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Early Voting Brings Long Lines, Record Turnout; U.S. Justice Department, Unmasking Probe Ends with No Charges; Ceasefire collapses in Nagorno-Karabakh; IMF Calls for More Help to Poor Countries; Heart- wrenching Toll of COVID-19; Europe Proposes Dramatic Second Wave Measures; U.S. Nears 8 Million Confirmed COVID Cases; Herd Immunity Explained; Taskforce's Second Wave Prediction Review. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 15, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Ahead this hour. Curfews, mandatory masks, warnings of lockdowns. With Europe in the grip of a second wave with the coronavirus, this year from hell is ending much like it began.
It's all about leadership. With the U.S. leading the world in death and daily infections, the president seems to be leading the wave with his super spreader campaign tour rolling on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Not being able to go back to where it was. I lost my dad. It's very hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: First the virus came to his father then to seven other family members. And now it's taken his American dream.
We begin with the second wave of the coronavirus, more severe than the first sweeping across Europe and the Middle East.
Over the past week infections have risen sharply, notably in countries where the virus was once under control.
On Wednesday, Russia, Italy and Iran all reported record spikes in new cases with Iran seeing its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began.
Some of the worst affected regions of Germany will now see limits on the numbers allowed to gather socially.
Chancellor Angela Merkel is urging younger adults to follow the rules and is warning of tougher measures if infection rates continue to rise. Starting Saturday, about a third of France's population will be under
a 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew which will be in effect for at least four weeks.
But President Emmanuel Macron wants Parliament to extend the curfew until December.
And with tight restrictions on the numbers allowed at restaurants it seems many in France have been gathering privately, 50 or even 60 at a time, according to Macron who warns that has to stop.
CNN's Melissa Bell is following all of this from Bordeaux.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New restrictions tonight announced by the French president on national television. A system of curfews here in France from Saturday.
Those hardest hit cities will see not only all of their businesses closing from 9:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m., but people expected to be at home.
And beyond that, what Emmanuel Macron has told the French was first of all of the danger of the virus, of the severity of this second wave but mostly of the danger to France's health care system.
Which is why he explained that from Saturday not only will the system of curfews come into effect but France will enter into a state of sanitary emergency.
Which essentially gives local authorities the power to decide on any further restrictions that might be needed to bring the COVID-19 figures back under control.
Melissa Bell. CNN, Bordeaux.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: A spike in coronavirus cases across the U.K. has exposed political divisions and ignited a firestorm of criticism over Boris Johnson's strategy to stem the rising infection rates.
The prime minister faced off with the opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer parliament. Starmer called for a circuit breaker, essentially a short, sharp but nationwide lockdown.
This was the prime minister's response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Let's try to avoid the misery of another national lockdown which he would want to impose, as I say, in a headlong way.
And let's work together.
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT: Yes.
JOHNSON: Let's work together as he was prepared to do (inaudible), to keep kids in school who he would now yank out --
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT: Hear, hear, hear.
JOHNSON: -- yank out of school in a preemptory way. Keep our economy going --
MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT: Hear, hear.
JOHNSON: -- and keep jobs and livelihoods supported in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Each of the United Kingdom's four nations is taking a different strategy to stem the rise in coronavirus cases.
Wales announced it will ban travelers from entering the region from coronavirus hotspots that are England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, quickly voiced her support for the Welsh government's decision saying that this is a public health decision not a political one.
Northern Ireland, on the other hand, will be closing schools from Monday and pubs and restaurants will have new restrictions starting Friday.
Here in Liverpool, the first city to fall under England's new COVID alert system, restrictions are in place that shut down pubs, bars, casinos, gyms.
[01:05:00]
And households are banned from mixing together indoors.
This was also met with resistance by Liverpool's local city council. Officials here saying Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has failed to communicate and coordinate their strategy.
All of these debates taking place as the number of coronavirus infections continues to rise across the United Kingdom.
Selma Abdelaziz. CNN, Liverpool.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, met with the premiers from this country's 16 federal states on Wednesday afternoon.
And several hours after she was expected to address the German press she finally held a late night press conference where she announced that new restrictions, the more uniform restrictions, that the group had agreed upon.
Right now coronavirus rules and restrictions across states are a real patchwork with not a whole lot of consistency and so primarily this group was trying to address that.
So what they agreed on is that any place that's deemed to be a virus hotspot, that reached the threshold that they've set out which includes most large cities in this country will have to close down bars and restaurants by 11:00 p.m. There will not be any alcohol sales allowed after that.
In these virus hotspots there will also be limits on social gatherings to just 10 people in public spaces, two households in private homes.
They're going to see how those measures work out over the next 10 days or so.
But if the numbers of new infections doesn't start to flatten, Merkel made quite clear that she is prepared to try to bring in even stricter measures to get a handle on this virus.
The chancellor called this fall a decisive, critical period and said that it is very, very important that everyone continues to contribute. Pointing out that Germany has been a lot more successful in tamping down the virus than many of its European neighbors.
But of course, they're just hoping that it stays that way.
Scott McLean. CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Dominic Thomas is CNN's European affairs commentator. He is with us from Los Angeles. It's been a long time.
Good to have you with us, Dominic.
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, John. Great to see you.
VAUSE: OK. So when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus, one of these leaders is not like the other ones.
One has not been infected with COVID-19, one has listened to scientists and from what we know has been open and transparent with her country.
I just gave it away. This is real easy; one of them is a woman. So who is it?
THOMAS: Well, John, I love quizzes. So I'm going to go with Angela Merkel on this one.
And yes, lots has been written, lots has been shared about women leaders, prime ministers, chancellors, and the ways in which they've dealt with this particular pandemic.
But I think the case of Angela Merkel is a particular one.
Scientific belief is at the core of who she is, it's her professional background. But I think even more importantly, the German people trust her and trust her own government.
Now the irony, of course, of this situation is that her individual actions given the geography of Europe and so on mean that the COVID problem has not gone away.
And the three other leaders that you mentioned, Bolsonaro and Johnson and then Trump, it's almost as if there's been a kind of global cross pollination of their ideas and their attempts, the sort of collective effort, to undermine the health message on COVID.
And has led to this particular situation that we're in now that's making it difficult for governments to deal with this problem.
VAUSE: It's a good point. Because we're also hearing from the British opposition Labor leader, he's among many calling for a lockdown, a circuit breaker, they call it.
And he made this appeal directly to the prime minister.
Listen to this.
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KEIR STARMER, BRITISH OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY LEADER: I also want to say this directly to the prime minister.
You know that the scientific evidence backs this approach. You know that the restrictions you introduced won't be enough. You know that a circuit breaker is needed now to get this virus under control.
You can't keep delaying this and come back to the House of Commons every few weeks with another plan that won't work.
So act now, break the cycle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: What is stunningly similar is the arguments that we're hearing from -- if it's the U.K. conservative government or whether it's the U.S. president or whether it's the president of Brazil, it all comes down to these shutdowns are just way too costly to the economy.
And it's this refusal, I think, to recognize that this is a health crisis first which is causing an economic one.
THOMAS: Absolutely, John. And a failure to understand that these are two are symbiotically linked. That you can't deal with one while ignoring the other.
And I think that that's back to this sort of global cross pollination of these ideas is that you have a kind of Venn diagram in which you find crossing over into different countries sort of the anti-mask, the anti-health, the anti-government guidelines.
[01:10:00]
And ultimately, we're seven months into this now when it comes to the United States and to Europe.
And combined with fatigue there's also the economic reality that for many people the failure of the government to act is also the failure of the government to support people in their businesses, in their work and so on. Especially in the United States.
And people are finding themselves now in these awful situations, in this predicament where they have to make a decision between sending or not sending their kids to school, between working or their businesses going bankrupt.
And so the beliefs and the views of the Bolsonaros and Trumps and Johnson paradoxically have gained some kind of traction.
To the extent that now when, for example, President Macron attempts to impose restrictions in France, they're seen as civil rights liberties, right?
Which is also preventing and undermining and making it increasingly hard for the governments to step up now.
But I think in in the French situation what is so particularly problematic is the fact the post initial lockdown behavior of people in France during the summer which has led to this situation which could be entirely predicted.
And the government now finds itself in this very difficult position between managing the health issues and the massive economic problems that it's going to be facing.
VAUSE: Very quickly. Here's part of an opinion piece from the pro- Labour "Guardian" newspaper. But it sums up what the British conservative government has been doing over the summer.
"Huge amounts of time were lavished at the very highest level on vanity obsessions that were entirely ludicrous in the circumstances; blowing up the civil service or starting facile culture wars or launching some wheeze to reorganize the armed forces, or refusing to press pause on a Brexit that will now hit in the deep midwinter grips of the second wave."
All the health experts have said this past summer in the northern hemisphere was a crucial moment to prepare for a winter that will be very, very bad.
And that opportunity on both sides of the Atlantic seems to have been squandered and both leaders could sooner or later pay a very high price politically for that.
THOMAS: Yes, they absolutely could. And we're going to see how this plays out first of all in the election year.
We got to see Brexit and then followed shortly after that in 2016 with the U.S. election. Here things have turned around, we have the election coming up in the United States.
And it'll be interesting to see how the COVID issue factors into the election or non reelection of President Trump.
But it's absolutely clear that that particular behavior is a failure of government in the case -- of the British case to deal with this major issue that was the responsibility of the government to respond to.
And we're going to see whether eventually at the polls these governments end up paying for this.
VAUSE: Dominic, thank you. It's always good to see you. Appreciate you being with us.
Dominic Thomas there in Los Angeles.
THOMAS: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Next hour I will be speaking with infectious disease and global health expert Dr. Peter Drobac from Oxford.
And again, we'll address the second wave and how that is now affecting many parts of Europe.
Now for the latest on a vaccine. Russia has registered a second candidate.
President Vladimir Putin calls it EPIVAC Corona, produced in Siberia.
The next phase of clinical trials will involve 40,000 volunteers. Russia's first vaccine, Sputnik-V, is now in stage three trials.
Well, the U.S. reporting its worst coronavirus numbers in months. And as infections rise so too the number of people admitted to hospitals.
Ahead, what one city is doing to try and tackle that problem.
Also, the pandemic and politics. Another Trump rally, another potential almost certain super spreader event.
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[01:15:00]
VAUSE: Coronavirus infection rates have soared in the U.S. to their highest level in two months.
More than 50,000 cases are being reported every day pushing the country closer to 8 million confirmed infections since the pandemic began. That is by far the worst outbreak in the world.
Not a single U.S. state is trending in the right direction.
Once again, hospital admissions are on the rise, that's putting further strain on the health care system. And then deaths will surely follow.
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, officials now opened a field hospital to deal with an overflow of patients.
We have more details now from CNN's Nick Watt.
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NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A field hospital opened outside Milwaukee today. Why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TONY EVERS (D-WIS), WISCONSIN: Over the last month, our hospitalizations have nearly tripled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTS: Now at an all-time high in Wisconsin. Similar situation in these five states. Record numbers in the hospital now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MARK MCCLELLAN, FMR. U.S. FDA COMMISSIONER: Maybe people are just getting a little bit tired of having to deal with the pandemic. The trends are very worrisome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTS: Average new COVID-19 case counts rising in a staggering 36 states. Not a single state moving in the right direction.
Florida once more on the rise. Saturday the Gators football coach was bullish.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN MULLEN, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA: Hopefully, the university administration decides to let us pack this one (ph) for LSU this week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: That game now postponed, their entire football program paused. Twenty-one players have tested positive.
Across this country, we're averaging more than 50,000 new cases a day, for the first time in two months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. JONATHAN REINER, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: For the short term, we have to hunker down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: There are masks, distancing, regulations in many public places. But we're spreading the virus at small family gathering, says the CDC director.
Got to be vigilant at Thanksgiving.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINER: Frankly, I'd rather do a Zoom thanksgiving with people that I love than expose them to something that might kill them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Some new info about this deadly virus. Immunity after infection can last months according to three new reports. Good news for the vaccine hunt.
And good news if you're blood type O. You might be at less risk of infection or a severe illness, according to two new studies.
Meanwhile, some White House advisers reportedly pushing a herd immunity strategy. Protect the elderly but let the virus spread amongst the young.
The aim? Effectively immunize enough people to slow spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WILLIAM HASELTINE, FMR. PROFESSOR, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: I'm extremely concerned that the president is being advised by people who speak of herd immunity.
Herd immunity is another word for mass murder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: In New York, they're playing life or death whack-a-mole right now.
A Sweet 16 on Long Island just spawned nearly 40 cases. And in the city --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, N.Y.: We're threatened with a full blown second wave in New York City. If that happened, the entire city would have to go back to the restrictions we knew in March and April.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: And here's another harsh reality check. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-N.Y.): This is not going away anytime soon. I think best case scenario we're looking at another year by the time -- even if everything works out well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: Nick Watt. CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, a little more now on herd immunity.
In theory, the virus would be able to run its course unchecked.
To be effective, at least 60 percent of the population needs to be infected. Those who survive, manage to beat COVID-19, will be immune because they have the antibodies and be virus-free. While those who are killed by the virus, well, the virus will die with them.
That was the case for the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.
But with COVID-19 right now in the U.S., for example, 3 percent of the population have been infected. So to get to 60 percent, that's 20 times the number.
Twenty times 210,000 people will have to die. That's about four million people all up (ph).
And right now, there are so many unknowns about just how long immunity might last, if at all. Which makes this herd immunity theory almost impossible to rely on.
Even as the White House endorses herd immunity, health experts are warning the strategy will actually be so deadly, it'll kill so many people, it'll be in the millions.
CNN medical analyst, Dr. Leana Wen spoke to CNN earlier about what is a dangerous strategy.
[01:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: So herd immunity is not a public health strategy when it comes to COVID-19.
Public health is about protecting the public's health. But trying for herd immunity through natural infection with COVID-19 means that we would be deliberately, knowingly, purposefully facilitating infections and deaths.
That's a worst-case scenario.
So what herd immunity means that if you get 60 to 80 percent of the population infected and they then recover and ideally have immunity, you're able to protect everyone else in the community.
Here's the problem though. To get to that level, we're talking about 200 million Americans who'll have to get COVID-19. Even if you have a death rate of 1 percent, that's 2 million Americans who would have to die.
And in this case, we don't know how long immunity will last. It could be only a matter of months, maybe up to a year.
That means to reach this herd immunity concept, that's 2 million or more people would have to die every year.
That's not a strategy. That's deliberately killing many Americans.
When we look at what President Trump is doing right now, having these massive rallies in areas that are undergoing spread and talking about how himself is immune and others are immune, he is essentially advocating for that herd immunity strategy.
Where you hear other top advisers make comments about how children don't get infected -- which is not true -- or that somehow you can wall off the older people who are more vulnerable, they are advocating for a herd immunity strategy.
It doesn't even matter what we call it, it's a matter of what it is that we're doing. The actions in this case speak a lot louder than words.
And I just hope that the American people will recognize how dangerous this strategy is. It's not a strategy.
This is the worst-case scenario that we're trying to prevent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Now many in the U.S. are looking forward to the holiday season with thanksgiving next month, Christmas and New Year's after.
But with a resurgent pandemic, the nation's leading infectious disease expert is warning Americans may have to sacrifice family gatherings to save lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think people should be very careful and prudent about social gatherings, particularly when members of the family might be at a risk because of their age or their underlying condition.
Namely, you may have to bite the bullet and sacrifice that social gathering unless you're pretty certain that the people that you're dealing with are not infected.
Either they've been very recently tested or they're living a lifestyle in which they don't have any interaction with anybody except you and your family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Experts have been sounding the alarm for months about a second wave in the United States.
But President Trump was pushing a very different message back in April.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It might not come back at all, Jeff. It may not come back at all.
He's talking about a worst-case scenario where you have a big flu and you have some corona. And if it does comes back -- it's not going to come back, and I've spoken to 10 different people. Not going to be like it was.
But it's all possible -- it's also possible it doesn't come back at all.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I understand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Now at the time, the president was even contradicting his own task force who warned of this potential resurgence later in the year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: In fact, I would anticipate that that would actually happen because of the degree of transmissibility.
However, if you come back in the fall, it will be a totally different ball game of what happened when we first got hit with it in the beginning of this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Testing asymptomatics will be key. The asymptomatic piece may be the tip of the iceberg, in fact, be the iceberg underneath the surface.
We think it's fundamental both for right now and going through the fall. Because that will be our early alert if any of the COVID virus reappears.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: We now know that Donald Trump's 14-year-old Barron tested positive for the coronavirus not long after positive results came in for his mother and father.
Melania Trump said his son had no symptoms. All three have since tested negative. The president says Baron is doing fine.
The first lady opened up about her own symptoms on Wednesday saying she had a cough, body aches and fatigue but were minimal.
Despite all of this, President Trump is still holding big rallies with few masks and no social distancing. He held another one on Wednesday night in Iowa.
Even the governor spoke at the rally, defied her own proclamation about people staying six feet apart at those kind of big gatherings.
Some people were not happy with the rally and advertised about it on this billboard -- you can see it right there.
"Trump COVID Super Spreader Event."
CNN's Jim Acosta has details from Des Moines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump staged yet another potential super spreader event at the Des Moines Airport in Iowa with thousands of people on hand.
[01:25:00]
Many in the crowd were not practicing social distancing and they were not wearing masks.
And I had a chance to talk to some of those Trump supporters as they were filing in.
They essentially said they're placing their trust more on the president than the top health experts who say they should be playing it safe.
And here's some of what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Hi, we're just talking to folks about going to the rally tonight and seeing what they think about the health risks of being in a large gathering. Wondering if you had a thought on that, what do you think, is it --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I'm not worried.
ACOSTA: And why is that?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Because it's got a 99.9 percent recovery rate. We're going to live our life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Well, I care about people. I don't want to
give it to them if there's a chance you might be carrying it around, myself.
I'm not worried. I figure the sooner we all get it, the sooner we'll be done with it.
ACOSTA: And you don't think that could lead to a lot of people dying, perhaps, from the virus if --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I think the numbers are vastly inflated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I don't have any concerns at all. You can't live your life in fear and I'm not really scared of this virus. There's all kinds of other viruses out there that could jeopardize your health as well. So can't stop living.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Well, if I'm going to get sick and die, I guess it's my turn. But I trust God and I'm not scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And there are plenty of critics of the president's rally here in the Des Moines area.
As we spotted outside the airport where this rally took place there was a billboard that said "Trump Super Spreader Event" with an arrow pointing to the rally site.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thanks to Jim Acosta, reporting in there from Des Moines, Iowa.
And the old firm of Obama Biden will be back on the campaign trial next week.
Former president, Barack Obama, will hit a number of swing states making the case for his former VP. They say they will practice social distancing throughout all of this.
Party officials are hoping that Obama will focus on those early voting states, in particular close the deal for Joe Biden when it comes to Latino and black men as well as young voters.
Nineteen days and counting until election day.
Millions of Americans are already turning out in record numbers to vote early. Despite waiting in lines at polling stations for hours, even entire days.
More on that when we come back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It's something I have to do. So, it's OK. It's just the price you pay the cast your vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I have voted in every presidential election since I was qualified to vote. And I think it's important, I think we have a say and I think we need to exercise our right to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[01:30:11]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: The voters in the U.S.A. in North Carolina will begin to cast their ballots in just a few hours from now, joining millions of Americans who are already voting early.
Georgia is breaking records for turn out despite some computer glitches. The secretary of state says long lines are simply because some precincts are more popular than others.
In Texas, a suburban Houston county will extend voting hours this week after someone entered the wrong date into the system, which shut down the voting machines. That did not do much to dampen enthusiasm which was incredibly high.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I work in an environment where families can't even come to see their children with COVID because they're sick. He, you know, leaves the hospital to wave at his supporters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're voting for peace and tranquility again. You know, the man himself has turned in this -- turning a lot to red voting people in the blue for this election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I voted Republican all my life and I don't know, you know. I think there is more Republicans that are moving to the other side a little bit on this election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you mind if I ask you who you voting for.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump?
Why are you voting for President Trump? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I feel like rally that whatever he said
he had to do, I think he's completed most -- the majority of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED LAVANDERA, CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Lavandera in Richardson, Texas. Across this state, we are seeing record numbers of people turning out to vote early in the first two days of the early voting period here. Around a million votes already cast. There are about 17 million registered voters in the state.
And here in Richardson, we are in one of the northern suburbs of Dallas. And this is one of those areas where political operatives will be watching very closely here in the weeks ahead leading up to this election.
These are areas that have been reliably Republican for decades in this state. And this is exactly the kind of area where we are seeing evidence that President Trump is alienating so many Republican voters. So the question is how many of these voters will flip from President Trump to vote for Joe Biden in this election.
That is the major question and where many Democrats believe they have a reason to be hopeful. This state has not voted for a Democrats since 1976, Jimmy Carter and a Democrat has at one state wide officer here for almost 25 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
I'm Amara Walker in Marietta, Georgia. We are continuing to see long lines for early voting throughout the state. Part of the reason is that a lot of polling sites are still dealing with issues related to electronic poll pads. These are the electronic voter check-in systems that verifies the voters registration and it generates an access card for the voter to cast their ballot.
The Georgia secretary of states says that this has been a statewide issue. It has caused a crashing of the system in Gwinnett County on Tuesday for half an hour.
Here at this particular location in Cobb County we're told that the slowdown of the system, contributed to a five hour wait time on the first day of early voting which was on Monday.
We are told that officials are working to solve this problem by the end of the week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political analyst. And he's also the senior editor for "The Atlantic" and he is with us from Los Angeles.
Ron, good to see you. RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi John.
VAUSE: Now according to the U.S. elections project, a record setting 15 million votes are already in either by in-person early voting, or by return mail.
As someone who's covered presidential election since Reagan versus Mondale in 1984 where Mondale carried just one state, what does that say to you about the move of the electorate and Trump's chances of a second term?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, first of all by every measure, we are seeing unprecedented engagement for modern times in an American election. You probably saw Joe Biden announce tonight that they've raise $383 million in the month of September. After raising $362 million each setting a record in August from millions of grassroots donors. It's a reflection of how much, you know, intensity there is around this election.
It's entirely possible it will be north of 150 million people voting in November. It is possible that the turnout, the share of eligible voters will be the highest since before women had the right to vote.
Now, you know, normally in the past, you would say that unequivocally benefits Democrats. But President Trump has shown quite a capacity to turn out his voters as well, particularly those non-college white voters.
[01:34:48]
BROWNSTEIN: On the other hand if you look at that 15 million, right now the turnout is through the roof in many of these urban counties that have become Democratic strongholds in Texas. A million people voted on the first day and the Texas Democratic Party models (ph) about 60 percent of them are Democrats.
We're up to 300,000 people in Harris County alone which is Houston has 1.3 million in 2016. How high could that go this time?
VAUSE: And this is a -- there is enthusiasm on both sides. And that's going to see an incredible turnout, a record like never before.
And some Trump voters are -- seem ok with dying to support the president. Listen to this
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. the COVID, it's kind of dangerous and it can be for some people, but for the most of us, we're going to go on with life, you know. If I'm going to get sick and die, I guess it's my turn. I trust God and I'm not scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, Team Trump seems all cult with campaign right now. But in areas that simply vote Democrat, what we're seeing is each incredibly long lines, you know, day long wait, drop boxes have been removed to the point where there is only in these huge counties.
Is this now bringing the Republican strategy into focus in man ways -- motivate Trump's base, and if that motivates the Democrats, then make it harder for them vote.
BROWNSTEIN: Look, suppression has been a cornerstone of the Republican strategy really since 2010 with the way the voter ID laws that were passed. It's gotten more and more overt since the Supreme Court led by John Roberts in 2013 struck down a critical provision of our voting rights act in the Shelby County decision. And by and large, Republican =s have chosen a strategy, they're trying suppress the vote of diverse and metro America rather than trying to appeal to it.
But the story so far, John is not only suppression. It is intention. I mean if you're talking about 300,000 people already in one county in Texas voting. And a million on the first day. And what do we see in Georgia, 750,000 already? There are a lot of people who are making their way through these obstacles to vote. And you know, what you saw from those Trump supporters, does reflect about a third of the country. You know, that it's saying let's just move on and it is what it is, as the president says.
The problem is that it is a third of the country, and each time, he does one of these rallies as he gets tonight in a state in Iowa where the caseload is rising precipitously and he held a rally without masks, without social distancing -- that is the message he sends to the state. More than anything he says on stage, the fact that that rally says to the voters there that no matter how long he is president, no matter how many people get sick, no matter how many people die, he is not going to take this seriously
And again, that leaves him on the short side of public opinion.
VAUSE: And it was, you mentioned this, it is notable that as many of those supporters arrive for that rally in Des Moines, Iowa they were greeted and reminded by this anti-Trump billboard. It was flashing -- this is a super spreader event go this way.
Yet again, you know, some of the president's supporters, that just doesn't seem to mean a whole lot. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any health concerns with COVID going around? And being at a large event? What do you think about that, Sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, I care about people. I don't want to give it to him if there is a chance you might be carrying it around myself. I'm not worried. I figured the sooner we all get it, the sooner we'll be done with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Which unfortunately is not right, but you know, Trump carried Iowa by 10 points in 2016. This time it's a toss-up state. Notably though, down ticket Democrat Theresa Greenfield leading Republican senator Joni Ernst there. Is this a snapshot of the overall situation with the Trump campaign if you look at it nationwide?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. By and large. I mean if you look at the Rust Belt states, particularly the three that made him president -- Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania but also Iowa and Ohio, he is not performing nearly as well as he did in 2016 among white voters without a college degree.
And obviously he's continuing to erode among white voters with a college degree. The movement that we saw beginning in big numbers in 2018.
In the Sun Belt, he's holding those non-college whites a little better, and there is challenges that the diversity of the electorate just grows every four years.
But right now, he is really looking uphill in those three critical states -- Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. That tipped him the election. If he's even in Iowa and he's even in Ohio which are more Republican than the other three, it kind of gives you an idea of where those battlegrounds are.
Whatever else you say about Joe Biden, he is laser-focused on those three states. I mean he is a 77 year old white guy. The job he was hired to do by the party was not so much to turn out younger, non- white voters in the Sun Belt but to win back some of those right of center, blue collar and even white collar voters in the Rust Belt.
And look at his travel, look at the money. He is, unlike Hillary Clinton, really intently focused on those three states -- Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin with Florida and Arizona kind of next in line.
VAUSE: But it also seems to be a master class here in that old saying, there's no need to murder your opponent when they're committing suicide.
Ron, it's good to see you. Thank you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, John.
[01:39:53]
VAUSE: Throughout Trump's first term, he's been obsessing over what he called the biggest political scandal this country has ever seen. The key point to all of this was unmasking -- a term which refers to publicly revealing the identity of an American who is named in a foreign intelligence report.
This was part of what Trump said was a domestic spying operation on his 2016 campaign overseen by then President Barack Obama.
Fox News called it the biggest abuse of power the country had ever seen. And Attorney General Bill Barr opened an investigation into the Obama administration's request for the names or unmasking of U.S. citizens mentioned in those foreign reports. And to the surprise of almost no one, that investigation concluded there was no wrongdoing. Here's the former Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: This is yet another example of the politicization of the Department of Justice, and of this president's ability to use the institutions of our federal government, the institutions we rely on in this case the DOJ, to pursue his own political agenda.
And I think he can't say it often enough, this is ,different this is not happened with other, we have never seen this happen before. You know, every attorney general is somewhat beholden to the president because they are a political appointee, but this is very different.
So to have people like Devin Nunez, who was the chairman of the Intelligence -- House Intelligence Committee. Rand Paul, others. People who know how intelligence work, how the unmasking process works, why it's essential to understanding intelligence, to turn this into some sort of a conspiracy, in an effort to support the president's political narrative. And for the Justice Department to pick that up and pursue an investigation on absolutely no grounds, it's disgusting. It's just absolutely horrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well President Trump has repeatedly claimed that unmasking is a misuse of authority. The level of unmasking has increased during his administration.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are blaming each other for violating a temporary ceasefire, broken by Russia. Azerbaijan's president accused Armenia of trying to attack its oil and gas pipelines and threatened a severe response. Armenia's prime minister said Azerbaijan continued its attacks throughout the cease-fire.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has details.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: An extraordinary few days, frankly since Azerbaijan and Armenia, under the auspices of the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, agreed to a ceasefire. The weekend and the hours before that noon deadline where it was supposed to kick in so shelling and the frankly the hours and days after have seen that continue.
It's unclear frankly who started the violations. Who is more to blame, hard to verify the claim and counterclaim. But the rhetoric this day from Azerbaijan and Armenia's leaders very stark.
Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev saying I paraphrase here, that they believe they're on the right path and they will continue to liberate lands until the end.
Essentially he's referring there Nagorno-Karabakh, the internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan that is still controlled by ethnic Armenians, backed by Armenia, the center of the dispute here. For their part the Armenians, through their prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, are accusing the Azerbaijanis of frankly ignoring the cease-fire and pursuing their military operation until the end.
Both sides claim they're in the right here. It's Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev who tweeted today that they take a back a number of villages from Armenia's control in this area.
The point here is that Russia, the powerbroker in the region, isn't really being listened to. They introduced this cease-fire in a bid to usher in further negotiations to try and calm the situation down. But it hasn't really been adhered to at all frankly.
It may be in spirit, possibly in paper still adhered to, but the Russians today are talking about a possibility of peacekeepers being introduced to control the cessation of hostilities. That's something Azerbaijan doesn't really want to see happen until longer term negotiated solution is puts in place.
Azerbaijan too, it appears has rhetorically and possibly militarily as well, the backing of Turkey, who denied but are accused of helping Syrian mercenaries come to the assistance of the Azerbaijani offensive here.
This is all occurring with dozens of civilian deaths and the large number it seems of military casualties, too. During the U.S. electoral campaign in which the incumbent, President Donald Trump it seems is not interested in intervening diplomatically.
He's being criticize for that heavily by his challenger Joe Biden who says all that's been delegated to Moscow. The problem really here is this could spiral out of control. Russia security ally of Armenia so they don't want to get involved in the territory dispute around Nagorno-Karabakh, but do demand hostilities ends.
Turkey flexing its muscles rhetorically backing Azerbaijan in the region, too where it seems increasing animosity towards Moscow on their part.
[01:44:57]
WALSH: This could spiral out of control. The normal power broking calm force in the region, the U.S. isn't interested and has continued spiraling up the conflict that occurs when a cease-fire has a number of days old now. and is simply being ignored.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, potential progress in talks to help workers and businesses still struggling from the pandemic in the U.S. More on that in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: The White House hoping for an agreement on a new economic stimulus package before the presidential election, just 19 days away. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the administration is offering increased assistance for childcare. Also help for workers who've been hit hard by the pandemic. Both sides have agreed to regroup and resume talks on Thursday.
The head of International Monetary Fund is calling on private creditors and China to offer increased debt relief for developing countries struggling during the economic fallout from the pandemic. Including sharply high unemployment and rising poverty.
CNN's John Defterios live in Abu Dhabi with more on this.
You know, what is interesting here is that when you look at the situation for the U.S., the argument here seems to be of how big, you know, the relief package should be. How much money they should borrow. That is not a luxury certainly other countries have. I mean for them it's all about, you know, can they afford to do this. And if they don't what are the costs?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes absolutely too, John, and in fact we have Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary suggesting let's be prudent with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. That's making it very difficult.
There's two major themes coming out of these autumn (ph) lead-ins. The IMF managing director, as you're suggesting saying don't pull back now with the stimulus because we needed to sustain growth into the first half of 2021.
And then coming from the president of the World Bank, David Malpass saying we have to help the poorest. So they're suggesting $25 billion -- it doesn't' seem like a big amount -- to help this transition for the world's poorest countries.
Another $12 billion for vaccines when they hit the market because this will be very difficult in terms of distribution going forward.
But what we're looking at John, is extraordinary -- 150 million people, this year and next, going in to extreme poverty. That's living on around two dollars a day, or less.
David Malpass of the World Bank calls it a depression driven by COVID- 19.
Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MALPASS, PRESIDENT, WORLD BANK: For many developing countries and the people in the poorest countries it is truly a depression, a catastrophic event and it is continuing to add to the ranks of those in extreme poverty.
(END VIDEO CLIP) DEFTERIOS: Eradicating that poverty is one of the 17 sustainable development goals drafted by the United Nations, John. And already in 2020 they're saying it's not possible to eradicate poverty by 2030 due to the pandemic.
[01:49:54]
VAUSE: I guess the question is for, you know, the wealthy or industrialized countries which seem to be holding a lot of the cards here, are doing a lot better than others, are they doing I guess, you know, enough in the current circumstances to help developing countries, which really are struggling now, but will be really struggling with this pandemic?
DEFTERIOS: Yes. Shockingly no is the answer John, because this is the pandemic, and if you don't cap it in the developing world, right, it's going to spread and continue to spread much longer than anticipated.
This is a group of the have and have-nots. About $12 trillion spent, by the world, most of that within the G20, and actually about 75 percent of that coming from the G7 industrialized countries.
And there is discussion now about debt relief or debt suspension. So for the G20 countries for the developing world have suspended the debt but the interest continues to mount. The G20 said look consider a country by country debt relief in the summit that's going to take place next month.
That's progress but you heard from the International Monetary Fund saying to China you have to come to the table including your private lenders, who have spent lavishly over the last 20 years in Africa, in Latin America and that circled back for infrastructure projects for China.
They're now saying they're going to have to write some of that off because of what's happened over the last 12 months.
VAUSE: Yes, write things -- writing off that debt is not something most countries like to do, I guess maybe this time they don't have a choice.
John Defterios, in Abu Dhabi, thank you.
Still ahead, the heart-wrenching toll of COVID-19. The virus not only killed eight members of one man's family, now it's taking his livelihood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what's left of 10 years of hard work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: For the past seven months, each day has brought staggering new numbers, overwhelming snapshots of death and hardship. Now as daily infections rise in 36 states of 50 U.S. states, this nation is inching closer to eights million infections. More than 216,000 Americans have died. And one man in Arizona understands the painful toll all too well. His father and seven other family members are dead.
CNN's Miguel Marquez has his story.
RICHARD AGUIRRE, LOST FAMILY MEMBERS AND BUSINESS TO COVID-19: I don't want to cry, (INAUDIBLE) I know God has something better for me
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ricardo, Ricardo -- Aguirre.
AGUIRRE: But it's hard not too. Just, you know, the --
MARQUEZ: The coronavirus killed his father and SEVEN other family members he says. It took his business. It sickened him, his wife who was then four months pregnant and two of his kids.
AGUIRRE: I'm feeling very incompetent. I'm not able to go back to where it was. I lost my dad. It's hard. It's hard.
MARQUEZ: He doesn't know how they contracted the virus. They wore masks and used sanitizers constantly. It swept through his family in May, his father fought the virus for months.
[01:54:52]
AGUIRRE: My dad unfortunately, you know, he passed away in September 11, in my arms at 3:30 in the morning.
It was very hard, because we did everything together -- 42 years being by his side.
MARQUEZ: His mother is home and still fighting the effects of the virus. Now he spends his days shuttling her to hospital visits. Helping his wife now eight months pregnant dealing with an ever increasing pile of bills -- all this with little income and no health insurance.
You don't have medical coverage.
AGUIRRE: I don't have medical coverage at all. It's just too much.
MARQUEZ: Even Obamacare?
AGUIRRE: No.
MARQUEZ: You just can't afford anything.
AGUIRRE: No, I can't afford it. It's just too much. Literally another house payment.
MARQUEZ: Aguirre and his family, built Tacos y Tamales Pueblo he had a food truck, a prep kitchen in downtown Phoenix and a long list of corporate and wedding clients.
AGUIRRE: This is what is left of 10 years of hard work.
MARQUEZ: You were living the American dream.
AGUIRRE: Yes I was.
Come visit, us as you can see we are busy.
MARQUEZ: When coronavirus cases in Arizona jumped and the economy shut down, Aguirre watched all his catering jobs scheduled for the next year evaporate.
His food truck was repossessed. He couldn't pay rent on his prep kitchen.
When did it all come to a halt?
AGUIRRE: March 17.
MARQUEZ: COVID?
AGUIRRE: Yes.
MARQUEZ: Overnight.
AGUIRRE: Yes, just like that.
MARQUEZ: he would like the president to understand just how devastating the disease is for some.
When he says don't be afraid of, COVID don't let it dominate your life, what do you say to him?
AGUIRRE: May God continue to bless you and your family.
MARQUEZ: But how does the real world deal with COVID?
AGUIRRE: It's bad. It's bad.
MARQUEZ: Aguirre is now looking forward to that big day in November, November 7th. The day his first daughter is due to be born.
AGUIRRE: We felt that we were ready financially, and we were ready, you know, emotionally, you know, to take care of another human being.
Now with this going on, I just ask god for strength to get me by another day.
MARQUEZ: The real toll of the coronavirus on one American family.
Miguel Marquez, CNN - Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: I'll be back after a break. You're watching CNN.
[01:57:33]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
