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Washington Post: Dr. Birx Pleads for "More Aggressive Action" Against Virus; Americans Head to the Polls Today to Choose Between Donald Trump and Joe Biden; Allegheny County in Pennsylvania Begin Processing Absentee Ballots. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 03, 2020 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Eighty four thousand new coronavirus cases reported overnight in the United States. That is the fourth highest day ever. Now, when it comes to "The Washington Post" reports that the White House Coronavirus Taskforce coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx is warning that quote, "we are entering the most concerning and deadly phase of this pandemic."

Joining us now, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. And Sanjay, the numbers are clearly awful this morning with hospitalizations and new cases and we're seeing deaths creep up across the country.

The news about Deborah Birx is very interesting and very new. The idea that she circulated this memo which to me, constitutes a split, at least, thematically from the rhetoric we're hearing from the White House and a pretty clear one.

She writes in this memo, quote, "we're entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic, leading to increased mortality." This is not about lockdowns, it hasn't been about lockdowns since March or April. It's about an aggressive balanced approach that is not being implemented. She says that the administration is not doing the job. That's pretty extraordinary, Sanjay?

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, and I'll tell you, I'm not surprised at all at what she said. But maybe more surprised at the fact that she said it because you know, we've been hearing these warnings from public health officials now for some time, concerned about the trends, concerned about the fact that we're going into the cooler weather, and what that all means overall for the overall trajectory of this pandemic.

But you're right. I mean, this is very different. We hadn't heard much from Ambassador Birx. I met with her right after she had been appointed to basically run the taskforce, and I -- you know, spoke to folks on the taskforce when Scott Atlas was brought in and she had been marginalized and we hadn't really heard much from her. So, what she's saying I think is echoing what we're hearing from a lot

of public health officials but different obviously than from the official, you know, coronavirus taskforce and Scott Atlas. She also brings up the point that, look, you know, I mean, it's not too late. I mean, we can still turn things around which I think is probably the most important message.

You guys clearly saw it up in New York where you are, but there had been other examples in the country where without shutdowns, things have been able to turn around significantly. I bring up Arizona as an example sometimes, because I think it was really interesting what happened there.

They basically had this sort of pause, if you will, and they saw the numbers go down, and then as soon as they lifted that pause, the numbers went way up, 151 percent up over a couple of weeks. And you know, the state health directors at that point were saying, hey, we've got to activate our emergency plans. And what were they?

Not a lockdown, but mask mandates, limiting public gathering and certain businesses closing down like bars and they dropped 75 percent within three weeks. People need to pay attention to these stories right now. It's going to be tough because the weather is cooler, people are congregated inside, but it is still possible to put the brakes on this.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I totally agree with you, Sanjay. It sounds like Dr. Deborah Birx has just had enough. It sounds like she's sort of reached her breaking point with this. And the idea that she's packed her own suitcase is traveling around from state-to-state --

GUPTA: Yes --

CAMEROTA: In Montana, is grabbing people by the lapels and begging them to put on masks. And I do just want to read another portion of this memo because I think that this is the message that she's desperately trying to get out, though, as we know, Dr. Scott Atlas and President Trump, it's the antithesis of their message. So, here is what she says, "what is essential at this time, the report says, is consistent messaging about uniform use of masks, physical distancing and hand washing with profound limitation on indoor gatherings, especially with family and friends.

[07:35:00]

This is about empowering Americans with the knowledge and data for decision-making to prevent community spread and save lives. I was struck by the profound limitation on indoor gatherings with family and friends." That sounds like she thinks it's time to stay indoors -- stay home, I should say, stay home. This is, I think, obviously about upcoming holidays and that is --

GUPTA: Yes --

CAMEROTA: Not the message that we are hearing from the White House. GUPTA: No, it's not. And you know, I mean, this is based on what

we've seen with this particular pandemic, but also just other infectious diseases, especially respiratory diseases that spread like this. We know that they get worse when you get into the Winter months, in part because people are mostly indoors. And you know, we've talked about this on this show quite a bit, even going into the holiday season. What does that mean ultimately?

Well, what it means is that, you know, it -- this is probably not the year to be bringing in extended family or neighbors and stuff like that for indoor gatherings. It just -- it just isn't. I mean, unless you can be absolutely confident that the people that you're bringing in have been essentially bubbled, and that you're creating a bubble around your indoor environment.

It's just very hard to do this here, and what kind of gathering is that anyway? Are you maintaining your distance? You should be. Are you wearing masks inside? You should be, if you're bringing other people into your home. So, it's just very different. And again, what she's saying does reflect 99 percent of the public health community.

The only people who are not agreeing with that are, you know, Scott Atlas, basically, and maybe a few others. But that -- you know, this idea of how to basically put the brakes on this, how to stall this, even if you flatten, you know, the trajectory right now without bringing it down right away, which is what will likely happen. That would be a significant accomplishment. But we can't do it if we're going in the wrong direction.

BERMAN: All right, Sanjay, a lot more to discuss coming up, thank you so much for being with us.

GUPTA: You got it --

BERMAN: We want to remember some of the more than 231,000 Americans lost to coronavirus. Forty three-year-old Amanda Bouffioux was an administrative assistant for an Alaska Tribal Development Fund. Her partner tells "The New York Times", she was an amazing mother to her five children. The pandemic is hitting Alaska natives hard with mortality rate four times out of white Alaskans.

Ash Friederich was a beloved high school English teacher, yearbook adviser and baseball coach in Phoenix, Arizona, he also wrote high school sports news and featured stories for several Arizona papers. His mother says he had the ability to give others the feeling that anything is possible. Friederich was 40 years old.

Peyton Baumgarth was just 13 in eighth grade, and the youngest person in Missouri to die of coronavirus. His last day of school was October 22nd. He died less than two weeks later. Payton's mother describes him as funny, sweet, kind and a jokester. Our heart goes out to all of their families. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00] BERMAN: Polls are now open in Pennsylvania, we just learned that election officials in Allegheny County which includes Pittsburgh, they have began opening the absentee and mail-in ballots, but they have not yet started counting those ballots yet.

More than 2.4 million pre-election ballots were cast in that state. Joining me now is the Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. Thanks so much for being with us. What's going on in Allegheny County now, the rules allow this. Please explain this processing of ballots that will begin in some, but not all places in Pennsylvania.

JOSH SHAPIRO, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF PENNSYLVANIA: Well, look, good to be with you. This is what we've been planning for and this is what the law provides. It says that beginning at 7:00 a.m. on election day, mail-in ballots get counted. More than 2.5 million Pennsylvanians cast their ballot early through the mail, and from my reports this morning, we've got long lines and people ready to vote at the polls.

I expect a historic turnout, I expect a lot of voter participation here in Pennsylvania, that's exactly the way it should be. After all the talk, after all the rhetoric, after all the attacks on our election system, now the people get to decide, and today is the final day to vote, and it seems that there will be record numbers.

BERMAN: There's been a whole lot of litigation involving your state. In your mind, what legal issues remain?

SHAPIRO: Well, none should remain, really. I mean, look, the president and his enablers have attacked our voting system. They've tried to eliminate drop boxes. They've tried to make it harder for people to vote. They've tried to limit the amount of time that ballots could be counted, they even tried to change a 1937 law here in Pennsylvania in order to be able to bring poll watchers in from out of one county into another, really, I think, just to intimidate black and brown voters at the polls.

Every single time they've gone to court against us, they've lost. We've protected the right to vote. And now it's time to just let the people decide. But let me assure you, if they file more lawsuits, today if anyone files more lawsuits, today, we'll be prepared to defend people's right to vote and most importantly make sure that all legal, eligible votes are counted.

BERMAN: He's very focused on the Supreme Court which allowed the decision for ballots that are post-marked by today to arrive for three days after today and still be counted. He apparently is dead-set against that, and now even threatening somehow it will lead to violence? How does that strike you?

[07:45:00]

SHAPIRO: Well, first off, this isn't new. We count ballots that are post-marked by election day and come in after. Military ballots, for example. Other states allow this to occur and it's going to occur here in Pennsylvania. I don't care what the president says. Look, and as for the calls for

violence that I guess he was tweeting about last night, I just want to say this -- you know, there he is, I was driving through Philadelphia last night, and there are storefronts already boarded up, because of this violence that the president keeps talking about, and I believe that that's similar in other cities.

There is a high cost to the president's rhetoric. You know, he may have lost in court against us every single time, and your fact checkers may point out routinely that he lies, but there's still an effect to his rhetoric and it is dangerous, and it is scary, and it is something that certainly we're prepared for in law enforcement.

But I think all of us as Americans need to come together and reject that type of cynicism. Reject that type of call for violence and destruction in our community, and recognize that we're all in this together and we've got to be together in order to meet the many challenges that we face. There is no room in our civil discourse for calls for violence, especially from the president of the United States.

BERMAN: Is that how you perceive it? Do you perceive it as a call to violence from the president?

SHAPIRO: Oh, I think his track record is clear. He routinely talks about violence. He routinely allows his words to be misappropriated by hate groups and encourages others to take to the streets. Encourages others to break the law.

That is dangerous and reckless for anyone to do it. It's especially dangerous when the president of the United States does it. I feel bad for these small businesses who are already struggling because of the economic effects of the coronavirus. I feel bad that they feel like on a day we should all be celebrating as Americans and being together as Americans, I feel bad that they feel that they need to board up their --

BERMAN: Let me --

SHAPIRO: Stores, and hunker down.

BERMAN: Let me ask you about something you wrote. You wrote the other day, "if all the votes are added up in Pennsylvania, Trump is going to lose. That's why he's working overtime to subtract as many votes as possible from this process", and then you went on to talk about the court case.

But the first line, if all the votes add up in Pennsylvania, Trump is going to lose. You've been criticized because you are -- yes, you are a Democrat, but you're also the chief law enforcement officer in Pennsylvania. How appropriate is it for you to be saying, "Trump is going to lose" --

SHAPIRO: Yes --

BERMAN: A couple days before the election? SHAPIRO: Well, first off, I mean, there's a lot of nonsense coming

from the other side. Let's examine the record here. Donald Trump and his enablers have gone to court time and time again to limit voter participation. To, as I referred to, to subtract votes from the equation.

And I think it is clear that if someone felt that they had a good shot of winning the election, and the polls are what they are, but suggest that he's not. If someone felt confident in their ability to win the election with a certified electorate, then why would they be going to court over and over and over again to try and subtract votes? And that's exactly what Donald Trump's been doing.

BERMAN: I've got to let you go. When will we know the results in Pennsylvania? Trick question.

SHAPIRO: Look, I think you're going to -- I think you're going to have a good sense of where the precinct votes are, you know, sometime in the very late hours of tonight, maybe around midnight. And then you'll be able to see how those mail-in ballots have begun to come in, where they're outstanding.

You know what the party registration is. Which doesn't always dictate how people will vote, but I think you'll be able to begin to get a fuller picture of what the electorate looks like in Pennsylvania, in the early morning hours of Wednesday. Certainly, it will take days to certify the election. What I want to assure people is that all of these legal, eligible votes will be counted.

BERMAN: Yes.

SHAPIRO: And finally, just to remind people. Presidents don't get to pick presidents. The people pick the president. So don't worry about what folks say after the polls close, worry about what happens once all the votes are counted.

BERMAN: Right. We'll know when the votes are counted. As always, attorney general, we thank you for being with us this morning. Good luck over the next several hours, maybe days.

SHAPIRO: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. Today's election obviously or the election that people have been voting in for weeks, more than just about the White House, the key Senate races that could flip the balance of power.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:00]

CAMEROTA: It's election day in America, and not only is the presidency at stake, but also control of the U.S. Senate. So, joining us now is CNN's senior political writer and analyst Harry Enten with the key races to watch. Harry, so tell us what Senate races are you keeping an eye on? HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER & ANALYST: Sure. So, you

know, we're -- obviously, the Democrats are at 47 seats right now, they need a net gain of three if they -- if Joe Biden wins the presidency in order to get control of the Senate, and these are the races I'm keeping an eye on.

So, look, potential Dem pickups, we're looking at Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maine and North Carolina. Well, it looks like the GOP has a pretty good shot in Alabama, Michigan is more of a long shot, but that essentially means that Democrats will probably need to pick up four seats if they lose, say, the seat in Alabama to get up to that 50.

BERMAN: We've been telling people in the presidential election, Harry, they're going to need to be patient, it will take a while to count the votes, it may take a while to know who won. What about these key Senate races?

ENTEN: Yes, so it seems to me that the best Dem pickup opportunities, in fact, the mail ballot processing will occur fairly quickly in many of those states. So, in states like Maine, like Iowa, you are essentially going to see that the ballots should, in fact, be the -- the absentee ballots should in fact be processed before election day, so we may in fact know about the Senate before we know about the presidency.

[07:55:00]

At least, the early returns will be more indicative on the Senate side than they might be on the presidential side.

BERMAN: By the way, we're looking at live pictures of former Vice President Joe Biden getting on his campaign plane. He's got two stops in Pennsylvania today. Not far from where he is in Delaware --

CAMEROTA: I don't know if you have to fly there.

BERMAN: No, but he's doing it, he's flying -- going to Scranton and Philadelphia today.

CAMEROTA: Harry, does it work differently in the Senate race in Georgia?

ENTEN: Yes, so, two other races that are so important are the regular election in Georgia and the special Senate election in Georgia. And what's so key here is if no candidate reaches 50 percent of the vote plus one on November 3rd. There's in fact, going to be a runoff, it's actually January 5th, but there's going to be a runoff in January.

And so, it's very important to note that if the Democrats do not, in fact, reach, say, the 50 seats that they need, these two GOP seats could in fact, be the key, but we might have to wait until January to figure out about that because if no one gets 50 percent of the vote plus one tonight, then we're going to have to wait until January.

BERMAN: So, Harry, I know there is this other tier of Senate races you have at least half an eye on. What are they? ENTEN: Yes, so, essentially, there's this slew of potential GOP seats

that the Dems may pick up. Right now, they're not necessarily favored in any of them, but Alaska, Kansas, Montana, South Carolina and Texas. And if the Democrats are able to win in any of these seats, it could, in fact, be a very long night for the GOP.

And that's why there's sort of this long tale of potential Democratic pickups whereby if the Dems have a really good night, they could get up 52, 53 seats -- I'm not predicting that at all, I'm not predicting anything, just saying that there is this long tail that Democrats have a real shot of having a good night if in fact things really do go their way.

CAMEROTA: And so, Harry, is that how it works, that as goes the presidency in a state the Senate races follow?

ENTEN: Right. So, you know, if you look back in 2016, that's exactly what happened. It was the first time since senators were popularly elected in which every race went the way the presidential race went, right? So 22 seats won by the GOP and Trump, 12 seats won by the Dems and Clinton. And I'm not saying that's necessarily going to happen tonight, but what happens in the presidential race is probably going to be very indicative of what happens down ballot.

BERMAN: So, Harry, again, we've been warning people that they're going to need to be patient, it will take time to count the ballots and that's OK. So, how far back in history do you have to go in a presidential election to come up with an election where crucial, decisive votes were counted and tabulated after midnight on election night?

ENTEN: How about we go back one presidential election, John, just go back to 2016, we've used this slide before. But look at this, in the sixth closest states Trump won in 2016, in all of them, there were votes counted after Wednesday morning. And so, this year, more than any other with all the mail-in votes, patience is a virtue, it's better to be accurate than to be fast.

CAMEROTA: Harry, we will look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning, I'm sure you will be pulling an all-nighter.

ENTEN: You got that right. I just did and I'm going to do it again.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: He's legally insane, by the way.

CAMEROTA: No, I know that. Luckily, it doesn't affect --

BERMAN: Yes --

CAMEROTA: Your mood. Thank you, Harry.

BERMAN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK, the polls are about to open in ten more states. CNN's "ELECTION DAY IN AMERICA" coverage continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have made America proud again, and we will make America great again!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In this election, let's vote like our democracy depends on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The campaign is cautiously confident that they may have closed the gap somewhat with Joe Biden with these raucous rallies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to fight for this country that we love so much, and get out and vote.

JOE BIDEN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR 2020: There's nothing that's going to stop the people in this nation from voting, period. It's time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Oh, that's right, it's a two-intro morning, that's how special this morning is. Good morning everybody, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world, this is a very special edition of NEW DAY. It is election day in America. Voting is now under way in more than half the country. Polls are open in 11 more states at this hour, check out your screen to see where those are.

By this time tomorrow, we might know who will be president for the next four years or we might not. You're going to have to live with uncertainty. More than a 100 million ballots have already been cast, and in states where polls are open at this hour, we are already seeing lines. Joe Biden closed out his campaign in Pennsylvania where he began it more than a year ago.

He ripped into President Trump for his handling of coronavirus, which this morning is spiraling out of control. President Trump threatened legal action to stop vote counting.