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President Trump Is Hosting Another Outdoor Event Today; An Outbreak In Vice President Mike Pence's Inner Circle; U.S. Average Of New Coronavirus Cases Now At Highest Point of Pandemic; White House Says It's Not Trying To Control The Pandemic; Trump And Biden Make Final Push In Last Week Before Election. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 26, 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 HOST: I hope to see you back this time tomorrow. A very busy week both in the campaign and in the COVID surge.

Don't go anywhere in this busy day. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: John, thank you so much. I'm Brianna Keilar. Welcome to our views in the United States and around the world.

As we approach this last week of the presidential election, a widespread disaster is unfolding. There is not one state that is looking good with its coronavirus numbers. Not one state is moving in the right direction right now. New cases looking at the seven-day average are at the highest level ever in the United States.

Hospitalizations are up. Many hospitals are nearing capacity and they're becoming overwhelmed. More Americans are dying. And despite these facts, the White House says it's not trying to control the pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Here is what we have to do. We are not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Why aren't we going to get control of the pandemic?

MEADOWS: Because it is a contagious virus, just like the flu.

TAPPER: Yes. But why not make efforts to contain it?

MEADOWS: Well, we are making efforts to contain it.

TAPPER: By running all over the country and not wearing a mask? That is what the vice president is doing.

MEADOWS: We can get in back and forth. Let me just say this. Is what we need to do is make sure that we have the proper mitigation factors, whether it's therapies or vaccines or treatments, to make sure that people don't die from this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The White House and the president are on cleanup duty after that statement. Here is President Trump ahead of his Pennsylvania rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Have you given up on controlling the virus?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, not at all, quite the opposite, absolutely the opposite. We have done an incredible job.

We are doing a great job. We are absolutely rounding the corner. Other than the fake news, who wants to scare everybody, we are absolutely rounding the corner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Absolutely, we are not.

In the meantime, the president is hosting another outdoor event today once the Senate is expected votes to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court. This is a bookend to her announcement that turned into a super-spreader event last month.

This time, an outbreak is already under way in Vice President Mike Pence's inner circle. This includes his body man, which is person assigned to be really his shadow and take caring of everything, from handling his papers and speech text, to handing him pens for autographs.

The body man is the guy who holds the breath mints and the hand sanitizer just for context on his proximity to the vice president.

And yet, the V.P. is again ignoring CDC guidelines after, again, being exposed to COVID and he is continuing to campaign.

Frontline workers are living with the consequences from people who do not follow the guidelines. A hospital association in Utah even warning that health care rationing could become the next step if the numbers do not fall.

I want to bring in CNN's Tom Foreman. He is in Washington. He's following all of this closely as we are watching the spread. Tell us the most worrying areas right now, Tom.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, if you put aside all of your political beliefs and just look at the numbers, there is no way to reconcile what the White House is saying with reality. Johns Hopkins says right now, the U.S. is averaging close to 800 deaths every day. That's a 13 percent increase from just a week ago.

We talked about how a lot of these things that happen in the fall, the return to school, people coming back from vacation, people packing together, because it gets a little bit cold out that this would probably have this impact, indeed, that number numbers say it is.

Pennsylvania, where the president is going right now, they just saw their highest daily case average in Pennsylvania and, yet, people, again, for the president's call are packing together to say, let's cheer on the president despite the fact many health experts say that is a terrible, terrible idea.

Wisconsin up where we just saw the return of Big 10 football over the past couple of days here, they are doing a lot of things to try to protect the athletes there to try to eliminate the crowds, nonetheless, the numbers in Wisconsin rocketing up. And if you go down south to Texas, look at what's happening with hospitalizations down there, also going up.

Bottom line, Brianna, there is no sign whatsoever that it is getting better with this virus right now and all of those warnings that we have been hearing for quite some time tell you it's no surprise. We have been told that we were in for a bad fall and here is the proof in the pudding. Brianna?

KEILAR: We are watching it. That is a bad map there. Tom Foreman, thank you so much.

And now to the second coronavirus outbreak inside the White House, right now, one week before Election Day, at least five members of the vice president's inner circle are testing positive. We all know CDC guidelines clearly state that he should quarantine for 14 days after exposure, but he is not doing that.

CNN's John Harwood has details.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Despite positive coronavirus tests for five people in his inner circle, including his chief of staff, his body man and political adviser, Vice President Pence is back on the campaign trail today defying CDC guidelines to go into quarantine.

[13:05:04]

The White House justifies that on grounds that Mike Pence is an essential federal worker.

Now, this reflects the desperation of a campaign that is behind Joe Biden significantly nationally and in swing states but it also underscores their core problem. The biggest issue in the election is the coronavirus pandemic. The public judges the Trump administration harshly for his management of the pandemic and Vice President Pence's behavior is not going to help with that problem, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. John, thank you.

And as the White House continues as if nothing is happening, President Trump plans to host a swearing in ceremony for Judge Amy Coney Barrett tonight following her expected Supreme Court confirmation. There are fears though of it becoming another coronavirus super-spreader event like the one last month for her nomination. CNN's Lauren Fox reports.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Brianna, Vice President Mike Pence is not scheduled to attend that final confirmation vote for Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. This comes after multiple staffers in Pence's office tested positive for the virus over the weekend.

While the vice president tested negative on Monday, his office announcing that unless the vice president's vote is needed, he won't be on Capitol Hill. We expect that this nomination is going to sail through with just Republican votes in a matter of hours.

Now, there is still some concern about an event scheduled at the White House this evening where President Trump is expected to swear in Barrett as a Supreme Court justice. Of course, in a time of coronavirus, when large events happen, there is always a risk of spread.

And, remember, it was just about a month ago that the White House held that super-spreader event in the Rose Garden when Amy Coney Barrett's nomination was initially announced. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Lauren, thank you.

And you heard the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, say, the White House is not going to control the pandemic, but out next guest says the president didn't even put up a fight from the beginning. In a cnn.com op-ed, Professor Jeffrey Sachs writes, Donald Trump has surrendered without ever joining the battle. I have no doubt he will be remembered as the greatest presidential failure in American history.

Jeffrey Sachs is joining us now to discuss. He is a professor of sustainable development and a professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. Dr. Sachs, thank you for being with us.

You say that President Trump will be remembered as the greatest presidential failure in American history. Why is that?

JEFFREY SACHS, PROFESSOR OF HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: 230,000 deaths to date, roughly a thousand deaths each day now, and they say, we are not even trying, as the chief of staff said yesterday.

The imbecility of that is boundless. The incompetence of it is unbelievable because it has been clear that there are ways to approach this for months as other countries are successfully doing. And we have just about the worst outcomes of the entire world.

Taking into account the size of our population that is measuring cases per million or deaths per million or the number of new infections. It's out of control in this country because they have not done anything right since the very start of this. Lies, confusion, this idea we have to keep the economy open, as if that is the only thing to think about. And so it's been one fool after another and here we are with mass suffering in the United States today.

KEILAR: And, I mean, you outlined how there is a false choice between the economy and between health. You make that very clear in your op- ed. You say also that how you react to a public health crisis like this is basic, that every first year health student would have known what to do. So how does that make his pandemic response that much more egregious that it's not like reinventing the wheel? I mean, this was basic stuff.

SACHS: In fact, this was all known and knowable in March. I wrote it every few days since then essentially, but countries as varied as Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, they have shown for months this can be brought under control through basic rapid testing, case tracing, wearing face masks, safe isolations of people, safe work places, stopping large super-spreader events. This is the basic checklist.

But Trump is -- he is really such an idiot, I'm sorry to say it because he is president of the United States, but the complete ignorance but also the arrogance not to listen to people who know.

[13:10:03]

And it's not about politics. About 230,000 American dead, 8.9 million people with confirmed infections so far, and many of them living with long-term disabilities with brain impairments, it's unbelievable the incompetence and malevolence that went along with it. Because, as experts were trying to say day after day, week after week, do this, complete shutdown of thinking by this president. Maybe that is just beyond him, but this is really something we have never seen before in this country.

KEILAR: You're watching how the vice president is now reacting here. He has been exposed to people with coronavirus. He has five of his closest aides, including his chief of staff and his body man. What should he be doing? And what does it mean that he is not doing that?

SACHS: He should be self-isolating, but the failure that they couldn't, even after the first White House outbreak stop this, shows that they don't take any precautions. It's imbecility. I mean, really, you cannot account for this at any level of responsibility.

But I don't know what it is they are really thinking because all of those countries that I mentioned that have had success, they have the economy open. So the whole idea, well, we are doing it so we can keep the economy open is exactly backwards. How can you keep an economy open with surging pandemics? You can't. You keep the economy open by controlling the pandemic.

But Trump's idea all along is never tell the truth, never acknowledge, never learn, and that is what we have today, which is say whatever you want, we are turning the corner, whatever it is. It's complete fantasy world for his followers. I don't know how they can still listen to this because they see around them in their neighborhoods and their families with their friends, with their parents, their children, their siblings, people are getting infected all over this country, and the president, the vice president are out there as if nothing is happening.

And the chief of staff is saying we don't control, we can't contain it because, obviously, his statement reflected this fundamental ignorance to this day that, of course, it can be contained.

KEILAR: Yes. It's a sad, sad situation. Dr. Sachs, thank you for being with us.

SACHS: Thank you. Thanks for covering it.

KEILAR: The president and Joe Biden are hitting the campaign trail with eight days to go. What their choices say about their strategy.

Plus, a spat erupts over a billboard in Times Square that shows Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner on it. The couple is now threatening legal action but do they have a case?

And a public health official breaks down as she reports the state's coronavirus deaths.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today, we are reporting 3,874 new cases for a total of 364,033 cases since the start of this pandemic. Excuse me, please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:00]

KEILAR: There are eight days until Election Day. And, already, more than 60 million Americans have made their choice and cast their ballots.

But with millions left to go, the candidates are making a mad dash to reach voters in key states. Here are the travel plans as they stand right now. President Trump spending today in Pennsylvania, he'll be in Wisconsin and Nebraska later this week. Then former Vice President Biden has multiple stops planned in Georgia and Florida.

CNN's Ryan Nobles is in Lititz, Pennsylvania, where President Trump is making his second stop today. And, Ryan, the president is moving from the Lehigh Valley to Amish country right now. There are three stops in Pennsylvania today. This clearly shows how important the state is, how important it was for him in 2016. What do you think about how this could indicate how he is feeling about the state?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's becoming increasingly clear that there are few paths to victory for Donald Trump without winning Pennsylvania. It's become one of, if not the most important state for the president's re-election hopes.

And, of course, you remember four years ago, it was a surprise victory for the president. Pennsylvania was a state that had not voted Republican in quite some time. So, for the president to win here was a big accomplishment and he would certainly like to keep it in his corner.

But as you see his travel here, particularly today, what you see the president doing is making a concerted effort to drive out his base. You mentioned that the president spent the morning outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania.

He was in North Hampton County. That's a state he won by four points. He is going to coming here to Lancaster County in just a few minutes. That's a state he won -- or a county, I should say, that he won by 20 points. And then he is going to end the day in Altoona in Blair County. The president won Blair County by 40 points in 2016.

So this is, you know, very similar to the message that we have seen from the president for basically all of this campaign, and that is driving home the vote. His Republican base is the, you know, section of the electorate that he spent the most time reaching out. That's a lot of what his messaging is surrounding, and that's exactly what they are trying to do here today.

The president needs every single Republican voter to come out, and that is why he's spending all of this time in Republican counties.

And it's also important to point out, Brianna, as we look at the vote totals come in, in terms of early voting and absentee balloting, when you align that with party registration, it is Democrats that have the advantage.

[13:20:03]

The Republicans are hoping to make up that advantage on Election Day, which is another reason that you see the president making a case to Republican voters and Republican counties here in the closing days of the campaign. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Ryan Nobles, thank you so much for bringing us that report from Pennsylvania.

The travel plans of the candidates and their surrogates really tell a story. They reveal where the candidates are worried and where they believe they can gain ground even in this late part of the race.

CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash is with me now. So, I mean, tell us about what you're seeing, where they're heading with eight days to go. What does it mean to you?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let meet just pick up where Ryan just left off. Pennsylvania is so incredibly crucial to the puzzle pieces that the Trump campaign is trying to put together that gets them to 270 electoral votes. Obviously, Florida is always key in every election, particularly for Republicans. And without Florida, it's pretty much curtains for Donald Trump if you look at the math and the electoral votes across the country.

But Pennsylvania, the reason that the president is going there and spending not just one stop there, but several stops in multiple days is because he does think and his campaign thinks that it is fertile ground for finding more Trump supporters that didn't vote last time because they didn't really understand the concept of a Trump candidacy, that they didn't really think he was going to win.

I was there. I was near where Ryan is right now where the president is going and they are registering more voters and they do think that there are more members of the Trump base to mine. The question is whether or not the energy that you're seeing in early voting -- I mean, 70 percent of the early vote, almost 1.5 million ballots, that is for Democrats. So the question is whether or not Democrats can make up or, obviously, excel and exceed the kind of, you know, base mining that Trump is doing through all of these rallies.

KEILAR: And I wonder what you think about Florida, because you have Joe Biden, as well as former President Barack Obama who are going to be there this week. They have separate events there. Trump, of course, won Florida in 2016. So with Biden going there, what does that tell about how he sees the state?

BASH: Look, it is neck and neck, as Florida always tends to be. But the Biden campaign feels and, you know, those of us who are looking at the map understand that if Joe Biden wins Florida, it will be next to -- not entirely possible but next to impossible for President Trump to win re-election, which is why they are trying very, very hard to push him over the line in Florida because we could see it early and it could be potentially decisive.

Now, I'm not saying that there isn't a path for Donald Trump without Florida, but it will be so much harder. Brianna?

KEILAR: And "The Washington Post" is reporting that last week, Trump was talking to donors in Nashville and he told them it's tough for Republicans to hold the Senate. They, of course, have 53 seats right now. Which Senate races are you keeping an eye on mostly?

BASH: Well, there are so many. But, to me, some of the most interesting are those that are also in battlegrounds on the presidential race.

Let's start with Arizona. I mean, Arizona is a race where Democrats are feeling very, very bullish that Mark Kelly is going to win and turn that seat from Republican, Martha McSally there now, to blue.

But I am talking to Republican pollsters who are familiar with that saying that that might be a reverse coattail situation that could help Joe Biden because, obviously, that is also a big swing state, one that Democrats are hoping to reverse from four years ago. And then there is Maine. This is not a presidential swing state but it is one where you have a marquee senator, and that is Susan Collins. You and I covered her for years, Bri, on the Hill. She has kind of held out. She is one of the last, if not the last actually kind of moderate Republican in the northeast, which used to be full of moderate Republicans and she is trying to hold on to the seat there and it's going to be very, very hard for her.

And then Iowa, this goes back to the presidential swing state question. I mean, Joni Ernst is in the fight of her life. She's only a first-term senator but it's very, very close there. And people close to her and following her race say that her fate could very well be in the hands of President Trump, not just what we have seen in terms of policies over the last four years but in terms of how he does in Iowa. He won handily there four years ago and now it's kind of a neck and neck for him.

And then just quickly, North Carolina and South Carolina, North Carolina falls into that presidential swing state question. Thom Tillis is in a very tough race, trying to keep that in the Republican column, and then, of course, South Carolina.

[13:25:06]

This is ruby red state where somebody like Lindsey Graham, who has been, you know, tried and true conservative for that state, but also very, very tied closely to the president, especially over the past few years especially, should be running away with it.

But Jaime Harrison, his Democratic challenger is about the most -- I think the most well-funded Democratic challenger in the country and he's giving Lindsey Graham a run for his money. So we will see what happens there.

KEILAR: Yes. I mean, the money in South Carolina and all of these races is just unbelievable when you look at it.

BASH: Unbelievable.

KEILAR: Dana Bash, thank you so much for the little tour. We appreciate it.

Utah hospitals are now warning that ICUs are so overwhelmed, doctors will have to start rationing care.

Plus, we take you to Times Square where a billboard showing Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump has led to a legal threat.

And the president is still blasting the questions that he got on 60 Minutes, so we're going to roll the tape on them.

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