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President Trump Votes Early In-Person in Florida; President Trump Promotes Security of In-Person Voting over Mail-In Ballots; President Trump to Campaign in Battleground States after Voting; U.S. Record Highest Single Day Number of COVID-19 Infections at More than 83,000; Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden Gives Speech on COVID-19 in Delaware; Heavily Armed 19-Year-Old in Federal Custody Researched Location of Joe Biden's Residence. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 24, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:11]
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Christi Paul.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Boris Sanchez in for Victor Blackwell. We're following breaking news this morning. President Trump at a polling location in West Palm Beach, Florida, not far from his Mar-a-Lago estate. The president arrived there a short time ago. We heard that he walked out of his vehicle, here are the pictures, and walked into a polling booth to cast his ballot. We have CNN's Sarah Westwood nearby. Sarah, what are you seeing, what can you tell us?
SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Boris, President Trump is voting here today early at his polling location here in Florida. He's still a registered Florida voter. Because of Florida laws, we're not able to get a shot of him physically voting, but we were able to see the motorcade pulling up. The streets are lined with a lot of his supporters. A lot of people are here, not all of them wearing masks, but many of them gathered here to see him early vote.
And this is ahead of a really busy day for him. He's continuing this blitz through battleground states. After this, he's heading on to North Carolina, to Ohio, to Wisconsin, three states that he carried in 2016 but where he is trailing in the polls to Joe Biden, so he does need to shore up support there.
But this early voting is as much a symbolic gesture as anything else, because, as you know, President Trump has been encouraging his supporters not to vote by mail necessarily. He's been undermining confidence in that voting system and really encouraging people to vote in person. So now this is a high-profile way for him to demonstrate that he believes it's safe. That's what he's been trying to convince people to do, and he is casting his vote, presumably for himself, here in West Palm Beach this morning, Boris.
PAUL: Presumably, certainly, presumably. Hey, Sarah, we know that he spoke yesterday at campaign rallies in the Villages and Pensacola. We hear people yelling behind you. Are all of those people behind you people who may have attended his rallies there supporting him? Is there anybody there that is a protester?
WESTWOOD: There are a few Biden/Harris signs, but by and large the people here are Trump voters. As you mentioned, he did do those rallies yesterday in Pensacola and the Villages. And what we heard from him at those rallies was really this level of optimism about the end of the pandemic that isn't really rooted in the data that we're seeing right now. We are seeing coronavirus cases spike across this country, but that's really part of the president's closing argument. He is making a gamble, guessing that people are more concerned about returning to normal everyday life than they are about the virus, and so that's likely the kind of message we are going to see from him today as he heads off to battleground states and finishes casting his ballot at the library behind me.
SANCHEZ: Looking at the big picture, there are two important things that the president is trying to communicate here, not only that we're rounding the corner, as he says, and as you noted, Sarah, is not rooted in fact, but also that voting in person is key. A really suspicious message that we've heard from this president bashing the idea of voting by mail over and over, even though records indicate that he, himself, has voted by mail at least three times, twice in New York and once in Florida. So help us understand the symbolism here. He's trying to communicate a very important message to his supporters, and yet he's also casting doubt on the legitimacy of the election when he suggests that people who vote by mail, their votes might be manipulated.
WESTWOOD: Right, Boris. You mentioned the fact that he has voted by mail previously in New York, in Florida. The president has worked really hard to draw a distinction there between absentee voting and between voting by mail in the context of coronavirus. He hasn't wanted to support these expanded vote-by-mail policies that a lot of states are working to implement to make it easier for people to vote during the pandemic.
It's very symbolic that his supporters here are seeing him vote in person. It's giving them confidence that perhaps it's safe for them, too, to vote in person on Election Day. And in the Villages yesterday we heard the president talk about how he described it as voting the old-fashioned way, how he prefers to wait in line, and how even if it takes two hours, it should be worth it. So we are hearing the president push people to vote in person.
As we know, Democrats in many states do have advantages right now when it comes to mail-in voting, so Republicans and the Trump campaign, they are counting on a strong turnout when it comes to Election Day in-person voting.
PAUL: On the right-hand side of your screen there, we're waiting to see the president emerge after casting this ballot. I'm wondering, has there been any sighting of the first lady with him? Is she registered in Florida? Is she potentially still registered in New York? What is the expectation there, Sarah?
WESTWOOD: She is registered in Florida, Boris and Christi, but she is not with the president today. He came here off of a couple of rallies in Florida yesterday, so a day of complaining. He did not come straight from Washington. And he's going on to, like I mentioned, those three additional rallies later today, so the first lady did not accompany him.
[10:05:05]
This is the president casting his vote in Florida, the first lady may vote at some point in the future. But clearly, there was a clear message that the president wanted to send by doing it in person, taking time out of his campaign schedule. Keep in mind, he only has 10 days left. It's a very finite amount of time. He's trying to make up the deficit with Joe Biden, but he is taking the time to do this ahead of these rallies today in order to send that message that voting in person is crucial and doing so here in Florida, a key battleground state, by the way, which he has been spending a lot of time in trying to make sure that he locks it down once again in 2020.
SANCHEZ: As we await for the president to emerge, I did want to point out something that you touched on, Christi. Melania Trump did vote by mail in 2017, but according to New York election officials, her mail- in vote did not count because she didn't sign the ballot. Perhaps she may want to actually vote in person. Of course, Sarah, focusing on what we're looking at today and the campaign moving forward for President Trump, he's not only stopping here to vote, he's also headed to North Carolina, a state that would be crucial for him to win, Ohio as well, and one that he won in 2016 in Wisconsin that isn't really trending in his direction right now. Give us a sense of where the campaign stands and what they envision moving forward with these campaign stops.
WESTWOOD: Yes, Boris, it's key to look at the states that he's spending the final days of his campaign in, right, because that's likely where the campaign is most concerned. His time is precious right now, so where he goes in this final week will send a message about where the campaign is hoping to make a stand, where the campaign is hoping to shore up support. All three of those states he did carry in 2016, but most of them by thin margins, Wisconsin especially. And those are states that he is trying to maintain in 2020.
But Joe Biden is leading by sometimes big margins, sometimes smaller margins in some of those battleground states, and there are others that he did win in 2016 that have, as you mentioned, been trending away from him. So he's spending time in the Midwest. He's also been spending a lot of time out in Nevada, and of course turning his attention to Pennsylvania. He spent time this week. That is a big prize for either candidate as well. We know Joe Biden is spending time there today. It's 20 electoral votes. The winner of the presidential election is likely going to have to carry Pennsylvania. So we have seen the president really focus his attention on the half-dozen states or so that will really decide who is going to be the next president, Boris and Christi.
PAUL: And as we were talking about the symbolism of this, Sarah, the logistics for a president to vote, they can be complicated. You've got lines of people that we've been seeing out the doors as they wait to vote, and then we've got the president and his whole entourage and security team that is with him. Do you know, is the security team wearing masks? Do you know how much it costs to have this team with him? And they need to be with him, we're not questioning that. I want to make that very clear. But talk about the logistics of this president at this time, during COVID, walking into this polling station and casting his ballot.
WESTWOOD: Well, Christi, we know that law enforcement, Secret Service started securing this area hours ago. Before the sun was even up they were preparing this area for the president to arrive and to vote. Most of the law enforcement officers and Secret Service officers that we have seen are wearing masks, but we're not seeing universal mask wearing of the supporters of Trump who have come out to gather along the road to watch him. There are a lot of Trump flags. There's been a lot of music, some buses wrapped in the Trump logo here. So people knew that he was voting here. There's a large turnout. There's sort of a hometown element because the president has spent a lot of time in West Palm Beach. And obviously he has his Mar-a-Lago club here. You can hear them in the background. They're very enthusiastic, and they are here just waiting to get a glimpse of the motorcade which drove past us a little bit earlier Boris and Christi.
SANCHEZ: Yes, and we're waiting to get a glimpse of the president. He's due to walk out at any moment of that polling booth. We'll listen for what he says.
Very quickly, I want to pivot to M.J. Lee, who is in Pennsylvania with the Biden campaign. M.J. is in Philadelphia. This is just one of several battleground states where Biden and his surrogates are going to be campaigning. Biden is especially focused on Pennsylvania, though, because as we heard Sarah say, it could make or break both campaigns.
M.J. LEE, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right. This is the second to the last weekend before Election Day, so it tells you a lot, that Joe Biden is choosing to spend his day campaigning in this state, in Pennsylvania. His first stop is going to be here behind me, Bucks County Community College. And I should note this is going to be a drive-in rally. This has almost become sort of a signature Joe Biden campaign event. You might be able to see behind me there are some cars still coming in, waiting to get swept by security.
[10:10:03]
This is obviously such a stark contrast from the recent Trump campaign rallies where we have seen big crowds, big rallies full of people that are not socially distanced, who are often not wearing masks. So this is just one important visual in which we have seen the contrast between Biden campaigning and how Trump has campaigned out on the campaign trail.
And in terms of what we are expected to hear when Biden speaks later this hour, we've not gotten a full detailed agenda from the campaign other than that he wants to talk about the economic recovery. But I can guarantee you, he is going to lean into COVID-19 as a central issue. He has made abundantly clear that this is going to be so key to his closing message in these final days. And yesterday, for example, he gave a speech in Wilmington, Delaware, solely focused on COVID-19. He first laid out what his own plan is to deal with the virus if he is elected president. He talked about enforcing mask wearing across the country, how he thinks he would distribute vaccines and PPE. And then, of course, he went after the president for what he said he saw as his failures in dealing with the virus, and even saying that he feels like the president has quit on the American people. And one thing that was interesting was that he consistently and repeatedly asked the American people to imagine a better future under a Biden presidency. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We don't have to be held prisoner by this administration's failures. We can choose a different path.
Imagine a day in the not too distant future when you can enjoy dinner with your friends and family, maybe even go out to a movie, when you can celebrate your birthday, weddings, graduations, surrounded by your nearest and dearest friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: And we will see a number of top surrogates and celebrities also out on behalf of the Biden campaign, former president Barack Obama, Kamala Harris will of course be out as well, and Jon Bon Jovi is going to be campaigning with the Bidens later today in Luzerne County. Guys?
SANCHEZ: M.J. Lee, thank you so much for that.
I want to head back out to Sarah Westwood and the scene in south Florida where President Trump at any moment is going to emerge in this polling location after casting his ballot in the 2020 election. Do we have those live pictures?
PAUL: No, but we have Sarah.
(LAUGHTER)
PAUL: And Sarah -- there she is. And, Sarah, do we have any expectation that the president will stop for the cameras and that he'll make any sort of announcement or give any sort of even mini- speech in front of the library?
WESTWOOD: That's always a possibility, Christi. He has the traveling press pool with him, so there are reporters inside the Secret Service bubble with cameras if he wants to make any kind of statement when he emerges from the polling location, he will be able to do so.
We heard him talk a little bit about the idea of voting in person here yesterday at the Villages. As he was on the way here, he said this was the whole purpose of his trip down to Florida, even though he did fit in those rallies in Pensacola and in the Villages. And he was saying that he's looking forward to waiting in line, looking forward to voting in person. He's been pushing that on supporters for weeks now, pushing on them that any wait is worth it, to get out to their polling locations, that it's safe. And he's had administration officials and surrogates also pushing that same message, so we could see him emerge from the polling location and say something to really hammer home the symbolism of today and demonstrating that he does believe that it's OK for people to gather. And we've seen lines across this country as people have already been doing that in states that are allowing in- person early voting. We'll see that on Election Day as well.
SANCHEZ: Just to point out from a factual perspective, the president changed his residence from New York to Florida in 2019, and this is, I believe, his second chance to vote in the sunshine state. And, Sarah, back out to you, I'm curious about who he's traveling with at Mar-a- Lago. As you know, Mar-a-Lago is sort of this closed-knit community on the waterfront in south Florida, and with a pandemic upon us, there are a lot of questions about safety. It was shut down in March shortly after COVID-19 restrictions came on in the sunshine state.
WESTWOOD: That's right, the president hasn't traveled down to Mar-a- Lago to stay since March 6th, so it's been a long time. Obviously, a lot has changed since the last time we were all down here. A lot of changed in the town of Palm Beach but also within Mar-a-Lago. It is not the same resort that he left in March when he was still downplaying the virus at that time. There are restrictions in place within the resort, obviously. The main dining room wasn't even set to be open until November.
[10:15:00]
So it's not the same experience that the president used to have where he could go around and interact with anyone that he wanted. There's obviously continuing to be a protective bubble of COVID testing around the president, even though that proved ineffective in preventing him and his inner circle from getting the virus before.
So this is a different trip down to Mar-a-Lago for the president. And he's not spending the whole weekend here. When he would normally come down on a Friday, he would stay until Sunday afternoon and treat it as sort of a working weekend, hit the golf course. That's not happening now. Obviously, he doesn't have an entire day of leisure to waste. He needs to hit the campaign trail. He's doing three rallies today, and we expect him to continue hitting multiple states a day during this 10-day sprint to Election Day.
PAUL: We have to assume that part of what might be taking him so long to emerge is that there could be people in there who are talking to him. I would think this is a moment where people and poll workers have this moment where the president of the United States walks in, they may want to say something. They may want to talk to him. And, Sarah, we know the president likes his audiences. So it would not be unusual for him to take some time to speak to them, would it?
WESTWOOD: Absolutely not. We've seen him do that at events before, certainly before COVID. That was something we frequently saw him do. And as you can probably hear from the people behind me, this is a very Trump-friendly area, a very Trump friendly crowd who has gathered. He did not drive past all of the signs because of the way the motorcade came in. But certainly it's a possibility that the delay is due to the president talking to people inside of the polling station. Obviously, because he was so heavily promoting the fact that he was coming here, this is a big moment for him as well. So he's not rushing through it, it seems. But he was running behind schedule when he arrived, so it's unclear if that could push back the timing of his other rallies. He left Mar-a-Lago about 30, 45 minutes late. So the president already running behind schedule for his day of campaigning and is taking his time inside the polling location, which is the library here in West Palm Beach.
SANCHEZ: It looks like some Secret Service agents are walking out. The president has yet to emerge, though. And, Sarah -- for a second, I thought he was about to walk out. I'm curious about -- and there he is, the president of the United States emerging from this library in West Palm Beach not far from his Mar-a-Lago estate where he just cast his ballot in the 2020 election. Let's listen for a moment and see if he makes remarks before the cameras.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, not much. It was a very secure vote, much more secure than when you send in a ballot, I can tell you that. Everything was perfect, very strict, right by the rules. When you send in your ballot, it could never be secure like that. It could never be secure like that. They've done a fantastic job over here. Great people inside.
But it's an honor to be voting. It's an honor to be in this great area, which I know so well. And we're going to make three stops today, big ones, big rallies, three big ones. Crowds have never been -- I don't think there's ever been anything like this, this tremendous spirit. I hear we're doing very well in Florida, and we're doing very well, I hear, every place else. So thank you very much, and you're going to be very busy today, because we're going to work you hard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, who did you vote for today?
TRUMP: I voted for a guy named Trump.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When is the first lady voting?
SANCHEZ: President Trump with a smile after a reporter asked him who he voted for, saying that he voted, as we expected, for himself. The president now departing that library in West Palm Beach.
Two things, two really key things to think about here. First, the president saying that he loves this area, a wink at Florida voters. As we know, those 29 electoral college votes critical for either campaign. And also the president, as soon as he emerged and got to the cameras, talking about the security of the vote, again, trying to sow doubt in the electoral process, saying that voting in person is more secure than voting by mail, something that there isn't really evidence to back up. Sarah, what did you take from the president's comments?
WESTWOOD: Yes, Boris, I think that you nailed it right there. It's important to stress that there is no evidence that mail-in ballots are any less secure than voting in person. And in fact, many states have taken additional steps this year to ensure that the mail-in vote is secure because so many states have expanded it in order to make it easier for people to vote during the pandemic.
So that's a bit of a misleading claim from the president there, but it's in keeping with what we've heard from him before. He's really pushed the in-person vote, obviously that's what he wanted the takeaway to be from today, because it was the first and really only thing that he said when he emerged from the polling location. And I just don't think we can really stress enough that any way you vote is safe. It's just important that people do get out and vote, and no one method is any less safe than another, Boris and Christi.
PAUL: All right, Sarah Westwood, thank you for walking us through all of that, as we watch the president leave, and as he's on his way to the airport now to move on to North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin for three, as he called them, very big rallies with tremendous spirit, as he characterized them just a little while ago there, just a second ago.
[10:20:13]
All right, so coming up, we are learning that a 19-year-old, heavily armed man in federal custody researched Joe Biden and came within miles of his Delaware home. We have more details on that.
SANCHEZ: Plus, more than half the country seeing a surge in new COVID- 19 cases, and experts warn those numbers could only get worse as we head into the winter months. A live report next.
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SANCHEZ: The U.S. recorded its highest single day number of COVID-19 infections Friday at more than 83,000.
PAUL: And listen to this, hospitalizations have increased by 33 percent this month. Right now there are 41,000 people in the hospital fighting this virus this morning.
[10:25:04]
CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval is in New York. He has got the very latest as we continue to follow this on the virus that just keeps evolving. I think when we started to cover this in March the way that we did, I don't know that anybody really had a grasp that we would be talking about these kinds of numbers eight months later.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And then Christi, when you think about it, we saw similar numbers, obviously, over the summer, and now here we are again, as you and Boris just mentioned, 83,000 confirmed cases. And the forecast is really quite sobering, especially when you're hearing from some of those experts, including one from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy who said yesterday he easily sees a situation where we will begin to see six-figure daily numbers. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: This DCR display is a visual representation of the lives taken by a virus that seems to be surging again. Over 223,000 dead and counting. More than eight months into the COVID crisis, hospitalizations and infections are at an all-time high in many states across the country. This week marked the first time since late July that the number of daily new cases exceeded 71,000.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you look at the numbers of the daily infections, the upticks on the map of more than 30 states that are having upticks, it's not going to spontaneously turn around unless we do something about it.
SANDOVAL: As the president claims, we are rounding the turn on the pandemic, his opponent and many medical experts are warning we are only headed toward a dark winter.
DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE AT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: The reality is that the worst could be yet to come, and that the beginning has been more or less the warm-up act for what is about to hit. And we're already seeing that across the northern states. If you look at COVID-19 heat maps, the whole northern part is lit up.
SANDOVAL: With hope hanging on a safe COVID-19 vaccine, drug maker AstraZeneca said Friday that it has a green light from the Food and Drug Administration to resume its trials in the U.S. it had been on pause since September after a volunteer in Britain developed a neurological condition. The head of the National Institutes of Health is growing increasingly worried that even after a safe vaccine is approved, a growing number of Americans may not be willing to take it. A recent CNN poll found 45 percent would not try to get a vaccine even if one was widely available, possibly allowing the virus to stick around for years, says Dr. Francis Collins.
DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I've been talking so optimistically about how we are likely to have a vaccine by the end of the year, but if only 50 percent of Americans are interested in taking it, we're never going to get to that point of immunity across the population where this COVID-19 goes away.
SANDOVAL: This week, an updated model published in the journal "Nature" forecasts some possible grim scenarios, suggesting that we could see up to a million COVID deaths in the U.S. by the end of February if social distancing mandates are eased and only about half the population wears masks in public. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, tells CNN he thinks the U.S. should just mandate mask use.
FAUCI: I get the argument, to say, well, if you mandate a mask, then you're going to have to enforce it, and that will create more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it. SANDOVAL: This weekend, Big Ten football is back, prompting some of
the mayors in college towns involved to ask the conference for help fighting the spread of the virus. The mayors wrote that football games, quote, "Generate a lot of activity, social gatherings, and the consumption of alcohol. These activities within our communities have also been associated with an increased spread of COVID-19."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: And this leads to the question of what and who could potentially be behind this latest spike. We've talked on this program before about recent search that suggests that the behavior of young adults has been directly linked to an increase in infections among some of the older people.
Meanwhile, as far as the what could be behind it, experts do say that some of the smaller gatherings, those backyard barbecues likely contributing to that, especially some of those family events, too, Boris and Christi. In fact, Maryland's governor saying that was the number one source of transmission in his state, followed by house parties.
SANCHEZ: A critical message to get out, especially as we approach the holiday season and so many families are wanting to get together after so much time apart. Probably better to stay safe. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much for that.
A man who was arrested in North Carolina on child pornography charges also apparently researched Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
PAUL: This man is 19-years-old Alexander Treisman. He searched or Joe Biden's address online, we're told, and eventually ended up within four miles of Biden's home in Delaware. Federal court documents say police found Treisman's van filled with multiple guns and explosive materials.
SANCHEZ: He hasn't been charged yet in relation to the weapons in his possession. It's still unclear if he's going to face any additional charges related to that research that he was doing on the former vice president.
[10:30:03]
PAUL: So still ahead, we are testing the mood of voters to find out what they really want from their candidates, as early voting begins in New York. I'm sure that based on what you hear, you might be able to relate or not.
SANCHEZ: Yes, definitely. Our Evan McMorris-Santoro is there for us. Good morning, Evan.
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any complications in there?
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, not much. It was a very secure vote, much more secure than when you send in a ballot, I can tell you that. Everything was perfect, very strict, right by the rules. When you send in your ballot, it could never be secure like that. It could never be secure like that. They've done a fantastic job over here. Great people inside.
[10:35:00]
But it's an honor to be voting. It's an honor to be in this great area, which I know so well. And we're going to make three stops today, big ones, big rallies, three big ones. Crowds have never been -- I don't think there's ever been anything like this, this tremendous spirit. I hear we're doing very well in Florida, and we're doing very well, I hear, every place else. So thank you very much, and you're going to be very busy today, because we're going to work you hard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, who did you vote for today?
TRUMP: I voted for a guy named Trump.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That was president Donald Trump moments ago voting in West Palm Beach, Florida, on his way to several campaign stops.
PAUL: As he mentioned there, yes, the three stops in Ohio, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, more than 52 million of you, though, have already cast ballots across the country, whether it be in person or whether it was by mail. And we have team coverage of this.
SANCHEZ: Yes, Natasha Chen is standing by in Georgia. But first, we want to go to Evan McMorris-Santoro in New York where early voting got underway this morning. Evan, what are you seeing?
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Here in New York, this is the first day of early voting in New York. The first day New York has ever been able to vote for president early, and the excitement is very high. We're getting reports all over the city of long lines.
And here in Jackson Heights, Queens, where I am, that's definitely the case. This is the back of the line, OK, on is 81st Street and 37th Avenue, and if you walk up here with me now, you can see all around this building, all around this whole square city block, that's the front of the line.
So people can come here today, drop off ballots that they've already cast, and they can already, and they come here and they can vote in person. And we're seeing high, high, high interest in that. We talked to somebody who was here at 6:00 this morning to be the first person in line, and just got a chance to vote a few minutes ago. This is an interesting place to look, because this is Jackson Heights,
Queens, one of the hardest hit places by the coronavirus, and one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New York. So people here had been eager to get out and vote after a summer of the coronavirus and politics, and they're coming out and they're casting their votes, guys.
SANCHEZ: Evan McMorris-Santoro in New York, thanks for the update.
One state we're certainly watching in this election is Georgia, where a Democratic presidential candidate has not won since Bill Clinton in 1992.
PAUL: A younger, more diverse electorate is turning out in droves this year, it seems, and it has people asking if we could see the state flip to blue this election. CNN correspondent Natasha Chen is in Atlanta where voting is under way. I think it's a mobile unit that is behind you, and I was saying earlier, Natasha, I voted via a mobile unit here in Georgia a couple of weeks ago. And 15 minutes, they seem to have it down in some places, let's put it that way. What are you seeing?
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christi, that probably was a smart choice, because if you're in Atlanta right now, Ponce City Market, that's where the mobile voting unit is this weekend, there's no line. This is pretty unusual, though, compared to other places we've seen around the metro area, because, like last weekend we saw there were early voting lines in the suburbs north of here, seeing well over an hour wait, sometimes several hours. So this is the second weekend now of early voting, and we've seen in Georgia that more than 2.5 million votes have been cast. And a lot of those people that we've been meeting in lines have been young voters, perhaps even first-time voters. We talked to a couple this morning here who brought their seven-month-old daughter for this experience. Here's what they told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIE SMITH, GEORGIA VOTER: I really do think it's about the character of this country, about who we vote for. So I think -- I just want my voice heard on that.
STEPHANIE SMITH, GEORGIA VOTER: I think, also, having a young daughter, we're also setting up the world for her, and I think our vote now speaks even more than it did as young single people, that it's not just for right now. It's for the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN: So when you combine the in-person early voting with the absentee voting that's already been happening in Georgia, the secretary of state has told us that as of 8:00 p.m. last night, the turnout this year is 114 percent higher than this point in the 2016 election. Christi, Boris, back to you.
PAUL: The numbers are pretty astounding this time around. Natasha Chen, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
And as voters do head to the polls, we have new reporting this hour -- how authorities are preparing for the possibility of protests after the election.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: There are now just 10 days until Election Day and both presidential campaigns are out on the trail today, attempting to drive home their closing arguments. Joining us now to discuss the latest in the race, we have Republican strategist Brian Robinson and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.
[10:44:57]
Brian, I want to start with you. Part of Trump's message, especially since the debate, has been to pin the liberal label on Joe Biden. So far, it hasn't really stuck, but there was a moment of daylight after the debate on Thursday where it appeared it might have worked. I want you to listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Would he close down the oil industry? Would you close down the oil industry?
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I would transition from the oil industry, yes.
TRUMP: Oh, that's a big statement.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It is a big statement, because I would stop --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would you do that?
BIDEN: Because the oil industry pollutes significantly. Here's the deal --
TRUMP: Oh, I see. That's a big statement.
BIDEN: Well, if you let me finish the statement, because it has to be replaced by renewable energy over time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now, Biden tried to clean it up, saying that he wanted to get rid of subsidies for fossil fuels but not get rid of fossil fuels. And if you look at his platform, the substance of it, for example, he's not really planning to ban fracking nationwide as some in the Trump campaign has accused him of. Is this really a place that Republicans see fertile ground?
BRIAN ROBINSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, a gaffe in politics is to accidentally say the truth, what you really think. And in this case on fracking, he said in the primaries that he was going to stop fracking, and now he's saying he never said that. Well, he did. And to have a repeat of that during the debate on Thursday night where he says we're going to phase out fossil fuels, goes to show you that probably in his heart, that's really what he wants to do, that he wants to have a liberal agenda on energy issues. And he's got kind comments, supportive comments of the Green New Deal on his website.
So I do think that it's something we can pin on Democrats of their lurch to the left of an issue that directly impacts jobs, directly impacts quality of life, and the cost of living in our communities.
SANCHEZ: Maria, what is your response?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Boris, the only daylight that we saw during that debate was between a candidate, Vice President Joe Biden, who believes in climate change and who has a real plan to make sure that we have a planet earth, clean air and water to have when we are older and when our children are grown, and a candidate and a president currently that does not believe in climate change, that thinks it's a hoax, and who wants to sell our earth, our clean water, and our clean air to his best friend polluters.
Look, Joe Biden was very clear and his campaign was very clear. He is not going to get rid of fossil fuels. He is going to phase out the subsidies that fossil fuels get, and he wants to focus on clean, renewable energy. Look, getting to zero emissions is not a new thing. In fact, George Bush talked about it when he was president in 2006. In fact, every president, Republican and Democrat, has talked about it for the last two decades, except, of course, Donald Trump.
So the choice is very clear. If you want somebody who believes in climate change and who, frankly, has a plan in terms of going to renewable energies that will create millions of jobs and protect our planet, that's Joe Biden, not Donald Trump.
SANCHEZ: Maria, staying with you, I want to pivot to some interesting polling from "The New York Times" that shows a gender gap among Latino voters in swing states. Biden is winning women by 26 points, but he's only ahead by eight points with Latino men. So how do you think President Trump has been able to keep this group, Latino men, as part of his base?
CARDONA: He hasn't, Boris. I'm so glad you asked me this question, because that polling is deeply, deeply flawed. You have a lot of pollsters out there who have no idea how to accurately poll Latinos. As you very well know, if you don't have a good, large sample of Latinos and Latinas that include Spanish speakers, that include non- college educated Latinos, you are not going to get an accurate number.
The polling that I have seen from pollsters who actually know how to pole Latinos show that, yes, there is a gender gap between Latinas and Latinos, but it's because Latinas are so overwhelmingly performing for Joe Biden. And right now Latino men are for Joe Biden by plus 25. So the numbers that you're seeing in that poll and some other mainstream polls are not the correct ones, Boris. And as you know, Latinas are going to continue to focus on making sure that we get our families out to vote. There is a huge gender gap for us, but we're going to make sure that our brothers and our fathers and our husbands come out to vote for Joe Biden as well. And if they don't they'll get the chancla (ph).
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Now, Brian, aside from the disparity that Maria points out in this reporting, I think it is true, especially in the sunshine state in Florida, where I'm from, that President Trump has been outperforming among Latinos, especially when you compare him to Mitt Romney, for example.
[10:50:06]
Can the president expand that and drive a wedge in this portion of the electorate that I think Joe Biden has been underperforming in?
ROBINSON: Well, I think we overstate things when we assume that all minorities in this country are liberal. There are many who are conservative. You look at the Cuban-American community in south Florida, these are families who came to this country to flee socialism. They are concerned, worried about the turn to the left that the Democratic Party has taken. They've seen this before and they know how it turns out.
If Latinos were a monolith for Democrats, as Maria was sort of asserting, the Democrats would be winning statewide in Texas, they would be winning statewide in Florida. And right now, Trump is going to win Texas, and it looks like he's probably going to win by a narrow margin in Florida as well.
There is this wrong perception that Trump's rhetoric, that his messaging is only for white, blue collar workers in fly-over country. That's not the case. Many Americans of many different races and ethnicities respond to his patriotism, to the bringing manufacturing jobs home, and to keeping taxes low, school choice. These are all issues that appeal far beyond the Republican base and beyond one race or ethnicity.
SANCHEZ: Maria, I imagine you have a rebuttal, and then, Brian, you'll have one after that. And then by the time you know it, it will be Sunday night and we'll be getting ready for Monday morning.
CARDONA: Just very quickly, Boris, on the Cuban vote, historically the Cuban vote has always gone to Republicans. But you know what's happening in Florida? Overwhelmingly, a lot of Puertorriquenos have moved there and they overwhelmingly are supporting Joe Biden, and right now they are equal to the vote that the Cubans have right there. So I believe Joe Biden --
SANCHEZ: Brian, I'm going to get yelled at for giving you 10 seconds, but go ahead.
ROBINSON: Look, there's a diverse Latino population in this country. I'm seeing it here where I live in Georgia. Many Latinos are showing up at the Don Jr. event we had here in Georgia just yesterday. The message is getting through beyond just the white Republican base. SANCHEZ: Brian Robinson, Maria Cardona, we have to leave it there.
Thank you both so much.
CARDONA: Thank you, Boris.
PAUL: He kept it to 10. Nice going.
(LAUGHTER)
PAUL: Authorities in Washington, D.C., meanwhile, they're prepared for the possibility of serious unrest in the hours and even the days after the election.
SANCHEZ: A lot of concern about that. CNN's Vivian Salama has new reporting for us. Good morning, Vivian. With such a high stakes election it's understandable that people are anxious, especially considering that we may not have a clear winner on election night. So what have you learned?
VIVIAN SALAMA, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Boris. And it's actually that uncertainty that has law enforcement officials at the federal, state, and local level on high alert. Now, if you look across the capital here in D.C., you see that preparations are definitely under way. Lafayette Park, that's right outside across from the White House and was the scene of protests over the summer, that's really been gated off largely to the public, and the parameters have been increasing by the day, essentially.
We also see Secret Service officials training around the area. They've been getting new equipment. And you see a greater presence of law enforcement growing as we get closer to November 3rd. Now, that is actually standard protocol, and officials tell me that they have been preparing for this election, like they do with most general elections, for about a year now. There have been over five dozen meetings, including with folks at the White House, to prepare for this.
But ultimately, the FBI, Secret Service, and a number of the other agencies I spoke to said that they are mindful that this year is different. And so they're preparing for, quote, worst case scenarios. What does worst case scenario mean? The potential for violence in election night or maybe the nights to follow. And so law enforcement officials definitely on high alert, looking around to see that there is not menacing action of groups perhaps from the far left or the far right that might look to disrupt the election if it goes one way or the other, try to embed themselves with protests.
Remember, people have a First Amendment right to peacefully protest, and law enforcement officials are very mindful of that, and so they're trying to protect that right while also preventing people from taking advantage of these situations.
And, remember, we also have a situation where we're in a pandemic, and so law enforcement officials also are trying to protect themselves with regard to trying not to expose themselves unnecessarily to any health issues. But also very mindful of the fact that anger still lingers in this country following the death of George Floyd and other African-Americans at the hands of police. And so law enforcement officials, again, wanting to protect people's First Amendment rights while also preventing any protests from getting out of control. Boris, Christi?
PAUL: Vivian Salama, thank you so much, appreciate it.
[10:55:03]
And we thank you so much for watching. Boris, I promise if you come back tomorrow, I'll make sure you don't get yelled at.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Christi, thank you so much. I always look forward to these opportunities to join you. Thank you for having me.
There's still much more ahead in the next hour of the CNN Newsroom. Fredricka Whitfield is up next.
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