Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Goes On Rally Blitz As 10 States Break COVID-19 Records; Biden Leads In Polls, Warns Against Complacency; Republican Seniors Voting For Biden; More Than 22 Million Votes Cast In 45 States And D.C.; French Cities Under Nighttime Curfew; Women's March Focus: Protest Trump And Get Voters To Polls. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 18, 2020 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Thanks for joining me, this is CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow.

So coming up in the show, Trump's blitz rallies with 16 days left to go in the campaign. The president is pushing ahead in states with new record numbers of coronavirus cases.

Plus lining up early to vote. More than 22 million ballots have already been cast across the U.S. We'll break down the voting trends for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMYE JOHNSON, REPUBLICAN BIDEN SUPPORTER: He's still dishonest about it. He keeps saying it's getting better and it never it is. It's getting worse.

CURNOW (voice-over): And with the coronavirus surging, these lifelong Republicans are voting blue this election. And they're not the only ones. How seniors could swing states for Biden. That's next.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: So it is just 16 days to go until the U.S. presidential election. Donald Trump is behind in the polls and he's showing he's not afraid to push dangerous buttons as he tries to energize his base. During a rally in Michigan on Saturday, he criticized the state's governor's handling of the coronavirus epidemic and when the crowd started chanting lock her, up he cheered them on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Get your schools open, the schools have to be open, right?

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Lock them all up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Those "lock her up" chants referred to Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer. If you remember earlier this month, the FBI foiled an alleged kidnapping plot against her; 14 people are now facing charges for a plan federal officials call domestic terrorism.

Whitmer responded by tweeting, "This is exactly the rhetoric that has put me, my family and other government officials' lives in danger while we try to save the lives of our fellow Americans. It needs to stop."

Then in other news. The two states where Trump held rallies Saturday are having huge problems with coronavirus. Michigan saw over 2,000 cases on Thursday and Friday, and Wisconsin, which is among 10 states with record high daily case counts on Friday according to Johns Hopkins. University

And President Trump didn't focus much on those surge in cases in Wisconsin during his public rally there. Instead he promoted what he called his successes during the pandemic. Here's Jeremy Diamond on all of that -- Jeremy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump is now losing to Joe Biden, according to recent polls, by an average of 7 points. So the president campaigning here in Janesville, Wisconsin, trying to win back some support. Talking about his support for law enforcement in particular, speaking in this town of Janesville, Wisconsin, which is 60 miles from Kenosha, Wisconsin, where, of course, a Black man, Jacob Blake, was shot by police.

After that, of course, there were protests and some unrest which the president has amplified and talked about.

But what he didn't talk about here is the surge here in Wisconsin of coronavirus cases happening in the state. Wisconsin is experiencing one of the worst surges in the country at the moment. Hospitalizations have tripled over the last month.

And the state of Wisconsin experienced a record number of cases just the day before the president came here to Janesville to campaign.

Now the White House's Coronavirus Task Force itself has warned about these types of events that the president hosted here.

It wrote in its weekly report about the state of Wisconsin, saying, "Wisconsin's ability to limit further and avoid increases in hospitalizations and deaths will depend on increased observation of social distancing mitigation measures by the community until cases decline.

"Lack of compliance with these measures will lead to preventable deaths."

And so that is what is so startling is to see the White House Coronavirus Task Force say essentially that these very same events that the president is holding with thousands of people, packed closely together, no social distancing, very few people wearing masks, will lead to preventable deaths.

[02:05:00]

DIAMOND: Yet the president of the United States continues to hold these events. In fact, he has pledged to hold very similar events to the one we saw here in Janesville, Wisconsin, over the next few weeks, leading up to Election Day. Once a day, multiple times a day perhaps, in order to try to save his chances at reelection -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, in Janesville, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: And Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is not resting on his more favorably polling numbers. His campaign has a busy schedule ahead. Surrogates like Elizabeth Warren, Stacey Abrams and Andrew Yang are hitting the campaign trail for the former vice president.

And Biden's former boss is going to be making appearance on Wednesday, as Jason Carroll tells us what's next -- Jason.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As expected, the campaign putting much of its time, resources and energy in the battleground states. And states that are doing early in-person voting, we're seeing some of those same images coming out of places like North Carolina.

For his part, Vice President Joe Biden will be in Durham, North Carolina, today, speaking to voters, telling them to be patient and to get out there and vote. Senator Kamala Harris will be doing the same in Florida on Monday; should be making two stops there.

Biden not out on the campaign trail on Saturday, neither was Harris. Biden met with advisers from his campaign on Saturday; Harris, a couple of people in her orbit have tested positive For COVID-19. So they physically took her off the campaign trail for a couple of days.

She did test negative for COVID-19 on Saturday. So looking ahead, again, you've got Biden; he's going to be in North Carolina today. You've got Senator Harris in Florida; she will be there on Monday. Jill Biden will be in Pennsylvania on Monday, she will be in Michigan on Tuesday.

But Wednesday is the big day. That is the day that former President Barack Obama will be out there campaigning for Biden. He'll be doing that in Philadelphia. And a number of Democrats are saying that, if there's one surrogate you want out there stumping for you, that would be the one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So joining me now from Oxford, England, is Thomas Gift, director of the UCL Center on U.S. Politics.

Thomas, hi, lovely to see you. So a key point has come out of the last sort of few hours is that the Biden team has been warning voters not to be complacent.

Where do you think they see their vulnerabilities?

THOMAS GIFT, FOUNDING DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Robyn, Biden's team has been warning about complacency for quite a while. That does come with the territory of having a sizeable lead. Concern for Democrats is that if enough voter feel like a Biden win is a foregone conclusion, some may decide to stay home on November 3rd.

Simultaneously, Biden is warning against complacency and it may reflect that he's also worried about an enthusiasm gap. Even if Trump trails by 8-10 points, there are arguably more Republicans who excited about casting their ballot, than there are Democrats who are excited about voting for Biden.

So it becomes a turnout game. Clearly Biden doesn't excite the liberal base as much as another candidate might from the Democratic primaries. So it still goes back to the challenge that we talked about in the spring, about coalescing the progressive and moderate wings of the party.

CURNOW: So what do you make then of this early voting?

Certainly, it speaks to enthusiasm, potentially Democratic enthusiasm. But you rightfully mentioned enthusiasm on the other side with the Republicans. That is what massive turnout is about. It's about everybody coming out.

What do you think is the message in that?

What is the sign posting?

GIFT: All indications are that there will be a record number of mail- in ballots this year. Of course the participation of mail-in balloting is highly polarized by party. Many more Biden supporters are expected to cast their ballots through mail than Trump voters because of how the parties have framed the pandemic, with Trump downplaying the risk of voting in person and suggesting without evidence that mail in balloting could be susceptible to widespread fraud.

But there's no doubt that mail-in ballots will be pivotal in swing states, which adds another layer of complexity. Both are making predictions about who might win on Election Night and how Trump might respond if the election ends up decided by a razor-thin margin. And it's worth pointing out that "The Washington Post" pointed out

that in the primaries, half a million mail-in ballots across 23 states were disqualified for technical reasons. So worst-case scenario, if that becomes a 2020 version of hanging chads, we can only predict what the fallout might be from that.

CURNOW: And that was going to be my next question.

How likely a scenario is it that this election is decided in the Supreme Court?

[02:10:00]

CURNOW: Mr. Trump said that he wouldn't mind if it goes that way.

But do you think that that is an option that is certainly motivating the Biden campaign?

GIFT: Well, it's a great question, Robyn, because lots of people are speculating about this. And in any year, I think the chances that an election gets decided by the court, like in Bush v. Gore, is limited.

Still it's not an impossibility and both sides will be lawyered up if the election results are close. That's especially the case this year because the election logistics are so much more complex than anything we've seen in the past, with this overwhelming number of mail-in ballots because of the pandemic.

One of the reasons Trump said he wanted Amy Coney Barrett confirmed before November 3rd is that she would be eligible to cast a vote in any case that might come before SCOTUS.

Obviously, when we saw the Supreme Court render a verdict in Bush v. Gore, that was divisive. But the country is at a whole new level of polarization now. So if this election does get adjudicated by the court system, it could impose even more severe strains on America's social and political fabric.

CURNOW: Yes, I think you are so right there. So if we talk about where this election is going to be adjudicated, let's go down to the states.

Where do you think the key battleground moments are going to be?

Many seem to be in play like Texas or in Georgia but where do you think this is going to land up in terms of a swing location?

GIFT: Well, the consensus is that Trump's path to victory is narrower than Biden's. Trump's best chance in 2020 is to essentially duplicate the success he had in 2016 where he was able to narrowly edge out Clinton in just about every battleground state, Pennsylvania, Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina, you name it.

The problem is that some of these states are looking if not out of reach for Trump, definitely uphill battles for him this year. Case in point, I will point out is Pennsylvania. That's my home state. And it's where both candidates have been spending considerable time. According to 538, most polls have Biden with about a 5- to 8-point

lead there. It's really a microcosm of this ostensible shift away from Trump, not just among moderates and suburbs, in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but a number of small towns in the central part of the state, where voters have been hit by unemployment and also face other challenges associated with coronavirus.

CURNOW: Yes, and we've also seen white suburban women in Pennsylvania peeling away from the president in record numbers as well. So it's going to be interesting. It certainly is a microcosm of a state. 2 weeks to go until that election, it is certainly a generational one. Thomas Gift, great to speak to you, live from Oxford, thanks for your expertise and analysis.

GIFT: Thanks, Robyn.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So coming up here on CNN, more and more Americans can't afford food. Now they're worried about ending up on the street. The crisis many Americans are facing as the coronavirus drags on. I will have that story and much more after the break.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:15:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CURNOW: There's a new surge of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Experts say it can be dramatically worse compared to spring or summer and here's why. The virus has made it to every region and not one of them seems to be safe.

So take a look at this map. U.S. reported almost 70,000 new infections just on Friday. The most since July 29th using data from Johns Hopkins University. That brings the total number of U.S. cases to 8.1 million.

That comes as 10 states reported their highest number of new COVID cases on Friday. As the weather cools in the U.S., COVID numbers are expected to rise even further as Evan McMorris-Santoro explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Public health officials in the United States are sounding the alarm as cases rise across the country and winter swiftly approaches.

As you can see from this graphic, 10 states across the country recently reported their highest single-day total of new COVID cases since the pandemic began. Now Dr. Anthony Fauci warns that more states are showing bad numbers and things can get a lot worse.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You can't enter into the cool months of the fall and the cold months of the winter with a high community infection baseline.

And looking at the map and seeing the heat map, how it lights up with test positivity that is in more than 30-plus states, it is going in the wrong direction. It's still not too late to vigorously apply good public health measures. And again I emphasize, without necessarily shutting down the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: What Dr. Fauci is saying is that people need to realize the things that kept the virus in check in the spring are also important for the winter. A diligent adherence to social distancing rules and mask requirements. Without it, Fauci says, America could be in for a very tough winter -- Evan McMorris-Santoro, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Dr. Murtaza Akhter is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Arizona's College of Medicine in Phoenix.

Hi, Doctor. So you've been working on the front lines and you hear there that this is going to be a tough winter; 8 million people have coronavirus in the U.S. right now.

What's it like for you there in the hospital?

DR. MURTAZA AKHTER, CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA'S COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Yes, thanks for having me, Robyn.

That's exactly right. In the winter season in most of the country, people will go indoors. Arizona is sort of the opposite when the weather gets nicer. But on the East Coast now and the weather is getting colder, back home it was quite cold, which means people will be going indoors.

And therefore, they're going to spread more germs just like they do every year. But this year there's a pandemic along with COVID. So we're still seeing patients coming to the ER and the concern is, given the numbers rising in the country and the weather getting colder, how much worse is this going to get?

So we're all kind of bracing for. It

CURNOW: Yes and that's the point.

[02:20:00]

CURNOW: How are you planning?

Are you concerned with the capacity and with this new wave about to hit in many places?

How concerned are you about these old standing issues of PPE and beds and ICU space? AKHTER: That's a great question. We've gotten so used to this at this point we almost take it as second nature. We also assume at some point that people would try to beat the pandemic, distance, wear masks, et cetera.

Clearly that isn't working. It seems the American spirit has been killed and people have given up and the numbers are rising everywhere. I really hope that it's curtailed quickly. I've been wrong about a lot of things in the pandemic. And I hope I'm wrong about this, maybe it won't get worse.

But everything is looking the wrong direction right now. All the experts are saying it will get worse and we are hoping that we can get over the hump. There may be multiple humps. I really thought that this would be the tail end of, this and I was totally wrong. It sounds like we're in it for the long haul. And that's unfortunate for all of us.

CURNOW: So are you exhausted just at the thought of this?

And what are folks saying to you when they come in sick and you know that this is the beginning of another hump, as you call it?

AKHTER: Absolutely exhausted. I'm on a group show with doctors. We were testing back and forth and somebody asked what I now think is a ludicrous question, do we think we'll ever track and trace?

And of course most of us (INAUDIBLE) that will never happen here. People here don't even quarantine, even if they're positive. It's so demoralizing. We are beginning to lose hope on it. And we're just trying to fight through the battle lines and deal with the patients as they come in.

I think a lot of patients probably also thought that maybe the worst of it was over. But there are plenty of people coming in very sick, very short of breath. And when they come to the ER, we assume that they're COVID until the test comes back, which we don't necessarily know until they're admitted.

Then we find out after the fact that they had COVID-19. But that means for every patient we see, whether they're really sick or a mild asthma, we have to gown up, wear the PPE and it puts the whole hospital on basically a backlog. And that affects patient, not just COVID. Patients

CURNOW: And as you say, it also affects you. Doctors I saw study recently where it says men were more likely to die or at least be in the ICU more longer.

Are you seeing that, in terms of your patients, that men are disproportionately impacted?

AKHTER: It does to seem to me, anecdotally, seems like there are more men who come in. Now it could be a variety of reasons for that. Some might say that men also do more dangerous things, whether you talking about smoking or hanging out in large groups, whatever the case may be. They may be on the front lines more. It's hard to know. But we do tend

to see more men more. Often and I think that's even the case with even other illnesses where men seem to have a more inflammatory response.

So that's not necessarily surprisingly but anecdotally, it seems the people who come in who are quite sick, tend to be males more than females. But of course, the larger data is where it's most relevant.

CURNOW: Let's talk also, you say you're exhausted, you're on this WhatsApp chat with other doctors.

How are you all dealing mentally and emotionally with this?

And do you have the stamina to get through the next few months, potentially another six months?

What is the effects of this for you?

AKHTER: It's kind of a double edged sword because, on one hand people say, I have a lot of residents at multiple hospitals that are looking for jobs and they're struggling to find jobs. You can never imagine a situation where doctors are struggling to find jobs. I was always told that would never happen and it is happening.

People are struggling to find jobs because of how much the whole system has been affected. So on one hand, people are looking for jobs who can't get them. And then there are people who are working all the time and seeing that this is just never-ending.

So yes, it takes an emotional toll on everyone. Everybody would like to go back to normal and I get that. Everyone is kind of exhausted but we cannot go back to normal while the pandemic is raging and while we haven't controlled it.

So the way I look at it when I go to a shift is this is my duty, my obligation, this is what I signed up for. The unfortunate part of a public health disaster and infectious disease is that, even if I do everything on my part and the patients do everything right, all it takes is a few people to get sick and to become superspreaders.

And when leadership from the top down is not coming down in a clear, consistent message, what is happening is that the virus just never goes away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[02:25:00]

CURNOW: Powerful words there from Dr. Murtaza Akhter, clinical professor at the University of Arizona's College of Medicine in Phoenix.

So U.S. Senate Republicans will try to advance new stimulus measures this week although there's still no progress in talks toward a deal. Millions and millions of Americans unemployed, who cannot afford food or pay rent, are desperate for relief. In one small town in Texas, lines at the food bank have more than tripled since the start of the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For three months this year, Diane Lusk was out of work and watched unpaid bills pile up and her electricity turned off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE LUSK, WILMER RESIDENT FACING EVICTION: It scared me whenever I lost my job and I was like how am I going to make it? What am I going to do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Now she's making $11 an hour cooking Philly Cheese Sticks in a little place called Happy Eats in Dallas. But when Lusk leaves work she doesn't know what she's coming home to?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUSK: The constable was in the driveway and handed me court papers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Lusk faces eviction from the house she rents for $600 a month, her landlord isn't renewing her lease. The 60-year-old cook is struggling to find a place she can afford.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUSK: I just never dreamed that I would see the days that I've seen. All I can do is pray. That's all I can do is pray.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: We met Lusk in this food line at Praise Fellowship Church in Wilmer, Texas, where she comes to get meats and fresh vegetables. It's stunning to see the endless car line that shows up every Tuesday in this unlikely place, a little church on the side of an interstate. Pastor Edwin Favors says COVID-19 struck and the crisis knocked on his church's doors. They went from helping 400 people a week to 3,000.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR EDWIN FAVORS, PRAISE FELLOWSHIP CHURCH: This is a crisis that has literally hit every household. When a crisis comes, it doesn't stop. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: From the kitchen of his Dallas home, Mark Melton is witnessing the edge of the pandemic cliff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MELTON, DALLAS ATTORNEY: Normally evictions are a two-step process. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Melton is a lawyer. In March he started offering free legal advice to people facing eviction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELTON: I got your message; I hear you're having sop trouble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: This woman is calling for a friend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's unable to pay her rent tomorrow. She's been on unemployment since the beginning of this year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So many calls poured in that Melton has recruited a small army of 150 lawyers to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELTON: There are definitely days where I just turn the lights off and sit in here and just cry my eyes out trying to figure out how to take the next step?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks to Ed for that.

So coming up here at CNN, we're going to keep on telling these stories. Also, how the coronavirus pandemic is making some senior voters in Florida reconsider their stance on Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Take a listen when we come back.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CURNOW: Welcome back to all of viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Thanks for joining me. I'm coming to you from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Robyn Curnow.

So want to take you back to the election that is taking place in 16. Days President Trump and nominee Vice President Joe Biden aren't wasting any of that time. Trump is holding rallies but we're not seeing social distancing at these events despite a surge in coronavirus cases across the country.

And despite Trump's own illness this month. Even though Joe Biden is leading in the polls, his campaign manager is urging supporters to stay hungry and to fight like they're trailing.

She wrote, "We cannot become complacent because the very searing truth is that Donald Trump can still win this race and every indication we have shows that this thing is going to come down to the wire."

Now the swing state of Florida has been a big, big focus in this presidential race and in fact in every presidential race. Trump won Florida in the last election. But now the coronavirus is making some senior voters reconsider their stance, as Jeff Zeleny now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These Florida seniors are fired up for Joe Biden. But it's not only Democrats taking their stand. A bigger threat to President Trump's reelection may come from voters like Tommye and Rody Johnson. They are lifelong Republicans, who supported him 4 years ago, but won't again.

T. JOHNSON: I feel he is responsible for thousands and thousands of deaths, because of his attitude about it. He is still dishonest about it, he keeps saying it's getting better and it never is, it's getting worse.

ZELENY: Their frustration at the President turned to fury with his handling of coronavirus.

RODY JOHNSON, REPUBLICAN BIDEN SUPPORTER: Dammit, we voted for him. And of course, the virus COVID has been terrible.

ZELENY: Three weeks ago, his son tested positive for COVID-19.

R. JOHNSON: I was mad because he had it and it was - and I kept thinking it's Mr. Trump's fault, because this thing should never have gotten as far as it had.

ZELENY: Seniors were key to Trump's victory in 2016, yet falloff from this critical voting bloc had the president sounding the alarm this week at a rally here.

TRUMP: Biden's agenda would be a catastrophe for Florida seniors.

ZELENY: During his own Florida visit, Biden turned the subject back to coronavirus.

JOE BIDEN (D-DE), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So many lives have been lost unnecessarily, because this president cares more about the stock market than he does about well- being of seniors.

ZELENY: Tobi Schelin is a nurse who is going door-to-door for Biden, where she hears the stories.

TOBI SCHELIN, BIDEN SUPPORTER, VOLUNTEER: They can't hug their grandkids, so it's been huge, that's been a huge factor. Let's go together.

ZELENY: The pandemic and the fear of a close election drives these senior volunteers.

MARY MCBEE, BIDEN VOLUNTEER: My precinct went to Trump by 4 votes, only 4 votes. That's maybe 2 houses, 3 houses. I don't want to wake up this year, the day after election and say, what more could I have done?

ZELENY: Signs of an exceedingly tight race are plentiful here, with passionate support for Trump on display, from flags to front yards.

ANN ALEKSINAS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: There's more people out supporting him now, because he has had so many people going against him. And I don't feel he's been treated fairly by the Democrats at all.

ZELENY: The question is just how many Trump voters have soured on the president.

[02:35:00]

ZELENY (voice-over): The Johnsons live in a county that is still deep red, but they are no longer shy about showing their affirmative support for Biden.

R. JOHNSON: Mr. Biden is a nice man. There was a time I didn't like him at all. Now, I love him.

ZELENY: But it's Trump that is driving them and this race.

T. JOHNSON: He is so dishonest. And the worst is that, whenever he is caught in a lie, he blames it on someone else. It is always somebody else. He is impossible.

ZELENY: Now, to give you a sense of how important President Trump believes Florida is, by the end of this week, he will have spent 3 of 5 days in the state, the 29 electoral votes here, certainly critical to his path to reelection.

Now, familiar issues like social security and taxes are certainly at play in this race. But, it's the new and unpredictable issue of coronavirus that of course is front and center every time the president holds a rally. So, certainly, on Election Day, November 3, all eyes will once again be on Florida between the race of Joe Biden and Donald Trump -- Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Vero Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Let's bring in our polling expert Harry Enten, he's a senior political writer.

Harry, wonderful to see you. I know you crunch the numbers and I want to get your take.

Which voting bloc do you think could swing this, either way?

I want to talk about seniors and suburban women but I want to start with seniors.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We are seeing some trends. Seniors was a group that Donald Trump won last time around. He won it by about 5 to 6 points. If you look at the polls right now, what do you see?

You see Trump is trailing among seniors by 10 points over former vice president Joe Biden.

If Biden ends up carrying seniors, he's going to be the first Democratic candidate to carry seniors in about 20 years, if not 24, depending on what poll you look at. So there's no doubt to me that Donald Trump has lost his grip on those voters age 65 and over and they are a group heavily in Joe Biden's corner at this point.

CURNOW: And I think COVID has a lot to do with that. Let's talk a little bit about suburban women. In many ways, Mr. Trump carried them as well last time around. Again, seeing a lot of trends that see them turning against the president.

Why?

ENTEN: I mean, look, the current average of polls, suburban women are favoring vice president Biden by 21 points. Back in 2016, Hillary Clinton was only leading them by 12 percentage points. I think there are a number of reasons.

The pandemic has something to do with it but it goes beyond that. Women at large are against the president of the United States, white women especially have moved significantly against the president. I think it has to do with a number of factors, including economic factors.

Women want to make sure that there's the Affordable Care Act in place and obviously President Trump is trying to get rid of it. The tax cuts that passed a few years ago, women voters didn't like that.

And the other thing I'll mention is that President Trump has been trying to say, I'm going to keep your neighborhoods safe for suburban women. But in fact they don't trust him on that issue whatsoever.

A recent FOX News poll indicated that suburban women were much more in Joe Biden's corner when it came to racial equality and the police. So there are a slew of factors that are running against the president when it comes to suburban women.

CURNOW: But still, we're hearing from the Biden campaign and Democrats, perhaps a little cautious after 2016. But they are urging folks not to be complacent. And then again, you know that the Electoral College can throw off anything.

Can you put a number, a percentage on Mr. Trump's chances right now? ENTEN: Here's what I essentially would say. If you were to take a die at a casino, what's the chance you're going to roll 6 on any one roll of the die?

Then perhaps Trump's chances are a little worse than that. But over and over and over again, we have a little bit over 2 weeks to go. There are some historical examples where someone in Trump's position has come back to win. But there's no doubt, when you look at the national polls, when you look at the swing states, the president is behind at this point.

CURNOW: What do you make of early voting?

I know you have been quite verbal about not taking any clues or signposts from early voting.

Why is?

That

ENTEN: I mean look, I should point out look. There are of a lot of voters casting ballots, over 22 million at this particular point. And the fact is that I think we're probably headed towards record turnout.

We don't necessarily know who those voters are and, more than that, we know from the polls that Democrats have said that they're more likely to vote early while the president's supporters are more likely to vote on Election Day. We know, back in 2016, in two key swing states, Florida and North Carolina had a lot of early voters.

[02:40:00]

ENTEN: Hillary Clinton won them. But President Trump carried both of the states because he did so well among the Election Day voters. Although you'd rather get your votes in case something happens at the last minute, an Election Day vote at the end of the day counts the same as an early vote.

CURNOW: Are you looking at any demographic -- we, are talking about suburban women, pensioners -- are you looking at any demographic who might surprise?

For example, African American men or Hispanic men, who have certainly been courted by the Republican National Convention.

Do you see that balancing out by a surprise group of supporters for the president?

ENTEN: Yes, you do look at the polls; there actually isn't much of a doubt in my mind that he is doing better among voters of color. He is doing better among African Americans than he did four years ago, he's doing better among Hispanic voters.

The problem is that he's doing so much worse among white voters that that overrides some of the better strength that Trump has among voters of color. But would it be surprising that at the end of the day if you go to a state like Pennsylvania and maybe Trump does a little bit better in Philadelphia, where there are more Black voters and that carries him over the finish line?

That's possible. But at this point, the president's surprising strengths don't outweigh what might be Biden's surprising strength, seniors and white voters in particular.

CURNOW: It just seems like November 3rd is about 500 million years away. Anything could happen.

Harry, wonderful to see. Thanks so much, have a great. Weekend

ENTEN: You too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So coming up on CNN, a drastic uptick calls for drastic measures in France, we will get a live report on how Paris is handling the new curfew.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CURNOW: European governments are in a mad scramble to get the coronavirus threat under control. New cases are sweeping across the continent. As you can see here, all the red and orange show the areas where the virus is spread up from the last. Week at least 10 percent more than the week before.

Now France is setting new daily records for coronavirus infections. All the progress made during the summer, you see the shocking uptick of northwest cases here. On Saturday, over 33,000 new cases reported in France in 24 hours.

So to slow the virus, Paris and nine other cities are under a curfew for the next four weeks. Melissa Bell joins us now.

So are people respecting the new curfew?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was the first full night of the curfew since it had come in Friday at midnight. So from 9 pm last night till 6 am this morning, the 20 million people who lived in the 10 cities found themselves in curfew. Heavy fines may have been given out, 135 euro fine if you're found without a proper document that explains why you are allowed to be out.

Those 20 million French people spent the first night in full curfew. At some point we will get a full idea of how respectful they have been. It does appear to have gone pretty well how authorities wanted it to go, with shops, restaurants closing down at 9 pm, just before to give people time to get home so that by 9 pm they could be at home. Of course, this comes as that record figure was set on Saturday night.

Those number of new cases, of course, this is going to take some time to have some impact on those figures. The question is, how long is it going to take for those figures to start coming down, whether these curfews will be effective.

We probably won't be able to measure that for a good week, since those numbers will have a bearing on the people who find themselves in ICU and for the time being, things remain very tight nationally. The positivity rate higher than ever before, 13.1.

So it really is a race against the clock to try to get these measures since we are in a state of emergency to bring those numbers down as quickly as they can for places like Paris and the hospitals begin to creak at the seams.

CURNOW: Melissa Bell, live in Paris, thanks for that.

So after months of social distancing in Europe, restaurants are finally picking up speed and then a second wave of coronavirus hits. Now most countries on the continent are doing their best to encourage people to stay home. Here's more from Scott McLean on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last call in London. Life is changing for people there, now subject to tighter tier 2 coronavirus rules. That means they can no longer mix with people from other households indoors and outside they're limited to groups of 6.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am with my friends. We don't know how long it's going to. Last

MCLEAN (voice-over): More than half the population of England is under new restrictions as well as many parts of Europe. Where that meal out with whoever, whenever, is now regulated by governments to try to stop the spread of the virus. Hospitality workers say it's bad for business.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Our pay is reduced. But the bills are not reduced. It's not right. But we don't have any choice.

MCLEAN (voice-over): But more countries are clamping down on eating out. Poland's prime minister is urging people in areas with high infection rates to stay at. Belgium is soon closing its bars, cafes and restaurants for a month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I really believe the cafes and restaurants are really stigmatized. It's more than clear. We feel that we are the bad guys.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Germany's Angela Merkel is encouraging people to avoid social gatherings to stop a second wave of the virus.

ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY (through translator): Please forsake any journey that is not absolutely essential and every party that is not absolutely essential. Stay at home where at all possible.

MCLEAN (voice-over): But some local businesses are fighting back. In Berlin, a court overturned a curfew for bars to close at 11 pm. But alcohol still can't be sold after that time. Bar and restaurant owners say they can't afford to lose their livelihood.

But with the world surpassing more than 400,000 new cases a day Friday, many people in Europe, tougher restrictions may be something they have to live with, even though they're hard to digest -- Scott McLean, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So the second Women's March of 2020 took place in cities across the U.S. to send a message straight to the White House.

[02:50:00]

CURNOW: What the protesters are saying weeks before the election. That's next.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They'll kill your jobs, dismantle your police departments, dissolve your borders, raise your taxes. Destroy your suburbs. And I saved your suburbs, women. Suburban women, you're supposed to love Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: U.S. polls show the U.S. president Donald Trump is deeply unpopular among many women voters and he's very much aware of that gender gap as you saw there, as you heard there. Barely 2 weeks before the. Elections

There's also this. Crowds in Washington D.C., and several other cities for the second Woman's March of the year. Now some of the people spoke with Melisa Raney and here's why they say they're turning out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISA RANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands participating in the second's Women's March on Washington. Unlike January's event, the second one is coming in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RACHEL O'LEARY CARMONA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WOMEN'S MARCH: We are sicker, we are poorer, we are scared, we don't see ourselves in the future that is to come.

[02:30:00] CARMONA: And women are, here we are fired, up we are fed up and we are voting Trump out of office.

RANEY: Protesters required to wear masks and observe social distancing. Organizers telling supporters and state on D.C.'s self quarantine list to join remotely or to join local marches. Saturday's event still drawing large crowds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world is pretty much going in opposite directions, no matter whether it's Black Lives Matter, whether it's women's rights. It's all connected in some way, shape or (INAUDIBLE) --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want safety protocols on the job, we want paycheck protections and we want that all before we go back to work. And that we're going to vote on this issue.

RANEY: Still it's a far cry from the 2017 Women's March on Washington, which may have been the largest single day protest in U.S. history. Protesters say they're also voicing their opposition to the Supreme Court nomination of judge Amy Coney Barrett.

CARMONA: The process is a sham from start to finish. It's deeply undemocratic and the majority of the people don't want this nomination to happen until the inauguration.

RANEY: With huge turnouts for early in-person voting, organizers say they hope to bring a final show of force before the November 3rd election -- I'm Melisa Raney reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: And the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will get a statue in her native Brooklyn, New York. The statue will be unveiled on March 15th, which would've been the justice's 88th birthday. She was born back in Brooklyn back in 1933.

And one of the organizers involved says her spirit will continue to inspire people there for generations to come.

Thanks so much for watching. Wherever you are in the world, I will be back in five minutes time so join me for that.