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U.S. Hits New COVID Case Record as Election Nears; Candidates Hold Rallies in Key State of Florida; New Model Projects Daily Death Rates Tripling by Mid-January; Second Wave of COVID is Raging in Europe; Merkel Warns Against Lies, Disinformation in Virus Fight; Three Killed in Knife Attack in Nice. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 30, 2020 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching "CNN Newsroom." Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause.

Ahead this hour, as the number of coronavirus cases across the U.S. soars, Donald Trump's chances of a second term seemed to plummet. At the same time, his rival, Joe Biden, warning the pandemic is set to get worse, the nation should brace for dark days ahead.

With hospital admission setting new records, parts of Europe will once again be on the lockdown.

And the third terror attack in just weeks in France, the president declares the country is under attack.

It could be the pandemic or maybe just motivated Republicans and Democrats determined to have their say whatever it is. Never before have so many Americans voted this early in a U.S. election.

Nationwide, they have been turning out in record numbers. As of last count, 81 million have already cast their ballots, which is likely to foreshadow one of the biggest, if not the biggest turnouts ever. Many, who are voting, especially by mail, are doing so because of the pandemic.

Right now, the U.S. is close to nine million confirmed cases. Thursday alone, it set a new daily record with more than 88,000 new cases. It seems to not be surprising at all. New data shows most places where President Trump has held large campaign rallies. There have been sharp increases in the number of new cases.

We begin with CNN's Ryan Nobles in the battleground state of Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Florida, President Trump is facing a battleground on two fronts.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm thrilled to be here in my -- our home state, Florida.

(CHEERING)

NOBLES (voice-over): Florida is a pivotal swing state, where polls show a neck-and-neck race and 29 electoral votes up for grabs.

TRUMP: When we win, Florida wins and America wins. It's very simple.

(CHEERING)

NOBLES (voice-over): And a state where coronavirus cases are surging, with both federal and state government leaders giving mixed messages on how to handle the virus.

MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF, FORMER NORTH CAROLINA REPRESENTATIVE: As we try to make sure that we come into contact with other people, making sure that we socially distanced as much as possible, wearing those masks when -- when we can, we strongly encourage that.

NOBLES (voice-over): White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows continuing to encourage Americans to wear a mask and social distance. But at the same time, the Trump team continues to ignore the threat posed by the campaign's massive rallies with no attempt to social distance and few people wearing masks.

Sending Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany out in a campaign capacity to taut the White House response to the virus.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You can vote on Joe Biden where you will be locked down. Your schools will be closed, your churches will be closed, you won't have social gatherings, it will be a lockdown versus President Trump, where we are safely reopening this country.

NOBLES (voice-over): Meanwhile, the president himself, seemingly ignoring the rising case count. He is still downplaying the threat and blaming the media and Democrats for hyping the reality of more than 200,000 Americans who have died.

TRUMP: It would have been two million lives. It's incredible, the job that we have done and that the American people have done.

NOBLES (voice-over): But it is Florida, where top COVID adviser, Dr. Scott Atlas, was pushing Governor Ron DeSantis to slow down testing as cases surge here. Governor DeSantis recently lifted all statewide restrictions related to coronavirus. This, as President Trump continues to promise a new vaccine will be ready soon.

TRUMP: A safe vaccine is coming very quickly. You're going to have it momentarily. That eradicates the virus. We are rounding the turn regardless. You know that.

NOBLES (voice-over): But president's optimism is not shared by many experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has a dim view of the country's effort to contain the virus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are we, Tony?

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, we are not in a good place.

NOBLES: And despite the fact that the president touted his administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic and said that the country is rounding the corner, the stark reality of the virus and its spread through Florida could be seen just a few feet away from where the president was standing.

On the same campus, home to the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was a drive-in COVID testing site. In the state of Florida, for the 3rd day in a row, the state reported 4,000 new cases of the coronavirus.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, Tampa, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former Vice President Joe Biden travelled here to the critical battleground state of Florida on Thursday for two events, one in Broward County, the other in Tampa, where we heard him give his closing argument to Floridians.

[02:05:04]

DEAN: He talked about the coronavirus pandemic, slamming President Trump's handling of it, and making the case that Americans would be better off if Joe Biden were in office, saying he has a plan and he is ready to act on it.

He also talked about health care being on the ballot and how important it is to protect the Affordable Care Act and pre-existing conditions coverage for millions of Americans.

Joe Biden doesn't have to win Florida to get to that critical 270 electoral votes. But, if he did, it would be an incredible show of strength for the Biden campaign and could put this contest to an early end on election night. Here is the former vice president.

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This election is the most important one you have ever voted in, whether it is your first or 10th. Ladies and gentlemen, the heart and soul of this country is at stake. Right here in Florida, it is up to you. You hold the key. If Florida goes blue, it is over. It's over.

(CHEERING)

DEAN: On Friday, we will see Biden going to more states than we've seen him travel in recent memory. He will be hitting Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, all on Friday, as the election grows ever closer. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Jessica Levinson is a political commentator and professor at Loyola Law School where she specializes in election law and other areas, as well. It is good to see you. It has been a while, Jessica.

JESSICA LEVINSON, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, PROFESSOR OF LAW AT LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: It is good to be here.

VAUSE: OK. Both Trump and Biden were in Florida on Thursday, both health campaign rallies. One of them follows CDC guidelines. Reporters are socially distanced in vehicles. Face masks were worn. The other was a likely super spreader event and no surprise at guessing, which was the Trump rally. The closing message from both candidates was also worlds apart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are going to defeat the Marxists and the socialists and the rioters and the flag burners and the left wing extremists.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: We are going to defeat the anarchists.

BIDEN: I've never been more optimistic about America and America's chances than I am today. On November 3rd, we are going to unite this country and show the world who America really is.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, if you look at these two candidates, in the past, you have people running for president, they will disagree over stuff like the national debt, tax rates, and foreign policy. Donald Trump just sees a whole different planet compared to Joe Biden and almost everyone else.

LEVINSON: I can't tell you how much I miss watching the discussions where people would debate tax policy, the size of government, what government's role was, not really should we have a republic?

And you're right. I mean, these are two men. It is hard to think of two men who other than both being white men in their basically mid-70s have less similarities.

I mean, if you look at Joe Biden, if you look at style and substance and compare him to President Trump, this thing that is startling to me is that there are undecided voters.

I have to think at this point that the undecided are really the people who are deciding, am I going to show up or not, or they are the disaffected Republicans who have never voted for a Democrat in their life and they're just not sure if they can this time around.

VAUSE: If there's a strategy from the Trump campaign, it is to prioritize the economy over public health. New numbers came out on Thursday that showed economic rebound, economic growth higher than 30 percent. Trump tweeted out, so glad this great GDP number came out before November 3rd. Yet, he might be glad, but it seems to most voters, it was all greeted with whatever. This wasn't a hallelujah moment.

LEVINSON: Well, I think that is in part because the economic recovery is not affecting all voters. It is affecting some voters. But if you look at the recovery, it is really a case shape (ph).

So there are some industries that are bounding back, that are doing well, but then there are a lot of industries that employ a lot of people, where things are going down or they're stagnant and people are really struggling.

This should not be a question of pinning the economy against health and safety. Every epidemiologist, every economist said these two things have to work together. We are going to be in this kind of semi- surreal, semi-lockdown, half quarantine for so much longer than we needed to be. That is not good for the economy.

These little (INAUDIBLE) to the economy that help some voters, that is not good for the country as a whole. You want a full, robust for everyone, recovery.

VAUSE: Well, for Donald Trump, he may be living on another planet. He might also be living in another era. Maybe back in the 1950s, when men spoke about women and two women like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Come on. Quick. You got one minute. One minute, Martha. They don't want to hear this, Martha. Come on. Let's go. Quick, quick, quick. Come on.

Also getting your husbands -- they want to go back to work, right? They want to get back to work. We are getting your husband back to work.

[02:10:00]

TRUMP: If you say suburban housewife, you're in deep trouble. So what you do is you say, suburban women.

I used to call them suburban housewives. I got killed all the time. I said, oh, I better go politically correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The woman who he is talking to, yelling at in that first clip, was Martha McSally. She is running for the Senate in Arizona. Really, you know, if Donald Trump didn't actually want to win this election and if you look at this gender gap between Trump and Biden, Trump has lost so much erosion in support that he once had.

The Center for American Women and Politics has had Joe Biden's level of support from women voters. This seems his strategy to lose.

LEVINSON: It is, but I don't think he is trying to lose. I know that there were other stories, you know, he doesn't actually want to be president. I think he is playing to his base as he always has.

President Trump has a pretty significant floor and a pretty significant ceiling. I think this whole election has really been trying to make sure he can get out those voters. Some of them are low propensity voters the polls might be missing.

But, you know, in terms of his views of women, this should not be something where you just lose the respect of women. I know I sound like a broken record. I hate, as a woman, having to be the one to say this, but how this doesn't equally turn off men is a real problem in 2020.

No man should look at the president of the United States say, we will get your husband back to work, and think, yes, that is the person who I want to lead -- who I want leading our country. This is a human rights issue, not a gender issue.

VAUSE: Yeah. That is a good point. Jessica, thank you. It is always good to have you with us. I very much appreciate seeing you. Thank you.

LEVINSON: Thank you.

VAUSE: Right now, all the forecasts indicate a health crisis in the United States. It is heading towards a national tragedy. One model by the University of Washington expects, on the current path, the daily death toll of U.S. could triple within months.

CNN's Brian Todd has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Top health officials are issuing ominous warnings to Americans. The country is getting sicker. And a month from now, the top boys on the pandemic told CNBC, America will be in an even darker place.

FAUCI: If they continue on the course we are on, there is going to be a whole lot of pain in this country with regard to additional cases and hospitalizations and deaths. We are on a very difficult trajectory.

TODD (voice-over): Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says America is in the hardest part of the pandemic right now, that the U.S. will probably climb past 100,000 infections per day within the next couple of weeks. And he is warning Americans to avoid potentially dangerous family gatherings at Thanksgiving.

SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: I would tell people to be very prudent around Thanksgiving. If you want to come together, take precautions, be mindful of bringing older people in contact with younger people who might be asymptomatic spreaders. You know, you just need to be careful. If you're going to come together, we are not going to be this year.

TODD (voice-over): Wisconsin now reporting a seven-day average positivity rate that is astronomical. Out of all of the people tested for coronavirus on a given day in Wisconsin, nearly 30 percent were positive. Eighty-six percent of hospital beds in Wisconsin are taken.

MAYOR TOM BARRETT, MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: ICU capacities are getting near capacity in the state of Wisconsin because the situation is dire. So, it is a very serious situation in Wisconsin right now.

TODD (voice-over): Wisconsin is one of 13 states reporting record high hospitalizations. It is in one of the regions Dr. Anthony Fauci is most worried about, when he talks about the hospital crisis in America, brought on by the virus.

FAUCI: There are some places in the heartland and in the northwest that never had the kind of hospital and intensive care facility and flexibility, that some of the larger hospitals in large cities like New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and others.

TODD (voice-over): And one expert says with hospitals overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, there will be a deadly cascading effect.

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: If it is overwhelmed because of a single disease, that means that there are also many other diseases for which we do need immediate care like heart attacks, strokes, and so forth that are going to get (INAUDIBLE). And so we are going to have an increase in deaths in this country due to other causes.

TODD (voice-over): And this disease just keeps getting more devastating. New cases are averaging 74,000 per day. Forty-one states are trending worse coast to coast and none are trending better.

Ohio just just recorded its highest daily case count with more than 3,500 positives in one day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The virus is raging throughout the state of Ohio. There is no place to hide.

TODD: And Dr. Anthony Fauci has said again that he thinks it is time for a national mandate for all Americans to wear masks in public. Dr. Fauci had previously been reluctant to call for that. In recent days, he even said that he didn't think that kind of mandate would ever happen.

[02:15:00]

TODD: But he also now says that this is -- quote -- "an untenable situation."

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Dr. Darragh O'Carroll is an emergency room physician. He joins us now from Honolulu. Dr. Darragh O'Carroll, thank you for being with us.

DARRAGH O'CARROLL, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Right now, the largest daily newspaper in Hawaii, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, is reporting a total of 62 patients with COVID-19 are in Hawaii hospitals, 15 in ICUs, and eight on ventilators.

Those numbers may seem relatively low, but Hawaii is a small state, less than one and a half million people. So, at this point, are you and your colleagues ready for anything involving surge in COVID admissions? Do you have a worst case scenario right now?

O'CARROLL: Absolutely we have done well over the last couple of weeks, two months. We have very large outbreak later than most states here in the United States. It was in August where we, you know, had -- all of our hospitals were very, very full.

We had to, as your lead-up segment said, we had trouble designating some of our tertiary care centers for heart attacks or strokes or spinal cord injuries. So, we did get quite full, but we have done very well since then, instituting the lockdowns that we needed and also the mask use. Oahu, the main island here where about 800,000 of the citizens of Hawaii live, has an 84 percent mask use, which is really, really good.

But what your lead-up segment said that would really make a difference as well is a national mask mandate to show that everybody is committed to doing things that can protect not just yourselves because when you do wear a mask, you can have a higher chance of being having a less severe illness case or even being asymptomatic but protect those around you, especially with the holiday season coming up.

VAUSE: Right now in Hawaii, on the island, the governor is yet to issue a statewide mask mandate. It has been left up to county by county.

O'CARROLL: Correct. No county has complete and -- puts it through. But Oahu has really high mask use mandate, has fine for those who aren't using it in private spaces, especially indoor spaces. Those are the things that we can really rely on. It is one of the best that we have to combat this virus, this being an upper respiratory virus that transfers via droplets and aerosols, especially in Hawaii.

It has a pretty steady climate throughout the seasons. We don't really have a winter season. So we are gathering indoors just as much. But we do have flu season. It is usually later than the typical flu season. That brings up flu because it transfers in the same way that this virus does, upper respiratory wise.

So, we are seeing an earlier wave than the typical flu season would be because this virus is twice as transmissible. And so that was to be expected. And even the third wave -- excuse me, the second wave of the pandemic flu of 1918 was the deadliest. And so that is what a lot of alarm bells are being rang --

VAUSE: Absolutely. O'CARROLL: -- do work a bit better.

VAUSE: We just heard from Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of Food and Drug Administration. He made a dire prediction of deadly infection right north of hundred thousand. He said that is coming soon. But Dr. Gottlieb wasn't all doom and misery. This is what he also had to say. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOTTLIEB: This is really sort of the last stage of the acute phase of this. The 2021 is going to start to look a lot better. I think we will be celebrating together in 2021, Thanksgiving of 2021. We need to get through the next couple of months. This is the hardest point in this pandemic right now, the next two months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: That seems to be an important point. That it won't always be like this. Missing out on Thanksgiving and holiday events this year doesn't mean not going to celebrations every year. It is just temporary, right?

O'CARROLL: That's correct. It is human nature. We are exhibiting some pandemic fatigue. But we do need to look forward and not just this or next week but, you know, how our public health is tied to our economic health, especially here in Hawaii.

We depend on such a large percentage of high volume tourism. If our cases are to increase, that would definitely hurt our economy and has since we have had the 14-day quarantine in institutions until October 15th which was just lifted.

And so, you know, things that we can do are definitely wearing mask. I would hope that our national strategy towards testing would increase

as well. We got to test more. We have to test in higher frequency.

And maybe making these less sensitive tests that are, you know, little paper tests that aren't quite as sensitive as the very expensive PCR test that takes sometimes days to come back. But if you take them on a regular basis, say, before going in to visit grandma and grandpa in Thanksgiving and you take it as you arrive before you walk in that door, you know, that would be something that is extremely useful.

VAUSE: Yeah.

O'CARROLL: So those are things that are coming up in the pipe.

VAUSE: Five thousand miles to your west, there is another island, but this is one has not seen a case of local transmission of the coronavirus in 200 days.

[02:20:04]

VAUSE: It is Taiwan. They acted quickly and they acted early. CNN is reporting that the authorities activated the island's Central Epidemic Command Center, which was set up in the wake of SARS. The government also ramped up face masks and protective equipment manufacturing, invested in mass testing, and quick and effective contact tracing.

There seems to be lot that the U.S. and especially Hawaii could learn from Taiwan. For some reason, those lessons are being ignored. Why is that?

O'CARROLL: You know, that is a huge question in my mind. There has been a large local physician, you know, body that has been recommending those same sorts of things.

What Taiwan is doing marvellously well is setting up a great border because we do know that island nations have that advantage of just being geographically isolated and being able to say, hey, look, anybody who comes in to our borders, just like Taiwan is doing, anybody who is coming from a high-risk country, which the U.S. absolutely is, you got to quarantine for 14 days.

The lower and medium-risk countries don't have to quarantine for quite as long, but they all depend on testing prior to arrival and a quarantine method. And so Taiwan definitely instituted that, definitely instituted mask wearing, definitely instituted high numbers of contact tracers.

And it might just be one of the things as they had to lead up being that they were, you know, part of the 2003 SARS outbreak, so they had (INAUDIBLE) for this. Unfortunately, our pandemic preparedness was cut short by our current administration. And so, the things that we had in place were shackled.

VAUSE: Yeah. Interestingly, the official in charge of Taiwan's response to this pandemic was trained at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Darragh O'Carroll, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

O'CARROLL: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

VAUSE: Europe is once again the epicenter of the pandemic. After the break, the rise in crisis, the new restrictions, and the battle between freedom and health.

Also, three are dead in a knife attack in France. Investigators say it was an act of terrorism. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Europe is once again the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, at least two million people were infected in the past two weeks alone. A number of European countries are now posing tougher restrictions, as well circuit breaker, to try to end the surge in transmission.

Germany has just reported record high new infections for a third consecutive day. It will be in a month-long partial lockdown come Monday. While announcing the new measures, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned what a real world harm coronavirus disinformation and conspiracy theories can cause. In the last hour, I spoke with CNN European affairs commentator Dominic Thomas about the apparent rebellion against science in Germany, how much is being driven by what they are seeing in the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Certainly, they are watching the United States. They have been all along, especially with the election coming up.

[02:25:00]

THOMAS: There is a kind of global Venn diagram that brings together some of the aspects that Angela Merkel mentioned: the conspiracy theories, the denialists, the anti-maskers, and so on.

Clearly, when a U.S. president having caught the coronavirus, downplays it, comparing it to a mild flu at best, it has an influence. And so parties like the AFT, the far-right party in Germany have exploited this. But it is not just the fringe parties now. What we are seeing is an evolution over the past eight months.

And today, in the German parliament, you saw the FDP, the Free Democratic Party, pro-business, talking about these kinds of issues and so on. I think one year out of the German federal election, exploiting the government's failures, they would argue in any case to sort of shut down this virus as a way to bolster their electoral hopes. So we are seeing a shift here in kind of tolerance for the government's way of dealing with things.

VAUSE: While she was explaining this need to re-impose a soft lockdown, listen to this, as Chancellor Merkel was talking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA MERKEL, CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY: (UNTRANSLATED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNTRANSLATED).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNTRANSLATED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: With constant interruption, at one point, she was accused of running a corona dictatorship. Here's a catch, the more people refused to comply with these lockdown measures and other restrictions, the longer the pandemic will last and the worst it will get, and it is sort of like a feedback loop.

THOMAS: Yeah, it is, John. I mean, the case that the -- there is a real health crisis here. These questions, the health response cannot be downplayed. And yet you're seeing these increasing divisions over the ways in which to respond to this question.

It is clear that after what we could have called phase one in Europe, the situation became far too relaxed over the summer months. The consequences of that are being seen clearly and unambiguously now. It is a tremendous concern because, of course, back in the spring, the situation was terrible in Europe than it was in the United States.

We see a return to that situation in Europe today. And unless there is a dramatic policy change both there and in the United States, it does not bode well for the winter months ahead.

VAUSE: And also, if you look at what is happening in U.K., we have the city of Manchester, one of the biggest cities, which seems to be refusing to willingly follow any further pandemic restrictions, listen to the mayor speaking earlier this month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY BUMHAM, MANCHESTER MAYOR: They are asking us to gamble our residents, jobs, homes and businesses, and the large chunk of our economy on a strategy that their own experts tell them may not work. We would never sign up for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, it may not work, but then again, it might just work. And all these measures have been effective. They have been proven to be effective. There just seems to be this reluctance to accept the fact that you cannot get this pandemic -- you cannot get the economy back up rather without getting the pandemic under control.

THOMAS: Yes, and we can't turn the clock back and start talking about what would have happened if we have done this and so on back to Angela Merkel. Science and facts we know can help us fight this particular virus.

And what you're seeing in Manchester is not unique. We are seeing it in Italy, in France, Germany, the Netherlands and other places over the past few days. We are now eight, nine months into this. In these areas where there has been a lack of government support in the face of these lockdown measures, as I said, eight months into this, it is becoming increasingly evident that the lockdown is OK for the few, but not the many.

This is why we are seeing resistance to some of these measures, particularly in the case too when some of these governments are ignoring their own health guidelines as the case was with the British government not so long ago.

VAUSE: Yeah, it is a difficult situation all around and it does seem to be tracking (ph) on much longer that it should. But it is dragging and it is still there. Dominic, good to see you. Thank you. Dominic Thomas there in Los Angeles.

THOMAS: Thanks, John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The French president, Emmanuel Macron, says his country is under attack after three people were killed in a church during a stabbing spree. CNN's Cyril Vanier has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As France was waking up Thursday morning, preparing for a second national coronavirus lockdown, the country was brutally reminded of the enduring terror threat here.

Around 9:00 a.m. local time, an assailant entered the Notre-Dame Basilica, a church in the very heart of the southern city of Nice. The assailant was wielding a knife, and the ensuing attack left three people dead: the victim whose throat was sliced, another victim who died of multiple stab wounds, and a third one who had originally managed to flee the church but then sadly died of her wounds very shortly after that.

We understand from by standards that law enforcements were called very quickly. They arrived on the scene quickly, as well, and then opened fire on the assailant, neutralizing him. They did not kill him.

[02:30:00]

VANIER: The assailant sustained multiple wounds, and we understand is now receiving medical attention. The Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi arrived on the scene shortly after the attack says the assailant even as he was receiving care said the words Allah Akbar multiple times which of course means God is great in Arabic.

This is the third terror attack in five weeks in France the first two were connected to the publications of cartoons of Prophet Mohammed something which is considered - in Islam. We don't yet know whether Thursday's attack in Nice is connected to that controversy but certainly the timing of it races some very serious questions. Cyril Vanier, CNN, Paris.

VAUSE: Well, you're watching CNN Newsroom. The U.S. Presidential race may seem endless but the good news is the end is in sight. In a moment we'll look at latest polls heading into these final days. Also ahead President Trump celebrating after U.S. economy grew at it fastest rate ever on record but from an economist who know nothing fast but the party more on that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. I'm John Vause. Well, it is great to see two U.S. Presidential candidates holding rallies in the same state on the same day this close to an election. But that happened on Thursday in Florida, a battleground state important to both candidates but far more crucial to Donald Trump and his road to second term.

Chief U.S. Correspondent John King tells us what it would take for each candidate to gain the upper hand in the sunshine state.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF U.S. CORRESPONDENT: In this age of new normal something perfectly normal. Today on the campaign trail both candidates President Trump and Joe Biden in battleground Florida and the poll showing Florida as always is close.

Let's take a look right here. The new poll Monmouth University shows Joe Biden with a 5 point lead, 50 percent to 45 percent over President Trump. When you average this poll into several other recent poles, you get our poll of polls still shows Biden on top with a 3 point lead a smaller lead when you average them all out in battleground Florida.

Let's go back to 2016 to remind ourselves what do we look for on any presidential election night in Florida? Number one Joe Biden started his day down here. Most important part of the state for Democrats, the Southeast corner Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Broward County need to run up the vote, especially among senior citizens and Latinos that big.

For the president the biggest thing here is run up the numbers, across the Panhandle Alabama and George up above this part of Florida the northern part of Florida both like the south, a lot Republican votes up here.

Both candidates, rallying here in Tampa in the I-4 corridor, suburbs, independents, Latino voters, critical in a race in Florida these are counties right across here to decide the race. Florida just one glimpse today the battlegrounds; let's pull the map out here.

A handful of other new polls as well that show us depending on your perspective, how this race looks heading into the final days?

[02:35:00]

KING: Here's an interesting number, Joe Biden leading in Ohio. We know he's had in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, if he can also in Ohio game over. Another poll in Pennsylvania, as I noted another new one showing a 7 point Biden leads there.

Iowa, very close Donald Trump carried that 4 years ago, very close now, one point lead there North Carolina, Biden on top 48-45, but still close and as I mentioned that Florida poll with a 3 point lead. So let's take, those switch maps and think about where that leaves us heading into the final days of the campaign in the race the 270.

Right, now Joe Biden is in command. Imagine if those Ohio numbers hold up; if Joe Biden wins Ohio just forget about it, game over especially if you could also add Iowa which is very close. If Joe Biden can sweep the industrial states and make some gains in the Midwest Donald Trump cannot come back.

But let's try it another way instead. Let's assume instead those polls are close like they were in 2016, and Donald Trump does roar back at the end. Takes Iowa, takes Ohio, takes North Carolina, takes Georgia, and takes Florida. That's when it gets interesting, and then Donald Trump is back in place, still behind Joe Biden.

At that point, the biggest place to watch, the stake could decide it all is Pennsylvania. If Trump could get that, then he would be that close, look and make up the difference something to watch, in the final days. VAUSE: And President Trump is taking credit for U.S. economy growing at an unprecedented rate, but these latest numbers do not tell the whole story. The latest report we have, shows the GDP growing at a stunning 33.1 percent annual rate, this past quarter.

But, before that, it declined at an annual rate of 31.4 percent, that's because of the COVID pandemic. It was the steepest downturn, on record. So the U.S. economy is still well below its pre-pandemic peak.

President Trump called the GDP numbers the biggest, the best in the history of the country. Economists say, there could be some real problems, as we move forward. And we go to CNN's Eleni Giokos in Johannesburg with some more perspective on all of this. So yes, everything with Donald Trump is going to yes its half right, but there is always a much bigger picture to what's going on here.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes you've got a look at the contacts, and you have to look it would happen in the 2nd quarter where you rightly say, we had a record decline in GDP growth. So it was inevitable we would see a rise in the 3rd quarter.

And of course, now we need to look at the 4th quarter. Because we are in this new phase, and we have seen the recovery slowing, the momentum has kind of dissipated over the last month. That is of concern and economists say we have to look, under the hood.

Now whether it's the biggest and the best, absolutely if you look at only within isolation in the 3rd quarter, we are seeing really eye- popping growth. Which is fantastic, but are we back to pre-pandemic levels? No, not yet, can we maintain this momentum?

Well, many say that we could see a derailing of the recovery because the stimulus plan is still not in place. Now, why we're American spending a lot more over the 3rd quarter? Why do we see such a huge number?

Well, the stimulus plan that actually most benefits of course expired at the end of July many households have actually created a buffer which lasted 2 months after the benefits had expired. But if we look at the major - John we're looking at initial jobless claims on a weekly basis, yes they have to climb over a couple of months.

We've seen a plateau now and that is the big issue what is to come in the next few months? So economists are really worried about that. And then you are hearing about big companies still announcing job cuts so again consumer facing stocks, facing a lot of pain.

Now the DOW Futures, today, are pointing to a very weak start. DOW Futures are down over 500 points now it's partly because we have seen an increase in volatility, there is always rate - and certainty before your selection and perhaps, now we are seeing a lot more of that as we see a rise in Coronavirus cases.

And another big one is we have the tech giants coming out with the results, after the closing ballots today many of those companies, actually, disappointing on the forecast front. The likes of Apple coming out with numbers that disappointed the market somewhat they're coming under pressure in China, for example.

And again, the forecasts are not good. Alphabet shut the lights out. But I'm looking at Twitter that says its user base is not growing, and that stock is down 18 percent after the closing bell. So volatility, Coronavirus cases, and of course, the uncertainty of your selections is going to be the name of the game, in the next few weeks.

We had 2 months, actually, of negative market reaction. So it will be curious to see what will happen in the next couple of days. John?

VAUSE: Just important to note the numbers came in for France third quarterly economic growth 18.2 percent. Their numbers are up as well, the contraction there wasn't quite as big as - so interesting times Eleni. Thank you Eleni Giokos there in Johannesburg, we'll be right back. You're watching CNN.

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VAUSE: Well, it started as a hurricane is now a surface stream, off the Coast of Portugal. Take a look at the professionals they say try to ride these wild waters waves as high as multi story buildings. Some of the biggest ever recorded, in - the coastal town, world famous, apparently, for its towering tides.

These colossal waves came from former storm Epsilon. There we go, how about that? London is such a gallery patriots navigated - exhibit on wheels but not quite as you would imagine it. The guest used - robots remote controlled with a screen and a camera on wheels.

Now they're driving around - Philip Colbert exhibition called "Lobsteropolis" well, their eyes has looked as a centric as the art itself.

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PHILIP COLBERT, ARTIST OF "LOBSTEROPOLIS": I wanted to stage my exhibition opening using these telepresent robots as almost like a sci-fi vision of a possible future where we do have a telepresent robot which goes out in the world for us so we stay protected at home. I felt that was not an interesting way of genuinely making this more accessible, but also creating a more fantastical vision of the future.

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VAUSE: This technology provides a safe alternative to actually visiting public spaces. It's also means it's a lot more accessible for those who are unable to travel. One attendee, from Monaco, makes that is what you do at Monaco. Thank you for watching CNN Newsroom; I'm John Vause stay with us World Sport after the break.

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