Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is Interviewed About Joe Biden Meeting with Jacob Blake's Family in Kenosha Today; Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden to Visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Meet with Family of Jacob Blake; Iowa Senator Joni Ernst Questions Veracity of Reported Numbers of Deaths Related to COVID-19; New Polling Has Joe Biden Leading President Trump in National and State Polls. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired September 03, 2020 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JESSICA HUSEMAN, REPORTER, PROPUBLICA: Thank you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: NEW DAY continue right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY.

And we begin once again with more than 1,000 Americans dead from coronavirus in just the past 24 hours. That number is just not getting better somehow. This morning, there is confusion over the timeline for a potential vaccine and concern that the Trump administration will put politics over public health by releasing that vaccine before it is deemed safe and effective. The head of NIH says it's unlikely that a vaccine can be ready by October, but the CDC is telling states to prepare to distribute one before Election Day.

To stay safe, Dr. Anthony Fauci is pleading with Americans to be cautious this holiday weekend. Several states in the Midwest still facing a dangerous spike in case.

BERMAN: Today, Joe and Jill Biden will visit Kenosha, Wisconsin. They will meet with Jacob Blake's family, something that President Trump did not do. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Attorney General William Barr says he does not believe systemic racism exists in the United States, but we learn new details overnight of a different case of an unarmed black man dying in the custody of police in Rochester, New York. We have that shocking video.

CAMEROTA: But we begin with the pandemic and hot spots in the Midwest. Joining us now is Dr. John Paschen. He's the chairman of the Story County, Iowa, Board of Health. Doctor, thank you very much for being here. We were really interested to talk to you because of what's happening in Iowa. So cases are spiking there. They're going up. We have this one graph that shows the seven-day moving average and you see a very steep spike during it. And so explain what's going on with your governor, Kim Reynolds, and why there's no mask mandate, why so many businesses, restaurants, are staying open?

DR. JOHN PASCHEN, CHAIRMAN, STORY COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH: It's a very good question. Governor Reynolds has declared a statewide emergency with COVID-19 early in the course of this disease process. As a result, with her emergency declaration, she basically -- we cannot locally do anything else besides what she tells us. In other words, if she tells us the bars stay open, we cannot close the bars.

Governor Reynolds has also said publicly that wearing a facemask is a good idea and it will help stem the tide of COVID-19. But she also has stated that she wants -- that she feels that Iowans will do the right thing. Well, if you go into any local convenience store in Iowa, especially out of the cities, you'll know what she is saying is not right. We need a facemask ordinance throughout Iowa, and at the very least, if Governor Reynolds doesn't have the strength to do a facemask ordinance, she should let up on some of her emergency powers and allow our local communities to do it.

BERMAN: It's one thing -- we have seen this in other states, too. It's one thing to not issue a statewide order, but not to allow localities do it themselves, it's astounding. Also astounding, I have to say, Doctor, I could not believe that Iowa state was going to allow 25,000 fans in the stadium in their game in two weeks until yesterday. Now, they changed their mind yesterday, or they reversed course yesterday. But to me, the fact that until yesterday with this huge spike in cases and a positivity rate that's through the roof, I couldn't believe that it was even being considered. What does that tell you?

PASCHEN: Well, you're speaking to the choir there about that. Iowa state in their defense is doing a lot to try to stem the tide of COVID-19 at university and in our community of Ames and Story County. But to be quite honest, they have been a little slow on the uptake of recommendations that have been given to them. The Story County Board of Health put out recommendations for helping stem the tide of COVID- 19 in our county and our communities. We did this in June. At this time, Iowa state is now following everything we recommended. And while they didn't do it initially, they are doing it now. So I congratulate them for that.

CAMEROTA: Doctor, I want to ask you about something that Senator Joni Ernst has been talking about. She doesn't seem to believe that she can trust the death rates in Iowa. Here's what she says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JONI ERNST, (R-IA): I can't actually look at that information, but I have heard it from the health care providers that they do get reimbursed higher amounts if it's a COVID related illness or death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:04] CAMEROTA: She's basically suggesting that if doctors call it a death from COVID, somehow the hospital gets more money. What are your thoughts on that?

PASCHEN: This is an insulting statement that she made. There is absolutely no truth to it. First of all, we do not get paid more based on what someone died for, nor do we get paid more based on the actual diagnosis. There's absolutely no truth to that statement, and it's insulting. It's insulting to the men and women who work every day with sick patients with COVID-19 and put their life on the line. That type of statement just enrages me.

BERMAN: Yes, really, there are two parts to it. Number one, it's buying into the QAnon theory that 185,000 people who have died from coronavirus haven't died from coronavirus. The other part of it is saying that health care workers are lying, that people who are risking their lives are lying.

PASCHEN: How can she say something like that in public? I don't understand.

ROBERTS: Dr. John Paschen, we appreciate you being with us. We hope you stay safe, stay healthy. Thank you for the work you're doing.

PASCHEN: OK, thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: John, do you have anything you'd like to talk about right now?

BERMAN: Basically, what you're suggesting is we don't know where we're going next?

CAMEROTA: No. But I see the floor crew running around frantically, pointing in different areas. OK, here we go. Instead of focusing on the pandemic, President Trump is encouraging people to commit voter fraud. He told people in North Carolina to vote twice, once by mail and once in person just to test the system, which, of course, is illegal.

BERMAN: I'm glad this is where you decided to go next.

CAMEROTA: That is where I decided to go.

Joining us now is CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod. He's a former senior adviser to President Obama and his campaign. Hi, David. You're in good hands. Don't worry. We're got this all figured out.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, so much fun to be part -- so much fun to be part of live TV here and see how it all happens.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: I hope it all happens. Everything is completely under control here. (LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Yes, don't worry about it.

President Trump likes absentee voting. He does it himself. He likes when he does it, he likes when his family does it. He likes when Florida does it. He draws a distinction between absentee and mail-in ballots. Those, which follow the same form, he doesn't trust at all, and he doesn't seem to understand that there's a bar code by which the election officials track these things. It's like he thinks somebody just writes a note and mails it in to election headquarters, and how could that ever work? States have been doing this for years. They are not seeing an increase in voter fraud, but somehow he's not gotten that memo.

AXELROD: Yes. Let me take you back a few years. Remember the president was very resistant to the notion that he lost the popular vote in 2016, and he impaneled a commission headed by Secretary Kobach of Kansas, Secretary of State Kobach, to ferret out the voter fraud that occurred in 2016. Tens of millions of people voted by mail in 2016. They found no evidence of vote fraud in 2016. The panel disbanded with -- they rolled out a cannon and a flag came out and it said pop, and they had no evidence.

So, this is just -- you guys talked about it in the last half-hour. The president wants to discredit this process, and he is setting it up that way. And it is unconscionable to promote the theory that fraudulent voting is going to happen en masse. And it was really shocking to see the attorney general of the United States say yesterday he didn't know whether it was a crime to vote twice in his interview with Wolf. And he said, I have to look into what state laws say. The whole thing is just -- it is surreal. But this is where we are.

And the president sees some advantage in discouraging people from voting by mail. A lot of his voters are following his advice, and more Democrats are saying they're going to vote by mail, which raises concerns for the Biden campaign, not about fraud, but about just the handling of ballots and whether they'll get there in time and so on. So, the president is trying to muck up the situation, and he's doing a pretty good job of it.

BERMAN: Deliberately. Deliberately so, which is why I think we need to be so careful about laying out what the facts are and having these discussions.

David, "poll-apalooza" is what Alisyn likes to call it yesterday.

CAMEROTA: It sounds fun.

BERMAN: We had 10,000 polls out yesterday, the most important, of course, the only first post-convention CNN poll which shows an eight- point margin in the race. There were some state polls out, some battleground state polls which showed Biden up in Arizona, in North Carolina, and Wisconsin as well. One poll from Pennsylvania shows it to be a close race. [08:10:03]

What does this tell you -- again, polls are not predictive. Polls tell you where the race is right now. But we had these two giant conventions. What happened after the conventions?

AXELROD: Well, very little in terms of the structure of the race. Biden, I think, he strengthened his core support a little bit more than the president did, perhaps. But the margin is very much the same as what it was before those conventions, and that's bad news for the president.

It's not surprising, by the way, you guys, because we are a very, very polarized country by party. In the CNN poll, I think only 13 percent said they were still considering their vote, 87 percent said they already had made their decision and they weren't going to change their minds. So it's not that surprising. But it's settled in in a place that's bad place for an incumbent president to be coming around Labor Day. He's in the worst shape that any president has been in since George H. W. Bush back in 1992, and we all remember he lost that election.

And I think underneath in the numbers in the CNN poll, there was one that I thought was pretty telling, which was who will do a better job of keeping Americans safe from harm. You know the president has tried to shift his campaign entirely to this issue of crime and anarchy and has really whipped up a frenzy about that, or tried to. In this poll, 51 percent said Biden will keep Americans safe from harm and Trump got 45 percent. That's a bad number. And there was another -- there was a Quinnipiac poll that 50 percent of likely voters say having Donald Trump as president of the United States makes them feel less safe while only 35 percent say it makes them feel more safe, whereas a plurality they feel that Biden would keep them safe.

I think this is largely a reflection of the fact that even though he wants to change the subject, COVID-19 is the one that's on people's minds, and he has been judged to have done a very poor job on that. So he wants to change the subject. It's not particularly working. Suburban women continue to vote against him in these polls. They're a clear target of this campaign that he's running right now around the issue of anarchy in the streets and so on.

So there's a lot of bad news here for the president. It doesn't mean he can't win. We've still got a ways to go before the election. We've got three debates coming up. But structurally this looks like a very tough slog for him if he -- if he is going to win reelection.

CAMEROTA: Just one more point on those issues that you just touched on, David. Worries about your community was how the CNN poll phrased it, and it turns out the respondents can keep a lot of that in their heads simultaneously. So they are simultaneously worried about the coronavirus and the economy and racism and the risk of crime. It's all a worry, and it shows -- but in terms of who people think can do -- well, this is just how worried you are, Biden voters versus Trump voters. And that's just interesting because it seems as though what the president has been ginning up in terms of cities, unrest, inflamed, that is just leading to the general feeling of uncertainty and worry. And I don't know if you think that's good for an incumbent.

AXELROD: Well, he obviously has a problem in that he is the president of the United States. He is the man in charge. And he is describing a dystopic portrait of America on his watch. And, you know, that is a very, very mixed message. And it may be that people are having a hard time sorting that out.

I will say, Alisyn, that in many of these polls, crime -- the crime question is asked. It does not rise nearly to the level of the coronavirus, of race relations, of the economy in people's list of concerns. So he's trying to shift the election to an issue that is of lower concern to Americans than the three that have occupied us for the last six months. And so there are things you can't spin, and the president may be running up against that reality right now.

BERMAN: David Axelrod, we appreciate you being with us this morning. We appreciate you raising our game here and putting us back on track. Thank you.

AXELROD: Thanks, good to see you.

BERMAN: So --

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: It's not hard. It's really not hard to raise the bar here, basically, with our intro to him.

BERMAN: All right, in just hours, Joe Biden heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin. What do people there want to hear from the Democratic nominee? We're going to speak to the senator from Wisconsin next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:18:20]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin, in just hours. He will meet with the family of Jacob Blake who was shot in the back seven times at close range by the police. President Trump did not meet the family when he was there days ago.

Joining me now is Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. She, of course, has endorsed Joe Biden for president.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us on NEW DAY.

What do you want out of this visit today from the vice president?

SEN, TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI): Well, I can tell you from my visit to Kenosha yesterday that the community has been through so much. You know, not only was Jacob Blake shot seven times in the back in front of his children and now is paralyzed, but the community has seen a destruction in their small businesses. And then, last Tuesday, a self- proclaimed vigilante, 17 years old, shot three people, killing two of them. That's a lot. That's a real lot. And when President Trump came, he really stoked division. President Bi

-- or future President Biden, if you will, Vice President Biden is coming today and he is no stranger to personal loss and tragedy. He is going to bring a message of unity. He'll listen and he has plans to follow-up, not only follow-up by passing the George Floyd Policing and Justice Act of 2020, but following up on the other things that Wisconsinites care so deeply about, fighting this pandemic, bringing our economy back and fighting systemic racism.

BERMAN: Look, the governor of Wisconsin, as well as local leaders didn't want President Trump to come. I guess they feel differently about Joe Biden.

Why is it okay for one presidential candidate and not the other?

BALDWIN: Look, it's about helping a community begin to heal, and everyone I spoke with yesterday believes that they need to do that in a unified fashion and they don't need anyone sowing division. Not even acknowledging what that community has just been through.

I said, you know, seven -- seven shots in the back for Jacob Blake with his children watching, destruction of small businesses and this vigilante shooting three people in Kenosha, they need to come together. Healing and grieving is a process. Rebuilding is a process.

And we didn't need somebody stoking divisions. What we need is leaders -- leaders seeking unity.

BERMAN: I want to play some sound from the attorney general of the United States yesterday. Look, we talk to people involved in the investigation in Wisconsin all the time here at CNN and they will not give us details until the investigation is complete.

BALDWIN: Right.

BERMAN: I guess the attorney general of the United States feels differently. So listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm not going to talk about Blake, the Blake case.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM: Why not?

BARR: Because I think it's different than the Floyd case.

BLITZER: What's different?

BARR: Well, Floyd was already subdued, incapacitated, in handcuffs and he was not armed. In the -- in the Jacob case, he was in the midst of committing a felony and he was armed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: OK. He was armed. Now, we should say the family denies that. More importantly, Wisconsin

officials won't tell us what they believe on that matter until the investigation is complete.

So what's the impact of the attorney general just flat out saying it?

BALDWIN: Again, it stokes division and it weaponizes misinformation or information that hasn't been confirmed, and it leads people to dig in their heels and take sides.

Wisconsin has a law that provides for an independent investigation whenever there's a police-involved shooting or somebody loses a life because of that. I saw the video. Wisconsinites, Kenoshans saw that video.

It is shocking. It's got to be terrifying for so many, certainly it was for me. And, look, close range, the officer was holding Jacob Blake's shirt. Seven shots to the back in front of his children. You know, the independent investigation is going to draw its conclusions.

What I saw was terrifying and looked like excessive force to me.

BERMAN: You said the independent investigation is going to draw its conclusions. The former Vice President Joe Biden was asked yesterday whether he thought there should be charges.

Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think we should let the judicial system work its way. I do think there's a minimum need to be charged, the officers.

(END VDIEO CLIP)

BERMAN: There's a minimum need to be charged, the officers. Well, how does that jibe with him saying that he thinks the investigation needs to be completed?

BALDWIN: Look, when you have a video that shows the world frankly what happened, it's hard not to have your own opinion. As I said, it was terrifying. People in Kenosha are terrified after seeing that and after all of the other things they're dealing with.

And again, it looked like excessive force to me. But I don't have all of the facts that the investigators do. So, yes, the system, the law in Wisconsin needs to be played out. There's a reason why we have an investigator or an investigative unit that isn't the police force of Kenosha or wherever the officer involved shooting is, and that's important.

BERMAN: Senator, I know you have been to Kenosha, and I just want to leave with this. How are they doing? How is Kenosha doing this morning? BALDWIN: Well, everyone that I spoke with yesterday to a person was

certainly in deep pain, but already actively involved in not only the healing process, but also strategizing about how to bring change.

And I want to say that's one of the important things about Joe Biden's visit is that not only does he have this great empathy and personal experience with loss and tragedy, but he has plans to address the issues that this president has -- has flaunted.

I mean, we have the House of Representatives passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, over two months ago. And the Senate has not brought it up for a vote. Mitch McConnell hasn't and President Trump has said he opposed it. This is has got to stop.

BERMAN: Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, we do appreciate you being with us this morning. Our best to the people of Wisconsin, thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

BERMAN: So, this morning the CDC is telling states to get ready for a coronavirus vaccine to come perhaps right before Election Day. So is this about science? Is this about politics?

White House adviser Peter Navarro who has been in the middle of the news for a bunch of reasons in the last couple of days joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)