Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Republicans Closing the Gap in Early Voting in 4 Key States; Virus Shouldn't Be Partisan But Lawmaker Infection Rates Show It Is; CNN Reporter Encounters Racist Attacks at Airport; . Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired October 30, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: For instance, Pennsylvania, which is so key -- I mean, both of these candidates, it's so key to them.
On the day before the election, you have Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, Kamala Harris and her husband, and they're all going to be campaigning there as a final push for Pennsylvania.
How is this shaping up?
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, there's nothing more valuable than a candidate's time.
You add the candidate's spouse, you add the vice-presidential nominee, you add the vice-presidential nominee's spouse, it makes clear what the campaign's priorities are here.
You look, Pennsylvania is the key to the Midwest, to some degree. The commonwealth, they would say they're not the Midwest. But I would say Ohio and Pennsylvania is in the Midwest.
But you at the most electoral votes, 20 electoral votes, the most electoral votes in all those crucial states in the Midwest that people are looking at.
I think when Democrats look at the state, Pennsylvania, it's of the Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. Trump won Pennsylvania by the most.
I think his turnout, particularly in western Pennsylvania, stunned everybody, because he turned out irregular voters and just crushed in areas that Republicans did well, but never did quite as well.
What the Biden campaign recognizes is -- and I think the Trump campaign does, too -- if they shut the door in Pennsylvania, they likely will also shut the door in Michigan, Wisconsin or Minnesota, where the president is today.
Pennsylvania is kind of the key that unlocks the Midwest to reopening that blue wall to existing or reopening Trump's pathway to reelection.
There's a lot of talk about Florida, but you know why the vice president and his team are so focused on Pennsylvania right now.
If they can win Pennsylvania, and they pretty much believe they can, they believe the current polling lead.
The CNN poll of polls tested about four or five, is pretty spot on, based on what on what they've seen and based on what they saw in the midterms in 2018.
But they recognize they need to close -- they need to close the game. When you do that, that's where you show up the day before the final vote.
I think Hillary Clinton was in Philadelphia. You were probably there, if I recall correctly, back in 2016.
KEILAR: Yes.
MATTINGLY: Didn't quite close the deal. I think the Biden campaign has been trying, through a show of force, to be able to complete maybe what the Clinton campaign couldn't -- Bri?
KEILAR: At this point in the campaign, it's like a whirlwind where you are. But I do recall being in Philadelphia. Definitely. It was a big event with Barack Obama.
Phil Mattingly, thank you so much. Good to see you.
There are nearly two dozen lawmakers who have been infected with the coronavirus that we're aware of. Find out how many are Democrats and how many are Republicans. We're going to roll the tape on that.
Plus, a trend is emerging of Republicans bailing on their debates.
And a CNN reporter describes three different racist incidents of harassment against her during one single trip to the airport. Amara Walker will join me, live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:37:19]
KEILAR: We know that short of having the country on lockdown, it's impossible to eliminate the risk of getting coronavirus. But you can mitigate that risk with masks, social distancing and other healthy practices.
Case in point, two groups of people who have very different infection rates in the nation's capital, Republican politicians and Democratic politicians.
In both chambers of Congress, 23 lawmakers have tested positive since March. Sixteen of them Republicans, seven of them Democrats.
If you include in that number the two Democratic Senators who tested positive for antibodies, but didn't test positive for the virus, Republican lawmakers are still twice as likely to contract coronavirus based on the numbers that we have publicly here.
Countless more other staffers and capitol workers also infected.
But the number on the red side gets bigger when you take a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.
At least 22 people have been infected in the administration. I say "at least" because it's not the most exactly transparent the places. The first family, of course, among those numbers there.
And coronavirus outbreaks tend to follow the president whether he's in Washington or he's out in the country.
CNN's Sanjay Gupta looked at 17 locations where the president had rallies. In 82 percent of those locations, those counties where they took place saw infections rise soon after the president's visit.
The rate of new cases in those counties grew faster than in the rest of their states.
We know that many of the Republican lawmakers who have been infected are taking cues from the president.
Like Louie Gohmert, Texas congressman. In the sprint, he was infamous for proudly rocking a naked face as he walked around the halls of the capitol and attended congressional hearings like this one.
Here is what he told CNN about why he refused to wear a mask before he was infected, even after we had become aware as a nation that asymptomatic people can spread the virus and testing negative doesn't always mean you are not infected.
Quote, he said, "If I get it, you will never see me without a mask. But I keep being tested and I don't have it. So I'm not afraid of you. But if I get it, I'll wear a mask.
Well, he got it. When he did, he blamed masks, even though he mostly refused to wear one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): I don't know about everybody, but when I have a mask on, I'm moving to make it comfortable. I can't help but wonder if that put some germs in the mask.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Doctors say that is highly unlikely. Ridiculous even.
Senator Mike Lee, attending the super-spreader event at the Rose Garden, chatting, hugging and gallivanting around with a naked face. He tested positive shortly after this.
[13:40:06]
Less than two weeks later, he showed up in person at the hearing for the president's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. And he spoke there without a mask.
Then there's Senator Rand Paul, who is an ophthalmologist, a medical doctor. He contracted the coronavirus early on. He was the first Senator to do so.
Paul attended an event in Kentucky with others who tested positive. He took a test, but instead of quarantining, he hit the Senate gym. He swam some laps in the pool.
And understandably, he made his colleagues angry that he violated CDC guidelines, putting their health at risk.
Months later, Paul ticked off Dr. Fauci during a hearing, when the Senator suggested that New York was doing better -- he claimed wrongly -- because it achieved herd immunity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): They have developed enough community immunity they're no longer having the pandemic because they have enough immunity in New York City to actually stop --
(CROSSTALK)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I challenge that, Senator.
I'm afraid this happens with Senator Rand all the time.
You are not listening to what the director of the CDC said, that in New York, it's about 22 percent. If you believe 22 percent is herd immunity, I believe you are alone in that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Then, just this week, the Senator showed up at a Trump really where he fist bumped the president and the two toasted to their recoveries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Here's to immunity!
(CHEERING)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To immune people.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: It gets worse. The Senator, last week, peddled this dangerous claim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAUL: And 97 percent of viruses go through a cloth mask. The surgical mask is about 50 percent. The N-95s do actually work. They're uncomfortable as hell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: If you ask most medical experts, they will take issue with that. The CDC says wearing face coverings like cloth masks will help prevent the spread.
He goes on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: There's so much pessimism. The president said the virus will go away, they mock him and make fun of him. The virus will go away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
PAUL: Every virus that's ever come, has come and gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
PAUL: Could it come back? Yes.
But here's the good news, the other thing. I'll say one thing about immunity, I've had it. I can't give it to you. I can't get it.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Yes, Senator Paul, Dr. Paul, you can.
Why are we supposed to get flu shots every year? Because antibodies wear off. It's happening with the coronavirus.
The first case of reinfection in the U.S. was just reported in Nevada, where a man's second bout with COVID was worse than the first.
Just this week, we have seen more studies that show more immunity may only last months.
Rand Paul was infected nearly eight months ago. Instead of masking up, he's giving tips on opening restaurants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: If I owned a restaurant, I would have a whole wing for senior citizens or for anybody who is worried about getting sick, and I would say all my servers have already had it.
If I had a cruise ship, I would hire everybody -- no one, no exceptions, everybody would have had the infection that works on the boat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: First off, we've already seen the senior citizen wing experiment. It's called nursing homes. It didn't go well.
Second, incentivizing people to catch coronavirus in order to get hired for a job, it's about as asinine as being exposed to COVID, getting a test, and while waiting for it, pretending you're Michael Phelps in the Senate swimming pool.
There's a way to manage coronavirus. There's a way to reopen the economy. By being smart and careful, wearing masks, socially distancing, washing hands, and protecting the most vulnerable.
It shouldn't be partisan, even if the infection rates on Capitol Hill show just how much it is.
And right now, the president and Joe Biden are holding rallies in two key states. This is in their final push before Election Day. We're going to take you there.
[13:44:07]
Plus, my colleague, Amara Walker, details not one, but three racist encounters back to back at one airport. She's going to join me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Racist rhetoric against Asians and Asian-Americans have become a real problem in the U.S. amid the coronavirus that originated in China.
The president is promoting this kind of language. He refers to and has referred to the virus as the China Virus, as the Kung Flu.
And Asian-Americans are reporting an increase in racist encounters.
After one of my CNN colleagues, Amara Walker, experienced three such incidents during just one trip to New Orleans International Airport, talked about it online, on Twitter.
She wrote, quote, "I hate I have to say this, but I belong. We Asian- Americans belong. I was born and raised in the U.S. I'm as American as apple pie. And I'm as American as Korean barbecue. I am American. Please don't question me about that fact, ever.
Amara Walker is joining us now.
Amara, thank you for writing about this.
[13:50:00]
I think this was so important for people to understand what a lot of Asians and Asian-Americans in the U.S. have been going through.
Tell us what happened to you.
AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's why I wrote about it. I wanted to be a voice for so many of us Asian-Americans who don't speak out when these kinds of things happen.
I do want to say, Brianna, if I had encountered just one racially charged incident yesterday, I probably wouldn't have posted about it.
But the fact it happened back to back to back within the span of an hour, Brianna is what shook me to my core.
Right now, I have to admit I'm shaking right now. I still can't believe that we went through this, that I went through this.
OK, here's what happened. First incident, I'm walking through the airport, an older gentleman stops, he pulls down his mask, looks at me and says hello in Chinese, and then a racial slur that's been used for decades.
I was stunned. This has happened before, sadly, but every time it happens, it shocks me.
Like I've done in the past, I just kept walking. I didn't know what to say. He walked away.
The more I thought about it, my blood was just boiling. And thankfully, I ran into him inside the terminal. He was standing right behind me when I was trying to buy souvenirs for my husband and my daughter.
I turned around and said to him, in a stern voice, I said: Do you understand what you said to me was racist, it was racially charged? Do you understand, sir?
He kind of looked at me with a smug look, and he just said, I don't know what you're talking about. And he walked away.
KEILAR: Wow.
WALKER: So then I walked to the gate where my producer was sitting. I was like, you won't believe what just happened, I'm really upset, here's what happened.
And I'm not kidding, as if on cue, within five minutes, a young man walks up in front me while I'm sitting on a gate. He's not wearing a mask. He comes right up to me and hey, do you speak English?
And I was like, I can't believe this is happening. And the first thing -- I shot back immediately because I was very angry.
I said, yes. Why would you assume I don't speak English? Tell me. Why would you assume that I don't speak English?
He said, well, no, what language do you speak? I said, well, obviously English, but I also speak Spanish. I knew he was expecting I would say Chinese or Japanese or Korean. Anyway, I mean, and then he started to mumble and speak incoherently. It sounded like he was mocking the Asian language.
My producer was really disturbed by all of this. Also, the people who were sitting at the gate started yelling at him to get away from me because I kept telling him, you've got to leave, leave me alone. We're in a pandemic. Put on a mask.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: He was getting close -- he was not wearing a mask and he was getting close to you, right?
WALKER: Exactly. He was in my personal space.
KEILAR: Then your producer basically got security, right? Got a police officer. And then what happened?
WALKER: Yes, he interjected. He said, officer -- this is where -- talk about pouring salt into a gaping wound, right? I told the officers what happened, Brianna, and my producer, who was upset, said, yes, this guy was saying racial slurs to her. Can you believe that?
The police officers stopped. He approached my producer, literally, again, almost nose to nose -- and again, we're in a pandemic.
He said very angrily, that is not racist. Asking someone if they speak English, that is not racist, OK? Do you understand me?
This police officer was, I would say, 6'4". He was huge. I was intimidated. Everyone around us was watching. My poor producer was both nervous and scared.
We said, OK, OK, OK, fine, it wasn't racist. And he walked away. They did track him down.
But I was so shaken by all of this and so disturbed that my producer shooed me onto the plane and said, you've got to get away from this. My producer was extremely defensive of me.
Also, there was about five or six people sitting at the gate who came to my defense and were apologizing for no reason. They had nothing to apologize for, but they expressed their shock.
KEILAR: Thank goodness they were there to back you up and support you.
WALKER: Yes.
KEILAR: You write in this, talking about getting made fun of as a child.
But I also wonder if, here in just the pre -- in sort of the recent years, but the pre-COVID era, did you ever experience anything like this?
I know you travel a lot for work. Have you ever been through anything like this?
WALKER: No, absolutely not. For it to happen -- these were all, I believe, unrelated incidents. But for it to happen so quickly in succession, like 45 minutes to an hour, that's what knocked me off my feet.
[13:55:02]
Brianna, I want to make it clear, it's not about me. Because Asian- Americans across the country deal with this on a regular basis, and we're not talking about.
And many Asian-Americans don't raise their voices, including myself. I probably wouldn't have written about this if it wasn't so egregious.
And this is why I'm speaking out. I'm normally a private person, but I want to be that voice.
I've gotten so many e-mails from strangers, even colleagues at CNN that I have never met, who are Asian or Asian descent.
And they said thank you so much for talking about this and explaining to people why its racially insensitive to assume that I don't speak English or anyone else that looks like me doesn't speak English.
Why would you assume that? Because you're saying that this is not American, that we are foreigners. You're marginalizing us. You're telling us we don't belong.
And I hate -- I wrote in my piece -- on my post that I hate I have to say that I belong. I'm as American as you. Why do I have to justify I'm American? Why? Because of the way I look? You're judging me by my skin color?
KEILAR: No, you shouldn't have to.
Look, you normally tell other people's stories, so I know it's kind of a weird position for you to be in. But I also think there's so many people going through this who don't have the platform like you have.
Like you said, clearly, they're appreciative that this is being discussed. They're going through this. You, unfortunately, have been through this, Amara.
I really want to thank you for coming on and talking about it and putting a face on it. Thank you.
WALKER: Thank you.
Can I just mention one thing, Brianna?
KEILAR: Sure.
WALKER: I mentioned in my post that, you know, for the sake of the story, the first gentleman who approached me was a man of color. I got a bit of flack about that on social media. I mentioned it. And because there's this misconception out there that
only white people are racist. Or you can't be racist if you're a minority. This man, I believe, looked to be South Asian.
KEILAR: OK.
Amara, I appreciate you coming on. Thank you so much for being here.
WALKER: Thank you.
KEILAR: As the country reaches its highest number of new daily infections, Joe Biden and President Trump are crisscrossing battleground states in a race to secure 270 electoral votes. We're going to take you there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
