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Trump's Continued Attacks On Fauci. Trump Tells Supporters Virus Rounding The Curve; Stock Market's Wild Swings With Relief Bill Uncertainty; Urgent New Restrictions Hit Europe; Trump Rallies, Trashes Fauci as COVID-19 Cases Surge; Trump's Lead over Biden on the Economy Vanishes; Early in-Person Voting Breaks Records Across U.S.; Chinese City Offering Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine to Public. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 20, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again. Welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up this hour on CNN NEWSROOM.
Donald Trump defying one of the most basic rules of politics; when in a hole, stop digging. Instead ramping up baseless attacks on the one man Americans trust more than any other when it comes to dealing with the pandemic.
Learning the lessons of the first wave. Many countries across Europe moving quickly and decisively to re-impose pandemic restrictions as the number of confirmed cases surge and hospital ICUs begin to fill.
And with one day left to make a deal to help millions of Americans, to boost a faltering economy and to save millions of jobs it has next to no chance of happening.
The U.S. coronavirus death toll has now topped 220,000, more than 8.2 million confirmed cases. And a leading health expert is warning colder temperatures and winter weather mean the darkest weeks are still ahead.
And given President Trump's clear disregard for the science on controlling the pandemic and his own reckless attitude towards the virus, he held two big rallies again on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The pandemic, it's rounding the turn, vaccines are coming -- and I look fine, don't I? You know.
CROWD: (Applause)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's not rounding the curve, the vaccines are still months away and this is not about the president and his health.
It's about flattening the curve. And Trump following his own administration's guidelines and listening to the science.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We have a lot of challenges ahead of us and I can't help thinking that we're really going through a time that's disturbingly anti-science in certain segments of our society.
That's very troublesome to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: On Monday, certain segments of society described Dr. Fauci as "a disaster." Mr. Trump went on to say Americans are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots.
We have more details now from CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: With election day fast approaching, President Trump sounds like he's running not against Democrat, Joe Biden, but against the man who's arguably the nation's most trusted health expert on the coronavirus, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't want to hurt him, he's been there for about 350 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: The president began his day of attacks on Fauci on a call with campaign staffers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (VOICE OVER, CAPTIONED): "People are tired of COVID. I have the biggest rallies... people are saying whatever. Just leave us alone. They're tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots.
Fauci's a disaster. If I listened to him, we'd have 500,000 deaths.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Fauci got under the president's skin appearing on "60 Minutes" where the infectious diseases expert said he wasn't surprised when Mr. Trump contracted COVID-19.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: 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.
Nothing good can come out of that. That's got to be a problem. And then sure enough it's turned out to be a super spreader event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Drawing thousands of supporters who aren't wearing masks, the president is on an anti-science crusade at his rallies. Accusing Biden of siding with the experts on the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Biden wants to lock it down, he wants to listen to Dr. Fauci.
He'll listen to the scientists. If I listened totally to the scientists we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Biden responded to that charge of listening to the scientists with one word on Twitter, "Yes."
Contrast that with Fauci who says he's been muzzled by the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: You know, I think there has been a restriction, John, but it doesn't -- it isn't consistent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The President snapped back at that remark too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He gets a lot of television, he loves being on television. We let him do it. Sometimes he says things that are a little bit off and they get built up, unfortunately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: But sources have told CNN for weeks that the president has opted to listen to the questionable advice coming from another question on the coronavirus task force, Scott Atlas. Who tweeted a post that said: "Masks work? NO."
A comment removed by Twitter because it violated the social media platform's rules as most experts believe masks are effective.
Atlas has become such a lightening rod "The Washington Post" reported task force coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, complained to the vice president's office about him.
In the meantime, the president is escalating his attacks on Biden. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Joe Biden is a criminal and he's been a criminal for a long time. And you're a criminal and the media for not reporting it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:05:00]
ACOSTA: Biden is asking voters to reject the president on character grounds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The words of a president matter. The words this president has used that our children have heard, our sons and daughters, have been despicable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: A Trump advisor questioned the president's decision to attack Fauci two weeks before the election, saying the campaign is already struggling to keep up with Biden's massive spending advantage.
Adding: "Time is running out. Being outspent is a problem. No one ever thought we'd be outspent. Time is our enemy."
The president is more confident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (VOICE OVER & CAPTION): We're going to win. I wouldn't have said that three ago. Three weeks ago, two weeks ago -- I don't know, I wouldn't have said it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: A campaign adviser said the president's attacks on Dr. Fauci are ill-advised as they remind Americans of Mr. Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
A subject campaign officials desperately want to avoid.
Jim Acosta. CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now from Washington is CNN political camp and Democratic strategist, Maria Cardona, and in Louisville, Kentucky, CNN political commentator and former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings.
It is great for you both to be here with us. We appreciate it. Let's start off --
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to see you, John.
VAUSE: Let's start off with a little bit more from that phone call President Trump held with campaign staffers.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (VOICE OVER, CAPTIONED): People are tired of COVID. I have the biggest rallies I've ever had, and we have COVID. People are saying whatever, just leave us alone. They're tired of it.
People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Oh.
TRUMP: These people. These people that have gotten it wrong. Fauci's a nice guy, he's been here for 500 years. He called every one of them wrong."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Scott, you heard that woman gasp when he talked about Fauci. And people may be tired of the pandemic but how much is that actually born of a failure or a non-existent response by the Trump Administration?
And do presidents get to be tired and say "whatever" during a crisis?
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well -- I mean, look, he's probably right. There are people that are certainly tired of the pandemic. Unfortunately, the coronavirus is not tired of us. And it will continue to attack us as long as we're not willing to do the things that are necessary to defeat it.
And until, frankly, we have a vaccine which is still several months into the future.
I think the president, obviously, is mad at Dr. Fauci right now because they used a clip of Dr. Fauci in a campaign commercial and Dr. Fauci spoke out against that. So I'm sure Donald Trump is reacting to that.
But as a strategic matter, if you want to try to throw a strategic frame on it, I do think there's a cohort of American voters, probably low political information voters, maybe they didn't participate last time, not terribly politically engaged, who would agree with the president. And so he needs those people to vote.
So there's a whole lot of stuff going on here. By the way, none of it is good for the public health.
VAUSE: Yes.
JENNINGS: He might think it's good for his campaign, it's not great for the public health, of course. VAUSE: So Maria, there seems to be a trend here. Don't like the polls then the polls are wrong, don't like the science then the science is all a conspiracy.
Don't like what the experts say, trash the experts. Find another expert -- and in this one with zero experience in pandemics --
CARDONA: Right.
VAUSE: -- and infectious diseases to tell you what you want to hear. And as Scott just said, this is not good for public health.
CARDONA: That's exactly right, John. What the president said is actually true; we are all sick and tired of the pandemic.
But mostly what we have is people still getting sick and 220,000 Americans dead from the pandemic that this president has been unable and unwilling to confront by using exactly the advice from the most well-respected infectious disease expense that there is right now in the world right now, and that is Dr. Fauci.
The ironic thing, John, is he could use Dr. Fauci to his good.
And I don't think -- Scott is saying that he's probably doing this to get some voters that he still needs to get out to vote.
But I'm telling you from every number that I have seen, what Trump desperately needs to do is to expand his base, to bring in more voters for his re-election, to try to get more pathways to get to the 270 electoral votes that he needs to win.
And what he does when he goes on these rants, John, is exactly the opposite. He's turning away and turning off more voters than what he's bringing in.
VAUSE: Yes. And just as an example for the kind of reporting that's been about Anthony Fauci.
Here's some of the headlines over the last couple of months. From "The New Yorker," "How Anthony Fauci Became America's Doctor." Then there's an up close look at "America's Doctor," on "NPR."
"France 24": "Dr. Anthony Fauci: A Lifeline for Americans through Pandemics and Presidencies."
[01:10:00]
So, Scott, back to you. The president's just not telling the truth when he says Fauci called every one of them wrong.
And, again, putting aside the harm which is being done here to public health.
FDR during the darkest days of World War II never said the Nazis are too hard, let's give up on fighting fascism. JFK never gave up on the space race even though the Soviets were the first to put a man in orbit -- in space, rather. And Reagan never gave up on the Cold War, he didn't saying Gorbachev's wall is too big, let's just leave it where it is.
I mean, presidents don't get to give up like this.
JENNINGS: Yes. And I think that one thing the president has never understood is that there's actually a lot of forgiveness in the American electorate.
When we're facing an unprecedented issue like the coronavirus, I think people actually understand that government officials are going to try things, they're going to make decisions with imperfect information and that it may not all go perfectly. And that's certainly been true of some Republicans and some Democrats at the state level.
But if you're earnest and you're honest and you're showing the American people empathy and that you're earnestly trying to get it right with the information that you have, there'll be a lot of forgiveness in this.
I don't think the president has never fully understood this.
And obviously he doesn't want this to be the dominant issue of his presidency or of his re-election campaign. But we all don't always get to choose what those dominant issues are.
He would love to talk about the economy, he'd love to talk about anything but this. But this thing is dominating our lives here in the United States.
VAUSE: Just very quickly, Scott. As a Republican, does it turn you off, the president, when you hear that sort of stuff?
JENNINGS: Well, yes. Because as a Republican strategist, one thing Maria said is true.
If he is picking up people out here who are sort of rejecting of the coronavirus measures, well, he's losing, say, senior citizens.
CARDONA: Yes.
JENNINGS: Donald Trump is much softer on senior citizens this year than he was in 2016. And it's because they don't think he's taking their health seriously.
And so yes, it bothers me because being an incumbent president means you're having an on-the-job interview for your next promotion, which is your reelection campaign.
And if is the dominant issue and your job approval is as low as it is on coronavirus, it obviously doesn't portend well for the politics of the party.
VAUSE: Maria?
CARDONA: You know what, I completely agree with everything that Scott just said. If Donald Trump would listen to Scott Jennings, he'd be in a much better position right now.
But here's the problem. Scott mentioned that if a leader shows empathy, shows humanity, shows honesty, the American public is very forgiving especially in the face of a virus that the world had never known before a year ago, right?
But the problem is, is that Donald Trump is unable and unwilling to show any kind of empathy, any kind of honesty, any kind of humanity.
And that has been apparent not just with this coronavirus pandemic but with every issue where he has needed to show empathy, honesty and humanity.
VAUSE: OK. We've got two weeks until election day and now we're finally seeing many congressional Republicans trying to put a little distance between themselves and President Trump.
Here's a sample.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Are you proud of your support for Donald Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I'm proud of the work that we have done together.
TED SIMONS, MODERATOR, "PBS," ARIZONA: Are you proud of your support for President Trump?
SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY (R-ARIZ): Well, I'm proud that I'm fighting for Arizonans on things like cutting your taxes.
SIMONS: The question was are you proud of your support for President Trump?
MCSALLY: I'm proud to be fighting for Arizona every single day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Also, Republican Senator John Cornyn told the "Fort Worth Star Telegram" that privately he's confronted Trump -- (inaudible) not publicly, on issues like debt, trade, border security.
He went on to describe his relationship with the president as: "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."
Maria, is there a reality check underway right now for Republicans and is it sort of too late?
CARDONA: Yes. I think, yes, there's a reality check that could have happened a whole lot sooner than now.
And yes, I do think it's too late. Because you know that all of those senators wanted to scream from the loudest and the highest rooftop that no, they're not proud of their support for President Trump. And they shouldn't be.
And the thing is, is that they could've come out a long time ago and been able to look themselves in the face but then we know what would have happened, right?
The few people who did try that, they are no longer in politics. That is what you get for confronting Donald Trump. But that is also get when you try to put country before party.
These senators have not been willing to do that. And we'll see what happens in the election in less than two weeks or two weeks from now. We will see if those senators are going to start regretting that they did not come out and call Donald Trump out sooner.
VAUSE: So very quickly, we're almost out of time. If Donald Trump continues to talk about this rosy -- the big win, bigger than last time. And these polls which don't exist that show him way in front.
[01:15:00]
There is a narrative he's setting up here for absolute total shock and disbelief by those among his supporters who only listen to him and don't actually read a newspaper or listen to any other news source.
And that is when you have problems post election, isn't it?
JENNINGS: Well, look, I think we're going to have a clear winner. It may take a few days, it may take a couple of weeks to count all the ballots.
So regardless of how people view it today, one of the -- the greatness of American democracy and our republic is that we have durable institutions.
One of those institutions is free and fair elections, every two years we re-elect or elect a new president every four years. And it's going to happen and -- whether Donald Trump wins or loses. And the country will move on, and we'll do it all again.
So I believe in the durability of American institutions. And so, regardless of who's getting their information from where, I don't think we're going to have a problem no matter who wins after this election.
VAUSE: From your lips to God's ear. And we'll see what happens. Because I still think the jury's out on that one.
But Scott and Maria, thank you both. Really appreciate it.
CARDONA: Thank you, John.
JENNINGS: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, stocks took a wild ride on Monday surging on hopes of a coronavirus relief package being passed by congress, plummeting on word (ph) that was unlikely to happen. The Dow swung more than 570 points between its highest and lowest
parts of the day. At the end of the day, though, there was red across the board.
If a stimulus package is to be passed before election day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a Tuesday deadline for agreement with the White House.
CNN's John Defterios is live in Abu Dhabi with more on this.
John, if you look at the Democrats and the Republicans, they're not just billions of dollars apart, there are also very wide differences in many policy areas.
If they haven't been able to get a deal by now and it's been months, it does beg the question what difference does another day actually make?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, it may bring it to a very end, John. I think that's the difference here. It's like a chess match, right?
This is a political move by Nancy Pelosi who's the speaker of the house. Democrats, as you're saying, let's just bring it to an end and then we'll talk after the election if we can't get a deal.
But this political drama is not playing well on Wall Street nor global markets. Because it's been hovering now for nearly two months on the table.
And now we have these three players, Pelosi, Mnuchin as the treasury secretary, Mitch McConnell, the Republicans.
Let's just break it down for our viewers. $2.2 trillion is the offer from the House.
Apparently, the White House, according to our sources in Washington said $2 trillion dollars is possible but the Senate Republicans are still at a half a trillion dollars.
They just have a huge division in the U.S. Congress right now and the White House is not able to bridge that gap.
And then the finger-pointing comes, right? Here's the chief of staff for president Trump, Mark Meadows, who by the way, was a former congressman on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We thought that they should have been a 48-day deadline 48 days ago. And it's been really the speaker that continues to be very rigid in her negotiation. It's her way or the highway, it's all or nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: Classic finger-pointing I would say, John Vause, right?
So this is how it is playing for Asian markets. They're all in the red. I wouldn't say a severe sell off because they see this as a political chess move as well. Tokyo suffering the most.
And the U.S. futures after seeing that drubbing of 1.4 to 1.6 lower on Wall Street Monday are trending higher.
This political move by Nancy Pelosi actually landed on the 33rd anniversary of Black Monday back in 1987 which I covered in my early days on Wall Street, so it wasn't perfect timing because of the valuations and that anniversary.
But it seems like the markets and investors kind of powered through it, let's put it that way.
VAUSE: That must have been for your high school newspaper, John, when you were just starting out.
You can see the dynamic between the chief of staff and McConnell right now though. I think that was more interesting than the dynamic between the Republicans and the Democrats.
But one interesting thing here is that the Democrats passed their bill, what, back in March I think it was in the lower house. But it's been so long a lot of the provisions have now lapsed.
So what does that mean in terms timeline? Does it have any significant impact?
DEFTERIOS: Well, they passed the first one in March and then they came back for the second package, John -- in fairness to Nancy Pelosi, in June.
And the senate Republicans didn't even start talking until August then they had to sit at the negotiating table in September. And that's been the fundamental issue.
So some things have lapsed but there's two key points that the Democrats are not giving ground on. One is city and state bail outs, John, we've talked about it for the last two months.
This is something that Republicans say it's not the role of the federal government to bail out cities or states that are mismanaged and have very high pensions for union workers. That's a very key issue.
The other one which I tend to agree with the house leader is testing and tracing. She wants it earmarked for that spending which is something the White House is not doing.
But then let's take a step back, John. This is something -- having worked in Washington for years.
[01:20:00] You take a look at it and say isn't it the job of a White House Republican leader to bring together the senate Republicans, close the gap and negotiate with the House?
The Trump White House is saying it's willing to go to $2 trillion, the Senate Republicans have not budged.
That is the role of the president and his treasury secretary -- who, by the way, is here in the Middle East so it's going to make negotiation very difficult on this very last day.
And they have not delivered the party. The party's under strain, that's for sure.
VAUSE: Yes. And that's a good point, I'm glad you got to t. Because that to me is the real interesting part of the politics here.
DEFTERIOS: Yes.
VAUSE: Not so much the Republicans and Democrats but the White House and the Republicans. Mitch McConnell is running for the exits, perhaps.
John, good to see you. Back to that student newspaper. Good to see you. Appreciate it.
DEFTERIOS: Thanks.
VAUSE: When we come back, new lockdowns in parts of Europe as governments try to contain a second wave of COVID-19.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Urgent new restrictions are being imposed on countries across Europe as a second wave of the coronavirus begins to take its toll.
All the areas marked on this map marked with orange and red represent countries where infections are on the rise.
About half of Europe is seeing a 50 percent increase in case numbers in the past week, according to the WHO.
And as surely as night follows day, hospitalizations and death tolls are also starting to surge.
A sudden spike in October in both infections and hospitalizations has meant the Czech Republic is once again making masks mandatory in urban areas and for anyone within two meters of another person and for anyone in a car unless alone or with people from the same household.
Starting Wednesday, Ireland will impose some of Europe's strictest measures. No social gatherings in homes or gardens and restaurants and bars will offer only take out service.
Wales will see a new two-week long lockdown beginning Friday. Everyone will be forced to stay home except for critical workers and those in jobs where working from home is not possible. All non- essential businesses will shut down until November 9.
And in France, First Lady Brigitte Macron is self-isolating after possibly being exposed to the virus. She is reportedly not showing any symptoms but met with someone on Thursday who later tested positive.
Ann Rimoin is an epidemiology professor at the University of California and she is with us this hour from Los Angeles.
Professor Rimoin, it's good to see you again.
ANNE RIMOIN, PROFESSOR EPIDEMIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: Nice to be here.
VAUSE: Now back in March, we had this dire prediction. It came from the Imperial College, it was picked up by the White House, by everyone.
That by October, by this point in time right now -- "an unmitigated epidemic, we would predict approximately 510,000 deaths in Great Britain and 2.2 million in the U.S. not accounting for the potential negative effects of health systems being overwhelmed on mortality."
March seems like a dozen lifetimes ago. But how important is it to remember that by changing our behavior on a scale the planet has never seen before we avoided this mass tragedy and how important is it to remember now as we head into this northern winter?
[01:25:00]
RIMOIN: Listen, John, we have done an amazing job of, in general, around the world in various places being able to really mitigate the spread of the disease by wearing masks, social distancing, hand hygiene and avoiding crowds.
That is the way that we're able to stop this virus.
We still don't have a vaccine, we don't have other measures that are going to be able to help us at this point. So we are still beholden to the things that were really important in March as we are right today.
These models are projections of what could happen but it just shows you that human behavior can make a difference.
And so it's very, very important to remember we have all of the tools in our hands right now to really push down on these rising cases. We just have to be able to really have good strategies and everybody has to buy in.
It's really good to see that Europe is moving into mitigation phase again --
VAUSE: Yes.
RIMOIN: -- as we're seeing cases rise. VAUSE: That's the point. This is all about behavior and buying in
and everyone being part of it.
Because while the worst has been avoided in the U.S., it seems -- it should not have been as bad as it has been.
And it's interesting when you compare other places like Taiwan with New York State, for example.
Taiwan has a population of around 24 million. Total confirmed cases there, 540. Total deaths so far, just seven. Days under lockdown, none.
New York State has a slightly smaller population, about 20 million. Confirmed cases, almost 485,000, more than 33,000 dead. More than 30 days under lockdown.
Taiwan and the U.S. have had pretty much the same resources, these non-pharmaceutical interventions, if you like.
So what was Taiwan doing and what are they doing now heading into this winter that the U.S. is not doing but should be doing?
RIMOIN: Well, this is the point. That if you get -- if you have a national strategy where people are wearing masks, they're social distancing, they're avoiding crowds and it is enforced on a national level and that you have good buy in from the community, you can reduce the spread of this virus significantly.
And this is what the point is that I was trying to make. Is that we're seeing several examples of countries doing a very good job at this, the countries that you've mentioned.
The countries that have not had a good national strategy or who have eased up on their mitigation strategies are seeing rises in cases and deaths as well that will follow.
These things are very preventable. We have the tools that are necessary to be able to prevent further spread.
VAUSE: It's interesting what's happened in the Czech Republic. Because they mandated face masks early into the pandemic, had a lot of success. Until now.
Numbers have surge there, there are more cases per capita there than any other major country right now. CNN reports in the first 17 days of October, more people have died of the virus than in the previous eight months of the epidemic combined.
So what went wrong there? And how do you dissuade those who are the cause and effect belief, who point to the Czech Republic and say hey look, they did masks, it didn't work.
RIMOIN: Well, there's not one thing that's going to be a silver bullet here. You have to have masks, you have to have social distancing, and you have to avoid crowds. And what happened in the Czech Republic as has happened in many
countries is that restrictions are eased.
People start to relax, people start to interact with each other. Households tend to -- will start to mingle, people will go out to dinner. We have all -- and all of these things provide opportunity for this virus to spread.
It is also getting colder so as people start to move indoors, we're going to be providing more opportunities for this virus to spread.
And we should note that most of these countries in Europe, while cases were low, they were not non-existent. The virus was still spreading.
And so, if we do have virus spreading in a community, it will take every opportunity to spread to vulnerable people. Most of the world does not have immunity to this virus. And so any opportunity, the virus is going to take it.
VAUSE: "Constant vigilance, Harry Potter," I like to say. Professor Rimoin, thank you for being with us. It's appreciated.
RIMOIN: It's my pleasure.
VAUSE: Two candidates, two very different plans for the pandemic, the economy and racial divisions.
Does policy actually matter this election? Let's pretend it does. When we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:32:02]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause.
In the U.S., two weeks until election day, just one more president debate on Thursday. A record number of people casting their votes early.
President Donald Trump is on a campaign sprint across the country holding packed rallies despite a surge in COVID-19 cases.
On the campaign call, Trump resorted to name-calling. Labelling Dr. Anthony Fauci and top health officials as idiots.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more now from Tucson in Arizona.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump continuing his mad dash to election day on Monday, barnstorming the state of Arizona with two stumps, one in Prescott and one right here in Tucson Arizona. Now, this is a state that President Trump won by four points in 2016,
but now according to the most recent polling averages the president is down, trailing Biden by an average of the same margin, four points once again. And so this is certainly a must win for the president.
And again, what we are seeing from him familiar lines of attacks, throwing out red meat to the base and attacking the Biden family calling them a criminal enterprise at this rally here in Tucson by focusing on these unsubstantiated and false allegations against former vice president Biden.
So it's clear that while the president is appealing to the base it's not quite clear yet how he's appealing to those voters turned off by him particularly the issue of the coronavirus pandemic.
President Trump on Monday really continuing to downplay the pandemic attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci who is the most trusted public health expert and the government's leading expert on this virus and on infectious diseases. But the president seems to have decided at this point that he's just going to focus on himself and on doing what he wants to do as it relates to the virus.
And that certainly includes continuing to have these large-scale rallies where thousands of people attended as they did in Tucson, Arizona on Monday.
Now, what's interesting here is that the president's advisers, including his campaign manager Bill Stepien and the RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel back in July when coronavirus cases were surging then, they advised the president not to resume his rallies.
But now as cases are surging once again, the attitude seems to be that there are just two weeks left until election day and therefore the president just needs to carry on.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN -- in Tucson, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, unlike President Trump, the Biden campaign is closely following CDC and other government guidelines including social distancing at rallies and other events as well as wearing face masks.
His running mate, Senator Kamala Harris will be holding a virtual rally for voters in Milwaukee on Tuesday, just one day after a drive- in rally in the battleground state of Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There is so much on the ballot in 2020. Justice is on the ballot in 2020. Economic justice is on the ballot in 2020. Climate justice is on the ballot in 2020. Health care justice is on the ballot in 2020. Reproductive justice is on the ballot in 2020. Criminal justice reform is on the ballot in 2020. Climate reform is on the ballot in 2020.
[01:35:06]
HARRIS: Everything is on the ballot in 2020. Joe Biden is on the ballot in 2020.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There is a lot on the ballot in 2020. Ron Brownstein is CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic".
Kamala Harris, all fired up there, Ron. Good to see you.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I remember when there were like rallies and things like that in the presidential campaign.
VAUSE: Back in the day.
OK. Let's pretend, it's a normal presidential election. Ok. Let's look at some policy issues.
BROWNSTEIN: Sure.
VAUSE: Let's look at where the candidates stand on some of the big issues.
Let's start with the pandemic. We'll hear from the president first at a recent campaign event and then followed by Joe Biden. Here we go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Under my leadership, we are delivering a safe vaccine and rapid recovery. We are doing things with FDA. They're giving us approvals in weeks as opposed to years. It has been incredible.
If you vote for me, prosperity will surge. Normal life --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm going to work to end the deadly health inequities that COVID has amplified. Building on the Affordable Care Act is the fastest path to universal care. Doubling funding for community health centers on the vital front lines. Making COVID testing treatment and any vaccine free for everyone.
And making sure that we are in a situation where we have opportunity for people to have access.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just on the level of detail, what we are hearing from Trump and Biden seems to explain why the polls say that, you know, Biden is ahead when it comes to dealing with this pandemic.
Because there's a lot of detail, a lot of meat coming from him. A lot of wishful thinking it seems coming from Trump.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, more broadly, John, I mean you know, there was no Republican platform approved at the connection (ph) this summer. There's been no indication of any specifics from the president about what his second term would bring on any issues.
Except on the coronavirus I think he has given the public a very clear signal. And in this case the medium is the message. I mean the fact that he is holding these large rallies without social distancing, without mask wearing often in explicit defiance of local public health officials, even in states that are experiencing the worst of the upsurge, is a pretty clear indication that no matter how long he's president, no matter how many people get sick, no matter how many people die, he will not take this seriously.
From the beginning he has thought that his best chance of reelection is to protect normalcy at all cost. Whatever the implications for public health that has had enormous implications not only on his own actions but in pressuring Republican governors to close late, open early, override local Democratic ordinances on things like mask wearing.
And I think he's giving the public a very clear signal that if you reelect him you're going to get more of the same in this kind of hands off. We've given up. Let it run its course approach to the virus.
VAUSE: Ok. Let's go to the economy. Always a big election year issue this year. Mostly because of the pandemic. Again we'll hear from Trump followed by Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Next year will be the grandest economic year in the history of our country. That is what's going to happen. We are cutting new taxes. They are raising new taxes. That is an easy one to figure out, isn't it?
This election is a choice between a Trump super recovery or a Biden depression.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: No one who makes less than $400,000 a year will pay a penny more. If you make more than that you're going to start paying at the rate you paid under the administration of George W. Bush -- 39.6 percent. And I'm going to ask the big corporations and the very wealthy to pay their fair share for a change.
Trump's more than $2 trillion tax cut, I'm going to roll back $1.5 trillion of that --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, Trump, the businessman who went broke owning his casino was sort of always ahead of Biden on this issue of the economy. Who would do a better job. Biden has closed that gap significantly.
Traditionally in the past, optimism of the economy, if it's heading in the right direction has determined the outcome of the presidential election. Does that gravity apply this year?
BROWNSTEIN: No. No. In fact even before the pandemic, as you know, we talked about it. I wrote extensively that something like 20 percent of the voters who said they approved of Trump's performance on the economy, nonetheless said they disapproved him overall and were voting for Biden.
Even before the pandemic, we have never seen anything like that in American history. And that is a reflection of how many particularly well-off college educated suburbanites who were doing pretty well in this economy nonetheless thought that Trump was unfit by values and temperament and kind of behavior to serve as president.
But more broadly, I mean this really is the kind of the broadest and clearest philosophical divide -- it's true that Joe Biden will not raise taxes on people under $400,000 a year. But he would raise a lot of money and he would spend it to expand the Affordable Care Act, to get closer to the universal coverage.
A huge investment in green energy both as a job creation and a carbon reduction strategy. A big investment in education from pre-K to more money for low income schools in K to 12. And tuition free public college for families on $125,000 or below.
[01:40:04]
BROWNSTEIN: They didn't do a great job during the convention. The Democrats were laying out these economic differences. And they didn't get much of a chance in the first debate but he is trying to kind of move more to that argument by kind of Scranton Joe versus Park Avenue Trump.
I think this is the biggest piece that Biden still has to kind of nail down, particularly with some of those blue collar voters in the Midwest who tipped the election to Trump the first time.
VAUSE: Very quickly at the end, here they are on ending racial divisions and improving opportunities and lives of minorities. Again, Trump and Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: To combat the toxic left-wing propaganda in our schools, I recently announced that we are launching a new pro-American lesson plan for students called the 1776 commercial.
We will teach our children the greatness and glory of America if they don't know it. But you know, they are not being taught that. They are being taught that we are not great.
I've also issued an executive order to prohibit the teaching of critical race theory in the federal government. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The hardest thing for a young African-American to do is get down payment to buy a home. Every first time home buyer is going to qualified for a $15,000-dollar commitment to down payment on a home. I'm going to put $20 billion up front to make sure we take care of rehabilitating existing housing, and then spend the other $80 billion building new housing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ron?
BROWNSTEIN: Look, in a process that people all around the world would recognize, the central fault line in our politics now is not class, it's attitude for the way the country is changing -- demographically, culturally and economically.
As you could see in Trump's language, he is ever more explicitly converting the Republican Party into a vehicle of white racial resentment, mobilizing the voters who are most uneasy with demographic change, in effect presenting himself as a human wall to stop it.
Biden is consolidating in most respects those voters who are comfortable the way the country is changing. He's going to win the big metro areas in America. For instance by a margin even bigger than Hillary Clinton did.
The weak link for him ironically given that he's been more explicit on kind of racial injustice than any previous Democratic nominee are a lot of signs that he is not getting the enthusiasm he needs among younger voters of color, particularly both African American and Hispanic. And again, that is one of the loose ends for him that he has to nail down even as the polls generally show him in a strong position.
VAUSE: Ron it's a pleasure as always. Thank you so much. Ron Brownstein for us from Los Angeles.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: Cheers.
New rules will mean the second and final debate between Trump and Biden scheduled for Thursday will be like no other U.S. presidential debate ever seen.
This time when one candidate is answering a question, the microphone of the other will be muted. The change was implemented after the chaos and constant interruptions from President Trump during the first debate. The Trump campaign is already whining about the change saying it's an attempt to Biden's advantage, their favorite candidate but offered no evidence to support the accusations.
CNN's coverage of that debate starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, Friday morning in much of the world. You don't want to miss it.
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a Republican challenge to mail-in voting in Pennsylvania. The state will have to count ballots received within three days of the election day, even if they don't have any legible post mark. Meantime early in-person voting is breaking records across the nation.
CNN's Pamela Brown has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ODALYS PEREZ, FLORIDA VOTER: There is a chance that your voice is not going to be counted. Why risk it?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just 15 days to go and many voters are taking no chances. Already, more than 28 million votes have been cast nationwide. That number representing almost 20 percent of the more than 136 million total ballots cast four years ago.
Ballots are now available in all 50 states and D.C. with in-person voting beginning in several key swing states in the coming days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.
BROWN: Today it started in 52 Florida counties. And rain this morning in south Florida did not stop voters from lining up before sunrise. For those voting by mail, by midday Monday more than 2.4 million ballots have been cast in the Sunshine State. That is only about 216,000 ballots fewer than all the mail-in ballots tallied in 2016.
PEREZ: I did have an absentee ballot, but I was not comfortable with everything that you hear in the news. So I just decided to come in myself.
BROWN: 30 percent of ballots coming from Republicans. 49 percent democrats. And 20 percent with no party affiliation -- which political experts say is a growing trend in Florida as more voters are turning their backs on both parties.
[01:44:53]
BROWN: In Georgia, early voting continues to shatter records a week in. A massive 653 percent increase in absentee ballots cast by mail over 2016.
Today in Colorado, vote counting begins as does in-person voting.
TRUMP: This is very incorrect --
BROWN: Meanwhile President Trump continues to give Democrats every reason to be concerned about a potential peaceful transfer of power if he were to lose to Joe.
TRUMP: Then they say, if you lose, will you have a friendly transition? I say I want a fair election.
BROWN: CNN is now learning that Congressional Democrats, the Biden campaign and outside groups are working on contingency plans behind the scenes coming up with a two-part strategy in anticipation of that very scenario, preparing for a postelection legal battle and messaging war aimed at combatting misinformation about voting.
Pamela Brown, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A Chinese city is one of the first to offer an experimental COVID 19 vaccine to the public. But is it safe even though it hasn't been tested properly?
A live report when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The Chinese city of Yiwu has become one of the first to offer an experimental COVID-19 vaccine to the public. The emergency use vaccines comes in a series of two shots. There have been long lines, high demand and supply is running dry.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, live for us in Hong Kong. This vaccine it wasn't free of charge. There was a cost associated with it --
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
VAUSE: -- it has not been fully tested and yet, no shortage of demand.
STOUT: No. There is definitely demand for an experimental vaccine so much so that people are willing to pay for it. This is what a CNN team found when we sent them to Yiwu, this Eastern Chinese City upon this reports that it was distributing these experimental coronavirus vaccines to the public at around $60 U.S. or 400 renminbi for two shots.
They found it was happening from a single clinic, that there was an age limit, no children were being vaccinated. You had to be between the ages of 18 and 59. And also, it was distributed at a first come, first serve basis.
So when David Culver and his team finally arrived to the scene, all these vaccines had already been distributed, much to the dismay of quite a number of Chinese nationals who had gathered there. In fact the CNN team found in Yiwu a number of Chinese nationals who flew in from as far as neighboring provinces to be able to take and pay for this experimental vaccine.
Not because of the pandemic inside China, China largely has that situation under control for months now but because of their desire to be able to travel again internationally. I want you to listen to this exchange between David Culver in Yiwu
with a woman there who is an international business woman from Guangdong Province. She flew in the night before. She spoke to him in fluent Spanish.
[01:49:54]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And so they told you they don't have any and you have to go find another place?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: Now to be able to travel internationally again people like Anna, who you met just now on the screen, they're willing to take this experimental vaccine to pay for it but they also trust this vaccine. Since July hundreds of thousands of people in China had been injected with experimental coronavirus vaccines, under an emergency use ordinance that's been authorized by the Chinese government.
You know, people have been injected again with this experimental vaccine include frontline medical staff, as well as border patrol agents, international business people but there have been warnings, you know, warnings about the safety of such vaccines that it could cause unintended symptoms or consequences. And there have been warnings from virologists about the safety of vaccines that have already passed phase 3 trials.
Listen to this warning from virologist based here in Hong Kong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JIN DONG-YAN, VIROLOGIST, HONG KONG UNIVERSITY: In the history of vaccine development, there are many examples that even if the vaccine has passed the phase 3 trials, still there might be problems.
Whether there might be ADE (ph) in the case of SARS COVID 2, it is still unknown and we have to find out. And only after completion of the phase 3 can we have a definite answer to that. Otherwise, it's risky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: You know, not only that Chinese. (INAUDIBLE) vaccine industry has have a very spotty, troubled safety record over the last decade. There have been a number of vaccine scandals in China including a scandal involving vaccine intended for children.
That being said what was discovered by David Culver and his team in Yiwu that quite a number of Chinese nationals clamoring to pay for and to get these experimental vaccines.
And as for the global race for a vaccine China stands well out front. Four out of the ten phase 3 COVID vaccine trials -- vaccines that are currently under phase 3 trials are being manufactured by Chinese companies, John.
VAUSE: Just a little bit of more on Chinese tainted history when it comes to vaccines. Right now, this vaccine is untested. It's being offered not in one city but three cities on a limited basis but still this seems to be a very risky strategy with some very significant consequences should something go wrong.
STOUT: This is a very risky strategy as you point out and this is something that Xi Jinping has said is a government priority for months now. So much is at stake in this race for a vaccine for China. China needs to shore up its international standing in the wake of a number of countries, especially in the West, slamming China for the origin of the pandemic, for its initial response to the pandemic.
China is hoping that it can also use this as a way to leverage its diplomatic relationships with different countries around the world, including third world nations that have participated in trials for these vaccines.
But in the end, China wants to consolidate its position as it sees itself as a global superpower. But that will only work if they have a functioning, safe vaccine that is also accepted by the international community, John.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout there joining us from Hong Kong. Appreciate it.
Well, forced apart by this pandemic for seven long months, one couple married for decades finally back together. Their story in just a moment.
[01:53:33]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: One Michigan woman refused to take any chances with her vote even if that meant driving almost a thousand kilometers round-trip to cast her ballot. 94-year-old Mildred Madison. She lives in Detroit, been staying with their son in Illinois because of the pandemic.
She applied for an absentee ballot but it has not arrived, so jumped in the car with her son made that trip in just one day. Madison says she's voted in every election -- city, state and national for past 72 years and says this vote is the most important the country's ever had.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILDRED MADISON, MICHIGAN VOTER: Women got the last especially black women, we're the last ones that got power to vote. It's wonderful to see a black woman running for vice president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Mrs. Madison has been active in politics for decades from running for the Board of Education to becoming the first black president of the League of Women Voters in Cleveland. It's been an incredibly long and at times lonely seven months for an
elderly couple in Florida forced apart by this pandemic. That will change this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody's waiting. Who's waiting for him? Who is waiting for him over here?
Somebody. Look who is this? Who's here? Who's here? Who's here, mama?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's here? I'll help you up.
EVE: Oh my God? Oh my God?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, who's here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at him, dear mama. Look at him.
JOSEPH: I sure missed you.
EVE: Oh my God.
EVA: I miss you so much.
JOSEPH: I missed you.
I didn't think I'd ever get over here.
Oh, you're all right. I love you so much.
For 60 years, I've done something right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Robyn Curnow takes over for me at the top of the break.
Got a tear in my eye.
Thank you for watching. See you tomorrow.
[01:57:40]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
