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Trump and Biden in Florida as State Hits 4,000 Cases for Third Straight Day; Four of Five Worst Days for U.S. Cases Have Happened in Past Week; Trump Rushes Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) as She Fights to Hold Seat, Quick. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 29, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:01]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: That's it today, thanks -- for us today. Thanks for spending some time with us. I hope to see you back here this time tomorrow as the campaign winds down. A busy day, stick with us. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar, and I want to welcome our views here in the United States and around the world.

This hour, politics and the pandemic are colliding with President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden hosting dueling rallies in key battleground state of Florida, where along with 40 others, they're reporting a surge in infections. And as of today, they have just under 800,000 confirmed cases.

With only five days to go, keep in mind the voter pool that these two men are fighting for is growing smaller by the day. More than 7 million Floridians have already cast a ballot, accounting for nearly half all registered voters in the state.

CNN's Ryan Nobles is in Tampa ahead of the Trump rally and CNN's Jessica Dean in Coconut Creek, where Biden is holding a drive-in event.

Ryan, tell us what the president's final appeal is in Florida.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Brianna. Florida is an enormously important state. It's enormously important state for President Trump. There are 29 electoral votes at stake for President Trump. And there are many paths to victory, but none of them for President Trump are included without Florida. That means that they are pouring enormous resources into this state. The president spending a lot of time here, they're spending millions of dollars on campaign advertising here as well.

And what Republicans are telling me about the president's chances here is that they believe in a close election in Florida. It tends to go to Republicans each and every time. You go back to 2018, very close races for Senate and governor. Polls leading into this week show that the president or that the Republicans were behind the Democrats and they won both the race for governor and for Senate. In addition to that, if you go back to 2016, it was also a very close race, President Trump was able to pull it out. So they believe that Florida is definitely a state the president can win. And that's why they're investing so much time here.

The other thing to point out, Brianna, is that the situation with coronavirus has become very serious here in this state. For the third day in a row, the case count is over 4,000 cases and 79 deaths were reported here again today. But yet this situation here that you see behind me, another enormous rally, people packed in shoulder to shoulder, and very few people are wearing masks.

So despite the fact that coronavirus continues to rage in the state, there's almost no acknowledgement of that by the Trump campaign as being a problem. And the president continues to tell people we are turning the corner.

We expect the president in less than an hour. It's no doubt that this state is very important to his hopes of winning on election night. Brianna?

KEILAR: So important. And just Biden and the DNC are actually the ones spending big money there, they're outspending Republicans two to one on ads in Florida. Does Biden need to win the state?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He really laid this out well. If Biden wins Florida, it certainly shows a sign of strength for the Biden campaign but it also could bring the race to an early end. So this is very pivotal for the Biden campaign as well. And you see that based on Vice President Biden's appearance here today, he spending time here, but also the incredible amount of money. You mentioned Biden and the DNC outspending Trump and the Republicans over two to one here in the next week.

So they really are putting a lot of financial resources here and time as well. And that time is slowly clicking away. So this is very important that he's making these appearances here today.

We are in Broward County, which is a strong Democratic stronghold within the state of Florida. It also has a high number of black voters, black voters playing a key role in the coalition of the Biden campaign seeking to build as they look toward Election Day.

You see the cars lining up behind me, they have been going in in the last hour or so, this is a drive-in rally. Again, quite the contrast as we said day-in and day-out between what we saw with Ryan and the Trump rally, where everyone was jammed in there together without social distancing, without masks, here, everyone is inside their cars, socially distanced, masks are encouraged if anybody is around anyone else. So just a very different scene here in Broward County.

And Brianna, of course, coronavirus pandemic is central to Biden's closing argument that he believes he is the person that should be in charge to lead America out of this pandemic. He says he has a plan and he will take action on day one as soon as he is inaugurated if he is elected. KEILAR: All right. Jessica Dean, thank you so much. Ryan Nobles, thank you as well.

And as of this hour, more than 79 million Americans have already cast a ballot. And as that number continues to grow, so does the list of places where Republicans are trying to stop votes from being counted as concerns about the surge mail-in votes has prompted state officials to extend the deadline for receiving ballots.

[13:05:10]

Their efforts are targeting battleground states, like Pennsylvania, where Republicans unsuccessfully appealed to the Supreme Court twice to stop ballots from being counted three days after the election, even if there is no legible postmark. Republicans argued no vote received after election night should be tallied, even if it's postmarked by Election Day.

And we see a similar story in Wisconsin, except there, the Supreme Court sided with Republican officials. Now, all ballots must be received by 8:00 P.M. election day to count.

In North Carolina, the Trump campaign has fought to reduce the amount of time to count ballots postmarked on or before Election Day after the state election board extended the county deadline from three days after Election Day to nine days after. North Carolina, by the way, has a large military population, which votes disproportionately by mail. Last night, the Supreme Court decided not to intervene. This was a defeat for the Trump campaign.

And in Nevada, the Trump campaign has sued to ask for a halt in county mail-in ballots in the Las Vegas area. They don't like that their observers don't have better access to the process. They also object to the signature matching process.

In Texas, rich with delegates, the state's top court voting to uphold Republican Governor Greg Abbott's policy, which limits one drop box for mail-in ballots per county, just one. And this includes Harris County, where Houston is located, home to 5 million voters, one box.

And, finally in Michigan, a conservative judge has ruled that residents can carry an unconcealed gun to polling places, reigniting fears of voter intimidation. And this is what President Trump says about these lawsuits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll see what happens at the end of the day. Hopefully, it won't go longer than that. Hopefully, the few states remaining that want to take a lot of time after November 3rd to count ballots, that won't be allowed by the various courts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, this shouldn't be a Republican or a Democratic issue. It is about people's right to vote and to ensure that ballots are counted, even if it takes a few days, especially in a pandemic where the mail system is flooded and people are just trying to stay safe.

ProPublica's Jessica Huseman is joining me now. She's also a CNN analyst.

Jessica, I wonder what you make of the president's explanation here.

JESSICA HUSEMAN, CNN ANALYST: Explanation for?

KEILAR: Well, the president, he is talking about limiting the -- that people basically shouldn't be able to have their ballots counted after the election. This is something that we are hearing from Republicans.

HUSEMAN: Yes. I think that what they insinuate is that that would allow fraud, people who perhaps didn't send their ballot until after the Election Day and then intentionally didn't have it postmarked might also have their ballots counted. And I think they have presented very little evidence that this has happened.

You know, for years the election administrators in this county counted ballots for days and days after the Election Day. Like, it is important and as I know you've already told readers, the projection that we have on election night is media projection, it is not the official count, it is not the official canvas. The count continues for several days and it always has.

So the suggestion that if we don't know the answer on November 3rd, which is something that President Trump has said and unfortunately something that Justice Kavanaugh said in a recent ruling, that that leads to fraud is historically false.

KEILAR: And we started, Jessica, to see and hear election experts and former government officials, for instance, Obama A.G. Eric Holder, saying that we're at the point it is too risky to mail in your vote, that at this point so close to the election, people actually need to go drop it off in person. Is that correct?

HUSEMAN: That is correct. Unfortunately, though, there are a couple states where if you have a mail-in ballot, you cannot drop it off. There are no drop boxes, for example, in the state of Tennessee. So voters there who are concerned should get in touch with their local election authority and it may be at this point necessary to pay for fast-shipping of your ballot if the only way you can return it is the mail. And that sounds a lot like a poll tax but I think that that's just what voters are facing now.

KEILAR: Okay. And so for those people that have mail-in ballots, who have requested mail-in ballots, if they're concerned that they can't drop them off or they cannot expedite them, is voting in person a safe option for them? What is the calculus on that?

HUSEMAN: Sure. In most states, you can give up your -- as long as it has not been cast, you can go and vote in person instead.

[13:10:00] And we've actually seen this going quite well across the country for the last couple of weeks. Texas' early voting started two and a half weeks ago. Georgia started even before that. There were certainly lines on the first day of early voting. Those have gone down quite a bit. I

voted in Texas just the other day. I was given a stylus and had to wear a mask. And I found the process to be quite safe.

So I think that local election administrators have been working really hard to secure and sanitize the polls, and so I think if you have not mailed in your ballot and you were more comfortable ensuring your ballot is cast in person, then that's not an unsafe thing to do.

KEILAR: All right. Jessica, thank you so much. I know a lot of voters out there have questions and we appreciate you walking us through this.

HUSEMAN: Thank you.

KEILAR: Experts are warning the darkest days of the pandemic are just ahead of us, as the U.S. is seeing four of the five worst days of coronavirus cases in just the past week.

Plus, as European countries go on lockdown, Germany's Angela Merkel takes a shot veiled at the president's dismissal of the virus.

And the humiliating moment for one of the president's biggest defenders in the Senate who is in a race for her political life.

This is CNN special live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:00]

KEILAR: There are 40 states right now that are seeing surges in coronavirus cases. No state is currently in the green if you look at this map. That is very bad. That means that there's no state that is experiencing a decrease in cases.

There are many Midwestern states that are having a record number of hospitalizations for coronavirus. 74,000 new cases a day in the U.S. is based on the seven-day average. And in the last week, we have seen four of the five highest daily totals of the entire pandemic, and the total number of cases in the U.S. is quickly approaching 9 million.

Experts warn that things are about to get worse, one of those experts is Dr. Peter Hotez, who is with us now.

Dr. Hotez, I want you to talk about prediction of cases and talk about when we are going to be seeing the trailing deaths that do come afterward. What is the difference in time between cases and hospitalizations and deaths?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, a few things, Brianna, before I give bad news, I always like to preface it by saying things are going to get better by next year, by the summer or maybe even earlier as vaccines become available. And I like to add that before I go into dire predictions, because it's going to get pretty bad this winter.

The numbers are going up quite aggressively. Right now, if you look at the numbers in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, they are about the same as some of the worst affected countries in Western Europe, which is going in lockdown now. So the really numbers are climbing. We're at about 80,000 new cases per day and probably going to head towards Dr. Fauci's prediction of 100,000 new cases per day in coming weeks.

And we already hit a thousand deaths today and it is likely going to continue in that direction. Deaths will usually lag a few weeks. We are getting better at saving lives in the intensive care unit, but who wants to go into the intensive care unit? So it is going to be a rough, rough winter.

And I am advising people to identify the individuals you want to social distance within the next few months, try to avoid seeing others if you don't have to, and look after your mental health as well, because you're going to get scared, you're going to get upset, there's a good chance you'll get depressed as well. That's a normal reaction to a stressful situation.

So put some belts and suspenders on, be prepared, have numbers for mental health counseling. It's going to be a really rough winter.

KEILAR: Yes, I think that's wonderful advice. Because sometimes, I think, for people, they need to know what to expect and what is natural and just have those resources in place ahead of time.

There are other countries that are locking down. You were talking about this, France, Germany, they're going into a four week lockdown over the coming days. Do Americans need to do this? Is this something they'll put up with, Peter?

HOTEZ: Yes, it is a great question. We are already there. And if you look at the numbers over the last seven days on a per 100,000 basis, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, maybe a couple of other states, they're already higher than some of the European countries that you just mentioned.

So the real question is what's going to happen in terms of our hospitals. The reason those European countries are going on lockdown is they know once they get above a certain level, they're going to get a massive surge on their intensive care units and hospitalizations, and that's when mortality really revs up. So, to save lives, they're going on lockdown.

I don't know if we're going to have to get there. But here is where you need the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, advising us at what point do we have implement more aggressive social distancing measures. And this is why we have a federal government to advice us on this. The states are just not well equipped to make those kinds of decisions. They don't have the epidemiologic knowledge, the depth, the breadth of knowledge to make those kinds of decisions on their own, and so we need advice.

And it is not the same for every state. But I think for some states, we're already heading to that point in some cities. What I am trying to avoid is a situation like we had in New York City in March and April, when you remember sirens day and night all the time. I don't want to see New York City times ten, by ten, I mean ten different New York Cities scattered across the country. I think that will have a huge not only devastating health effect but also mental health effect on the country.

[13:20:01]

The point is we can avoid this. We just have to plan and get ready. But having a White House that still continues to play down severity of the epidemic and mock people who wear masks and try to attribute mortality to other co-morbidities or other causes, this is not helpful. We need even the most experienced federal leaders would have trouble with this one. And we're going to need all hands-on deck.

KEILAR: There's a new study that found one in six people hospitalized with COVID-19 are health care workers or they're the family members of health care workers. How can we as a country better protect frontline workers who are clearly bearing the brunt of this, taking care of sick people, and now becoming sick people, seeing it trickle down to their family members?

HOTEZ: Yes. I think the numbers I heard are along the same lines, and also I think 1,700 health care workers have perished in the United States. Not all of them are getting infected in the hospital. Certainly, many are getting infected outside the hospital. But this is a time when we have to do two things. One, make certain that we have adequate protective equipment available, the PPE that all the hospitals need, make certain that we are well stocked. And also avoid exhaustion, because this is what happens when we allow those big surges. It is exhausting taking, donning, doffing, (ph) PPE and working with sick patients.

And as the numbers really start to accelerate, we saw this in New York and elsewhere, hospital staff gets exhausted and mortality for the patient gets up and then hospital workers may also let down their guard a little and get sick. So one of the best ways to do that is prevent a surge, wear masks and be open to aggressive social distancing measures if you're told to do it.

KEILAR: Dr. Hotez, it is great to see you. A lot of bad news in there, but serious warnings that people need to pay attention to. Thank you.

HOTEZ: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: It is common for a Republican senator to deny that he or she has seen one of the president's tweets. But here is a new one. A Republican senator claims she's unaware of the infamous Access Hollywood tape.

Plus, the president humiliates one of his allies in her home state as she fights for her political survival. We'll roll the tape. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:25:00]

KEILAR: President Trump loves to humiliate people. It is an impulse he just can't resist, even when it hurts him politically. He uses it to keep Republicans in line, even those who have been incredibly loyal to him.

Case in point, what he said last night in Arizona where Senator Martha McSally's allegiance to Trump has rendered her the most likely Republican senator to lose her job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Fast, come on, quick. You have got one minute, one minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Trump beckoning McSally on stage for her rationed minute of airtime. We'll come back to this moment. There is more and it's bad. But let's look at Martha McSally's journey to this point.

Martha McSally is a decorated veteran, the nation's first female fighter pilot to fly in combat. As a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, when she was the highest ranking female combat pilot in the entire military, she sued Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over a DOD policy that required female service members to wear traditional garb in Muslim nations while not requiring it on male service members. It's an objectively good resume for a politician.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY (R-AZ): Let's go fly, fight and win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, after serving in the House of Representatives, she aimed her sights 2018 on the seat vacated by Republican Senator Jeff Flake but she lost to a Democrat. When Arizona's other senator, Republican Jon Kyl, was appointed and served briefly after the death of Senator John McCain, Arizona's Republican governor named McSally to that seat. And now, she's up against Astronaut Mark Kelly in a race to keep it.

During McSally's time in the Senate, she has been very loyal to the president. She has voted with him almost 95 percent of the time. She has defended him through his abysmal pandemic response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCSALLY: I appreciate the president talking to the American people from the Oval Office to show his decisiveness, his resolve and his compassion and the leadership that America has and we're the best equipped to deal with the crisis that started in China.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: McSally also defended Trump through his impeachment. She even launched an absurd stunt against CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju, who she had answered questions from many times before without hesitation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator McSally, should the Senate consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial?

MCSALLY: You're a liberal hack. I'm not talking to you.

REPORTER: You're not going to comment, Senator?

MCSALLY: You're a liberal hack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Manu is one of the most respected reporters on the Hill. He's known for asking fair and relevant questions like that one. And it was glaringly apparent that McSally's weird attack on him was premeditated to put her in the spotlight as a Trump acolyte.