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Erin Burnett Outfront
U.S. Deaths About To Reach 200,000 As Trump Gives Himself "An A+" For His "On The Job" Pandemic Performance; CDC Reverses Guidance, Says New Language On How COVID Spreads Was Added In "Error" Amid Concerns About Political Pressure; GOP Discusses Two Options For Timing Of SCOTUS Confirmation Vote; Trump: Much Rather Have A Vote Before The Election; Interview With Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY); Interview With Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 21, 2020 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, the United States nears 200,000 coronavirus deaths as the President gives himself an A plus for his handling as his supporters boo an official that goes to the Trump rally, stands up and tells them the importance of wearing masks.
Plus, Trump meets with one of his finalists to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Will Mitch McConnell call for a vote before the election? We have new details this hour.
And the Department of Justice labeling New York, Seattle and Portland anarchy jurisdictions, threatening to take away federal funding. Why weren't any swing state cities included? The New York Attorney General is my guest. Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, 200,000 dead Americans. The United States could cross that grim, once unthinkable milestone at any moment. That number has been taking up all day. We are now just 200 deaths shy of that heartbreaking and as I said even eight months ago completely unimaginable number, 200,000 deaths in this country from coronavirus.
It's a huge number, we all know that. But to put it into perspective, it's like losing every single person in this football stadium at the University of Texas twice. Twice. That's how many lives have been lost in just half a year in this country. The United States death toll is the highest in the world. And when it comes to deaths per 100,000 people, the United States is much higher than countries like Germany, France, Canada, Australia.
In fact, the United States which makes up only 4 percent of the world's population accounts for about 21 percent of the deaths from the virus. And yet given these grim statistics, looking at an image like that at that stadium, every one of those people an individual life, soul, President Trump congratulates himself calling himself phenomenal and A plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're rounding the corner, with or without a vaccine - they hate it when I say that, but that's the way it is. We're rounding the corner on the pandemic, and we've done a phenomenal job - not just a good job, a phenomenal job. On the job itself, we take an A plus."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Grading himself phenomenal, A plus, just not ways to talk about this when you're the President and 200,000 Americans have died during your tenure from a communicable disease. They are words that, at best, lack any sense of the magnitude of the loss and the tragedy of the moment. But over the top, self-congratulation is what Trump has done since day one of this virus. In fact, here he is on day one. At that time, the US death toll was one until now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That decision has been now given very good grades like an A plus, plus, plus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On a scale of one to 10, how would you rate your response to this crisis?
TRUMP: I'd rate at 10.
I give ourselves an A grade. But the grade is incomplete. And I'll tell you why, if we come up with the vaccines and the therapeutics, then I give myself an A plus.
Somebody said, "What grade would you give yourself?" I said, "A plus."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: There's something just so powerful and sobering about what you just saw there. And you go through the death toll relative to other countries, this is no A plus. It's not just that the death just kept surging and to even talk about it like that is so utterly inappropriate, it's just the facts, right? So when you look at that day one, when there was one death in the United States, there was also one death in South Korea. It reported its first death to the WHO on the same day. Their total death toll today is 385 people.
We are 200 people shy of 200,000 and in South Korea, their economy and their schools are way more open schools back, because their leadership took the virus seriously. The people took note masks were universal. You know the drill at this point. Whereas Trump, while giving himself an A plus, has refused to wear a mask and given declarations regarding the virus that have been completely false from the start, just listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China and we have it under control. It's going to be just fine.
It looks like by April, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.
I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter.
And then I see the disinfectant which knocks it out in a minute, one minute, and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning.
[19:05:09]
What do you have to lose? Take it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong. Every single one of those statements was wrong, telling the American people things that were totally false and give a totally false sense of how serious this was and how we should all be handling it and those are just a few examples.
Ryan Nobles is OUTFRONT live in Swanton, Ohio where the President is about to speak. And Ryan, the President has not yet talked about the virus or the horrific human toll it's taken on this country, instead, repeatedly grading his performance as recently as today as A plus phenomenal.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Erin. And having covered quite a few of these rallies, the President regularly touts his response to the coronavirus pandemic saying that his administration has done a phenomenal job to stop the spread of the virus and he often leaves out that huge death toll and how it compares to other countries around the world.
And it's also worth pointing out that while the President touts his administration's response, he also completely ignores the directives that are put out by his own Centers for Disease Control as evidenced by these rallies that are taking place. Two of them today alone, one that he just wrapped up outside Dayton and this one that is about to happen just outside Toledo.
And as we've said many, many times, Erin, these are thousands of people packed shoulder to shoulder. There are almost no masks. They did hand out hand sanitizer and take temperatures beforehand, but most of these very specific guidelines put down by the CDC are completely ignored at these events.
And furthermore, this is resonating with the folks that attend these rallies. They firmly believe that President Trump has done a very good job containing the threat of the coronavirus. They also believe some of the treatments that he suggested such as hydroxychloroquine are good ideas and good ways to treat the virus despite the fact that there's been pushback by health professionals as a result of all of this. And the other thing we should point out, Erin, it's also bleeding into
the state response as well. The Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine, who is a Republican, this is someone who is a supporter of President Trump, but has had very serious and very serious approach to the coronavirus pandemic. There were folks here at this rally outside of Toledo suggesting that he should be impeached.
So Erin, just all over the map as it comes to the President's response to this very, very deadly virus.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Ryan. I want to go now to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNNs Chief Medical Correspondent and Dr. Richard Besser, former CDC Acting Director under President Obama.
Sanjay, there we are, again, another rally violating the CDC, violating what is right, violating what we all know to be right and now you heard what Ryan saying, some saying they wanted to impeach the Republican Governor of Ohio, supporter of the President's because he took this seriously. What the President has said has gotten in the psyche of so many people and it is fair to say, right, that it has affected the death toll in this country.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, what we've seen so far by no means was inevitable. I mean, I think that that's sometimes is the perception, it was this bad virus. We did all we could and this was inevitable. It's obviously not the case. I mean, you just need to look around the world and I'm not saying that to unfairly criticize.
I think it's a very legitimate criticism at this point, so many months in to look at what's happening in the United States and then look at other countries around the world where people were diagnosed around the same time, where the first deaths for around the same time and recognize they didn't have anything that we didn't have. But they have a much lower death toll, sometimes measured in the in the dozens or the hundreds versus the hundreds of thousands.
But, Erin, I think to your point, we're still in this. Sometimes we're saying, well, look, this 200,000 people have died and what could have gone different, we could talk about that. But there's still a lot of things that can be done. There are people who are living today, who may not be living by the end of the year because of public health measures that can still take place.
BURNETT: I think that's the thing. When you look at those fallen projections still out there, the White House model, which has been wrong because it has been too conservative is still forecasting the possibility of 400,000 deaths by December, by the end of December. So when you think about that, that is currently unthinkable and yet, here we are.
Dr. Besser, the President was - we just showed that rally and then he had another one earlier today that our reporter referenced also in Ohio. The state's lieutenant governor was there, OK, there talking, trying to talk them up, the President supporter, talking to them about wearing a mask. Actually had the nerve to say that thousands of people gathered in a room should do so, this was the response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GOV. JON HUSTED (R), OHIO: But if you go into a grocery store where you got to wear one, all right, hang on, hang on. Just listen up. Just listen up. All right, I get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:10:08]
BURNETT: So (inaudible) trying to laugh at it but, I mean, he's out there trying to do the right thing, not being political. So what? I'm a Republican. I say you should wear a mask. That's what he's doing at a Trump rally. And yet you hear all of those boos that complete and utter disdain as if the whole thing is a joke. How disturbing is it to hear that?
DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING CDC DIRECTOR UNDER OBAMA: I find it absolutely frightening. As Sanjay was saying, this is a time not to look backwards, but to look ahead and say what can we do as a nation to come together so that we're not talking about 300,000 deaths and 400,000 deaths.
It's not something that's pre-determined if we come together as a nation. And there are Republican governors who are trying to do the right thing in their state. But without the President modeling the behavior that we want everyone to follow, it's going to be very, very challenging to keep the numbers down to keep them going in the direction we want them to go and to have the same experience with this virus that so many countries around the world are having. And that's one of control and a gradual reopening of the economy.
BURNETT: Right. And I think that's the key, which is the thing the President has wanted. So I've never understood about all this, if he could just have said, hey, I got it wrong on masks, which by the way he could have said five months ago. It would be so different now for life and for the economy.
So Sanjay, today the CDC backtracking, so it posted on its website - there was a posting that went up, the virus commonly spreads to the air. This aerosol thing. We're not talking droplets, it's aerosol. Just like you leave a room and a long time after that someone else walks in the room and there it is.
So CNN noticed this that this had been up there and then it's gone. It gets taken down. The CDC then releases a statement saying, "A draft version of proposed changes to these recommendations was posted in error to the agency's official website." Sanjay, what happened here?
GUPTA: Well, I've talked to several folks at the CDC and the track record, as you know, is not good. I mean, there's been several errors that have been made on the website. This one really does seem, at least, according to people I talked to seems to have been one that was an accidental error. It wasn't supposed to have gone up yet, but it did go up. Having said that, what they had on the website for a short period of
time, we can put that up on the screen for a second really does reflect the science, that science that we have now sort of really learned over the past several months that this can spread not only through respiratory droplets or small particles, but also through these aerosols. So you have this viral particles are very small, anything less than 50 microns can stay suspended in the air and this is closer to less than one micron in size.
So there's been this suspicion for some time that it could stay in the air, it could linger in the air as you mentioned in certain settings, especially indoor, it matter. You could be further than six feet away and still be potentially infected.
So what this guidance was really saying was it was about transmission, but what it was really about was masks. You need to wear masks, especially indoors, especially in poorly ventilated areas and that reflects the science. I mean, we heard about these choirs where many people were infected, they were further than six feet away, weddings, things like that. That wouldn't happen if it was just close contact, so it made total sense.
Maybe they'll put it back up on the website. It's just very hard to, it's a mess, to understand what's happening right now at the CDC.
BURNETT: And Dr. Besser, what does that say to you? You're the former Acting Director of the CDC. What Sanjay said is true, it's a mess. Nobody knows. There are medical professionals out there who now are unsure what to trust or not trust from the CDC, because they're worried about political influence. This has got to be painful for you.
BESSER: I been hearing the same thing from folks at CDC that Sanjay is reporting that this was an example of an error, but it feeds into the issue of trust. And once you have trust that's been broken, it's extremely hard to get that back and I worry about that. I worry about people questioning great science that CDC puts out because they're not sure what's great science and what has the fingerprints of politics all over it and that's very, very concerning.
If CDC were having a daily briefing and we've talked about this before and they'd be able to explain the error in terms of this going up and they would also be able to answer questions like the one Sanjay is raising about, well, if aerosols can be one of the ways this is transmitted, what does that mean in terms of control efforts, what does it mean in terms of ventilation in schools and other things.
Without that contact, it just feeds into this issue of distrust and concern that that no one's really in charge.
BURNETT: Right. And that makes it harder for things to open because nobody trusts the restrictions, the rules that we put out there. Thank you both.
[19:15:00]
Next, the Department of Justice labeling New York, Seattle and Portland anarchy cities that's a quote, threatening to pull their funding. The New York Attorney General says it's purely a political ploy. She is preparing to sue. She is my guest.
And a top Republican said this in 2016.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): To visit with people about what's on their mind and then there's a little way you can do a poll during that telephone town hall meeting and 88 percent of the people of Wyoming agree with Senator Grassley, agree with Senator Enzi and with me about the next Supreme Court Justice and giving the people a voice.
Now, Democrats want to turn this all around ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: How does he explain that now, Sen. John Barrasso is my guest.
Plus, Amy Coney Barrett meeting with President Trump at the White House today. So what do we know about her?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY CONEY BARRETT, CIRCUIT JUDGE, U.S. Court Of APPEALS FOR SEVENTH CIRCUIT: Ginsburg and Breyer are much more firmly in the camp of the more expansive approach to constitutional interpretation. So let's imagine ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:19:43]
BURNETT: Tonight, the Trump administration labeling New York, Seattle and Portland, Oregon as 'anarchy jurisdictions', threatening to take away their federal funding, billions in New York City alone. And it has come after these cities have projected federal help to stop rising crime and civil unrest following this summer's protests over racial injustice.
[19:20:03]
And yet cities in Minnesota and Wisconsin, two states that also experienced unrest but happened to be competitive in the Presidential election. They were not included, so is this political?
OUTFRONT now, New York Attorney General Letitia James. And Attorney General, I appreciate your time. I'm glad to have you back with me. Now, you say the President is just trying to distract from his handling of the coronavirus. So to you when you look at Minnesota and Wisconsin, not on the list, New York City, Portland, Seattle on the list, you see this is political.
LETITIA JAMES (D), ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NEW YORK: The federal government cannot issue orders to the city and or any state. It's incompatible with the principle of dual sovereignty. This is nothing more than a distraction away from the fact that 200,000 individuals have lost their lives as a result of COVID-19. It says a result of the failure of this administration, President Trump in particular to lead this nation and to heal the divide and breach.
And the fact is, is that there are millions of individuals who are unemployed right now as a result of this COVID-19. And again, no leadership from the top. It's important that individuals understand that this President is doing nothing more than saber-rattling, rattling to his base, using words and phrases that unfortunately are filled with racial overtones couched in, baked in racial overtones and appealing to his base. So this is in violation of the Constitution, in violation of anti-commandeering statues, in violation of the 10th Amendment, in violation of the spending clause, because Congress has the power of the purse.
It is arbitrary and capricious, as you mentioned, because there are only three cities that are on this list. And the reality is, is that we really don't know the implications of this and we won't know it until New York City, the Office of Management and Budget determines in around two weeks whether or not any funds have been deducted. We're looking at the loss of the possibility of $7 billion and if we lose $7 billion, the one individual who will be responsible for defending the police is Donald Trump.
BURNETT: Well, that's a powerful thing to say. And let me ask you about that, though, because what they're pointing at here in New York, 166 percent spike in shootings, shootings have nearly doubled this year from a year ago, murders up 34 percent in New York City. Look, it's not good out there right now, so do they have a point? You may not, I understand legally have an issue with the word anarchy, but do they have a point?
JAMES: Listen, I've attended my fair share of funerals over the years since I've been in public service. I've cried over open caskets and help mothers and fathers in my armed. I've attended thousands of rallies against violence, anti-violence. But I've been part of an effort to fund crime prevention groups in the city of New York.
I have been advocating that alcohol, tobacco and firearms a federal agency get to work to focus on enforcing the law, to focus on anti- trafficking efforts, to focus on straw buyers and addressing gun violence in our streets, and they are totally absent. We have, again, asked this government to focus on enforcing ghost guns and they have done absolutely nothing. They're allowing ghost guns to be sold on the internet.
My office has an amazing bureau, the organized crime task force. We have been engaging in takedowns and taking guns off the streets. We've been working with district attorneys all throughout the city of New York with gun buybacks. We've been working with men and women of faith reaching out to young people providing them with opportunities.
This federal government has not passed one responsible gun law at all.
BURNETT: So what are you going to sue ...
JAMES: It is the federal government that has done nothing to address gun violence and we're doing all that we can. We need real leadership and the individual who understands what is happening in the city of New York. And please also note ...
BURNETT: Look, $7 billion in New York right now in a city that's hurting, I understand the financial issue, but you have now said you're going to some legal action to challenge the Justice Department. Have you decided the grounds on which you'll sue?
JAMES: As I mentioned earlier, there are a number of grounds. But the reality is, again, this may be nothing more than saber-rattling. The President in the past has indicated that he would punish New York for whatever reason. It is arbitrary, it is capricious, it may not even happen.
Again, he's appealing to his base. It is in violation of the Constitution, anti-commandeering, in violation of the spending clause, in violation of the 10th Amendment. And so we have met President Trump in court on several occasions and each and every time we came out victorious, and we will be victorious again.
[19:25:04]
And we again look forward to the next 43 days where we elect a real leader in the White House.
BURNETT: Attorney General James, I appreciate your time. Thank you.
JAMES: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, the President wants to vote on replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg and he wants it fast.
Plus, campaigning in a swing state during a pandemic, why Democrats say Trump's team is out in full force door knocking and they are not?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:29:24]
BURNETT: Breaking news, Senate Republicans just wrapping up a meeting on Capitol Hill to discuss their options for moving forward with a Supreme Court pick. Two main options appear to be on the table and the President making it clear tonight what he wants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, I'd much rather have a vote before the election because there's a lot of work to be done and I'd much rather have it. We have plenty of time to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Manu Raju is OUTFRONT on Capitol Hill. And Manu, look, he's making it clear he wants to do it not in the lame duck session. He wants to do it before election day. What was just discussed inside that Republican meeting now?
[19:30:00]
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he was talking about the options about moving ahead. And I can tell you that Mitch McConnell is dead set on having a vote, of course, this year. And he is trying to make the case to his colleagues that it would be perfectly normal to have it before the election, when there's not much time before the election, just 43 days. By the time a nomination actually comes forward, it could probably be 38 days or so before the election.
Typically the confirmation process takes two to three months. And one of the things the Republicans are looking at is starting the confirmation process but punting it into -- the vote until after the election in the lame duck session of Congress. That would be between November, after November 3rd until January, but that also has a number of risks, particularly if Donald Trump loses the White House or the Republicans lose the Senate majority and will still be in power only a couple more months.
But in a key sign tonight two Republican senators who have not said how they would come down are indicating they are with Mitch McConnell. Cory Gardner, a vulnerable Republican who hadn't said what he would do, opposed moving forward back in 2016 when Barack Obama was president indicated he is in favor of moving ahead now. So did Chuck Grassley who chaired the Judiciary Committee in 2016 and told me in July he would not be in favor of moving forward with a nomination if he were chairman still, indicated he is also on McConnell's side.
Major developments that could help Mitch McConnell ultimately get his goal of this nominee getting confirmed this year, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Manu, thank you very much.
And I want to go straight now to the third ranking Republican in the Senate, John Barrasso.
And, Senator, I very much appreciate your time.
OK. So, you heard the president. He wants to, in his words, much rather have a vote before the election. Will you make that happen, that this vote will happen before the election in November?
SEN. JOHN BARRASO (R-WY): We're certainly going to have a vote this year, Erin. The president is going to nominate someone, I think, who's going to be a very highly qualified woman at the end of this week. Then we will hold hearings in the United States Senate Judiciary Committee.
We know with Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Gorsuch, the Democrats did lots to delay and slow down the process. We want to move the process along. We want to make sure there is plenty of time, and there is plenty of time between now and the end of the year. But I can't predict right now whether the election in November and the vote in the Senate or the nominee will be before or after the election.
BURNETT: Would anything change your mind?
So, I mean, let me just give you the obvious scenario, President Trump picks somebody. You don't get it done by Election Day. He loses the election. Maybe even lose the Senate but you've got a lame duck period to do it, but you're clearly at that point going to be going against the will of the American people.
Would you still support going forward with it?
BARRASSO: We are going to have a vote this year. I can't tell you much about the timing but I know the president is going to nominate a very highly qualified nominee.
I've heard the scare tactics from the Democrats already on lots of different topics, even before the president has made the nomination. I was at home in Wyoming this weekend. People I've talked to are pretty fed up with the entire political process and the politicization of the courts.
BURNETT: Yeah.
BARRASSO: They want us to fill this vacancy and they want it done as soon as possible.
BURNETT: All right. I just want to be clear though in that scenario where you have the Senate still in the lame duck, but the president has lost, right, the American people have obviously picked somebody else, very different point of view, you would still support going forward with this?
BARRASSO: I can't tell you when we're going to vote. We are going to vote this year on that nominee. And it's a matter of how many delaying processes and techniques the Democrats try to do.
They've done it in the past. I expect them to try to do it again this time. They will do anything it seems to delay the process.
You have seen Nancy Pelosi, who has no role according to the Constitution, the speaker of the House --
BURNETT: Yeah.
BARRASSO: -- but there she is threatening impeachment, you know, kind of wanting to throw bombs from the sidelines, anything that she can do to defeat or delay this president, the Democrats seem to want to do and to prevent us from moving forward as a nation.
BURNETT: OK. So here's the thing -- they are going to delay. They're going to do that. But they're only doing what you all did back in 2016.
I think this is part of the reason Americans have disgust with the whole process, right? It all depends on, well, if I have power today, I'm okay with it, but if I'm not in power, I call the other side out. Obviously, you know I'm going to do this, so let me do it.
This is you back in 2016 when the shoe was on the other foot. President Obama had eight months until Election Day for a Supreme Court justice. You guys managed to stop him from getting it. Now there's less than two months.
Here you are in 2016.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRASSO: The best way to avoid the fight is to agree to let the people decide. Give the people a voice. Let the next president put forth the nomination.
That's what the American people are saying. Give the people a voice. They're saying a seat on the Supreme Court should not be just another political pay-off to score points in an election year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Things have changed?
BARRASSO: Well, the hypocrites in this to me are really the Democrats. When you take a look at what has happened in the 29 times that a vacancy has occurred in the United States -- when there is an election year for the president, and a vacancy has occurred in the Supreme Court, the Democrats are the ones that want to upend the precedent that has been out there.
[19:35:15]
Each time, and this is in, and Joe Biden talked about this as head of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Schumer did it as well. And now, he is the minority leader.
When the party that has the White House and the Senate and all 29 times isn't the same party the person gets confirmed. Where there are opposite parties, the person isn't confirmed and the decision goes to the voters. That's what happened in 2016 with Merrick Garland. And then what happened is the voters said, OK, we want the Republicans in charge of the Senate and the White House by electing President Trump, and then in 2018 after the Democrats put Brett Kavanaugh through the meat grinder, the Democrats lost two additional seats in the Senate and the Republicans picked up two more.
That's the situation we're in today, and that's why we're going to move forward with the president's nomination.
BURNETT: All right. Senator, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
BARRASSO: Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: Of course, Congress, you know, the House is Democrat and President Trump is firing back at the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeting: Senate GOP, Crazy Nancy Pelosi wants to impeach me if I fulfill my constitutional nomination to put forth a nominee for the vacated seat on the United States Supreme Court. This would be a first, even crazier for being impeached for making a perfect phone call to Ukrainian president.
OK. This after Speaker Pelosi refused to take any options off the table when it comes to replacing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS HOST: Some have mentioned the possibility if they try to push through a nominee in a lame duck session that you and the House could move to impeach President Trump or Attorney General Barr as a way of stalling and preventing the Senate from acting on this nomination.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, we have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I'm not about to discuss right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Richard Blumenthal.
Senator, I appreciate your time.
So, you know, Senator Barrasso on just before you were. He says Democrats will do anything to defeat and delay. So, what -- will you do anything? I mean, really will you consider impeachment to stall this process or is that appropriately off the table?
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Erin, we're going to fight like hell because the American people deserve a say. Their voices should be heard in this election and that's what the polls overwhelmingly show. They want the next president and the next Senate to choose the next Supreme Court justice.
And, by the way, delay is his word. Senator Barrasso may call it delay. But it really is about the democratic process working and that's what we want it to be.
BURNETT: So, you know, he said a vote will happen this year. I asked him just to be very clear, right, is there a situation in which he would think that is inappropriate, right, say a situation in which it was truly a lame duck, right? You are going to have the Joe Biden wins and the Senate turns. Would you still be committed to having a vote?
And he didn't take a vote off the table in any scenario. In fact, he very clearly said there will be a vote this year, right, while there is a Republican Senate. What do you say to that, there's no scenario in which he took that off the table?
BLUMENTHAL: If the American people are heard, there will be no vote until after the inaugural. Let's be very blunt. We're going to take our case to the American
people, and tell them what is at stake here literally in the midst of a pandemic, the president is about to nominate someone who would strike down and overturn the Affordable Care Act.
Don't believe me. Listen to the president. He said that issue would be a strong test. He said it was a disappointment -- Chief Justice Roberts was a disappointment because he gave us Obamacare. That's almost an exact quote.
He is going to appoint someone who will strike down the Affordable Care Act when we should be right now taking advantage of this opportunity to pass another pandemic relief program, strengthening health care not weakening it.
BURNETT: So, Senator, what can you do? I mean, just to do the math and give our viewers a sense, right? You helped lead the fight against Justice Kavanaugh's nomination, all kinds of procedural tactics to slow it down. But that confirmation still took 89 days with the incredibly fraught, unique nature of those hearings.
We have 121 days now until Biden or Trump is sworn in as the next president. Would you possibly be able to draw the process out that long?
BLUMENTHAL: There are only 45 days or less now until the next election.
BURNETT: Yes.
BLUMENTHAL: People are already voting in a number of states. And we have tools that we can use not to delay but assure that the American people's voice is heard.
[19:40:06]
Senator McConnell really should be putting the HEROES Act on the Senate floor. Give us a chance to vote on better health care, more testing, aid for those families that are still struggling to put food on the table, businesses trying to keep their doors open.
And instead, we are rushing recklessly and treacherously to a vote that excludes the will of the American people and the dying wish of Justice Ginsburg herself who said, wait for the next president and the next Senate after the inaugural, and, by the way, also, undermining the legitimacy of the court.
I've argued cases before the United States Supreme Court, three cases before Justice Ginsburg and I've spent three decades just about my whole career working as a litigator, as a prosecutor, and believe me, the legitimacy and credibility and trust of the court is really at stake here and that is critical to their authority and power.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Senator Blumenthal. Good to speak with you.
BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, who is Barbara Lagoa on the president's short list of potential Supreme Court nominees and how much is her home state of Florida a crucial must win swing state weighing on Trump's decision?
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: E-mail is okay to persuade voters. Phone calls a little better. But nothing beats face to face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But how do you safely knock on people's doors during a pandemic?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news, CNN has confirmed, President Trump met with Judge Amy Coney Barrett at the White House today. She is on the short list of potential people to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and it comes as Trump says he is considering five women for the position.
Pamela Brown is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Five women are being looked at and vetted very carefully.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump tonight weighing his pick to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
[19:45:00]
JUDGE AMY CONEY BARRETT, 7TH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS: What would we have in a Trump court? Who knows?
BROWN: Amy Coney Barrett is seen by many as a top contender. She was Trump's pick to serve on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, is a professor at Notre Dame, and she clerked for the late Justice Scalia, someone Trump has said he is trying to emulate with his pick.
BARRETT: When he called you in his office, you had to be prepared to just go to the mat and talk about whatever it was.
BROWN: Barrett was vetted in 2018 as a potential replacement for Anthony Kennedy and interviewed with Trump. A source familiar with the process told CNN, Trump was leaning toward Barrett and the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hoping for a smooth confirmation process prefers her, too.
Proponents of Barrett say she has a compelling personal story as a mother of seven, including two adopted kids from Haiti and her son Benjamin who has Down syndrome.
BARRETT: And Benjamin has special needs and that presents unique challenges for all of us.
MALLORY QUIGLEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS, SUSAN B. ANTHONY LIST: And her personal story speaks to her pro-life beliefs.
BROWN: While at Notre Dame, the devout Catholic signed a statement condemning the Obama care birth control benefit, calling it a, quote, assault on religious liberty. But during her 2017 confirmation hearing, she said this:
BARRETT: It is never appropriate for a judge to impose that judge's personal convictions whether they derive from faith or anywhere else on the law.
BROWN: Democrats were concerned her faith could color her legal opinions, especially when it came to Roe v. Wade.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The dogma lives loudly within you. And that's of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for for years in this country.
BROWN: Another possible nominee, Barbara Lagoa, a Miami-born Cuban- American who Trump's allies have argued could give a campaign edge in the crucial swing state of Florida. Lagoa served on the Florida Supreme Court and was nominated to the 11th Circuit by Trump. In her confirmation hearing, she tied her Scalia-like originalist views to her family's history.
BARBARA LAGOA, NOMINEE, U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE 11TH CIRCUIT: If we are not bound by what the Constitution means, and it's -- and it is ever changing, then we are no different than the country that my parents fled from which is Cuba.
BROWN: But a recent opinion by Lagoa upholding a requirement for fines to be paid by felons before regaining the right to vote could be an issue for Democrats. If chosen, she would be only the second Hispanic on the high court, along side the liberal-leaning Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that she is the daughter of immigrants who fled a communist dictatorship would also be noteworthy for the history books.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And President Trump today also alluded to Michigan native Joan Larson is one of the contenders as well, one of the five women he is currently looking at.
And a source familiar, Erin, tells me that today, Barrett was seen as very impressive during her White House visit and that the meeting with the president went well -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Pamela, thank you very much.
And I want to go now to our chief political analyst Gloria Borger.
So, Gloria, the president today asked about Judge Lagoa and here is what he said.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLPI)
TRUMP: Well, she is excellent. She is Hispanic. She is a terrific woman from everything I know. I don't know her. Florida, we love Florida, so she's got a lot of things.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. So, look --
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: We love Florida.
BURNETT: All right? Okay. The thing about the guy is you got to say, he is not trying to beat around the bush.
BORGER: No, he's not.
BURNETT: Wants to win Florida. She's from Florida. He's not going to pretend that isn't relevant.
BORGER: Right.
BURNETT: But it does beg the question of how much of a role politics will play.
BORGER: A big role. You know, this is not a president who is sitting around reading her opinions I don't think. I think we can safely say that.
And the one thing about Donald Trump is he tells you what he's thinking. She is Hispanic. She's from Florida. She is somebody he is thinking about in terms of this election and he is thinking about this entire process in terms of his election.
He believes that in 2016, he announced his judges after the death of Scalia. He believes that helped him win in 2016, brought over evangelical voters. And I think he believes that he can do that again this time.
I don't think it is as clear because this issue motivates Democrats as well as Republicans this time around.
BURNETT: So Judge Barrett was at the White House today and, obviously, we know she is a top contender. That is clear. He said that before.
Obviously, she's made past comments on abortion that are going to be a lightning rod for Democrats. Recently though, in a case about women who were going into abortion clinics, you know, she held -- upheld the precedent of Roe v. Wade that they could not be harassed by protesters. So, how clear cut is her view on this issue?
[19:50:00]
BORGER: Well, you know, I'm not a legal scholar. Today, Josh Hawley who is very conservative and believes a Roe litmus test should be applied to a nominee said she passes it. So if she passes with a conservative in the Senate, I would presume she would pass it.
What is interesting to me is what you haven't heard from Joe Biden is talk about Roe. What you've heard more from Joe Biden is talk about health care because that is what he wants to emphasize.
BURNETT: Uh-huh.
BORGER: And I think you're going to see that over and over again.
In the fight against Judge Bork, when he was the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Joe Biden didn't emphasize abortion. Biden emphasized the right privacy and contraception.
BURNETT: Right.
BORGER: So, I think he's going to try and find a way around this to tell people, look, this affects your life every single day.
BURNETT: Yes. Right, and, of course, making it about privacy which is the point upon, you know, the number of privacy of Roe, right?
BORGER: Sure.
BURNETT: That would be the broader way to make the argument, I get that.
But on health care, Gloria, what are you hearing how big of a deal he'll make that? You have Affordable Care Act limping into this, right, the mandate taken away and premiums surging and yet, he's arguing that he needs to be protected. How effective will that be?
BORGER: Well, I think it's -- I think it's the Biden play is very effective if he can make it well. You look at people in this country, they're enduring the pandemic. You look at the polling, Biden is at least ten points up on who can most protect my health care and people are -- the Affordable Care About is going to come before the court on November 10th.
So it's right there. It's right in front of you and there are 20 billion people this affects at the very least.
BURNETT: Yes.
BORGER: So, I think it's the argument Biden can make to tie this to COVID, which is, of course, what he wants to continue to talk about after there are 200,000 people dead in this country. He's going to talk about it every single day.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. Gloria.
BORGER: Sure.
BURNETT: And next, campaigning during a pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a volunteer with the Republican Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Going door to door. Can Democrats do it during a pandemic? Can they compete?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:30]
BURNETT: Tonight, the Trump campaign coming face to face with voters, knocking on doors in swing states, despite coronavirus. Can the Democrats compete?
Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a bustling Trump campaign field office in Las Vegas, where phone banking is in full effect --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote in person or by mail.
LAH: -- to the door to door campaigning in the suburbs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you doing? My name is Candy. I'm a volunteer with the Republican Party.
LAH: For team Trump in Nevada, it's the in person race to Election Day.
(on camera): Who would you likely support for the president?
SCOTT SCHEID, SENIOR ADVISOR, STATE OF NEVADA TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Email is okay to persuade voters. Phone call is a little better, but nothing beats face-to-face.
LAH (voice-over): That's political reality says Trump campaign in Nevada, even with the pandemic. With masks and social distancing at the door, Trump campaign volunteers have been doing this since June.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hillary Clinton will carry the state of Nevada.
LAH: The president lost Nevada in 2016 by about 2.5 points. In 2020, he's campaigned here in person holding large indoor rallies, a violation of the state's coronavirus guidelines. The state party says it has more staffers in state now than 2016.
SCHEID: When you're out there knocking, you don't see the other side like you would in years past. You couldn't get away back then.
LAH: That's true says Democratic activist Annette Magnus with Battle Born Progress.
ANNETTE MAGNUS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BATTLE BORN PROGRESS: We're not playing by the same rules. The Republicans don't have rules. I think that's the biggest thing.
This general election --
LAH: Magnus has moved her campaigning for Democrats completely online because of COVID. The Biden campaign remains almost completely virtual in Nevada with the exception of an in person visit by running mate Kamala Harris. Magnus says what's alarming for her, national funding to grassroots to Nevada has slowed during the pandemic.
MAGNUS: Do not forget about places like Nevada. Nevada is a swing state. Nevada is a purple state.
LAH: A few outside groups are just now starting to move in person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I get you registered to vote?
LAH: Among them, Faith Organizing Alliance, which targets voter registration among people of color.
(on camera): As far as the in-person stuff, though, you guys didn't operate for a good portion of the year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For a good six months.
LAH: Nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No paper registration.
LAH (voice-over): But the only Democratic group canvassing a person this year is the Culinary Union, Nevada's largest Democratic get out the vote machine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here is a flier with more information.
LAH: Two hundred members have been knocking on doors since August. They do so cautiously.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We carry masks with us. We have these little tongs to hand them so we don't hand with our hands.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before we start speaking, would you mind putting your mask on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I step back several feet to give myself distance from them.
LAH: The union says more than 400 union workers and family have been hospitalized with COVID. Forty-nine have died.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a little more scary this year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any questions or concerns?
LAH: Magnus warns given COVID's impact on ground game and funding, she worries about Nevada in November.
MAGNUS: I fear if we are not careful and we don't do everything we can, 2016 could happen here like it did in Wisconsin and Michigan, and that's why I have been sounding the alarm.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: So how close is the race in Nevada? The latest "New York Times"/Seana College poll taken before the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg shows Joe Biden at 46 percent, Donald Trump at 42 percent. Given the margin of error, Erin, there is no clear leader in Nevada -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Kyung, thank you very much.
And thanks so much to all of you, as always, for joining us. Don't forget, you can watch OUTFRONT any time on CNN Go.
"AC360" with Anderson starts right now.
