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McAuliffe, Youngkin Make Final Pitch to Voters in Tight Race; CNN's Rene Marsh Honors Her Son's Cancer Battle in New Book; Biden Addresses World Leaders on Global Climate Crisis. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 01, 2021 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:11]

ERICA HILL, CNN NEWSROOM: Joining us now for more on this, Dr. Tanya Altmann, pediatrician, spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Great to have you with us this morning.

So, in terms of what we learn from Moderna, that the FDA says it wants a little bit more time to look at the data here as they look for that emergency use authorization for 12 to 17-year-olds, should we read anything into that or is this the process working?

DR. TANYA ALTMANN, PEDIATRICIAN: Well, thank you, Erica. And I think you're exactly right there. This just shows how thorough the process is for vaccines to get the EUA for our kids. Even when last week, when the FDA advisory group met to discuss the Pfizer data, they discussed and debated all day long and they modeled out any potential side effects versus the risk that we are seeing when kids do get COVID-19. I mean, this is not a mild infection despite what everybody thinks. We are seeing kids with much more serious illness.

And so I think this is a good sign that the FDA is saying, hold on, let's take a little longer look at this data before we make a decision. And it's important to note that we have a safe and effective vaccine, 91 percent effective, that did get the FDA EUA last week, and the CDC is going to be meeting today to discuss, and then if Dr. Walensky gives the go ahead, pediatricians and pharmacies across the country are ready to give this vaccine later this week to the 5 to 11 age group.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: Dr. Altmann, public polling shows that about a third of parents are willing to go right away with this, about a third are in the wait-and-see category, which you often hear, I just want to wait and see. I'm sure you have lots of conversations with moms and dads about this as they consider this for their children. And I'm curious what you tell them, what advice you give them when they say, well, hey, I just want to see how it pans out elsewhere?

ALTMANN: So, you're right. This is a question that I am discussing with families all day long, both in my office, and even they grab me on the soccer field when there I'm with my six-year-old and say, what do you think? I had two teen boys that received the Pfizer vaccine and my youngest is 6. And so I am waiting to give him the vaccine. So, what I usually first do is ask them what their questions and concerns are. And I feel like many of them feel that this vaccine is new. And I understand why they feel that way. But the technology has been around for decades.

And we know based on recent data that only 43 percent of kids in this age group have natural infection. And the CDC released a large study last week that showed that the antibodies from natural infection are not as good as antibodies from the vaccine. And people that had COVID in the past were still -- sorry, if you were vaccinated in the past, you were six times less likely to test positive for COVID than if you had natural infection and 11 times less likely to die.

So, I think this is very important that even if your child had COVID- 19 in the past, it is still important to get them vaccinated.

HILL: What else should we take into account as parents? So, there was so much talk. A number of businesses said, we're going to give you a day off after your shot just in case you have some sort of reaction. How should we as parents be building that in as we're scheduling, hopefully scheduling that first dose for our children? Should we do it, for example, Friday afternoon so they have the weekend in case?

ALTMANN: So, that's another great question, something to think about. In terms of scheduling all vaccines, so we know with any vaccine and also the Pfizer COVID-19 for kids, there is a chance for some mild side effects. So, kids may have a sore arm, be a little fatigued. We're actually seeing less fever in the kids than we did in the teenagers and adults. It's a third of the dose. I do think we are going to see fewer side effects. But if that's something that you're concerned about, if your child is not feeling well and can't attend school, even though we know this is an illness with the vaccine, then consider Friday afternoon.

With the timing of the vaccine, it actually looks like we're going to start giving it Thursday and Friday afternoon this week in our country, so that will give the kids the weekend to rest if they need to. And I think parents always take this into consideration thinking about when should they make an appointment at their pediatrician's office or for any vaccine.

SCIUTTO: It's good advice. A lot of folks will be going through this this weekend. And it's a big week, right? Perhaps by Wednesday, 5 to 11-year-olds can take advantage of this vaccine. Dr. Tanya Altmann, thanks so much.

ALTMANN: Thank you for having me.

HILL: One tangible fallout we're seeing from the 2020 election, there are more poll watchers on Election Day. Is that a good thing? We'll discuss that next.

But, first, a lot going on on this Monday. Here's a look at what else to watch today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:35:00]

HILL: Less than 24 hours now before polls open in Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin making their final pitches as Virginia voters prepare to decide the state's next governor.

[10:40:07]

SCIUTTO: Right now, the latest public polling shows the two running neck and neck with many believing the race could be, like many other races, a preview for next year's midterm.

CNN Washington Correspondent Sunlen Serfaty, she is in Arlington, Virginia this morning. Sunlen, McAuliffe's strategy here, to some degree, has been associating Youngkin with former President Trump. Now, Trump himself just put out a statement that the McAuliffe camp might welcome.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Jim. And the Donald Trump factor has already loomed very large in this race. And today, no exception, certainly notable that this morning, the former president came out with another statement in support of Republican Glenn Youngkin, someone who, as a candidate, has really tried to distance himself from Donald Trump but while keeping him at arm's length.

Now, not only did the former president released a statement this morning in support of him but he's anticipated to appear at a tele- rally this evening on behalf of Youngkin. But over the weekend, Youngkin emphasizing that he took no part in planning the event, he does not plan to participate the event.

But, certainly, as you noted, this has all just played into Democrat Terry McAuliffe's hand, his strategy trying to cast Youngkin as somewhat of a proxy of Donald Trump, and here's how he responded over the weekend, really trying to capitalize on the former president's late in the game involvement in this race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), CANDIDATE FOR VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: Tomorrow, we're going to have a little teleconference. I guess Donald Trump is finally going to visit here. So, Trump wants to win here so he can announce for president for 2024. That's the stakes of this election. He's trying to get himself off the map. He wants to win here Tuesday, and Wednesday, Donald Trump announces he's running in 2024. Are we going to allow that to go on here?

CROWD: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now, early in-person voting for Virginia finished over the weekend, so right now, the focus for both candidates in the last 24 hours is really driving towards that in-person vote tomorrow, really trying to drive out to people to get to the polls. They have eight events between the two candidates today, really crisscrossing the commonwealth of Virginia, an extremely tight race, of course, Jim, a race that has very notable national significance for both parties going forward. Jim?

SCIUTTO: No question. Sunlen Serfaty in Arlington, thanks very much.

A trend playing out in Virginia that we may also see across the country, next year's midterms, it's a major uptick in the number of poll watchers, as they're known, most of them are Republicans at voting locations.

Joining me now is the Fairfax County, Virginia General Registrar Scott Konopasek. Scott, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

SCOTT KONOPASEK, GENERAL REGISTRAR FOR FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA: My pleasure.

SCIUTTO: So, in some of the numbers here, Republicans taking part as poll watchers outnumber Democrats two to one. Is it your sense that Trump's continuing big lie is pushing this, in effect, that people are going because they say, oh, something fishy is going on with the polls here and, by the way, the last election was stolen?

KONOPASEK: Right. I believe there's a direct line between the president's big lie and the motivation and the number of people who are participating as poll watchers this year. A lot of people have been seduced by that notion, and they are sincere people who are committed in their mind to make sure it doesn't happen again, which really adds a level of energy and sometimes aggression in our interactions with them than what I've ever had in 25 years in dealing with poll watchers.

SCIUTTO: You know, I wonder, there are certain phases where they become poll intimidators, right, as opposed so much to poll watchers. Are you, in your experience, concerned that some might threaten, intimidate while the voting is going on and later when the votes are counted?

KONOPASEK: Over the last few days of early voting, we saw increased aggressive contact with voters, not by people who are there in the capacity of observers but people who are there on behalf of campaigns outside their polling places before people walk in. I expect that to continue to be at a high level.

But there's a new aspect of poll watching this time that really doesn't come up very often, is most of our back-office operations counting ballots, canvassing, doing those testing of equipment, those mundane things, are also, you know, public -- open to the public. And we have had for the last six months representatives from the Republican Party at every major operation preparation that we've done for the election.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And, listen, at the same time, the former president continues to claim based on nothing that the election was stolen.

[10:45:00]

The Republican candidate in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, has called for an audit of Virginia voting machines. I just wonder, I mean, you have different categories of statements here. You have the former president making outright unfounded lies, but then you have this sort of middle ground saying, yes, we've got to be sure about integrity here, we have got to do an audit. Does that contribute to the overall sense, which as you say, has seduced a lot of people, that there's something amiss here, right, that folks like you are cheating them out of their votes?

KONOPASEK: Right. So, I think those who give a wink-wink, nod-nod, to, yes, we need to make sure that we have (INAUDIBLE) are really doing this country a great disservice.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes. I hear you. I wonder -- listen, it's not just something that's uncomfortable for people like you, because people like you have become the targets, sometimes of threats around the country. CNN has done a lot of stories about this. We've talked to people in that category. Are you concerned that you've become a target based on these lies?

KONOPASEK: Absolutely. Actually, just this morning, I received about three dozen very personal attacking, trolling emails accusing me pre- election of fraud and even making specific allegations of what the fraud would be. That's the kind of language that we heard after last November's election, but I haven't heard specific allegations and threats to this degree prior to an election before.

SCIUTTO: Goodness. Do you -- listen, those threats are things that sometimes sadly can turn into actual danger. What do you do when you get threats like that? Do you have channels to report that to police or others if they continue or they're made attached to any sort of threat of violence?

KONOPASEK: Sure. Actually, just a half an hour ago, I was on a daily coordination call with the Fairfax County police liaison and a couple of police commanders. We've been in contact and coordinated with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.

I'm a former military guy, and I just do my job and I don't let the threats or the potential danger get in the way. But it's unfortunate that I can draw comparisons to my current experience to my combat experience when I was in the army.

SCIUTTO: Goodness. You're saying that sort of -- it feels like a similar threat to some degree?

KONOPASEK: Yes. The uncertainty, the fear for your safety, do you change what you do, or do you do what you're trained and been prepared to do? Do you execute the plan of the election that has been prepared with your team as being implemented? Or do you respond out of some kind of fear to the noise and things that are going on around? So that's kind of the comparison that I'm making, is that, you know, you still have to do your duty.

SCIUTTO: Well, Scott, personally, I'm glad you're still doing your duty, and I'm sure folks at home can appreciate the system is built on honest civil servants like yourself just doing their best. I'm sorry you have got to go through what you're going through, but more power to you. And thanks for joining us.

KONOPASEK: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, be sure to join CNN tomorrow for election night in America, special live coverage starts 6:00 P.M. Eastern Time right here on CNN.

HILL: Such a sobering interview there, but so important to hear from people like Scott and what they are still facing at this point.

Meantime, President Biden expected to speak at the Global Climate Summit in Glasgow any moment now. We're going to bring you those remarks live.

Stay with us. We'll take a quick break just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

HILL: We want to take a moment now to share some personal news about our colleague, Rene Marsh. In April, she and her husband lost their beautiful son, Blake, to brain cancer. So, to honor him and to raise much-needed incredibly important funds for cancer research, pediatric cancer research, Rene wrote a children's book. It's called the Miracle Workers, Boy Versus Beast.

SCIUTTO: Look at that little guy. Well, the book comes out today. It is meaningfully about a little boy named Blake who needs a miracle to help him fight off a monster of a problem. Rene spoke to Brianna Keilar on New Day this morning about how she started writing at really a low point when Blake was on life support after a bad reaction to chemotherapy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: My little Blake is not here today, but after that stint on life support, we did have him for another year, and those are some of the most precious memories that I have today.

The greater mission of this book is to raise funds for pediatric brain cancer, specifically right now. We are focused on raising money for research for pineal blastoma, which the type of cancer that Blake had. We learned very quickly there is no research. And so what that means is there is no cure. And so that means that Blake was probably never going to survive from the day we received that diagnosis.

It hurts my heart today to know that as I speak to you, there are other children with this disease.

[10:55:02]

Sadly, because there is no research and no funding or not enough funding behind it, their fate may look a lot like Blake. And I can tell you, I don't want that for any mom and I don't want that for any dad. I want that child to be able to go to kindergarten, go to high school, go to college, get married. And I hope that when people get this book, they will be inspired by the message but also have comfort in their heart to know that they are helping other children in the hospital with cancer right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: You can join that fight. You can buy Rene's book at renemarsh.com. You'll also find more information there about how these proceeds are being used. It's a beautiful book about the power of hope.

SCIUTTO: President Biden is speaking now. Let's listen in.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's simple. Will we act? Will we do what is necessary? Will we seize the enormous opportunity before us or will we condemn future generations to suffer?

This is the decade that will determine the -- we only have a brief window left before us to raise our ambitions and to raise to meet the task that's rapidly narrowing.

This is a decisive decade in which we have an opportunity to prove ourselves. We can keep the goal of limiting global warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius, within our reach, if we come together, if we commit to doing our part of each of our nations with determination and with ambition. That's what COP26 is all about. Glasgow must be the kickoff of a decade of ambition and innovation to preserve our shared future.

Climate change is already ravaging the world. We've heard from many speakers. It's not a hypothetical threat. It's destroying people's lives and livelihoods and doing it every single day. It's costing our nations trillions of dollars. Record heat and drought fueling more widespread and more intense wildfires, in some places crop failures and others, record flooding and what used to be a once in a century storms are now happening every few years.

In the past few months, the United States has experienced all of this, and every region of the world can tell similar stories. And in an age where this pandemic has made so painfully clear that no nation can wall itself off from borderless threats, we know that none of us can escape the worse that's yet to come if we fail to seize this moment.

But ladies and gentlemen, within the growing catastrophe, I believe there's an incredible opportunity not just for the United States but for all of us. We're standing at an inflection point in world history. We have the ability to invest in ourselves and build an equitable clean energy future and in the process create millions of good paying jobs and opportunities around the world, cleaner air for our children, more bountiful oceans, healthier forests and ecosystems for our planet.

We can create an environment that raises the standard of living around the world, and this is a moral imperative but it's also an economic imperative. If we fuel greater growth, new jobs, better opportunities for all our people, and as we see current volatility in energy prices rather than cast it as a reason to back off our clean energy goals, we must view it as a call to action.

High energy prices only reinforce the urgent need to diversify sources, double down on clean energy development and adapt promising new clean energy technology so we cannot only remain overly reliant on one source of power to power our economies and our communities.

It's in the self-interest of every single nation. And this is a chance in my view to make a generational investment in our economic resilience and in our workers and our communities throughout the world. That's what we're going to do in the United States. My Build Back Better framework will make historic investments in clean energy, the most significant investment to deal with the climate crisis than any advanced nation has made ever. We're going to cult U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by well over a gigaton by 2030 while making it more affordable for consumers to save on their own energy bills with tax credits --