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Final Push For Both Biden And Trump In Battleground States; GOP Challenge In Texas Rejected By Federal Judge; Cities And Businesses Anticipate Possible Unrest; Now: Biden Making Final Push In Pennsylvania; Obama Making Final Push For Biden In Battleground Florida. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 02, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: It starts at 4:00 p.m. eastern. Our coverage on CNN meanwhile continues right now as we head into election eve. Stay with us. I'll see you tomorrow at 4:00.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We are following breaking news.

President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden fighting down to the wire for votes in these final hours before Election Day. There are focused key battleground states. Right now, the president is making his final push in Michigan where he'll be speaking at a rally shortly.

We also expect to hear from Joe Biden this hour. He is holding a drive-in rally in Pittsburgh as he makes his final push in Pennsylvania. And he is getting a major boost from his old boss. The former president Barack Obama will be campaigning for Biden in Florida tonight. We will have live coverage of all of that.

Now, it's up to the voters to decide how this election will turn out and how the candidates will make their way to the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.

As of tonight, a record setting -- get this -- -- 96 million early ballots have already been cast. That is 70 percent of all ballots cast in the 2016 election. And there is more breaking election news.

A critical decision just out in Texas where a federal judge has rejected a Republican bid to throw out 127,000 drive-thru votes. We are getting the latest from inside the campaigns. We have our reporters in battlefield states across the country covering this election as only CNN can.

Let's check in with M.J. Lee in Pittsburgh right now. She's working that part of the story for us. M.J., the Biden campaign clearly views Pennsylvania -- Pennsylvania -- Pennsylvania as a critical win for them.

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Wolf. They could not be more clear in these final hours how important Pennsylvania is. I think we are seeing pictures now of Joe Biden with Lady Gaga. They are going to end tonight with actually campaign rally together here in Pittsburgh.

And we should be hearing him in just a few minutes speak at another drive-in rally in Pittsburgh behind me. This is going to be an event geared towards the African-American community. We saw him campaign all day yesterday in the Philadelphia area.

And the campaign just announced that tomorrow, on actual Election Day, he is going to be visiting Scranton and also going back to Philadelphia. So again, just a critical, critical state for Joe Biden.

And earlier today, as he made this final push in this state, we saw him reference his working class roots and he tried to paint President Trump as being somebody who is out of touch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Too many people are worried. I've never forgotten growing up in a hardworking family in Scranton. I never -- the lesson that Donald Trump has never learned, because he can only see the world from Park Avenue. He can't see what family like yours and mine have gone through. So he refuses to do the work to get this virus under control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: As important as Pennsylvania is for the Biden campaign, they say that they are feeling really good heading into tomorrow because they feel like they have multiple pathways of getting to the 270 electoral votes. This is why, Wolf, we saw Biden actually start today in Cleveland, Ohio.

His advisers believing the polls are just too close for him not to try to make that final push. It is also why we saw President Obama campaigning in Georgia and Florida today. It is also why the Biden campaign has been pouring resources into a state like Texas.

Any one of these states that I just mentioned, if the Biden campaign can pick those up on election night, they feel like it makes it just that much harder for President Trump to have a path to 270, Wolf.

BLITZER: We know the vice president, Biden, is going to be speaking later this hour in Pittsburgh at an event, but tell us about the event he had with Lady Gaga.

LEE: Well, he is going to be having an event to really cap off his day. This is going to be his final event on election night eve that is going to be bringing some star power. I should also note, you know, somebody like John Legend is going to be campaigning with Kamala Harris when she has her final event of the evening.

So this is where we are really seeing sort of that final push coming from the different campaigns and, of course, for the Biden campaign, this has involved a lot of high profile surrogates. To celebrities, we saw Stevie Wonder campaigning for Joe Biden earlier this week. So this is where they are making that final push and they are hoping

that these kinds of appearances from people that, you know, celebrities and people and surrogates that people recognize will help them get people to turn out. This is a mistake that they believe they learned from 2016 that that their base that they wanted to turn out didn't turn out to the levels that they had hoped, Wolf.

[17:04:57]

BLITZER: Yes. Let's not forget Jon Bon Jovi. He had Jon Bon Jovi as well. Lots of celebrities out there trying to help them. M.J. Lee, we'll get back to you. Thank you very much.

Let's check in how the Trump campaign is doing right now. Our chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta is in Michigan where the president will be speaking soon. We'll have coverage of that. On the eve of this election, Jim, what is the closing message we're hearing right now from President Trump?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. It's not even Election Day and President Trump is threatening legal action in order to get his way in his race against Joe Biden at a rally in Biden's childhood hometown of Scranton.

The president warned the governor of Pennsylvania that he will have unnamed forces watching on election night as the votes are being counted in the state and other critical battlegrounds. The president and his campaign are unhappy with court decisions, allowing officials in Pennsylvania to count mail-in ballots after Election Day.

Mr. Trump is suggesting the situation in Pennsylvania could become "dangerous" as he is offering up the ugliest closing message from any presidential candidate in modern times. Here is more of what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And when the Supreme Court gave you an extension, they made a very dangerous situation and I mean dangerous, physically dangerous, and they made it a very, very bad -- they did a very bad thing for this state. They did a very bad thing for this nation.

You have to have a date. You can't extend dates. The danger that could be caused by that extension and especially when you know what goes on in Philadelphia and it's been going on for years.

So, governor, open up your state and please don't cheat, governor. Please don't cheat because we are all watching. We are all watching you, governor. We have a lot of eyes on the governor and his friends. A couple of other governors out there too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, the president is using these raucous rallies to whip up his crowds in the hopes that they will head off to the voting booths on Election Day. Mr. Trump has directed attacks.

In the meantime, all day long, adversaries both real and imagined from the news media, to immigrants and from superstar Lady Gaga, yes, Lady Gaga that you were just mentioning a few moments ago, to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The president is hinting he may fire Fauci after the election. Fauci had no comment on that. And the president will wrap up his campaign with a rally here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We can already see the crowds starting to line up behind us, Wolf.

That's going to happen around midnight. That is where the president ended his campaign, as we all know, four years ago so they are hoping that this part of Michigan is something of a good luck charm as the president is trailing Joe Biden in the polls, Wolf.

BLITZER: What are you learning about expectations, Jim, from inside the Trump campaign right now?

ACOSTA: Well, certainly, Wolf, if you talk to people inside the campaign, they are expressing some optimism, some confidence that the president can pull this off again. There is a lot of pessimism inside the campaign four years ago and then Mr. Trump, of course, shocked the world by beating Hillary Clinton.

But I've talked to a number of advisers who are close to the president and the White House and they are noting that Mr. Trump is farther behind in the polls than he was back in 2016.

The question is whether the excitement generated at these rallies that we have seeing over the last several days, whether or not that will be enough to close the gap this time around, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Jim Acosta in Grand Rapids, Michigan for us. Jim, thank you very much. Let's get some more on all of this. Joining us now our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, and CNN's senior political analyst, David Gergen.

Gloria, in these final hours before Election Day, we can't overstate the magnitude of this moment. At this hour, both candidates have a path to victory, don't they?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: They have a path to victory. The question is how either one of them is going to get there. Wolf, we have an energized electorate like I don't think I've ever seen in my lifetime.

As you pointed out earlier, in the pre-election voting, you have two- thirds of the number of voters that had voted in the 2016 election. So, you can see how that number is going to increase. You have an incredibly polarized electorate.

You have crisis. You have the pandemic. You have the economy. You have race relations. Everything seems to be on the line here. And you have two candidates who could not be more polar opposite. You have one talking about unity, saying I'll be the president of all

America, and you have another president stoking divisions inside this country.

And you also have a current president of the United States who is already saying before the votes have all been cast and counted that this election is going to be rigged should he lose. Put that altogether and it's like nothing we have ever seen.

BLITZER: You know, Nia, the race has been remarkably sort of stable with Joe Biden maintaining a lead in the polls throughout. But we know that both campaigns are very, very nervous tonight understandably so because anything can still happen tomorrow, can it?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: They very much know that anything could happen because they lived through 2016. If you're a Democrat, you're afraid of these polls and it consistently shown Biden in a lead in these swing states, big states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, sometimes in Florida, sometime in Arizona too.

[17:10:04]

You look at those polls and you don't quite believe them if you're a Democrat. And listen, if you are the in Trump campaign, you are privately nervous, but you are publicly very confident. And I talked to some of those folks earlier last week and they are quite confident that he has a path to victory.

He pulled it off last go around on the strength of those white working class voters in the rust belt states and they feel like these rallies are big GOTV events, motivators for those folks who are not only in those crowds, but people who are watching on TV and seeing some of the social media activity around those big events.

But listen, the campaigns are nervous as well. Voters are nervous as well. There is a sense of urgency around this campaign. I think Gloria is exactly right. We haven't seen anything like this in our lifetimes. I covered both Obama campaigns.

But the sense of urgency and fear and anxiety around this campaign and this election, it's like something we have never seen, voters out there standing in line some, obviously, already voted and we will see what happens tomorrow because both campaigns are banking on in-person voting that they haven't seen so far.

Particularly, I think, if you're a Democrat, you've been worried that African-American voters haven't been present in the numbers in some of these early mail-in voting and you're hoping that tomorrow you'll see big presence of African-Americans in some of these lines in the swing states.

And, obviously, the Trump campaign hoping that their voters will have an explosive turnout on Election Day as well.

BLITZER: Yes. And some of these battleground states, that could be the difference between winning and losing. You know, David, a federal judge now says nearly 127,000 ballots that were cast via these drive- thru locations in Texas can, in fact, be counted.

Republicans have led the challenge to invalidate all of these ballots, but it's really important to recognize this is a win for voters in Texas regardless of party, isn't it?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Absolutely. And there have been a couple of other court victories by people who are trying to keep the voting open, trying to fight against those who suppressed the vote.

And actually, I think it's wise for the Democrats to be as nervous as they are, to be fighting until the end, but it's also true that they have a wider, broader path to victory than does Trump. So, there ought to be some, I think, celebration among Democrats about the number of people who turned out.

This is an astonishing avalanche. We have all been impressed with how many young people, how many women are getting into this, how many people of color are getting into this. That's good news for democracy. So, even if we have this sense of darkness in these last days, there is a brighter light out there that we ought to recognize as well.

BLITZER: Yes. Let's not forget so many people wanted to vote early one way or another because of the coronavirus pandemic, especially the elderly. People with underlying health conditions, they didn't want to have to wait until Election Day and wait potentially in long lines, potentially that could be very, very dangerous for the so, they just wanted to vote early.

You know, Gloria, despite what President Trump says, votes will be counted past tomorrow night as they always are. Those votes could very well determine the outcome of this election, couldn't they?

BORGER: Yes. And he seems to be reeling against the fact that that is going to occur. He wants at the stroke of midnight to be re-elected as president of the United States and wants everybody to stop the counting.

In America, we don't stop the counting. We count votes. It is not a conspiracy against anyone when secretaries of state count votes. These secretaries of state are governed by what their legislatures have told them to do.

In many cases, Republicans legislatures who have said because of the extent and the size and the cost of counting all of these votes, that you can extend the deadline one or two or three days. State like Florida has done it this way for a while.

Florida is counting votes as we speak because they count them as they are being cast. And maybe other states will change eventually. But it is not a sign somebody is trying to rig the election or steal the election or there is a conspiracy against Donald Trump. It is called democracy. And what Donald Trump is doing and saying is anti- Democratic. BLITZER: Yes. Let's not forget Florida does have an experience, a lot

of experience in counting ballots early.

BORGER: Yes.

BLITZER: We should know relative quickly tomorrow night, key word relatively, quickly how Florida voter are doing and Florida is such a key battleground state.

Nia, let's look at the map showing where the candidates are campaigning today. President Trump visiting Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

Joe Biden is focusing in on Ohio and Pennsylvania. So what is this final campaign blitz tell you about how these campaigns are strategizing in these final hours?

[17:15:05]

HENDERSON: Well, listen, a surprise that Donald Trump has to go to North Carolina and some of those rust belt states. By this time, he probably should have locked down. So, he is in those states trying to lock those down.

And you see Biden going to Ohio. That's a state many Democrats thought was just ruby red by this time because Trump won it by about nine points in 2016. So the fact that he is visiting there suggests that maybe they see a chance that he is going to be able to pull it out.

And listen, if he pulls out Ohio, Biden, in this campaign, its game over for Donald Trump. You haven't had a Republican president who didn't win Ohio. So, it's hard to see Donald Trump winning re-election if he doesn't win Ohio.

But listen, they don't want to leave anything on the field at this point so barnstorming in these last few hours before people go to the polls in person tomorrow.

BLITZER: Yes. President Trump has to win Florida, has to win Ohio. He did four years ago. We'll see if he can do it again this time around. All right, Gloria, Nia, David Gergen, guys, thank you very much.

And to our viewers, join us for a special live coverage tomorrow the way only CNN can bring it to you from the first votes to the critical count, understand what is happening in your state and, indeed, across the country.

Election Night in America, our special coverage starts tomorrow afternoon 4:00 p.m. eastern. Up next, where the candidates stand on the path to the 270 Electoral College votes that they need to claim victory. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:00] BLITZER: The breaking news tonight, President Trump and Joe Biden making a final full-court press in key battleground states on this election eve hoping to get the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win. David Chalian is tracking the path for us. David, let's start with Joe Biden right now. What does he have to do to reach 270 tomorrow?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, Wolf. This is our Electoral College map and what we've done is taken all the states that are leaning one way or the other and all the true toss-ups and we've made them yellow, okay.

So let me plain Joe Biden's path here. First and foremost, win and keep the states Hillary Clinton won four years ago, Nevada, Colorado, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. He's got to hold on to those states that went Democratic four years ago.

And then his next attempt here to get to 270 is going to come through that blue wall that Donald Trump busted through. Look what happens if Joe Biden wins Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. He wins the presidency, and let me show you why.

The Biden camp thinks that is their best path. Look at our poll of polls averages. In Wisconsin, 52 Biden, 42 Trump, 10-point lead. Michigan, the average of the polls, 51 Biden, 42 Trump, 9-point lead. Pennsylvania closer, and that's why you're seeing so much activity from Trump and Biden in Pennsylvania.

So just look, if indeed Pennsylvania were to stay with Donald Trump, Joe Biden drops down to 258. So he has to look south and west. Into the Sun Belt, and look at what the polls are showing there. They are narrower than that that Midwest region, but Joe Biden in the hunt.

North Carolina, 54-46; 49-46 Florida. Biden 49, Trump 46, Georgia; 49- 46 Arizona. Those are true toss-up races but this is what it means to have multiple paths, Wolf. If Donald Trump hangs on to Pennsylvania in this scenario, Florida alone would get Joe Biden the presidency.

Let's say Trump holds on to Florida. Georgia alone would do it. Trump could hold on to that. North Carolina alone would do it. You see, Joe Biden has multiple paths to 270.

BLITZER: What about President Trump, David? What does he need to do to repeat what happened four years ago?

CHALIAN: This is that map from four years ago, Wolf. And so this is exactly what he is trying to repeat and that's why you see him spending the day here in that former blue wall that he busted through.

But here is Donald Trump's concern. If, indeed, Pennsylvania is to fall away and Michigan is to fall away and Joe Biden rebuilds that whole blue wall, Donald Trump goes town to 260. So where does he go next to get re-elected? He now has to go to Democratic turf like a place like Minnesota would do it.

Hillary Clinton won that four years ago. If Joe Biden hangs on to it, perhaps a combination of Nevada and New Hampshire. Again, states Hillary Clinton won four years ago, Donald Trump would have to start digging into more Democratic turf in order to get to 270 if Joe Biden rebuilds that blue wall, Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll see what happened tomorrow and Wednesday and Thursday. Let's see what happens in these coming days. All right, David Chalian, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, the nation on edge right now. We are about to get a closer look at preparations for possible trouble as President Trump warns vote counting extensions could be, and I'm quoting him now, "physically dangerous."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

BLITZER: We are following breaking news as the presidential candidates do all they can to energize their supporters and get out to vote. Joe Biden campaigned in Cleveland today. Joining us now whit his insights, the Republican governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine.

Governor DeWine, thank you so much for joining us. As you know, we're in the final countdown before Election Day. Is Ohio all about get out the vote for both campaigns right now?

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): Oh, sure. That's all it is at this point. You know, a lot of Ohioans have voted a huge number already. But look, we are a swing state despite what some people want to make us, you know, something else. We are still a battleground state and I think the president is going to win but it's going to be a close race I believe in Ohio.

BLITZER: I want you to watch what the president said in Pennsylvania just a little while ago. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And when the Supreme Court gave you an extension, they made a very dangerous situation and I mean dangerous.

[17:29:59]

Physically dangerous and they made it a very, very bad -- they did a very bad thing for this state. They did a very bad thing for this nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He went on to say he'll have his eyes on the governor and a couple of other governors as well. What's your reaction to those words from the President of the United States?

DEWINE: Well, I don't know the situation. I can tell you in Ohio, Wolf, you know, we're proud we've got 10 days after the election, if the ballot is postmark today, and it's got 10 days to get there. And so we don't do the final course until after that. So people have had, you know, four weeks to vote in Ohio.

I think we may have more people vote before the Election Day and then after very, very open voting, we have a very good system. We're proud of the system, proud of our Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, and proud of the Democrats and Republicans who are down at the precinct level who, you know, who watch out for it. And who work all day on Election Day.

BLITZER: In Pennsylvania, I'll give you the situation, mail-in ballots can be accepted up to three days after the election. Your state of Ohio, as you pointed out, accepts absentee ballots up to 10 days after the election, why would it be physically dangerous, as the President just alleged to make sure all those votes are counted? We've always counted votes after Election Day. I used to be the Pentagon correspondent for CNN. Military personnel, they vote their ballots are usually counted after Election Day, that's legal. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them.

DEWINE: I have no idea. I mean, I just don't know. I have no idea. You know, you're right, you know, but every state is different. And I guess, without knowing the facts there. You know, it is a little concerning, sometimes when rules are changed.

And I think when you get within the confines of, you know, a month or two before the election, and then you're talking about rules change I think that, you know, that does sometimes present a problem. And I think we ought to be concerned about that. But, you know, again, in Ohio, we do it with 10 days. We're happy with where we are. And I think we got a good system.

BLITZER: Yes. The President is not happy with any day after the election. He wants it done on Election Day, but that has never happened. And it's not going to happen presumably, might not even happen this time. How are you preparing Governor for, and I hope it doesn't happen, any protests or unrest in the aftermath of this election? Are you going through certain drills in Ohio right now?

DEWINE: Well, I'm not going to talk about exactly what we're doing, Wolf. But, you know, we certainly are prepared. In Ohio, it's -- we have a local police departments. We don't have a statewide police. But what we do is we back them up with the Ohio National Guard. We also back them up with the State Highway Patrol.

And when we had demonstrations earlier, in the year, you know, we did that it worked out very well. I'm in close contact with the mayors of our major cities and close contact with the county commissioners. So we work very, very closely together, bipartisan across party lines.

And we're, you know, we're focused and ready, ready to go, whatever, whatever happens. But I think, if I can just say -- if I can just say one thing, I hope I'm happy, I think everybody will be happy when the election is over. I put -- I sent a letter to Ohioans yesterday. It was from my heart. And I said, you know, when this election is over, it's been hotly contested.

The rhetoric has been hot. But when it's over on Wednesday, we got to pull together because we actually have a common enemy and that enemy is the virus. It's killed over 5,300 Ohioans. It is, you know, increased tremendously in the last three weeks. We have three times as many cases today, as we did three weeks ago.

So it's moving and so Ohioans and all Americans, you know, this virus doesn't care whether you voted for Joe Biden or whether you voted for Donald Trump, it's coming after all of us. And it's time for us to do what we've always done in times of war or times of natural disaster, and that is pull together as Ohioans, pull together as Americans, and we got to do that on Wednesday.

BLITZER: Because you, you know, well, I want to thank you right now Governor for joining us. Good luck to you. I know the coronavirus is taking its toll in Ohio and so many other states right now. We'll stay in very close touch with you. Good luck tomorrow. Thanks very much.

I want to go back to Pittsburgh right now, the former vice president about to speak.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's good to be back. I'll tell you what. First off, let's honk for the outstanding band, The Funky Fly Project. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And special thanks to local and state elected officials who are here. I want to thank them a lot and I want to also thank your police department. I tell you what. They got a one heck of a motorcycle escort.

[17:35:13]

You know, it was great seeing Franco again. I live in the other side of the state just below that town called Philadelphia, and I get in trouble because I talk about how much I like Pittsburgh and how much I like the Steelers. Now, let me tell you why.

Franco and I were just in Latrobe together last month, and Franco and his teammate, a guy named Rocky Bleier, back in the day when the Rooney's were really wonderful to me and my family. Because just a month after I was elected the United States Senate, I was 29 years old. It was December 18th. And it was a week before Christmas. I got a phone call, when I was hiring staff in Washington, saying a tractor trailer broadsided my wife and my three children Christmas shopping, and killed my wife and killed my wife and killed my daughter. My two boys were very badly injured.

So I hustled home as quick as I could. And I stayed with them in that hospital room because they were really in tough shape. But on the 23rd, I believe it was, I decided that I was going to go out to Kmart and get a plastic Christmas tree. You know, those kinds they have on display, because you weren't allowed to have any Christmas paraphernalia in the hospital that could catch fire, but I could get one of those. So I went out and I was only gone, it was the only time I was gone. I was gone for about, I guess, an hour, hour and a half.

And I came back and both my boys for the first time, they were little guys, three and four years old, almost four and five. They had smiles on their face and each of them were holding a football signed by the entire steel curtain, the Pittsburgh team. And I said, what happened, boys? And it was the first time they smiled.

And they said, Rocky Bleier and Franco Harris came, because guess what happened? The Rooneys, really fine, fine people, the Rooneys decided that they were going to send Rocky and Franco to see my boys. No publicity. They didn't do any press, didn't let anybody know. They spent 45 minutes with my boys. They got in the plane and went home.

That's who we are as a country. That's something the President doesn't understand, looking out for each other. The thousand acts of kindness, the decency that people used to show to one another, and still do, that he just doesn't get.

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh there's one more day, one more day to show who we are once again. Tomorrow we can end the presidency that has divided this nation. Folks in home would know. Tomorrow we can put an end to a presidency that has failed to protect the nation. Tomorrow we can put an end to a presidency that has fanned the flames of hate across this nation, pouring gasoline on every racial incident in the country.

Millions of Americans have already voted, over almost a hundred million now. Millions more will vote tomorrow. My message is simple. The power to change this country is in your hands. And I don't care how hard Donald Trump tries, there's nothing, nothing he can do to stop the people of this nation from voting, no matter how he tries.

There was a press article last week, and it read as follows, never before in modern presidential history has a candidate been so reliant on wide-scale efforts to repress the vote as Trump. Trump doesn't want you all voting. He don't want Americans voting. He thinks only wealthy folks should vote. When America votes though, America will be heard. When America's heard, the message is going to be out loud and clear. It's time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home, go home.

Look, we're done with the chaos. We're done with the racism. We're done with the tweets, the anger, the hate, the failure, the irresponsibility, but we got a lot of work to do folks. If I'm elected president, we're going to act, on day one we're going to act to get COVID under control, on day one of my presidency I'll put in action a plan that I've been talking about for months, masking, social distancing, testing, tracing, a plan for full and fair and free distribution of therapeutics and vaccines when we get one.

[17:40:06]

And most importantly, but he hasn't done yet, a plan, a plan that addresses the fact that we can get everybody access to the vaccine when it comes. Folks, there's over 300 million people in America, everyone, everyone is going to get help. A plan to address the disproportionate way the virus is hitting the black community and minority communities.

We're seeing race-based disparities all across every aspect of this virus; higher infection rates, lower access to testing, a harder time, quarantine safely, lower access to quality treatment when you become infected, and tragically higher mortality rates, three times as high as the white population.

One in 1,000 black Americans have died from COVID so far. And by the end of this pandemic, if things continue as he's allowing them to do until the next president takes office, there will be another 200,000 deaths projected. And that would mean one in 500 African-Americans will have died because of COVID. That is absolutely outrageous. That is an attack, a mass casualty for black Americans. And this President, he knew in January how bad this virus was, in January he knew it.

Some of you may remember vaguely if you turned on the television at the time, I wasn't in office but I was talking about the fact that he got intelligence briefings laying out how dangerous it was coming from China, and where it was happening. And he said, no, he didn't read his intelligence briefing in the morning. Well, that didn't surprise me, he doesn't read.

But turns out he knew exactly how dangerous it was. Remember what he said to Bob Woodward, the famous journalist? He went on tape and he said to Woodward, he knew in January how dangerous it was and how many people could die, and he said nothing. He didn't say a thing to you, me, or anybody else.

He kept it secret. He hid it from the American people. He knew it was worse than the flu. He lied to the American people. He knew it wasn't going to disappear. He kept telling us, America was coming, or maybe we should inject bleach into our veins. I mean, whatever, God, what a -- anyway.

And just Friday, this past Friday, had the gall to suggest that the American doctors and nurses, who are literally risking their lives to save lives on the front line of this crisis for nine months, that he suggested that these folks, know what he said they're doing? He said, doctors are falsely inflating the deaths due to COVID because they want to make more money.

Now think about that, President of the United States of America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right, we're going to continue to monitor the former Vice President Joe Biden in Pittsburgh. We're also standing by to hear from Barack Obama, the former president of the United States in Miami and the current President of the United States, Donald Trump. He'll be speaking shortly in Michigan.

[17:43:34]

We're going to have live coverage much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: All right, let's go to Miami the former President Barack Obama speaking at a Biden campaign rally, let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can't say that about the President right now. You know, I never thought that Donald Trump would share my vision or embrace all of my policies. But I hoped for the sake of the country that he might take the job seriously.

That he put in the work. But he hasn't, he hasn't shown any interest in taking seriously the work that is involved in being president or helping anybody but his friends or himself or treating the presidency as anything more than a reality show that he can use to get himself attention. And the rest of the rest of --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're fired.

OBAMA: The rest of us have to live with the consequences. And Grace talked about those consequences, 230,000 Americans dead. More than 100,000 small businesses closed. Half a million jobs gone here in Florida. And his chief of staff he's admitted what we knew all along. He was quoted just few days ago, he says, we're not going to control the pandemic. That's a quote. We noticed.

America just had its single worst week of new cases. And so what's Trump's closing argument last night, this last night on his COVID spreader tour. I mean, he's a super spreader. He just goes around because nothing is more important to him than crowds to make him feel good, as opposed to trying to keep the American people safe. Last night he told his supporters don't tell anybody but I'm going to fire Dr. Fauci after the election.

[17:50:05]

Don't boo, vote. You know. And just in case you were worried he was taking COVID too seriously. Now we find out his intention is to eliminate from his administration, one of the world's leading experts in infectious disease, the one guy who's taking it seriously all along that he hasn't been paying attention to. He's been listening to the guy, apparently, who thinks injecting bleach might be a good idea but not the actual expert on infectious disease.

So they want to move out the scientists and the doctors who understand this disease and put in people or maintain folks who don't know what they're doing. Essentially, their closing argument when it comes to COVID is you ain't seen nothing yet. But this is the last chance.

This this is his last chance to explain why we should give him four more years and what you hear him talking about is his inauguration crowd been smaller than mine. After four years, that's what he's still worrying about. Let it go. What is his obsession with crowd size? Does he have nothing better to worry about? Did no one come to his birthday party when he was a kid?

Look, that's the difference between Joe and Donald Trump right there. That's the difference. Joe cares about you and your safety and your security.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes he does. OBAMA: Trump cares about feeding his ego. I understand the President wants take full credit for the economy he inherited but zero blame for the pandemic he ignored. But the job doesn't work that way. Tweeting at the T.V. doesn't fix things. Making stuff up doesn't make things better. You got to have a plan you got to put in the work. And along with the experience to get things done, Joe Biden has concrete plans and policies to turn our vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into reality.

He takes this pandemic seriously. He knows how much it hurts for grandparents and grandkids who can't see each other and hug each other. He's not going to screw up testing. He's not going to call scientists idiots or put people at risk, or as he did just a few days ago accused medical professionals like, Grace, I'm trying to profit from the pandemic after all they've been through, ridiculous. Shameful, come on.

Joe will get this pandemic under control with a plan to make testing and a vaccine free for every American and make sure frontline heroes like Grace never have to ask other countries for the equipment they need. And this plan will guarantee paid sick leave for workers and parents affected by the pandemic. And make sure that small businesses that hold our communities together and employ millions of Americans can reopen safely.

You know, Donald Trump likes to claim he built this economy. America created 1.5 million more jobs in the last three years of the Obama- Biden administration than in the first three years of his. And that was before he could blame the pandemic. We handed him the longest streak of job growth in American history.

The economic damage he inflicted by botching the pandemic response means he will be the only President since the Great Depression to actually lose jobs. He talks about black unemployment, says he's the best President for black folks since Abe Lincoln, really, don't boo, vote.

His son in law says, black folks they want to be successful, that's the problem. That's the problem, really? Like 300 years of history is not the problem? Listen, when it came to the economy, black unemployment almost hit 17 percent during the Great Recession 10 years ago, through hard work. Joe and I helped to get it down to 7.8 percent by the time we left office, and it kept on going down. Not because Trump did anything. This year it sored back up to 17 percent here in Florida.

His buddies at Mar-a-Lago may be better off than they were four years ago with the massive tax cuts he gave them. But ordinary families here in Florida, they didn't see that. Now he won't extend relief to the millions of families who are having trouble paying the rent or having trouble making payments on their student loans or just putting food on the table because of this pandemic.

And Joe Biden understands the key to a strong economy, isn't more tax cuts for billionaires. It's lifting up the prospects of working Americans so that everybody has a chance to succeed. [17:55:11]

And that's what Joe's got, a plan to create 10 million good, clean energy jobs, to protect Florida from climate change, to secure environmental justice. And he'll pay for those plans by rolling back trap Trump's tax cuts for billionaires. And Joe doesn't just want to get back to where we were. He sees this as a chance to make long overdue changes in the economy so everybody's life is a little bit easy whether it's the waitress trying to raise her own kid on her own, or the student trying to figure out how to pay for next semester's classes, or the shift worker that's worried about getting laid off, or the cancer survivor who's worried about her preexisting condition, protections being taken away.

Florida, I need to talk to you about health care for a second because maybe what Grace said, you guys didn't hear. I want to remind you this. Republicans love to say right before an election, that they'll protect your preexisting conditions. You know what Joe and I actually protected them, 10 years ago, with the Affordable Care Act. Hispanics have bigger gains in coverage than anybody else.

Almost 93 percent of Hispanic kids got covered an all-time high. Under this administration, Hispanic kids have lost much. Republicans have tried to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act more than 60 times. Think about that. Why would you make that your mission, taking people's health care away?

And with no plan, they promise, they said, don't worry, when we get rid of this plan, we'll give you a better plan. They've been promising that for 10 years now. Still don't have one. I keep on looking for it. I've looked for it everywhere. You know, between the cushions in the couch, you know, it's nowhere to be found.

Instead, they've attacked the Affordable Care Act every time. They've driven up costs. They've driven up the uninsured. Now they're trying to get the Supreme Court to take your healthcare away in the middle of a pandemic at a time when families needed most with nothing but empty promises to take his place.

And think about what that would do to families right here in South Florida. Miami Dade has the highest enrollment under Obamacare of any county in Florida. Florida has the highest enrollment of any state in America. So when Trump last week, flat out says he hopes Supreme Court overturns Obamacare. What he's saying is he wants to take your health insurance away, just said it.

Joe and Kamala will protect your health care. Joe and Kamala will expand Medicare. Joe and Kamala will make insurance more affordable than everybody because Joe understands that a President's first job is to keep us safe from all threats, foreign, domestic, and microscopic. So when the daily intelligence briefings that our president gets every morning has a flashing warning light saying there's a virus coming, the president can't be AWOL.

When Russia puts bounties on our soldiers heads the commander in chief can't be MIA. Joe Biden would never call our troops suckers or losers, because he understands that somebody's kid, somebody's spouse, somebody's mom or dad. When a hurricane devastates Puerto Rico, a president is supposed to help rebuild not toss paper towels, not suggest selling Puerto Rico, not withholding billions of dollars until just before an election.

And here in South Florida you see these ads. You know, Joe palling with communists, palling with social. You'd think he, you know, was having coffee with Castro every morning? Don't fall for that. Joe Biden served as a senator from Delaware. He was my vice president. I think we don't know if he was a secret socialist by now.

[17:59:58]

He's -- according to Donald Trump, guys like the dictator of North Korea, they're rooting for him. Why is that?