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U.S. Enters Election Home Stretch as COVID Numbers Rise; Democratic Joe Biden Holds Socially Distanced Rally Sunday; Trump Holds Rally in Nevada as Cases Surge Across State; Fauci Says He Was Not Surprised Trump Caught Coronavirus; Voters in Georgia Wait in Long Lines to Cast Early Ballots; New Video Shows Suspects Allegedly Discussed Killing Michigan Governor; Pelosi: Need Deal in 48 House to Pass Before Election; China's Economy Grows 4.9 Percent in Third Quarter. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 19, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, a tale of two campaigns. U.S. President Donald Trump and Joe Biden hold vastly different events as the pandemic rages on in the United States.

Also, ahead, record numbers of Americans are casting their ballots early. We will get a check on the state of the race.

And as global COVID cases inch closer to yet another grim milestone, we're live in Europe where cases are at an all-time high.

As the U.S. enters the predicted cold weather surge of coronavirus cases, the presidential candidates are in the final sprint to election day. At Democrat Joe Biden's event in Durham, North Carolina, there were masks and plenty of space. Not so for team Trump. This was the scene at the President's reelection rally in Nevada on Sunday. The state just reported its biggest one-day jump in new infections in weeks. All across the country, case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths are all headed up. Even so, Dr. Anthony Fauci does not expect a national lockdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JONATHAN LAPOOK, CBS CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: How bad would things have to get for you to advocate a national lock down?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: They'd have to get really, really bad. First of all, the country is fatigued with restrictions, so we want to use public health measures not to get in the way of opening the economy, but to being a safe gateway to opening the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: And CNN's Ryan Nobles is traveling with the Trump campaign. He has the latest from Carson City.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump is in the middle of a very busy campaign schedule, a campaign schedule that's actually picking up since he was diagnosed with the coronavirus pandemic.

The president, just in the past few day, traveling to key states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, and he ended the weekend with a trip here to Carson City, Nevada.

And it was at that event in Nevada that he talked about his response to the coronavirus pandemic and actually ridiculed some of the scientists who have been giving him advice when it relates to the virus. Take a listen.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression, instead of we're like a rocket ship. Take a look at the numbers. And that's despite the fact that we have, like, five or six of these Democrats keeping their states closed, because they're trying to hurt us on November 3. But the numbers are so good anyway. They'd be even better.

NOBLES: And this torrid campaign pace is expected to continue, the President expected to make stops next week in Pennsylvania and in North Carolina. And of course, he'll travel to Nashville on Thursday for the final debate of the 2020 campaign.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, Carson City, Nevada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And rallies like the ones you just saw there are part of the reason Dr. Anthony Fauci was not surprised the President contracted COVID-19. In an interview with 60 minutes, Dr. Fauci also cited the Rose Garden event in late September that sickened so many other people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAPOOK: Were you surprised that President Trump got sick?

FAUCI: Absolutely not. I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded, no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask. When I saw that on TV, I said, oh, my goodness. Nothing good can come out of that. That's got to be a problem. And then, sure enough, it turned out to be a super-spreader event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Democratic candidate Joe Biden is running a very different style of campaign than President Trump, in style and substance. Arlette Saenz tells us what Biden has been saying and where he's going next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden traveled here to Durham, North Carolina, as in-person early voting is underway in the state. The former vice president holding a socially distant drive-in-style rally, as he encouraged his supporters to make a plan to vote in the final weeks of this election.

[04:05:00]

Now, Joe Biden, once again, hammered away at the President for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, as he believes this is a central issue in these final weeks before the election. And Joe Biden also talked about how the country needs to overcome division and how he is a president who will look out for all Americans. Take a listen.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Folks, as my coach used to say in college, it's go time. I'm 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.

SAENZ: Now, North Carolina is one of those states President Trump won back in 2016 that Joe Biden is trying to flip in these final two weeks before the election. And on Monday, his running mate Kamala Harris is returning to the campaign trail. She will campaign in the state of Florida. This comes after her -- the campaign had suspended her travel for a few days after two members of her traveling team tested positive for coronavirus. Kamala Harris tested negative for coronavirus on Sunday and will resume campaigning on Monday.

And later in the week, on Wednesday, perhaps the biggest Democratic political surrogate out there is hitting the campaign trail for Joe Biden. President Obama will campaign in Philadelphia, his first in- person campaign appearance as he's making that pitch for his former VP.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, Durham, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The final televised debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden happens on Thursday. But already millions of voters have made their decision at the ballot box. More than 27 million, in fact. That number represents almost 20 percent of the total number of votes cast four years ago, and here in Georgia, there is a record turnout for early, in-person voting. CNN's Natasha Chen tells us why voters here are so energized.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over the weekend, we saw Georgians come out in droves to polling places. In some cases, waiting three or four hours to cast their ballots, especially in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb north of Atlanta, on Saturday. We saw people arriving hours before doors even opened. But they were undaunted by that. We saw people bringing their lawn chairs, their pets, their small children, their breakfast, and they were determined to wait, however long it would take to cast their ballots in person.

On Sunday, we saw the wait times get a lot shorter. Some people were not even aware that Sunday voting was available to them. So, in many cases, they were able to vote within just a few minutes.

In both cases across the two days, we spoke to voters who said that it was critical for them to make sure their ballot was cast this time around. They said they were motivated by issues such as the response to the coronavirus pandemic and divisiveness in this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is such an important election. There is so much at stake, and in today's society right now, with so much racial divide going on. We need candidates who's going to be -- who will be sensitive to that. And the person who gets elected needs to be held accountable for everything

CHEN: The Georgia secretary of state's office said that compared to this point in the early voting process in 2016, the total voter turnout has increased by more than 150 percent. That's including both in-person early voting, as well as absentee ballots.

Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: President Trump took aim at Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer this weekend, less than two weeks after an alleged plot to kidnap her was revealed. At a rally in Michigan Saturday, he led the crowd in chants of lock her up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD CHANTS: Lock her up. Lock her up. Lock her up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Whitmer herself responded Sunday. She accused Mr. Trump of encouraging domestic terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D) MICHIGAN: You know, it's incredibly disturbing that the President of the United States ten days after a plot to kidnap, put me on trial and execute me. Ten 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's got to end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, chilling videos of the suspects accused in the plot to kidnap Whitmer have been released. In at least one of them, they can be seen conducting what appear to be training exercises. The videos are now part of the evidence being used against the suspects. Sara Sidner has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You are looking at evidence that was played in federal court of the field training exercises federal prosecutors say were carried out in a plot to storm Michigan's capital and kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

[04:10:00]

CNN affiliate WXMI obtained the video from the U.S. Attorney's office after the preliminary hearings for six men federally charged with conspiracy to kidnap a sitting governor. Several pieces of federal evidence were played in court. Including this video of suspect Brandon Caserta ranting about the government.

BRANDON CASERTA, SUSPECT: I'm sick of being robbed and enslaved by the state. Period. I'm sick of it. And these are the guys who are actually doing it. You know? So, if, you know, if we're doing a recon or something and we come up on some of them, dude, you better not give them a chance. You either tell them to go right now or else they're going to die, period. That's what it's going to be, dude, because they are the (BEEP) enemy.

SIDNER: The suspects' alleged deeds and words were shown to the federal judge so she could decide if there was enough evidence to go to a grand jury.

In this video, the lead FBI agent acknowledged in testimony that defendant Adam Fox is inside a basement appearing to be speed reloading his weapon to, quote, minimize the time that your weapon is inoperable in case of a gunfight. Prosecutors say the video was taken inside this vacuum shop in Grand Rapids.

(on camera): The owner of this vacuum shop says Adam Fox lived here for the last couple of weeks. He says he lived behind this door and down into the basement.

BRIANT TITUS, STORE OWNER: -- basement where he stayed.

SIDNER: OK.

TITUS: And he was only going to stay there until November.

SIDNER: Why did you decide it was time for him to go?

TITUS: He was buying more like attachments for like an AR-15 and he was buying like food. And I'm not stupid. I was in the Marine Corps. So that I told him he had to go.

SIDNER (voice-over): Briant Titus says he had no idea what was going on in his business' basement after hours.

The FBI testified this is inside another defendant's basement where you can see an arsenal of weapons in a gun locker, including an illegal short barrel rifle. Beyond the videos, the FBI says they also infiltrated encrypted chats and text chains laying out the plot. In one encrypted chat, the suspects allegedly used code names and discussed killing Governor Whitmer, not just kidnapping her.

The FBI identified the codename "Beaker" as suspect Daniel Harris who writes, laying in bed, craziest idea, have one person go to her house, knock on the door and when she answers, just cap her. At this point, F it.

Someone with the codename "Text" responds, LOL, only if it would be that easy.

Beaker replies, I mean, F, catch her walking into a building and act like passersby and fixing dome her. Then yourself whoever does it. Why create a manhunt? Do it in broad daylight and then end it.

Text replies, good point. Or recon the house and snipe her.

The alleged plot was never carried out. The six men along with seven others were arrested in an October FBI raid. Six were charged federally. The rest charged by the state for acts of terror.

(on camera): We are now learning an 8th suspect has been arrested in the state's case bringing the total number of people allegedly involved in this plot to 14. Now we heard that from one of the defendant's attorneys, federal suspect Ty Garbin's attorney told us, as soon as his client learned of this alleged plot, he disavowed and withdrew from it and he's innocent of all charges. Now it goes without saying that all of the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Sara Sidner, many thanks.

Well, ahead on CNN, the coronavirus pandemic is forcing many people into homelessness. See how one California town has found a creative solution.

Plus, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a 48-hour deadline to reach a coronavirus stimulus deal.

And a glimmer of hope, how China's economy is bouncing back from the worldwide pandemic. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, COVID-19 is making a housing crisis in parts of the U.S. even worse, and that is especially true in California. But CNN's Paul Vercammen shows us how some people are managing to stay off the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John Kilgore in his early sixties with five children, was couch surfing, floor surfing. They were staying anywhere they could. They needed to get off the streets.

The people concerned in Fly-Away Homes teamed up to provide housing in a shipping container, and the family when they moved in, ecstatic.

JOHN KILGORE, LIVES IN SHIPPING CONTAINERS: We came in, and you know, and then with it being furnished and everything, we had everything we needed in there already. All we had to do was bring what little clothes we had.

And when we walked in there and their face lit up, and they was full of smiles and cheering. And they were just so happy that -- you know what I'm saying? Which made me happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where I live.

VERCAMMEN (on camera): And you like it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I like it.

VERCAMMEN: The Kilgores' home has a kitchen, a family room, a bathroom. We're seeing several of these projects now in the pipeline. There's an on-site manager, a social worker who helps these formerly homeless people navigate through transportation, paying the rent, dealing with things such as taxes and other health issues. We'll wait and see if this becomes a trend in southern California, but for now it's chipping away at the larger homeless problem. Back to you now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Absolutely. Thanks so much to CNN's Paul Vercammen with that report.

As you saw, so many Americans struggling financially because of this pandemic. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a deal on a stimulus package needs to be struck within 48 hours to get aid out before election day. And CNN's Eleni Giokos joins us now from Johannesburg to talk more on this. Good to see you, Eleni. So, Pelosi says a deal needs to be struck within 48 hours. That doesn't mean it will happen. Of course, we've seen this, haven't we, despite so many Americans living in poverty due to this pandemic. So, can they get this done? What is the likely impact if they can't?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's such a good question, and you and I have been talking about this for a few months now.

[04:20:00]

And the stimulus plan actually came to an end. Many of those programs expired at the end of July, and here we are. We've got 48 hours and Nancy Pelosi saying she's feeling hopefully that they could find common ground basically by the end of close on Tuesday. This after a conversation with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday.

Now the big point of divergence still remains here, Rosemary, we're talking about the sheer size. So yes, Republicans want a smaller package. The Democrats are still pushing for over $2 trillion. Nancy Pelosi also interestingly said over the weekend that she was very disappointed that half of the language had either been changed or removed regarding testing and even, you know, any tracking or tracing with regards to COVID as well as assistance to minority communities.

On the other end of the spectrum here, we keep hearing how important the stimulus package is, and if we don't see any kind of resolution now in 48 hours, the chances of getting this passed before elections and paid out before elections becomes very unlikely. This is why the markets came under pressure over the past few weeks. The probabilities are diminishing.

Now if we wait until after the elections, the big question is here, is it going to be a Democratic win or a Republican win. And some of the analysts I've been talking to saying that if it is a Democratic win, then we're looking at a bigger stimulus package. But get this, President Donald Trump over the weekend said that he's looking for a larger stimulus package than what the Democrats have been talking about. This is the first time we have seen his side of the aisle finally talking about a far bigger number that ranges over $2 trillion.

If that is the case, then common ground might be found and the problems that we had seen over the past few weeks will finally come to an end. Remember, millions of Americans are currently suffering, and we know there are many people that were relying on that enhanced unemployment as an example, with eviction protections. So, it's vital now, Rosemary, more than ever.

CHURCH: Yes, indeed, we'll keep an eye on this and see what happens. Eleni Giokos bring us the very latest on that. Appreciate it.

Well, a number of countries are also dealing with the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic, including China. But new figures show it economy is now steadily recovering. With gross domestic product growing 4.9 percent in the third quarter year on year.

CNN's Selina Wang joins us now from Hong Kong with more on this. Good to see you. So, while the rest of the world is struggling with COVID- 19, China is showing this recovery. What do these numbers reveal?

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, great to be with you. We've been talking about this divergent picture between China and the rest of the world for several months now as China continues to go back to normal life and reopen its economy. What these numbers show is that while the rest of the world is in the worst recession since the Great Depression, China's economy managed to grow 4.9 percent in the third quarter.

What this reinforces, Rosemary, is that unless a country is able to get the virus under control, and that is the only way it can really sustainably reopen its economy. There is no shortcut here. And China's process so far of lock downs early, of mass testing, of contact tracing, has worked thus far.

You compare that to in the U.S., which is expected to contract, more than 4 percent this year, the eurozone expected to shrink, for its economy to shrink, more than 8 percent this year. And China is the only major country expected to post growth this year.

We are seeing this reflected in China's spending as well. People are opening their wallets again. We saw that over China's golden week holiday, with more than half a billion people were traveling and spending within the country. But there are some risk factors to this rebound as well, like other countries, China's economic rebound has been uneven. The poor and low income have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic.

We know millions of people lost their jobs amid the pandemic and China's numbers do not give us clarity as to how many of those people have gotten their jobs back. In addition to that, you continue to see pressure on low income spending as well. And there are questions as to how sustainable China's economic rebound is if you still have these pressures on employment and spending.

But something interesting to point out, Rosemary, is that despite all of these talks about U.S./China decoupling, the economists I speak to say that U.S. multinationals are still interested in engaging in China, and in fact, in the first half of this year, for direct investment from the U.S. to China actually increased.

CHURCH: All right. Selina Wang, bringing us up to date from Hong Kong, many thanks.

Well, we are getting new details of a U.S. effort to secure the release of American prisoners believed held by the Syrian government.

[04:25:00]

CNN has learned a top Trump administration official traveled to Damascus this fall to meet members of the Assad regime. One of the Americans believed to be held, Austin Tice, a journalist who went missing in Syria in 2012. Neither the State Department nor the families of those missing have responded to CNN's request for comment.

And still ahead, struggling with a second wave as European countries face rising coronavirus cases. They're also facing some resistance over toughening restrictions. We're live in Paris, Berlin and Manchester, England next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: According to Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. now has more than 8.1 million coronavirus cases and nearly 220,000 deaths. Experts say masks can prevent the spread of the virus, but Trump administration figures are still inconsistent about wearing them. Here is the President and other officials in Las Vegas on Sunday mask free. Dr. Anthony Fauci thinks Mr. Trump's refusal to wear a mask is about image.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAPOOK: He hasn't worn masks consistently. He has pushed back against thinks you said.

FAUCI: See I think that's less an anti-science that it's more a statement.

LAPOOK: What kind of a statement?

FAUCI: You know, a statement of strength, like we're strong we don't need a mask, that kind of thing. He sometime equates wearing a mask with weakness.

LAPOOK: Does that make sense to you?

FAUCI: No, it doesn't, of course not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The mixed messaging doesn't stop there. On Sunday, Twitter deleted a tweet from White House coronavirus adviser Scott Atlas that read masks work, no. Twitter called it misinformation. The U.S. healthy secretary was asked about the contradictions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX AZAR, U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We have it in our individual control, it's our ticket, to be reconnected to education, to worship.