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Ex-FDA Chief Says, U.S. One Week from Rapid Acceleration of COVID Cases; Trump Grows More Erratic, Lashing Out in Closing Days of Campaign; Cop Under Investigation for Wearing Trump Mask at Polling Place. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 21, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

JOHN KING, CNN INSIDE POLITICS: But the church itself has stopped short of blessing same-sex unions.

Thanks for joining us today. I hope to see you back here this time tomorrow. A busy day, Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now. Have a good day

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN RIGHT NOW: Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar and, I want to welcome viewers here in the United States and around the world.

The number of coronavirus cases is on the rise and it is only expected to get worse in the coming days and weeks. That is the forecast from former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb who warns that the nation is about a week away from a, quote, rapid acceleration in cases.

Right now, the U.S. reported more than 60,000 new cases Tuesday alone. This is a number that has not been seen since late July. That seven- day average is not much better, 59,000 cases daily. This is a level that has not been seen since early August. Ten states just set hospitalization records, 14 states have test positivity rates that are above 10 percent.

Nationwide, no states have declining case numbers, there is no green on this map, and that is a bad sign. Three states, Washington, New Mexico and Illinois are putting restrictions in place to curb the spread.

Today, the nation's top infectious disease expert is giving this stark assessment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: As of two days ago, the numbers throughout the globe have been stunning, making this already the most disastrous pandemic that we have experienced in our civilization in over 102 years.

Unfortunately, for the United States, we have been hit more hard than virtually any other country on the planet.

Now, unfortunately, we've plateaued again to about 40 to 50,000 cases a day. And as we're getting into the cooler weather, we're getting more and more cases. So this looks like we're going to have a very difficult fall and winter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Well, let's talk now with E.R. Dr. Leana Wen, who is Baltimore's former health commissioner. Doctor, it is great to see you. It is not great to talk about the forecast that we're seeing here because it is bad, there is really no way around that. Give us the reality check on what to expect.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We are on the verge of exponential, explosive spread across the U.S. We know this because we've been there before. We've seen what happens when you have rising numbers of infections, rising hospitalizations and all this in a setting also of high levels of test positivity, which means that we're not doing nearly enough testing and the real numbers of infections is certainly to be much higher than what's currently reported.

The difference between what's happening now versus before is that there are virus hot spots simmering all over the country. And all of this is as we're just in October. We haven't even hit the worst of the winter yet when people have to be indoors when it gets really cold. And we're still arguing in the U.S. about whether we should be wearing masks when it's something that's such a basic intervention that can save lives. So I'm really worried about the grim winter that's ahead.

KEILAR: So we need to wear masks. What else do we need to do?

WEN: So there are simple interventions that we know by now can save lives. Absolutely wear masks. Wearing masks can reduce transmission by up to 80 percent. We also have to avoid crowds, avoid these crowded gatherings, especially large crowded gatherings. We have to keep physical distancing, maintain at least six feet away from individuals who are not in our household, continue to wash our hands.

I mean, these are all the things that we've been discussing for weeks, for months now, but they are as important as before. And also really keep in mind that it's these small gatherings of extended family and friends that's driving the surge. So, as we're coming into the holidays, be aware that we don't want to be the ones who are hosting the next super-spreader event and inadvertently sicken our loved ones. And so use an abundance of caution even with the people we love.

KEILAR: Very, very good advice.

It was notable that the U.S. surgeon general, Jerome Adams, today dismissed herd immunity as a public health strategy. He said in a tweet, quote, this could overwhelm health care systems and lead to many complications, deaths. So, I mean, clearly, he felt that it was necessary to say this out loud and to say this publicly. Do you understand why? WEN: Well, it seems that it's because there is this disagreement within the Trump administration and we have people like Scott Atlas who has the president's ear and is advocating for strategies like herd immunity, which, by the way, goes against the consensus of entire medical, scientific and public health community, because herd immunity is not a strategy.

[13:05:01]

It's basically saying, we wash our hands, we give up. Forget all the sacrifices that people have made along the way, we're just going to let millions of people die when we could have stopped that from occurring in the first place.

I mean, I think it's really tragic that we have to -- we continue to have to speak up and speak out against strategies like this that aren't strategies. They are just a method for having preventable deaths in this country.

KEILAR: It's not a public health strategy, it's a white flag.

The president was asked if he would do anything differently if he could redo his pandemic response and he said, quote, not much. What is your reaction to that?

WEN: I mean, that's shocking, because I think all of us should be able to look back and say, we've learned a lot along the way. We didn't know in the beginning, for example, how important testing is from the get-go and we missed opportunities. We missed opportunities when it came to mask-wearing we didn't know about the beginning about asymptomatic and aerosol spread.

We know all that now. We know the importance of restrictions. We know the importance also of having early action, of having consistent messaging. All of these things we've learned. And to hear the president say that he wouldn't do things differently when there are over 220,000 Americans who have died, I mean, that's shocking, it's unbelievable.

And I think for all of us, we need to see this as a call to action for each individual, to take matters into our own hands. If there's failure on the level of the federal government, we need to do our part, wear masks, practice social distancing, because it is really up to each of us to change the trajectory of the disease ahead.

KEILAR: Dr. Leana Wen, thank you so much.

WEN: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: The election is quickly approaching. And instead of President Trump selling the American people on what he wants to do with a second term, he appears to be celebrating Festivus. the airing of grievance is in full effect right now here in the nation's capital. The president is railing against Lesley Stahl, the veteran journalist and 60 Minutes host, who was interviewing the president yesterday when he abruptly walked out claiming that she is biased, according to what sources had told CNN.

He's also slamming Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's trusted top infectious disease expert, the president accusing Fauci of being a Democrat and a disaster. Fauci, to be clear, is not registered with a political party and he has served under Democratic and Republican presidents going back to Ronald Reagan. Fauci, for his, part dismissed this as a distraction and said that he just wants to keep doing his job.

The president is targeting CNN as well, saying that we focus too much coverage on coronavirus. He's hitting the bipartisan Presidential Debate Commission. He is criticizing the moderator of tomorrow night's debate, NBC's Kristen Welker, who is a respected journalist. He is taking aim at Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden along with Joe Biden's son, Hunter.

And toilets and showers don't escape a presidential diatribe, the president registering his frustration with water pressure that does not meet his personal standards and apparently how it makes his hair look.

Democratic Governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, the subject of the 2020 version of lock her up at a recent rally, and Andrew Cuomo of New York, who the president called a lowlife, are also on this long list.

And last but not least Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who, despite voting with the president 86 percent of the time and voting against his impeachment, is criticizing the head of his party in private calls with supporters. For that, the Nebraska lawmaker earned a new nickname from the president, Little Ben Sasse.

We have more now on the Trump White House's with the fight on 60 Minutes. The president and his chief of staff alleging without providing evidence that journalist Lesley Stahl is biased. The president says he may post his own copy of the interview that sources tell CNN he abruptly walked out of after just 45 minutes.

I want to bring in Bill Carter, he is CNN Media Analyst, he is a former Media Reporter for The New York Times.

And, Bill, first, explain why the White House would even have a copy of that interview. That isn't something that's standard?

BILL CARTER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: No, it isn't. And it signals the fact that they probably made that a requirement of doing the interview that they make their own copy, which says something else about their grievances and their fears and their paranoia that they would go that far.

I mean, I think it's interesting that CBS agreed to that. But my main concern is if Trump were to go ahead and release this ahead of CBS, that is certainly not what a news organization wants.

KEILAR: And explain that. And should CBS wait to report on what happened during Trump's 60 Minutes meltdown? CARTER: It's hard to imagine it isn't news worthy in some way that he decides to abruptly cancel an interview and also not to go through with planned dual interview with the vice president that was supposed to be done after his individual interview. So he definitely blew up the interview in some fashion.

And for CBS, to just sit by and say, well, let's wait until Sunday and we let you know what happened, is extraordinary to me, because it's a news organization.

[13:10:05]

This has to be news worthy.

And as you pointed out, Brianna, there's a debate tomorrow night. And something set him off that perhaps could be brought up at this debate. I mean, Kristen Welker could say, well, 60 Minutes asked you about your bank account in China and you walked off the set or something like that, which clearly is news worthy.

I'm really kind of shocked that CBS is sitting by and basically allowing Trump to denounce their interview and not come back and say, well, here is what really happened.

KEILAR: Yes. I'm sure there are internal deliberations, right, that are going on about what to do.

The president also, and I know you saw this, he tweeted a video of Lesley Stahl not wearing a mask, a person familiar telling CNN that this was a video taken immediately after President Trump ended the interview when Stahl was standing with her producers and she had not walked yet back to her personal belongings to put her mask back on, that she had actually been wearing this mask, according to the source, from the time that she entered the White House to just before the interview began. What do you make of the president sharing that video?

CARTER: It's really grasping at straws for him to attack someone for not wearing a mask at this point when basically it's been sort of a badge of honor in the administration to not wear a mask at events. And here he is trying to find this moment that she wasn't wearing a mask? It's a tremendous reach.

And, again, it speaks to a sense of paranoia about this, something happened in that interview that he didn't like. And let's face it, Brianna, he does not like to be interviewed by women who press him. That is clearly something that makes him very uncomfortable. He didn't like Savannah Guthrie, he's already attacked Kristen Welker in advance to say she's biased. He's very uncomfortable with this and something set him off in this interview with Lesley Stahl.

KEILAR: Yes, no, it's certainly a pattern that we've seen.

And what do you make of him recently saying that the media -- he said specifically he called out CNN shouldn't cover coronavirus, or he said it's COVID, COVID, COVID all the time. What do you make of him basically saying that the media should ignore this?

CARTER: It's such a bad story for him. And people have come to the conclusion, a big majority in the polls (ph) have come to the conclusion that he bungled this, that he made a hash of this and that people have been sick and possibly lost their lives because of this.

So it's a terrible story for him. He hates hearing it. He doesn't want to hear it. And if he sticks to the media that only praises him, like his own personal television statement and other conservative outlets, he doesn't get pressed on it, he doesn't get questioned this way.

And it disturbs him extremely. Instead of confronting this and saying we certainly could have done more to begin with, he basically says everything was fine. And the American public does not buy that.

So when CNN or any other news organization responsibly reports on that, he goes wild. He doesn't like it. It's a criticism of him.

KEILAR: Yes. No, we've heard his task force folks have said what their regrets are. There are many of them. Bill Carter, thank you so much. It's great to speak with you.

CARTER: Great to see you again. Talk to you again, Brianna.

KEILAR: A police officer seeing wearing a Trump mask near a polling station, hear the back story on this.

Plus, I'll speak live with an election official after firing of poll worker who told voters to turn their Black Lives Matter T-shirts inside out.

And what happened to the Trump campaign's cash, how Joe Biden has tripled the amount of the president with just 13 days to go.

This is CNN's special live coverage.

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KEILAR: Outrage and cries of possible voter intimidation in South Florida after this photo surfaced showing a uniformed Miami police officer wearing a Trump campaign mask within feet of a polling place. He is now facing disciplinary action.

CNN's Amara Walker has reaction from city leaders.

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, a Miami police officer is under investigation after a photograph of him emerged at a polling site wearing a Trump 2020 mask while in uniform. The Miami Police chief called this behavior unacceptable and said it was a violation of department policy. The Miami mayor saying disciplinary measures will be taken.

Now, Emanuel from the Florida Division of Election States said voters are allowed to wear campaign-related material while casting their vote, while poll workers and election staff are not. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Amara, thank you.

Investigators are also looking into reports of threatening emails sent to voters in Florida and Alaska. Election officials say voters received emails ordering them to, quote, vote for Trump or else. The emails coming from an address that appeared to be affiliated with a far-right group but CNN has learned the emails may have come from a foreign entity.

Alex Marquardt, our CNN Senior National Security Correspondent, has more.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATOINAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, this is another blatant attempt at voter intimidation, voters in at least two states receiving these threatening emails, Alaska and Florida, possibly others. One county in Florida telling us that they were flooded with phone calls and emails after these messages appeared, a spokesperson for the University of Florida saying that at least 183 people had received these threatening e-mails.

We saw one of them. It reads, vote for Trump or we will come after you. An outside expert looked at that email for CNN saying that it was sent from infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and that it appears servers in several countries were used. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Alex, thank you.

And a poll worker in Tennessee has been fired after asking voters who were wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts to turn their shirts inside out before allowing them to vote.

[13:20:01]

State Rep. Antonio Parkinson spoke with CNN affiliate WHBQ and said this is not the first time that this has happened in his district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO PARKINSON (D), TENNESSEE STATE REPRESENTATIVE: There had been several other individuals that had already been turned away by these same individuals and they had actually left the voting, the polling location and did not vote.

So I'm hoping and praying that they will see this report and they will go back to wherever they need to go to make sure that their vote is counted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: While laws vary state by state on what is acceptable to wear to the polls, Tennessee only bans political statements that are directly affiliated with candidates and could possibly influence other voters.

Suzanne Thompson is the spokeswoman for the Shelby County Election Commission. She is joining us now.

And, Suzanne, if what the state rep. is saying is true, would this be considered voter suppression or voter intimidation?

SUZANNE THOMPSON, SPOKESWOMAN, SHELBY COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION: Well, to me, voter suppression is an intentional act at the institutional level. This particular incident was the bad behavior of one poll worker, and we dealt with that swiftly and he was terminated.

KEILAR: And so how did you find out about this?

THOMPSON: A witness let us know about it and our operations manager immediately went over to the Dave Wells Community Center, talked to every one of the poll workers individually so she could get an idea from everyone what happened.

We were told that this one poll worker, the errant employee who was terminated, and these are temporary employees, the Election Commission has 21 fulltime employees. So, on Election Day, we have 1,500 of our friends and neighbors running the election. So I'm sorry, I digress. What was your question again?

KEILAR: No. But there are -- you're right. Look, there's a lot of people. It takes a lot of people to temporarily put elections on. And, certainly, poll workers are trained on what is and isn't allowed. We mentioned that varies from state to state. Obviously, this wasn't something of concern in your state. Do you know if Black Lives Matter was brought up as an acceptable example of advocacy during the training that poll workers received?

THOMPSON: It absolutely was. I have an email from the head of the election operations manager to the head of the training, and she was asking specifically what about MAGA, no, not allowed, Black Lives Matter, yes, they went over that specifically in training.

KEILAR: And so then do you have any sense then of how this poll worker came to believe they could ask the shirts to be turned around, if that was something that was specifically covered?

THOMPSON: Well, not with Black Lives Matter. But if someone has on some other apparel that displays, as you said, political affiliation or a candidate that is currently on the ballot, we never want to turn anyone away. So they are asked, hey, could you turn your shirt inside out so you can come in and vote, we want everyone to vote. 158,000, almost 159,000 people have voted in Shelby County during the first six days of early voting. So we are thrilled about that.

And, really, it's sickening. When we heard that, it was not acceptable, obviously. The operations manager went over. And when she talked to the guy by himself and she said this is not the way you're trained. That's not a political statement. He said, well, I disagree. And she said, well, you're going to have to get your things and go. Because, at that point, it became obvious he was not willing to go by our training and procedure.

KEILAR: Okay. So, yes. And the other thing to point out here is unacceptable, as you say this is, it's not the first time that you've dealt with it in the county. There were other incidents involving voters who wore T-shirts and the masks that read, I can't breathe, and they were asked to change clothes. Why do you think this is a problem that you've seen repeatedly in your county, even as you are clearly dismayed by it?

THOMPSON: Well, as I said, the elections are run by 1,500 of our friends and neighbors. And sometimes our friends and neighbors make mistakes. When those mistakes come to our attention, like this errant co-worker, and they are egregious, sometimes we just can't talk to our neighbors anymore.

So if we had known about that, we would have taken the same action as we did. We can't fix what we don't know about.

KEILAR: Yes. Suzanne, I really appreciate you joining us and telling us what is happening there on the ground. It is a busy time for you and all the folks involved in putting these elections on. Thank you so much.

THOMPSON: You're welcome. Thanks.

KEILAR: 50 Cent making waves for endorsing President Trump after seeing Joe Biden's tax plan. We're going to break down the numbers.

[13:25:00]

Plus, Melania Trump canceling plans to hit the trail with her husband citing her recovery from coronavirus.

And a disturbing claim that parents of 545 children separated from their parents at the border, they are still missing.

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