Second Trump- Biden Debate Officially Canceled
BURNETT: Delta has just made landfall over Southwest Louisiana, a life-threatening storm surge, strong winds threatening residents there. You see these pictures. The estimated winds now near a hundred miles an hour and more concerning even than that the life-threatening storm surge, which could reach 11 feet. Ryan Young is in Gueydan, Louisiana, which is about a 90-minute drive east of the Texas border. Ryan, obviously, I see the wind there. Tell me what you're seeing.</s>RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Really, what's been interesting is the rain has sort of dissipated in the last half hour or so and now this has become a wind event for where we are. We're talking about heavy gusty winds that have been sustained for more than an hour at this point. And sometimes it's gusting above 65 miles per hour. We have a building that's blocking us that sort of cutting these winds down and as I move out, you can hear the increase in wind speed and power. One of the things they were concerned about was all the debris that was kind of left from the last storm that was this way and that they were concerned that could turn into a flying projectile. Neighbors here have been working awfully hard to make sure, but they were battening down the hatches because they've already experienced a storm just in the last six weeks. So now, you compound this with this storm and a lot of them are hoping to get through this. Now, when you talk about the power situation, you think about the linesman who've been out there fighting the power for quite some time to get the lights back up. There's more than 115,000 people now without power and if this wasn't strange enough, as I'm struggling to walk in this wind, if you look in this direction, we see livestock that has decided to try to walk towards them look like they're just getting something to eat. So right now, the animals are fine. Most of the structures that we've been around this evening have been fine as well. There have roof shingles that we've seen flying across the area and some downlines in the distance, so the power in the area that we're in, has been out for at least two hours at this point. But the real concern, obviously, of course, is when you think about the thousands of people who were already left homeless after the last one. We have 8,500 people who are still in shelters. You add the pandemic involved in this, you have some people who were scared. There was also a run on gas just yesterday. We saw that as we were trying to fill up the gas of the generators that are critical lead at this point. And, of course, as this wind continues to strengthen and push its way on the shore, people are hoping that they can make it through another night.</s>BURNETT: All right. Ryan, thank you very much and stick around with us because we have much more on Hurricane Delta coming up. And more breaking news at this hour, the second debate between President Trump and Joe Biden is off. It is officially canceled. Now, it had been turned into a virtual debate because of concerns about Trump's coronavirus diagnosis and that so many on his team have been exposed and they don't talk about testing, but Trump refused to take part. Then, the Biden campaign said, "It's shameful that Donald Trump ducked the only debate in which the voters get to ask the questions, obviously he doesn't have the guts to answer for his record to voters at the same time as Vice President Biden." This is the town hall format debate. The Trump campaign saying there is no medical reason to stop the October 15th debate since the President will be healthy and ready to debate. OUTFRONT now, the host of CNN SMERCONISH, Michael Smerconish. So look here's, I guess, what happened here, Trump needed this debate. We know this. He was the one who needed it the most. He backed out, then he tried to resuscitate it. How much does it, the fact that it is canceled, he can't get it back and hurt him.</s>MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, "SMERCONISH": There aren't too many days on the clock for him to make up the polling gap, the deficit that he apparently faces. There aren't too many opportunities for the momentum shift that I think, Erin, he desperately needs. I took note of the fact that very soon after the debate fell apart, when an invitation was extended to former Vice President Joe Biden, he immediately accepted so that his dance card was full. And I believe that he did that because the Biden campaign was probably elated that there wasn't this debate opportunity for Donald Trump. So I think the President now is probably scrambling for other events and other opportunities where he can make up the deficit.</s>BURNETT: Right. And he's going to do his rallies. Earlier today, he called into Rush Limbaugh's radio show for what was essentially a rally. I mean, they're very close friends. And his whole point was, oh, I don't need debates. Here's the spin he put on it.</s>TRUMP: I don't think the debates mean that much because, and I'll tell you why, I've done well with debates. I've won I guess I had 15, I think I won want every single poll. I won the poll on this one with him. But I had to be rude because he was lying. He'd get up and he'd just say a series of things that were all lies, so I'd say false and they'd say I interrupted him.</s>BURNETT: So Michael, here's the thing, for the people who are going to vote for Donald Trump for his base the debates don't matter. That's not going to change anything. But who is going to change their mind at this point based on these debates? I mean, what group is left?</s>SMERCONISH: I think he probably has a good point when he says that the debates probably aren't that consequential. We tend to remember The Zingers. But I'm hard pressed in the in the modern era, say, Reagan forward to identify a debate that was really a game changer. I would say that the President's time, politically speaking, was time well spent today with Rush Limbaugh because it's Rush Limbaugh who reaches the base that the President so desperately needs to come out and to be a dominant force. It was essentially a two-hour get out the vote effort on Rush's program. So I understand why he did it.</s>BURNETT: Right. And I guess that's why he's done the other interviews he's done. They've all been, Fox News, Fox Business, his base, Mark Levin's radio show. Joe Biden, meantime, crisscrossing the country, going to key swing states today in Nevada after campaigning yesterday in Arizona and today trying to hit Trump up on what he now thinks is a winning issue, which is the stimulus talks issue. Here he is.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've served with a lot of presidents never no matter good or bad you thought they were did they fail to try to bring parties together in the White House to reach a settlement. You know why? He spent so much time hiding in the bunker in the White House around the bunker of his golf course playing hundreds of rounds of golf. Donald Trump shows no urgency to deliver to hard-working Americans.</s>BURNETT: So Michael, now he's got the bunker in the White House trying to rebut, Trump had picked on Biden in the basement for a long time. But Biden is the one out there now, crisscrossing the country. He's the one that everybody is seeing. How much does this hurt the Trump campaign?</s>SMERCONISH: The combination of what he's saying and the ads that I'm seeing, it's almost taking on the demeanor of a closing tour. Look, the Biden mantra right now is do no harm, very limited media availability and questioning I should say because they think that they're in a great position and they just don't want to screw it up.</s>BURNETT: All right. Michael, thank you very much. Of course, don't miss Michael show, tomorrow. And next, CNN learning shocking new details about the suspects in the alleged domestic terror plot to kidnap the Michigan Governor. Plus, the breaking news on Hurricane Delta just making landfall with winds at a hundred miles an hour. Water levels currently rising. We're going to take you back there live.