Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Path to 270: Electoral Map "Death Match" Scenario; Obama Delivers Scathing Rebuke of Trump in Closing Days; Biden & Trump Face Off Tonight in Final Debate Before Election; Updates on Coronavirus Responses Across the Country; Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi State Health Officer, Discusses His Blaming Maskless White People for Rising Cases; Only 6,000 Participants Received Both Doses in Russia's Vaccine Trial. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired October 22, 2020 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Next, former President Obama slams President Trump for everything from COVID response to spreading conspiracy theories. But can he move the needle for Joe Biden?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tweeting at the television doesn't fix things. Making stuff up doesn't make people's lives better. You've got to have a plan. You've got to put in the work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We are 12 days out from Election Day. And more than 40 million Americans have already cast their votes. The polls are furiously tracking which presidential candidate may have the easiest path right now to 270 electoral votes.

But as 2016 proved, things are not always what they seem.

CNN's John King shows us the potential death-match scenarios.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are many different ways to look at this map.

The one thing that's unmistakable is Joe Biden has a significant lead right now. We have him at 290 electoral votes. It takes 270 to win. The president is at 163. Meaning he has a long way to go.

[14:35:00]

Some Democrats look at this map and say, OK, look at these toss-up states. All of them carried by President Trump last time.

Look right now, Biden -- we lean Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin to Biden.

Some Democrats remember 2016 and they say, well, what if this happens. Right? What is this happens?

What if the president winds all of the toss-up states and these come back into play? Then you're in a death match, right? Then you're in a death match.

The same three states that made Donald Trump president are fighting again.

But other Democrats come back to this map where we are right now and they say, you know what, look at this. Look at this. Look at the spending. Joe Biden and outside groups, $645 million since September 1st to $388 million. The Democrats are outspending the Republicans.

Look at these battleground states polls. Joe Biden is in play everywhere. Leading in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan.

A slight lead in Arizona, a slight lead in Florida, slight lead in North Carolina, slight lead in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio. Texas down four. That's in play, right?

So some Democrats look at this and they say, wait a minute, what if we have a landslide. What if Joe Biden could do this? Including Maine's second congressional district.

What if Joe Biden ran the board? If Joe Biden ran the board, you get a blowout. Is that going to happen? Probably not. Right? We've all lived through American politics.

But because of the money, it is a possibility that Biden could win some of these states. Some Democrats say, you know what, we can get Texas.

Why is it important to compete? Not just for the presidency. Senate races. Senate races. Senate races.

So Democrats are looking at this map and saying it's possible, it's possible. We could have a very big win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Democrats are hoping to turn the electoral map blue, in part, by deploying one of their big weapons -- the former president, Barack.

He made his first appearance on the campaign trail last night in Philadelphia and he showed no mercy to his successor in the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Just yesterday, when asked if he would do anything differently, Trump said, not much. Really? Not much? Nothing you can think of that could have helped some people keep their loved ones alive?

And with Joe and Kamala at the helm, you're not going to have to think about the crazy things they said every day. And that's worth a lot.

You might be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner without having an argument. You'll be able to go about your lives, knowing that the president is not going to retweet conspiracy theories.

We're not going to have a president that goes out of his way to insult anybody who doesn't support him or threaten them with jail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I want to bring in CNN political commentator, Errol Louis, who is the host of the podcast, "You Decide."

Errol, it is wonderful to see you.

We are so close to this election, less than two weeks out. What do you make of the former president's decision to stay off the trail until now?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, he tends to bide his time. We know that Obama is a careful strategist. In 2016, he did the same thing. He tries to husband and hoard his political capital and deploy it at the last minute.

There's a lot of people who wish he would get out earlier, but that's been throughout his presidency, throughout his political career.

Now that he's out, though, he's occupying an interesting sweet spot between the Bernie Sanders wing of the party that says the whole system has to change, and the careful Joe Biden argument that's designed to try to reach across the aisle.

You have this sweet spot in the middle for people who are partisan Democrats. They don't like to vote Republican. But they also don't necessarily want to blow up the whole system.

That's where Barack Obama, I think, is at his most effective. I heard kind of that walking down the middle of that Democrat coalition is yesterday's speech -- Brianna?

KEILAR: So maybe some more traditional Democrats he's appealing to in this final push here.

Donald Trump has tweeted out about this, saying this works to his favor, that President Obama being out there is something that benefits him.

What do you think about that?

LOUIS: Well, look, Donald Trump's strategy has been to mobilize, energize, aggravate, and enrage his base. Nothing enrages them like the sight of Barack Obama.

So to a limited extent, that's true. And it probably makes him crazy, makes his base crazy, and might even bring out more Donald Trump voters than before. The only problem with the strategy, Brianna, is that that's what he's

been doing all along and the polls suggest it's not working.

That there are people, however much they might want to hate on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and everything else.

But they also have to deal with real-world problems, like record high unemployment, like mass hunger in many, many states, long, long lines of people waiting to get food, and the ever-present danger of the COVID.

You know, we've got a reality show president trying to return this into a reality show showdown. But I don't know if he's got most people on his side. Of course, we'll know that in a couple of weeks from now.

[14:40:06]

KEILAR: So what do you think about tonight? For me, I'm wondering, will this be as nuts as it was last time? What are you wondering about the debate tonight?

LOUIS: I only thing I wonder is if he'll interrupt the way he interrupted the "60 Minutes" debate and just walk out. That is a district possibility, honestly.

Because really, Brianna, he's not just running against Joe Biden. Donald Trump is also running against reality.

When everybody gets to see the "60 Minutes" excerpts floating around the web, thanks to the White House, you can see he's got an answer for everything. It's just a careful distribution of fault to absolutely everyone else.

The handling of the coronavirus not his fault. Its entry into the United States not his fault. The failure to come up with protective equipment not his fault. The rising statistics -- we're closing in on a quarter million people dead -- not his fault.

He just goes on and on and on. The economy not his fault. He has a way to blame everybody.

But after a while, he gets visibly angry in that interview. When reality starts to set in, and if Joe Biden is a competent debater tonight, he'll bring home this point.

The president states to get very aggravated. He thinks we should all by talking about Hunter Biden and some stolen laptop when we're closing in on a quarter of a million dead and an economy that's still in tatters.

And a lot of people who are scared and wondering what the future of this country is going to be. Donald Trump doesn't seem to have any answers for those people.

KEILAR: Yes.

Errol, I know you'll be watching with keen interest, as will I.

Errol Louis, thank you.

LOUIS: Thanks.

KEILAR: Next, Mississippi's top health officer will join me live. He says white people refusing to wear masks are to blame for the increase in COVID cases in his state.

Plus, Southwest is going to start selling every seat in its flights. No more empty middle seats. As airlines report staggering losses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:05]

KEILAR: The U.S. Airline industry posting record losses and pleading with the Trump administration for a coronavirus testing strategy.

Airline trade groups and unions are telling the federal government that travelers need a way around pandemic quarantines that are, quote, "decimating the industries."

That's where we begin our look at coronavirus headlines across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I'm Pete Muntean in Washington.

Southwest Airlines says it's done with the policy it put in place because of the pandemic. It will soon start selling every seat on board its flights.

Southwest just posted record financial losses. It says it is done capping capacity onboard its flights starting December 1st. And it insists that science is on its side.

That makes Delta Airlines the last of the big four airlines still not selling every seat.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Adrienne Broaddus in Chicago.

Illinois is among the states leading the nation in a seven-day average of news cases.

Starting Friday, parts of Illinois will look a lot different. Gatherings will be limited to 25 people or less. Indoor dining and bar service will also be banned.

The governor has given the green light to the Illinois State Police. The state police have the ability to issue citations if people aren't following the guidelines.

Also, the state has the authority to pull someone's liquor license if they aren't following the rules.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Simon in San Francisco.

After a wave of infections at California's San Quentin Prison, a state appeals court has ruled that the prime must release or transfer half of its inmates to stop the spread of the virus.

That would reduce the numbers from approximately 3,500 inmates to 1,750.

San Quentin is the state's oldest prison. It also houses the state's death row for male inmates.

The ruling comes after approximately 75 percent of the inmates contradicted COVID-19 resulting in 28 deaths.

The court said that the state's failure to take adequate protections was, quote, "morally indefensible."

State officials that managed the prison system say they disagree with the ruling and will determine the next steps.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Thank you, everyone, for those reports.

In the beginning, coronavirus hot spots in this country were big populous city centers. Seven months in, coronavirus is now devastating more rural areas.

The top health officer in Mississippi says that while more people of color fell ill over the summer, it's white maskless residents who are to blame for the uptick they've seen there since September.

And infections in that demographic are very much on the rise right now.

I want to talk now with that top Mississippi health officer, Dr. Thomas Dobbs.

Thank you so much for being with us.

Because you're seeing some patterns certainty worth talking about here.

We know that people of color were disproportionally hit when it comes to COVID deaths. They also disproportionally represent essential workers and they bore the brunt of the virus up front.

[14:50:01]

But now you're seeing white Mississippians catch up. Explain this to us, why these deaths are now equally divided and the changes you're seen over time.

DR. THOMAS DOBBS, MISSISSIPPI STATE HEALTH OFFICER: Yes. We've seen a pretty remarkable shift early on. African-Americans accounted for basically two-thirds, or 60 percent or more of cases and deaths.

Over the summer and into the fall, we've seen that shift basically upside down. Now it's over 60 percent of new cases are in Caucasians. And the deaths are mirroring that also.

It's really something we've got to watch closely because we've been working hard to try to work on social distancing and masking.

It may well be we found a pretty receptive audience in the African- American community, maybe because they were hit so hard and have personal experience.

But we're not having the same success we've seen with other segments of the population.

KEILAR: Explain to us this disparity when it comes to behavior that you're seeing between these racial groups. How are they differing right now?

DOBBS: You know, anecdotally, and also looking how the schools are operating, we are seeing a lot more enthusiastic compliance with our recommendations as far as masking and public social distancing, small groups.

Nothing is perfect, but the message seems to have hit more fertile ground right now in the black community.

We have other areas, Hispanics and Native Americans, who were hit really hard. And certainly, we've invested a lot of our efforts in those areas.

And hopefully -- in a way, though it's true there's still a lot of vulnerability.

But you know, coronavirus affects anybody. It doesn't matter. If we let our guard down for any reason, if we're reluctant to follow guidelines, and if we're at social events -- social events are what are giving us a terribly hard time. Those are scenarios that can't be safe right now, unfortunately.

That's where we're seeing a lot of it. And a lot of this is, frankly, more seen within certain subsets of the white population.

KEILAR: So when you're talking about social events, are you seeing weddings, for instance? That's something we've seen across the country where we wonder, why are people, dozens of people, sometimes more than a hundred people getting together and having a wedding.

Are those the social events you're talking about that seem more likely for white folks to be engaged in rather than black folks?

DOBBS: Not weddings so much. But that certainly is something.

But a lot of it is youth-based. We've seen a lot of stuff that are parent-sponsored youth events, dances, parties, things of that nature that have really undermined a lot of our efforts to keep the schools open.

It might even be smaller stuff. It might be small get togethers, people in bars and that sort of thing. So it kind of crosses the entire spectrum of high-risk activities.

We know what we can do to prevent transmission of coronavirus. It's a little bit maddening that we kind of find ourselves caught between the severe dichotomy of it's either shut down or open up.

But really, in the middle, there's a nice place where, if we do some simple stuff, if we stick -- mostly nuclear families, your household contacts, and wear a mask in public.

Then if you're going to have a social gathering, do it in small groups and outdoors.

It's that last piece that's really hard for us to get past. In addition to the mask thing, I think the combination of those these are really driving -- are really significant in the increase in cases and hospitalizations over the last couple of weeks.

KEILAR: I think it's so important in your patterns. It's something people all over the country can gain some knowledge from.

Sir, thank you for being with us.

DOBBS: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: Russia was the first country to approve a COVID vaccine but there's no evidence the Kremlin is actually way behind other countries in their vaccine development despite skipping several steps in the safety process.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:59]

KEILAR: A major development in the race for a coronavirus vaccine. The pharmaceutical company, Moderna, says it's now hit its target of 30,000 participants for its phase three vaccine trial.

The company says all of those in rolled have received their first vaccine shot and most have also received the required second shot.

Moderna's president said, if all the stars align, his company is now on track to apply to the FDA for authorization to put the vaccine on the market in early December.

Now a CNN exclusive on Russia's push to develop a coronavirus vaccine. The developers of Russia's touted Sputnik-V coronavirus vaccine revealing to CNN the vaccine has not undergone the same rigorous testing required in other global trials.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is reporting from Moscow with exclusive details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Brianna.

In August, the Russians approved their vaccine Sputnik-V without going through the main phase three trials for efficacy and for safety of the vaccine.

However, the Russians kept on saying that they were going to conduct trials quickly. Last week, they said they'd already vaccinated 13,000 people. This week, they were saying 17,000 people.

When we exclusively spoke to the head of the Gamaleya Institute, which is responsible for the Sputnik-V vaccine, the head of that institute told us, so far, only around 6,000 of those participants have actually received both doses of the vaccine.

Which, of course, are key to achieving immunization and then for the scientists to be able to collect data from those trial participants.

Now, another thing we've also learned is this vaccine, the institute says, is suitable for people between the ages of 18 and 60, and also not suitable for people who have various illnesses and also allergies as well.

However, the head of the Gamaleya Institute says he believes it's still fine to also give the vaccine to older people and also to people with most illnesses.

[14:59:58]

Of course, many prominent Russians have already taken the vaccine but one notable exception remains the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, for months, has remained in isolation essentially inside a bubble -- Brianna?

(END VIDEOTAPE)