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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Holding Event with Supporters Shoulder-to-Shoulder and Few Wearing Masks as U.S. COVID Deaths Near 200,000; Trump: "Every American" Will have Access to Vaccine by April; Sources: Trump Has Lost Patience with CDC Director As Sober Warnings Contradict Trump's Rosy Messaging; Trump Says Governor Cuomo Wants to Put New York at End of Vaccine List After Cuomo Questions the Politicization of Vaccine; Interview with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo; Sources: Trump Intends to Choose Amy Coney Barrett for SCOTUS. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 25, 2020 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: As President Trump announces his U.S. Supreme Court nomination. Until then, thanks very much for watching.
Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, Trump predicting there may be no winner come election night casting doubt on the ballots and blaming Democrats. Is he pushing the U.S. closer to a constitutional crisis?
Plus, breaking news at this hour out of Louisville, police facing off with protesters, officers firing flashbangs. We're going to go there live to what our reporters are seeing on the ground there.
And the President losing his patience with the CDC Director. He wants faster breakthroughs, he wants rosier predictions, at what cost? Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good Friday evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, crying wolf. President Trump's reelection strategy is coming down to a baseless claim of fraud and deception. Tonight, the President of the United States once again undermining confidence in mail-in voting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, I don't know, with this ballot situation, you're not going to see it November 3rd. Democrats are playing games. You see that. You see they found ballots in a wastepaper basket.
We may end up in a dispute for a long time, because that's the way they want it, but we're going to end up winning, that's for sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, the President there referring specifically to nine Pennsylvania ballots that were thrown in the trash. Now, look, I want to make it clear. We all know every single vote counts and everything must be investigated. But we now need to lay out the facts on this.
These ballots were not part of widespread fraud and context is extremely important. Nine ballots in a state where 2 million have already voted in this election and 6 million voted in 2016 is context. So why is the President bringing up nine ballots? Why is his Attorney General, the Attorney General the United States with everything else going on in this country, look at Louisville, oh, he took the time to personally brief the President of the United States on nine ballots, why?
Well, because it fuels Trump's narrative of a rigged election. He and his allies will take any straw to try to undermine the system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I can confirm for you that Trump ballots, ballots for the President were found in Pennsylvania.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're willing to do anything to cast doubt upon this election or try and get the outcome they want to see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. So hearing this, you think those nine ballots were fraud to hurt Trump, because that is what they want you to hear. So here's what we know, first of all, officials from Luzerne County where the ballots were cast say that the issue was caused by a 'temporary seasonal independent contractor'. This person was on their third day of work helping the elections office.
So then the contractor they say incorrectly threw those ballots in the office trash. They called it an error, the officials did. They say it was quickly noticed, obviously, reported and investigated immediately, proving the county says that the system of checks and balances is working to protect the election. And the county makes it clear that they did not even know who those ballots were for, which would make the point that fraud doesn't add up because if you don't know who it's for, how is it fraud.
Well, it was Bill Barr's Department of Justice that actually took the unprecedented step of not only putting out a press release about nine ballots in Pennsylvania that were caught immediately at the local level, but also telling us who those ballots were for. So they put out this press release and then not only that the Department of Justice then had to correct their press release and say actually, sorry, only seven of the nine ballots were even for Trump.
So it's not just Bill Barr helping Trump cast douibt on the election. Today, the President's Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, jumped into the fray repeating the White House line that Trump will accept results from a quote free and fair election, even though, of course, the President has said if he does not win, it is rigged. So definitionally it's not free and fair if he doesn't win. So Meadows then went on to attack personally the President's own
handpicked FBI Director Chris Wray on this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your own FBI Director says he has seen no evidence of widespread voter fraud by mail or otherwise.
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, with all due respect to Director Wray, he has a hard time finding emails in his own FBI, let alone of figuring out whether there's any kind of voter fraud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I've always had a thing for when people begin a sentence with all due respect, who doesn't just immediately shut down then? So the question is why did Meadows belittle the FBI Director? Well, it was very clear, it was because of what Wray said under oath about voter fraud and mail-in ballots to Congress yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We have not seen historically any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So that's the facts but it is not in line with what President Trump has said again, and again and again.
[19:05:04]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We want to make sure the election is honest and I'm not sure that it can be. I don't know that it can be with this whole situation unsolicited ballots, they're unsolicited, millions being sent to everybody.
It'll end up being a rigged election.
This is just a way they're trying to steal the election and everybody knows that.
The only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged, remember that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That last one is just terrifying. It's unacceptable. Trump is dead set it seems on making sure that everyone believes the election is rigged. And if that means taking down the man that he picked to lead the FBI, one of the nation's most vital institutions, so be it. It doesn't matter to him. This tweet today from one of Trumps most ardent supporters,
Congressman Doug Collins, "While all this new information is coming out, Chris Wray has been silent. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's time for him to resign." To resign? To Chris Wray to resign for telling us the facts on fraud and voting in this election?
It's not just like Chris Wray is on his own here, people making it up. He's not saying something that we have not heard from formal officials who have been in positions like his and seen all this in election after election before who also know the facts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, FMR. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY UNDER PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: It would be impossible essentially at scale to alter mail-in ballots. You have to have millions of people on grabbing ballots out of mailboxes and changing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no anecdotal or historical evidence that suggests the kind of, excuse me, potential massive fraud or massive abuse has occurred or will occur in the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And by the way, both Chertoff and Ridge (ph) worked for Republican President George W. Bush, another powerful Republican, a man who spent his entire career trying to give his party the advantage in elections has also spoken out on this and here's what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been part of Republican election day operations for the last four decades, looking for that very fraud. So far there has been a few smatterings of fraud but no widespread fraud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump does not want to hear that. So he's going to torch anybody who contradicts him.
Kaitlan Collins is OUTFRONT live outside the White House. And Kaitlan, when you look at what happened here in Bill Barr, with this announcement, this press release, putting out who the ballots were for which is unprecedented and hadn't been done on the state level they didn't even know, puts it all out, the President goes out with the talking points. It looks like he's trying to help the President clearly make his case on voter fraud.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, Erin, even if that wasn't Bill Barr's intention, that's the way the President and his staff and his campaign are using it. We've seen the campaign immediately say that it's a proof that Democrats are trying to steal the election. You saw the Chief of Staff today undermining the FBI Director and tying directly the President's refusal twice now to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose to Joe Biden in november to this investigation and to what's going on in Pennsylvania and suggesting there's more to come even though there is no evidence of that.
And it's just these nine discarded military ballots which, of course, we know are counted differently because of the way that they're sent in than a regular mail-in ballot. But you've got to keep in mind, these are nine ballots and every vote does count, but 6 million people voted in Pennsylvania in 2016, so that's important to note as well.
But that's not something that's being mentioned by the White House or the Trump campaign or what you said earlier at the beginning of the show, which is that Justice Department officials don't believe this was intentional fraud. They believe it was improperly trained staff or a poor process that led to these nine ballots being discarded.
That's not something that the President or anyone else inside the White House is mentioning, because they know this fits the narrative that the President has been trying to sell for months, which is that there is widespread voter fraud potentially come November, even though his own official, the FBI Director who the President pick to put in that job said there is no evidence of any kind of coordination on that level. And despite that, they are still undermining Chris Wray someone that the President has been increasingly unhappy with and even those testimony on Capitol Hill, they are happy to say they don't believe he's right and that he should go to North Carolina to figure out what's actually going on.
BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you.
I want to go now to a lifelong Republican who has now endorsed Joe Biden for president, the former Secretary of the Navy in the George H. W. Bush administration, former NASA Administrator in the George W. Bush administration, Sean O'Keefe. And I really appreciate your time, Secretary.
So you are a lifelong Republican. You have always backed Republican candidates and now you are doing something different, backing Democrat Joe Biden. What is it about Trump that made you make this decision?
SEAN O'KEEFE, FMR. NAVY SECRETARY UNDER PRES. GEORGE H. W. BUSH: Well, thanks for the opportunity, Erin. It's nice to be with you.
[19:10:00]
And I believe very firmly in a two-party system that provides alternative views on how to get to the same direction of same outcome, I should say, of a continuation of this two century long plus Democratic experiment we've been in pursuit of and it's worked, it's worked very successfully. Problem is it starts to break down when there isn't a two-party systems that really acts in that way.
And what is evident to me and what really is disconcerting is the Republican values and principles and so forth that I ever associated with the Republican view of things isn't really too evident at this stage in the game, there's little in this administration that resembles that. And worse yet, the platform just a month ago, basically says there is no platform, there is no position. You might as well just endorse whatever it is that the decisions from the White House, the commander chief and the President of the United States constitute, that's it.
So as a consequence, that isn't the same very, very spirited vibrancy that it takes in order to yield collective responsibility for all of those reasons and the fact that again, I think, there's a real difference of how we define what the objective is. It's all about winning at any cost, on policy, on issues or debates, whatever it is. And less about how do you find some way to move the agenda forward to (inaudible) in this remarkable democracy. That's not what's happening and that's not what this administration embraces.
In that case, I find Joe Biden would be far more focused on (inaudible) that objective.
BURNETT: So what do you make of the attacks on FBI Director, Christopher Wray? I mean, he's just come out and spoken the truth, right? It's the facts and it's backed up by anyone who we've been able to find who knows anything about this, including Republicans who've made it their career to challenge every vote in every state. What do you make of the attacks on the FBI director?
O'KEEFE: This is very worrisome for me. You can't rely on the principal federal investigator for law enforcement in the United States to call the investigation as they see it and based on what the investigation tells them. You now start to have citizens who doubt the integrity of that process and doubt the rule of law.
That's a fundamental cornerstone of who we are as Americans and that begins to really unravel between that and just challenging the intelligence community and every other source of our investigative and knowledge as truth is gathered is a really disconcerting situation that's been going on. We hope this is next series of these cases over the past four years.
BURNETT: So the President said he won't he won't commit to a peaceful transition of power. He'll support a free and fair election, but he said this one will not be that if he loses, it's clear from his mouth what he what he thinks. How should military leaders respond, if the President refuses to concede and tries to involve them in this to support him?
O'KEEFE: Well, first and foremost, the President's technique and focus on things is to change the subject as quickly as you can. And this is a very effective way to really motivate everybody, watch this particular objective, and set aside the pandemic or any other issue that we're really responding to as a nation. And instead concentrating on the inference of what he's saying, what he said was, I'm not going to concede an election until such time as everybody votes.
And then he went on to say, and, oh, by the way we'll determine whether that vote is valid or not. And that's far different, I think in many ways than we could ever establish and not assuring a transition. I think the Republican leadership, this was one case where the Republican leadership in the Congress did step up and say, no, we're not going to adhere to anything other than the direction we've taken for the past 200 years.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Secretary O'Keefe, I appreciate your time and I thank you very much for coming on the show.
On the back of the Secretary's comments, I want to go to David Gergen, former Presidential Advisor for Four Presidents. So David, can you imagine any other president that you have known and you've been in Nixon administration, just to remind people, refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer power.
[19:15:01]
Pejoratively attacking the FBI Director for coming out and stating the facts on the most sacred obligation and gift we have in this country, which is our right to choose our leaders?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Erin, as you said earlier in the show for President of the United States to refuse a pledge for peaceful transfer of power is terrifying. That's what you called it. I think it's absolutely right, this is unprecedented. No president in over 200 years has tried to block a peaceful transfer of power. It is unprincipled. It violates the Constitution not only in its spirit, but its words the Constitution says on January 20th of next year, a new president will be sworn in, it could be Trump.
But whoever loses this election on November 3rd is out if he's in office, but this is also unAmerican. I went back and look at Ronald Reagan's inaugural address in 1981, first paragraph of the address is he praises the peaceful transfer of power. Reagan says, we may think of this as ordinary but most nations of the world look upon it as a miracle and then he praised Jimmy Carter for a peaceful transfer of power. That's what we've always been, Donald Trump is way outside the mainstream.
BURNETT: So Joe Biden seems to think that what Trump is saying is a distraction is telling people don't focus on it. He doesn't mean it. Here's what he said when he was asked what would happen if people take to the streets on November 4, when Trump claims victory, and the votes are not fully counted. Here's Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not who we are. No one is going to back him when that occurs, if that were to occur. I think this is just the whole notion of him talking about this, Stephanie, is to take our eye off the ball.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The thing is, though, David is his supporters, Trump's supporters do listen to him. They back him. We talked to a couple of them yesterday with our Boris. Here, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What are the chances do you think that this election might be rigged?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll tell you with the mail-in ballots we don't like, I'll tell you there's a lot of cheating that's been exposed, especially over the last four or five years. See, your president brought this to our attention. So this stuff was going on that nobody really knew about and it just happened and it happened and it happened.
SANCHEZ: On election night, or in the days after, if it shows up that Joe Biden won, in your opinion would that be the only way that Trump could lose, that it would be a rigged election? Is that the only way Joe Biden can win?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. I agree with that. Before there's no way in heck our president is going to lose. But yes, it would be a rigged election, there was some type of cheating went on what have you and I firmly believe that?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So that Trump voter, Trump supporter, that's what he thinks on direct questions from Boris Sanchez. So is Joe Biden making a mistake by not taking this seriously?
GERGEN: Well, I think he'll take it very seriously Tuesday night in this first upcoming presidential debate. I think it's going to be a major issue and Chris Wallace as the moderator, it's certainly going to press Trump to take a pledge and stop beating around the bush and stop being cute about it one way or the other where are we and then I think Biden has no choice but to go in hot and heavy and I imagine he will.
But I think this debate is really, really crucial to settle this issue, because, Erin, there are a lot of reports or a lot of rumors about militias preparing for violence, that there are people already in backstages of things who think that violence is going to break out on election night and they're going to be in the thick of it.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, David Gergen.
GERGEN: Thank you.
And OUTFRONT next, the breaking news, there is a tense situation tonight unfolding in Louisville, police facing off against protesters, flashbangs fire just a short time ago. We're going to go right there to the ground. Our reporter was there and going to tell exactly what they're seeing what happened.
Plus, we are learning President Trump intends to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. What will Kamala Harris' strategy be? She's in the Senate, she's got a question around these hearings. The Senator's chief of staff is my guest.
And as the U.S. hits 7 million coronavirus known cases, the President is said to be losing patience with the head of his CDC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: This facemask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine.
TRUMP: I said to him, what's with the mask?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:09]
BURNETT: Breaking news, these are live pictures out of Kentucky. There has been a standoff taking place between protesters and police in Louisville. Police firing flashbangs during the third straight night of protest, which are beginning amid outrage but no officers were charged directly in the deadly shooting of Breonna Taylor, a large group of protesters there including Taylor's mother, aunt and attorney.
Shimon Prokupecz is there. And Shimon, you can tell us about these flashbangs, tell us what's happening.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes. So the protesters were marching here along Main Street, Erin. And as they approach this intersection here, police lined up, preventing protesters from going any further. There was that confrontation, some of the protesters were actually looking to turn around to try and move away and then officers came from this direction and that is when the officers for no - I couldn't tell as to why they started firing those flashbangs.
You could hear several of them going off. They were firing them in the air. Most of the protesters then ran in the other direction. Eventually, everyone left. Police made a few arrests.
Again, it's important to note here that the protesters were marching peacefully here. Here along the street, many of the residents here were standing on their balconies supporting them. For now they have all dispersed and the police, as you can see, have now left as well, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Obviously, the beginning here of Friday night in Louisville.
I want to go to Jason Carroll who's also there. And Jason, you were there when the protests started and when Breonna Taylor's family joined, what did you see?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, exactly, the protests started at Jefferson Square Park with Breonna Taylor's family, her attorneys and they made it very clear, Erin, that they wanted to make sure that this would be a non-violent protest so it doesn't interfere with their message and that's essentially what it was, as we marched miles through the streets of Louisville into East Louisville to the point where the protesters came along, a line of officers, who again from our vantage point we could not understand why, but then all of a sudden the flashbangs started going off.
[19:25:13] Some of the crowd started to disperse and then you had Pastor Timothy
Findley here who's one of those who started the march in the beginning and you were there as everything happened. You were telling people not to panic and not to give the police what they wanted. Tell me exactly what happened from your point of view.
PASTOR TIMOTHY FINDLEY: We were non-violent. We were peaceful. We were exercising our constitutional right. We were drawing attention to the injustice of Breonna Taylor. We were marching down the street and all of a sudden flashbangs. In the crowd you have children, you have elderly, you have all kinds of people and they shoot flashbangs and it just shows just how corrupt - and they boxed us in, so we didn't have anywhere to go.
So it just shows just how corrupt LMPD is and this is at the feet of the mayor.
CARROLL: And Erin, just so you know very quickly, Timothy Findley also organized another large March during the Kentucky Derby. So you're experience at this fairly, just to wrap up here, what is your goal at this point with all of the hundreds of marching (inaudible) ...
FINDLEY: To keep drawing attention to the fact that Daniel Cameron, Mayor Fischer are responsible for no justice in Breonna Taylor's case. It's ridiculous.
CARROLL: OK, thank you very much.
So the goal at this point, Erin, is to get them back to the park. As you know, the curfew happens at nine o'clock. He says he wants to get as many of these protesters to a safe place, so there are no arrest when curfew kicks in, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Jason, thank you very much.
I want to go now to Charles Ramsey, was a Philadelphia Police Commissioner, also the former D.C. Police Chief. And Chief Ramsey, I know you've been following this every step of the way. So when you hear flashbangs being fired, as we've now heard, what would prompt police to do that?
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, just listening to your two reporters that are actually there, observing everything that's going on, including the march, it doesn't appear that it was necessary for a flashbangs or any other kind of action like that on the part of the police to take place. I have no idea what might have provoked it.
The one thing that you don't want to do is agitate a crowd, you have to respond. Obviously, if the crowd is becoming unruly and you're starting to get property damage and that sort of thing, then you do have to move in. But my understanding based from your two reporters, that was not the case.
So I have no idea why a flashbang or any other kind of munition would have been discharged in a case like this. And if what I'm hearing is true that they were boxed in, which that's something that you don't do, you always give people an avenue to be able to move.
BURNETT: So let me just ask you, Chief, we've got a curfew here in two hours. This is the third night in a row of protest, it's a Friday night. You hear what just Shimon and Jason are saying on the ground, how fragile is this situation right now? How much concern do you have about it? I mean, obviously, you've got both sides, I don't even like to refer to it as both sides, but everybody is on edge.
GERGEN: Well, it's incredibly fragile. I mean, the role of the police is to allow people to demonstrate, to exercise their First Amendment rights, but at the same time, you want to make sure that there's no property damage or anything like that take place. But it's very fragile, remember, the police are actually the focus of the protest.
Well, in a lot of cases when you're when you're called in to handle marchers of whatever, there's some third party that people are upset, maybe it's the government or whatever, but now the focus is the police. So you have to be particularly careful with how you handle, because it won't take much, not only in Louisville, but in other cities that need to be paying attention to this.
It is very fragile. You want to get through tonight. Hopefully, as time goes on, things start to kind of simmer down a little bit. But right now it's pretty doggone tense and it really take much of a spark to really set it off in a very negative way.
BURNETT: Chief Ramsey, thank you very much for your time tonight.
RAMSEY: Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, President Trump accusing New York's Governor of wanting to put New York at the end of the vaccine list. Gov. Cuomo is going to respond next.
Plus, sources telling CNN President Trump intends to nominate judge Amy Coney Barrett to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Biden campaign is OUTFRONT to respond.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:33:38]
BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump losing patience with the head of the CDC, the president's concerns are not over the more than 7 million coronavirus cases or the more than 203,000 Americans who have died.
Instead, sources say, Trump is frustrated his health experts are contradicting him, right? Contradicting his rosy prediction on the virus, the whole rounding the corner thing. Fauci says it's not true. He wants breakthroughs, the president does. They're not delivering them.
One official telling CNN morale at the CDC is low as they've ever seen it.
OUTFRONT now, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, director of the cardiac cath lab at G.W., also a medical advisor for the George W. Bush. And, William Haseltine, a groundbreaking HIV-AIDS researcher, also former professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Reiner, let me just start with you. How long can Redfield stay in his position with the public rebukes that we've seen? I mean, you know, when it comes to masks, when it comes to everything? The president obviously wants someone to give him a yes, and Redfield's not.
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Right. I think Dr. Redfield is undoubtedly felt that despite the constant undermining of his position over the last several months by the president that his role there as a firewall of sorts was essential. But as we get closer to the election, you wonder if that's going to continue.
Look, we're not just re-electing a president. We're re-hiring our pandemic response. And people like Dr. Redfield who have been marginalized and whose efforts have been countermanded in many ways can tell the public the truth.
[19:35:09]
And it might be time for the director to resign and tell the public to truth because we need to decide on who is going to manage the pandemic going forward.
BURNETT: So you think that Redfield should resign and tell people the pressure he's been under and take a stand here.
I mean, Professor Haseltine, I want to be clear on what the president has done, right? He has publicly undercut the CDC director on crucial thing after crucial thing, two of which are vaccines and masks. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: If you're asking me when is it going to be generally available to the American public so we can begin to take advantage of vaccine to get back to our regular life, I think we're probably looking at third -- late second quarter, third quarter 2021.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I think he made a mistake when he said that. It's just incorrect information. And I called him, and he didn't tell me that. And I think he got the message maybe confused.
REDFIELD: I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine.
TRUMP: When I called up Robert today, I said to him, what's with the mask? He said, I think I answered that question incorrectly. I think maybe he misunderstood it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: Professor, how much damage does it do when the president so blatantly undermines his head of the CDC on these most crucial issues, vaccines and masks?
WILLIAM HASELTINE, GROUNDBREAKING HIV/AIDS RESEARCHER: Well, and don't forget aerosols that he recently undermined as well, which is absolutely critical for our young children and all of us for that matter.
I've also thought of asking my good friend Dr. Redfield, isn't it time to resign like Dr. Reiner just said. But who will come in his stead? Another Dr. Atlas, one that is advocating a policy which would result in millions of Americans dying of COVID and having no real benefit because this virus keeps coming on back. There is no such thing as herd immunity and herd immunity means 2 to 6 million Americans dying.
Is that who will take his place? Is that what we want?
So, it's a very tough call for my very good friend, and I do not envy his position.
BURNETT: Well, I appreciate both of you taking the time. I am sure it is something he's struggling with.
HASELTINE: It's a very tough decision, yes.
BURNETT: And it would -- it would rock -- it would rock the country. It would rock the world if it was a statement he would make. And I see your point as to why you think perhaps he should.
Thank you both very much.
I want to continue on this and go to some more breaking news. On the vaccine front, President Trump is now threatening to put New York last in line for a vaccine, tweeting: Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York wants to put New York at the end, caps, of the vaccine list, in that he doesn't trust the FDA or federal government even though the vaccines are being developed by the finest labs in the world. Wish he trusted us on nursing homes.
This comes after Cuomo said the state will conduct its own review of the potential coronavirus vaccine. Here's the governor of New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: Frankly, I'm not going to trust the federal government's opinion. And I wouldn't recommend to New Yorkers based on the federal government's opinion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, joins me now on the phone.
So, Governor, the president says that -- well, that you want to put New York last, in the end of the vaccine list because you don't trust the FDA. What do you say to the president?
CUOMO (via telephone): What a shock, Erin, the president of the United States threatening someone, threatening a state, threatening to withhold a vaccine? I'm shocked.
Look, this is President Trump. And what he does is he threatens and he bullies. He is the one, yesterday, who said that the FDA was making a political move when Dr. Hahn said that he wanted to have outside observers test the vaccine.
Fifty-two percent of the American people say they wouldn't take the vaccine. That they just -- they don't trust the federal government when it comes to this.
So, I said New York will review the vaccine and the efficacy itself. I'm not going to say to the people of this state, my state that they should trust the president on COVID. I'm not going to say they should be trust -- they should trust the FDA or any of these federal agencies, which we know have been politicized by this president almost on a daily basis.
Today with the CDC, where called up -- as he says, he called up Dr. Redfield to tell him that he didn't like what he was saying.
[19:35:07]
They can't do public health because Trump wants them to be his political operatives.
BURNETT: So, I just want to make it clear because it's -- it's a huge thing to say and I know many Americans share this concern, right, the concern about the vaccine. You pointed out the numbers.
But you are saying you don't trust an FDA review, that you think it's so politicized you cannot actually trust the FDA when they say there's a COVID vaccine, Governor?
CUOMO: The FDA said they want to bring in outside observers as part of the process to provide comfort to the American people. Trump said he didn't think that was necessary -- as if he's an expert on science and public health, and that he might overrule the FDA.
So, the American people don't trust the process. I don't trust the process. This is a president who you know calls health officials and tells them what he wants done politically.
So, I think it would actually serve the public if they knew there was a bona fide review because you don't want to come out with a vaccine that people are afraid to take.
BURNETT: A hundred percent.
Now, the companies have come out in the unprecedented way and said that they are not going to put anything out that isn't safe. I understand the points you're making, Governor. But are you worried that you are actually adding to people's unwillingness to take a vaccine and to vaccine fears by saying what you're saying? Which is -- you just said, quote, I don't trust the process.
CUOMO: Look, the president said it first. He said the FDA is making a political move. If the president calls his own FDA political, Erin, how could you trust the FDA when they say the vaccine is good when the president just said they're political?
He appointed them. They work for him. He said they're political, right? That's the president.
BURNETT: So, then what are you going to do? You have a process to review an approval?
CUOMO: Look, New York, we have some of the best research universities and hospitals on the globe, and we will have them review whatever the FDA says and the efficacies and the protocols and the tests that they took. I think that will actually enhance the credibility of the process.
You know, it's one thing the drug companies say we won't put out anything that's safe. These are private sector companies. Yes, they want to provide a vaccine and they want to do good on public health.
BURNETT: Yeah.
CUOMO: But they're private sector companies. And they also want to get their vaccine out the door. And that's why the FDA is supposed to be checking it, right, not expediting it.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Governor Cuomo. I appreciate your time tonight.
CUOMO: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, sources telling CNN, Trump intends to pick Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill Judge Ginsburg's Supreme Court seat. If he does, will Kamala Harris leave the campaign trail to meet with her?
Plus, Trump won Pennsylvania by less than one percentage point, and the concerns are growing that as many as 100,000 ballots could be rejected there, one of the state's top election officials is OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:47:09]
BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump intends to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be the new Supreme Court justice, multiple senior Republican sources telling CNN. These sources caution the president could change his mind, but the expectation is that he will announce her nomination at 5:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow.
Barrett is currently a federal appeals court judge. He's a former clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia and a favorite among social conservatives.
She's also the mother of seven children, including two adopted from Haiti.
OUTFRONT now, Karine Jean-Pierre, chief of staff to vice presidential nominee, Senator Kamala Harris.
Karine, I'm glad to see you.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, CHIEF OF STAFF TO VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE, SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS: Good to see you.
BURNETT: So, the Biden campaign today announces Senator Harris is going to be traveling to North Carolina on Monday when, of course, there will be a nominee, we anticipate Judge Amy Coney Barrett, to the Supreme Court. And Senator Harris is going to be in North Carolina talking about what's at stake with the nomination.
What's her message going to be?
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, her message is going to be what it's been for the past few weeks. She's travelled to Wisconsin, Michigan, recently, where she went to Detroit and Flint. She's been to Pennsylvania, Florida. She's excited to be going to North Carolina where she's going to make that contrast, that contrast between the leadership of Donald Trump and the leadership of what a Biden/Harris administration will look like.
Look, one of the things that we have to remember and not forget is that right now this president and his administration is in the court trying to take away health care, trying to tear down ACA, and that means 20 million Americans will not have health care if he succeeds. And that's what she's going to talk about. And all of this is happening, right, he's trying to do this in the middle of a pandemic where more than 200,000 people in this country alone have died.
BURNETT: All right. So, she's going to -- she's going to talk about the Affordable Care Act, which, of course, will be in front of the Supreme Court. Of course, the reason I'm asking this, Karine, is Senator Harris may be the most watched Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, not maybe, she's going to be the most watched Democrat on the Judiciary Committee when the confirmation hearings begin, right?
She's a sitting senator. She's going to be in the room. And, in fact, you know, part of what catapulted her to national notice was, you know, her hearings, right, when she's been drilling witnesses, like Brett Kavanaugh, the last Supreme Court nominee she questioned. She had the most memorable moments like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Can you think of any laws that give government power decisions to make about the male body?
BRETT KAVANAUGH, THEN-SUPREME COURT JUSTICE NOMINEE: I'm happy to answer a more specific question.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: It was a key moment, that dead pause. Are we going to see that sort of questioning from Senator Harris this time?
JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, one of those moments I'm sure many reasons Joe Biden selected her to be on the ticket.
Look, Kamala Harris is going to fight for the people.
[19:50:01]
She's going to fight for justice. She understands what's at stake with the Supreme Court justice pick. And so, she's going to continue to do that.
And here's the thing I have to say, Erin. We are less than 40 days until this election. The people should be deciding who the next president is going to be, and they should elect that president. And that president should decide who the nominee is going to be.
And that is where we should be with this, not trying to pack the court. We should be allowing the people people's voices to be heard before we move forward with this. And I want to say to evening listening, to folks really upset about this and do not like the way this process is going, call your senator and then go out and vote. That is how we get to the next phase of this.
BURNETT: So, in terms of handling this, right, Judge Amy Coney Barrett has had an incredible career. She is a known judge.
At least three judiciary Democrats, those Senators Hirono, Jeff Merkley and Bob Casey, have said they will not meet with her. They won't even meet with the president's nominee. Doug Jones announcing today the senator, he will vote against whomever the president picks, no matter who it is.
Will Senator Harris take that sort of stand? Will she meet with Amy Coney Barrett, if she's the nominee?
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, we'll see who he nominates -- who Donald Trump nominates tomorrow. I have to tell you, though, Erin, it's not about the name.
What voters care about is health care, equal right for equal pay. They care about LGBTQ rights. They care about clean air, clean water. That is what matters.
We're just talking about COVID-19 and the pandemic and what Donald Trump is trying to do right now. One of the things we're learning about is the complications of COVID-19 and it potentially becoming a preexisting condition. That's what people care about. They care about if this person is selected, are they still going to have protections for preexisting conditions? That is what voters care about.
BURNETT: All right. Karine, thank you so much for your time tonight.
JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you, Erin. BURNETT: And next, fears mounting in Pennsylvania where up to 100,000
votes could be rejected, which is double the margin of victory in the last election. One of the state's top election official is sounding the alarm. He's OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:11]
BURNETT: New tonight, key swing states with a huge surge for mail in ballots including Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has seen almost 2.2 million ballot requests as of Thursday, eight times more than the numbers of votes cast before the 2016 election in that way. Pennsylvania is a state President Trump won by 44,000 votes, which is less than a percentage point and that is why this is a big deal.
Top election officials is now warning that up to 100,000 ballots in that state are at risk of being thrown out. You can do that math. That's more than double the margin of victory last time around in an incredible narrow victory.
So, why might these ballots be thrown out? It's because the state Supreme Court in Pennsylvania ruled voters' ballots like the one you see on the left must be placed in the middle envelope, the secrecy envelope and then putting the mailing envelope.
So, if you don't have the secrecy envelope, your vote won't count.
OUTFRONT now, the Pennsylvania election official sounding the alarm about this, Lisa Deeley.
Let me ask you about this, Lisa. So, you've been sounding the alarm. You have been screaming as loud as you can this could be the biggest issue with the election in your state. By the way, that could mean the biggest issue for the country overall. Why?
LISA DEELEY, ELECTION OFFICIAL WARNS SECRECY ENVELOPES COULD CAUSE "ELECTORAL CHAOS": Yeah, really. We are -- we are sounding the alarm. We appreciate you taking the time to let us sound it on your show.
We know that Pennsylvania, this is the first time we are able to vote by mail with no excuse. We've seen just in Philadelphia county already 290,000 requests for mail in ballots. When you think about that number, and the numbers, you know is likely to increase, it's only the end of September, people are voting for the first time by mail. People have a tendency so not read instructions.
You get your ballot vote on it. You put it in an envelope and put that envelope in another envelope. It's not a normal way to mail letters.
We are also one of only 16 states that require a secrecy envelope or sleeve. So, the whole thing really has me worked up because we want to make sure we're not disenfranchising voters under the cover of law.
BURNETT: Right. I mean, if everything else about the ballot is clean except for the envelope, I understand. I also just -- I pointed out the margin that you had that you see happening is double the margin of victory last time around. This is not a small thing.
So I know you're going to be doing -- I was talking to your lieutenant governor the other day, this massive campaign to try to get people to be able to do this right. Do you think it even going to work and I guess, Lisa, I'm also wondering, do you think you know everything? Like are you sure this is going to be the biggest issue? Or are you worried with all these new voters and new requests, that there is something you're not aware of yet that's a problem?
DEELEY: You know, time will tell. You know, It is a new process. It's all new requests. There is more people voting.
It's the busiest election in the cycle. There is much more attention paid to it. You know, we don't know what to expect. So, that's why when we -- when we see things we know are coming down the pike, we have to take responsibility.
BURNETT: One quick question, I'm short on time but I want to ask you about those nine ballots, right, in Luzerne County, and now, it turns out some of them for Trump, the Department of Justice had said all nine were.
Do you know anything more about that? Do you think we'll see more incidents like that?
DEELEY: No, I'm sorry, I don't know anything more about that.
BURNETT: All right. And you did keep it very short.
Lisa, thank you very much. I appreciate your time tonight. I hope that you're sounding the alarm means this does not become a big issue on those ballots. Thank you again.
DEELEY: Me too, thank you.
BURNETT: And thanks very much to all of you for joining us on this Friday night. Have a good weekend. We'll see you Monday.
"AC360" with Anderson begins right now.
