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People Wait in Long Lines in Georgia to Vote Early in 2020 Election; President Trump Campaigns in Michigan; Former President Barack Obama Will Campaign for Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden in Philadelphia; President Trump and Joe Biden's Campaigning in Pennsylvania Examined; Rudy Giuliani's Daughter Caroline Giuliani Supports Joe Biden for President. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired October 17, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:21]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump and Joe Biden are focusing on key battleground states today. The president campaigns in Michigan and Wisconsin, two states seeing huge spikes in COVID-19 cases.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the long wait to vote -- 17 days from Election Day now, and look at the lines wrapping around polling places. We have a live report for you.

BLACKWELL: And her father is one of the president's closest advisers, but Caroline Giuliani is urging Americans to end this nightmare and vote for Joe Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLINE GIULIANI, DAUGHTER OF RUDY GIULIANI: A lot of people's behavior is symptomatic of this toxic environment that he's created, and it's gotten worse every year since he's been elected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: It is always good to have your company here. It is Saturday, October 17th. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. You are in the CNN Newsroom.

PAUL: With just two weeks, a little more than that from Election Day right now, but the election is happening right this moment. More than 20 million ballots have already been cast.

BLACKWELL: So, President Trump and Vice President Biden out this weekend taking their message to the swing state voters. Sarah Westwood and Arlette Saenz are covering the campaigns. We're starting, though, with Natasha Chen, who is covering the voters, specifically in Georgia, and the line is long, has been for hours. Natasha, get us up to speed. NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor and Christi, the

line is actually a little better than it was the last time I talked to you. According to the website, in Cobb County here it is now down to three hours, which is better than four. But you can see how the line just wraps around, doubles back here. The people who got here the earliest this morning arrived at 4:30 a.m. before the doors opened at 8:00 a.m. And there are only 15, one-five, machines inside. So that's one of the frustrations that some of these voters have been telling me about.

As you're seeing, this line doubles back right here, and then it actually goes all the way down this other corridor on the other side of the door. So there is much more to the line that you can't see on camera here. But there are people in line who are first-time voters. There are people in line who brought their dogs, brought their children, who are not of voting age, just because they wanted them to experience this. They brought their lawn chairs, their coffee. They're all prepared. Here are what a couple of voters told us this morning about why they came and why it was important to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIE RIVAS, GEORGIA VOTER: We are actually all neighbors, and we decided we all received absentee ballots, but in my mind, in my heart, having to come here in person early making sure my vote really does count, especially this time around.

MICHELLE BROWN, GEORGIA VOTER: I didn't know how long I would be here, and if I was here for six hours. I wanted to make sure she was here. I have food, I have water, and I have walked her already.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: And of course, up to this point, as of 9:00 p.m. last night, the state of Georgia says that 1.3 million votes have been cast. That's adding up early voting, as well as absentee ballots. And if you look at 2016, at the same time during that election, five days into early voting, the turnout is up 134 percent. And I just want to point out that this poll worker, Christina (ph) Dunbar (ph), has been cheering all morning for every single voter that has finished and come out the exit doors. She has cheered on more than 200 people now, and just keeping that energy up and really celebrating the people who came out here early to vote today Victor and Christi.

PAUL: We need more of her. We need more of Christina (ph), for sure, around these parts. Natasha Chen, thank you so much. Good information there.

CNN's Sarah Westwood is at the White House. What can you tell us about where the president is going to be, say, in the next 48 hours? What are we going to see?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Christi and Victor, President Trump's campaign really moving at full speed now for this final sprint to Election Day. A little more than two weeks left before voters head to the polls, although, as we just saw, voting is already under way throughout the country.

President Trump today is expected to head to Wisconsin and Michigan for a pair of campaign events before ending the night in Nevada, but he does so against the backdrop of a Midwest spike. In Wisconsin, for example, that state has seen two consecutive days of record highs in terms of coronavirus cases, but Trump is still holding rallies there anyway.

Nonetheless, last night the president struck a more optimistic tone about the coronavirus and also expressed a rare show of empathy for people who have lost loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My heart breaks for every grieving family that has lost a precious loved one. I feel their anguish and I mourn their loss. I feel their pain.

[10:05:04]

I know that the terrible pain that they have gone through when you lose someone, and there's nothing to describe what you have to bear. There's nothing to describe it.

My message to America's seniors today is one of optimism, confidence, and hope. Your sacrifice has not been in vain. The light at the end of the tunnel is near. We are rounding the turn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: That's not exactly the case that the U.S. is rounding the turn. In fact, yesterday alone, the U.S. registered more than 68,000 new cases of coronavirus. That's a record for a one-day total since July. So a lot of spikes throughout the country that are causing concern for public health experts.

But this is all really part of the president's strategy so far when talking about the pandemic to downplay the spread of the virus despite the numbers that we are seeing. The polls show that might not be resonating for many voters. In fact, the president is falling behind in a number of key battleground states, and Joe Biden leads him by a wider margin nationally.

But again, at these rallies, we have not seen the kind of social distancing that experts have wanted to see. We have not also seen uniform mask wearing. Although mask wearing is encouraged at these events, images of the rallies and campaign events that the president has been having have shown not everyone is complying with that. a lot of mask-less faces.

Now, ahead of the president's visit to Michigan, the governor's office put out a statement encouraging people to please social distance and wear their masks. I want to read you part of that statement. "We always are concerned when there are large gatherings without masks and social distancing. There is a risk of an outbreak when this happens, so we encourage people to wear their masks and practice social distancing."

Now, this week we saw the president hold multiple events a day in multiple states. That could be a preview of the packed schedule we expect the president to keep right up until Election Day, perhaps making up for some of that lost time that the president was essentially sidelined over the past week when he had coronavirus, Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: Sarah Westwood for us at the White House. Thanks so much.

Vice President Biden is expected to campaign in North Carolina tomorrow. But today, several of his surrogates, they are going to be out, including Senator Elizabeth Warren and former NBA star Magic Johnson.

PAUL: CNN's Arlette Saenz is following the latest from Washington. Not only those big names out in force for Biden, but somebody else coming out in the next week, we understand, who could be pivotal for the vice president. What can you tell us, Arlette? And good morning.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning. There certainly are some big names who will be campaigning for Joe Biden, not just this weekend, but also next week. The former vice president will be getting a little help from one of his friends, who also happens to be the biggest political surrogate in the Democratic Party at this moment. Former President Barack Obama will campaign in person in Philadelphia on Wednesday. This marks his first in-person campaign appearance for his former partner and will be part of a handful of stops that he is making in these final two weeks of the election. The Biden campaign believes that President Obama can help mobilize black men, Latinos, and young voters, to get out and vote for Joe Biden.

Now, this stop on Wednesday from the former president will be a solo stop. We expect Joe Biden to be deep in debate prep on Wednesday as he prepares for that matchup against President Trump on Thursday night. But there is a possibility that Obama and Biden could reprise their political bromance, as they used to call it in the White House, and they could appear in person together in those final days before the election.

Now, Joe Biden yesterday travelled to the battleground state of Michigan, where he once again focused on the coronavirus pandemic and criticized some of the president's recent comments about it. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He said, I think last night, in his town hall, I didn't have the pleasure of hearing it. I was doing one myself. He said we have turned the corner. As my grandfather Finnegan might say were he here, he'd say he's gone around the bend. Turned the corner, my Lord. It's not disappearing. In fact, it's on the rise again. It's getting worse, as predicted.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAENZ: Now, one thing you are hearing Joe Biden talk about consistently in these final days before the election is the issue of health care and the need to protect and expand upon the Affordable Care Act. The campaign believes that this is really an issue that touches all facets of the campaign right now, from the coronavirus pandemic to that nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, and also Republicans' efforts to dismantle Obamacare.

Health care was a winning issue for Democrats back in 2018 when Democrats won back the House of Representatives. And that is something that the Biden campaign is hoping to replicate in the coming weeks as they're trying to pull out that win and focusing a lot on health care.

[10:10:08]

Now, tomorrow Joe Biden is heading down to North Carolina, one of those states that President Trump won back in 2016. Biden will be campaigning in Durham as early voting is under way in the state and he is trying to mobilize his voters to get out and vote with 17 days to go until the election, Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: Arlette Saenz in Washington, thank you.

PAUL: Arlette, thank you.

So, Pennsylvania is a crucial state, obviously, for both President Trump and Joe Biden. Back in 2016 the state's 20 electoral votes went to the president, of course. Right now, though, Joe Biden is holding an edge.

BLACKWELL: So, CNN's Dana Bash talked to voters in a county there that flipped from blue to red four years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: A line forms outside well before opening, waiting to enter the Trump House.

LESLIE ROSSI, CREATOR, TRUMP HOUSE: We're ready for the next group. Come on in.

BASH: A mecca of sorts for the president's supporters in southwest Pennsylvania, where Trump's record turnout four years ago helped deliver his surprise Pennsylvania victory and the White House.

Leslie Rossi created the Trump House in 2016 where she pushed disaffected Democrats and never before voters to choose Trump.

ROSSI: We gave people a place to come to to believe they could win.

BASH: Now Trump supporters show up daily for swag and yard signs and help registering to vote.

SCOTT HARRER, TRUMP SUPPORTER: We need Trump in there again. I'm 65, I think it's time to register.

BASH: Have you not voted ever?

HARRER: No.

BASH: Rural Westmoreland County has seen a surge in Republican registrations. They help with that here to.

RITA BLAIR, CHANGED PARTY AFFILIATION FROM DEMOCRAT TO REPUBLICAN: I changed my registration from Democrat to Republican.

BASH: Why?

BLAIR: From what I've seen in the last past couple of years, I'm ashamed to say I was a Democrat.

BASH: Joe Biden is ahead in Pennsylvania polls, yet his campaign motto is every vote matters. Campaigning here in Westmoreland County this month, which Hillary Clinton did not in the 2016 general election.

It's not an area Democrats come and campaign very often, but you're here. Why?

JILL BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S WIFE: I'm here because, like I said, we are not taking any vote for granted.

BASH: Gina Cerilli county commissioner of Westmoreland PA. Ten years ago she was Miss Pennsylvania in Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant. Now she's an elected Democrat working to blunt Trump's advantage here.

GINA CERILLI, WESTMORELAND COUNTY COMMISSIONER: In 2016 Donald Trump was a fresh face. He was new to politics. Everyone was excited. He made big promises, bring back jobs. But frankly, Donald Trump broke those promises.

BASH: In small-town Pennsylvania, signs matter. Trumps are everywhere, big and bold. But Biden's are out there, too.

CERILLI: When you see signs like this, it makes the Republicans and the Democrats that voted for Trump in 2016 realize I'm not alone.

BASH: A big Biden challenge, his supporters are being COVID careful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never did we think we would be meeting by zoom.

BASH: Phyllis (ph) Friend (ph), head of Democratic Women of Westmoreland County, organizes from home. She's clear-eyed about the Democrats' goal here in Trump country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't win Pennsylvania for them, but we can add to the total numbers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, David, this is Joe, and I volunteer with the Trump campaign. How are you doing?

BASH: As for Republicans, they never stopped traditional ways of getting out the vote -- knocking on doors, walking in neighborhoods in masks, and using a GOP data driven app to find and persuade voters. BRITTNEY ROBINSON, RUNS THE PENNSYLVANIA RNC OPERATION: Depending on

who that voter is, we're able to tailor that message at the door and on the phone to how we think we need to target that voter and turn them out.

BASH: Given the president's struggles in the suburbs, boosting the vote here is critical for Trump.

How important is it for him to get his numbers even higher than it was four years ago?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do think that we need to increase our voter turnout here for the president to offset some of what may be happening in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania.

BASH: Back at the Trump House, Leslie Rossi shows us the log of visits from thousands of Trump supporters.

What are you seeing this year?

ROSSI: My numbers have tripled, tripled. Four years ago, my work was really hard here. I had to convince the voters to vote for the candidate. I had to convince them President Trump was the best choice for them. This time, I don't have to do any of that. They're all in.

BASH: Whether enough are all in could determine whether Trump can overcome the headwinds he faces to win Pennsylvania and a second term.

Dana Bash, CNN, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And stay with us, because Rudy Giuliani's daughter has a very raw assessment of her father's most high profile client. Why Caroline Giuliani is telling voters to end what she calls Donald Trump's, quote, reign of terror, her own words from her when we come back.

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[10:19:11]

BLACKWELL: Rudy Giuliani's daughter Caroline is criticizing her father's highest profile client and endorsing his rival.

PAUL: In a piece for "Vanity Fair" she called on Americans to, quote, end this nightmare, her words there, by voting for Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: For any family, all families have differences of opinion and political differences, and this is maybe on a different scale. But how do you normally deal with it? Is it something you just choose not to talk about politics with -- he is your dad, after all? In the article you talk about at times you feel like you have no other choice but to address certain issues. CAROLINE GIULIANI: Yes, I think those things boil up, and at a certain

point you can't -- at least I couldn't repress them.

[10:20:04]

But it was definitely a give and take throughout my whole life. I just think now we've come to such a point of crisis that I just had no choice but to say something. This toxic environment of bullying and vicious sniping needs to be turned around, and I really think that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can do that. I absolutely love Kamala Harris. I --

COOPER: Joe Biden was not your first choice?

C. GIULIANI: Not initially, but I was keeping my options open and seeing what people had to say, and I was a huge fan of Kamala. And when Joe Biden picked Kamala, I got so excited because I feel like it reflected that he's willing to have people who challenge him around him, and that is the way to break up the echo chamber of yes men, which I think is a huge problem right now.

COOPER: When you see the "Washington Post" report that the White House was warned that your dad was, quote, being used to feed Russian misinformation to the president, just seeing that in the news, what goes through your mind? I can't imagine it.

C. GIULIANI: No, I choose to focus on what we can do to fix this problem. I think that that's where we all need to be focusing our energy, and I think that is by making sure that everyone votes and chooses to elect someone who has empathy and will start to turn this country around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Caroline Giuliani has publicly supported Democratic presidential candidates in the past. In 2016 she endorsed Hillary Clinton, in 2008 when her father was running for the GOP nomination, she joined a Facebook group that supported Barack Obama for president.

PAUL: So there's new evidence this morning that we're seeing the coronavirus resurgence that experts feared. The U.S. has added more than 69,000 new cases just yesterday. That's the largest one-day total since the end of July.

PAUL: At least 10 states on Friday saw their highest daily case totals since the pandemic started. CNN's Polo Sandoval is tracking the latest. Polo, the rate of tests coming back positive, the number of people who are in hospitals sick with COVID-19, those are climbing in several states, too.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it certainly is contrary, Victor, to what maybe you've heard out there, especially perhaps coming from the commander in chief himself, that we could be in the clear in some parts of the country, or that the situation is improving. But the reality is really the numbers. Just yesterday alone 10 states, 10 states in the country showing their highest number of new COVID cases since the start of the pandemic. It is October. So it's certainly something to keep in mind.

And then yesterday we also heard from the nation's surgeon general saying right now it is key to try to recognize some of those hotspot areas, try to reverse some of these infection rates as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: The United States surpassed 8 million coronavirus cases on Friday. The death toll is quickly approaching 220,000. Case numbers are steadily increasing daily according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Health officials from coast to coast are scrambling to contain the rising rate of infections.

DR. CHRIS MURRAY, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION: If you look at the map in the U.S., what's happening is exactly what we expected. it's the whole northern half of the U.S., transmission is on the upswing.

SANDOVAL: At least four states, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, and Wyoming reported their highest daily COVID-19 case count to date just this Friday, state health officials said. North Carolina, where President Trump spoke to mask-less crowds on Thursday, set a new record for cases on Friday. Florida, now averaging nearly 2,800 new cases a day. That's up from 2,400 a week ago. Wisconsin now has a positivity rate of more than 26 percent. United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams warming that Wisconsin is a COVID-19 red state.

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I want you all to be aware that Wisconsin is currently one of our red states, meaning your positivity rates are over 10 percent and going in the wrong direction.

SANDOVAL: President Trump taking his campaign to Wisconsin today, a state where coronavirus cases are now at an all-time high. An infectious disease physician in green bay, Wisconsin, said gatherings create a risk.

DR. AGNES KRESCH, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: At this point we are recommending not to have any kind of gatherings, and even to the point of family gatherings where people from different households, they're getting together is a risk, too.

SANDOVAL: Earlier on Friday, President Trump said seniors would be the first to get any vaccine once it's approved. Officials also confirmed Friday that CVS and Walgreens pharmacies have been designated to distribute free coronavirus vaccines once they're approved to long- term care facilities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Here in the northeast, multiple states reporting some sharp increase in cases as well.

[10:25:00]

Even the NYPD this week alone reporting at least 54 uniform police officers tested positive, out sick this morning. The police commissioner, Victor and Christi, say that they are performing the contact tracing, and also continuing to encourage those officers to take those measures that we've all hopefully been taking, from wearing the masks, and of course hand washing and social distancing as well.

PAUL: My goodness. Paulo Sandoval, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: So this morning we spoke with two doctors, two experts, about the surge in cases, and what it signals for the next few weeks.

PAUL: We also asked about the concerns for health care workers right now, because they're staring down another dire projection about what's to come in the winter months. Here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT: People going inside, spending more time indoors, having a little bit of mask fatigue and pandemic fatigue, all of that a really wicked brew that may lead to real transmission everywhere.

And I want to put one more note on this. When we saw this kind of transmission earlier on in the pandemic in March and April, the virus hadn't seeded everywhere. At this point the virus has had more than six months to get to every nook and cranny of our country. And so as these structural behavioral changes increase, the probability that we're going to start seeing outbreaks in every small part and big part of our country goes up. So this really is a harrowing time and people have to be careful and follow those recommendations.

DR. SAJU MATHEW, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We all want to be optimistic. We have to deal with the numbers. We have to deal with the surges. It's back to what we've always been saying, everybody has to really kind of tighten the grip. And, unfortunately, we're going to take up linearly in the next few weeks. It's going to get worse.

I think one word that I can describe is a sense of fear, and I think also just not really feeling prepared. Do we have enough PPEs? Are we going to be able to manage patients that get into the ICU? What kind of medications really help patients with COVID? Right now we're sort of throwing the kitchen sink out there in terms of what's available. And recently, with the whole remdesivir study that probably shows that it doesn't work, I think it's just a sense of feeling hopeless. But we have to do the best that we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: A live look at the line in Marietta, just north of Atlanta. You see crowds there in line. The wait at last check, three hours to cast a vote. Just 15 machines inside. Far more than 15 people outside. We will talk about the race in Georgia where Joe Biden appears to have a broadening gap, a lead here. I'll be discussing that with Scott Jennings and A. Scott Bolden after the break.

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[10:32:08] BLACKWELL: A live look at the line here in Marietta, Georgia. For the sixth day voters have waited in long lines. The wait here last check, three hours to cast a ballot in the 2020 election. Almost 22 million votes now have been cast so far in 45 states and the District of Columbia.

Let's bring in now CNN political commentator, former special assistant to President George W. Bush Scott Jennings, and A. Scott Bolden, former party chairman of the Democratic Party of Washington D.C. and former chair of the National Bar Association PAC. Scott and A. Scott, welcome back. I'm going to be using last names so we don't speak over each other.

Scott Jennings, let me start with you. Georgia, let's look at the poll here from Quinnipiac. It has among likely voters, President Trump down seven points behind Joe Biden. Listen, I wonder if you foresee what Ben Sasse has suggested, Ted Cruz, because they have suggested what is possible is this bloodbath for Republicans.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think -- by the way, good morning. Good to see you all. I think even good pollsters can lay an egg, and I think they Q. poll laid an egg on Georgia. I think both their Senate and presidential number are way off. I do think the race is incredibly close for president. Most of the other polling shows a one or two-point race.

And Biden has persistently had a very, very small lead. So I would put this race on the knife's edge. I've talked to a few folks I know down there, and they are bullish on Trump being able to pull it out. But make no mistake, Joe Biden definitely could win Georgia. And of course, on election night, if he wins it, that probably portends a lot of other wins across the sun belt.

BLACKWELL: Scott Bolden, listen, this is my third presidential election here in Georgia, and every cycle I go right over to the Democratic Party of Georgia headquarters and shoot the same story that Dems say this is our cycle, and it isn't. Do you believe this poll, seven points it has Biden up?

A. SCOTT BOLDEN, FORMER CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF WASHINGTON, D.C.: I think Donald Trump under-polls all the time, so I don't think it's seven points. If they poll in the next week or two before the election and he's up seven or more or seven or less, I'll start to believe it.

But let me tell you something, the fact that Scott Jennings is saying what he's saying, the fact that these polls show that Biden has got a one percent or two percent lead, or even seven percent lead, that he's competing in Georgia, that portends a big, big problem for the Republicans if it holds.

You see those long lines? Those long lines mean commitment by the voters for change, if you will. Three hours, seven hours, that's a Republican red state. They've made those lines based on voter suppression, whether it was legal or illegal. And so I think the GOP has a lot to look at and a lot to learn if Georgia falls or goes blue, because it's purple right now.

[10:35:00]

BLACKWELL: Scott Bolden, why won't former Vice President Biden just answer the question about court packing? He has been against it for decades. He was against it last fall in the primary. And now he's being cagey about it. And the reason, he says, is because he doesn't want his answer to be the center of the focus. His non-answer is now what we're focusing on. Just answer the question.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDEN: Well, for the media, it's real simple, but it's still a hypothetical. In prior statements he said he's not for that, that's not really what he would try to focus on. But, remember, the Republicans have taught the Democrats about stacking the court if we expand it. The Merrick Garland delay, the Amy Barrett push-through, the Kavanaugh. I'll be quite honest with you, I find it rich that the GOP wants him to answer, and then they'll use that to motivate their base on a hypothetical. It makes no sense. I predict the Dems will expand the court.

BLACKWELL: But isn't he holding back an answer not to depress or suppress his own base, or the left of his party? What is the reason now for not answering?

BOLDEN: No, he doesn't want to motivate the Republican side. He doesn't want to motivate the Republican side. But why should he answer a hypothetical? He's not even president yet.

BLACKWELL: All of these are hypotheticals.

BOLDEN: He doesn't know what the Senate or the House looks like. There are a lot of calculation.

BLACKWELL: Every question we ask a candidate is a hypothetical, what would you do, what is your plan. They're all hypotheticals.

Scott Jennings, your answer?

JENNINGS: You just made the point I was going to make. Every prospective candidate gets asked questions, and they're all hypotheticals. He doesn't want to answer because he wants to do it. He knows his base wants to do it, and he knows it's unpopular with the broad American people. But it's very popular among the radical left, and that's who supports Joe Biden. So I fully expect him to do it.

He's changed his position on a lot of issues this year. In the primary it was I'll ban fracking, now it's I won't. He's got a lot of different answers on Green New Deal. He's got a lot of different answers on taxes. He has said in the past he's not a fan of this, but that hasn't caused him to change other positions. So I have no confidence that he'll stand up to the left on this. And if he wins the race, they're going to expand the Supreme Court.

BLACKWELL: Let me move on to something else, here, let me move on to something else, because I've got this sound from the call that Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse had with his constituents, and now this morning just a few moments ago we have the response that we all expected would come from President Trump. Here is first what Senator Sasse said about the president, part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BEN SASSE (R-NE): First he ignored COVID, and then he went into full economic shutdown mode. He was the one who said 10 to 14 days of shutdown would fix this and that was always wrong. And so, I don't think the way he's led through COVID has been reasonable or responsible or right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And then the president has gone on this diatribe through Twitter of attacking Senator Sasse, saying he's the weakest of the 53 senators. It's a long tweet. We're not going to go through it. It's the typical boilerplate Trump tweet about senators who criticize him. Scott, my question -- Scott Jennings -- my question to you is he's trying to hold onto his office. Every tweet wasted on Ben Sasse, or something else that's not focused on beating Joe Biden, what does this get him?

JENNINGS: It gets him nothing. I would also point out that although I expect Trump to win Nebraska at large, I think that Nebraska, too, they split their electoral votes out there. I think he's struggling in Nebraska, too. And so that's one thing to keep in mind.

He needs to be focused on drawing a line between him and Joe Biden. I would do this on taxes, Joe Biden would do that. I'd do this on the courts. Joe Biden would do that. Make it a choice election. So, every communication, tweet, at the town halls, at the debate if they have it this week. Everything needs to be framed, everything needs to be focused on my plan versus the Joe Biden plan. If Trump is at the center of the election, whether he's attacking Sasse or whether it's just a pure referendum on him, it makes it a lot harder to win. And that's why he's losing in the polls right now. So, my advice, get focused on your real enemy here, Joe Biden, not Ben Sasse.

BLACKWELL: We want you both to stay after the break. But before we go, I just want to give you five seconds each, 10 seconds each. Do you expect we will see a debate next Thursday? Scott Bolden first.

BOLDEN: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Scott Jennings?

JENNINGS: Yes, I agree. I think they need to have one. They should have had one last week.

BLACKWELL: Easy enough.

I want to ask about this moment, though. This was from the rally in Georgia. Senator David Perdue in Macon, this is what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): Kamala, or Kamala, or Kamala-mala-mala, I don't know. Whatever --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Apparently a Georgia senator can't pronounce his colleague's name, Kamala Harris. We'll talk about this after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:44:00]

BLACKWELL: Scott Jennings, A. Scott bolden back with us. Let's look at this moment from last night. Georgia Senator David Perdue and his attempt to otherize Senator Kamala Harris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): But the most insidious thing that Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden are trying to perpetrate, and Bernie and others, Kamala, or Kamala, or Kamala-mala-mala, I don't know. Whatever --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Scott Bolden, there have been references to George Allen in 2006 and his moment there, using a term that I won't repeat here. You know what I first thought about was sitting in classrooms as a kid, and more than one teacher would mispronounce the names of black boys and black girls repeatedly, dismissively. Some kids laughed it off, some tried to correct the teachers. And it's not as if they couldn't pronounce them. It's that they didn't think it was important enough.

[10:45:01]

And that immediately made me think of how it was that dismissive. Now, Senator Harris is not a child, we know that. But she deserves the respect of having her name pronounced correctly. David Perdue knows how to pronounce it correctly because he did the first time in that soundbite. I would suggest, though, he is a teacher. What is his lesson?

BOLDEN: His lesson is that. What's in a name. It says who I am, it says where I'm from, it says my parents and who brought me into this world. And his statements, his joke or attempted joke, was completely disrespectful, smacks of misogyny, clearly racism, and even xenophobia because of her immigration parents.

But it also indicates that he's desperate, he's behind in money. He may not be behind in the polls, but if he is, those candidates in Georgia are desperate. They're not sending dog whistles anymore. They're making directly negative statements rooted in racism and sexism. And it's got to stop, because it's more than partisanship, it's racially offensive. He should learn. That should be his lesson. Because he doesn't look like me and you, because he doesn't look like me and you, he doesn't get it. he doesn't get it.

BLACKWELL: Scott Jennings?

JENNINGS: First of all, I agree wholeheartedly that everyone, including Kamala Harris, deserves to have their name pronounced correctly. It's a sign of respect, and I have no doubt that Senator Perdue knows how to do that. They've served on the same committee. I would humbly suggest to the senator that he sends her a note of apology and say I didn't mean anything by that.

I don't think Senator Perdue was making a racist statement. I think he got tongue tied, and I think he tried to make a joke to cover it over, and I think it came out rather clumsy. So, I don't agree with the attacks on him that this is racism. But I do think that in politics we ought to show each other the kind of respect that we would want to be showed ourselves. And so, in this particular case, the correct move would be for him to send her a note of apology and say I didn't mean anything disrespectful here. And that would show us all that what Scott Bolden said is not true, which is that this had anything to do with race or misogyny or anything else. It would be a class move and it's probably warranted.

BOLDEN: But Scott, very quickly, the fact of the matter is because I may not disagree with you, but the impact of his racial or gender insensitivity, you can't ignore the impact of it, whether his attempt was race neutral. And that's why he should send out an apology, or better yet, give her a call and say in the heat of this discussion or being tongue tied, I apologize for having a negative impact and even suggesting that I am a racist, misogynist, xenophobic based on from you're from, and you as an African-American, smart, strong woman.

BLACKWELL: All right, we've got to wrap it there, and we will see if that exchange happens. Scott Jennings, A. Scott Bolden, thank you both.

BOLDEN: Thank you.

JENNINGS: Thank you.

PAUL: We have some live pictures we want to show you right now of the Women's March that's about to start in Washington, D.C. There are thousands expected to protest the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett. We'll have more on that ahead. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:53:18]

PAUL: So we know social distancing has helped protect people who are elderly during the pandemic, but being cut off from the people you love, that has a draining effect on mental and emotional well-being. Well, since 2014, CNN Hero Carol Rosenstein has been using music to help people battle dementia, Parkinson's, other neuro-degenerative diseases. Well, now obviously that work is even more crucial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL ROSENSTEIN, CNN HERO: COVID just makes this doubly difficult for people to sustain their levels of wellness, because they've got so much isolation going on. We are going to see people deteriorating faster. But we can provide a great substitute that's going to keep us healthy and well during quarantine.

(SINGING)

ROSENSTEIN: Music is medicine for the mind. The complexity excites so many senses in our brains. All of that excitement miraculously pushes neurotransmitters that help us function. Medicine with a side effect that is pure joy.

Where is my Kleenex?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Isn't that awesome? To see Anderson Cooper's full story about Carol's work using music to battle the impact of COVID isolation now, go to CNNheros.com.

[10:55:00]

So I want to show you some live pictures that we're getting of the Women's March. It's set to start soon in Washington, D.C. The march organizers there say the event is in honor of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

BLACKWELL: They say it is also a protest of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett. The march will start at Freedom Plaza and end on the National Mall, one of hundreds of marches taking place in both person and virtually across the country. We'll see if there is social distance maintained.

PAUL: Organizers are reminding people who show up, please wear your masks. And, yes, Victor, they do say police practice social distancing, which we look like we might have seen a little bit of it there.

Thank you so much for sharing your morning with us. We appreciate you. We hope you go make good memories.

BLACKWELL: More ahead in the next hour of CNN's Newsroom. Fredricka Whitfield is up after the break.

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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.