Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Supreme Court Allows Extension for Mail-In Ballots in North Carolina and Pennsylvania; Trump and Biden Focus on Swing States Five Days Before Election Day; Taiwan Goes 200 Days Without a Local Transmission COVID-19 Case. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired October 29, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Democrats carried the day in two battleground state Supreme Court rulings allowing ballots to be counted after Election Day. The North Carolina case, mail-in ballots received up to nine days after the election will be counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day, November 3rd. In Pennsylvania, mail-in ballots received up to three days after the election will be counted.

The newly appointed Supreme Court justice, Amy Coney Barrett did not participate in either of those decisions because the court said the need for a prompt resolution.

Our CNN Supreme Court Reporter, Ariane de Vogue, and CNN Election Analyst Rick Hasen join me now.

Ariane, I want to start with you. In this Pennsylvania case, Justice Alito said this. I reluctantly conclude that there is not enough time at this late date to decide the question before the election. Does that mean we're done, it came too late or does the before the election part leave open the possibility that they can come back on the same issues after the election?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right. Well, here where we were with Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania had to do with a state Supreme Court decision, right? And, basically, it come up to the court two times. The first time, they had deadlocked and Roberts basically sided with the liberals. And then the Republicans, who brought the challenge, they knew that Barrett was on the court so they decided to try again. And what Alito said is it's too close to the election.

But he noted that in the -- in Pennsylvania, they're segregating out the ballots and he said it wouldn't be too late, we could review this after the election on a shortened timeframe. But, John, that would mean a lot. It would mean that the election came down to that state. It would mean that those particular ballots would count. So it's unlikely that would occur. But he made a point to say he is leaving that possibility open.

KING: Leaving that possibility open, yes. And so, Rick, do you see any pattern so far? There have been three Supreme Court decisions about counting in battleground states, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Democrats were not happy in Wisconsin, they're more happy about the Pennsylvania and North Carolina decisions. So do you see a pattern emerging from this court or the case is too different whether it's about a federal court issue or the legislative issue to really know what would happen when we get other cases reach the court maybe after the election?

RICK HASEN, CNN ELECTION LAW ANALYST: Well, we know from the Wisconsin case that there's a majority on the court that does not want to see changes in election rules coming from federal courts especially close to the election. Where the court seems more closely divided, as Ariane suggested, is in cases coming up from state courts where the constitutional question is somewhat different.

I do think trying to read the tea leaves, the big unanswered question is whether Justice Barrett would participate in any post-election challenge, and if she did would she side with the most conservative justices who believe that state legislatures have kind of unfettered power to decide what the rules are going to be for elections, even if they violate their own state constitutions as decided by their state Supreme Court. It's a different theory about power than we've seen from the Supreme Court before.

KING: And that point, Ariane, is what progressives are very nervous about. They read the Kavanaugh decision in the Wisconsin case. They're worried about this scenario where the president says at midnight, at 1:00 A.M. in election, okay, we're done, I'm leading, don't count any more ballots, anything counted after now is fraudulent, it's going to be rigged, they're going to sneak in ballots and so on. And they seize on this from Kavanaugh on the Wisconsin decision.

Those states want to avoid the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after Election Day. Those who support voting rights say, no, as long as it's within state law, that's how it happens. You count them, people watch, it's fine. The progressives say that tells them that this court will try to back up the president if he tries to do that.

DE VOGUE: That's what was so interesting because Kavanaugh's words in that case really did seem to mirror the president and he basically said, look, some states want to have deadlines. Deadlines are important to block any kind chaos and get these votes counted election night. But, of course, many states don't do that.

What I think was really interesting is how Barrett got out of things last night.

[11:35:00]

She didn't recuse, right, because that's what the Democrats asked, they asked before that she didn't get involved in any election cases. She didn't do that. She basically said, look, I need more time to get read in. Her vote is going to be so critical. And that was such an interesting move last night because that means she may participate down the road again, maybe in the Pennsylvania case but her very first votes on the Supreme Court won't be in these really contentious cases. So you're absolutely right. I think she's key and I think it's interesting how, like Rick said, the conservatives really tip their hand about where they're going down the road and it would be a big shift.

KING: And, Rick, this may be a more political question than a legal question but I'm going to try it with you anyway. One of the questions has been if the president does something like that, comes out on election night and says, stop counting, I'm ahead, I don't trust any count after now, would other Republicans stand up to him? Listen to this from the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): We're going to have a thoroughly credible election here.

We're going to have an active election across the country. It may not be known election night and the American people are going to decide who they want to run their government for the next couple years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Thoroughly credible election, it might not be done on election night. Those are the responsible words that I think a lot of people want to hear. Are you convinced that if the president starts asking for things outside of that that people will stand up to him?

HASEN: Well, look, I think a lot depends on the margin. If this is a blow out for Biden, which is possible, given the polling, then I think Republicans are going to say, let's let the process play out. And the kind of shenanigans that the president might pull, that will just fall to the side.

Where this stuff would really matter is if it's a really close election in the Electoral College and say it comes down to a very close race in Pennsylvania and there's Trump alleging fraud and rigging the election, that's where I think Republicans are going to look and see, is there a way to try to use the courts or use the political process to win this very narrow election. That's the circumstance I think that people are most worried about.

KING: We'll certainly watch all this play out in the days ahead. I'm grateful to have you both to help us. Rick Hasen, Ariane de Vogue, thank you so much.

Up next for us, we'll look at just the same issue we're talking about, the giant early voting numbers from three of the big swing states.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:00]

KING: It is a very busy day on the campaign trail. And the stops tell us how each campaign sees its potential path to victory. For President Trump today, Florida and North Carolina are the targets. Polls show him behind in both states. He carried them both four years ago.

We have CNN correspondents fanned out across the battlegrounds the keep tabs (ph) on these final days. Let's check in with a few beginning with Dianne Gallagher in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dianne?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More than 3.8 million North Carolinians have already cast ballots. That's about 80 percent of the total number of votes cast that were cast in 2016.

Now, early voting goes until Saturday. The very busy days are expected to be on Friday and Saturday as weather comes through, the remnants of Hurricane Zeta in North Carolina. They're expecting today to be the day, if people can, get out and vote.

Now, most of those votes were from these early in-person voters. About 850,000 votes came by mail. They're encouraging people, if you want to mail your ballot in, get it in. If not, drop it off at an early voting location or take it to your county board.

Let's check in with Sara Murray in Pennsylvania.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the ballots are rolling in here in Pennsylvania. More than 3 million people requested these mail-in ballots and nearly than 2 million have already returned them.

Here is the key in Pennsylvania. If you have a mail-in ballot, turn it in now. If you're voting on Election Day, expect there to be long lines. And in the meantime, expect some hot competition for these 20 electoral votes. We know that the Democrats have this advantage when it comes to this early mail-in voting. And so Republicans are going to look to run up the score ahead of Election Day.

Ivanka Trump is here today, Karen Pence is here today and the president is going to be here all weekend long.

Over to Kyung in Phoenix.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, here in Arizona, they are smashing records when it comes to the early vote. You can see the silver ballot drop boxes throughout Arizona at early voting sites where there is increased attention, increased voters in part because of increase voter registration.

Look at these numbers we have just gotten from the Arizona secretary of state. If you look at the 2016 number, that registration number is 3.6 million voters. In 2020, it's now 4.7 million. That's an increase of 30 percent.

How does that translate into the early vote where more people are voting? Look at the ballots requested, 3.3 million ballots have been requested as far as the number of ballots that have been cast, it is 1.9 million. That is more than half already that have taken place in the early vote. And, john, at the top of the hour, the tabulation of the early votes continues. John?

KING: Kyung Lah, thanks to all of our correspondents out and about on the battleground states.

[11:45:00]

When we come back, why is North Carolina a problem this time for the president?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:50:00]

KING: Let's dig a little deeper now into battleground North Carolina. The president is visiting today for the fourth time in the last two weeks. Well, here is why. Polls show a narrow but steady Biden lead in the state.

Let's bring in Republican Strategist Doug Heye, who knows the state well.

Doug, you know the president is behind. You know he is trying to put together a comeback path to 270. You would like to have a few states you can say good, got it, lock it away. Why is North Carolina proving so tough for the president this time?

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. If you go back and look, John, he won it last time by 3.5, 3.7 percent of the vote. in 2012 and 2008, North Carolina it went Democratic for Barack Obama in '08, for Romney in '12. But it was the second closest state in the country both times. So Trump winning by three and a half points is a larger margin but not a large margin. So this was always going to be close.

And one of the benefits that Joe Biden really has, which is this intangible, is, frankly, his name is not Hillary Clinton. I remember so often in 2016 when I would talk to independent voters, even some Republican voters who didn't like Donald Trump, they would say, yes, but I can't vote for Hillary Clinton. And the intensity of that disapproval of Hillary Clinton was off the charts. She's 22 percent underwater even throughout the country. Joe Biden doesn't have that. That's a big advantage for him.

KING: The Obama win came in 2008, the history-making year because of historic African-American turnout in a state where if African Americans turn out in high numbers, they can be 20 percent or more of the electorate. When you see their early voting numbers off the charts there, Biden campaign is hoping that, number, they get high black turnout, but, number two, the state has growing suburbs, and that is a community -- suburban voters who have turned on this president.

HEYE: Yes. My first race was a Senate race in North Carolina in 1990 and the and counsel of Cary was jokingly called containment area of relocating Yankees. A lot of Yankees fans everywhere, obviously. But that population in Cary has tripled since 1990. It's one of the reasons that if you look at suburban Raleigh, suburban Charlotte as well, those growing areas where were people relocating from New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, escaping high taxes to -- and high property taxes to come to places like North Carolina. That's why we see growth in Houston and Arizona as well. It is a real challenge. And with the African-American vote, John, I would tell you the HBCUs, the 11 historic black colleges and universities in the state were absolute turnout machines for Obama in 2008, also for 2012. But in 2008, Obama caught the Republican Party napping in North Carolina. I don't give a lot of advice to Democrats, but if you want to win, get Barack or Michelle Obama in the state in both suburban areas and to visit an HBCU. That will get your message home real quick and drive a lot of voters out.

KING: I think it's the most competitive state in the country right now. It would fascinating to watch it over the next several days. Doug Heye, grateful for your insights there.

Up next for us, one country has gone 200 days without a single local coronavirus infection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:00]

KING: There are some success stories even as we watch a painful global coronavirus surge. Taiwan, for example, has now gone, get this, 200 days without a single case of local transmission. More international headlines now from our CNN reporters around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am David Culver in Shanghai, where we are seeing a dramatic difference in like here compared with the rest of the world, specifically U.S. and Europe, where we're seeing COVID-19 cases surging.

You notice it most in the social attitudes here particularly when it comes to face masks. Now, in recent months, governments in Shanghai, in Beijing and cities across China have eased their restrictions on wearing face masks. And people are starting to go along with that.

In fact, you go into some of the popular tourist spots like where are here in the bun (ph). You go into some of the food vendor spots, some of the shopping districts, and most people are no longer wearing face masks. It is a dramatic difference from what we saw just a few months ago over the summer when everyone, where you noticed outside, were wearing face masks.

So what does that suggest? Well, as state media has been touting China's control over the virus, people, more and more, are starting to believe it. Like here, for them, feeling safer, if not, back to normal.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I am Jim Bittermann in Paris, where some of the grimmest looking faces in town are in cities, bars, restaurants. This is most likely the last day the French will be able to go out for a drink or a meal for the next four weeks.

French President Macron told the nation last night locking down the country is an urgent necessity as COVID cases mount and ICU beds fill up with COVID patients. Nearly 100 percent of those beds will be filled by COVID patients by mid November unless something is done, he said.

So unless they have a good reason, citizens will be restricted to home, allowed to go out to only one hour per day and then only within a one kilometer radius. There will be exception for medical emergencies, grocery shopping and business to sick and elderly relatives. Essential businesses and schools could remain open, according to the president.

But the situation would be reevaluated in two weeks to see if any restrictions could be lifted. But still he is clearly preparing the nation for a total lockdown that could go on for four weeks or even longer if the numbers don't go in the right direction. Even the scientists, he said, are surprised at how fast the virus is spreading.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am Scott McLean in the intensive care unit in a hospital in Zlin, Czech Republic, which has one of the highest infection rates in this country, which has one of the highest infection rates in the entire world.

Hospitals and ICUs in the Czech Republic are really being stretched to the max. This one has already filled all of its bed space. And right now, it is using what used to be a storage room across the hall to house even more patients.

The number of hospitalized people in this region has doubled in just the last two weeks. This hospital has already had to shut down seven departments to make way for COVID-19 patients.

[12:00:00]

And it says that if it doesn't get more help, they will have to simply start turning away patients by Monday or Tuesday.