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The Situation Room

Schumer Addresses Trump SCOTUS Nominee; Trump Nominates Amy Coney Barrett As Supreme Court Justice; WH Chief Of Staff Meadows Hopes Barrett Confirmed By November 1. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired September 26, 2020 - 19:00   ET

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

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SEN CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Why is the Amy Coney Barrett nomination so troubling? The American people should make no mistake about it. A vote for Judge Barrett is a vote to take away healthcare and its protections for over 130 million Americans, who now have protections against preexisting conditions.

For over 40 million Americans who pay less for their drugs on Medicare, for close to 10 million Americans will lose their health care all together. A vote for Amy Coney Barrett is a dagger aimed at the heart of the health care protections Americans so desperately need and want.

By nominating Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court, President Trump has put Americans' health care at grave risk. And as COVID-19 continues and we need more health care the nomination by President Trump of Amy Coney Barrett will mean less healthcare for over 100 million Americans.

Health care is the most important issue on the ballot to Americans. And as Americans learn Judge Barrett's views on health care and so many other issues, she will become less and less popular and hopefully they will call their senators and say don't vote for someone who will take away my health care.

What is Donald Trump and what is Judge Barrett going to tell parents who have kids who have preexisting conditions, that they can't get health care? The insurance companies can pull the rug out from under them? That is so wrong. And when it comes to eliminating health care AOC sorry when it comes to eliminating health care, the ACA preexisting conditions, President Trump has found the deciding vote.

Judge Barrett herself strongly criticized the ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act. She stated that if justices read the law the way she does, they would have to invalidate the health care law that protects Americans.

Her record also makes clear if she's confirmed that women's reproductive freedom will be at risk. Roe V. Wade itself will be at risk. If she's on the court I believe, it will either be eliminated or so greatly constricted that in effect it's eliminated. Labor rights will be eliminated. Judge Barrett and those from the federalist society want to make America right to work state which would get rid of labor unions.

Our environmental rights would be greatly hurt with Judge Barrett on the court. The Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and all efforts to stop global warming would be hurt. LGBTQ rights would be hurt. This hit home personally to me, because at our Jewish New Year's eve dinner our Rosh Hoshana dinner we heard that Justice Ginsburg get died.

My daughter who was sitting next to her wife whispered to each other will our right to marry be constrained under this new court. Just about every American will be hurt by Judge Barrett's views on the issues like health care and women's rights and labor rights and voting rights, climate change.

Her views our way to the right of the American people and as they learn about it, she will become less and less popular. The future for DACA kids and immigrants will be greatly hurt as well. Just about everything that America believes in and stands for when it comes to issues like healthcare and labor rights and LGBTQ rights and women's rights, Judge Barrett stands against all of that.

She said she believes in Judge Scalia's philosophy. Judge Scalia would eliminate all those things or greatly limit them. And the disgraceful process by which this was done. They held the nomination of Merrick Garland open for eight months because it shouldn't be before a presidential election but now only 40 days before an election when some people have already started voting, they say never mind. Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump have stolen two judges from the American people.

Merrick Garland and now rushing this nomination through. It's kind of dark. Yep, we'll take two. Let's see here. Judge Ginsburg had a dying wish that the next president choose. Justice Ginsburg must be turning over in her grave up in heaven to see that the person they chose seems to be intent on undoing all the things that Ginsburg did.

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I will strongly, strongly, strongly oppose this nomination. Ready for a question or two.

REPORTER: (inaudible)

SCHUMER: I didn't hear the second part - second part.

REPORTER: OK first question. As the American people learn of Judge Barrett's views, she is going to become very unpopular with average Americans. And as that unpopularity rises, I hope they will put pressure on their Republican senators to adhere to Justice Ginsburg's dying wish and let the next president decide.

Donald Trump is put this nominee in for a whole lot of reasons and that is just another one that we should wait for the next president to choose. Yes white shirt.

REPORTER: (inaudible)

SCHUMER: I haven't seen the second so I'm not going to comment and on the first, what was (ph).

REPORTER: Are you talking to your colleagues?

SCHUMER: Yes, my colleagues are united in opposition. Many of them have issued statements in opposition and we are united. Democrats, House, Senate and Joe Biden show in in alerting the American people to the danger, danger to their health care, their very health care they depend on with this nomination. Thank you everybody.

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Very strong words from the Senate Democratic leader, the Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, opposing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court. I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. This is a special edition of the Situation Room.

As you can see it's been a very, very busy night here in the Situation Room. The Senate Minority leader Schumer speaking out, laying out the democratic case against the president's Donnelly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Two hours ago, the president made that announcement, introducing Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his pick to take the seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Barrett is a federal appeals Court judge, a law professor at the university of Notre Dame and let's discuss these late breaking developments with Phil Mattingly. He's up on Capitol Hill for us. Our Chief Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is still with us. Our chief political analyst Gloria Borger is with us. CNN's Ryan Nobles. He's in Middletown Pennsylvania where the president will be speaking to his supporters at a campaign rally. That's coming up first.

So let's get the latest on what we just heard and Jeremy, talk about first of all what's happening with the time line because despite what we heard from Chuck Schumer, it looks like the Republicans, they have 53 Republicans in the Senate. There's 47 Democrats.

It looks like the Republicans, Jeremy, they have the votes potentially.

Unfortunately Jeremy's earpiece just went away. We'll get back to him. Ryan, let me go up to you. You're in a Pennsylvania where the president is heading right now. It's a key battleground for us. First of all, set the scene where you are right now we see a lot of people behind you.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes that's right Wolf and we're quickly seeing how the Trump campaign is essentially adapting the Amy Cony Barrett nomination as part of their overall campaign strategy. This crowd arrived for this 7:00 event very early today. There were folks in line hours and hours before the event took place and they opened the doors in time for most of them to watch the nomination ceremony live and this crowd responded very favorably. They cheered very loud when President Trump officially announced Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee and they also broke into chants of fill the seat, fill the seat and it's clear that Republicans and Trump supporters in particular want to see this seat filled as soon as possible even if it means coming before the election and you know Wolf, it's about more than just the kind of visceral that we're going to see at this rally here tonight.

The Trump campaign also has an organized effort in place to support the Cony Barrett nomination. In fact - it sounds like it's going to become part of the campaign. The RNC announcing a $10 million digital ad campaign that will be designed to support her confirmation and they also are going to adapt the messaging in their campaign volunteer outreach.

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So when campaign volunteers makes phone calls, when they knock on doors, they're also going to have what they're calling a SCOTUS specific message that they were going to deliver in swing states across the country and while it seems pretty clear that this nomination is in pretty good shape in the Republican controlled Senate, Wolf.

This is also part of a broader campaign strategy. The Trump campaign firmly believes that part of the reason the President Trump was elected four years ago is because of the conservatives' concern about the future of the Supreme Court.

The campaign views this nomination as a way to directly illustrate that point and that's why you're going to see this become an active part of the campaign and we're going to hear President Trump talk to this crowd in a little less than an hour where he's going to drive that point home. Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, he made the point. He thinks it's going to go very quickly, the president, this confirmation. Gloria, what do you think of what Chuck Schumer said that a vote for Amy Coney Barrett would be a dagger as far as health care here in the United States is concerned, every American, he said just about every American will be hurt if she is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Oh, you're going to hear that over and over again. Every American who has COVID for example has a preexisting condition right now and if they have Obamacare, they're going to lose their coverage and this is - this is going to be the message of the Democrats.

What was striking to me about the president Wolf, particularly as he was leaving the White House tonight was when he was asked about her. He talked about how she got a great recommendation from her professor at Notre Dame, how she's got this wonderful family. What a great picture that is and he did not talk about her judicial philosophy. She said in her appearance that Scalia's judicial philosophy is hers as well and what you heard from Chuck Schumer was a discussion of her judicial philosophy and what the Democrats intend to do is to lay that out.

I mean they understand that she's a very good now my name from a conservative Republican viewpoint. If you want to get rid of Roe, if you want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act but what they're going to try and do is point all of that out to the American people and I think you know the fight is obviously very clear.

What the president is using this for is a campaign platform. He thinks this is going to work for him as Ryan was pointing out, the way it worked for him in 2016 when he was replacing Scalia and that he can garner support from those perhaps undecided voters, those would be Republican voters who don't like him very much, who say those evangelicals who may be on the fence who say look at this, look at what kind of a justice he is appointing.

And he thinks it's going to help him the way it did back then. The question is whether this is really going to rally the Democratic base even more because she is a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg who doesn't believe anything that she believes and so you know the jury's out on this is we say, no pun intended.

That you're going to have to see who rallies this time in this election because it's going to be in the campaign of the Republicans as Ryan was just saying and we heard from Joe Biden earlier making the case that this is going to hurt your health care.

BLITZER: All right, everybody stand by because there's a lot of news that's unfolding right now. We have a lot more to discuss first of all on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows saying he hopes to confirm that senate will confirm the president's pick by November 1 and Democratic senator, a member of the Judiciary Committee Richard Blumenthal. He is standing by live. He opposes this confirmation. We'll discuss with him when we come back.

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BLITZER: The breaking news this Saturday night, Federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett is the President Trump's choice to succeed the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court. Senate Republicans plan an extraordinary campaign to fight for her confirmation and to make it happen before the November 3 election. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal sits on the Judiciary Committee.

He's standing by. We'll discuss. Stand by for a moment but I want to go to our Phil Mattingly up on Capitol Hill first, senator to set the scene for us. What we can anticipate, the Republicans, clearly they're in the majority, Phil. 53 Republicans in the Senate, 47 Democrats, you need 50 with the vice president who is the president of the Senate casting a tie if necessary but it looks like the Republicans now will have the votes necessary to confirm her.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right Wolf. At least at this stage in the game, that's what they believe in and they want that kind of an aura of inevitability to be hanging over this nomination over the course of the next several weeks as they try and push it through.

Look, it was up to President Trump up to this point. Now it is Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell's ball game and he has made clear as he has over the course of the last several years that confirmations of judges, particularly Supreme Court justices is his number one issue and they're going to move quickly.

Amy Coney Barrett will be up on Capitol Hill in a matter of days on Tuesday to meet with Senate Majority Leader McConnell. She will shortly thereafter meet with Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, several other members as well expected in those early days.

Those meetings will be the lead up to obviously the main portion of this process and that is the hearings and already senate Republicans have circulated a schedule to have those hearing start on October 12. It'll be a 4-day process as is usually the case.

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There'll be opening statements and two days of questions and then outside witnesses and then things will start to pick up very fast. The Senate is expected to commit - to consider Amy Coney Barrett's nomination shortly after that. All teeing up a potential Senate floor vote by the end of October, early November before the November 3 election.

Now one thing to keep in mind, Democrats have options procedurally to try and slow things down both on the Senate floor and in the committee but so long as McConnell and the Republicans have the votes, have a majority of senators, there is nothing Democrats can do to stop them.

That brings up what Senator Schumer said. We saw him on camera just a short while ago. How do Democrats want to engage in this? I know you're going to talk to Senator Blumenthal in a short moment. His thoughts about this process would be very interesting because Democrats have been in a debate amongst themselves.

They believe this to be an illegitimate pick so do they show up for the hearing? Do they meet with Amy Coney Barrett at all? How do they treat this process? And I think what you heard from the Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer was making clear. They want to lay out what Amy Coney Barrett has been as a judge.

Her judicial philosophy, her writings over the years. They believe that when it comes to health care, when it comes to issues like Roe versus Wade, that they think politically that will help them. Perhaps it will help raise outside pressure on Republican senators to sink the nomination even though that seems unlikely at this point but also keep in mind Wolf, this is intimate middle of a heated election season and Democrats, if they aren't going to be able to defeat this pick, at least want to be able to take something politically out of it when it comes to people going to the polls on November 3.

BLITZER: Between now and November 3, it's going to be a big, big issue in this election season. All right Phil Mattingly up on Capitol Hill. Thanks very much. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal is joining us right now. He's a key member of the Judiciary Committee.

So is it a done deal Senator Blumenthal? You know politics, you know the Republicans have the majority. Do believe it's for all practical purposes except for a lot of back and forth and complaining and screaming and shouting, is it over?

SEN RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): By no means, is it over Wolf. Never underestimate the American people. We're going to take our case to them. They recognize that this process is a sham, illegitimate, barely a month before the election when voters in 11 states are already casting their ballots.

They deserve a voice in this consequential choice and the American people are going to understand, the real harm to real people in real ways from children who suffer from preexisting conditions to women who very simply want to be able to decide when and how to have a family and recognize about preexisting conditions.

We're talking about cancer, asthma, heart disease and now COVID-19. One out of every two non-elderly Americans, 130 million of them and they potentially are going to lose healthcare coverage, not to mention all the other ways that healthcare will be really decimated at a time of a pandemic, a healthcare crisis.

I think the American people are going to recognize the rank hypocrisy of pushing forward in this sham, illegitimate process of a nominee with these devastatingly catastrophic views.

BLITZER: So Senator, you used the word illegitimate now twice. What are the Republicans doing that is illegal or illegitimate because the constitution says the president has to dominate Supreme Court justices, the Senate has to advise the consent and confirm so what is it legal about what the president and the Republicans are doing, you say is illegitimate?

BLUMENTHAL: It is illegitimate Wolf because never before after July in an election year has any justice been confirmed. It is illegitimate because the vote on this nominee will occur literally at the end of October, a handful of days before an election where Americans are already voting.

And it's illegitimate because the next president and the next Senate should be the one to make this decision because that's the only way to give Americans a choice in the process. It's illegitimate because -- BLITZER: Senator, where does it say that's illegitimate in the U. S. constitution or in the law? Where does it say that what they're doing, the Republicans is illegal?

BLUMENTHAL: Illegal it may be, not under the constitution, under the norms and traditions and unwritten rules, it is illegitimate. One of the unwritten rules is that people keep their word. The Republicans promised that there would be in fact no such nomination or confirmation during an election year. They're breaking their word, they are potentially breaking the Senate and they are violating the trust of the American people.

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The majority of the American people want this decision to be made after the inaugural, the majority of the American people want healthcare to be preserved and this nominee has expressed a willingness to disregard well-settled, established precedent when it doesn't align with her views. This nominee has said that Chief Justice Roberts was wrong to uphold the Affordable Care Act. Plainly, this nominee is out of step, out of the mainstream, not only with the majority of American people but with legal thinking generally.

BLITZER: So what I hear you saying Senator Blumenthal, it may be inappropriate, it may be wrong especially so close to election but you agree that there's nothing illegal or totally illegitimate as to what they're doing.

BLUMENTHAL: It may not violate the letter of the constitution, it violates the spirit of the constitution which is to give the American people, a say in this kind of hugely consequential decision.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens because the stakes as you point out correctly, the stakes are enormous on so many of these critically important issues. We'll watch it closely together with you. Senator Blumenthal, thanks so much for joining us. You guys are going to be busy in the Senate Judiciary Committee in the coming days as we all know.

Very quickly will you meet with her? Would you give her the courtesy to meet with her and will you participate in the confirmation hearings?

BLUMENTHAL: I will participate in the confirmation hearings. I'm going to be asking questions about her views and she's expressed them, hostility to Roe V. Wade and to providing contraception. Her criticism of Chief Justice Roberts for upholding the Affordable Care Act and her willingness to overturn established precedent.

I will not be meeting with her because I refuse to treat this process as having legitimacy.

BLITZER: On that you disagree with Dock Durban, the number two Democrats in the Senate because earlier today on CNN he said, he would give her the courtesy of a meeting and he would of course participate in the confirmation hearing. All right, we'll see what happens. Senator Blumenthal, thanks so much for joining us.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you Wolf.

BLITZER: All right so the 2020 presidential election, the campaign is entering a clearly crucial phase, this coming Tuesday. President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, they will face off in their first presidential debate. You can see it here on CNN. We'll be right.

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HERE

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM: All right, so this is Air Force One just landed in Middletown, Pennsylvania. The President is going to be attending another political campaign rally tonight.

A huge crowd has already gathered, not much social distancing, and I see very few masks. We will monitor that for our viewers.

The 2020 presidential campaign is clearly now entering a crucial phase. This Tuesday, when President Trump and Democratic nominee, Joe Biden will face off in their first debate.

Of course, you can see it live here on CNN. Joining us now to discuss that and more, the host of CNN's "Smerconish," Michael Smerconish.

Michael, thanks so much for joining us. After today's historic nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, front and center in this campaign, how do you see it affecting the debate? But specifically, and even more important, how do you see it politically affecting the overall campaign?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST: Well, I mean, it's sad to be borne of tragedy, but I think that the timing is perfect for President Trump, because this has been an issue. The composition of the Federal bench, the Supreme Court in particular that I think has historically motivated Republican voters more than it has Democratic voters.

I don't know that there's an equivalent of, say, the Federalist Society that stands at the ready to provide a list of nominees for Democratic candidates or Democratic presidents, whether this year is different, because there will be blowback in response to the process, the way that this has been carried out in stark contrast to what happened with Judge Garland four years ago, that remains to be seen.

But for him to be able to step off Air Force One right now in a swing state like Pennsylvania, and lay claim to his third position on the Supreme Court of the United States. That's pretty significant, Wolf. That's as big as it gets, I think for a Republican candidate.

BLITZER: You live in Pennsylvania, and it's a Commonwealth, I want to point out, not necessarily a state as you, as you pointed, they are very sensitive to the fact it's a Commonwealth. But let's talk a little bit. The President just said a few moments

ago, he is winning in Pennsylvania. Based on all the recent polls you've seen, is that true?

SMERCONISH: Well, I'd like to see the poll to which he is referring because I keep a pretty close eye on the RealClearPolitics average, and he has not been winning at any point. To be fair to him, you could probably have said that four years ago, and he pulled off a victory that not many saw coming.

BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, because you're absolutely right. This is an issue that the President is going to want to debate, is going to want to discuss as long as it takes away attention from the coronavirus which is still killing almost a thousand Americans every single day.

So politically speaking, I think you agree, this is probably good for the President.

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SMERCONISH: I think it's good for the base. I think that, frankly, any day that Americans are not focused on 200,000 having died in this country alone, it is not a subject that he wants to discuss.

Both of them, as you well know, are on that shortlist that Chris Wallace has put forth and said that they would be discussing come Tuesday night, so I think we'll hear ample conversation about both Judge Amy Coney Barrett, as well as the status of COVID-19.

BLITZER: Set the scene for us for this Tuesday night debate between Biden and Trump. How do you see it?

SMERCONISH: Well, what's most interesting to me is the question of expectations. Where exactly is the bar for Vice President Joe Biden? I asked that question, because you know, that the President has been trying to exploit Joe Biden's age. He has been trying to portray the former Vice President as frail and having lost a step.

But now -- and you just heard this tonight. He is quick to point out that well, Joe Biden has been doing this for 47 years, and I've only been doing it for four years. I think he is trying to pivot now and say, well, of course, Joe Biden is the superior debater.

I think it's a little late for that, and he also has a fallback if you paid close attention and I know you did, in case Joe Biden has a strong showing on Tuesday night, I guess, he is going to continue to float this notion without any evidence that I'm aware of, of meds.

So it's interesting, because you know, if that bar has been set so low for the former Vice President and 90 minutes into this, if he is still standing, and has had a reasonably good evening, I think many will be saying, wow, that's not what I anticipated. He won the debate.

BLITZER: Yes, you're right. The President just said when he was leaving the White House, he wonders what different medication Biden would be taking. No evidence at all that that is true. But he keeps throwing this out that he is old, that he is frail, and he needs medication in order to compete in a debate, which is obviously not true.

Michael Smerconish, as usual, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it very much.

SMERCONISH: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Many people in various parts of the country, they are already voting in the election, but there are also multiple court battles over mail-in voting even as we're in the middle of a pandemic that has claimed more than 200,000 lives.

The Attorney General of North Carolina is standing by live. We've got lots to discuss when we come back.

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BLITZER: There's President Trump. He is in Middletown, Pennsylvania. He is getting ready to address a pretty large political rally. You see some folks over there with facemasks, usually behind the podium. They're asked to wear the facemask.

And the audience, not much social distancing or facemasks. We will continue to monitor that and check in to see what's going on.

Certainly, the vacancy left in the U.S. Supreme Court after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the second closest ever to a U.S. election, that according to "The New York Times" just 46 days from the day she died.

Now, the President and a speedy push to nominate conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett will likely influence voters in some key battleground state states. Her stance on abortion rights, healthcare, and immigration could work in the G.O.P.'s favor or alternatively give Democrats a boost in several swing states.

Let's go to our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny who is monitoring all of this for us. Jeff, so will the Supreme Court nominees nomination help President Trump's re-election efforts or not?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is very much an open question. There's no doubt that conservatives are indeed rallying behind the President's choice here, but liberals and Democrats are also certainly concerned by this.

We spent the last several days in the key battleground State of Wisconsin, of course, those 10 electoral votes are critical to the President's re-election strategy, and this is certainly following along partisan lines. But also, it's clear that as this confirmation process proceeds here, independent voters are going to hold the most important view.

Take a listen to a couple of voters, we talked to you about their view of this nomination fight.

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SALLY NORDSTROM, WISCONSIN BIDEN SUPPORTER: We understand that it doesn't matter who we put in as President, anytime someone challenges something, and it goes all the way up to the Supreme Court, when you have an activist conservative court, your civil liberties are going to go away.

Look to see what civil liberties actions have been decided by the Supreme Court.

PAUL DEMCZAK, WISCONSIN TRUMP SUPPORTER: He is doing his job. It's what the Constitution says when there's a seat that's open, you're supposed to fill it.

It was different four years ago, because I mean, that's like the kind of rule, right? It's like, they didn't do it four years ago, because it was a different party in the White House versus the party that was in the Senate.

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ZELENY: So it's no doubt that this nomination fight is critical here and it's bigger than the presidential election in some respects, but it will certainly play a part of that.

Wolf, the right has always rallied behind these nominating fights much more than the left has, but there's never been someone like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, of course, who has been such a popular figure here. So it is unknown exactly how this is going to affect the presidential election.

Democrats realize they can do very little to stop this confirmation fight. That does not mean it will not have electoral effects here. So look for Democrats to try and rally their base behind this confirmation fight.

But, Wolf extraordinarily, it is going to be playing out along the very same, you know, at the very same time this presidential campaign is unfolding as well. So it is uncertain, at the very least how this will affect that November election.

But we can say, Democrats and Republicans and most importantly, independents are paying very much attention to all of this, Wolf.

BLITZER: It is going to be a hot, hot issue. Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much.

Right now, coast to coast, there are multiple legislative battles that are creating lots of confusion over casting your ballot. In Pennsylvania for example, the State Supreme Court has ruled that ballots that arrive without their inner envelope, the so-called naked ballots should be thrown out. In Ohio, the Republican Secretary of State pushed to limit the number of ballot drop boxes to just one per county, even in counties where millions of people live. Joining us now is Josh Stein, the Democratic Attorney General of North

Carolina. Attorney General, thank you so much for joining us. In your state, we're told voters are required to have a witness sign their ballot envelope. Does that potentially create challenges, especially given where we are right now in the midst of this deadly pandemic?

JOSH STEIN (D), ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NORTH CAROLINA: I'm very confident about the way our elections will be administered in North Carolina, Wolf. There is a signature requirement by the voter and a witness requirement.

Unfortunately, that requirement ends up having some people make some mistakes, but a Federal judge just ordered our State Board of Elections which administers the election process here to allow voters an opportunity to cure their ballot when there's a mistake.

And so our hope is that that drives the number of ballots that end up not being counted to a very low number, because what we want in North Carolina is for all voters to know that they can vote safely, easily and securely even in the midst of a pandemic.

BLITZER: And in North Carolina, they have to apply to get the ballot, you don't just mass send out millions of ballots to the residents, to the citizens in North Carolina. Is that right?

STEIN: You're correct, Wolf. But we have sent out millions because a million North Carolinians have already requested an absentee ballot, which is 10 times more than has ever happened in our state's history, because we're in the midst of a pandemic. And what's amazing is because we were the first state to mail out our absentee ballots, 240,000 North Carolinians have already had their ballot cast and I am proud to be one of those, Wolf.

BLITZER: When do you actually count all those ballots? When will we know how the folks in North Carolina voted? It's a key battleground state, as you well know.

STEIN: Well, we have a really strong system so that about five weeks before Election Day, so it's actually starting this coming Tuesday, the County Boards of Elections will begin to process all these mail-in ballots that have been sent in. One, to let the people know if there's a problem that needs to be fixed. And two, if everything is okay, they will run them through the scanner.

They will not total them up. That happens on Election Day.

But at 2:00 p.m. on Election Day, all the North Carolinians who have sent their mail and ballot that has already been received by Election Day and all of the North Carolinians who will vote in our 17 days of early voting the begins on October 15th, those ballots will be counted on Election Night, just as the votes that come in on Election Day itself.

BLITZER: So you are confidence, despite what the President keeps saying, this is going to be safe, it's going to be secure. It's going to be legal. STEIN: It's so troubling and sad, the cloud he is trying to put over

these elections. It's fundamentally un-American. But here's the thing, my job is to make sure that North Carolinians, and frankly, all of Americans know that they can vote easily and safely in an election, and the voter's job is to vote, have a plan to have your voice heard.

Do not let the President take your power away from you by discouraging you to participate. You have the ability to determine who wins this election, and that's what's wonderful about our country.

BLITZER: It certainly is. The Attorney General of North Carolina, Josh Stein. Thank you so much for joining us. Good luck.

STEIN: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Coming up. Florida just surpassed 14,000 deaths from the coronavirus, but the state's governor is now allowing restaurants and bars to reopen at full capacity. The Mayor of Miami Beach is live. He is standing by. We'll get his reaction when we come back.

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BLITZER: Dr. Anthony Fauci says we are still in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic here in the United States and points to serious concerns about rising rates throughout the fall and winter.

Yet the Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is now moving full speed ahead into what's called Phase 3 reopening. That means bars and restaurants, they can open to full capacity. Here's what the governor said about this. Listen.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): You have some people say, well, you can never do you know full -- what you want to do until there's a vaccine. Well, we don't know, hopefully. But now people are saying, hey, even if there's a vaccine, it's still going to take another year before you can operate appropriately.

And, you know, I don't think that's viable. I don't think that that is acceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, let's discuss with the Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and CNN medical analyst, Dr. Seema Yasmin.

Mayor Gelber, What is he talking about? Are you ready in Miami Beach to have the hotels, the restaurants, the bars, all of which we love in Miami Beach at full capacity right now?

MAYOR DAN GELBER (D), MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: Well, we've been doing it slowly and cautiously. We've been reopening to 50 percent capacity. We're going to try to stay there notwithstanding the governor's order. The problem with the governor's order, he didn't just accelerate it

and opened up bars as well, but he also stopped our ability to create a mask mandate and fine people for masks -- for not wearing masks.

So he essentially took away the one thing we were doing, which was actually allowing us to open up the economy and then accelerated the opening up of the economy. We are not telling anybody, literally yesterday, late in the afternoon, and everybody in the county was surprised and frankly shocked as we're rushing around today to try to figure out how to interpret the order and still not create a huge amount of virus spread, because we weren't prepared and it was pretty irresponsible to do it the way he did.

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BLITZER: Did he call you? Have you discussed this at all with Governor DeSantis? Is he listening to the mayors like you about reopening at full capacity?

GELBER: Well, I talked to some of the other mayors, everybody was surprised. I don't know anybody who got a heads up. He doesn't usually call me off and the county mayor. The county mayor, I understand has been on the phone with him. I've been talking over there as well.

We're trying to figure out how to keep it at a capacity that works. Although, frankly, he said bars are opening and the county mayor had previously said bars aren't going to open up for a while. But now they're opening up at some level.

But the mask thing is what is so confusing because, you know last time he reopened, we had a surge that killed thousands of people in Florida and in our county and then we created mask mandates and people started finally, to wear them more regularly and we got our virus down to five percent, four percent maybe.

And now he doesn't -- apparently, he doesn't believe in the masks as a defense to this and so he has made it harder for us to compel mask usage with our guests or with our residents.

BLITZER: Yes, masks are so, so important. Dr. Yasmin, as you well know, you know better than all of us, the studies that show that indoor dining is at a much higher risk than eating outdoors, for example.

So how dangerous potentially is it to allow all the bars, all the restaurants in the State of Florida to open at full capacity right now.

DR. SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The governor's actions are premature and misguided, Wolf. This time and in previous times, too, it's under his leadership that Florida became a national hotspot.

In fact, Florida held the country's record for the single day highest number of new coronavirus cases back in July when more than 15,000 Floridians were infected in a single day. And even now, the state still is in the top 10 states in the U.S. for

the highest number of COVID cases on count for us. So he just announced the lifting of the rules yesterday, and then today, his own State Health Department reported nearly 2,900 new cases amongst Floridians and more than 107 deaths.

So his hubris in the past, you know, back when New York was struggling, he was saying oh, that's not going to happen here, and then Florida did become a hotspot. Now, he is saying, oh, we won't see a second wave. Florida hospitals are at good capacity.

You cannot be that arrogant in the face of a virus when we know how quickly it spreads. Things can change very drastically. You start lifting measures like this, you start motivating people to go out, and we'll start to see what we're seeing in the U.K. and other parts of Europe, Wolf, where cases surge, and the deaths spike as well and then lawmakers have to rush and institute new shelter in place policies.

It's a disaster for public health.

BLITZER: You know, Mayor Gelber, clearly Governor DeSantis is worried about the economic damage that's unfolding right now in Florida. You have concerns about that as well, don't you?

GELBER: Yes. And that's why -- I mean, the way we can reopen safely is not only to do it cautiously and in phases, but to make people wear masks while we're doing it and be socially distant.

He has said we won't even have social distance requirements in bars right now and we aren't allowed to penalize people for not wearing masks. So what that means is, the mask is how you reopen.

We have an entertainment industry, a hospitality industry that has been devastated. But we've been working with them to open up and to reopen and to allow them to get back into commerce and the masks have been an important part of that. I have no idea why he decided that what he was going to do was make it harder for the local community to get people to wear masks and accelerate the reopening simultaneously.

That is a recipe for disaster and it makes absolutely no sense.

BLITZER: You know, Dr. Yasmin, Dr. Anthony Fauci is on the cover of the new issue of "Time" Magazine. There it is, as one of the 100 most influential people of 2020. Well-deserved from my perspective. He does amazing work. What do you think?

YASMIN: I agree with you and there's such a disparity isn't there, in that kind of leadership? On the one hand, you have someone like Dr. Fauci who is a truth teller. He doesn't mince his words. He is really careful and deliberate. He follows the science.

And then you have a governor like DeSantis, who is a really poor leader, does not know how to lead in a pandemic and is much more concerned about his popularity, much more concerned about appeasing other people in power and really not caring really not engaged when it comes to the public health impact of his words and his policies. These kinds of actions cost lives. We have seen it happen before and I

am so worried that we will see it happen again because of what he announced yesterday.

BLITZER: Dr. Yasmin, thanks so much. Mayor Gelber, thanks to both of you. Good luck.

I am Wolf Blitzer here in Washington. Our special coverage continues right now. CNN Newsroom with Ana Cabrera starts right now.

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