Biden: "I don't trust the President on vaccines. I trust Dr. Fauci"
Source: CNN
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made it clear tonight during CNN's town hall that he does not trust President Trump when it comes to determining when a Covid-19 vaccine would be safe to take.
Biden threw his support emphatically behind Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"I don't trust the President on vaccines. I trust Dr. Fauci. If Fauci says a vaccine is safe, I would take the vaccine. We should listen to the scientists, not to the President," Biden said.
Muddled vaccine messaging: There’s no substantial disagreement between President Trump and the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the timeline for a coronavirus vaccine, Fauci said Thursday.
Fauci said Trump and CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield were “essentially” right Wednesday when they each gave what seemed like a different timeline for a potential coronavirus vaccine said Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Redfield told a Senate hearing that it would likely be the second or third quarter of next year – that means late spring or summer – before widespread vaccination could be underway in the US. Asked about this during a news conference later in the day, Trump said Redfield “made a mistake” and was “confused.” He said a vaccine will be available soon, possibly as early as next month.
Fauci did not see a big conflict.
“The apparent, and I say apparent because I don't think it really is a substantial disagreement regarding the President and the director of the CDC, is in the difference between the availability of vaccine doses and when they will, in practicality, be fully administered to everybody in the country,” Fauci said in an interview Thursday with Washington, DC, radio station WTOP.
Watch more:
10:33 p.m. ET, September 17, 2020
Biden calls Trump downplaying the pandemic "close to criminal"
Source: CNN
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden slammed President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying if he had acted earlier he would have saved many thousands of lives. Biden called Trump's lagged actions and downplaying of the virus "close to criminal."
"But he knew it. He knew it, and did nothing. It is close to criminal," Biden said at CNN's town hall.
Biden denied ever seeing a scenario where he would downplay the virus or downplay critical information because he did not want to cause panic.
"Not at all," Biden said. "The idea that you are not going to not tell people what you have been told that this virus is incredibly contagious — seven times more contagious than the flu — you breathe the air and you get it sucked into your lungs — what has he done?"
Biden told CNN's Anderson Cooper that back in March, he was calling for the need to have masks and have Trump "stand and tell us what is going in."
"We have to make sure we lay out to the American people, the truth. Tell them the truth," Biden said regarding the messaging that is needed to protect Americans from the pandemic.
Biden said there has never been a time where the American people have not been able to "step up," and added that Trump should "step down."
Watch:
8:15 p.m. ET, September 17, 2020
Biden humanizes the coronavirus pandemic and discusses how he will address it
Source: CNN
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden shared words of solace for those who have lost loved ones due to the coronavirus pandemic, including Shani Adams whose sister died after contracting the virus.
Adams asked Biden tonight during CNN's town hall what he would do to protect people at work if elected president.
At the heart of Biden's plan is the need for more Covid-19 testing, he said.
"I would lay out the broad strokes of what has to be done to make people safe in the workplace, and safe in school. And that requires us to have rapid testing, the protective gear available from the very beginning like this president hasn't done. Making sure we provide for the ability for workplaces to have the wherewithal to provide for the safety. That requires some federal funding, particularly kids going back to school," Biden said.
Biden criticized President Trump for failing to enact a federal mask mandate.
"The President continues to think that masks don't matter very much, although he says it and has these large gatherings with everybody around with no masks on. And it's extremely dangerous. And so there's a lot of people, a lot of people hurt. A lot of people not being able to see their families," he added.
Watch the moment:
8:04 p.m. ET, September 17, 2020
CNN's town hall with Joe Biden has started
From CNN's Kate Sullivan and Eric Bradner
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and CNN's Anderson Cooper speak on stage at the CNN Presidential Town Hall in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Thursday. CNN
CNN's town hall with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has begun. The former vice president will face questions from Pennsylvania voters in an unconventional setup due to the coronavirus pandemic — a drive-in town hall.
Biden's presidential campaign has made character its centerpiece, as the Democratic nominee casts the 2020 presidential race as a test of the "soul of the nation" against President Trump.
But he has also released a stream of policy proposals outlining what he would try to accomplish in office. And that platform is likely to be a focus tonight.
Here are some key policy issues that may take center stage:
The economy
Taxes
Health care
Education
Coronavirus
Race relations
Climate change
Foreign policy
Read about Biden's proposals on these topics here.
7:46 p.m. ET, September 17, 2020
CNN is hosting its first drive-in town hall due to the pandemic. Here's how it will work.
From CNN's Kate Sullivan
Source: CNN
CNN is hosting its first political drive-in town hall of the 2020 presidential election tonight. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will face questions from viewers live in a setup in the parking lot of PNC Field in Moosic and CNN's Anderson Cooper will moderate the discussion.
Thirty-five cars will file into the parking lot, where a stage and monitors have been set up, and audience members and cars will be spaced out to comply with social distancing guidelines, according to Kate Lunger, the vice president of CNN's special events team.
There will be about 100 people in attendance at PNC Field, which is the home of the minor league baseball team the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The event location is a short drive from Biden's childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
"In these extraordinary times, we're taking these extraordinary measures to try to bring the presidential campaign to the people, which has obviously been very difficult because campaigning is difficult, if not near impossible," said Mark Preston, CNN's vice president of political and special events programming and a senior political analyst.
CNN is following all of the local guidelines and restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lunger said, and everybody attending and working the town hall will have their temperatures taken and will answer screening questions. Outdoor events and gatherings of more than 250 people are prohibited, according to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and the state's Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine. Wearing masks when outside of the home is mandatory.
Voters at the town hall will be able to sit in their car and tune to an FM station on their car radio to hear the town hall, or will be able to sit next to their car to watch the event, according to Lunger.
Lunger noted the array of new technical and logistical challenges that putting on this type of event poses. For example, the control room for Thursday's event will be located back in Washington, DC, which is unlike town halls the network has put on in the past, where everything has been on site.
"The good news is we have great teams across all the company who've done these town halls with us for the last few years, so everybody knows their role but everyone's trying to figure out how to operate in this new world in the same way while being Covid-safe," Lunger said.
CNN's Anderson Cooper previews how the event will work:
7:42 p.m. ET, September 17, 2020
Two separate town halls. Two different approaches likely on display.
Analysis from CNN's Maeve Reston
President Donald Trump sits with ABC New anchor George Stephanopoulos for a town hall event at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on September 15. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s appearance at the ABC town hall in Pennsylvania earlier this week was a reminder of one of his great weaknesses — his difficulty connecting to the life experiences and emotions that average Americans try to share with him.
Trump’s inability to empathize in those one-on-one encounters stems from his narcissism and his tendency to turn every policy observation into a discussion about himself (usually accompanied by grandiose praise of his own performance). His rival Joe Biden, on the other hand, does not have the same gifts as Trump in firing up an audience at a political rally, but he excels in situations that demand empathy.
His strongest moments on the campaign trail last year were when he would lean in and console grieving parents on the rope line, locking eyes and gripping the shoulders of whomever had approached to tell him their story about losing a loved one or about a problem they hoped he could solve.
In those hundreds of moments, Biden created an intimacy that often gave his listener a sense that he understood them and was on their side.
It has been much more difficult for Biden to create those moments in the coronavirus pandemic from a distance, but look for him to do so tonight as he tries to play up the huge contrast between his ability to emote and empathize and that of Trump.
Biden’s campaign and the Democratic convention were rooted in the notion that the former Delaware senator could be the “Healer-in-Chief.” He will have a rare opportunity to show that side — and why Democrats think it matters — as he strives to connect with his questioners at tonight’s CNN Presidential Town Hall, which begins at 8 p.m. ET.
7:33 p.m. ET, September 17, 2020
Biden warns Trump is trying to "lay the seeds" to contest November's election as illegitimate if he loses
From CNN's Sarah Mucha
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden departs the Delaware State Building after early voting in the state's primary election on September 14 in Wilmington, Delaware. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
During a fundraiser Thursday afternoon, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden warned that President Trump is trying to "lay the seeds" to contest the election as illegitimate if he loses in November.
“It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that he’s trying to lay the seeds that the election is not legitimate," Biden said of Trump.
Per pool reports, he referenced the classified briefings he is now receiving as the nominee: “It goes beyond what he’s saying. It goes to what he’s encouraging.”
“I’m hopeful, but I am concerned. And it won’t be over until it’s over,” Biden said.
According to pool reports, Biden referenced the idea that Trump may be ahead in the early counting on election night, but said he didn’t think that would happen, because his own supporters have figured out that they can vote early to stanch that.
“You saw that fella Caputo that they just fired from HHS,” Biden said, referring to Michael Caputo who is taking a two-month leave of absence from his post at the Department of Health and Human Services. "What’s he doing? He’s talking about potential uprisings, physical force, they’re going to have armies? No president has ever done anything like this.”
Biden said he thinks that’s why he’s been endorsed by so many Republicans — not because they agree with him, but because they fear what Trump will do.
7:27 p.m. ET, September 17, 2020
In call with Senate Democrats, Biden vows aggressive campaign schedule
From CNN's Manu Raju and Ali Zaslav
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden boards a plane at Allegheny County Airport on August 31 in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Ahead of tonight's town hall, former Vice President Joe Biden reassured Senate Democrats he would mount a vigorous effort in the campaign's final stretch, barnstorming the country through key swing states and helping crucial Senate races in the process, according to Democratic senators on a conference call Thursday.
Biden, speaking for roughly 25 minutes and taking a few questions, said repeatedly he was not finding comfort in polls showing him ahead of President Trump
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, who occupies Biden's old Senate seat, said the party's presidential nominee spoke about how “optimistic he is about the election but he must have said his three times, I take nothing for granted. I know the polls look OK right now but I'm working tirelessly," pointing how he was just in Florida and would soon head to other key battlegrounds. Coons said that Biden reiterated "the core themes of the campaign, fighting for the soul of the country."
"I think he's going to be traveling more," said Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat. "I think the message was how they're organizing to win and how they're taking nothing for granted."
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine noted that Biden — a former Delaware senator —said he was "paying attention to the Senate races" too in the battle for control of the chamber.
"I think he's going to be very vigorous in the last stretch of the campaign," Kaine, a former VP nominee, said after the call.
7:21 p.m. ET, September 17, 2020
How Trump's effort to court Latino voters has pressured Biden campaign to ramp up outreach
From CNN's Dan Merica and Gregory Krieg
Supporters of President Donald Trump share a laugh as they wait for the president to participate in a Latinos for Trump Coalition roundtable on Monday, September 14 in Phoenix. Ross D. Franklin/AP
President Trump's reelection campaign's early, aggressive play to cut into Democrats' advantage with Latino voters has Democratic elected officials and operatives concerned that a softening of support from the group could be decisive in November's election.
Despite a message many say resonates with Spanish-speaking voters, those officials and operatives say Joe Biden's presidential campaign has been slow to commit the needed resources and time to at least match where Hillary Clinton finished with the key demographic in 2016.
What the polls say: A string of polls shows Trump has increased his standing with Hispanic voters over the last four years. Although the President is still trailing heavily — an analysis by CNN's Harry Enten found Biden is winning Hispanic voters by 28 percentage points — Biden is underperforming Clinton, who led by 37 percentage points in an average of final pre-election polls.
The narrowing gap with Latinos is putting more pressure on Biden to hold or even expand his lead with White and older voters, two blocs with whom the Democrat has cut into Trump's lead, allowing him to maintain an overall lead in national polling and crucial states, like Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Asked why his numbers among Hispanic voters are as low as they are right now, Biden said on Monday that his number are much higher than Trump's, but added, "But they gotta go higher."
Some Democrats, concerned that Biden's advantage with White voters could narrow, believe he needs to dial up his focus — and dedicate more resources — toward targeting the diverse array of Latino voters in key states like Florida, Nevada and Arizona that could tip the balance for the former vice president and win him the White House in November.
How the Biden campaign is expanding outreach: Biden's campaign contends that they are making significant investments in courting Latino voters, including hiring targeted vote directors in 11 states, using Latino-run mail and polling firms to court voters, and running micro-targeted, bespoke ads that employ Mexican accents in Arizona, Cuban accents in Miami and Puerto Rican accents in Orlando and Tampa.
And the overarching issue facing the community right now, said Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a Biden campaign deputy campaign manager, is the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"The devastation that the community has seen both from a public health perspective and an economic perspective is one that has drastically impacted Latino voters in all of the battle ground states," said Chavez Rodriguez. "The reality is over 25,000 Latinos have lost their lives as a result of Covid. The numbers didn't have to be that high. ... Those are the realities that I think Latinos are facing today."
The campaign is also working to combat election disinformation, with organizers reporting that an array of wild, false conspiracy theories are being directed at Spanish-speaking voters, especially in battleground Florida.
Rodriguez said that the campaign is "seeing voter suppression at a whole new level," so while the Trump campaign is actively reaching out to Latino voters, others are working to "keep folks from actually engaging in a critical election that has a huge impact."
"It is really disturbing that some of those tactics are being used," she said
But even Democrats close to Biden concede that it took the campaign a long time — because of the spread of the coronavirus and the campaign's money issues early in the general election — to commit the needed resources to Latino outreach.
