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Biden, Trump Face Off Tonight in Final Debate Before Election; U.S. Sees Highest Number of COVID Deaths in Weeks; Obama Delivers Scathing Rebuke of Trump in Closing Days. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 22, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

JOHN KING, CNN INSIDE POLITICS: It's a busy news. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now. Have a good afternoon.

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 final debate is just hours away. President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden will square off and make closing argument to America. And their matchup comes amid a national health crisis that has killed more than 220,000 Americans and put millions out of work.

In an effort to bring more coherence and substance to the debate stage, something that was sorely missed in the first match up, the commission has put some new rules in place, this includes a mute button for opening remarks in an effort crackdown on interruptions.

Tonight's topics include the pandemic, American families, race in America, climate change, national security and leadership.

CNN's Jessica Dean is in Nashville ahead of tonight's debate. And the Debate Commission clearly wants this one to be more fruitful, Jessica. I wonder if there's any indication that's what we're going to get.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, we're going to see about that, Brianna. You mentioned that new rule about the mute button, and what they're doing with microphones. So they are getting two minutes of uninterrupted speaking time, each candidate and the other opposing candidate's microphone will be muted during that time. But after that it's what they're calling open discussion.

So, it remains to be seen just exactly how much that's going to play into it. Again, a 90-minute debate, no stopping. You went over some of the topics. We also know that they've installed plexiglass inside the debate hall. That is there for both of the candidates as well.

As far as the candidates themselves and their preparations, we know that President Trump's advisers have counseled him and told him, look, this is likely your last chance to change the trajectory of this race, especially when it comes to your behavior and how two demographics perceive it. And that would be seniors and women. And they advised him to really cool it down, not come in as hot this time.

And he has indicated he will do so but also that he feels like he is going to push back very strongly if he feels like he is being treated unfairly. Again, not much for formal debate preparation on that side.

On Vice President Biden's side, he has been preparing now for several days. His team is prepared for personal attacks, both against Joe Biden himself but also his family. And their objective, Brianna, is very similar to what it was last time. They want him talking directly to the American people, talking about issues, the coronavirus pandemic, and what he would do to get that under control, and also the economy.

And they believe when he is talking about those issues that he is winning, expect him to try to bring it back to that again and again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Yes. We'll be watching with you, Jessica. Thank you so much for the report from Nashville.

$this is one of the president's favorite claims, albeit false claims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Ultimately, I tell you, it was happening. We created the greatest economy in the history of our country, and the other side --

LESLEY STAHL, CBS NEWS HOST: You know that's not true.

TRUMP: It is totally true.

STAHL: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: She is correct, it is not true. In fact, nearly 700 leading economists are now strongly opposing President Trump's re-election, calling his time in office a sustained assault on democracy.

For a look at how the economy fared under this president, let's go now to CNN's Chief Business Correspondent, Christine Romans.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it was not the best economy in history. Even before the coronavirus wiped out millions of jobs, jobs growth in Trump's first 36 months trailed the job creation in Obama's last three years. And gross domestic product, GDP, that's widest measure of the economy, it never reached the rocket ship growth President Trump promised that his deregulation and tax cuts would spark.

On an annual basis, GDP growth never topped his promise of 4 percent growth. And when you look quarter-by-quarter, the Trump economy looks a lot like Obama years.

Where it was the best in history, the stock market, hitting highs even in the middle of a pandemic. Trump repeatedly takes the credit, though Federal Reserve and Congress deserve some of that credit. And Wall Street does not always reflect Main Street, of course.

About half of American households own no stocks at all. In fact, the benefits of record highs in the stock market, well, the benefits go disproportionately to the richest Americans. The top ten percent by wealth own 87 percent of stock market holdings. Brianna?

KEILAR: Christine Romans, thank you for that.

After abruptly ending that interview with Lesley Stahl from 60 Minutes, the president just made good on his promise to make the White House recording of the interview public. He tweeted that he felt Stahl was biased.

And CBS just released this statement in part, quote, the White House's unprecedented decision to disregard their agreement with CBS News and release their footage will not deter 60 Minutes from providing its full, fair and contextual reporting, which presidents have participated in for decades.

[13:05:06]

My next guest has interviewed Donald Trump during her career as an award-winning journalist, which included time here at CNN and, of course, CBS News, Connie Chung. Thank you for being with us.

CONNIE CHUNG, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST: Brianna, I just want you to know I am a big fan of yours, and I watch you all the time. And being an alumni feel as if I used to work with you, although I didn't directly.

KEILAR: Well, I mean, I am a huge admirer of yours, of course, as so many are who that enjoy news.

And, Connie, we're going to be watching. We're going to see CBS's airing of this interview on Sunday. But acknowledging that it is the president and not 60 Minutes that is breaking with precedent. Could 60 Minutes though have handled this differently or do you think that they were best, just following their usual practices?

CHUNG: Clearly this was not Lesley's decision. As a correspondent, we all will weigh in but it is the management's decision of what to do. We used to call them the suits, you know, and whatever the suits decide is what's going to happen.

I heard yesterday when you were interviewing Bill Carter of The New York Times, he used to be the media person, he said he did not understand why CBS didn't release it because it is news and that it could clearly affect the debate that's coming up. In other words, what was it that caused the president to walk out on the interview. I think I would have released it because both the White House and CBS seem to be playing a game of chicken. And I would have -- we have nothing to hide. You know we as reporters and the media, we have nothing to hide. So why not just put it out? But it is a management decision. So CBS probably had to think about it long and hard and decided to do it the way they always have.

KEILAR: I want to ask you about tonight's debate, because we are going to see changes, opposite mics muted during each candidate's the two-minute answer. The rebuttals will be dually mic'd. How do you think this is going to go down?

CHUNG: This presidency has been unpredictable, as you well know. So I cannot imagine that there isn't going to be some disruption because that's who President Trump is. He likes to filibuster, he likes to dominate a conversation. And once each person has his two minutes, I'm sure you'll be able hear the other person off mic a bit. In other words, if I am President Trump and Joe Biden starts to interrupt me, my mic might be able to pick up his utterings.

I don't know, Brianna. It's going to be something that I'm not missing (ph). And I'm sure you and everybody else will be watching.

KEILAR: Yes. And it is not like it is not distracting, even if the audience can't fully hear their remarks. If you're there in the room, you hear what someone else is saying. It is certainly something that will interfere if it happens.

I mentioned, Connie, that you've interviewed Trump before when he was a private citizen. You pressed him and he did not like it. And I would like to listen to part of this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: There is no reason to expose yourself to millions people.

CHUNG: Do you know why you do it?

TRUMP: Why? Tell me.

CHUNG: You love the publicity.

TRUMP: I hate the publicity.

CHUNG: Oh, come on. Get out of here.

TRUMP: No. I'm telling you, I hate the publicity.

CHUNG: Oh, please.

TRUMP: I sell great condominiums in New York. I have the best casinos in the world.

CHUNG: They aren't that great. Come on?

TRUMP: They're the best. What, in the Trump Tower?

CHUNG: Maybe if you can try to answer this question without giving me the normal spiel.

TRUMP: What is the normal spiel? I don't know that.

CHUNG: Well, the normal spiel is -- well, the fact is that many rich and powerful people do try to remain anonymous, but you became very public very clearly by your own design.

TRUMP: I don't know if it was by my own design.

CHUNG: You mean the publicity?

TRUMP: I do developments which get a lot of publicity. I mean, if --

CHUNG: Come on.

TRUMP: I mean this. If Trump Tower weren't a great building on 5th Avenue and 57th Street by a young guy --

CHUNG: One building in New York City with zillions of buildings.

TRUMP: Connie Chung is a disaster. She did an interview. Oh, please, please, do an interview with me, it's going to be so much fun. Now, I watched her interview, Marlon Brando, a couple of weeks before. She was a disaster. She was like a child. I mean, this girl has -- this woman has less talent than anybody I know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: He hated your interview. You really -- you called him.

[13:10:00]

And at times you can see where he doesn't quite know how to respond to you. Did you see any parallels in his response to this interview with Lesley Stahl or with previous debate moderators?

CHUNG: Identical, especially if the person who is doing the questioning is a woman, there's something about it that -- I don't know. Well, he doesn't respect women, I think.

My husband and I used to see him at golf tournaments, so-called celebrity golf tournaments. And he absolutely refused to acknowledge that I was physically there. I would be standing, he would -- my husband, he would say hello to my husband and I would be standing there, and it was as if I were invisible. It was remarkable.

He uses the same words about women today. He calls them disasters. Of course, he does that with Dr. Fauci too, doesn't he, and many, many other people. But was it Dr. Fauci that he called a disaster?

KEILAR: Yes, it was. Yes, he did. You're exactly right.

CHUNG: You know, he needs to improve his vocabulary, I'm sorry to say, because it is rather limited.

KEILAR: And, Connie, you have endorsed a political candidate for the first time, which is -- that is breaking with tradition for someone with your resume.

CHUNG: Yes.

KEILAR: So why did you decide to do that?

CHUNG: Brianna, it was a big step for me. I've always stayed in my lane. I have never jumped the fence into the political fray. But when I found out that Asians, Asian voters can tip the balance in key battleground states and Asians are the minority least likely to vote, I thought, my gosh, I have to do something, because there are two groups that I relate to, women and the Asians. So I thought I would make some videos, speak to women and to Asians, and try and get them to not only vote but come out.

And I'm not sure why. I don't know why they don't vote or I don't know why they're hesitant to. I wanted to go out and interview a whole bunch of Asians and find out why. I can only assume that it is -- sometimes Asians, because we're dead ringers for being foreigners. I mean, nobody -- I mean, the people just look at us and think we're foreigners. So maybe that's part of it, that they feel -- we, Asians, feel we're not really full-fledged citizens, even if we are.

So I jumped over the fence, Brianna. It was a big deal for me but I felt it was necessary because of all of the issues that are plaguing us, not the least of which was the president calling it the coronavirus, the China virus, and sort of causing violent and not only physical but verbal abuse against Asians.

KEILAR: Yes, we've been reporting on it. It has been significant. And, Connie Chung, thank you so much. It is so wonderful to have you on. We really appreciate it.

CHUNG: Brianna, I am thrilled to be with you because I really am a big fan. I put -- I did these videos, and I put them on -- if I may, they're on YouTube. And now this, which is a website. So, if anybody wants to take a look what I have to say, if I have any measure of credibility left, I was expressing my feelings for the first time.

KEILAR: Connie, thank you.

CHUNG: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: And next, the coronavirus numbers are getting worse. They're hitting levels that the U.S. saw at its last peak.

Plus, a damning new report that the president's pandemic response resulted in up to 200,000 avoidable deaths. I am going to speak live with a professor behind the analysis.

And Chris Christie apologizing for not wearing a mask at the White House event there, but he left one huge thing out of his mea culpa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:00] KEILAR: In just one day, the U.S. recorded more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths. We hit that grim milestone yesterday. It is the highest daily toll recorded in more than a month. The recent trends are similar to previous surges, but this time experts say the worst is still yet to come.

31 states recording more COVID-19 cases this week than last week, only one, Hawaii, is moving in the right direction today.

The average of new cases per day has climbed to just under 60,000. It is a level we haven't seen since first week of August. There were more than 40,000 hospitalizations reported on Wednesday. Several states hit record highs, including Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah.

And since it began, coronavirus has taken the lives of more than 220,000 people in the U.S.

[13:20:00]

Of that number, it is estimated that between 130,000 and 210,000 may have been avoidable if there had been an adequate response to the crisis.

This data coming from a report put together by a team of disaster preparedness experts. Jeffrey Sachs is one of the authors of the study and he's joining us now.

I mean, the question then, Dr. Sachs, is what could have been done to bring the numbers down to what this data analysis shows would have been between 20 and only 90,000 victims?

DR. JEFFREY SACHS, CO-AUTHOR OF STUDY ON AVOIDABLE COVID-19 DEATHS: Thank you. It is grim to see this surge going on and we have no national policy at all. They have completely given up on any policy, whatsoever, and so the deaths are soaring.

But it is basically like this since the start. What other countries did was the basics. People wore face masks because the government helped them to do so and advised them to do so. There was contact tracing. There was help for people to stay isolated or quarantine in public facilities. There were adequate tests available with quick turnaround time. There was safe workplace practices put in place very clearly without huge controversies early on.

And so the United States has ended up with just about the highest death rate in the world and for a large country, at the top. And other countries just brought it basically under control. So there are almost no cases in many countries of East Asia, while in our country, it continues to soar out of control. It was the basics but Donald Trump can't do the basics. He doesn't care, he doesn't understand, he doesn't regret 220,000-plus lives lost.

And so we have been without any policy. It is amazing to watch actually. It's almost unimaginable, given the talent in our country that could have brought this to a quick conclusion. KEILAR: Yes. No, it shows you why leadership matters, because it brings all of that together to make a difference. And we're seeing it in numbers here.

There was something the study did that was pretty fascinating, which was it examined the wide circle of tragedy that comes with every COVID-19 death. What did you find?

SACHS: There are 227,000 deaths by a current count, but 8.6 million people who have been infected. And we have to remember, and it's also extremely sad, many of those that have been infected and survived have long-term disabilities as a result of this. We're learning a lot of terrible things about this virus, brain infections, organ infections.

But also, of course, for every person who dies, there are children left behind, there are spouses and family members and colleagues. The loss is calamitous. And so it is many times more than what is already a shocking number, and especially shocking, 220,000 deaths that were avoidable had we just followed the basics.

But we have a president who just doesn't believe in anything. It is a kind of nihilism. It is such a dark cynicism that they did nothing. And until today, he says it is nothing, as if these deaths don't matter and as if the 8.7 million infections don't matter, and as if the burden on our society is nothing.

KEILAR: Well, we've watched the failure. We thank you for joining us and showing us how you've quantified what it would mean. Thank you so much, Dr. Sachs.

SACHS: Good to be with you. Thank you.

KEILAR: A historic rebuke, former President Obama with a blistering speech against his successor.

Plus, a development in the standoff over stimulus relief between the White House and Nancy Pelosi.

And Southwest will start selling every seat on flights as airlines are reporting huge losses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:25:00]

KEILAR: Former President Barack Obama returned to the campaign trail with a blistering speech, what some would call a historic takedown of President Trump just days before a very consequential election, and on the eve of tonight's final presidential debate.

In 40 minutes, Obama went in on Trump's taxes and his alleged Chinese bank account, Trump's mishandling of the pandemic and the economy, and then there were the zingers, which, at times, got personal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I did hope for sake of the country that he might show some interest in taking the job seriously.

He hasn't shown any interest in doing the work or helping anybody but himself and his friends or treating the presidency like a reality show that he can use to get attention.

[13:30:03]

And, by the way, even then, his T.V. ratings are down. So you know that upsets him.