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Donald Trump Tries To Recreate 2016 Atmosphere In Final Push To Election Day; Interview With Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI); Ten States Report Highest Number Of New COVID-19 Cases On Friday. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 18, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: With the election just over two weeks away and early voting are already underway, today, House Speaker Pelosi set a 48-hour deadline for the White House to reach a deal on the stimulus package to bring relief for millions of desperate Americans.

First, the Biden team has announced plans to run a series of pricey campaign ads during a slate of NFL football games over the next week. The campaign preparing to air spots on some of the most popular real estate in television as the Democratic nominee focuses on winning back battleground states that went for President Trump back in 2016.

CNN's Arlette Saenz joining me now from Durham, North Carolina where Biden just wrapped up a kind of drive-in rally event there. Arlette, what more are you learning?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, Joe Biden was here in North Carolina encouraging his supporters to make plans to vote as the state is now in that in-person early voting period.

And Biden spoke at this drive-in rally for around 20 minutes where you had people attending in their socially distant spaces, sitting in their cars, for some people even atop their cars as they listened to the former Vice President and he once again really honed in on the coronavirus pandemic, trying to present this contrast for the vision that he would have for handling the virus compared to President Trump.

And he urged everyone on hand, supporters in the state to make sure that they are ready to get out and vote and really stress the need for bipartisanship as he is seeking to ease the division that is currently in the country. Take a listen to what he told voters here a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Folks, as my coach used to say in college, "It's go time."

I am running as a proud Democrat, but I will govern as an American president. No red states, no blue states, just the United States.

I promise you, I'll work as hard for those who don't support me as those who did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So that was a little bit of the former Vice President's message here today, and as you mentioned, the campaign is preparing to roll out some ads during NFL games tonight and also tomorrow during Monday Night Football.

One of those ads set to run during the Steelers game, really focusing on the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic with one music venue owner talking about the impact that his business has faced due to President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic here in the U.S.

Now while Biden was here in North Carolina; tomorrow, Kamala Harris will return back to the campaign trail. She will campaign down in Florida, in Orlando and Jacksonville. This is her first trip after they had to suspend travel after a few members of her team tested positive for COVID-19. So she will be out on the trail tomorrow as both of these candidates are trying to make that pitch in these final 16 days before the election -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. A final stretch indeed. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much in Durham, North Carolina.

All right, now to the President's feud with the Governor of Michigan. Kevin Liptak is in Las Vegas where the President attended a church service today and will hold a rally later on in another part of the state. So Kevin, how is the Governor, Whitmer, you know, responding to the President's attacks at his rallies?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, she is essentially saying that the President is fanning the flames of domestic terrorism, and Fredricka, I was at that rally last night in Muskegon, Michigan. This criticism of the Governor was garnered by far the loudest, most vitriolic reaction from that crowd over the course of that 90-minute rally.

And of course, the President has not been a fan of Gretchen Whitmer for a long time. He has criticized her for her work on coronavirus. He has actually called her a dictator.

Listen to how she responded this morning on NBC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): You know, it's incredibly disturbing that the President of the United States, 10 days after a plot to kidnap, put me on trial, and execute me, 10 days after that was uncovered, the President is at it again and inspiring and incentivizing and inciting this kind of domestic terrorism.

It is wrong. It has got to end. It is dangerous not just for me and my family, but for public servants everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LIPTAK: Now that is a sentiment that was echoed by Whitmer's digital

director on Twitter who wrote, "Every single time the President does this at a rally, the violent rhetoric towards her immediately escalates on social media." Of course, the "Lock her up" chant at Trump rallies is nothing new. He has directed at Hillary Clinton. He has directed at Joe Biden and at that rally last night, you could really feel in the crowd the anger building as the President sort of waited and kind of basked in it and then kind of just said, "Lock them all up."

[15:05:07]

LIPTAK: Now, what's different about this is that plot that was uncovered by the F.B.I. earlier this month by some members of a militia to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer. They were disgruntled with her work on coronavirus, upset at her lockdown orders.

Now, the President in the past has sided with those types of people. He has said to liberate Michigan, he has written that on Twitter when armed protesters stormed the Capitol in Lansing. He said that they should talk to Whitmer.

Now the President referenced this plot only obliquely last night in the rally. He said, I guess, they said she was threatened, and instead, he said the F.B.I. should be looking at Antifa -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then Kevin, you know, this lock-her-up talk has really never stopped since the 2016 race. I mean, just take a look at you know, then and now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Biden family is a criminal enterprise.

Hillary Clinton is the ringleader of a criminal enterprise.

They're going to release 400,000 criminals onto your streets and into your neighborhoods, if crazy Joe becomes President.

This is Hillary Clinton's agenda, too, to release the violent criminals from jail. She wants them all released.

AUDIENCE: (Chanting "Lock her up.")

TRUMP: Lock them all up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Kevin, what are you learning about why the President is taking this approach?

LIPTAK: Well, in talking to campaign advisers and political folks in the final stretch of this campaign, we are hearing that the President is intent on sort of replicating what he thinks worked for him four years ago in 2016. He is surrounding himself with similar officials. He is embarking on

this breakneck pace of rallies, the same kind of schedule he carried out in the final days of 2016, despite the coronavirus pandemic, and he is sort of seizing on all of these grievances that he stoked during the 2016 campaign.

One big difference, I think, between then and now is the grievances that the President is mentioning. Back then it was all about things like immigration and trade that he thinks had negatively impacted his supporters.

Now, a lot of those grievances are about what has happened to him, whether it's the Russia investigation or the -- what he calls the fixed media.

Now, the President was a church this morning. He is fundraising in California now. He will have a rally in Carson City, Nevada later this afternoon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kevin Liptak, thanks so much.

All right. Coming up, we'll have reaction from Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell on the President's attacks, the verbal attacks on Governor Whitmer.

All right, joining me right now to discuss is Toluse Olorunnipa, CNN political analyst and a White House reporter for "The Washington Post."

Good to see you, Toluse. So your colleagues at "The Washington Post" reported that Trump aides have been working to set aside division in a final sprint to Election Day. Despite this, the Trump campaign is defending President Trump's attacks on the Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer just days after authorities foiled a plot by extremists -- domestic terrorists to kidnap her.

Listen to this from Lara Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARA TRUMP, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN: Well, look, this -- he wasn't doing anything, I don't think, to provoke people to threaten this woman at all. He was having fun at a Trump rally.

The President was at a rally. It's a fun light atmosphere. Of course, he wasn't encouraging people to threaten this woman. That's ridiculous.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Well, I don't think "lock her up" is fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So continued, I guess, defense of the President that, you know, he is really just joking, and people are taking all this out of context. TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, this is not the closing

argument that the Trump campaign and the R.N.C. want to be making in the final two weeks of a campaign, but this is what the President is giving them, these "lock her up" chants and, you know, diverting from what they want to be the main message, which is, you know, focusing on the economy, focusing on policy, contrasting President Trump's vision for the economy and for the country to former Vice President Joe Biden's vision for the economy and for the country.

But instead, we go down these various rabbit holes on the President's personal grievances, as Kevin said, and this is not really where the campaign wants to be.

My colleagues did report that, you know, the R.N.C. and the campaign had a meeting earlier last week to try to bury the hatchet, get on the same page, and figure out the messaging for the final stretch of the campaign. But as much as they meet and try to strategize, when the President gets in front of a crowd, he does exactly what he wants to do.

He diverts from the campaign strategy. He talks about things that are much different than what the campaign would want him to be talking about, and it is clear that he is going to do that for the final two weeks of this campaign.

He is going to be on his own messaging tour where he, you know, airs his grievances, attacks his opponents and doesn't put forward the clear message that the campaign wants him to be putting forward about the economy and about his vision for the country.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So this week, another debate, you know, the President is still not taking COVID very seriously. You know, saying at rallies it is going away. It'll disappear. We're rounding the corner -- when 10 states are seeing the highest one day coronavirus case counts.

[15:10:10]

WHITFIELD: You know, so Trump was at that last debate and he got there too late to be tested. Precautions are still to be taken for this one upcoming on Thursday. Is there any sense that the President will be more disciplined?

OLORUNNIPA: Yes, it's pretty clear that the President is flouting a lot of these coronavirus restrictions and these guidelines. He did so at the past debate. I think that Debate Commission is going to try to increase its scrutiny of the President to make sure that he is safe before he goes to another debate.

But the problem is the President does not want to be talking about the coronavirus with two weeks to go before the election. He wants to be talking about other things.

But the fact that the virus is spiraling and spiking in different parts of the country makes it hard for the President to change the debate, to change the narrative to something else. Now, you can expect him to bring forward all kinds of different attacks on Thursday at the debate whether he is talking about Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter or the media or corruption.

He does not want to be talking about the fact that we are experiencing another spike of the coronavirus across the country and hundreds of Americans continue to die on a daily basis, even though he said and has said for months that we are rounding the turn and this is going to be behind us soon.

So the President wants to try to change the focus away from the coronavirus, but it's going to be hard for him to do that when the numbers show what they show when he when he himself contracted the virus, and when he and his aides at the White House have been so flippant about following the guidelines when it comes to wearing masks or social distancing.

WHITFIELD: And perhaps, he is setting the stage by not only criticizing Savannah Guthrie of NBC after the Town Hall, but he is preemptively now criticizing the moderator for the upcoming event, NBS's Kristen Welker.

OLORUNNIPA: Yes, that's exactly right. They are trying to pre-spin this debate by attacking the moderators, saying the President cannot get a fair shot. It is going to be two against one.

They are really trying to lower the bar, lower the expectation for the President, because this is the last sort of national attempt that the President is going to have to speak to a national audience and try to change the narrative of this race, and you know, attacking the moderator does not show that they have a lot of confidence in his ability to do that with just a few days left before voters go to the polls.

But it's clear that they want to try to, you know, eke out any advantage in, and by sort of working the refs and attacking the moderator ahead of time, that seems to be how they're doing it at this point.

WHITFIELD: Vice President Biden is hoping to get some -- a big assist in the former President Barack Obama who will be hitting the campaign trail starting this week. How potentially influential would that be at this juncture?

OLORUNNIPA: Well, the Vice President, definitely needs support turning out the vote. We do see high numbers of turnout, but there are, you know, young voters and other groups that have not yet turned out at the levels that the vice president would need.

So former President Barack Obama does have a track record with a lot of these voters. There are a lot of Obama-Trump voters that he is going to be trying to, talk to trying to turn out, trying to get to stick with former Vice President Joe Biden.

So, he could be quite helpful in just sort of seeing them together if they end up campaigning together at some point, which I think is expected. Former President Obama, former Vice President Biden on the stage together may give people sort of that nostalgia of a time before Trump where you know, you didn't have to turn up -- you didn't have to turn down the television when the President came on the scene or your blood pressure didn't go up.

I think that's what the Vice President is trying to do, and having former President Obama on the trail to help him do that could prove pivotal in the last few days of this race.

WHITFIELD: All right, another potentially pivotal week. Toluse Olorunnipa, thank you so much.

OLORUNNIPA: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up. Misinformation about masks: a member of the White House Coronavirus Taskforce sounding off on Twitter and contradicting science.

Plus, Natasha Chen is live with voters as more than 22 million Americans cast their ballots early.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, there are fewer places open for voting today around Georgia, but that hasn't stopped people from coming out. We are talking to them about how they are really loving the shorter waits on a Sunday.

Plus, we have brand new numbers we will share with you from the Georgia Secretary of State's Office about how turnout is really breaking records.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:39]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Twitter today removed this tweet from the President's coronavirus adviser, Dr. Scott Atlas. In the tweet, Atlas asks if masks work, then answers no.

This, as 10 states set single day records for new cases on Friday, and the President held crowded rallies in states where new cases are spiking rallies that he is now defending.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They had masks on, largely masks and some didn't, but they had largely masks, but they were outdoor.

I had a rally yesterday where I didn't see anybody without one, I mean, and you could see because the people were behind me.

I don't -- I mean, almost everybody has it.

I've had big rallies. We are having 35,000 to 40,000 people come at the rallies and we've had no incidents where we have had a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: All right, I want to discuss this now with emergency

physician, Dr. Megan Ranney. All right, let's get your reaction. I watched you kind of at the preset camera, you were nodding your head a little bit "no." All right, what bothers you about what you heard?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Where to start? Part one, there is ample evidence that masks work. If everyone in the United States wore a high quality cloth mask, we could prevent somewhere between 60 and 90 percent of COVID-19 infection transmissions.

If we all wore masks, in other words, we could go more or less back to normal. We could avoid future shutdowns, we could stop these outbreaks that are happening across the country.

[15:20:08]

RANNEY: Secondly, the fact that Trump is holding these huge packed rallies is just mind boggling. Sure, it may be outdoors, which decreases the risk of transmission, but any of us who have watched the videos know that people are standing cheek to cheek.

If there's one person there who has an infection, it's getting spread to many, and there have been reports of infections being transmitted at his rallies already, so it's just one falsehood after another that we're hearing today.

WHITFIELD: Is it particularly stunning or shocking to you to see these crowds and that the President encourages it, particularly after he had COVID himself that perhaps you and many others thought that you know, he would have a change of attitude about coronavirus, but instead, he is doubling down.

RANNEY: Yes, you know, you can have two responses to catching COVID- 19. One is that of Chris Christie, and of many of my own patients in the Emergency Department, who may have thought that it was a hoax or not serious, and then they got sick, and they realize this is a very real disease with very real consequences, and they recommitted to being evangelists for these public health measures that work.

The other approach, of course is that of President Trump who has dismissed it and poo-pooed it. I think he sees it as a sign of weakness that he has gotten infected. And unfortunately, we've lost an opportunity as a country to spread better public health messages through him.

WHITFIELD: So listen to some of the messages from people in the crowd there at this rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Are you wearing a mask today?

DAVIN DUDENHOFFER, ATTENDED TRUMP RALLY: I'm going as is.

QUESTION: You're not? DUDENHOFFER: I am not wearing that. Nope. I am good.

QUESTION: Why not?

DUDENHOFFER: You know, I'm not buying into this theory that you know that the virus is out there, and it's going to grab all of us. I think that we've seen that there's so many people who are not affected by this at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there was science behind it, I would use it more. But the science is very sketchy with the mask.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So is this an anomaly? Or do you believe that there are a good number of people who feel just like that?

RANNEY: So a survey showed that somewhere between 65 and 80 percent of Americans regularly wear masks when they're out in public. So I think most Americans do believe the science and do believe this is a real disease. But we have a little further to go.

I think part of it is our communication. We need to talk about masks as being a way to have freedom and to be patriotic. If we all wear masks, we could get back to where we want to be. We could get back towards normal. And unfortunately, President Trump could play a big role in giving that message he hasn't to date.

WHITFIELD: You're exasperated, aren't you?

RANNEY: I am. You know, I've been on the frontlines of this pandemic, Fredricka, since the beginning. I have seen countless patients come in really sick, have seen countless patients die. And it just -- it is so difficult for me to understand why people would resist something as simple and easy as wearing a mask, especially when I see my colleagues, my fellow healthcare providers who are out there still conserving and reusing masks in order to keep ourselves safe.

It flummoxes me that average Americans would resist that simple act of mask wearing, which could protect them, protect their families, and again, help keep us, as healthcare workers safe.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And this is nine months into it. All right, Dr. Megan Ranney, thank you so much. Be well and thanks so much for what you're doing.

RANNEY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Coming up next, Governor Gretchen Whitmer accuses President Trump of inciting domestic terrorism days after a kidnapping plot against her was foiled. Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell will join me live to talk about that, the stimulus fight and so much more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:25] WHITFIELD: President Trump at a campaign rally in Michigan last night

doubling down on his attacks on Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You've got to get your governor to open up your state. Okay?

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

TRUMP: And get your schools open. Get your schools open. The schools have to be open, right?

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

AUDIENCE: (Chanting "Lock her up.")

TRUMP: Lock them all up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Whitmer was the target of an alleged plot by domestic terrorists to kidnap and kill her. Whitmer called the rhetoric dangerous and said it needs to stop.

I'm joined now by Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. She is a Democrat from Michigan.

Good to see you, Congresswoman. So today, the Trump campaign is saying the President was just having some fun. Did that sound like fun to you?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): No, it wasn't fun. And quite frankly, having been the target of some of his, quote-unquote "fun" in the past. You have no idea what it sets off.

I just left the Governor. She is one tough, steady woman. But what happened yesterday is just totally unacceptable. We have to stop this fear and hatred in the country, Fredricka, and what he did last night. It's just after he knew there had been a militia threat is unacceptable and quite frankly for me, unforgiveable.

WHITFIELD: And do you feel like, all right, it's one thing that he was using that language when he was a citizen running for President, but now he is a sitting President, and using that language coming from his 2016 playbook. Is that what makes it more -- all the more shocking to you?

[15:30:12]

DINGELL: Well quite frankly, it's more shocking to me, because when he was using that, in 2016, which I didn't think was appropriate either, but at least he was targeting for a crime. Right now, we have a pandemic that has turned the world upside down. And quite frankly, the way that he has handled it has many questioning whether it was made worse or not. There are Republican and Democratic governors doing exactly what my

governor is doing, and they are feeling the responsibility for the citizens of their state. They are trying to keep them from getting sick, and they are trying to keep them from dying.

And for him to just -- what he has been doing from the beginning, if he would just wear a mask, he is a leader. He does -- people follow him. If he would just wear a mask, does he know how many thousands of lives he would save? And instead of wearing the mask, he talks and makes fun of, and encourages fear and hatred. He pits us against each other.

The leader of the United States of America is supposed to pull us together, not tear us apart.

WHITFIELD: This pandemic has led to, you know, unbelievable pain and hardship. And the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi says the White House needs to make a deal on a new stimulus package within the next 48 hours for it to be done by Election Day. Do you think that's a realistic timeline?

DINGELL: Well, I think a realistic timeframe was months ago when we passed the first Heroes Bill, and they could have at least have come to the table and tried it, if they didn't agree with what we did, okay, well, can you agree? But now we're down to that election politics for the Republicans that are playing here.

And this is about people's lives. I very carefully mask, physically distance out, talking to people.

My Saturdays for 12 hours just talking and hearing what's on people's minds. They are scared. They are worried about winter. They are worried about their jobs. A lot of them are hungry.

This is -- we need to do something. You know, I pray she can get something done in 48 hours. But Mitch McConnell doesn't sound like he wants to do anything, and the President could tell his Republicans we need to get this done and it would happen.

WHITFIELD: And so what are the sticking points? What do you want to say what must be in a stimulus package in your view?

DINGELL: Well, first of all, we've got to have a testing and tracing plan -- we put one together. They were looking at language, apparently they can't -- why they can't come to some kind of simple language on being able to test people and try to diminish the impact of community spread by tracing is beyond me.

But since the White House themselves didn't trace, I guess, you can lean to that.

We also need to get aid to state and local governments, which are really hurting. There are people laying off frontline workers, which is our firefighters, that ambulance drivers, the school teachers. That's absolutely got to be in it. We should have more support for PPP for our businesses. It's all got

to be there, though. We can't just help out Wall Street and not help out working men and women across the country who are really hurting. One in four in Michigan doesn't have a job.

People have lost their health insurance because it was tied to their jobs. A lot of people are just plain scared with the food insecurity problem in this country. It's not -- it's not those that we always worry about, it's a lot of people's neighbors that are worried about these.

WHITFIELD: This pandemic is the driving force behind the voting, the importance of the voting this year, and the early voting. Your state is among those that is seeing a sizable increase of early voters, already 1.2 million.

However, are you concerned about Election Day and potential voter intimidation, especially on the heels of the President encouraging people to be vigilant about watching people at polling stations?

DINGELL: So we're all going to be very vigilant. Our Secretary of State this week has made it clear that guns cannot be present at the polling places. We've got an election protection plan in place, everybody. I don't care who you're voting for. I do care.

But what's most important is that you do vote for the person that you think will do the best job, and you need to not be afraid to go vote. I've got a meeting this week with all of my law enforcement and my churches and my faith-based groups and civic groups who want to talk about Election Day.

We're not going to let anybody be afraid. We're all going to work as a community bringing disparate people together so that everybody feels safe.

But also encouraging people to vote now because we are seeing an increase in COVID, so that's another problem. We don't want to -- our numbers have gone up greatly in the last three or four days and we don't want people not voting on Election Day, because they're worried about COVID, too.

They can vote now.

[15:35:20]

WHITFIELD: Right. Lots of concerns. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, good to see you. Thank you so much. Be well.

DINGELL: Good to see you, Fredricka. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead. A party divided: some Republicans are breaking ranks with President Trump. Will there be more defections just now 16 days before Election Day? And will that move backfire?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Voters continue to flock to the polls in record numbers. More than 22 million Americans have already voted.

Georgia is one of those states seeing a record turnout for early voting. Natasha Chen is in Atlanta for us. So Natasha, what are you seeing and hearing today?

[15:40:02]

CHEN: Well, Fred, it's a lot easier for people at this Buckhead location today than some of the lines we've been seeing in the past week.

Just to give you an idea of just how much this year's voter turnout is breaking records, let's show you those numbers. Compared to this point in the 2016 election, there's been 152 percent increase in total voter turnout. Just talking about early in-person voting, that's a 62 percent increase.

And then when you're just talking about absentee ballots, we've seen a 648 percent increase across the state, just really astounding, and we're seeing people tell us that it is so important for them in this election, they feel it's important to get out here.

But for today, being a Sunday, there are some people who weren't expecting to vote today. One person we talked to said he was just having brunch across the street. Here's how he ended up over here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAMAR LADD, GEORGIA VOTER: And we started talking about voting. And they say that the book a library was open right now on a Sunday and there was no line. So I came over and voted right now.

But I was actually prepared to vote Monday morning. I was going to have my chair, some water, some snacks, and I was just going to sit there and I was going to wait to make sure my vote was cast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: There was another group of women that came out of here not too long ago, and they told me the same thing. They were having brunch nearby and didn't realize that this was open on Sunday afternoon for them to just duck in and out in a few minutes.

So I think a lot of people may be surprised at the ease of doing this today. They were prepared for a much longer wait during the weekdays, but all of them say it is extremely important for them to get their voice heard in this election -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. That's a popular brunch spot getting more bang for the buck, that's for sure. Natasha Chen, thank you so much.

So as we see record numbers of early voters, there is a growing sense among some Republicans the party may be facing steep losses on Election Day. The President is already facing some high profile criticism from within his own party. During an interview with the "Fort Worth Star-telegram," Senator John

Cornyn described his relationship with the President as, quote, "Maybe like a lot of women who get married and think they're going to change their spouse and that doesn't usually work out very well."

Well, joining me right now, Jennifer Horn, a former Chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, and she is a columnist at the "New Hampshire Union Leader." Good to see you.

And she has also written an op-ed in "U.S.A. Today," criticizing Republicans for putting their support for Donald Trump over responsible governance. So what do you mean by that?

JENNIFER HORN, FORMER CHAIRWOMAN OF THE NEW HAMPSHIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY: Well, first, thank you for having me. Let me say, I found Senator Cornyn's analogy incredibly offensive. It just -- I hadn't heard that he said that that was -- I find that really offensive.

And what I mean by that is that the Republican Party, the R.N.C. Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, the 168 members, and every elected Republican in the House and Senate have completely abandoned any sort of principles of republicanism or conservatism, or any founding principle of our party and the lessons of Abraham Lincoln, in deference to a demagogue.

They have all become sycophants to Donald Trump, and they have put our country in danger as a result of that.

I understand the purpose of political parties. I was a member of the R.N.C. myself. It was never to protect and defend the likes of Donald Trump who dismisses the loss of over 200,000 American lives.

WHITFIELD: So it's interesting whether it's Cornyn or whether it's Ben Sasse now just two weeks away from Election Day, and suddenly being public, whether it be by default, or you know, intentional about separating themselves from the principles of Donald Trump, and now saying, we don't want to associate with him.

I mean, is that likely to A, backfire? And is it considered meaningful at all when for the last four years, you're working long side of and now suddenly, just two weeks away from Election Day, and suddenly you want to divorce yourself from that relationship?

HORN: Right. Exactly. First of all, I would suggest that had they divorced themselves from Donald Trump a long time ago, that the tidal wave loss that they are all afraid of right now would likely have been stemmed quite a bit.

And secondly, I encourage anyone who sees the danger in Donald Trump regardless of how long they've defended him or anything else, if you see it now, say it now. It's never too late to stand up and do the right thing before Election Day.

But it's not enough just to whisper it at a fundraiser or you know, off the record to a reporter. We need these Republicans to come forward today, whether they're leaders in the R.N.C. or leaders in Congress and be straight with the American people.

[15:45:02]

WHITFIELD: I mean, listen, to you know, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska. This is more of what he said what he was -- oh, I'm sorry, we don't actually have it. But I mean it talks about --

HORN: Yes, I'm familiar with it.

WHITFIELD: You know what I am talking about. Okay.

HORN: I do.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And it is very well thought out actually. It's not like an overnight, you know, epiphany. But we're only hearing from him with this kind of detail now, genuine or no?

HORN: Politically strategic, for sure. Absolutely. I think that they have come to the realization that they are in for a big loss, and that they have hitched their wagon to Donald Trump for over three and a half years, because they were sure that that was their path to hold on to power, and rather than do the right thing, and show character and integrity, they decided to just go all in for Trump.

And now they're seeing where that has led them and they're trying -- it's like, they're quickly trying to paddle backwards against the waves in the water. And it's just not going to work. It's not going to happen.

And, frankly, it is heartbreaking for me as a former Republican leader to see the degree to which my party and its elected representatives have completely abandoned any sense of country first.

WHITFIELD: In "U.S.A. Today," you wrote, you know, "Where once we stood together to advocate for responsible governance, individual liberty, equal justice and opportunity for all, today's G.O.P. platform is nothing more than a vow to support, protect, defend and defer to Donald Trump."

So what's the future of the G.O.P. in your view?

HORN: Well, the first thing I would say for those millions of Americans out there who identify as Republicans or embrace and care about conservative -- traditional conservative values -- you have to vote for Joe Biden because there is no future for a Republican Party that continues to embrace the danger that Donald Trump presents to our country.

The first step is for the Republican leaders to come forward and acknowledge publicly that they are going to vote for Joe Biden. There is no platform from which to advocate for conservative values from today's Republican Party. They are --

WHITFIELD: Are you going as far as saying that President Trump killed the Republican Party? HORN: I am going so far as to say that Donald Trump has destroyed the

platform from which conservatism can be advocated. Absolutely. And if the Republican Party decides after this election that they're going to continue to embrace Donald Trump and Trumpism and look for candidates that are in his mold, then I think that as close as they are to being lost in this moment, that will put them over the edge.

If they are not willing to reject what Donald Trump is and has done to our country, I do not see a future for the Republican Party.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jennifer Horn, powerful words. Thank you so much.

HORN: Thank you very much for having me. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely. And we'll be right back.

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[15:52:25]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Reagan carries an unprecedented 49 states in the '84 election and Nancy's eye turns towards securing his legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Nancy Reagan known as a powerful First Lady to President Ronald Reagan, and she played a big role in the first Hollywood presidency.

In tonight's "First Ladies," we look back at their relationship and so much more.

Joining me now is Kate Andersen Brower, CNN contributor and author of "First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies." Good to see you again.

Nancy Reagan. Wow. What a fascinating and powerful figure. You know, she really is credited as being the political brains, you know, behind her husband, Ronald Reagan. So how instrumental was she to Reagan's political career,

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: She was incredibly instrumental. One thing she did during the Summit in Geneva between Gorbachev and Reagan during the Cold War was she knew that Reagan was best one-on-one, and she wanted to help forge and foster this relationship between the Soviet leader and her husband, because she knew how important it was.

And so she suggested instead of sitting in a Boardroom with a bunch of other advisers, the two of them take a walk outside and get to know each other because she knew that was where her husband really shined, it is that one-on-one interaction, and that began this lifelong friendship between the two men that helped lead to the end of the Cold War.

So there are little things like that that were incredible.

WHITFIELD: Yes, a little thing, which became a really big thing. You know, all First Ladies take on a favorite cause, at least, they have an ambition to do so while in the White House and for Nancy Reagan was just Say No to Drugs Campaign, very well known, and it really kind of cemented, did it not, a legacy for her?

BROWER: It did. It's also been looked at in recent years. It's very controversial, that it was really a simplistic way to look at the war on drugs, but at the time, it was it was hugely influential. If you were growing up in the 80s, everyone knew about the Just Say No Campaign.

And you know, I think that you can't overstate her importance. She said my job is being Mrs. Ronald Reagan, and diplomat and a stateswoman in her own right.

WHITFIELD: Katie Andersen Brower, there's so much to talk about. I'll be watching because it's really fascinating. I mean, her reach is far reaching.

And you can watch of course the "First Ladies." Thank you so much, Kate tonight at 10 o'clock, right here on CNN.

[15:55:07]

WHITFIELD: And thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Ana Cabrera right after this.

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ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello on this Sunday afternoon. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

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