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ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT
13 Charged in Alleged Domestic Terrorism Plot to Kidnap Michigan's Governor and Overthrow Several State Govts; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) Michigan Discusses About the Alleged Plot to Kidnap Her by an Anti-Government Group; Trump's Doctor: Pres. is Clear to Return to Public Saturday; WH Says Date of Trump's Last Negative Test is "Private Medical History"; In Total Reversal, Trump is Now Interested in Big Stimulus Deal; Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) is Interviewed on Trump's Interest in a Big Stimulus Deal and Pelosi Pushing a Bill to Determine Whether Trump is Capable of Serving as President; Ousted Vaccine Expert: Trump "Has Failed America". Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 8, 2020 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: She was a good singer and cook who was into politics and was very close to her three children and five grandchildren. May they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing.
Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next breaking news, Michigan's Governor is OUTFRONT after the FBI thwarts an alleged plot by an anti- government group to kidnap her, which she is learning this hour about plot and why she's calling out President Trump.
Plus, the President in the Oval Office tonight as he battles coronavirus. Why is the White House still dodging the most basic questions about when he last was tested negative and why were some staffers at Walter Reed asked to sign non-disclosure agreements during Trump's visit last November?
Plus, the next Trump-Biden debate derailed after Trump said he's out, won't do it. He says it's because it's a virtual debate. Can you afford to walk away? Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening to all. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, we begin with the breaking news, an alleged plot to storm the capital, attack and kidnap Michigan's Governor and she is calling out President Trump tonight. The alleged attack thwarted by the FBI. And in a moment, I'm going to talk to Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, for her first national interview since the plot became public today.
I want to give you the details as we have them now. They are alarming. According to the FBI, the group plan to storm the state capitol with Molotov cocktails, taking Whitmer hostage and overthrowing the government. That attack was set to take place in the coming weeks before the 2020 presidential election. And we're now learning just how involved the FBI was in uncovering
this operation. At least, seven FBI field offices from across the country involved in thwarting the attack. And just a short time ago, Whitmer held a press conference. She did not hold back and putting some of the blame on President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): Just last week, the President of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups. "Stand back and stand by," he told them. Stand back and stand by.
Hate groups heard the President's words not as a rebuke, but as a rallying cry as a call to action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And now, Whitmer being criticized by the President, of course, he criticized her for her response to the pandemic, a response which included a lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus. At one point, Trump tweeting in all caps, "LIBERATE MICHIGAN." Liberate, the word he chose.
And today, Biden was asked if he believes tweets like those encourage groups like the one allegedly behind the plot to kidnap Whitmer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I do. The words of a president matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The words of a president do matter. And Kaitlan Collins is OUTFRONT live near the White House tonight. Kaitlan, the White House now responding.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are. And they're firing back at a way that wasn't anticipated after you saw what happened and saw these bizarre details of this plot to kidnap the Michigan Governor. And I think it's because of that direct tie that you heard Gov. Whitmer make to the President and to what he said at that debate, something that caused so much consternation, Erin, because of course it took the President several days to actually condemn those white supremacy groups after he didn't do on the debate stage.
And when he finally did it, it was the night he tested positive for coronavirus, so it did not get a lot of attention. And now we have a new statement from the Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany who says that President Trump has continually condemned white supremacists and all forms of hate. Gov. Whitmer is sowing division by making these outlandish allegations, America stands united against hate and in support of our federal law enforcement who stopped this plot. Notice, Erin, missing from that statement is any condemnation of the
six men who were arrested today as part of this plot to kidnap the Governor and other details and this anti government attitude that they had, though we should note that given Gov. Whitmer's statement earlier, tying the President's remarks and what she says is a refusal to condemn white supremacy.
There's nothing in these court documents from the arrest today saying that these people were inspired by the President's words. But what Gov. Whitmer is saying in this argument that she's making is basically that they did not see the President's words as a rebuke, but she said they saw it as 'a rallying cry' instead.
BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much.
So it's a pretty stunning thing to think that there's this group of vigilantes plotting in an incredibly intricate way allegedly to the storm of capital, Molotov cocktails, they'd scoped out a home to attack, to kidnap a sitting governor. What else do we know about this alleged plot and the man allegedly behind it? Shimon Prokupecz is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITMER: I never could have imagined anything like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER (voice-over): A plot to kidnap the Governor of Michigan foiled by the FBI. Today, the FBI charging six men in the conspiracy.
[19:05:01]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW BIRGE, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN: The FBI began investigation earlier this year after becoming aware that through social media that a group of individuals was discussing the violent overthrow of certain government and law enforcement components.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): A month long investigation alleges the men met on June 6 with several others and discuss taking a sitting governor before one of the men, Adam Fox, reached out to a Michigan-based anti- government group. The complaint says on June 14, a confidential informant recorded a conversation between Fox and the group saying he needed 200 men to storm the Capitol building before the November 2020 presidential election.
Officials say Fox and others met again on June 20th to discuss plans for assaulting the State Capitol, planning for firearms and tactical training in July. In August, the group allegedly shifted their plan to kidnap Whitmer at her vacation home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIRGE: Members of this conspiracy on two occasions conducted coordinated surveillance on the governor's vacation home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The group allegedly use cold language and encrypted messages to communicate. And according to the complaint, successfully detonated and improvised explosive device in October while Fox confirmed he purchased a taser to use in the kidnapping. Official say the group plan to meet again on October 7th.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIRGE: The FBI and State Police executed arrests of several of the conspirators when they were meeting on the east side of the state to pool funds for explosives and exchange tactical gear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): Several other link to an extremist group are also charged separately in state court for planning to storm the State Capitol building taking hostages, including Whitmer and planning to instigate civil war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH GASPER, MICHIGAN STATE POLICE COL.: All of us in Michigan can disagree about politics. But those disagreements should never ever amount to violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PROKUPECZ: And Erin, the FBI Director just recently warned that these are the kinds of threats that certainly concern the FBI. It is one of the biggest dangers that we face in this country, these extremist groups and them wanting to attack here in the United States. The FBI Director saying this is one of the biggest concerns right now.
Also, the Department of Homeland Security saying that this is one of the biggest threats that we face here in the United States.
BURNETT: Yes. They're making it very clear from their assessment. Thank you, Shimon.
And Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is now OUTFRONT. So Governor, look as this cross today, people were shocked. I mean, when were you first aware, when did officials first inform you that they thought there was this plot to attack, to storm, to kidnap you?
WHITMER: So I can't discuss too many details because it's around my security and, of course, that's what's the issue here. We got to make sure that we stay safe. However, in the recent weeks, it was brought to my attention.
Of course, we know every time that this White House identifies me or takes a shot at me, we see an increase in rhetoric online, violent rhetoric and so there's always a connection. And certainly, it's something that we've been watching, but this took it to a whole new level.
BURNETT: I mean, it did and you say you found out in recent weeks. So we know that they had been planning for quite some time, they then released one of them wanted to do this before election day, so you are coming into the final days, just 26 days away from Election Day. How close do you think they were from trying to do something to you?
WHITMER: I can't answer that with any certainty, Erin. I just know that the FBI and the Michigan State Police worked incredibly hard in a coordinated fashion. This is unlike anything we've ever seen before and the brave men and women of these two police organizations really put their lives on the line to keep me and my family safe. And I'm incredibly grateful and humbled by the work that they do.
BURNETT: So you say every time the President has said something about you, and he does frequently, you have been one of his biggest targets, that you've seen is increasing the sort of rhetoric from groups like this, OK. And earlier today, you said that the President telling the far-right proud boys group to stand back and stand by was, in your words, a rallying cry for these sorts of groups.
So now then after your press conference, you said that and then Jason Miller, Trump's senior campaign advisor, called the plot horrendous, but then came out and said this about you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON MILLER, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: These are some pretty shameful comments here from Gov. Whitmer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How come?
MILLER: I mean, because how you can go from a moment of unity to attacking President Trump, I thought was just completely ridiculous. I mean, if we want to talk about hatred, then Gov. Whitmer, go look in the mirror. I mean, the fact that she wakes up every day with such hatred in her heart towards President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He said if you want to know hatred go look in the mirror. What is your response to that, Governor?
[19:10:04]
WHITMER: I mean, I think it tells you everything you need to know about the White House and the people they surround themselves by. The fact that after a plot to kidnap and to kill me, this is what they come out with, they start attacking me as opposed to what good decent people would do is to check in and say are you OK, which is what Joe Biden did and I think that tells you everything that's at stake in this election.
We have a choice between a leader who is going to have his minions attack people when they are being targeted by domestic terror groups and we have a leader who calls to see how you're doing to check in and to see what they can do to help and to be supportive. It then tells you everything you need to know about the character of the two people on this ballot that we have to choose from in a few weeks.
BURNETT: So you and I have spoken throughout the coronavirus crisis. And in April, we saw those demonstrations in the Capitol against your State home guidelines. There were armed protesters. I remember there was one night you were in the Capitol, they were all outside masked. There were some frightening times.
One of them even took place inside the statehouse and there was a whole lot of silence from Washington about this. They were quick to criticize other protests, but this one there was silence. And here's an exchange that Bill Barr, the Attorney General, had over the summer at a congressional hearing about those protests.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Are you aware that these protesters called for the Governor to be lynched, shot and beheaded?
BILL BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: No.
JAYAPAL: You're not aware of that.
BILL: I was not aware of it.
JAYAPAL: Major protests in Michigan, you're the Attorney General and you didn't know that the protesters called for the Governor to be lynched, shot and beheaded? So obviously, you couldn't be concerned about that ...
BILL: Well, there are a lot of protests around the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So he blew it off and I remember you and I talked after that, Gov. Whitmer. You told me you didn't believe him then, so now we have a plot. That was at a point with seven FBI field offices, multiple law enforcement agencies involved. They scoped your vacation home twice. They planned Molotov cocktails. They were going to attack, storm, kidnap you. Do you believe the Attorney General knew anything about that?
WHITMER: If he didn't, he's incompetent. The fact of the matter is I have raised this very issue with this White House and asked them to bring the heat down. I have asked leaders, Republican leaders in the state, let's bring the heat down.
I was aware of a lot of the threats that were being made against me and my family and I asked for their help. And they didn't do a darn thing about it and then denied even knowing that it was a problem. And here we are, we came very close to a plot that was to kidnap me and to murder. That was what the affidavits say.
Also to hurt law enforcement, to bomb our Capitol, meaning all of the press and the Democrats and Republicans in our Capitol. This cannot stand and we have to call it out for what it is. It is domestic terrorism. And I quoted Ronald Reagan in my comments earlier today, because there are good Republicans who stand up and take this on.
And I'd like to acknowledge Charlie Baker, the mayor, the Governor of Massachusetts who called to check in on me. That's what decent people do. That's what good American leaders do.
BURNETT: Let me just ask you one other question just as a personal level with children, how is your family?
WHITMER: We're doing fine. Our burden is a lot less than many and we keep that in perspective throughout COVID and through these challenging times. But I do have kids and a husband who have seen people with automatic rifles on their front lawn more weekends than I than I care to name how many.
But this is a moment where, as Americans, we need leaders who can bring us together. We need leaders who recognize the enemy as the virus, not our fellow Americans and these are hard times, but we're going to get through them.
BURNETT: Gov. Whitmer, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
WHITMER: Thank you, Erin.
BURNETT: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer there of Michigan.
And next the breaking news, Trump's doctor has just released a letter about the President's health. He says Trump can return to the campaign trail this weekend.
Plus, the government's top vaccine expert who lost his job because he refused to push hydroxychloroquine is speaking out as 11 states are now setting alarming new coronavirus records as the temperatures turns out.
And Trump saying you won't take part in the upcoming virtual debate, why not? Why not? Why? Is he bluffing? Is he really trying to find excuse to walk away? Anthony Scaramucci is OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:23]
BURNETT: Breaking news, the President's doctor just releasing a new letter on President Trump's health, the headline Dr. Conley says the President can return to public on Saturday. I'm going to go back to Kaitlan Collins at the White House.
Kaitlan, this is the letter the White House have been saying, oh, it's coming, it's coming. What more are you learning? COLLINS: Yes, it's notable we had to wait until 7 pm, Erin, to get
this update. And we should remind viewers we have not seen or heard from Dr. Conley in person since Monday. He has not taken questions from reporters since then either. And instead has only provided us with these brief written updates like the one that we've just got that says that his judgment says that the President will be able to return to public engagement starting on Saturday.
Obviously, if you know President Trump, that means the campaign trail and it's notable because, of course, the big question would be is why has this changed. Because just this past Monday, we heard from Dr. Conley and he said he would not breathe that final sigh of relief about the President and his diagnosis until Monday. Meaning this coming Monday, October the 12th and so it's not clear why that has changed. What's the difference in that 48 hour period, where now he's decided Saturday is the day that the President can go back on the campaign trail when before it was Monday when he actually said he would feel the safest.
Of course, the biggest thing missing from this statement is whether or not the President has tested negative for COVID-19. They have not told us that yet. They've refused to say, of course, when the President's last negative test was before he actually tested positive on Thursday one week ago today. But this also does not say any updates about that. Instead, it just gives a brief rundown of his vitals.
It has some vaguely worded statements about the President's condition, but it doesn't say whether or not he is still infected with COVID-19.
[19:20:04]
And it certainly doesn't say what the President said this morning which is when he maintained he is no longer contagious. Of course, that is not a medical opinion, that's the President's opinion. And if it's based on something his doctor said, he did not cite that this morning. And of course, that's not included in this statement tonight.
BURNETT: All right. Kaitlan, thank you very much. Of course, the President also said today that he recovered from COVID because of being a 'perfect physical specimen'.
OUTFRONT now Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Director of the Cardiac Cath Lab at George Washington University Hospital who advised the White House medical team under President George W. Bush, Dr. Jeremy Faust, Emergency Physician who treats COVID patients at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and Abby Phillip, our Political Correspondent.
So Dr. Reiner, let me start with you. The letter says the President can be back in public on Saturday, two days earlier than they had indicated a few days ago, as Kaitlan points out. They say that's 10 days since his diagnosis. What do you say? They say he's back out in public on the campaign trail.
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Yes. So once again, the brief by the President's physician is notable for what it doesn't describe, which is just about everything. And they resort to using this really obtuse language. The President's physician said, based on the trajectory of advanced diagnostics, the President can go back into public on Saturday. What does that mean based on the trajectory of advanced diagnostics?
Well, tell us what tests you're referring to, what tests are reassuring you that the President is not infectious. The CDC guidelines state that for most patients they can return to the public after about 10 days of isolation, after their symptoms begin. But they reserve 20 days of isolation for people with severe or critical illness, acknowledging that virus can be shed by those patients up to about 20 days.
So we need to know, did the President have severe illness which would require 20 days or did he have more of a mild case? If he had a mild case, why did they throw the kitchen sink at him last week and treat him with all this experimental therapy, so that needs to be clarified.
BURNETT: Experimental therapy, three days in the hospital, oxygen at least twice, that would not be a mild or moderate case by any layperson's definition of that.
And Dr. Faust, when we say what's in the letter, Dr. Reiner refers to some vitals, so we hear heart rate 69 beats a minute, blood pressure, 127 over 81, pulse oxygenation 96 percent to 98 percent, so that tells you something. Obviously, there's no lung scan in here. There's nothing that would answer some crucial questions about his ability to remain president for four more years as the oldest president in American history. What do you see and not see in that information?
DR. JEREMY FAUST, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL: Well, the letter says that there's no sign of progression, no comment about symptoms. We keep getting hodgepodge on that. We have one slice of time, that's the afternoon. We don't really know how he's doing overall. We see what's kind of process for the viewer.
I think we're all waiting to see how he does, but one thing that's for sure is that he's wasted a tremendous opportunity to save many, many lives by not downplaying the severity of this. He said he took a cocktail and was cured. Even the companies that make these treatments say that within three, five, seven days you might see a decrease in the amount of virus you have and eight days later, you might feel some symptom relief.
The President is not a very good witness here. He thinks something happened, but really honestly, even the slide decks that were made for investors are not painting the picture that the President is painting and people are going to suffer because they are falsely reassured.
BURNETT: Well, I mean, Abby, the President actually came out today and I say it's on these times, sometimes when you say things he says, it's as if you're trying to be funny. I'm not trying to be funny. He said that he's a perfect physical specimen and that that's why he was able to beat COVID.
It's difficult for people to trust what's coming out of this White House, because we just have not gotten a lot of really basic information, including crucial information about his lungs.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and about his overall health and what kinds of long-term impacts that this might have on his overall health. We know that the President wants to paint the rosiest possible picture of his own health and that predates COVID. I mean, he's been doing this since the campaign when he had his New York doctor kind of write this ridiculous report and release it to the public.
So this is something that he tends to do, but in this case, because voters are already voting and they're heading out into the polls, it's really critically important to understand what is going on with his health here. And I think that he's also trying to use his own case study as evidence for American seniors who he's desperate to try to win back in the electoral process as evidence that this is really not all that bad and that they themselves will be saved by the treatment that he got.
[19:25:04]
And I just think that that's a situation where the President really shouldn't be talking about things like that, because he's not a doctor and he's not a scientist. And it's important that he not give people a false sense of security to Dr. Faust's point about what exactly these treatments really can do for people who are not him and not getting this kind of world class rare one person in the entire planet. He's the only person getting this kind of care.
BURNETT: Right, fewer than 10 people in this country have gotten it and it is fully experimental. So Dr. Phelps, what about this issue of the negative test? There's the negative test that he needs to get multiple times before he can prove he's not shedding virus, which any normal person would have to have before going in public. There's also the fact that they still have refused to reveal the date of his last negative test.
And at this point, we all know why, right, it wasn't any time recent and it's going to cause some serious problems when it comes to what they said about that debate, so we know that in some capacity. But from a purely medical point of view, there's people who could have been exposed, that they don't care, because they're not sharing the information.
FAUST: Yes. There's no contract tracing, there's no effort, as far as I've heard, to reach out to the goldstar families that he met with. And then in terms of kind of accelerating the return to normal schedule, the problem there, again, is that people might actually come down with this infection and think, well, if the President can go back to work, so can I.
And that's why we have a pandemic, because we keep spreading this thing and we aren't disciplined enough to take it back and say let's control this thing. The President missed a huge chance. When Eisenhower had a heart attack, they handled that beautifully. They acknowledge and they educated and I think the American public actually was better because of that experience and I think that we could learn a lot from that.
BURNETT: So Dr. Reiner, let me ask you, the President, we're also finding out some more information here about something that seems to predate COVID. But the President went to Walter Reed, we all remember that, last minute trip back in November when he went in the car, they said, oh, it was routine. But of course, it wasn't, because we would have known about it, it would have been on the schedule.
And the White House said, oh, that's just to get a head start on his physical as if you break that up into a bunch of different trips to Walter Reed. We are now learning tonight that at that time, some medical professors at Walter Reed were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements. Now, this is something the President has always favored, this sort of thing.
By the way, that's supposed to be what a doctor has anyway, that he had them sign this. So you've been there, you treated the Vice President while he was in office, what do you take away from this? That when he went in November for that bizarre time, he made them sign a non-disclosure agreement.
REINER: Yes, I would have refused to sign it. In eight years in helping to care and caring for the Vice President of the United States, not a single time was I asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement. And with the many consultants that we brought to the White House or to George Washington University Hospital to see and treat the Vice President, not once did I ask any of those outside consultants, some of whom were from around the country, not once did I ask them to sign a nondisclosure agreement, because it's built into the DNA of a physician.
When you see a patient, you develop a therapeutic relationship which is based on trust. And if my patient asks me to sign a nondisclosure agreement, what my patient is telling me is that he doesn't trust me and that breaks that breaks the relationship, I would never have signed that.
BURNETT: Abby, this president, of course, does not trust.
PHILLIP: No. He doesn't trust anyone and he makes really virtually everyone, including people working in government sign a nondisclosure agreement. So it doesn't surprise me that he attempted to do this and perhaps it was successful. But again, Erin, more questions about the President's health, about the pre existing conditions he may have had going into this episode and what he has coming out of it.
BURNETT: Right. So he haven't released those scans. And by the way, what happened in November to a president who we know has issues not just, obviously, his obvious age, but obesity, heart issues, as Sanjay has pointed out. What happened in November at Walter Reed may be important and I thank all of you for your time.
Next, President Trump insulting Sen. Kamala Harris.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And this monster that was on stage with Mike Pence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The third highest ranking Democrat in the House, James Clyburn, responds.
And the upcoming presidential debates now in question, Trump backs out of the next one next week. The thing is, can you afford to skip them? Anthony Scaramucci is OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:33:31]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump reversing course yet again on a stimulus bill, now saying he is open to a large-scale deal. Remember two days ago, he came out on Twitter and canceled it all together, said he had no interest in it, talks were all off on a big deal. A few hours later, he said, OK, I'll do some standalone bills, and we'll give individual checks to people. But now, back to where he was days ago, it's whiplash.
And OUTFRONT now is the third highest ranking Democrat in the House, James Clyburn.
Let me just ask you, Congressman, this is a really important topic, whatever people may think about government debt and the role of government. Right now, there are a lot of people in this country in an incredible amount of pain, and economic relief is needed if we are to have a much more serious economic depression. So, the president now says he wants a large-scale bill -- I'm sorry -- is interested one, after two days ago he said, no way, I'm done with it.
So, do you think this is negotiable at this point, that you can actually negotiate with him?
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Well, I would certainly hope so.
Well, thank you very much for having me.
You know, the president seems to judge everything in this country economically based upon what happens on Wall Street.
Now, the reason he jumped back into the fray is because after he made his statement, cutting off all negotiations, Wall Street started to tank. And then he came back into the discussion. And I think somebody in the White House must be informing him that there are a few other streets in America where people live, where people play, where people work, outside of Wall Street.
[19:35:11]
And so, I would hope that he would take into account there are so many things on Main Street and side street, whatever, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, if you please, people's lives are at stake. Their livelihoods are under threat. Their health is deteriorating. We have got to do something and do it quickly. And I would hope this
president would stop jerking people around and get serious about being president of this country.
He seems to feel that he's involved in some kind of a game or a talk radio or TV program.
BURNETT: So there's the stimulus that obviously you're talking about the urgency of that. On top of that, the speaker, who obviously is involved in those discussions, is introducing a bill that would establish a commission to determine if the president is able to do his job.
So this is about the 25th Amendment, right, in which the vice president and the cabinet would transfer power to the vice president, because if the president is unfit basically.
So, we're just 26 days away from Election Day. Do you think this is good to be doing this right now?
CLYBURN: Well, you know, this is not a new bill. Jamie Raskin has had this bill around for a while, and I'm assuming it's the same bill.
BURNETT: Yes, it is.
CLYBURN: -- that they're going to be reintroducing.
At any rate, I think the president is displaying some very erratic behavior. And I think that the American people are beginning to become very concerned about this. And so, I think that it is good for the president or at least the people in the White House, most especially the chief of staff, to realize that he is not going to be allowed to jerk the country around and to do what seemed to be whatever willy- nilly may come to this president's head. So this may be the kind of attention getter that we need.
BURNETT: So in an interview today, the president came out and said some things about the vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris, which were not really about her performance at all in the sense of they were, you know, just sort of deeply personal. Here is what he said.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: She was terrible. She was -- I don't think you could get worse, and totally unlikable. And she is. She's a communist. And this monster that was on stage with Mike Pence.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: What's your reaction to that, a monster that was on stage?
CLYBURN: We'll deal first with the communist thing. You know, I was born and raised in an old town of Sumter. Mary McLeod Bethune was in -- was born in that county, just ten miles from where I grew up. My mother made me learn everything in the world about Mary McLeod Bethune. She's (AUDIO GAP) the greatest woman who ever lived. Well, Mary McLeod Bethune, the state of Florida is about to bring her
statue up and replace a Confederate statue in the capitol with the statue of Mary McLeod Bethune. Her portrait is up in the statehouse. I had a little something to do with putting that portrait in the statehouse here.
She was called a communist every day on the floor of the House of Representatives here in South Carolina when we're trying to get the legislation passed. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a communist. Now we've got things all over, even a holiday named after him.
Every time a black man or woman stand up to be counted in this country, there's some buffoons running around calling them as (ph) communist. I've been called a communist for sitting in trying to integrate a lunch counter. This is the kind of foolishness.
And then I see a member of the house from North Carolina saying that the only reason she was picked is because of her race. These kinds of racist tropes have got to stop, and the American people have it in their possession, with their votes, to stop this foolishness.
This country is teetering on a disaster. And I would hope people will wake up and really do what's necessary to put this country back on track. This president and his entire administration ought to really be removed from office and do so quickly.
[19:40:04]
BURNETT: Congressman Clyburn, thank you very much for your time tonight, sir.
CLYBURN: Thank you.
BURNETT: And tonight, the top government vaccine expert who says he lost his job because he refused to push hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus is speaking out, claiming President Trump could have prevented many of the 212,000 American deaths thus far.
Here is Dr. Rick Bright in an interview with Jake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. RICK BRIGHT, FORMER DIRECTOR, HHS BIOMEDICAL ADVANCED RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: I believe President Trump and this administration has failed America, failed to respond to this pandemic, and many people have died needlessly. There were many lives that were lost that we could have prevented. And there are many more lives that we're going to lose this winter that are preventable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That amid major warning signs for the United States, where only two states right now are seeing a decline in the number of new cases, Hawaii and Alabama.
Twenty-five states are increasing, including spikes in some of the states hardest hit at the beginning, like New York and New Jersey.
Nick Watt is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protests in New York City's COVID-19 hot spots. Some schools and indoor dining closed again today. Religious services limited.
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: We can stop this challenge from turning into a full-blown second wave and we must.
WATT: A field hospital is about to open in Wisconsin.
The Tennessee Titans now under NFL investigation after 23 positive tests, and an unsanctioned practice.
Kentucky's mask mandate just extended another 30 days.
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY: We're on pace unfortunately to have another record week.
WATT: In fact, these 11 states setting records right now. Highest average daily case counts ever, in just two states, home to less than 2 percent of Americans, average new case counts are actually falling, Alabama and Hawaii.
Latest national numbers, more than 50,000 new cases Wednesday, and more than 900 dead.
Meanwhile, on the much hoped for vaccine --
ALEX AZAR, HHS SECRETARY: Pending FDA authorizations, we believe we may have up to 100 million doses by the end of the year, enough for every American who wants a vaccine by March to April 2021.
WATT: The morning after the vice president said this to Kamala Harris --
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Stop playing politics with people's lives.
WATT: His boss, the president, is doing exactly that, claims there's now a COVID cure. There is not.
TRUMP: The Regeneron was, I view it as a cure, not just a therapeutic.
WATT: He took an experimental antibody therapy made by Regeneron. Ely lily is developing something similar. Both just applied to the FDA for emergency use authorization.
MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK ANCHOR: Are they going to get it?
TRUMP: They're going to get it. Yeah, they're going get it.
WATT: That decision must be apolitical. The president still playing politics with people's lives, again and again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT: And meanwhile, we have the governor of New Mexico saying the state is now at an extreme risk of uncontrollable spread. The governor of New Jersey calling today's case tally sobering.
And Miami-Dade down in Florida opened schools earlier this week. Today, Erin, the first confirmed case, an elementary school student -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Nick, thank you.
And next, the president saying this in his latest interview.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: Joe's not lasting two months as president. They're going to have thousands of people that are murderers, rapists, just pour into our country.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: He doesn't even say some of them are good people. What does Anthony Scaramucci make of the president's behavior? He's next.
Plus, potential new trouble for Trump as a Republican senator in a crucial swing state is distancing herself from him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:48:01]
BURNETT: Breaking news. Next week's presidential debate in limbo, not officially canceled yet according to the Debate Commission co-chair, but it basically follows a standoff between the Trump and Biden campaigns, because Trump rejected the switch to a virtual debate because of concern about the White House coronavirus outbreak. You know, he was saying he wants no parts of it if it's virtual.
OUTFRONT now, Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director, who supports Joe Biden for president.
So, Anthony, the president has now, you know, moved on, he doesn't want the debate because it was virtual, and now, he's going to hold a rally. Joe Biden then said, okay, he'll do a town hall next Thursday.
But obviously, the debate is not officially canceled yet, but the president, you know, made this big stink about it and -- can he turn it around at this point?
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, he could turn it around, but he's sort of replaying a lot of the stuff that he did in '15 and '16, you know, the rapist comment, obviously, the cancellation of that debate that Megyn Kelly was hosting on Fox News. And so, he'll probably cancel it. You know, the thing is he's going to have a very tough time. He
doesn't want to be on that stage for 90 minutes with a list of all the malfeasance, the malpractice, the destruction of the economy, the mishandling of the COVID-19 virus, and then the super spreading that he created for his staff and his family.
So I don't think he's going to make that debate. And I think in his mind, why should I have 70 million people witness me melting down like I did in the first debate? So, when he left that debate stage, some of us have talked to each other, former colleagues of his, and you think he'll go in debate, and it was probably 6 out of 10 said that he wouldn't. And now that he's been sick with COVID-19, I would say it's got to be 90 percent that he doesn't show up, Erin.
BURNETT: Right, and, of course, I would imagine. Whatever the format, I understand it's a town hall format, but there would be -- you know, he's going to be called out. When was that last negative test, right? Could he been positive at the first one, right? These are questions he will not be able to evade.
You mentioned the rapist sound bite that I briefly played coming into the commercial.
[19:50:05]
That was from an interview he did this morning with Fox Business. He was on for nearly an hour. That was one of several bizarre things he said. Here they are.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: Look, I stood next to Joe and I looked at Joe. Joe's not lasting two months as president.
This monster that was on stage with Mike Pence, who destroyed her last night, by the way, everything she said is a lie. They want to have thousands of people that are murderers, rapists just pour into our country.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, Speaker Pelosi earlier said the president is in an altered state right now. Obviously you're not a doctor and I'm not asking you in that capacity, just as someone who knows him well. Is this behavior and these statements any different than what you've seen in the past?
SCARAMUCCI: Well, you don't need to be a doctor, though, right? If you and I are watching a football game and somebody's leg goes in the opposite direction than it should, we both know the leg is broken. You don't have to be an orthopedic for that. So he's obviously unwell. And so, the question is who's telling him, who's intervening, and the answer is no.
So, I mean, maybe his next job is going to be, you know, playing the king, George III in "Hamilton," you know, coming out with a robe on singing. I don't know what they're going to do with guy at this point.
But here are two things people should consider. That was a racist statement that Joe Biden is not going to last two months. I could hear the racist truck beeping as he was backing up over Joe Biden. That's a tell to his base, that's a tell to the Proud Boys and all the racists that he's trying to gin up.
And the second thing, and this is the thing I find so horrifying and disfiguring about him right now is that he wants people to be heard. He doesn't have any caring or compassion about him, and he's put these Secret Service people and staff members in harm's way inside the White House.
So how is he going to protect your family as an American citizen if he's doing that to the families around him? So, to me, I find the behavior disgusting. I just don't understand why a family member that loves him or maybe they don't love him, I don't know what it is. Why aren't they intervening and sort of putting him in the penalty box?
BURNETT: So -- so, you know, Jennifer Jacobs from "Bloomberg" who reported about the Hope Hicks infection, read her test. The White House wasn't going to put it out. You know, reported that security had been hospitalized at the White House for COVID. Have you talked to friends who are there, people who have the virus? How are they all doing?
SCARAMUCCI: Well, listen, I think it's a mixed bag. I think some of them are struggling. I think some of them, you know, had flu-like symptoms, particularly the younger ones, and they're getting over it fairly quickly.
But it's a mixed bag and I think that when the president tells people that it's not dangerous it's just incorrect. It could be dangerous for you. You don't know that. You and I both know long-haulers personally that had the disease.
It's just unbelievably irresponsible behavior, and those people, I hope they all get better, I pray that they do and I hope they rethink their relationship with the president, because he's hurt them and their families. It's time to move on and get away from him.
BURNETT: OK. Anthony, thank you very much. I appreciate your time.
SCARAMUCCI: Good to be here. Thank you.
BURNETT: And next, Arizona, vital to winning the White House. Tonight, though, there are new concerns for the president and his campaign there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:48]
BURNETT: Tonight, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence all in Arizona, a state vital to winning the White House. The Senate race there, though, could be signaling trouble for Trump. Miguel Marquez is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY (R-AZ): I'm Martha McSally.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the combat fighter pilot --
MARK KELLY (D-AZ), SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Mark Kelly --
MARQUEZ: -- versus the astronaut.
Early voting now under way across the Grand Canyon State.
(on camera): Why is the Senate so important?
QUIANA DIGGS, KELLY SUPPORTER: Well, first of all, I believe that what the Senate has done with accepting the things that Donald Trump has done to the country and looking the other way is unacceptable.
MARQUEZ: What draws you to Senator McSally?
BRADLEY FIEGEL-JOHNSON, MCSALLY SUPPORTER: Just -- I mean, just, honestly, it's who I've been following for a long time, and, yeah, she does support Trump and that's something that I'm big into because I do support Trump as well.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Te contest to fill the last two years of the late senator John McCain's term. His legacy and long-running feud with the president a presence in the race.
KELLY: To hear Senator McSally not stick up for Senator John McCain when the president of the United States is attacking him --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you not stick up for Senator McCain?
MCSALLY: Quite frankly, it pisses me off when he does it.
KELLY: My launch on July 4th of 2006, Gabby thought I was going to propose from space.
MARQUEZ: Kelly, husband to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was seriously wounded in a mass shooting in 2011 has focused on a centrist message.
KELLY: I'll work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, to make health care work for all of Arizona.
MARQUEZ: Attacking McSally for her support of the president and for voting to eliminate protections for pre-existing conditions.
AD ANNOUNCER: McSally voted to gut or eliminate protections for pre- existing conditions.
MARQUEZ: McSally has attacked Kelly as a tool of the progressive left, overly friendly toward China and hiding his true agenda.
AD ANNOUNCER: He's too liberal for Arizona.
MARQUEZ: For McSally, a former U.S. representative from southern Arizona, it's her second run for Senate in two years. She was narrowly beat by Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in 2018 when Republican Jeff Flake retired after clashing with President Trump.
SEN. KYRSTEN SINEMA (D-AZ): Her false attacks against me were desperate and over the top. Now she's doing the same to Mark Kelly.
MARQUEZ: Sinema even taking the unusual step of going on the attack against her Senate colleague.
Polls have shown Kelly with a consistent lead over McSally.
(on camera): Arizona may have two Democratic senators. Shock?
CHUCK COUGHLIN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, HIGHGROUND INC.: Not a shock in the sense that you've seen the direction of the Republican Party.
MARQUEZ: Arizona Republican political strategist Chuck Coughlin says the GOP here has two problems, an ideological base beholden to Trump and a rapidly evolving electorate.
COUGHLIN: If we have two Democratic senators for the first time since 1952, as Senator McCain would say, it's always darkest before it turns black. It's going to turn black for Republicans here.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Keep in mind, all of this is to finish off the last two years of John McCain's term. No matter who wins, they'll have to run again in 2022. And because it's a special election, if Mark Kelly wins, he could play a role in the nomination process for Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Of course, that assumes she's not confirmed by Election Day -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Miguel, thank you very much.
And thanks to all of you.
Anderson starts now.
