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CNN Live Event/Special

Trump And Biden Square Off In Key States Two Days Before Election; Trump Makes Campaign Stop In Iowa; Biden Cancels Texas Event. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired November 01, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:00:50]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Down to the wire. Two days to Election Day 2020. The stakes are high, and so are tensions. The campaigns making their final pushes on the trail. Happening this hour, Vice Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris speaking in Georgia, a state that has become a battleground for both camps. In Texas, the Biden campaign was forced to cancel a scheduled stop after this scene -- Trump supporters in vehicles seemingly harassing, slowing down a Biden/Harris campaign bus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Look at that. Oh, my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Biden camp calling 911 and canceling its scheduled Austin, Texas, event out of an abundance of caution. Neither Biden nor Harris was on board the bus.

President Trump appearing to endorse these tactics, posting another video on Twitter with the words "I love Texas."

All this with just 48 hours left for candidates to make their closing argument. Today both campaigns are laser focused, crisscrossing at least six key states. We have reporters across the campaign trail covering these critical last few hours of this monumental election.

Let's start in Iowa where the president will be speaking in the next hour. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is there right now. Jeremy, Iowa is a state Trump won by nearly 10 points in 2016. Yet he still feels the need to campaign there today? Why?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This state, the race has been tighter here than the president perhaps expected. It does appear to be tilting in these final days of the election back toward the president, but nonetheless, President Trump having to play defense here in Iowa as he is in so many states across the country that he won back in 2016. The president stopped in Michigan earlier today, another state that he narrowly won in 2016, and he's got three more stops after he comes here to Iowa as he campaigns in this mad dash to Election Day.

Now, what we had heard from the president during his last stop is once again continuing to try and draw contrast with Joe Biden on this issue of the coronavirus pandemic. We know that the president has been holding events like this one where you have hundreds or sometimes thousands of people closely packed together. Very few people actually wearing masks. Now, here in Iowa, it appears that about half -- excuse me, about half the folks are wearing masks here at this rally.

But nonetheless, the president is trying to paint Joe Biden's position as one where he wants to have this kind of permanent lockdown, which is not at all what the former Vice President Joe Biden has actually described. President Trump for his part is trying to really deny reality here as it relates to this pandemic. Insisting that the surge that we are all seeing across the country in terms of cases, hospitalizations, and even deaths, the president insisting that it is not happening.

But now, Fredricka, we also know that President Trump is expected to move his election night party perhaps. He was expected to hold this party at the Trump Hotel in Washington. Now sources telling CNN that the president may instead hold an election night party at the White House. That will allow him to bypass those coronavirus regulations in Washington, D.C., and host perhaps dozens if not hundreds of people inside the White House for an election night party. Fred?

WHITFIELD: OK. And then, Jeremy, the president you know tweeting out a video of his supporters surrounding a Biden campaign bus in Texas. What more do we know about the message he's sending, why he decided to do that, et cetera?

DIAMOND: Yes. Well, we saw that scene as you were showing that video in your intro there, Fredricka. You know, several Trump supporters in trucks and cars surrounding this Biden/Harris campaign bus in Texas. And it appears that federal authorities -- that the authorities in Texas are looking into that situation.

But the president for his part, he didn't have any words of condemnation or criticism for those Trump supporters who appeared to come dangerously close to that Biden campaign bus. Instead, the president taking to Twitter to say, "I love Texas," appearing to almost endorse the actions of the Trump supporters who were surrounding that bus. The Biden campaign for its part has said that it canceled several stops in Texas as a result of that situation. Fred?

[13:05:09]

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for that. So, the Biden campaign now slamming President Trump for tweeting out that video of his supporters swarming a Biden campaign bus in Texas. And then the president saying, "I love Texas." Biden's spokesmen -- spokesperson responding by calling out the Trump team for leaving a large crowd stranded in the cold after the president's Pennsylvania rally. Partly due to a shortage of shuttle buses, tweeting - and this is the Biden camp tweeting this - "Maybe you should spend more time worrying about those buses than ours."

CNN's M.J. Lee is in Philadelphia where Joe Biden will be hosting his first event of the day in just a couple of hours. M.J.?

M.J. LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. Well, it is not a mistake that we are seeing Joe Biden ending his campaign where it really all started. You know that his first event, campaign event as a candidate was in Pittsburgh, and his campaign headquarters is based here in Philadelphia. And just a couple of hours, we're going to see the former vice president speak at a Baptist church right behind me.

And of course, you know that he was also born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, so a lot of reasons, again, why it would make sort of personal sense for Biden to spend much of the last 48 hours of the campaign in the state. But of course, there are huge political reasons why his campaign would be focused here, as well. One of the biggest and most obvious paths of the Biden campaign can see to getting to that 270 electoral votes. It runs through the rustbelt. And of course, includes the state of Pennsylvania, a state that Hillary Clinton lost back in 2016.

And interestingly, Biden's senior adviser, Anita Dunn, told Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" earlier today that they are feeling good about the fact that they feel like there are multiple paths of getting to 270 on election night. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANITA DUNN, BIDEN CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: We feel confident about where we are, and we feel very confident about our pathways to victory. You know, usually at this point in a campaign the number of states where you're competing tends to shrink. You know, the closer you get to election, the smaller the number.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And something else that we heard Anita Dunn saying is that one thing that is keeping her at night - keeping her up at night these days is making sure that every vote actually gets counted. And as we have been talking about all week, Pennsylvania could be and is expected to be one of those states where it just takes us a little while longer than past election night to know what the actual results are. So, we want to make sure that everybody is expecting that and that that is not out of what the expectations are right now.

I will also just note that it is interesting that we are seeing the Biden campaign, including Biden himself, stressing a lot lately that they are really not wanting to take anything for granted. And a part of that strategy is to make sure that they are campaigning not just in the rustbelt, not just spending their resources and time here, but also making sure that they are pouring time and resources into other places that might be a little bit more difficult, a little bit more competitive.

So, we are talking about states like Texas, like Georgia, like North Carolina. And I should note, Georgia and North Carolina are the two states where we expect to see Biden's running mate, Kamala Harris, campaigning today. Fred?

WHITFIELD: In fact, very soon -- soon there where you are will be Biden, very soon in Georgia, in Duluth, Georgia just outside out of Atlanta. Kamala Harris will be there. And right now, in the lead up to seeing the Vice Presidential Nominee Harris. This is former Georgia Democratic governor candidate Stacey Abrams there before that crowd just outside of Atlanta ahead of Kamala Harris' arrival.

All right. Early voter turnout this year is breaking records like never before. More than 91 million Americans have already voted including in key battleground states that are critical for either nominee to win the White House.

We have reporters this these key states starting with CNN's Gary Tuchman in Delaware, Ohio. So, Gary, a lot of enthusiasm around early voting this year in the buckeye state included.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Fred. And Delaware County is just north of the state capital of Columbus. And we can tell you that there's a lot of enthusiasm in this county for early voting. But right now, at about 60 percent of their total vote for 2016 was from the early voting.

Behind me are some of the 200,000 citizens who live in this county. This is also the birthplace of the 19th president of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes. They share that heritage with the president of the United States.

We can tell you, there are a lot of days here in the state of Ohio for early voting. This is a Sunday - it's one of only five states that has early voting on Sunday. This is the 23rd day of early voting in Ohio. Tomorrow will be the 24th day.

[13:10:03]

So, there are lots of days and lots of hours, but not lots of locations. It is law in Ohio that each and every one of the 88 counties is only allowed to have one location for early voting. Now I talked to the Republican secretary of state a short time ago. He told me that he would like to see in the future more locations per county. But it's up to the legislature to do that.

What they do have in here in Ohio is a lot of tolerance for late absentee ballots. You have to have your absentee ballot postmarked by tomorrow, but you're allowed to have the mail deliver it up until November 13th. 10 days after the election. And I talked to the secretary of state about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK LAROSE (R), OHIO STATE OF SECRETARY: Every legally cast ballot deserves to be counted and will be counted by our boards of elections and reported as part of our final certified result at the end of November.

TUCHMAN: Which is 10 days after Election Day. So, without any pressure on your shoulders as a Republican secretary of state, when the president talks about, he wants the results by November 3rd, you don't agree with that?

LAROSE: That's not the way elections work. It's just simply not. It's not the way election work in Ohio or most any other state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Polls show the race too close to call here in the state of Ohio. Now we go to the battleground state of Florida and my colleague Randi Kaye.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Gary. This is the final day of early in-person voting here in the state of Florida. And we are breaking records. 8.7 million people have already voted here in the state of Florida in the early voting process. That's well over 50 percent of the registered voters here in the state.

So, if you want to look at who is voting, there's a professor at the University of Florida who digs pretty deep on this stuff. And he said that only about 43 percent of the independent voters or NPAs as they call them here in the state, no party affiliation, have voted. So the question is who did they vote for, where are the rest of them, they planning to sit this out, or will they come out and vote in person on Election Day since this is the last day, the final hours of early voting.

In 2016, those independents who voted on Election Day did break for Donald Trump. Another thing that professor found is that many young people haven't voted yet. Only about 39 percent of those 18 to 23 have voted compared to 70 percent of those 65 and over. And if you break it down by race, this professor says that African-American and Hispanic voters are lagging white voters about 7 percentage points. We talked to one voter who came out early today to vote about that and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's definitely great excitement amongst African-American, Latinos. It's hard to say, I think a lot, too, has to do with absentee ballot. A lot is going in the mail this year. Rather than seeing a lot of folks here at the polls in this area. But I truly believe a lot of people are still voting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And getting that African-American and Latino vote is a huge part of the Biden strategy. It's why Kamala Harris made three stops here yesterday. It's why Barack Obama is coming back here tomorrow. No Republican candidate has won the -- won the White House without the state of Florida since 1924, Calvin Coolidge. No doubt the Biden campaign is trying to deny Donald Trump a win here in this state. So, they are trying to eat into those margins.

And now let's check in to Polo Sandoval in Nashua, New Hampshire. POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Randi, so with the Trump campaign is hoping to do here in New Hampshire is try to break that 20-year trend. You see not since 2000 have those four electoral votes in New Hampshire been awarded to a Republican presidential candidate. So, that is why in fact the president even visited the state a week ago, why he continues to send in surrogates to speak to voters. Because boy, have they been involved in the state of New Hampshire.

The Secretary of State reporting that close to a quarter million absentee ballots were requested. Out of those, over 181,000 have already been returned. That is more than twice the amount of absentee ballot that were submitted during election 2016.

And as you can imagine, come Tuesday, counting those will be a monumental task. And that's one of the reasons why we've been seeing multiple efforts here, including this partial preprocessing of all of these ballots. That means that volunteers, election officials for the last several days and will continue to do this tomorrow, have been removing that outer envelope and then putting that other envelope containing the actual ballot aside for Tuesday.

Clerks here telling us that the benefits there are twofold. Not only does that -- one less thing to worry about on what will be a busy Election Day, but it also allows volunteers and election officials to identify ballots that were perhaps improperly submitted or maybe not even signed. And in those cases, those ballots are rejected.

Those voters are contacted by election officials and given the opportunity to actually rectify that issue because obviously, Fred, every vote is counted right now here in New Hampshire. It is a critical state during the primary and it's certainly a key state or at least a state to watch come Election Day, as well, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Among many. Polo, Randi, Gary, thanks to all of you. Really appreciate it.

All right. After a race like no other, it ends here.

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Join us for special live coverage the way only CNN can bring it to you. From the first votes to the critical count, understand what's happening in your state and across the country. Election night in America. Our special coverage starts Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

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WHITFIELD: All right. This just in. Just moments ago. White House Adviser Dr. Scott Atlas apologizing after he gave an extensive jaw- dropping interview on the Kremlin-controlled propaganda TV network RT. And according to the footage, Atlas did this from the White House.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. SCOTT ATLAS, WHITE HOUSE PANDEMIC ADVISER: Lockdowns have been one of the -- will go down as an epic failure of public policy by people who refuse to accept they were wrong, were wrong, refuse to accept they were wrong, didn't know the data, didn't care, and became a frenzy of stopping COVID-19 cases at all costs. And those costs are massive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's bring in Sarah Westwood at the White House. So, Sarah, what is being said now about this apology and really about the circumstances of the interview?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Fred. After a backlash over the fact that Dr. Scott Atlas did that interview and did it from the White House, Dr. Atlas is saying he did not know that RT was a Russian propaganda arm when he did the interview. He tweeted out an apology that I want to read to you.

I really - "I recently did an interview with RT and was unaware they are a registered foreign agent. I regret doing the interview and apologize for allowing myself to be taken advantage of. I especially apologize to the national security community who is working hard to defend us."

You know it's not just the fact that Dr. Atlas did this interview, but also that he used the interview to peddle some misleading information. He, for example, questioned the predictions of models that are guessing that many more people could die of coronavirus. He also suggested that the lockdowns are more dangerous than the spread of the pandemic. That's the kind of message that we've heard from Dr. Atlas in the past.

But there are others on the task force who are clearly worried about Dr. Atlas' growing influence, and this is just the latest controversy that he has sparked. Dr. Anthony Fauci took aim at Dr. Atlas in an interview with "The Washington Post" yesterday saying that a lot of the things he says just don't make sense. He's also accused Dr. Atlas of cherry-picking data to fit the things that he's telling the president.

Dr. Atlas has caused controversy in the past, as well. For example, just recently he posted on Twitter questioning the efficacy of masks even though the pandemic task force obviously recommends that everyone wear a mask everywhere that they are in public. That tweet was removed by Twitter for promoting misinformation. So, this is just another headache that Dr. Atlas has caused for this White House as he serves as a close medical adviser to the president, despite we should mention not having experience in infectious disease.

WHITFIELD: So, Sarah, this makes it more confusing though because if Atlas is saying he didn't know RT, when he said yes to the interview, that means that there were people in the White House that didn't know as well if he's actually doing the interview from the White House or he did that in his own bubble, no one knew that he was doing an interview whatsoever with RT? WESTWOOD: Yes, Fred. Well we tried to get an answer from the White House about this this morning. About whether they knew that Dr. Atlas was doing that interview, whether it was approved. Some of the other task force members as CNN has reported before do have to go through a series of approvals to appear on various media platforms. And some of their requests for just normal media outlets have been denied by this White House as they seek to sort of streamline and really control the pandemic response message coming out of this White House.

So, it's unclear if Dr. Atlas is constrained by those same approval processes that have been put on other medical advisers. But he is the one really with the least amount of experience who's advising the president on his public health response. So that he was able to go on RT, which is a very well-known Kremlin-operated station, really raises a lot of questions about how the White House is vetting Dr. Atlas' appearances, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brian Stelter, CNN chief media correspondent, is also with us. So, Brian, I don't know, what's worse, that you know he did the interview or that he didn't know about RT? That no one seemed to know that he was doing this interview with RT and at the White House?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I think what's worst is that he did not know that he was talking to a Kremlin propaganda network. Fred, every American knows what Russia today is. I just find it unbelievable that he says he didn't know about the background of this network that's been in the news for many years.

So, it's embarrassing on that level. It also speaks to a story we've been covering for four years which is dysfunction in the White House. The idea that there's not a vetting process. Sort of processes that exist in normal White House. And as we just mentioned, Dr. Anthony Fauci finds himself restricted from going on TV sometimes. Yet Atlas is out there doing whatever he wants.

So, I suppose it's good that he apologized, but it's embarrassing that he was out in the beginning doing this to begin with.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brian Stelter, Sarah Westwood, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

All right. I want to take you to Georgia right now, outside of Atlanta. Duluth, Georgia, there you see Vice Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris stumping. Let's listen in.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The seriousness of this. He lied to the American people. And this is now where we are. And on top of it, he has the gall to be in court with his boy, Bill Barr, trying to sue to get rid of the Affordable Care Act that President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden passed that brought health care to over 20 million people that didn't have it.

[13:25:14]

That for the first time gave protections to people with preexisting conditions. Honk if you know somebody with diabetes.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Honk if you know somebody with high blood pressure, with lupus -- surviving breast cancer.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And they want to take it away. They want to sue to get rid of it.

So, you have that on the one hand. On the other hand, you have Joe Biden. Joe Biden who says we need to expand Obamacare, we need to expand it to the point we bring down the cost of prescriptions drugs, bring down the cost of premiums, bring down the age of Medicare eligibility to age 60.

Joe Biden who says we understand that when we're talking about health care, the body doesn't just start from the neck down. It includes the neck up, and that's called mental health care.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

There's a very clear choice in this election. Let's look at the crises that we are facing in terms of this economic crisis. Over 30 million people filed for unemployment in just the last several months. Here in Georgia, one in eight households is describing a member of their household if not the entire household as being hungry.

Here in Georgia, one in five households is describing an inability or concern about their ability to pay rent.

Here in Georgia, one in four small businesses has gone out of business, potentially never able to reopen.

And again, Georgia, there's a real clear difference. On the one hand you have Joe Biden who on the subject of the economy when asked about it, how's the economy doing, what Joe says is, well, you tell me how are working people doing. How are working families doing? Joe says, we need to deal with the -

WHITFIELD: All right. The Republican stronghold, now the swing state of Georgia. You see Vice Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris. President Trump on his way to Georgia later on this evening. We'll be right back.

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[13:31:47]

WHITFIELD: All across the country, this presidential election has escalated tensions so high that cities are putting hurricane preparation-like measures into place. Boarding up for potential post- election unrest. CNN's Brynn Gingras joins us now outside Macy's iconic flagship store in New York City which boarded up Friday. Brynn, what more can you tell us about that move? There you are in the studio actually. Sorry about that. BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's OK, Fred. Macy's is one of those places you showed on the screen. Boarded up. Bloomingdales, the high-end shopping section of New York City, Soho, also landmarks like the empire state building.

Now, we saw all of this sort of happen after the death of George Floyd over the summer. But before that, it was decades before New York City has seen precautions taken to this level. Like you said, we're really seeing this all across the country.

And it's private businesses, we're also learning from security consulting firms that they have seen in the last few weeks more and more calls of -- from businesses who are basically asking them help us prepare for the worst case scenario. And I was talking to a source who essentially said they have never seen this sort of action, this sort of precaution taken when it was surrounding an election.

So certainly, this is unprecedented. Not just businesses were also law enforcement, of course, all across this country, preparing for what possibly could come and talking to sources, you know, there are concerns really are anywhere you look in this country, but major concerns or at least they're heightened in states where they're battleground states, right, where also states where the votes may not be decided by Tuesday. Those are some major concerns.

But we're talking about widespread protests. We're talking about voter intimidation incidents which we've already seen. Domestic terrorism threats, also extreme groups possibly having feuds with each other in the streets of America. There are so many things that law enforcement has been training for, for several weeks to prepare for, not just on Tuesday, but possibly the week and weeks after to come.

And of course, this has only been heightened by tension that we've seen play out in rhetoric on social media, also in political speeches, particularly from the president. You know when I was talking to one person today, Fred, who said she doesn't even plan to leave her apartment here in New York City on Tuesday and afterwards for fear for what she may see on the streets here just in New York City. This isn't even about a battleground state. But there's just so much anxiety and, of course, tension, that is just rising, boiling up to Tuesday and afterwards. Fred?

WHITFIELD: Yes, high anxiety for sure. All right. Thank you so much Brynn Gingras. Appreciate it.

All right. Next hour, President Trump will speak in Iowa. The second of five states that he plans to visit today. This as Vice President Joe Biden focuses on the crucial state of Pennsylvania.

Joining me right now to discuss, Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst and a senior editor at "The Atlantic" and Nathan Gonzales, a CNN political analyst and editor and publisher of "Inside Elections." Good to see both of you.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Fred. WHITFIELD: Ron, what does this tell you about you know what these candidates are thinking right now? You've got Trump heading to Iowa, which he won, but Obama won Iowa back in 2008. And then you've got you know Biden who is focusing on Pennsylvania. What does this tell you about these campaigns, their concerns about clinching enough delegates and support to win the White House?

[13:35:08]

BROWNSTEIN: Well, in the broad sense, the itinerary is the message. Biden is on the offense. Kamala Harris is in Georgia. She was in Texas on Friday, states that people a year ago could not have imagined Democrats would be in on the last weekend of the election. Donald Trump is in Iowa, a state that people could not have imagined that he would be for the other reason. Because as you say, it was solidly Republican.

Now having said that, I think Joe Biden is laser focused on what -- what he believes is the shortest path back to the White House for Democrats. Kamala Harris has closed out on kind of a sunbelt tour. She's done Arizona. She's done Georgia. She's done Texas. She's done Florida.

Joe Biden is ending where he began in the rustbelt. You know, I think he has believed from the beginning that the best way back to the White House is to recapture the three states that Trump dislodged from the blue wall in 2016, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, he hasn't traveled that much. But when he has traveled, he has focused on those states. And the fact that he is going to be in southwest Pennsylvania for most of Monday I think is really revealing of something, Fred.

They understand that the way you win these states is not only to run up the score where you are strong, but to just slightly reduce the deficits where you are weak. And the big thing he brings to the table for Democrats is the potential to just shave off a little bit of Trump's margin and those white blue-collar communities that was so central to his victory last time.

WHITFIELD: And Nathan, adding to that is a last-minute or at least we understand it to be a last-minute decision for Biden to go to Cleveland, Ohio, tomorrow.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

NATHAN GONZALES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Absolutely. I mean, this is just adding to what Ron was saying, this is where Biden is on offense. They are going into states that the president won handily four years ago. These weren't even the close states four years ago.

And if I could add, you know, Pennsylvania being the key, there was about a week ear so ago, Republican Congressman Mike Kelly who represents part of western Pennsylvania. He was on a call for the Trump campaign, talking I think he thought he was talking about the president, the president's strength in his district, how the president was winning by nine or 10 points. In reality, four years ago, Trump won his --Mike Kelly's district by 20 points. That's not a good sign because that's the kind of district where Trump needs to be running up the score in order to make up for losses in southeast Pennsylvania. But Democrats are trying to find that balance between making sure they get done what they need to get done but also looking ahead and trying to make this not even a close race.

WHITFIELD: Ron, we saw a lot of President Obama over the weekend. And he's not finished. He will be campaigning for Joe Biden the day before election. I mean, that seems quite extraordinary. Listen to what Obama had to say yesterday while in Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What is his obsession, by the way, with crowd size? You notice that? He's always -- this is the one measure he has of success. He's still worrying about his inauguration crowd being smaller than mine.

(LAUGHTER)

It really bugs him. Trump cares about feeding his ego. Joe cares about keeping you and your families safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Ron, a dig there. But the same time, I mean, talk about how extraordinary potentially meaningful or not it is that this past president and they were, of course, partners you know in the White House, President Obama and Vice President Biden. Campaigning the day before the last day of election.

BROWNSTEIN: Not only campaigning the day before but campaigning in Georgia, as both Nathan and I would say. That would not be something you would have seen coming six months ago. Look, you know, Obama -- President Obama bit his lip for most of this presidency to a degree that kind of frustrated many Democrats. But he has come out and made clear what he thinks at the end. And touching on really a core vulnerability.

It is true that President Trump was behind before the coronavirus. He will -- if he loses, he'll try to blame the coronavirus. He was losing before. But it is cemented. It has solidified the race. Roughly 60 percent of the country thinks he has handled it you know poorly.

And I think you know former President Obama is going right at that. I would just say, Fred, real quick. I mean, you need humility after 2016 about reading the polls. Everybody kind of understands that. And Democrats recognize that even if you believe the polls, Biden does not have enough states locked up to be right at 270.

But if you think that -- if you believe I think the polls tell us that Michigan and Wisconsin are moving back toward the Democrats, that Biden is holding all of the states that Clinton won and that leaves President Trump in a very, very thin ledge, he's got to run the table on every other swing state in all likelihood in order to make this work. WHITFIELD: Nathan, obviously this is a very different race than 2016. But you know, the Democrats are also trying to take a page from what was learned, you know, from Hillary Clinton's defeat. And are you seeing, you know, a sizable strategy change, in which states to canvas that really could be very meaningful for the Biden/Harris campaign?

[13:40:06]

GONZALES: Well, I think it's clear that they're not taking anything for granted. They're going across a wide swath of states and trying to make sure that the same thing doesn't happen again. You know, as Ron said, that we -- we were supposed to -- we are acting with more humility.

But also, if we were looking at the same set of data between two completely different candidates, we would be talking about this race very differently. Meaning that Biden has an even larger advantage than the way we're talking about this now.

One thing that I think we're missing as we look ahead to election night is that the president's margins have not only slipped in the battleground states but even in the solidly red states. Throughout election night when those poll closing times come and usually the networks and cable channels call them right away, I think some of those states are going to be close enough that the networks are going to say, all right, 8:00 closing time, this race is too close to call. This race is too close to call. And I think Republicans are going to be surprised by that.

WHITFIELD: Eat your Wheaties. All right. Nathan Gonzales, Ron Brownstein, thank you so much for that. Appreciate it.

All right. Still ahead, cruise ships are one step closer to sailing out of American ports for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic. We'll take a closer look at the plan to keep passengers and crew members safe.

Plus, a sign of voter enthusiasm? A pro-Trump caravan on the move in Colorado, more live coverage in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:46:10]

WHITFIELD: President Trump just leaving Michigan there heading toward the campaign rally. Next stop in Iowa. The president crisscrossing five states today. More live coverage in a moment.

All right. New cases of coronavirus continue to soar. There were more than 81,000 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday alone. The total number of cases in the U.S. has now passed 9.1 million. And more than 230,000 people have died.

And today, a very candid admission from Republican senator Rick Scott of Florida, telling CNN's Jake Tapper that the fight against the coronavirus is far from over. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): We haven't beaten it. Let's all agree on that. I think we have to all of us, all of us, need to wear a mask, we need to social distance. You know I think that the FDA, I think Stephen Hahn, the FDA's done a great job working on therapeutics. I think we've made a lot of progress there.

Hopefully, we're making a lot of progress on the vaccine. But we still have a lot of work to do. Especially work to do on testing. Everybody's got to take this seriously. You should wear your mask, you should social distance. But it's your responsibility to make these decisions for yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me right now, Dr. Jeremy Faust. He is an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. And the editor-in-chief of "Brief 19." Good to see you.

DR. JEREMY FAUST, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So how meaningful potentially influential is it to hear Scott say, you know, we haven't beat it?

FAUST: It's influential, but also when you think about the tone with which we've heard him and others use over the summer, I just say, oh, my goodness, I wish you had come to this a little sooner. I hate to say this -- we're not saying ha, ha, we told you so. We're saying, oh, no, we told you so.

We're not trying to scare people. We're trying to inform people, so that they know what to do. And I think there has been unfortunately during a political season a politicization of this virus and lives have come at the expense of that choice.

WHITFIELD: And now in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announcing that most people traveling there will now have to get a COVID-19 test before and after they arrive. How do you see that being carried out, and how practical could that be?

FAUST: I'm in favor of anything that increases testing. New York had obviously one of the worst springs in any jurisdiction in American history. New York lived through something in April and May that was actually 70 percent as bad as 1918 H1N1 or Spanish flu. They don't want to go through that again.

So, they're trying everything they can do to stop that. Testing is a big part of it. It's not ironclad. We have to do other things. So, clearly, there's logistical issues there in terms of rollout. But I think it's worth a try. And I think anything you can do to make access to tests increase is to the benefit.

WHITFIELD: You think it could be medically sound? FAUST: Well, what I would say is it's not foolproof because you can have negative tests that are falsely negative. So, you have to put things into perspective. I think that what the governor is probably trying to do is make it so they can keep track of things as they go.

But I mean, yes. One of the big problems is that we are connected. My problem is not devoid -- not separated from your problem even though there are state lines. We move and we spread this virus. So, I think that anything we can do to remember that we are all actually one country with borders that you can almost not even notice practically is important.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Faust, also starting today the CDC letting cruise ships take the first steps toward eventually sailing with passengers once again. But first you know they'll have to mock -- they'll have to have mock voyages. And they will have to build testing capacity on the ships. How do you see that potentially playing out?

[13:50:06]

FAUST: Cruise ships are really interesting. I wouldn't get on one myself, but people can make their own decisions. The thing with cruise ships is they are essentially they are little laboratories. And we actually learned a lot about this virus from the "Diamond Princess" back in the spring, which is this virus can spread like wildfire through an enclosed space like a cruise ship.

And so, if anything goes wrong, it's a complete disaster. So, if they can find a way to prove that they can contain that, more power to them, but that's a tall order. It's really difficult. The thing -- when people hear about cruise ships, public health experts actually think in terms of what can we learn about this when there is an outbreak.

Because when there is an outbreak on a cruise ship, that's one epidemiologist descends on that because we can actually look and learn from it, but who wants to have another laboratory for this? No one wants that. So, look, I think it is important that people want to get back to life, but we need to do things that are safe.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Jeremy Faust, thank you so much in Boston. Be well.

FAUST: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, President Trump is expected to speak in Dubuque, Iowa, next hour, the second stop of his five-state swing today.

Plus, we're nearly 127,000 ballots could be tossed out in Texas. And how county officials are desperately trying to stop it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:55:21] WHITFIELD: In Texas, Republicans are seeking to toss out nearly 127,000 ballots that were cast at drive-thru voting locations in Harris County, Texas. The largest county in the state. A judge is set to hear the case tomorrow morning.

Kristen Holmes is following the developments for us, but what's also confusing is there is a Texas Supreme Court ruling or decision as it relates to this entire case as well?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Fred. So, let's break the whole thing down. Start a little bit closer to the beginning which is because of the pandemic Harris County, which is the largest county in Texas that includes the Houston area. They installed drive- thru voting. They thought it would be safer, you can keep social distancing.

Now Republicans challenged this. They brought it all the way up to the Texas Supreme Court, who last week said that drive-thru voting was in fact approved.

Now a group of Republicans filed a petition in which they said that they should halt the practice of drive-thru voting and all of the 127,000 ballots that have been cast that way should be tossed out. They put that petition in front of the federal judge who is hearing it tomorrow, and also in front of the Texas Supreme Court.

Now just moments ago the Supreme Court of Texas denied that petition. So all that's left on this pathway right now appears is this hearing tomorrow in front of a federal judge, but it really is mind-boggling to think about this idea that even though the courts have ruled that this is approved that they are still seeing challenges to it.

Now I want to read you a statement from the Harris County clerk who tweeted this afterwards, after they filed this petitions that, "Drive- thru voting is a safe, secure and convenient way to vote. Texas Election Code allows it, the secretary of state approved it, and 127,000 voters from all walks of life have used it. Our office is committed to counting every vote cast by registered voters in this election."

And again, we cannot stress enough. I mean, we have talked a lot about Texas, about how it does look like it's shifting a little bit more purple. We've seen a lot of early votes, a lot of mail-in votes. And this is a particularly left-leaning county, Harris County. There are 2.4 million registered voters there. And again, 9 percent of them drove through to vote. So, this would impact a lot of votes in Texas, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Would indeed. All right. Thank you so much, Kristen. Appreciate that.

And this breaking news now. CNN is learning that the Coronavirus Task Force Dr. Scott Atlas did not have clearance to speak to Russia state media from inside the White House. A senior White House official says Atlas, quote, "Did it on his own without approval by the White House." Atlas took to Russian airwaves to downplay the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., questioning the need for masks and social distancing. Atlas has since apologized earlier in this hour.

All right. Meantime, Joe Biden just made an unannounced stop in Chester, Pennsylvania, for a canvass kickoff at a local labor union. According to the campaign, the kickoff is for state Senator John Cain and the Biden/Harris ticket. New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries also expected to be there.

And again, the Biden/Harris team are crisscrossing the country. Former Vice President Joe Biden is mainly concentrating on Pennsylvania. And then has a planned stop in tomorrow in Cleveland, Ohio, while his running mate is right now in Georgia, and has spent some time in North Carolina as well.

All of this while the president of the United States continues to canvass the country, making stops in Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia later on today, and of course Florida as well. So, it's down to the wire for these candidates, their running mates and surrogates all crisscrossing the nation, just two days away from Election Day.

And of course, CNN will continue to cover the countdown to the election all day today into tomorrow. And of course, our big round up of our coverage beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Election Day, Tueday. Hope you'll be with us.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thank you so much for being with me. Much more straight ahead.

[13:59:45]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thank you so much for joining us on this Sunday for our special coverage, countdown to the election just two days to go now.

And at this point it's all about turnout. Who will vote and the fight over whose vote will be allowed to stand? We have legal battles still brewing over those mail-in ballots. So, the candidates are blitzing the battleground states, just a shorts time from now President Trump will speak in Iowa.