limiting gatherings and closing nonessential businesses.
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: We're now in day four of the pause in those areas. And we are seeing some results.
HILL: It's not just New York clamping down. Across much of Europe, restrictions are returning, as new cases and anxiety grow.
DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Each of the last four days has been the highest number of cases reported so far.
HILL: Eli Lilly pausing its trial of an antibody treatment today, one touted by the president, telling CNN safety is of the utmost importance, though without offering specifics.
Johnson & Johnson just paused phase three of its vaccine trial because of an unexpected illness in one of the volunteers.
DR. ASHISH JHA, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: To me, it's reassuring that companies are acting responsibly and pausing when they need to.
HILL: AstraZeneca's U.S. trials remain on hold, pending an FDA investigation.
Meantime, in Dallas, a big moment for Major League Baseball.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is amazing. HILL: Spectators, more than 11,000, allowed in for game one of the NLCS.
FREDDIE FREEMAN, ATLANTA BRAVES: It's just great to have baseball fans in the stands again.
HILL: The Philadelphia Eagles will welcome a limited number of fans to the stadium this Sunday.
While there are some bright spots when it comes to major league sports in New York City, the New York Philharmonic is canceling its entire season for the first time in its 178 years since history, the president and CEO calling the decision "dreadful" -- In New York, I'm Erica Hill, CNN.
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VAUSE: Dr. Ravina Kullar is an epidemiologist and expert on infectious diseases. And she's with us this hour from Los Angeles.
Doctor, thank you for taking the time.
I don't if you saw it but a few hours ago on "FOX NEWS," former CNN and former MSNBC anchor Tucker Carlson seemed almost unhinged during an anti-mask tirade claiming the public has been lied to.
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VAUSE: Masks actually increase the chances of spreading the coronavirus. Here's part of it.
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TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Dissent used to be a defining feature of American life but no more. Now we have mandatory consensus.
Masks are good. Anyone who questions the utter goodness of masks is bad. What they're really telling you is that masks are magic.
What appears to be a flimsy cotton face covering is, in fact, a holy amulet that protects us from the disease more reliably than any modern medicine.
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VAUSE: And so it goes on. Carlson cites this CDC study which he claims found that almost
everyone who caught the coronavirus wore a mask either all or some of the time.
The problem is the study does not make that conclusion at all. It was picked up, misquoted on social media. Facebook flagged it as misinformation. The actual findings are quite the opposite. But beyond the poor and totally irresponsible journalism by Carlson,
Just how dangerous is that sort of rant? At this point in time.
RAVINA KULLAR, SPOKESWOMAN, INFECTIOUS DISEASES SOCIETY OF AMERICA: Well, first of all, I want to thank you, John, for having me on.
And that is a very dangerous statement to be made because we are in the midst of this pandemic. We have over 38 million cases worldwide, about over one million people have died worldwide.
Here in the U.S. alone, over 220,000 people have died.
We know for a fact that masks do work, we know for a fact that physical distancing works.
We know for a fact that avoiding mass gatherings whether it's a peaceful protest, where it's a political rally, whether it's a college football game, all of those they work.
So this is very concerning that this late in the game when we are knee deep in this pandemic that there are points being made against a masks. Which are our only infection prevention measure we have. As well as those other measures which I pointed out as well.
VAUSE: President Trump was again out on the trail. He was telling his supporters life is great after COVID, something that more than 220,000 Americans are unable to say.
He claims to have immunity. And that came with a warning from Dr. Fauci. Here he is. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: He has an immune response in him that very likely would protect him from being reinfected.
But we've got to be careful about that. Because we're starting to see a number of cases that are being reported of people who get reinfected, well-documented cases of people who were infected. After a relatively brief period of time measured anywhere from weeks to several months, come back, get exposed and get infected again.
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VAUSE: And those words seem to take extra meaning now that we know of this first case of someone dying from catching COVID-19 twice. And really, there were underlying health issues with this woman, she was a cancer patient.
But clearly they say that COVID-19, a second time, was the cause of death.
KULLAR: Yes. I think Dr. Fauci brings back a great point. That reinfection can happen.
But I want to take a step back and state that there have been 38 million cases worldwide. And to date, there have only been 22 reinfection cases. So I think something to keep in mind is that we still don't know this whole picture of immunity; how long is someone immune for, is it -- from our studies, we've seen potentially three months.
So President Trump stating that he is completely immune, I think that's too early of a statement to be made.
We're still figuring out what immunity looks like, who develops immunity, who are those individuals that do get reinfected, what are some risk factors that they have? That story still has to be delved further into.
VAUSE: I want to talk very briefly talk about a vaccine. Because Johnson & Johnson's trial remain on hold after a volunteer became ill.
Listen to the company's CFO with more details. Here he is.
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JOE WOLK, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, JOHNSON & JOHNSON: We don't know even at this point whether that individual was in the placebo arm or the vaccinated arm.
And we just have to do a little bit more diligence through the independent external panel before we can make any conclusive decisions going forward.
But again, in speaking with our scientific team especially for a study that's this large, 60,000 patients, to have an adverse event or two unexpectedly is not uncommon.
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VAUSE: And that's the point here. Because this is sort of how vaccines are trialed. And this is why making those sort of statements, that a vaccine can be ready within weeks or days or months, whatever, just seems to be kind of pointless.
And in a way counterproductive because it undermines the credibility of the process, doesn't it?
KULLAR: That's correct, John. These randomized control trials, these clinical trials that are being conducted and these vaccines are looking at the efficacy and the safety.
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KULLAR: So it's not uncommon for there to be these trials halted because there's some unknown illness that comes about in these patients.
Keep in mind, these are healthy volunteers that walk-in and they may develop an unforeseen illness whether that's related to the vaccine or not. Either way these vaccines trials are going to be halted, they're going to be investigated and they're going to be restarted.
So it does beg the question that will these clinical trials be done in one year or two years or will it take longer?
The fastest I've seen a clinical trial being done is the mumps vaccine, that got done in about four years. It typically takes about 10 years for these clinical trials to be completed.
But I'm very hopeful that -- these are Operation Warp Speed clinical trials being down in this pandemic and these trials are being halted because safety is key.
VAUSE: Yes. And that's the point, isn't it? That it's about the protocols and the safety measures which are in place. And that's why they're being stopped at the moment, right?
KULLAR: That's correct. Solely because of safety to reevaluate and reassess those patients and to determine whether it is safe to continue the clinical trials.
VAUSE: OK. Dr. Ravina, thank you so much -- Ravina Kullar, I should say. Thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
KULLAR: Thank you, John.
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VAUSE: When we come back, facing a second wave of the coronavirus, countries in Europe trying new measures to slow the spread. But in some cities it's clear that many Europeans are fed up with restrictions.
Also millions already tested for COVID-19 in China in just two days. What the results show.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody,
Europe is now reporting more deadly coronavirus infections than the U.S., Brazil or India. Countries which have been driving the global case count for months. The second wave in Europe is bringing tighter restrictions, at a time where so many are already facing pandemic fatigue. CNN's Cyril Vanier has the latest.
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CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The socially distanced swab at a walk through testing center in Berlin. The few people CNN met here this morning have coronavirus symptoms. Most simply found out the people they've been in contact with have tested positive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My boss has got It
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were in a restaurant last week and then a few days later he informed me that he is infected, so that's why I have to do the test.
VANIER (voice-over): Detecting and breaking chains of contamination, this is the pillar of Europe's response to the pandemic. But it hasn't stopped cases from rising.
Neither in Germany, which has just reported its highest weekly infection numbers since April; nor across the continent. Faced with a second wave, Europe is gradually imposing new restrictions.
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VANIER (voice-over): The Czech Republic, the country with the most infections per capita, is shutting down schools on Wednesday, as well as the usual targets. Bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Only days after the last set of measures.
In the U.K., worst affected areas, like Liverpool, gyms, pubs, bars, casinos and betting shops are closing down for at least 4 weeks. But after revelations that the government failed to act on scientific advice, many are already calling for tougher measures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government's plan simply isn't working. Another course is needed. That's why I'm calling for a 2- to 3-week circuit breaker.
VANIER (voice-over): While the second wave is not yet as deadly as the first, health systems are once again coming under stress.
In Belgium, several hospitals are canceling nonurgent care, due to the influx of COVID patients. And more measures are looming, French president Emmanuel Macron, set to address the nation on Wednesday, after chairing a defense counsel.
And German chancellor Angela Merkel may announce new restrictions, after meeting with the state prime ministers.
And in yet another warning sign for European leaders, the public is not always on board with the public health restrictions. The last week alone has seen anti-mask and anti-restriction protests in London, Dublin, Rome and Madrid -- Cyril Vanier, CNN, London.
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VAUSE: More than 7 and a half million people in China, have been tested for COVID-19, in just 2 days, in one city. And already, more than 4 million test results are, in so far not one new positive case.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, is in Hong Kong, with the very latest on this
So 7 million people out of 9 million, that is pretty quick going, there they ordered this mass testing after 12 positive results were found over the weekend.
But the question here, how reliable are these results, how confident are we that these results are accurate? KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: That is the question right now. As we are taking the mind-boggling scale of this operation that has been underway, in the northeastern Chinese city, it reported that over 7.5 million people have been tested in a matter of days. Over 4 million tests have been returned say the officials there, saying that no new additional positive cases of COVID-19 have been detected so far.
But as you mentioned, what prompted this, 12 cases were detected over the weekend and that's what prompted this city of 9 billion people to launch this mass rapid testing blitz. And that has happened before in China when clusters were detected in Beijing, in Wuhan, in other cities.
And this is believed to be effective in bringing down the overall rate of infection inside China. But just how effective is it? Well, the method that they're using is called pool testing.
And as you see on your screen it involves quite a number of staffers, hundreds of centers, thousands of staffers. And in pool testing, it involves taking a pool of 3 to 10 samples and then a lab tests the pool. If the pool tests negative, they move on to the next batch.
If it tests positive, they then go back to carry out individual tests to find out who inside the pool is carrying the virus. This method of testing is believed to be fast, precise. But to carry this out, in a span of only 5 days, that may not be ideal, at least, according to one top virologist that I spoke, to at Hong Kong university, take a listen to what he has to say.
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JIN DONG-YAN, VIROLOGY PROFESSOR, HONG KONG UNIVERSITY: I think that mass testing at these scales is actually a waste of resources and it may not be helpful in many different contexts. Because positive patients actually being picked up over a range of time is not -- just a snapshot. So, this is just a snapshot. So, it definitely -- it will mean a lot of positive individuals.
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STOUT: Dr. Jin Dong-yan of Hong Kong University there, a virologist, telling me he believes the testing operation underway, a mass testing operation at this scale, is, quote "a waste of resources."
He cites that in any sort of super spreading event, he cited the recent White House event as an example, to find additional positive cases will require at least a week, so 5 days to carry out this operation, according to his logic, it's just not enough. Back to you, John.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. She is there for, us in Hong Kong.
We'll take a break, when we come back we will talk about a domestic terror plot in the U.S., which may have had more than one high-profile target. We will hear from the FBI, in just a moment.
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VAUSE: Already more than 10 million voters have cast their ballot in the U.S. presidential election. A record turnout, which is placing unprecedented strains on an already struggling infrastructure. There are reports of mechanical problems, long lines, and waits of up to eight hours in some parts.
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CNN's Pamela Brown is covering the story.
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PAMELA BROWN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another state, another day of hours, and long lines, and some mishaps as voters go to the polls. This time, Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody's come out to vote here. Line's around the corner.
BROWN: Across the Lone Star State, Houston, Fort Hood, South Austin, all with long lines as voters take advantage of the start of early voting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just came out, so I would say about two and a half hours.
BROWN: In Harris County, early voters hoping to use drive-through voting are facing similar delays.
In Travis County, where a whopping 97 percent of the county's 850,000 eligible voters are registered to vote, some voting machines weren't working, after waking up to news of a late-night ruling upholding Republican Governor Greg Abbott's directive for one ballot drop box per county in the state. A major issue for densely-populated counties, where voters could spend more than an hour driving, just to cast their vote.
CHRIS HOLLINS, HARRIS COUNTY CLERK: More than 50 miles, in some cases, to drop off their mail ballot. It's unfair, it's prejudicial, and it's dangerous.
BROWN: It comes a day after a similar start in Georgia, were voters waited for hours to vote. In Gwinnett County, some voters waiting in line for up to eight hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to be out there and to be able to share my voice.
BROWN: And Georgia setting an early voting record with nearly 127,000 ballots cast, some of the more than 10 and a half million cast nationwide.
Today, no different. More voters, more long lines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So many people have sacrificed before us, so it's almost a spit in their face if we don't take the time to show our kids that they have this right, and it's best used as early as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go on down. Go on down.
BROWN: But voting rights advocates say it's not OK to make people wait like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via phone): There have been problems with poll pads, with ballot access cards, with obviously social distancing, and -- and just taking a lot longer to process through lines.
BROWN: In Virginia, the last day of voter registration saw the state's online registration system was down for several hours, due to an I.T. cable that was accidentally severed, prompting calls from some state leaders to extend the registration deadline.
Meanwhile, in California, unofficial ballot drop boxes, potentially illegal in the state, as the state's Democratic secretary of state and the Department of Justice are sending a cease-and-desist order to the California Republican Party, to remove them in at least three counties.
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ALEX PADILLA, CALIFORNIA SECRETARY OF STATE: This is wrong no matter who is doing it. And it's not just a security of the ballot that's in question here. It is, you know, the transparency, the vote of confidence.
BROWN: The state Republican Party spokesman telling CNN he believes the boxes are similar to giving the ballot to a family member to drop off, which is legal in California.
While in New York, the city's police commissioner informed all uniformed service members to be prepared for deployment starting October 25, citing the possibility of protests before and after the 2020 presidential election, according to an internal memo obtained by CNN.
Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.
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VAUSE: An alleged domestic terrorism plot in the U.S. now seems to have been targeting not one but two state governors. New details have been revealed in testimony from an FBI agent during court proceedings.
Brynn Gingras has our report.
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BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, wasn't the only sitting governor with a target on their back by a group of alleged extremists. Virginia's governor, Ralph Northam, was also eyed by the 13 men charged in an alleged domestic terrorism plot foiled by the FBI.
GOV. RALPH NORTHAM (D-VA): We don't work under a cloud of intimidation, and I'll continue to serve Virginia.
GINGRAS: The new details of the chilling scheme were revealed by an FBI agent during a bond hearing, where three of the six men, charged federally, were denied release. The other men are charged at the state level.
The agent testified that, in an early June meeting, the group discussed possible targets, including taking out a sitting governor, but specifically governors of Michigan and Virginia, over shutdown orders due to the coronavirus. An informant who attended that meeting flagged the potential violence to the FBI.
Whitmer and Northam, both Democrats and both criticized for their response to COVID-19 in their states, particularly from the president, who said this about Northam, in May.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I might. Be careful. I might. I'll be there. We're going after Virginia. With your crazy governor, we're going after Virginia. They want to take your Second Amendment away. You know that, right?
GINGRAS: Trump early on in the pandemic also singled out the two states in tweets: "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!" and "LIBERATE VIRGINIA".
NORTHAM: When language is used such as to liberate Virginia, people -- they find meaning in those words. And thus, these things happen, and that's regrettable.
GINGRAS: The White House said in a statement the president condemns white supremacists, and passed the blame to both governors, saying they are sowing division.
It's not clear if the group's alleged plans were inspired by the president's tweets, but the agent testified that they did want to carry out the kidnapping of Whitmer by election day. Their idea, in part, called for sending an explosive device to her vacation home.
In another option, the agent testified they wanted to, quote, "take her out on the boat, and leave her out in the middle of Lake Michigan" by disabling the engine.
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): I knew this job would be hard, but I'll be honest. I never could have imagined anything like this.
GINGRAS: A federal complaint, unsealed last week, shows the man, some recruited from an anti-government group called Wolverine Watchmen, connected through rallies, meetings, and social media.
Together they planned, practiced, and even conducted surveillance in the hopes of executing their missions, which also included storming Michigan's capital building and warding off law enforcement by blowing up their vehicles, according to the complaint.
Brynn Gingras, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: With that, we'll take a short break. You're watching CNN.
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VAUSE: An Italian teenager, known by many as the patron saint of the Internet, is a step closer to real sainthood. The Vatican says Carlo Acutis was beatified in Assisi, Italy, for curing a Brazilian boy who had a rare disease.
Acutis died of leukemia in 2006. He was only 15 years old. But before his death, he built a website which tracked miracles, which has been used around the world.
Normally, someone banging on the front door in the middle of the night isn't a good thing. But for a California professor, the wake-up call brought some very welcome news.
Paul Milgrom's neighbor and colleague told him around 2 o'clock in the morning, Pacific Time, they'd won the Nobel Prize in economics. The moment captured by a front porch security camera.
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ROBERT WILSON, NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMICS WINNER: Paul?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paul?
WILSON: It's Bob Wilson.
PAUL MILGROM, NOBEL PRIZE IN ECONOMICS WINNER: Yes.
WILSON: You've won the Nobel -- You've won the Nobel Prize. And so they're trying to reach you, but they cannot. They don't seem to have a number for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We gave them your cell phone number. Will -- will you answer your phone?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: When the Nobel committee was unable to reach Milgrom by phone, Robert Wilson says he had to go over to Milgrom's house in P.J.s to wake up his partner.
They're professors at Stanford University. Milgrom and Wilson were honored for theoretical discoveries that improve how auctions actually work.
The Royal Swedish Academy says they designed auction formats for goods and services like radio frequencies that are difficult to sell in a traditional way.
What a mourning call. That was great.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. WORLD SPORT starts after the break. I'll be back in 15 minutes.
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