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Dems, New: Boston Public Schools Suspend All In-Person Learning; Mobilizing Black Voters In Michigan Key For 2020 Election. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired October 21, 2020 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:30:19]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Boston public school suspending all in person learning for students starting tomorrow. City officials cite a surge of new coronavirus cases. CNN's Bianna Golodryga joins me now, a setback without a doubt Bianna.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A setback, John, for parents and for students trying to get kids back into school. The city had been hoping to start a phase three reintroduction plan in just the coming weeks. Obviously this sets this back, the city seven day COVID average positivity test rate was reported at 5.7 percent. And that's an increase from last week's 4.5 percent.

Students, the bad news here will remain in remote learning until there are two full weeks of falling infection rates. Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement, we have said all along that we will only provide in person learning for students if the data and public health guidance supports it. And this new data shows that we are trending in the wrong direction.

John, this was done in consultation with public health officials there and the superintendent of the school district there put it well when she said in a tweet, I'm disheartened having to close schools to our highest need students. I say -- I often say it is the adults who create the conditions in which children succeed. We must do better. Please wear a mask, avoid large gatherings, and stay home if sick so we can bring our children back to school.

And this comes just on the heels of a New York City mayor saying the testing is going well in the city. They've only had 28 positive tests out of 16,000 conducted so far. So really a tale of two cities, but it's the children, it's the parents that are the ones that are on the losing end here.

KING: So the product of those Boston public schools. It is a sad day that is without a doubt a setback. Bianna Golodryga, thank you so much for the important reporting there. We'll continue to track this around the country. I suspect there will be more as the case count continues to go up. When we come back, back to campaign 2020, Michigan a key state in the presidential race, the turnout of black women absolutely essential for the Democrats.

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[12:37:07]

KING: We count votes 13 nights from now. We will start filling in this map as your votes are recorded. And as we watch this map fill in, we will be guided by this map, the map that made Donald Trump president. One reason he is president is he flipped Michigan from blue to red. One reason he flipped it from blue to red is because here even though Hillary Clinton won in Wayne County, home of Detroit, that number looks great, 67 percent of the vote. That number 519,000 votes was not high enough, was not high enough, turnout was down. In this pandemic age many people in the city especially in the African American community worried that people are tired from the pandemic will they turn out? Well, one woman has made it a personal mission to make sure Detroit voters don't sit this out. Kate Bolduan has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WENDY CALDWELL-LIDDELL, FOUNDER, MOBILIZE DETROIT: OK. So we're saying you don't -- you aren't registered. So, let's get you registered, OK?

I think that the apathy has just grown and has just become so pervasive in our communities, because people are just trying to survive that we have to get back to empowering people.

Let's cycle back this way.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-nine-year-old Wendy Caldwell-Liddell is a woman with no shortage of energy.

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Hey, did she talk to you already?

BOLDUAN (voice-over): She doesn't work for any campaign, but since August, she says she's spent three days a week every week between her full-time job and taking care of two kids using that energy to try and convince fellow Detroiters their vote matters.

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: At this point, this is our survival now. What happens politically is a part of our survival and there is no escaping that.

BOLDUAN (on camera): Ten thousand seven hundred and four, what does that number mean to you?

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Is that how many votes Trump won by?

BOLDUAN: That's exactly how many votes.

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: So that number. It hurts. It hurts.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Wayne County, which includes Detroit, went for Hillary Clinton by a wide margin in 2016. But she got about 76,000 fewer votes there than Obama did in 2012. Remember, Trump won the entire state by just 10,704 votes.

BOLDUAN: (on camera): Are you voting for Joe Biden or are you more voting against Donald Trump?

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Eighty percent against Donald Trump, 20 percent for Joe Biden. I would say that.

BOLDUAN: What does that mean?

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: It means that I know that as a voter and as a black woman that there's a job that I have to do in order to get a representative who will come close to protecting my people in office. But I am not necessarily excited about having another representative there who, really, does not inherently understand the needs of our community.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Markita Blanchard, like Wendy, has lived in Detroit her whole life. But at 63 years old, she sees the choice this election a bit differently.

MARKITA BLANCHARD, BIDEN SUPPORTER: I'm 100 percent voting for Biden.

BOLDUAN (on camera): Does Biden make you excited?

[12:40:02]

BLANCHARD: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, he does. His enthusiasm, his past record, it's like a charge.

BOLDUAN: President Trump says often that he has done more for the black community --

BLANCHARD: That's -- go ahead.

BOLDUAN: No, I don't even need to finish.

BLANCHARD: He is full of -- you know what I'm saying? He has not done nothing. I've had people say, well, he's not my president. I didn't vote. I said well, did you vote at all. They say no, I didn't vote. I say, if you did not vote, you did vote for him.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Amber Davis is one of those Detroiters who voted for Obama in 2012, then didn't vote at all in 2016.

(on camera): Why didn't you vote in 2016?

AMBER DAVIS, DETROIT RESIDENT: I don't want Trump, and I don't want Hillary. I didn't really care who won that election.

BOLDUAN: So, what's your plan this election?

DAVIS: I don't like Biden, but I'm voting for Biden. This coronavirus, everything that's going on is just horrible. So, he's got to go. BOLDUAN: One path to flipping Michigan blue again and a critical pursuit of the Biden campaign is getting those voters who sat out four years ago to show up this time. And a sign the Trump campaign knows this, it has an office right down the road from the Democrats specifically targeting black voters in Detroit.

How unusual is that to see, forget Trump, but a Republican presidential campaign opened an office in the west side of Detroit.

MARY SHEFFIELD, DETROIT CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT PRO TEM: I've never seen it. I've never seen it ever, ever before.

BOLDUAN: But what does it tell you?

SHEFFIELD: The importance of not only Michigan but Detroit in the black vote because the parties -- both parties need us, really.

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Are you going to help me?

BOLDUAN: Everyone always talks about on T.V., always talk about how black women are the backbone of the Democratic Party.

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: We are. We are. Black women are the backbone.

BOLDUAN: Do you think the Democratic Party takes you for granted?

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: Absolutely. Absolutely they take us for granted because they know that black women are going to help them get the big wins they need where it matters, but they also know that they can give us the bare minimum knowing that we aren't going to choose the other side.

BOLDUAN: What does that say about the country?

CALDWELL-LIDDELL: It says we've still got a long way to go when the backbone of the country is the most neglected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Fantastic piece from Kate Bolduan. Let's continue the conversation now with Erin Keith, she's a social justice attorney and a Michigan Democratic voter. It's good to see you again, Erin. So Wendy, in that piece there said she's 80 percent against Trump, 20 percent for Biden. Where are you?

ERIN KEITH, SOCIAL JUSTICE ATTORNEY: Well, I think quite frankly, one of the things that I've been thinking about is that I don't have to necessarily agree with Biden philosophically on every issue in order to stand with him against Islamophobia, racism, xenophobia, sexism. So I think similar to Wendy, I probably am voting against Trump, but also for a lot of things that I believe in.

KING: And so I want to put up the numbers again, Kate talked about them in that excellent piece. If you go back to Wayne County four years ago, this is what I do on election nights, I count votes. You see the margin there. Hillary Clinton got 519,000 plus votes. That was great. It was almost 67 percent of the vote. But if you look at Obama, 2012 and Obama 2008, the numbers went down every time, right?

She lost the state by 10,704 votes, there are 76,000 fewer voters, 76,000 fewer people in Wayne County voted Democrat for president in 2016 than did in 2012. I know the population has shrunk a little bit so maybe you could take 10 or 12,000 votes, 15,000 votes there. But what happened? Why was the turnout not there in the community for Hillary Clinton? And do you believe it will be different this time?

KEITH: Absolutely. So I definitely think it will be different this time. For starters, we are living through a completely different social construct. We are living through a completely different moment in American history. Speaking of Detroit, specifically, I don't think people who didn't come out and vote in 2016 could have anticipated that their failure to vote would lead to a pandemic, where many of their neighbors, many of the people in their communities literally would lose their lives.

And so I think that that makes a huge difference in terms of why people come out and vote. I also think having Kamala Harris on the ticket helps a great deal. I think the Biden, you know, administration knew what they were doing when they selected her to be his vice presidential running mate. So I think those things will definitely mobilize voters in our city.

KING: So you have, as you say, maybe a mobilization people in the African American community thinking this President has not served us well in this pandemic. And then compare that though you also have the safety concerns of people, especially older, you've seen the health care disparities of the pandemic. What is your sense of the early voting and the attitudes for voting, the accessibility of voting in the community? Is it where it needs to be? And do you see turnout in the early days where you feel more comfortable?

KEITH: Absolutely, I think I've seen more people early voting this around than I've ever seen in the history of the time that I've been voting since I was 18 years old. I can definitely speak to the fact that there are limitations. Certain people in our community may not feel safe. But I personally have seen the lines long. I've had friends reach out to me about local candidates who are they're interested in voting for and asking questions about different proposals on the ballot. They're doing their research.

[12:45:22]

So I think that not only are people going to come out in droves to vote Trump out, but they're coming out in droves, because again, they care about these issues that are happening in our community, and they realize they are reinvigorated to vote because of Donald Trump and because of voting him out.

KING: Erin Keith, it's good to see you again. And we'll keep in touch as we go through the remarkable 13 days before us and maybe a few more accountable. Erin, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

KEITH: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

KING: Coming up for us, a global perspective on the coronavirus, Ireland goes under a strict lockdown midnight, tonight.

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[12:50:34]

KING: Today a new study that reinforces the sad and constant feature of this coronavirus pandemic it hits communities of color harder than the rest of us. Let's get more details now from our CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: John, it's sad in so many ways. Black people are more likely than white people to get COVID in the first place. And what this study published in a medical journal says is also more likely to be so sick that when they are diagnosed that they end up in the hospital.

Let's take a look at the numbers in this study. What it looked at more than 1,100 patients with COVID and it found that black people were 1.72 times more likely to end up in the hospital compared with white people. And the authors had a statement. They said our findings largely agree with recent published work examining racial and ethnic differences in COVID-19 outcomes, which found black patients had a higher hospitalization rate increased odds of positive test results and disproportionately high COVID-19 diagnosis rate compared with white patients.

And John, there are many reasons why black people would end up, would end up being more likely to end up in the hospital. This study points to higher rates of diabetes and kidney disease. So with that underlying disease, more likely to have complications, but also black people have less access to health care than white people do. And studies have shown, there's some studies have shown that black people aren't taking this seriously when they go to the doctor saying they're sick, they're more likely to be told oh, it's nothing. So for those reasons, by the time they actually get diagnosed, they're more sick. John?

KING: Elizabeth Cohen, grateful for that important sad but very important reporting as we try to constantly learn what we're dealing with here. Thank you, Elizabeth.

Global headlines now the health commissioner for the European Union issuing dire pronouncements, she says in some areas, the coronavirus situation is now worse than it was at the outset of the pandemic back in March. And the control measures don't seem to be working. CNN reporters from around the world bring us more.

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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Scott McLean in Berlin where Europe second wave of the coronavirus is showing no signs of slowing. Germany has recorded more coronavirus deaths over the past week than it did in the entire month of August. The worst hit countries are the Netherlands, Belgium, and now the Czech Republic.

Yesterday the Czech health minister made masks mandatory almost everywhere outdoors. And this morning the prime minister after an emergency session of parliament conceded that the current restrictions in place simply have not worked. So starting tomorrow, the Czech Republic will go back into something you might describe as a lockdown, only essential businesses will be allowed to stay open and movement will be severely restricted to essential trips and to work.

With the country's health care system nearing its capacity, the Czech Republic will also be accepting doctors from the U.S. National Guard in Nebraska. The prime minister was praised for his early success in tamping down the first wave of the coronavirus. Now he's apologizing for not taking action sooner to tamp down the second wave.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I'm Nic Robertson in London where in nearby island the tee shot there, the prime minister has announced what he calls the toughest lockdown in Europe at the moment. It will go into effect midnight Wednesday night. It will last for six weeks.

People are being told that they cannot mix households, indoors, or even outdoors in their gardens. They can meet in public spaces. They're being told that they cannot leave and travel more than three miles from their homes even for exercise that all but essential retail stores will be closed. The government hopes that it can bring down the rapidly rising coronavirus infection rate, bring it down to a what they hope is a level such that people can enjoy a better Christmas.

The prime minister, however, is coming in for criticism. The government scientists recommended this move two weeks ago. Those Teachers Unions are worried about the effect on schools. And there are warnings that there could be as many as 150,000 job losses.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matt Rivers in Mexico City. Let's start with the good news about Latin America and the Caribbean. The seven day moving average of newly confirmed cases is down significantly from its peak back in mid-August. The bad news is that that number as of yesterday was hovering right around 60,000 cases.

And there is fear in this part of the world that that number could go back up. We know that lockdown restrictions are being eased across the region in Central America and in South America and protests in some places are continuing in countries like Chile and today where protests are expected in Colombia. And we know that cases can go from going down to going right back up very quickly, what's going on in Europe, which had largely gotten its virus problem under control over the summer, now it seems some of its highest infection numbers ever.

[12:55:19]

Now, we don't know if that's going to happen or not in Latin America. One hope that it doesn't might be that South America is entering its summer season that would hopefully give people less of a reason to go indoors where we know the ability to spread the virus is higher.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Up next for us, the Pope speaks out on same sex unions. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Pope Francis now making his clear statement yet on protecting same sex couples. The Catholic News Agency reports that in a new documentary, the Pope calls for the creation of civil union laws so that same sex couples can be quote, legally covered. The Pope has expressed support in the past For the LGBTQ community, but the church itself has stopped short of blessing, same sex unions.

[13:00:06]

Thanks for joining us today. Hope to see you back here this time tomorrow. Busy day, Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage.